text:
Vehicle Rental Terms and Conditions
The Hire Contract is between the hirer (hereafter "you") and Bankhead Leisure (hereafter "us or we"). Please read this agreement carefully. If there is anything you do not understand, please do not hesitate to contact us for clarification.
You must pay the standard booking/security deposit of £100.00 to confirm the booking.
By paying this deposit, you are accepting these Terms and Conditions and a binding contract for the hire will come into existence.
A booking confirmation will be sent to you or explained over the telephone reflecting the rental period and the rental charge.
It is your responsibility to notify us if you have not received confirmation within 72 hours of paying your deposit.
The balance of your full rental is payable 14 days prior to the day of hire unless prior arrangements have been made.
Failure to make full payment as agreed may result in your hire being cancelled.
In the event of this happening, your initial deposit will be non-refundable.
If paying on the start date, payment will only be accepted by credit/debit card or cash.
Cheques will not be accepted on the date of collection.
It is strongly advised that you take out insurance against any unavoidable cancellation.
All cancellations must be notified in writing to us, but please call immediately to inform us as this will improve the chances of rehiring the motor home.
If notification is received less than six weeks before the start of the rental you will be refunded all monies paid less an administration charge of £100.00.
If notification is received less than six weeks before the start of the rental all monies paid are non-refundable and you will still be liable for any amount still due.
We will attempt to rehire the motor home and if successful, you will be refunded up to a maximum of your total hire charge less an administration charge of £200.00, subject to the amount that we are able to rehire the motor home for.
Included in the price of hire is full comprehensive insurance, covering the motor home but not its equipment.
The insurance is only valid for the driver(s) stated on the rental agreement and for the period of hire from the specified collection date and time to the specified date and time of return.
It is the responsibility of any driver to inform us of any endorsements/accidents in the last 3 years or still stated on their licence plus any medical conditions or restrictions that may affect their acceptance for insurance.
Failure to adhere to all of the above may invalidate the vehicle insurance and constitute a traffic offence under the Road Traffic Act causing the driver to be liable to prosecution.
Should the insurance policy become invalidated for any reason, we will hold you responsible for all damage to the vehicle, third party property damage and injuries, and any other related liabilities (including fines).
You will be liable for all costs and expenses incurred for speeding, parking fines, congestion charges and any other offences committed against the Road Traffic Act or other traffic regulations, and you agree to indemnify the company from any liability.
All drivers must be aged between 25 and 75 and have held a full licence for at least 2 years.
Endorsements are acceptable at our discretion.
All drivers must be present at the time of collection and produce a full driving licence.
In the case of a UK licence both the card and paper licence must be produced.
In addition to these licence requirements 2 other forms of identity, such as a utility bill, bank statement or credit card statement dated within the last 3 months is required. These forms of identity must carry the same address as the driving licence.
Your liability shall not exceed £600.00 for each and every accident.
Damage to the interior, windscreen, tyres and road wheels are not covered by the insurance and are your full responsibility.
When collecting a vehicle a security deposit of £600.00 must be left.
It will be accepted by credit/debit card or cash and is to cover the hirer's liability in the event of an accident or any other applicable charges stated in these terms and conditions. The security deposit will be refunded within 14 days of the vehicles return once it has been fully inspected.
In the unlikely event of any damage/charges, the relevant amount will be deducted and a refund given for the subsequent amount.
The vehicle will be available at our collection point in Glenrothes on the day of collection at an agreed time and must be delivered back to the same location by the agreed time. You should allow up to 1 hour for hand-over on collection and return.
Unauthorised late returns will be charged at the rate of £20.00 per hour.
Your rental agreement clearly states time of collection and return for insurance purposes and therefore, any use of the vehicle out with these times will constitute a road traffic offence and it is our liability to inform the authorities that the vehicle is being used whilst no insurance is in force.
A vehicle tracker system is fitted to all our vehicles for the purpose of tracking the vehicle in the unlikely event that it may be stolen.
Fuel is at the hirer's expense.
The vehicle will be collected with a full tank of fuel.
You must ensure that you use the correct fuel and that the vehicle is returned with a full tank of fuel.
There is a 24 hour service station within 2 minutes of the vehicle collection point.
Any shortfall in the fuel tank will be estimated and charged at current rates together with an additional £10.00 service charge.
A full gas cylinder will be supplied with the motor home.
If gas needs replenished, the hirer is responsible for the cost of refilling any empty cylinders.
It is your responsibility to check basic maintenance items such as oil/water/tyre inflation levels on a daily basis and if necessary, to take appropriate actions to avoid unnecessary damage to the vehicle.
Unfortunately, events beyond our control (i.e. Events which we could not, even with due care, foresee or avoid) could possibly affect vehicle availability.
We cannot accept responsibility or pay compensation, costs or expenses where the performance of your contract with us is prevented or affected, or you otherwise suffer any loss or damage as a result of events beyond our control.
However, if you are unable to commence your rental as a result of such events, we will offer you the choice of an alternative vehicle or if no suitable replacement is available, provide a full refund of all monies received for your booking, without further liability.
Despite regular quality control checks occasional problems can still arise with the vehicles.
In the event of an accident, breakdown or technical difficulties (including problems with tyres) you must inform the rental department immediately on the helpline number provided (if unable to connect you must leave a voice message or text message).
In the event of an accident, the police must be contacted and the rental department must be informed as soon as possible.
Third party demands are not to be agreed to and the police report must include names and addresses of the people involved as well as any witnesses, along with all vehicle registration details.
Even in the case of minor damage you are required to provide a detailed written report to our rental department outlining the circumstances of the accident.
Note: Our rental department must be informed immediately about the need for any repair to the vehicle.
If you inform our rental department about any vehicle problems after the vehicle has been returned, but without having informed them during the rental period no insurance cover or compensation will be provided.
