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Post by Mike Parr - Managing Director at PML
"Morrisons, Marks & Spencer, and The Food & Drink Federation have all publicly commented on the serious supply chain crisis which is threatening the nation. As a leading industry player and provider of world-class logistics and supply chain solutions, PML forecast the current scenario and its dire consequences almost 12 months ago. We are facing these issues on a daily basis.
The HGV driver shortage is paralyzing the industry. More needs to be done to support the wellbeing of these important individuals who represent the lifeline to maintaining essential food & drink as well as medical supplies to the UK.
Logistics firms are being hammered with a new 'driver retention fee' in addition to the traditional sea freight container charges, which can be as much as £150 per container. This kind of exploitation only adds to what is already a difficult situation and forces firms to review their charges to the end customer to allow for these demands.
The government has supposedly prepared importers of perishables so that they are capable of undertaking the complicated paperwork associated with customs clearance post-Brexit. It is bordering on ignorance to assume that anyone can navigate the system with no previous experience in this specialist sector. It takes years of training for an import clerk to be up to speed with the detailed and ever-changing requirements imposed by DEFRA – including not just the stringent import regulations but also the approval required to collect goods from a transit shed - yet the inference is, that this is just a 'basic job' that anyone can turn their hand to. Pointing importers to the government website to help them understand the requirements is just not going to cut it.
I'm afraid I don't concur with the Prime Minister's recent assurance that there is no impending crisis regarding food supplies. Sadly, I predict quite the opposite and envisage that by January 2022, nothing short of chaos will reign. The reality is that our industry is more affected by the pandemic now than we were last year, due to the 'pingdemic'; the growing number of Covid cases requiring personnel to isolate for 10 days, and the reluctance of many of our European drivers to be vaccinated.
Combine the HGV driver shortage, the customs clearance issues, and the impact of the pandemic, and it is plain to see that the country is destined to be facing some very challenging conditions. Surely the government should have seen some of this coming and prepared for these problems? The approach taken by the powers that be seems to be very much reactive rather than proactive – if I ran my business in this way, we would have gone bust.
The latest news is that Britain is poised to delay additional post-Brexit customs checks due to come into force on 1st October, for the second time amid concerns they could fuel further disruption in the run-up to Christmas.
The fact is, there should be a long-term strategy in place to deal with all of these concerns. Not just for Christmas but in the years ahead …"