Small repairs up to £50.00(cumulative) can be carried out without prior notification of the rental department and will be reimbursed at vehicle drop-off time.
For repairs that will cost more than £50.00 you are required to inform the rental department before repairs take place in order to obtain their approval to proceed ( otherwise no repairs will be reimbursed).
Repairs can only be reimbursed upon presentation of a receipt.
If the vehicle is out of action due to a mechanical breakdown (not an accident) for longer than 12 hours, through no fault of the hirer, our responsibility is limited to refunding the daily rental or portion thereof covering the period from when the fault was initially notified to us until a repair has been completed.
We do not provide compensation for damage or problems with the following items: Radio/CD player, TV, Microwave, Air conditioning, Fridge, All appliances such as oven, water pump, shower and toilet, automatic steps, cruise control and GPS.
You must look after the vehicle and its contents (including any keys) and ensure that it is always locked and all security devices supplied are activated when you are not inside.
You must always protect the vehicle from bad weather which may cause damage.
You are responsible for any damage to the vehicle caused by hitting low level objects such as bridges or low branches.
We shall not be liable for loss or damage for any property left, stored or transported by the hirer or any other person in the vehicle during the period of the rental.
You agree to hold us harmless from and indemnify us against all claims based upon or arising out of such damage.
You must not sell, rent, dispose of, or give anyone legal rights over the vehicle or any of its parts or contents.
You must not allow anyone to work on the vehicle without our permission (subject to the terms contained regarding £50.00 repairs).
The security deposit will be returned to you within 14 days after the end of the hire period provided the vehicle is returned to us in a satisfactory condition and at the location and date and time agreed.
Satisfactory condition includes clean, undamaged, with all tools, accessories and equipment in the same condition as when collected and having being operated in a reasonable manner ( See Motor home Use).
Cleaning charges which may be deducted from the security deposit include fridge/freezer not cleaned £25.00, cooker hob or grill not clean £25.00, shower/toilet compartment not clean £50.00, toilet cassette not emptied and cleaned £50.00, and waste water tank not emptied £50.00.
In the event that charges, including damage repair and replacement, exceed the level of security deposit paid, you will be charged any additional sum to cover this excess and that sum will be due immediately at the end of the hire.
The vehicle must not be used, for hire or reward, for any illegal purpose, to propel or tow any other vehicle or trailer, for racing, pace-making, reliability/speed testing or driver tuition, by any person under the influence of alcohol or drugs, to carry a greater number of passengers or baggage than recommended by the vehicle manufacturer, on any unsealed or unauthorised roads, in forbidden or restricted areas or on beaches or in salt water, outside Scotland, England or Wales unless you have the authority of Bankhead Leisure.
It is illegal to smoke or allow smoking in a hired vehicle in the UK (even with the windows open).
Any infringement will incur a charge of £100.00 and leave you liable tom prosecution and a fine of up to £1000.00.
Parking is available free of charge to you for the duration of the hire period at the vehicle owner's own risk.
We will end this agreement immediately and repossess the vehicle if we find out that your belongings have been taken away from you to pay of your debts, or a receiving order has been made against you.
We will also end this agreement and repossess the vehicle if you do not meet any of the conditions of this agreement or have obtained the vehicle through fraud or misrepresentation, or the vehicle appears to have been abandoned.
If you are a company, we will also end this agreement immediately and repossess the vehicle if you go into liquidation or you call a meeting of creditors.
If we end this agreement it will not affect our right to receive any money we are owed under the conditions of this agreement.
We reserve the right to alter the rates and conditions at any time.
We also reserve the right to refuse or cancel any hire to any person without warning or explanation.
Additions to or alterations of the terms of this agreement shall be null and void unless agreed upon in writing by all concerned parties.
This agreement is covered by the laws of Scotland.
Any dispute may be settled in the courts of that country.


text:
I am a fully trained Primary School Teacher who has taken time out to raise my children. I am a Mother of three: Boy 6.5ish, Boy 2.5ish and Girl 4weeks (as at December 2016). I nannied in Ireland for several years on my OE before coming back to start my family. My first aid certificate is current last updated September 2015.
Email or Phone us anytime.

subset: commoncrawl


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A BioBlitz is when a group of people, including experts, get together to identify as many different biological organisms as they can in a given area in a short period of time. These BioBlitzes serve several purposes from engaging the public in conservation to gathering scientific information. I have participated in a number of citizen science BioBlitzes and this one, camping and searching for invertebrates with the Tejon Ranch Conservancy and the Lorquin Entomological Society, is one of my favorites. I feel truly privileged for the opportunity to join this group and lend my skills as a nature photographer, my somewhat limited but growing knowledge of entomology, and my curiosity of and my passion for discovery of Southern California fauna.
Tejon Ranch is an amazing place. It is the largest contiguous private landholding in California at 270,000 acres. The owner of the land reached an agreement with several environmental groups to leave 90% of the land undeveloped in exchange for unchallenged development of the other 10%. The Tejon Ranch Conservancy was created to document, enhance, maintain, and restore the ranch's ecosystems.
Tejon Ranch encompasses areas of Antelope Valley, Tehachapi Mountains, the base of the southern Sierra-Nevada Mountains, and the western edge of the Mojave. This makes for rich biodiversity. Because this is a private land holding, there has been limited access to the land for scientists and the public. While a fair amount is known about the mammals, birds, and reptiles that call it home, there is still much to be discovered, particularly when it comes to invertebrates. That's where we come in.
Our group of seven drove to the top of one of the mountain ridges. I was a bit white-knuckled as our van made its way up a steep gravelly narrow road with a sharp drop-off on one side. But, from there on, it was a completely blissful adventure. The weather was perfect, not too hot, and the wind was unusually calm. The views from the top were magnificent. The rolling golden California hills, the valley and distant mountains, and a view of the California Aqueduct reinforce my love of this state. We walked down the mountain passing pinyon pines, manzanita, oaks, and chaparral for about four miles at a very leisurely pace. We made frequent stops to photograph insects along the way. When someone found something particularly good, we all gathered round to share. It is wonderful to have passion for something, but I am extremely fortunate to have others who share these often underappreciated interests. My fingers were blistered from gripping my camera and trying to capture all I saw. And I was not even close to capturing as much as some of the others!
After about six hours, we went down to our camp at Pescadero Creek. We pitched our tents, ate some dinner, and told a few jokes. I turned in a bit early while the others went off to look for critters in the dark. The winds were cooperative during the night and I slept cozily in my sleeping bag. The next morning, the temperature dropped and we bundled up and regrouped over breakfast and coffee. We walked a short way from camp to a very small pond.
A small water source in an otherwise quite dry area attracts many critters, and it was teaming with life. We saw insects associated with water, frogs, and I had the good fortune to be startled by a California king snake,
which I announced to the rest of the group with a sharp squeal of surprise -- and delight.
After a few hours recording our findings, we drove to another area of the ranch, this one populated with Joshua Trees. I'm sure this area is richer in the spring, but we managed to find a few gems in the dry autumn desert.
We have been logging our findings in iNaturalist which will be used by the Conservancy to add to their compilation of species on the ranch. We covered a very small portion of the ranch and for such a short time, but I am sure we added some significant findings. I look forward to many more opportunities to visit, explore, and discover at Tejon Ranch.
View more of my photos here. http://kimssight.zenfolio.com/tejon_sep_2016
Thank you to Cedric, Chris, James, and the iNat community for help with identifications. As always, I welcome corrections.
|"I am dying by inches, from not having anybody to talk to about insects..."
― Charles Darwin, Letters. A Selection, 1825–1859
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text: Hello everyone, Just received my G6 lite and am thrilled with it so far. But, after updating the loader and installing the software. I found that a significant portion of my cart was being used up by the "DSPda" folder. On the main screen when plugged into the DS, it appears that the DSPda is an extension and should be safe to delete? It takes ~120MB and I would love to remove if safe. Thanks and so far, this seems like a great cart! Cheers, Tom


text:
Numerous firms offer generous versatile and remote work policies-however possibly your organization is not considered one of them. It also means you get to set your individual hours primarily based upon 15-minute intervals, so you can work 1 hour on 1 hour off all day, or no matter you want, so long as the company has enough individuals protecting the shift. I think I might crank this shit out for 8 hours a day all weekend.
"Increasingly more corporations — whether they're personal, public, nonprofit or startup — have recognized the bottom-line benefits of telecommuting and are increasingly incorporating any such flexible work association into their business methods," says FlexJobs founder and CEO Sara Sutton Fell.
I've heard about a remote employee who uses her kitchen breakfast bar as a standing desk (all those health advantages with no funding!) and one who converted a part of her bed room closet right into a hidden" office so she will be able to just shut her work away on the finish of the day.
Pay: Glassdoor reveals a variety of salaries from $9.forty four to $18.06 per hour, and the corporate says it offers paid vacation days; holidays; and (for full-time workers) medical, dental and imaginative and prescient insurance. Among the extra advanced positions require experience educating at a university stage or a school degree within the subject you are teaching, and those jobs sometimes pay more.


text:
We Are…
The Daily Constitutional is the London Walks® Blog.
Edited and written by guides from London Walks® – London's multi-award-winning walking tour company – it covers all aspects of life and culture in London.
We blog every day.
That's us in a nutshell. The long-winded version is HERE.
You Are…
• A Londoner keen to know more about our great city.
• A Londoner in spirit but currently living away from our great city but keen to keep in touch with London.
• A London Walker looking for information about London Walks®.
This blog is for you.
What We Do…
We lead "London's Best Guided Walks" (Time Out) and blog about the bits we can't squeeze into our award-winning walking tours.
What You Do…
Join us on London Walks®, of course (the main website for info is www.walks.com), read our blog and, from time-to-time, send us your photographs, London tips and reviews.
You can keep in touch with us by emailing us HERE.
And by all the methods listed HERE.
Thanks for visiting The Daily Constitutional.
Happy Londoning!
The Editor
London, January 2014


text:
Here are more pictures of Candice Swanepoel in Tom Ford's fall ad. Oh gurl, u so fierce!
July 13, 2011
What did Tom Ford do to Candice Swanepoel?
Here are more pictures of Candice Swanepoel in Tom Ford's fall ad. Oh gurl, u so fierce!
53 comments:
This post is absolutely amazing, the pics have so much grrrrrr!ReplyDelete
wow love the pics!!ReplyDelete
I love these - the campaign has such a hard edge!ReplyDelete
xoxo ~ Courtney
this photo shoot is amazing! love the make up! and the bright fierce colors!ReplyDelete
LOL julie! you are so funny....yes definitely believable tranny. awww candice...shes so pretty, what did he do to her!ReplyDelete
Wow, she looks incredible! I LOVE her makeup.ReplyDelete
I actually like this campaign! Then again, I'm all for anything Tom Ford does. I'm sure it was also fun for her to switch it up a bit. I'm sure the whole VS Angel thing gets boring after a while.ReplyDelete
The shades in the 3rd pic are HOT!!!!ReplyDelete
This post is the epitome of FEMME FATAL! So sultry and seductive~ I absolutely love it!ReplyDelete
We follow eachother on Twitter. I can not believe that I haven't followed your site yet. Well, that's about to change ;) Would love to see you on Style~ Spotlighted at http://wtfash.blogspot.com
Stay FABulous,
The Other Coco Chanel
Ahh, one of my country's finest exports other than Diemersfontein Pinotage.ReplyDelete
She's come a long way since Mooi Rivier.