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Speaking in Canberra on Tuesday 1 September, Prime Minister Tony Abbott has formally stated that the much talked about plans to impose a tax, or levy, on bank deposits in Australia has been officially dumped. The proposed bank deposit tax in Australia is no more and never made it to fruition. In a media release from the Liberal Party, the following was offered: "Labor's Bank Deposit Tax would have penalised Australians for being financially responsible. "This Government is in the business of protecting Australians' savings – not raiding them." The plan to tax bank depositors' funds was viewed as critically flawed, and misaligned with incentives for promoting economic and financial stability within the banking system. Although scrapping the proposed bank deposit tax will leave a shortfall of A$1.5 billion in projected budget revenue for the Australian Government, it is also A$1.5 billion less savers will be paying out in tax. ...Read More »
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
Date: February 17, 2003
To: Ronald W. Tobin, Associate Vice Chancellor Academic Programs
2150 Kerr Hall
Fr: Patricia Fumerton, Director, Early Modern Center
Re: Proposal for Instructional Improvement Grant, July 1, 2003-June 30, 2004
The English Department's Early Modern Center requests funds to expand its digital archive in order to enhance its undergraduate specialization in early modern studies. The Center has already established the basis of a large, fully-searchable picture gallery, with slideshow feature (mostly through an Instructional Improvement grant for 2001-2002). We now plan a three-pronged continuation of the Center's archive:
a) further work on the Picture Gallery: completion of the slideshow feature; addition of more images together with their full identification and keywording (not only from the slide collections of English department faculty but also from the holdings of other Humanities faculty in early modern studies, beginning with those of the History department); and quarterly instruction to all interested UC early modernists in the use of the gallery database and slideshow feature.
b) Ballad Archive. Funds would be used to gather ballads from microfilm and the EEBO and organize them by theme. This is preparative to mounting three undergraduate classes over a three-year period devoted to modernizing, editing, and mounting the ballads online, as well as to composing and mounting online introductory materials about the ballads. The result would be an early modern ballads archive usable by early modern faculty in many courses, especially the large English Department survey courses, 1500-1800.
c) British Theater Archive, 1500-1800.
The English Department's Early Modern Center, established in 2000, is the first of the many such proclaimed "Centers" on the web to create a space for collaboration between faculty, graduate students, and undergraduates in the advancement of cultural studies of England, 1500-1800, through state-of-the-art computing resources. I should emphasize that the work of the Center (as of most of the English Department's faculty these days) is to advance cultural studies, that is, studies of literature in the context of cultural phenomena (painting, architecture, politics, religion, and the like). Such cultural study characterizes the very cutting edge of literary criticism today and is, by definition, involved in an interdisciplinary enterprise that often involves other campus departments, such as Art History and History. What makes our Center unique is the sheer number of faculty in the English Department engaged in such studies of the early modern period (no less than 10), our timely extension of the term "early modern" to include Renaissance as well as Eighteenth Century, and our placing the faculty and their students together in a facility that puts at their disposal the most advanced electronic equipment and databases available in the profession to date. But we do not aim merely to provide a "lab" for computing and collaborative work. We aim to provide (and have already laid the groundwork for) a large and deep archive of electronic resources that will continue to grow and be used by faculty and students for years to come. Our web page can be found at https://live-emc-english-ucsb-edu-v01.pantheonsite.io/. Since parts of the site, such as the Picture Gallery, are password protected, I have created a temporary username and password for reviewers of this grant, so that you may view the full site when you login. The username you may use is "senate" and the password is "grant03." Since you may not have a computer in front of you as you read this proposal, I have also printed out some of the pages from the site, to give you an idea of the kind of archive and services we provide (these printouts include the EMC homepage; the Faculty page; the Undergraduate Specialization page; the Events page; the Picture Gallery search page; a sample product of a gallery search; a sample Slideshow manager page; and a sample page of a slideshow viewing. I have also included letters of enthusiasm for the Gallery from Professor Sears McGee in the History Department and from two distinguished faculty members from outside the UC system to whom I have extended temporary teaching use privileges (Professor Heather Dubrow of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and Professor Meredith Skura of Rice University).
a) Picture Gallery:
In 2000 the EMC was awarded an Instructional Improvement Grant of $7,471.84 in order to advance its 2001-02 theme of Early Modern Visual Culture (every year the Center mounts courses and events around a chosen theme, which culminates for undergraduates in a spring conference; at this conference undergraduates deliver presentations arising out of the theme courses they took that year). Part of the grant monies went toward mounting course syllabi, creating online readers, and developing online resources for the students' use on Visual Culture. All these materials remain in the EMC archive. But more importantly, in advancing the Visual Culture theme, the majority of the Instructional Improvement Grant went toward the creation of a searchable database of images, 1500-1800. The idea behind the creation of this database was to begin the process of housing, in easily searchable form, all images used in courses and research by UCSB early modern faculty and graduate students. The English department was and is in a unique position to do this because we alone, among the Humanities departments, have our own Server (Windows not Unix), which supports the sophisticated database program SQL Server 2000. It should be noted that, while LSIT would house images for a department or individual faculty member, it will not support and maintain a database. Our Server is maintained by a full-time staff person, Brian Reynolds, as well as by the faculty member Alan Liu and a small group of technologically-advanced graduate students. So the English department has the special means to answer the pressing call for a searchable database of images. It should also be noted that the demand for such a database for use in instruction is high. Our images cannot simply be accessed from other sites on the web because they represent the corpus of images our individual faculty and students use in their individual courses. My teaching of literature and visual culture, for instance, draws in one week on about 50 of the sketches made by Inigo Jones for the court masques of seventeenth-century England. Only a few of these images are available via other web sites and, even if I were only to need those few images, skipping around from one to another link would be cumbersome and time-consuming. Our goal, first and foremost, was to build an archive of images that would be quickly searchable and specifically suited to UCSB English Department courses.
During the grant period, we came a long way to doing just that. A graduate student computer programmer worked in SQL Server to create a robust database for holding and searching images, and other students worked on scanning in slides and book illustrations, which they stored on our Server. Over 1,000 images were mounted in 3 different sizes (thumbnail for quick viewing, medium for more detail, and large for up-close viewing). Every image was identified by artist, title, date, location, media, and keywords, and is searchable by these categories individually and in combination. Products of a search produce thumbnail images which include an ID number. If clicked on, the thumbnail presents a medium-sized image with full information about the picture, and if that image is clicked on the large-sized image appears. Though we began to run out of time and money by the end of the funding period, the programmer managed to put together a rudimentary interface by which slideshows could be created from the resulting Picture Gallery. In the course of the year 2001-2002, the gallery and its slideshow feature were used for teaching in their courses by Lee Bliss, Bob Erickson, Patricia Fumerton, Richard Helgerson, Mark Rose, Elisa Tamarkin, and Anna Viele. I presented the EMC website at a session of the Renaissance Society of America Conference in Spring 2002 and it was enthusiastically received. A programmer for the important Medici project in Italy came up to me after the presentation and told me that it was the best database she had ever seen. However, the slideshow feature that was mounted in 2001-2002 was a rushed job on depleted resources and needed revamping. In the course of 2002-2003, with about $2,500 in funding from the English Department and the College of Letters and Science, the EMC was able to create most of a new slideshow feature, which includes within it a search engine that draws on the gallery database. This is an extraordinarily sophisticated interface, which allows instructors to create digital slideshows in a matter of minutes. Though incomplete, it has already been used for undergraduate teaching by myself, Claire Busse, Laurie Ellinghausen, Cassandra Gniady, and Diana Solomon. As the attached email letters from Professors Heather Dubrow and Meredith Skura indicate, the EMC picture gallery and slideshow feature are receiving national attention and praise. These are just a few of the emails I regularly receive about the site.
The next phase of the Picture Gallery archive, for which the EMC is now requesting funding, involves, first, completing the slideshow feature. We want to include in the slideshow feature the ability to show dual as well as sequential images. Dual projection ability is very useful for comparison and contrast in teaching. We also need to increase security of the site. Our intent is to restrict full access to the gallery and slideshow to UC faculty and students who are using the database primarily for instructional purposes (with occasional permission extended to faculty outside the UC system on a temporary teaching basis). At the moment, no one can access the entire gallery without a password. However, since the slideshow feature was hurriedly added on late in the creation of the site, anyone can view the created slideshows. We need to password protect the slideshow viewing as well as the general gallery. Our policy for handling security is to create three tiers of access: level 1, for administration of the site; level 2, for faculty and graduate students; and level 3, for undergraduates (this lowest level allows viewing access to all areas of the site for the period of one academic year). Fortunately, one of the graduate students in our department who is expert in SQL server is also specializing in early modern studies, and she is both able and willing to complete work on the gallery's slideshow.
Once the slideshow feature is complete and secure, we intend to continue to build the gallery, adding more images digitized from the slide and book collections of English Department faculty and graduate students. (This process requires less technological sophistication than the creation of the database itself and so can be tackled by a larger number of students.) I would estimate that the 1,000 images we have so far digitized represent only about 1/5th of the images used by the EMC faculty via conventional media (slides and xeroxes). As part of the process of completing digitizing, student assistants may often be asked to locate images by seeking them out in the Art library, since faculty often know of images they want to use in teaching but do not own them. In my budget, I do not separate out this retrieval activity from that of mounting images in the picture gallery since both locating and digitizing images are time-consuming. The labor-intensiveness of both activities explains the large number of hours I have allocated to the tasks. As an example, I myself mounted about 30 images in the picture gallery in order to set a template for my student assistants to follow. It took me about 45 hours to do so. The process involved me first scanning in a slide, then modifying the image in Photoshop, and then creating three different sizes. I then loaded the image in its different sizes into the database. But I wasn't done yet. The images then needed to be identified as completely as possible, including in each case artist's name, title, date, issues of content and/or provenance, size, medium, and location. Finally, I needed to think through a list of consistent keywords for each of the images. For most of the 30 slides I mounted, I had to hunt through several art books in order to find all the information I needed. This is onerous and time-consuming work. But once in the database, the image and all its details are instantly available on command. I should add that, though the Art Slide Library and the Department of Art History are engaged in their own projects of digitizing images, the EMC early on decided to go its separate way because we wanted to maintain independence over our image use, because images relevant to literary studies are often different from those that interest art historians, and because we wanted to complete our image database with a slideshow feature.
However, the EMC is very much devoted to extending the scope of its picture gallery beyond the English Department, precisely because our interests are interdisciplinary at heart and because we recognize that other departments do not have the technological resources we have to create their own gallery and slideshow feature. In addition to expanding the gallery with images important to the English department's faculty and students, therefore, the EMC intends to extend its embrace to include images of interested early modern faculty across the humanities. As the attached email from Sears McGee, professor of History, testifies, many early modernists in other departments do work that intersects with the cultural work of the English department's early modern faculty. Many, like Professor McGee, would be interested in our store of images and have relevant images of their own that they would want digitized and accessible through our searchable slideshow database. Professor McGee has himself already had his collection of some 5,000 images digitized, but he does not have a sophisticated database for searching his images and he has no slideshow function. Like many faculty, he is currently usually PowerPoint to show his images in his classes. But PowerPoint is a labor-intensive and inflexible way of handling images, as Professor McGee readily acknowledges. The EMC slideshow feature offers a much faster and elastic way of making and changing slideshows. With Professor McGee's blessing, we intend to begin our reach beyond the English Department by mounting his slides in our gallery. In order to do this, we will need to convert his digitized images into 3 sizes and add complete information and keywords for each image. Of course, there are many other early modern faculty and graduates students in the history department and other departments who will benefit from our gallery and slideshow feature (Simon Williams from Dramatic Arts contacted me just this week expressing interest in our database). But Sears McGee's already-digitized collection seems the best place to begin. As time and funding allow, we then plan to reach out to other affiliated faculty as well. We also intend to offer regular demonstrations of the gallery and slideshow database to interested early modernists across the humanities disciplines.
As I hope is evident, the EMC gallery and slideshow feature has the potential to reach and affect in significant ways the instruction of thousands of undergraduates at UCSB. In terms of the early modern courses likely to be affected within the English department alone, they include the 5 large lecture courses (of 200 students each) – English 15: Introduction to Shakespeare; English 101: English Literature from Medieval Period to 1650; English 102: English and American Literature from 1650 to 1789; English 105A: Early Shakespeare; and English 105B: Later Shakespeare – as well as the many courses of 35 students and the senior seminars of 15. This year, for instance, early modernists will have fielded four English 197s of 15 students each and eight courses of 35 students each: English 128: Satire; English, 151JA: Jane Austin; English, 151SP: Swift and Pope; English 157: English Renaissance Drama; English 160: Milton; English 165VA: Literature and the Visual Arts; and English 172: Studies in Enlightenment. As the pioneer of the new slideshow feature, I myself by the end of the year will have used the database to teach English 105A (200 students), English 197 (15 students), and English 165VA (35 students). As professor McGee points out in his email to me, his early introduction to the database has readily revealed to him images he intends to use in his teaching this year of History 4B (Wester Civilization, 1050-1715; 383 students), History 140B (Tudor Britain; 55 students) and History 140B (Stuart Britain; 50 students) – courses he regularly repeats. Without exaggeration, the likely impact of the EMC Picture Gallery and Slideshow on undergraduate teaching is enormous.
b) Ballad Archive, 1500-1800:
Blackletter broadside ballads represented the largest percentage of published works in the early modern period. Printed on quickly degradable, cheap paper, decorated with worn woodcuts (so that they were pasted up on the cottage or alehouse walls as the poor man's oil painting), and sung to popular tunes, these ballads were sold on the streets in quantity along with other perishable items, such as fruit. Because of their cheapness and fragility, most such ballads have been lost. But there are still about 5,000 extant ballads of the early modern period. About a third of these can be found in the Early English Books Online database (EEBO; to which UCSB subscribes). A large portion (from the Pepys collection) have been published in near-unreadable facsimiles. The rest are available only on microfilm. My goal is to make a significant portion of these ballads available to undergraduates while at the same time teaching the students the value and skills of modernizing, editing, and critiquing early modern texts, and then mounting the materials online. Over the course of several years, I wish to run a sequence of courses for undergraduates to do just that. In the process, we will be building a ballad archive that will be available to faculty teaching survey courses of the early modern period. But in order to modernize, edit and critique the ballads in undergraduate courses, a lot of preliminary work needs to be done. I had planned to teach an undergraduate course titled "Ballad Art" last year, but had to cancel the course when I discovered that the EEBO online database held too few ballads. I cannot offer this course and its sequels without a student assistant to help me locate the extant ballads and organize them by theme, so that they can be presented to the undergraduates in manageable units.
Once the materials are available in an organized way, I expect my series of ballad courses will teach valuable skills to undergraduates: editing, webwork, and critical analysis. The number of students that will be affected immediately is not huge: each of my planned three ballad courses will be capped at 35 students, making for a total of 105 affected. But the product of these courses will be a ballad archive that could be used in teaching our two introductory early modern lecture courses (of 200 students each), English 101 and 102, in our many Shakespeare lecture courses (since Shakespeare frequently cites ballads in his plays), as well as in other early modern classes interested in popular or lower-order culture.
c) British Theater Archive, 1500-1800:
The EMC further proposes to begin the work of building a website on the history of British theater during the early modern period, 1500-1800. Currently, web resources exist for the earlier part of this period, particularly concerning the Shakespearian theater of the late sixteenth and early seventeenth century. But no web resources adequately address the theater of the latter part of this period (1660-1800), and the theater sites that do exist for those years do not combine a study of the theatrical players with the development of the theater as a physical and management structure. Most importantly, no web resources treat the theater of the entire early modern period in continuity. This web project breaks new ground in all of these areas.
The website would trace the history of play production from 1500 to 1800. It would include pictures of and articles about the development of the physical theater building; play composition; playwrights; and actors and actresses. Most importantly, it would demonstrate how these four factors influenced each other to create distinct yet continuous theater productions during the time period. The advantage of having such a history online, replete with images, is that it can be readily drawn upon for lectures by faculty and for course papers and exams by students. Mounting images side-by-side of a Renaissance stage and an eighteenth-century stage, for instance, would be most illustrative for understanding the developmental changes of theater construction. Being able to type in the title of a sixteenth-century play and find out when and where and by whom it was performed over the course of the next 200 years would be wonderfully educational and not something currently available on any web site (or in any printed book for that matter).
As theater is an essential literary genre of the early modern period, this website stands to impact hundreds of students enrolled in UCSB English Department courses. The website would be utilized in the department's lecture series, English 101 (English Literature from the Medieval period to 1650) and English 102 (English and American Literature from 1650 to 1789), both of which are required for English majors and which are capped at 200 students apiece. The website would also be used in related early modern courses, including English 157: Renaissance Drama; English 197, Women Writers, 1550-1700; every Shakespeare class, including English 15: Introduction to Shakespeare; English 105A: Early Shakespeare; English 105B: Late Shakespeare; English 165VA: Literature and the Visual Arts; and English 172: Studies in the Enlightenment. All of these classes have approximate enrollments of 35 students. The approximate total of students taught in the English Department that would be annually impacted by this web site, therefore, is 645. In all likelihood the numbers impacted would be even greater, however, since this site would clearly be of immense use to faculty in Dramatic Arts as well. In fact, when Simon Williams, Professor of Dramatic Arts, recently contacted me about the EMC's Picture Gallery and Slideshow feature, he requested to participate in our project, if funding for the Theater archive were approved. Dramatic Arts, he estimates, holds about 2,000 slides of the English theater, 1500-1800, just waiting to be digitized and stored in a searchable database. These images would be incorporated into the EMC's Theater History for use by Dramatic Arts (and other interested departments) as well as by the English Department.