Love that purple lace dress! YAY!ReplyDelete
omg tranny! :)))) you always make me laugh! ALWAYS!!ReplyDelete
That purple dress is killer! she does look a little like a man... but still HOTReplyDelete
OMG....LOVE your blog! This is fabulous and THANK YOU for stopping by www.bravoerunway.com I am following now!ReplyDelete
RAWR!!! Love the red lips!ReplyDelete
I would not want to take her on. Even though I could probably snap her like a twig, I fear she would have wicked superpowers. She looks like an uber sexy monster. :)ReplyDelete
So vibrant! I love it!ReplyDelete
Wow great photos ^^ReplyDelete
I don't like the photos but I think that they are good because they are interesting.ReplyDelete
haha love the scientific comments there. :DReplyDelete
So fierce and edgy, WOW!!!!ReplyDelete
love love, super slick with the red lipstickReplyDelete
OMG, you almost made me choke! She looks awful in most of these. Such an obvious tranny. But I might buy the dude in the 4th picture a drink anyway. Hey, since I would never hit on him or her, "him" or "her" doesn't matter. LOLReplyDelete
Your posts are so clever. THIS is So funny because that top pic I did not recognize Candace at all and couldn't believe that was her when I started reading. So weird how much looks can change. The bottome pics are definitely bold.ReplyDelete
Your blog is great.
I agree, she looks sexy and wild.. amazing pictures..love her makeup as well..ReplyDelete
Ask Erena
WOW............ just wow.ReplyDelete
LOLz... you made my day with this. Yes, manufacturing a perfectly believable tranny from a cute girl is easy. It's the OTHER way around that doesnt come that easy!!!
Oh these are so good! I hadn't seen them yet.ReplyDelete
I could even recognize her! She looks amazing!ReplyDelete
i think the photos are amazing.. so vibrant!ReplyDelete
Wow! she's looks stunning! the pictures are just great. Love her makeup!ReplyDelete
eee. wow!! gorgeous.. and the photos are so nice too ^-^ReplyDelete
I love how Tom Ford adds always have those wicked awesome nerd glasses!!ReplyDelete
Thanks so much for dropping by my blog. I LOVE yours! These pictures are amazing! Definitely following you. xxReplyDelete
again and again, I'm awed by the power of makeup and costume! It looks nothing like her!ReplyDelete
She looks stunning, in a different way.! I specially love her purple outfit! She looks so wicked!ReplyDelete
Woah! I love how its so sexy, seductive, fierce and bright!!ReplyDelete
LOL I like her in Victoria secret a lot better. Wah lesbian glasses! haha I like those glasses. This is a new look for her though so I guess she's versatile?ReplyDelete
DAMN. SERIOUSLY. DAMN.ReplyDelete
I love your blog, even more so that your from Canada :) Following.ReplyDelete
incredible! very few people have a clear and defined vision such as tom ford.ReplyDelete
I love Tom Ford, he's so talented!!!He's so creative, thanks for sharing!ReplyDelete
gorgeous inspirational shots :)ReplyDelete
loving this campaign!! x
They are seriously cool shots - love the styling and the richness of the images - really hot - thanks for your comments btw xxReplyDelete
wow, she look smoking hot! I love the pictures:)ReplyDelete
Love Love Loveeeee ittReplyDelete
i love tom ford<3
do check my new post<3
These are so incredible. I'm really liking the drag-queen vibe.ReplyDelete
OMG She is beautiful but looks so different in these pictures. You made me laugh with, she looks weird. I love Tom Ford & Candice Swanepoel, maybe .... on their own? the clothes are amazing.ReplyDelete
P.S.: I don't have tattoos either, wanting to get one but it scares me a little.
oh my goodness amazing, she's unrecognizable! tom ford if only u were straight, i love you, marry me... LOLReplyDelete
utter fail!!!!
Tom Ford, bring back Candice when she was still a normal human being!
Loving the sunglasses!ReplyDelete
I absolutely adore this campaign, from the first moment, all pics have been already downloaded!:DReplyDelete
Enjoy your day hun, kisses!!
What a transformation! Very fierce and I do love the styling. Though I wonder why her mouth is open in every single shot?ReplyDelete


text:
Not the right job for you?
Teacher of Textiles, Art and Design, Clitheroe
Closing date:
Ribblesdale High SchoolClitheroe
Date posted:
Start date: September 2018
Contract type: Full Time
Start date: September 2018
Contract type: Full Time
Salary: MPR/UPR
Contract term: Permanent
Suitable for NQTs: Yes
Contract term: Permanent
Suitable for NQTs: Yes
Are you an imaginative, exceptional and committed teacher of textiles and art who is seeking to work within a supportive and dynamic department? This is a fantastic opportunity to become a key member of the art and design team at Ribblesdale and work in the heart of the Ribble Valley in Lancashire.
As a department, we pride ourselves on being highly creative and successful. We are committed to delivering the syllabus through effective assessment for learning and engage pupils with inspirational schemes of work.
We seek a candidate who is a confident and reflective classroom practitioner at both Key Stage 3 & 4. This vacancy is suitable for an NQT as well as a more experienced teacher.
Job location
More about Ribblesdale High School×
Type: Mainstream School
Phase: Secondary
Funding status: State - Community
Gender: Mixed
Age Range: 11 - 16 years
Denomination: Non-denominational
Address: Queens Road, Clitheroe, Lancashire, BB7 1EJ, United Kingdom
Telephone: +44 1200 422 563
Contact Ribblesdale High School
Thanks for your interest in this role.
Simply fill in the form below to ask any questions, request a call, or schedule a school visit.
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text:
A Popular Consensus
Rock and realism in the early 1990s
EMF's 'Unbelievable' was released in the US in June 1991, and reached number one on the Billboard charts two months later. The band were raved over by Axl Rose, and taken on tour as support by Jane's Addiction and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Everywhere they were mobbed by fans who had seen them on MTV. The NME's David Quantick met some at an LA show, and asked them what all the fuss was about. 'They're cute, if you think about it,' replied one girl, 'and you can dance to it!' 'I like their hair!' said another. 'And I like Extreme's hair!' 'It's good dance music!' the first girl added. 'It's new, it's like Jesus Jones and they're all from London!' The band, meanwhile, had embarked on what Q later described as 'a lifestyle of monumental hedonism — drugs, girls, drugs and girls, girls on drugs'.
All in all, EMF was doing well — far better, certainly, than most British bands did in the States in the early nineties. But they weren't happy. 'Their most abiding anxiety,' said Q's Matt Snow in September 1991, 'is credibility.' Songwriter Ian Dench worried that EMF might soon be nothing more than a line in a Billboard Annual, another band of cute guys with nice hair who had a hit and disappeared forever. 'I hope we're not just another pop band,' he told Spin.4 Dench liked pop, and insisted that it was important for music to be accessible. But what worried him about EMF being labelled a pop group were the 'associations' that went with it — that they were a manufactured band, that they couldn't really play, that they were popular simply because they were cute and had good hair.
This, in 1991, was a real cause for concern. Two years earlier, a group named Milli Vanilli released a fresh-sounding pop-soul album called Girl You Know It's True. Catchy tunes like 'Blame It on the Rain', 'Baby Don't Forget My Number' and 'Girl I'm Gonna Miss You' made the record a hit, and in February 1990 singers Rob Pilatus and Fab Morvan appeared at the Grammys to accept their award for best new artist. Ten months later, they gave it back, after it was publicly revealed that neither Rob nor Fab had sung a single note on Girl You Know It's True, or at the many concerts and TV performances they'd given throughout the year. The defrauding of millions of unsuspecting listeners with false music became one of the year's biggest news stories. In the future, warned CBS's news presenter, 'you might have to think twice about what you think you're hearing'. As a result, English groups like EMF, who relied heavily on sequencers and samples in their live performances, found themselves skating on very thin ice in America. Critics noted that when the band smashed up their gear at the end of their set, the sound coming out of the speakers remained curiously unaffected.
The Milli Vanilli saga seemed to prove what many American rock fans and critics had long suspected — that the pop industry was guilty of deceiving and manipulating its audience. The music was shaped in the studio using computers and other gadgets to make it sound more radio friendly, concerts were over-rehearsed, pre-fab affairs where the group's sound was augmented and in some cases replaced by programmed synths and backing tapes, and the public was being fooled into buying this stuff instead of real music by real bands. 'All the kids will eat it up,' observed Kurt Cobain in his journal, 'if it's packaged properly.' That this might be a problem was seen by rock artists and the critics who supported them as virtually self-evident — real music was better than artificial stuff for the same reason that fresh fruit was better than Coke. The Red Hot Chili Peppers offered their 1990 album Mother's Milk as a healthy option in a music market otherwise full of artificial junk. 'Basically, it's fucking good for you,' explained the group's bass player Michael 'Flea' Balzary. 'Music is a direct expression from the heart, or it should be.' Flea singled out synth-pop duo the Pet Shop Boys as 'indicative of what's happening in the pop music industry' — studio-bound boffins doing 'pop bullshit for the sake of money'.
Rock musicians like Flea had long distinguished guitar music as the antithesis of pop bullshit. But in the 1980s, rock itself seemed to have submitted to this process to a frightening degree. 'Rock and roll has become an artificial experience,' complained the Pixies' Black Francis. In 1988, Billy Corgan met D'Arcy Wretzky at a concert by the Dan Reed Network. 'You can tell this band was put together by a record company,' said Corgan, as they stood outside after the show. The songwriter knew he was watching a choreographed performance by a fake rock band when he saw the way the singer moved onstage. 'Real people in bands don't jump around like that,' he insisted.8 Critics felt that this kind of market-researched rock was one of the most unwelcome developments of the last ten years. In the eighties, wrote Rolling Stone's Anthony De Curtis, rock and roll became 'terminally safe', joining a rock band 'about as rebellious as taking a business degree — and if you got lucky, more lucrative'. In the eighties, argued Legs McNeil in the NME, 'instead of Sex, Drugs and Rock and Roll, we ended up with fear and addiction and corporate sponsorship of rock and roll'.10 As the decade came to an end, critics like McNeil and De Curtis saw an opportunity to clean house; to call time on an era of pre-fab rock, and hasten the return of real music.
In the early nineties, rock musicians and critics took great pains to let the audience know there was a difference. Joe Carducci's influential book, Rock and the Pop Narcotic, published in 1990, argued for a precise re-definition of rock as the real-time interaction of bass, drums and guitar, as opposed to its opposite — pop — which relies heavily on technology and is created according to a formula. The following year, Thurston Moore explained the meaning of a Sonic Youth poster for Dave Markey's camera in The Year That Punk Broke. The poster featured a Raymond Pettibon drawing of a girl performing onstage. 'This picture represents the fact that it's a live gig, see? This is the singer singing live,' he said. 'It's not a clone. It's not a fake. This shit's fuckin' live, man!'