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No Charge to Attend for Members or Guests
Who Attend Online via GoToWebinar.com!
Have you ever watched those tv programs that show couples flipping properties for tens of thousands of dollars and wished you could do that? Do you wish that you could find something that could provide you with additional income that would make your life better? Well guess what. Real estate might be your answer and it's easier than you think. Most people think you have to have lots of money or good cred to buy real estate. Some people even think you have to be really smart. The truth is NONE of this is true! Don't get me wrong, having any and all of those things are helpful but definitely not needed. In fact, most of the time I prefer to teach people with none of those things because then you can't use them as a crutch!
This month on the BIGO broadcast, I will be showing you how to make money without any of your own money or cred. All you will need is your willingness to learn and your ability to apply simple techniques. I will show you how to identify a property, put it under contract and simply assign that contract to someone else for a fee. I will also show you how to buy properties where the homeowner just deeds over the property to you and you become the owner. Can you imagine buying properties where you never have to use your cred and never have to go to the bank ever again. Would you like to buy a new home to live in but can't afford the down payment? That's no problem, I'll show you how.
Here is some of the items you can learn from this session:
If you've ever said these words to yourself, " I wish I could afford that..." then you need to be on this broadcast. This could be the most important session you go to your whole life. There are two types of people out there in this world. Those that "Dream" and those that "Do." Which do you want to be? Be on this month's broadcast on Wednesday September 27th @ 7PM ET and let me change the statement from "I wish I could afford that..." to "How can I afford that?" Let me leave you with this thought. " If you don't build your dream, someone will hire you to build theirs". Is that what you want? RSVP NOW!
The Beginning Investors Group Online ( The "BIG O" or BIGO) is an ONLINE educational group for new investors who are just getting started in real estate investing as well as "new again" real estate investors who've taken a few years off and are looking to get back in the game. We will be bringing in local and national real estate experts to teach new investors how to survive and thrive in our ever changing economy and real estate market. The entire purpose of this group is to help new investors get their first deal and help new again investors get their next deal. The Beginning Investors Group Online meets on the 4th Wednesday of each month from 7:00 PM ET to 9:00 PM on GoToWebinar. The main presentation will start at 7:00 PM ET and go to approximately 8:30 to 9:00 PM.
TO ATTEND ONLINE: 7:00PM Start Time. To attend the Beginning Investors Group Online via your PC, smart phone or tablet, Register Here for the Broadcast on GoToWebinar.com and you will be emailed login instructions for the event.
Once you get your Webinar Confirmation Email, you can login on about 5-10 minutes prior to the 7PM start time to reserve a spot using your PC, Mac, Tablet or Smart Phone. You can download the GoToWebinar App here on iTunes App Store or the Google Play Store.Read More >>
Please join us on Wednesday, September 27th at NOON for the Chattanooga REIA Onsite Renovation Group hosted by Michael Hicks, to learn all about finding, funding, fixing, and flipping houses for big profits. This month's meeting site will be at one of Michael Hicks's renovation projects located at 96 Center Dr in Chickamauga, GA.
This month, Mike will show you this 3 bed 1 and half bath house built in 1960. Come see how Mike plans to transform this property into one of the most desirable in the area. Newbies and Experienced Investors are invited to come out, ask questions, get those questions answered, take notes and learn in a new way to save you from costly mistakes.
Click Here For Site Map to 96 Center Dr, Chickamauga, GA and join us for info that you can't afford to miss.
Chattanooga REIA Members & Guests, Please RSVP on Meetup.com
The Chattanooga REIA Onsite Renovation Group is an educational and networking group that focuses on the acquisition, renovation and retail resale (fix and flip) of single family residential homes. The purpose of the group is to allow both new and experienced rehabbers and investors to meet, network and share knowledge and experience with "hands on" access to real property.
The Onsite Renovation Group meets on the 4th Wednesday each month at NOON ET at an active renovation site, build site or rental property which will vary from month to month. At this time, there is no charge to attend.SaveSaveSaveSave Read More >>
Comps. New investors here that term often and will continue to in their investing career. The questions asked are, where can you get comps, are they accurate, how do they relate to my offers, and are the comps "good"?
This month, we have as our guest, Chuck Phillips of CRS Data coming to show you about comps. Chuck's business is ALL about comps which is why we chose him to speak at the Beginning Investors Group on Wednesday, September 20th at 6PM at Wally's Restaurant located at 6521 Ringgold Rd in East Ridge, TN. As our special guest, Chuck Phillips will show you and answer your questions about comps. Please RSVP and come join us!
Chuck will show you:
Chattanooga REIA Members & Guests, Please RSVP on Meetup.com
Have you been a "real estate investor" for several months or even years without doing your first deal? What is holding you back? Fear? Lack of money? Credit Problems? Lack of Focus? Are you afraid you will screw it all up?
Why make such a big deal about your first deal? Well, it's the hardest deal you will do, but once you get through it, your belief in yourself and real estate investing will rise dramatically. You will be on your way to becoming a true real estate investor.
BIG will have experienced local and regional investors speaking and leading interactive exercises on relevant topics on a beginners level. We also have mentors attending that can take you by the hand and can walk you through that first deal. So please join us on the 3rd Wednesday of every month. Arrive around 5:30PM so you can get some delicious food at Wally's in East Ridge.
The Chattanooga REIA Beginning Investors Group (BIG) hosted by Alan McDonald, is an educational and networking special interest group for new investors who are just getting started in real estate investing as well as "new again" real estate investors who've taken a few years off and are looking to get back in the game. BIG is hosted by Alan McDonald, who will be bringing in local and regional real estate experts to teach new investors how to survive and thrive in our ever changing economy and real estate market. The entire purpose of this group is to help new investors get their first deal and help new again investors get their next deal!
The Beginning Investors Group meets on the 3rd Wednesdays of each month from 6:00 PM to 8:15 PM at Wally's Restaurant located at 6521 Ringgold Rd, East Ridge, TN just off of I-75 at Exit 1. BIG is FREE for Chattanooga REIA Members. Guests and Not-Yet-Members will eventually pay a fee, but for now, there is no charge for anyone that attends. This is a "dinner" group and we kindly request that you buy dinner and/or drinks since Wally's allows us to meet there. There will be lots of learning and lots of networking. Bring your deals and your haves, wants and needs to the meeting for discussion.Save Read More >>
"The more I examine the issue of clutter, the more effort I put into combating it, because it really does act as a weight." ~ Gretchen Rubin
The Key Ring app is a mobile wallet that can consolidate all your store loyalty reward cards. This is a great way to keep all your cards in one place and stay organized with lists and coupons right in the app. Instead of cluttering up your physical key chain, the app allows the user to hold all the store membership cards. So, you're never without them! It also holds gift card information, which is great! Never lose track of a gift card again. This app has over 12 million downloads, making this one of the most practical and useful apps.
This digital wallet makes your rear facing camera a barcode scanner, just point and shoot your membership card. Just be sure to get a clear view of the barcode on the card. It will recognize all the data associated with that barcode and store it for you. To present the card in store just show your phone. The barcode for that store's loyalty card will appear on screen that the clerk can scan at the register. Read More >>
I hate being an idiot, but when you screw up like I just did, it qualifies me to be the biggest nimrod in the land!
The most powerful document in real estate investing is the option agreement. Sadly, the least used and most misunderstood document in real estate also happens to be the option agreement. Why don't more folks know how to effectively use options to control property? Probably because there are so few investors who have experience using options.
Most folks have heard of Lease Options, but what about Purchase Options, Performance Options and First Right of Refusal Options, to name but a few? Read More >>
Many students have asked me "Can you short sale a reverse mortgage?" and I had informed them that I have never done one before. However, recently I have received two seller leads who have reverse mortgages that had asked for assistance in selling their homes. A Reverse Mortgage is different from a regular mortgage that a homeowner would receive.
A Reverse Mortgage is normally used by elderly individuals who owned their home free and clear that don't want to have a monthly mortgage payment, want their equity out of the home and want to continue living in their home until their death. Here is my understanding of a reverse mortgage. Read More >>
Real estate held within a real estate IRA is no different than real estate held elsewhere. Most of the same general principles that are applicable to any other real estate investment apply to real estate IRA properties, including contractor selection and hiring. This piece will deal primarily with the specific issues that apply to real estate IRAs (as well as real estate investments held within self-directed 401(k)s, SEPs, SIMPLE IRAs and other tax-advantaged accounts).
Observe prohibited transaction rules. When you own a real estate IRA, there are certain restrictions on whom you can bring on as a contractor to help fix, repair or renovate your real estate IRA properties. First of all, you cannot hire yourself. You cannot work for direct compensation or salary in any capacity in your real estate IRA. The IRS enforces very strict laws that prohibit you from using your real estate IRA to transact directly with yourself, your spouse, your children, grandchildren, parents or grandparents or those of your spouse, as well as any advisor who works with you on your real estate IRA in a fiduciary capacity. The same goes for any corporation or other business entity they control. Read More >>
I firmly believe that learning how to manage your rental properties as a Real Estate Investor is instrumental to the success and profitability of your income properties and your sanity, especially in today's market where so many investors are buying and holding property.
As a Real Estate Investor, you don't have to hire a property management company to manage your rentals unless you really want to. You can manage them yourself easily if you set down some specific rules for your tenants and your business. Once you reach a number of rentals where it becomes a lot more work than you want to deal with, then you may want to hire a property management service. But if you own fewer than 30 rental properties for example (I'm talking about single family homes or duplexes) you can definitely handle the management yourself by simply following a few rules. Read More >>
Over the past few weeks I have had several conversations with investors who say they can never get any seller to give them seller financing terms. This just doesn't make sense to me. I have in the past, and still do have success getting seller financing terms on many of the properties I buy. After having these conversations and several days to think about what the investors said to me and why they are having absolutely no success getting the sellers to give them any type of seller financing terms is why I decided to write this article.
One of the investors I talked with told me he is buying as many as 35 houses every month, paying cash for them. This investor has already put together a group of private lenders who provides him with all of the money he needs to buy his properties. For him and all others who have private lenders providing them with the cash they need in my opinion have a wonderful thing going for them and I wish them much success. This article isn't for those who already have all the money they need to do their deals. This article is for the majority of investors I meet who have little or no money or they don't have private lenders who are willing to fund their deals. Read More >>
Tracking even the little expenses is important.
How does most of the money you owe individuals and companies get disbursed? Do you print checks, or write them by hand? Use credit cards? Pay online through your bank's website?
Keeping track of your outgoing funds can be challenging, since there are so many ways to complete those transactions. But it's important that all expenses are recorded correctly and consistently, to keep your company file accurate. In addition, so many of your expenses are tax- deductible. You don't want to miss any of them. Read More >>
As most people know hurricane/ tropical storm Harvey has left a path of destruction in Texas and Louisiana. Now, only two weeks later, hurricane Irma is projected to hit Florida. These disasters do not come around as often as a foreclosure, fire, broken pipes, job loss, deaths or a number of other things but all these are life changing events in people's lives. Keep this in mind when making an offer on their home.
The easiest way to make a profit in real estate, much like most things, is to buy low and sell high. If you are sourcing your own deals and speaking directly to these sellers you need to fully explain the reason behind your offer. Read More >>
In February 2017, I wrote about beginner's rules and the first presentation a person could do when looking to raise capital. I talked about the mistakes that I made early on. I just changed the names to protect the innocent, me.
I want you to think about being able to raise private money from local sources, business people, retirees, and people who have money sitting in banks or accounts that are barely earning them a .01% rate of return. If you are one of those people then we need to talk.
So, picture yourself walking up to people and building a relationship. Is this scary? Is this awkward? Is this a cake walk? Read More >>
Many business owners try their hand at various business deals before stepping into their sweet spot. Real estate investing is the avenue that many people have used to make their mark in the business world. Ready to dive into the real estate market by investing in a rental property? The opportunities are ripe, but I certainly don't want you to make any mistakes so follow these tips and you'll be on your way to securing a successful deal.
First, the only numbers you should trust are yours. Use REIAComps to do your due diligence which should involve determining the best purchase price and After Repair Value (ARV), along with potential expenses, maintenance fees, and any other costs associated with a given property. Double check any information provided by the broker or seller. One of the easier avenues to check is REIAComps. Confirm all of your numbers so you know exactly what kind of expenses to factor into the deal. Read More >>
In this article, we're going to be discussing one of the essential skills you must possess if you're going to be successful in this real estate (or any other) business. When you master this skill, you'll be MUCH more efficient with your time, reduce frustration & anxiety, and keep your self-respect and motivation. Sound good?
Of Course, I'm Talking About How To Properly Pre-screen People.
We all know that the first thing we need in any business is LEADS - people who have raised their hands to signal that they're interested in either our product or service...or are at least interested in getting more information about it. In real estate, this could simply be a list of people who either want to sell their house or buy a house. Read More >>
In this article, I will go over a life-threatening thinking disease most of us have (but are unaware), a way to cure that disease, and immediate actions you can take to cultivate happiness.
For the majority of my life I was plagued with a disease. This disease was the root of much pain and regret, along with endless rumination and misery. I was pursuing a career as a musician and was fixated on the material wealth, vanity, and approval of others. Deep down inside I was truly empty.
I was never happy with any and all aspects of myself and my life, as a result of this self-hatred I criticized myself, family and friends, pushed everyone away, and sabotaged anything good in my life. What masked the underlying issues was a pattern of nit picking everything to avoid taking a good look at myself and the baggage I was holding onto. What troubled me most was that I had the most beautiful life and an abundance of happiness right in front of me, but I was plagued with NGE. Read More >>


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Tell us a little bit about your book. What was your inspiration behind it?
I was impacted by Crohn's disease at the age of thirteen and never knew it. I recognized that something was wrong with me but it took almost four decades to identify the issue. Crohn's is a disease that waxes and wanes and makes life difficult; not understanding that you have it only makes it worse. I have met and read about many people, especially young adults, who have been devastated by this ailment and I observed that while the physical elements of the disease were challenging, the emotional issues of sadness, grief, fear and anger were even more pronounced. I recognized that my almost fifty years of experience with Crohn's gives me a wealth of knowledge that I can share with others in the hope that they can benefit from my mistakes and the mental and emotional processes I used to manage this disease and build health. My hope is that other patients will recognize their lives can continue to be full and rich, even with a disease likes Crohn's.
How do you balance writing with all the other things going on in your life, like your work, family, health?
Once I made a decision to write this book, it took about a year. Just like we take time to eat and sleep, writing became a requirement and a part of my regular process. While the project was large, I recognized that the best way to manage it was to work on a consistent basis. Some days I did more than others and there were periods when work and family did not allow time for writing. I think my motivation to write about a topic that would help others was a major driver for me to complete the task. I felt the message of the book would be medicine for people with Crohn's to help cool their inflamed and distressed minds and I wanted it to be available to those who need it.
What is your writing process like?
I try to write during the morning when I feel most alert, rested and creative. I use a PC and rarely take written notes because I cannot read my handwriting! If I have the time, I prefer to write in 2-4 hour bursts. I work off of an outline but once I start to write I do not pay much attention to the outline, grammar or exactly where I am going. I tend to get large chunks of ideas that come forth and I continue to write until they stop. This can go on for some time and the ideas and thought trails take me in various directions. During these times, I am not so concerned about the exact content of my thoughts but want to get things down on paper. I will go back later and clean it up but these creative thought bursts contain the best ideas and I allow them to continue unabated and I don't get in their way with too much concrete thinking.
What is your biggest advice for other writers, particularly young writers just starting out?
I think it begins with having something meaningful to say. I never considered writing a book during the first five decades of my life. I started writing this book when a number of people told time that I had something that could help others and this serviced as my motivation to start writing. Once I made the commitment to write, the next issue for me was organization. I spent time outlining the main themes and points and did this before I did any writing. I wanted to have the bullet points in mind and then build out the rest of the story. I had forty pages of outline before I wrote my first sentence.
What are some of your favorite books?
I love science fiction and read a lot of the old books byArthur C. Clarke, Lester Del Rey and Ray Bradbury, among others. I also read The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings Trilogy when they first came out and thoroughly enjoyed Harry Potter. I have many interests in nonfiction as well and enjoy authors like Caroline Myss, Deepak Chopra, Wayne Dyer and Robert Leichtman.
What's next for you?
I have started outlining two more books, one on how companies can hire and retain great people while creating a culture of excellence and support. The other is about how people can find meaning and nourishment in their life's work. Both of these relate to what I have done for over twenty years and I think I can add value in writing these books.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
Writing is a wonderful opportunity to go into detail on issues and ideas that can impact people's lives. As the writer, you have control over your message and do not need to be concerned about brevity. You can take the time to develop the idea and then express it in its fullness.
You can connect with James Patterson online here:
- Facebook: http://on.fb.me/
- Linked-In: http://www.linkedin.com/in/