But if rock could be redefined as real rock, there was also the possibility that pop might be redefined as real pop — genuinely popular music as opposed to the stuff that is, as Nirvana's Krist Novoselic put it, 'rammed down people's throats'. For many, the problem with pop in 1990 was not so much that it was popular, but that its popularity was manufactured, that people only consumed it because they'd been brainwashed into doing so, or because the music industry made sure that they would never know any better. The idea that mass culture is a form of manipulation had been a staple of cultural criticism in America since the post-war period, when refugee intellectuals from Nazi Germany began to see disturbing parallels between advertising in America and the propaganda used by fascist leaders in Europe. Capitalism, according to German sociologists Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer, destroyed consumers' critical self-awareness, and left them vulnerable to exploitation. This pessimistic view had to be rethought in the 1960s after the advent of rock and roll, which seemed to have pulled off the neat trick of using mass culture to critique mass culture. But by the early nineties, after ten years of sensationalised politics and blockbuster albums, many had returned to Adorno's unsparing critique, or something like it. 'Audiences do, in fact, interpret messages variously,' wrote media critic Herbert Schiller in 1989's Culture, Inc., 'but when they are confronted with a message incessantly repeated in all cultural conduits issuing from the commanders of the social order, their capacities are overwhelmed.'
Singer-songwriter Sinéad O'Connor had no doubt that this was the case in 1990. Seeing the music industry up close had given her a sense of just how much hype and manipulation was involved in 'breaking' an artist. Radio stations and record companies collaborated to manufacture hits and keep everything else off the air. 'That's not an honest representation of what people like,' she complained. 'How can it be?' O'Connor believed that the chart success of her own minimally produced and emotionally raw music constituted proof that what people wanted and what the pop industry was giving them were two quite different things. 'People don't want to hear what's on the radio,' she said, 'people are screaming out for something more.'
In July 1991, music writer Gina Arnold saw this 'screaming out' for herself at Lollapalooza, as she watched 9,000 people cheering the Butthole Surfers and shouting along with the chorus of 'Cop Killer' by Body Count. The next day, she drove from San Diego to Los Angeles to interview Nirvana. She listened to a pre-release copy of the band's new album on the car stereo, and as the chorus of 'On a Plain' roared out of the speakers, she thought to herself that 'if the world were a better sort of place, it'd be a hit single'. Arnold saw nothing wrong with artists having hits and playing for huge audiences as long as they deserved them. She believed it was possible to create genuinely popular rock music outside of corporate manipulation, that pop music could become, as Sinéad O'Connor had suggested, a genuine expression of what people like.
It was this vision of pop as a democratic rather than a commercial process that guided independent bands and labels in America through the eighties, a vision fostered by DIY heroes like Ian MacKaye of Fugazi, Beat Happening's Calvin Johnson, and fanzine writer and label boss Bruce Pavitt. What excited Pavitt about the indie scene in Seattle was not its obscurity, but its popularity — a popularity that was created by genuine local enthusiasm, and not, as Pavitt later put it, by 'this industry that's manufacturing bands'. The name Pavitt gave to his record label expressed this idea perfectly — Sub Pop. You have been deceived by MTV, it seemed to say. Hidden below the surface of what you are told to buy, is something people actually like.
The mainstream success of Soundgarden showed that Pavitt's instincts had been correct — a band whose music most industry heads would have regarded as commercial suicide only two years earlier now had an album in the charts and a hit on MTV. The members of Soundgarden — singer Chris Cornell, guitarist Kim Thayil, drummer Matt Cameron and bass player Ben Shepherd — were all veterans of the Seattle indie scene, and Thayil had in fact played a key role in its formation. It was he who had introduced Bruce Pavitt to his future Sub Pop business partner, Jonathan Poneman, with the idea that the two might start a label to release Soundgarden's debut single, 1987's 'Hunted Down'. Since then, however, the band had made a jump from the alternate universe to the real one, having signed to A&M records in 1989. Their major label debut, Louder than Love, had brushed the Billboard Top 100 in 1990, and the band had toured with Guns N' Roses.
If any of Soundgarden's peers or fans had worried, upon learning this, that the band would soon be spending ten thousand dollars a night on strippers and drugs, or that Cornell might soon be seen putting his foot up on the foldback amp and pointing at the crowd, they needn't have. Like Mudhoney, Soundgarden was a band composed of smart guys; smart enough to steer well clear of mainstream metal's 'paaarty and fantasy crap', as Thayil put it, smart enough to know that rock itself was slightly stupid. Their biggest hit to date was a song called 'Big Dumb Sex', a venomous put-down of LA's metal monsters, written by musicians who — like their indie peers — treasured a vision of music as a communal experience, in which the rock singer is, in the end, not so different to the fans. The highlight of a Soundgarden show was not, as in mainstream metal, the elevation of the singer on a cherry picker over the audience, but the singer's descent into the crowd. This 'cool little bonding thing', as Kurt Cobain called it, was the ultimate expression of indie rock's musical democracy. Music writer Grant Alden watched Soundgarden play at the Bumbershoot music and arts festival in Seattle. 'Chris Cornell finished the night in the mosh pit,' he later recalled, 'and it felt like we had all finally won.'
Soundgarden's breakthrough suggested that the world might be about to become, as Gina Arnold had hoped, a better sort of place — a place where real bands with great songs filled stadiums, topped the charts, and got played on the radio. There would still be rock stars in this new world, but they'd be better ones, rock stars who knew about punk and had some awareness of feminism. The promise of alternative music, it seemed, was about to be realised. By 1990, alternative rock had been alternative for so long that people seemed to have forgotten what it meant — it had become shorthand for a style of music, when in fact, it had always been more like a party in opposition. Now, in 1991, alternative bands had finally got the majority of the vote, and were about to take power.