text: It's the last trunk market of the season, and might be the last chance to see us and our wares in person! This Saturday (12th of August) we will both be at the Anchorage re:MADE trunk market! Come check us out at the @cubelight booth! Tags: Cubelight GFX & Cawbox Blogs Tweet cubelight's blog


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Then I decided that I just wasn't going to give up on ordering one with the picture I actually wanted to send. We took this last summer at Driftwood Beach on Jekyll Island (a fav spot of ours). So just for kicks I looked online at what CVS Photoshop had to offer. Guess what? I loved theirs too! At .99 each I just couldn't resist ordering some those too.
This is an exciting time for Andrew and we couldn't be more proud of all of his accomplishments!


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Motorways of Seas
Motorways of the SeasLCT handles in excess of half a million containers per year, and is the only UK port truly servicing both deep sea and short sea customers. In addition to equipment upgrades and investment in new straddle carriers, plans are in place for a long term container terminal redevelopment including a single reception gate covering both security and container processing, new cranes, a bespoke IT system and surfacing work.
Part of the investment plan is the purchase of 14 brand new straddle carriers in a multi-million pound deal with Cargotec. Cargotec, one of the world's most advanced handling solutions providers, will deliver the 4-high machines to the port in April 2013 and this deal reflects a strong relationship between both companies, with many of the existing carriers having been previously provided by Cargotec.
The straddle carrier investment has been aided by the Motorway of the Sea grant, awarded to the Port of Tilbury and Port of Bilbao this summer. The grant is for the "IBUK – Intermodal Corridor" project, which aims to reduce congestion between the Iberian Peninsula and the UK by moving trucks off the road and onto a more efficient multi-modal logistics corridor. Follow our partner link in Motorways of the Sea at the Port of Bilbao


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Monthly Archives: May 2017
Our Silly and Sinful Musings About Suicide ("Say Hello To Heaven") #3
The picture to my left is a terrifying reality for many people, who merely want to live in peace. As I revealed in part #2 of this series, I had demonic voices telling me to hurt others and myself. So … Continue reading
Our Silly and Sinful Musings About Suicide ("Say Hello To Heaven") #2
(If you have not read part #1 please close click this link to read https://4rs4thechurch.com/2017/05/28/our-silly-and-sinful-musings-about-suicide-say-hello-to-heaven/) In 1997 I was a very different man. In spite of being college educated (and graduating in 6 months)—being engaged to my wife Kim and awaiting … Continue reading
Our Silly and Sinful Musings About Suicide ("Say Hello To Heaven")
"Say Hello to Heaven" is the title and chorus of a song recorded and made famous by the band "Temple of the Dog" in 1991. Temple of the Dog was a unique group of musicians from what would become two of … Continue reading
Elijah Will Be His Name! (Concerning God's Faithfulness)
Two years ago today (May 23, 2015) Elijah James Erdel was born. As you can see (eating his birthday donut) he is as handsome as he is gifted at stuffing his mouth with food. Being our fifth child, one might … Continue reading
(Matthew 9:35-38) Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved … Continue reading


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The rolling green hills and apple orchards some 7 km south of San Sebastian make up the heart of Basque Country sidra natural production. The towns of Astigarraga and nearby Hernani are home to some fifteen Sidrerias, or Sagardotegia, as they are called in Basque.
The Sagardoetxea, or Museo de la Sidra, offers a tasting room, an equipment and video presentation in separate building, a walking tour of an apple orchard mock-up, and an overview of the history and process. In my case I arrived at the museum along with an Canadian couple so we were given a tour in English. A similar tour at the Nava Sidra Museum in Austurias was entirely in Spanish and my translation was poor, so details about the malic acid process, for example, were probably not interpreted clearly by me.
The first day I visited Astigarraga I found the town curiously empty. Some bars were open but empty of all but staff. I noticed small groups walking around a fenced greenscape and into a narrow street climbing a cobblestone hill. I followed them. To my surprise I walked straight into a festival of sidra natural, with bottles from roughly twenty sagardotegia all from Basque Country, one or two from across the nearby border with France.
What the Basque call "Giza-abere probak", which translates to "human-animal tests".
Pintxos and sidra natural for lunch at an unplanned festival. Being lucky beats being good today.
Sidra natural from Alorrenea, a personal favorite.
Lizeaga Sidra Natural Eusko Label.
An Eusko Label is sidra natural made entirely with locally-grown apples from the grounds, while standard label sidra usually includes a larger mixture of apples from different orchards and regions.


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Sawyer Timothy Cameron – Born 08.13.08
Welcome to the family Sawyer. Luckily you have a great big sister to watch over you. There will be a ton of pictures on flickr…in the next couple days. I've been crazy busy; juggling work and Sawyer has been great for putting the important things in perspective for change.


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SWISS - Tromso Airport (TOS)
The airport consists of two terminals, the older Terminal B and the newer Terminal A. Both terminals make a unique building. The ground level hosts arrivals area and the first level hosts check-in and departures area.
Check your arriving flight here
Check your departing flight here
Follow the links below in order to see all the flights scheduled for SWISS
- Arrivals
- Departures
In order to check in for your flight at Tromso Airport (TOS), go to departures hall in the main building terminal, or follow the instructions provided in your ticket.
General Information
- IATA Code: LX
- Website: www.swiss.com/US/en
This airline does not operate any flights, all flights are codeshared flights, operated by the following airlines:


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Looking for an easy meal or appetizer that will feed a crowd? Look no further because these Three Pepper Loaded Chicken Nachos are hearty enough for a meal and simple enough for an appetizer. Top them … [Read more...]
Three Pepper Loaded Chicken Nachos
Caramelized Brussels Sprouts With Bacon and Barber Foods Cordon Bleu
Thank you Barber Foods for partnering with me on this post. All content, photography, opinions and the recipe are my own. I've said it before and I will say it again.. summer is my time of … [Read more...]
One Pan Supreme Pizza Lasagna
This one pan Supreme Pizza Lasagna is short on prep time and big on flavor. Even your pickiest eaters will love it. Does your family celebrate the holiday season by giving gifts? If so are you all … [Read more...]
Blue Cheese, Bacon and Cranberry Stuffed Mushrooms
These Blue Cheese, Bacon and Cranberry Stuffed Mushrooms are the perfect appetizer for a more sophisticated palate. My husband and I are foodies. We love trying new foods even when we think we may … [Read more...]
Spanish Rice Stuffed Mushrooms
This conversation was sponsored by Mahatma. All opinions and content are my own. With the holidays fast approaching there will be numerous parties and gatherings. These Spanish Rice Stuffed … [Read more...]
Chocolate Cupcakes with Marshmallow Coconut Icing
I enjoy baking but rarely find the time to do so. It's a good thing that I have a wonderful young family to help me pull things off … things like these delicious Chocolate Cupcakes With Marshmallow … [Read more...]
Homemade Parmesan Italian Salad Dressing
This is a sponsored post by Michael Angelo's. All opinions and content are my own. Homemade Parmesan Italian Salad Dressing will quickly be a favorite in your house just like it is ours. Use it … [Read more...]
Not So Sloppy Sloppy Joe Casserole
This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #YesYouCAN #CollectiveBias Think you can't make a delicious meal that will appeal to kids … [Read more...]
Quick and Easy Chilaquiles With Fried Eggs
Chilaquiles is a Mexican dish with fried tortilla chips, spicy tomato sauce and cheese. Use a prepared marinara sauce & add eggs and you have a quick and easy meal suitable for those busy weeknights … [Read more...]
Creamy Bruschetta Dip #gfwalmart
This post was created in partnership with Walmart but all opinions, recipes and content are my own. #gfwalmart I recently attended a Gluten Free event at Walmart. I've attended these events … [Read more...]


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Smoked ice cream – another insidious concept, once you've heard of it, you've got to cook it (right?)
And where better to debut such a dish than tomorrow's cook-off?
This particularly piece of insanity is from Extebarri – a restaurant rapidly developing legendary status. The owner, Victor cooks virtually everything over charcoal, using specially made adjustable height grills. Of course the charcoal is home-made. I can't really think of anything greater than this.
If you are watching Rick Stein's latest program on Spain you will have seen it featured in episode #2. Rick also seems quite happy with the concept.
The ice cream recipe is actually fairly standard. The difference is that before you make the custard, you hot-smoke the cream, milk and in this case glucose mixture over oak for about an hour.
Having just made it I can tell you the resulting milk is absolutely delicious. I was drinking it direct from my Pyrex jug. I could even see this being served on its own – maybe as a posh dessert course, or perhaps set into a clever take on burnt custard (you heard it hear first, ok?).
If you fancy trying it, here's the recipe, lifted and adapted from the brilliant book Planet Barbecue! by Steve Raichlen. I reckon it's easier to do with a Bradley Smoker but you could do it on the BBQ, probably for less time.
2 parts double cream to 1 part whole milk (the higher the fat content the better IMO)
3/4 part glucose
1/4 part sugar
5 egg yolks per litre of ice cream
Combined cream, whole milk and glucose. Smoke over oak chips at 250 degrees F (120 degree C) for an hour or until it has developed a rich smoke flavour.
Whisk egg yolks and sugar until creamy.
Add hot milk in steady stream while whisking (don't allow to curdle).
Add mixture back to pan and cook whilst stirring until thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon (again don't let it curdle).
Cool down over night and then churn in an ice cream maker.


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Mystery Box for Thumb Grips
Faster shipping to USA. Only 2-5 business days delivery
Mystery Box:
If you have difficulty choosing patterns or need a surprise for your life, choose this box! If you also want a big discount(~50% off), choose this box! The purpose of making the box is to create surprise and mystery!
- Two RANDOM thumb grips in ONE box and are promised to be DIFFERENT.
- ~50% OFF! But all the cases are 100% Brand NEW.
- The grips are chosen from ALL the GeekShare thumb grips so there might be other grips in the box, which are NOT shown in the pictures.
- 5% chance to win special stickers as BONUS!
- Please pay attention to the categories you choose - ①Nintendo Switch/Switch Lite/Switch OLED; ②PS4/PS5/Switch Pro
- Since this is a special product, we do NOT support the refund, return, or exchange!!!
- If you've had certain thumb grips from our shop and want to ensure that you won't get that same one again in the mystery box. Please LEAVE A NOTE for us when purchasing. There should be an "Add a note for the seller" box in your cart. However, you can only exclude one kind of thumb grip.
Good Luck:
Different surprises, unexpected boxes, just like your good fortune never ends.


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GOT7's BamBam Hilariously Responded To Thirsty Comments
In a recent live broadcast, GOT7's BamBam announced his first solo album. He also took the time to catch up and talk with Ahgases, but things quickly escalated.
With T-Pain's "Buy U a Drank (Shawty Snappin')," the mood was right, so some viewers decided to shoot their shot with BamBam. He began noticing some suggestive comments.
Everyone, slow down, hold up! Don't say something overage here. Okay? I see some comments saying, 'BamBam, I want to taste your pink lips.' Boy?! Come on!
— BamBam
When the commenter informed him that they were 24 years old, he changed his attitude. He said, "I'm waiting for you." The thirsty comments didn't end there, however. One was so bold that even BamBam became flustered enough that he laughed while reading it.
'Daddy, drink me when you're thirsty.' I choose water. Okay?
— BamBam
Throughout the live broadcast, there was also an influx of persons addressing him as "daddy." He attempted to put a stop to it.
I'm not a daddy. Okay? I'm a little brother!
— BamBam
BamBam took multiple sips of water during the live broadcast, encouraging viewers to stay hydrated when they're thirsty. 😉
Watch a clip from the live broadcast below:
Vlive ahgase y'all are wild🏃♀ #bambam #got7 #ahgase #igot7 #vlive
Check out more funny moments from BamBam's live broadcast below:
GOT7's BamBam Had The Cutest Response To A 61-Year-Old Fan During His Livestream