But this argument assumed that alternative music would survive its trip to the top of the charts with its message and its ideology intact — and there were already signs that this might not be the case. 'I don't think the mechanisms that exist in the mass media are sensitive enough to what we want to do,' explained Fugazi's Guy Picciotto, 'that's why we don't sign to a major.' Picciotto and his bandmate Ian Mackaye insisted that the alternative revolution could not take place at the expense of the bands' independence. As far as Fugazi was concerned, there could be no collaboration with the commercial media. Calvin Johnson too, felt that the world-wide network of labels, bands and fans that had been established over the past decade ought to remain — as it had always been — fiercely and proudly outside of corporate control.
'As the corporate ogre expands its creeping influence on the minds of industrialized youth,' he wrote, 'the time has come for the international rockers of the world to convene in celebration of our glorious independence.' Johnson's call-to-arms was printed on the flyer for 1991's International Pop Underground Convention, a gathering of the world's indie tribes held over a week at the Capital Theatre in Olympia, Washington, featuring bands, film nights and stalls. Fugazi, the Nation of Ulysses, Mecca Normal and L7 all played at the festival, and many more bands and musicians came along to enjoy themselves, including Soundgarden.
Had the band not read Johnson's warning printed on the flyer, 'no lackeys to the corporate ogre allowed'? To the festival's hardcore indie ideologues, Soundgarden must have seemed like opportunists — a great underground rock band who had sold out their fans and the community that supported them so as to make more money and become more famous. But to Soundgarden's Matt Cameron, such people seemed less like idealists and more like snobs — cultural elitists trying to preserve a make-believe revolution while a real one was taking place right under their noses. Wandering around the IPU convention, the drummer spotted a pile of T-shirts with the legend 'Kill Rock Stars' printed on the front. Cameron asked if he could buy one. 'No, man,' said the guy with the stall, 'you're a rock star.' Cameron walked away. 'What a close-minded idiot,' he thought to himself.
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Kylie Jenner Poses in White Lace Underwear and Fur Coat for New Sunglasses Collab
While everyone else has been preoccupied with pregnancy rumors, Kylie Jenner has been getting back to business.
The 20-year-old makeup mogul, who is reportedly pregnant with her and boyfriend Travis Scott's first baby, looks fiercer than ever in her second sunglasses collaboration with Quay Australia.
The Australian brand shared a pic of Jenner in a fur shrug, showing off her bare shoulders. Another photo, which you can see here, shows Jenner in that same purple and orange shrug but also baring her stomach in white lacey underwear. It's likely that the photos were taken before Jenner's pregnancy, considering she is reportedly currently five months along.
Jenner also shared an Instagram photo promoting the collab, wearing a pair of Quay sunglasses and an all-white outfit while sitting on a white couch.
"So excited for my second sunnies collection," she wrote in the caption.
Pregnancy rumors seem to be in the air for the Kardashian-Jenner family, as Jenner's 33-year-old half-sister, Khloé Kardashian, is reportedly expecting her and NBA boyfriend Tristan Thompson's first child, while 36-year-old Kim Kardashian and Kanye West are expecting their third child via a surrogate.
The latest news to come out of Jenner's pregnancy is that her family is "worried" about her future with Scott, according to a Keeping Up With the Kardashians source from PEOPLE.
"It's hard for her family to imagine Kylie's relationship with Travis will last," the insider said. "They are worried there will be lots of drama down the road."
The family is still happy for Jenner, and "will help Kylie out as much as possible."
They appreciate what a "great guy" the 25-year-old rapper is to Jenner. The family thinks Scott "treats Kylie really well."
"He is nothing like Tyga," the source says. "He doesn't have any obvious financial issues. He doesn't go behind Kylie's back, but it's a very new relationship they are bringing a baby into."
Neither Kylie, Khloe nor Kim has confirmed or denied their pregnancies, but the new season of KUWTK premieres Sunday, Oct. 1, so the family will likely give fans answers soon.
Photo Credit: YouTube / Quay Australia


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HUNT VALLEY, Md.U.S. Army officials ordered an additional 24 RQ-7B V2 Shadow tactical unmanned aircraft system (UAS) from Textron Systems Unmanned Systems. The contract is estimated to be $116.5 million with deliveries to start in 2018.
The Shadow V2 is designed for multi-mission, single-sortie profiles, and manned-unmanned teaming (MUM-T). It includes ahigh-bandwidth, encrypted data link that enables the aircraft to carry payloads ranging from high-definition video to secure control for prosecution missions.
The Army is currently teaming the Shadow V2 system with itsApache helicopter fleet for scouting missions within itscombat aviation brigades. The Department of Defense (DoD) previously purchased 117 Shadow systems that are operated by the U.S. Army, Marine Corps, and Special Operations Command.
Read more…


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The admission body for Larks Hill J&I School is Pontefract Academies Trust. The Trust follows the Wakefield Local Authority admission policy in managing admissions. The administration of admission arrangements to Larks Hill School is dealt with centrally by the Wakefield Local Authority. Information regarding procedures and criteria for each school, together with an application form is available from the Wakefield Admissions Team (www.wakefield.gov.uk). Completed forms or online admissions must be returned to the Admissions Team by the submission date in the Autumn Term prior to your child starting school.
Parents and carers of children seeking to join the school in other years should, in the first instance, contact the Admissions Team on 01924 305616.
We welcome visits of prospective parents, please contact school to arrange a suitable time to come and look around.
Please see here for the current Wakefield Local Authority Admissions policy: school-admissions-policy-2017-18
Useful links for admissions:
Pontefract Academies Trust – Policies and Documents


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When I first graduated from college, I quickly settled into the idea of my 20-year repayment plan.
It didn't really occur to me that perhaps I should pay my student loans off sooner. After all, I was an English major. I wasn't exactly anticipating making a lot of money in my life.
Then one day I found a calculator that showed me the price I would pay for my student loans at the end of my repayment plan. And I was truly shocked.