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Tigrai Online
May 01, 2012
Four people were killed in southeastern Ethiopia when Muslim protesters attacked a police station following the arrest of a preacher, said State Minister of Communications Shimeles Kemal.
The deaths occurred on April 27 in Asasa, in the Arsi Zone of Oromia region, after a crowd tried to free the imam, Shimeles said in a phone interview today from Addis Ababa, the capital. Ten policemen were injured, the police station and post office burned down and 24 people arrested, he said.
"A certain imam, an Islamic fundamentalist, had been trying to instigate jihad," said Shimeles. "When police arrested him, his supporters tried to get him released forcefully."
Incidents of religious strife in Ethiopia are rare, though there have been fatal sectarian clashes in the southwest of the country in recent years. Ethiopia is Africa's second-most populous nation, after Nigeria. Its people are 44 percent Ethiopian Orthodox Christian, 34 percent Muslim and 19 percent Protestant, according to the CIA World Factbook.
Source: Bloomberg
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"poetically directed by Batra, Broadbent without a doubt gives a terrific performance as the central character"
Tony Webster (Jim Broadbent), a semi-retired camera-store owner receives a registered letter but stashes it away in his pocket not opening it, and when he does read it we only catch a mere glimpse of it.
As the story unfolds, we learn that an item has been left to him by the deceased mother of an old girlfriend, Veronica (who, in flashback is played by Freya Mavor and in present day by Charlotte Rampling) who is reluctant to give up the item, and Tony's efforts to retrieve it lead him to relay past events to ex-wife (Harriet Walter).
Significant events are revealed gradually via a number of flashbacks, with questions eventually answered, which lead to others. The movie being made up with plenty of gratifying delay tactics.
Nick Payne's writing is so real that you feel you are a part of the conversations being held between the different characters, and what's interesting about the character of Susie (Michelle Dockery of 'Downton Abbey' fame), Tony's daughter, is her set of circumstances, which we are left to interpret as we see fit: we know not how she came to be carrying a baby on her own, or who, indeed, is the father. Yet somehow we require no explanations.
"The film is a beautiful adaptation of the book," according to Dockery, who leapt at the opportunity of working with Ritesh Batra, in these words Dockery sums up Batra's earlier film, The Lunchbox and his latest, The Sense of an Ending: "As individuals we all have a journey and are the authors of our own story. We are all extraordinary,"
Batra is known for debut feature film The Lunchbox, which stars Irrfan Khan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, and Nimrat Kaur, it tells the story of Ila (Nimrat Kaur), a lonely housewife, who decides to spice up her rather stale marriage by preparing an extraordinary lunch. Unfortunately, the delivery of it finds its way into the hands of Saajan (Irrfan Khan), a widower. Curious Ila writes a note, and encloses it in the next day's lunchbox. It isn't long before a friendship, if unusual strikes up between him and she, where they express their woes and joys of life without actually meeting.
The Lunchbox premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2013, and won the Rail d'Or (Grand Golden Rail). The Lunchbox was also rated the highest grossing foreign film in America, Europe and Australia in 2014. Batra was nominated for a BAFTA in 2015, for the Best Film Not in the English language.
In The Sense of an Ending, Broadbent without a doubt gives a terrific performance as the central character, whose interest in others is limited, one might go so far as to say 'he is a bit of a jerk.' The Sense of an Ending is poetically directed by Batra, as was the case with The Lunchbox, which I am inclined to prefer for its originality.


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Thu, Apr 20|
Tulum Beach
Shared Temazcal Ceremony
$90 USD - $1,665 MXN per person
Date and Location
Apr 20, 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM EST
Tulum Beach, KM 5 Carretera Tulum-Boca Paila Lt10 Zona Hotelera, Tulum Beach, 77780 Tulum, Q.R., Mexico
About event
SHARED Temazcal Ceremony up to 10 people
Book paying only the deposit and the rest upon arrival
Deposit $20 USD - $370 MXN
Pay upon arrival $70 USD - $1295 MXN
The Temazcal ceremony includes a series of cleansing and energy-enhancing steps. In addition to providing renewal for the body, the Temazcal is often an experience of emotional release and spiritual purification, leaving bathers at once invigorated and utterly relaxed.
After sweating out all spiritual and physical impurities, you will leave with a sense of inner harmony, enlightenment and rejuvenation. The Temazcal combats insomnia and depression, releasing negative air tensions, which can increase energy and relieve depression and stress.
This service can be booked privately for groups, different dates and schedules here: https://www.serpentrouge.org/service-page/private-temazcal
Ticket Types
Deposit 1 person
Deposit $20 USD = $370 MXN Pay upon arrival $70 USD = $1,295


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SPS Technoscreen is a 60 year+ old company with full focus on (industrial) screen printing. Manufacturer of a series of high end STOP cylinder presses, sheet fed / flat screen. In addition, strategic partner with Atma Champ from Taiwan. The world largest manufacturer of industrial flat bed and R2R machinery. Camera registration systems can reach machine repeatability of 15 micron! Active in markets like: Security printing, Plastic card printing, Textile transfer printing, Print finishing, Printed flexible and rigid Electronics, Medical print applications, Ceramic decal printing, Membrane switch overlay,
ESMA Newsletter
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I was inspired by a recent post on John K's blog regarding realistic and cartoon acting:
To illustrate his point, he posted several screencaps of a scene from the Honeymooners.
I thought it would be an interesting excercise to sketch out this interaction with two of my characters in Ralph and Norton's place.
I know they aren't necessarily on model or to scale, but that wasn't the point. It was to get a more expressive and subtle performance out my characters that I may not have done before.
There are some I like better than others and I can see where I could have added more but it was still a fun little excercise to do. Go ahead and give it a try!


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Honen-in was no spectacular buildings but has beautifully elegant and calm Japanese atmosphere. This small temple may look like a Zen Buddhist seminary though it's not really a Zen temple. Though the temple is open to the public throughout the year, the buildings of the temple are to be open to the public only twice a year, April 1 – 7 and November 1 to 7.
Categories: Facts


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CSC Reports FY 2013 Annual Corporate Responsibility Progress
CSC Reports FY 2013 Annual Corporate Responsibility Progress
CO2e Emissions Reduced 13% YoY
Responsible Supply Chain Program In Place for the More Than 35% of Annual Procurement Spend
Over 50,000 Hours of Employee Volunteer Time
FALLS CHURCH, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- CSC today announced the release of its annual corporate responsibility (CR) report, detailing the Company's social and environmental sustainability achievements in Fiscal Year 2013. CSC focuses its CR efforts in five areas: Environment, Clients, Employees, Community, and Governance. Results include:
Environment: The Company's targeted program to reduce energy usage and emissions at its data centers and facilities achieved a 43,000 ton or 13% reduction of Scope 1 (Direct) and Scope 2 (Indirect) CO2e emissions over the year. This reduction is equivalent to the annual emissions of 9,000 passenger vehicles. CSC has committed to further reducing emissions and costs by setting global 3-year energy reduction targets of 10% across its entire real-estate portfolio.
With ISO 14001 certification already in place in eleven data centers across the UK, Australia, Denmark, Spain, and Luxembourg, CSC plans to certify seven additional data centers in the coming two years. ISO 14001 addresses continual improvement in environmental management. In the UK and Australia alone, the ISO 14001 certifications enabled the achievement of energy reduction targets of 30% and 25%, respectively.
Through aggressive initiatives to extend asset life and conserve raw materials, CSC recycled over 1,200 tons of e-waste globally, and reused 38% of its e-waste in the U.S.
Clients: The Company supported client sustainability, risk-mitigation and transparency goals through three innovative next generation offerings:
Virtualization and Cloud Computing: CSC worked with a client to virtualize servers and implement advanced management technologies across 13 laboratories. The effort reduced servers by more than 60% and is saving the client an estimated $394,000 (U.S.) per year in energy costs.
Big Data and Analytics: CSC provided several U.S. government agencies with the high-performance computing expertise, technology and services they need to gather, manage, and interpret large quantities of climate data.
Cyber Security: In a first for the healthcare industry, CSC applied a defense industry security solution to a major healthcare system. The solution protects health data from being stolen or compromised through classification and encryption.
Addressing client concerns about supply chain transparency, CSC implemented a responsible supply chain program that will address over 35% of its annual procurement spend. This initiative provides better insight into potential human rights, cyber security and environmental sustainability risks impacting client businesses, and helps certain clients address the new SEC rules on Conflict Minerals reporting.
Employees: In FY 2013 the Company's employees completed over 600,000 hours of professional development training. Additionally, 52 CSC teams participated across 8 countries in the Company's annual global fitness challenge.
The Company hired over 1,300 military veterans, 450 of whom are veterans with a disability. That brings the total CSC veteran population to 8,000 employees, of which over 1,700 are veterans with a disability. CSC committed to increasing its veteran population by 25% in the coming year, taking on the challenge of the Obama Administration's U.S. Joining Forces initiative to hire and train veterans returning from post-9/11 conflicts and their spouses.
Community: CSC's charitable Foundation aligned its philanthropy and community investment to business priorities and focused giving on:
Education, which prioritizes Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM). CSC gave over $150,000 to support STEM Connector, an organization that works with companies to promote STEM education and to make smart STEM investments.
Health and Wellness, of veterans, disabled and children. CSC provided over $160,000 to ChildFund International, Best Buddies International and SOS Children's Villages International to support child welfare and children with disabilities.
Disaster Relief: the Company supported Hurricane Sandy recovery efforts by giving $130,000 to the American Red Cross Hurricane Relief Fund.
Through CSC's global community engagement and volunteer program, employees donated over 50,000 hours of pro-bono and community support throughout the year.
Governance: CSC's VP, Ethics and Compliance reports directly to the Audit Committee of the CSC Board of Directors. CSC believes this relationship affords the ethics and compliance function an independence that reduces conflicts of interest and adds credibility to internal investigations.
In an effort to further refine its CR policies in response to client and stakeholder demands, the Company enhanced its Human Rights Policy and aligned it to the SA8000 standard. This standard is based on conventions of the International Labor Organization (ILO), the United Nations and individual country law, and spans industry and corporate codes to create a common language to measure social compliance.
Awards and Recognition: In recognizing these achievements, the FTSE Group, owned by the London Stock Exchange Group and a leader in the provision of global index and analytical solutions, invited CSC to participate in its FTSE4Good Index Series for the fourth consecutive year. Additionally, the Business in the Community (BITC) CR Index, a business-led charity that annually ranks the most responsible companies in the UK, gave CSC its highest "platinum" ranking. Finally, the Investor Responsibility Research Center Institute (IRRCI), a non-profit organization headquartered in New York City which conducts corporate governance and responsibility research, rated CSC highest in the Technology Services sector for integrated CR reporting.
"We have made significant progress in turning our business around and positioning CSC for growth," said CSC President and Chief Executive Officer Mike Lawrie. "I am proud of the simultaneous environmental and social sustainability progress we have made this last fiscal year. Our CR initiatives support business growth and operational excellence by addressing client needs, engaging employees, benchmarking ethical comportment, and increasing environmental efficiencies that reduce costs and promote better management of limited natural resources."
CSC's full corporate responsibility report and more details on these initiatives are available online. For more information about CSC's commitment to corporate responsibility, visit http://www.csc.com/cr.
About CSC
CSC is a global leader of next generation information technology (IT) services and solutions. The Company's mission is to enable superior returns on our client's technology investments through best-in-class industry solutions, domain expertise and global scale. CSC has approximately 87,000 employees and reported revenue of $13.8 billion for the 12 months ended June 28, 2013.
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Marcel Goldstein
Corporate Public Relations
Steve Virostek
Investor Relations
KEYWORDS: United States North America Virginia
The article CSC Reports FY 2013 Annual Corporate Responsibility Progress originally appeared on Fool.com.
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Tokyo Metropolitan Government is hosting a TOKYO VR racing 2021 on December 12th on ROUVY. Building the momentum, the 2020 Olympics & Paralympic host city now presents realistic augmented ride & run courses to the global athletic community. The amazing town of Tokyo was digitized and is now available for virtual experience and events to any fitness enthusiast on the planet. Everyone is invited to join the 5 Bike or 5 Run races in Tokyo, this Sunday, just from the comfort of his or her home.
This course is based on the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics marathon course and is a wonderful journey through the cities of Japan's capital. The routes have been published and can be found in the 'running' section of the ROUVY app, and cycling 'Cities' catalog folder.
Don't miss it! Enter now and join us in the city of Tokyo and the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Marathon course in VR.
Three courses to choose from the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Marathon Course! 3, 5 or 21 km are awaiting you!
Enjoy two special Bike Routes from the Tokyo city: 10km, 42,195km!
Tokyo Metropolitan Government is hosting a TOKYO VR racing 2021 on December 12th bringing you extraordinary experience!