What was my new number? $50,000. That's $10,000 more than I originally understood to be the amount my education was costing me.
In hindsight, I realize that of course, the price would be high – that's what interest does. However, I simply never thought to do the math.
But once I did, all bets were off. I was determined to pay off my student loans as fast as possible. Here's how I did it, and why I chose the strategy I did.
Why should you pay your student loans off faster?
It's hard to think about all the things we have to put off due to student loan debt.
Especially since we often walk away with a degree that costs the same amount as a down payment on a house. Which, in turn, means we wait to actually buy a home, or get married, or any other major life event for years longer than we expected.
So if you can pay off your student loans even a little bit faster, consider doing it. That way you free up money for the things you really want to spend it on. Don't let your student loans defer your dreams even further.
Have you calculated what you'll pay by the end of your repayment plan yet? If not, our SLH Student Loan Payment calculator below can help.
Student Loan Payment Calculator
Total interest paid
Monthly payment
Total amount paid
|Total interest paid
|Monthly payment
|Total amount paid
What are student loan bi-weekly payments?
There's one trick I particularly love when it comes to managing student loan debt, and that's making bi-weekly payments on your student loans.
I'll get to how this works in a minute, but to start, here's why it matters.
By simply switching to this payment schedule, you'll see an extra payment go towards your loans every year. And that one extra payment will decrease your repayment time as well as the amount of interest you ultimately pay on your loans.
Set up your bi-weekly payments in 3 steps
Here's how it works.
1. Split your monthly bill in half and pay every other week
You can pay bi-weekly by splitting your monthly bill in half and then applying that half payment to your account every other week. For example, if you're paying $500 per month, pay $250 every other week instead.
This might take some adjustment if you're on a strict monthly budget. However, if you get paid bi-weekly, then you can simply line up each half payment with your paychecks.
2. Make sure both payments make it in before your due date
Next, make sure the first two bi-weekly payments are ahead of your next bill. So if you start now but only one bi-weekly payment hits before your next bill, then you'll end up paying less than you owe.
The easiest way to get started is to start one month ahead of time. For example, don't start your first set of bi-weekly payments until right after you pay your next bill.
Then, make sure both of the payments make it in before the next month's bill. You can keep this really simple by plotting the dates out on a calendar, too.
3. Make sure your lender applies your payments correctly
Finally, to ensure this works properly, double-check how your payments are being applied on your student loan servicer's website.
Luckily this is pretty easy to do. When you log into your account you can select the way extra payments are allocated. In this case, make sure the extra payment is being allocated toward your balance (as opposed to being forwarded to your next bill).
Also, if you have more than one loan with one servicer, you can pick one of them to receive all of the extra funds.
For example, if you're looking for the fastest way to pay off your debt, choose the account with the highest interest rate. Or, if you're looking for a more immediate win, choose the account with the lowest balance.
And if you don't see these options online, call your student loan servicer. They can walk you through their process.
How bi-weekly payments get you out of debt faster
So how does this small change make a difference? Believe it or not, that extra payment you make each year can have a big impact on your time in debt and interest paid.
In my case, paying bi-weekly will knock about a year-and-a-half off my repayment time – and it will save me approximately $2,000 in interest.
I know that may not sound like much. But saving a couple of thousand dollars just for scheduling my student loan payments definitely feels like a pretty big win to me!
Take a minute to see the difference this could make on your loans. There's also a CalcXML calculator that can help – just keep in mind that this answer is an estimate.
Small steps toward a big win
The biggest win you'll get out of bi-weekly payments isn't just the money you saved. It's also the momentum you gain.
The high cost of student loan debt (or all debt) comes from the interest you'll pay. So any small moves you can make to decrease the amount of time you're paying on your loans (and thus on your interest) will make a huge difference in the end.
And if you are paying interest on your student loans, here's how you can claim it as a tax deduction and potentially get a refund.
Interested in refinancing student loans?Here are the top 6 lenders of 2018!
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Yes. There are positions available for all levels across the country. Explore our Career Areas to learn about our wide range of opportunities. Visit our Search Jobs page to find current job openings.
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07.09.2012 CACIB Shkorpilovtzi
Nylabell's Aftershock - excellent 1, JCAC,JBOB,BOB!!!
04.04.2012 CACIB Dobrich
Nylabell's Aftershock - excellent 1, JCAC, JBOB!
September 2011:
25.09.2011 Club Show in Macedonia, Skopje, judge Kim LeBlanc (Snowmist kennel, CANADA)
Precious of Golden NIcol - excellent 1, CAC in open class
Well done Precious!
May 2011:
29.05.2011 Happy Birthday Arwen, Andy and Archie! Precious' "pups" are now 2 years old!
27.05.2011 Happy B-day, Precious!!!
Precious is now 4 years old!
April 2011:
Club show 09.04.2011:
Golden Nicol Delivered from Wonderland of Wolf Point - Excellent, CAC, R.BOB!! Incredible debut for our Andy!
December 2010:
CACIB Dog Shows on 11.12 and 12.12.2010 in Sofia, Bulgaria
Precious of Golden Nicol - 2 x Excellent, CAC, CACIB, BOS
Golden Nicol Dark Dandelion of Wolf Point - 2 x Excellent, CAC, R.CACIB
We closed the year with some good news for our little princess - Arwen is now Bulgarian Champion.
April 2010:
Club for Northern Dogs Dog Show Sofia, Bulgaria, judge: Julia Velkova
Golden Nicol Dark Dandelion of Wolf Point - Exc, BJC , Junior Club Winner
Our rising star Golden Nicol Dark Dandelion of Wolf Point "Arwen" got BIS Puppy on 17.01.2010 CACIB dog show at Sofia, Bulgaria. We are so proud of her!! This was her first show and she was already acting like a dog, who has been to a lot dog shows.