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Stage Rush TV: Episode 34
Talking points:
- Kevin Daly of Theatre Aficionado At Large and I discuss the first preview of The Scottsboro Boys
- Fela! performs free concert in DUMBO
- Seeing Lombardi
- Broadway grosses
Were you at the first preview of The Scottsboro Boys, Rushers? If so, what did you think of the show? Is it on your list of shows to see this season? Did you make it out to the free Fela! concert, despite the rain? Have you caught Lombardi yet? Leave your thoughts and questions in the comments below! And for on-the-go updates, news, and sightings, follow Stage Rush on Facebook and Twitter.
Oct 8 2010
Great video! I loved the dynamic discussion you two had, as well as Kevin's "looks of skepticism" haha.
LOL at the slowed down "bravo" moment. And the black and white flashback!
And, ok, is it just me, or does Kevin remind you of Mitchell on Modern Family? The beard, his mannerisms, his voice??? GO KEVIN!
Adorable sign-off at the end guys. Keep up the good work!


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Fox Channel 28 News In Ohio reports:
… City officials in Newark, Ohio say [a woman's] signs are against the law, my FOX28columbus reports.
They say the signs are considered "promotional material," which require a permit.
Officials say they have received complaints over Gardener's signs.
"We found signs right next to the curb of a street, at intersections," Newark Engineer Brian Morehead said.
[The woman accused] said she didn't even consider the possibility she would need a permit to post her signs.
"When something that is living is gone, either a person or animal, you just don't think about stuff like that," she said. "And to go down and do paperwork for each sign was something that I didn't even fathom."
Gardener says she is hoping for a peaceful resolution.


text: The draft TAR protocol has gone through five rounds of revision by more than 35 judges, lawyers, and ediscovery experts. A group of 10-15 editorial members will meet at Duke Law in June or July and address final differences before publishing the draft for public comment. In the meantime, we welcome comments and suggestions on the draft from EDRM members.


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A blend of klezmer and Israeli dance music, with a touch of swing, describes the repertory of Jubilee Klezmer Ensemble, one of the San Francisco Bay Area's newest and hottest ethnic bands. The band was formed by Paul Alexander, the group's clarinetist, in March of 2000. Jubilee plays at weddings, B'nai Mitzvahs, public concerts and other celebrations throughout the greater Bay Area.
The ensemble brings together the talents of four Sonoma County musicians.
Paul Alexander, a Petaluman, started clarinet at the age of ten, training in classical music, but dabbling with Benny Goodman-style swing on the side. He has played with Sonoma State, Rohnert Park, and Santa Rosa Symphonies, and numerous chamber groups in the Bay Area. Paul became interested in klezmer about 15 years ago, playing first with the Santa Rosa klezmer group, Limonim, and then the Marin klezmer band, the Red Hot Chachkas, and then establishing Jubilee Klezmer Ensemble.
Sonia Tubridy, a Guerneville resident, grew up in Israel on a kibbutz, imbibing Israeli music at its source. She is a classically trained pianist, choral conductor, and student of the cello. Sonia directs the River Choir and is a frequent performer and impresario at the Coffee Concerts in Guerneville. She is an avid participant and performer in various chamber music workshops and is active as a classical piano teacher and accompanist in Sonoma County.
Phil Lawrence, the group's mandolinist, lives in Sebastopol. Phil has played guitar and mandolin with jazz, rock, country, bluegrass and reggae bands. He has produced a CD, Mandolin Mezzotints, and is a member of the local acoustic folk/rock group, Silk and Steel. Phil teaches English literature and writing at Petaluma High School and often brings his mandolin into the classroom to share his love of music with his students.
Our new bass player, Mark Peabody, previously directed the music department at San Rafael High School, and now heads the music department at Novato High School. His career has spanned a wide range of musical styles including classical music, jazz, rock and roll, Indian Music and Gamelan Music from Indonesia. He currently performs around the Bay Area and is a longstanding member of the Santa Rosa Symphony.
Daniel Sundy is the bassist you hear on Jubilee's CDs, Mazel Tov and Raisins and Almonds. Daniel graduated from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music in 2001 with a Bachelor of Music degree. He invited Jubilee to play a klezmer concert for his independent study project, entitled Jewish Music in America. This was a smashing hit with the students and professors. He has been a frequent performer with Bay Area symphonies. Daniel has been studying most recently at the Hochschule fuer Musil in Detmold, Germany. Since Daniel went to Germany to study, we have been joined by Mark Peabody on bass.
About Klezmer Music
Klezmer, a joyous and celebratory music, has its roots in the Middle Ages and combines musical styles found in the Ukraine, Belorussia, Moldavia, Greece, Turkey, Israel, the Balkans, Trans-Caucasus, Germany, Hungary, Poland and Rumania to name a few.
Deeply influenced by the khazones, the old Hassidic cantorial melodies, it has always been closely associated with the traditions of the Jewish wedding ceremony and all of the Jewish holidays. It became an integral part of daily life in pre-World War II Jewish culture.
Klezmer music was brought to the United States by Eastern European immigrants in the early twentieth century, where it was modified to some extent by American swing, and more recently, contemporary jazz. It disappeared after the Holocaust, but has been experiencing an enthusiastic revival in Western Europe and the United States since the 1970's.