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2015 saw the Supreme Court of Canada, the National Energy Board, the Alberta Court of Appeal, the Alberta Utilities Commission, the Alberta Surface Rights Board, the British Columbia Supreme Court and the British Columbia Environmental Appeal Board, each release significant decisions in areas of fundamental importance to the regulation of gas and electric utilities, and the operations of oil and gas companies. These decisions address a multitude of issues, including market manipulation and insider trading, the treatment of stranded assets in Alberta, the jurisdiction of and deference owed to industry regulators, the role of tribunals on appeals from their own decision, the inability to collaterally attack regulatory decisions, the inability of a municipality to thwart the development of a federally governed energy project by way of bylaw enforcement, standard of review, standing, enforcement mechanisms available to regulators to address industry non-compliance, and the interplay between bankruptcy legislation and regulatory processes. In this Bulletin, we highlight what we believe to be the top ten regulatory decisions of 2015, of most significance to energy industry participants.
1. Manipulative Behaviour: Market Surveillance Administrator v TransAlta (AUC)
In July 2015, the AUC released its landmark decision (found here) in a matter involving Alberta's electricity market watchdog, the Market Surveillance Administrator or MSA, and TransAlta. In its Phase 1 decision, the AUC found that TransAlta had contravened Alberta's Electric Utilities Act and the Fair, Efficient and Open Competition Regulation, by engaging in anticompetitive conduct, manipulating electricity prices, and allowing insider trading to occur.
The AUC found that TransAlta had, on four occasions between November 2010 and February 2011, intentionally timed outages at its coal-fired generating units on the basis of market conditions, for the purpose of maximizing its own portfolio. It also found that TransAlta allowed one of its employees to trade while in possession of a non-public outage record. TransAlta failed to establish due diligence or officially induced error, and was unable to demonstrate that the MSA's investigation or its enforcement actions constituted an abuse of process.
In its Phase 2 decision (found here), the AUC approved a settlement under which TransAlta will pay $56 million, comprised of an administrative penalty of nearly $52 million (of which $26 million constitutes disgorgement of profits), and full costs of the MSA's investigation and participation in the proceeding, in excess of $4 million. The $52 million administrative penalty is believed to be the largest of its kind in Canadian history.
The TransAlta decisions are required reading for market participants in Alberta's electricity sector. The decisions include discussion regarding: a) the history of the post-1996 restructuring and deregulation of Alberta's electricity market, and the amendment of the Electric Utilities Act and introduction of power purchase arrangements; b) the statutory framework for Alberta's wholesale electricity market; c) the nature of the respective roles of the MSA and the AUC; d) key provisions of the Electric Utilities Act and the Fair, Efficient and Open Competition Regulation; e) the statutory framework governing Commission approval of a settlement; and f) considerations in determining the appropriateness of administrative penalties, and the recovery of the MSA's costs (in this case on a full indemnity basis). The case is also of importance to administrative law practitioners. It decided issues regarding the level of disclosure to be provided to respondents, the production of investigation files, the nature and burden of proof in strict liability offences, the test for standing, and the defences of due diligence, officially induced error, mistake of fact and abuse of process.
It is worth noting that TransAlta was found to have acted offside the governing legislative and regulatory framework, despite having an in-house regulatory and legal department overseeing regulatory compliance issues. TransAlta argued that it thought its strategy was compliant with the rules, underscoring how important it is for regulated entities to ensure as vigilantly as possible that their activities are compliant. This may entail engaging outside counsel to review compliance policies, and to provide opinions on proposed actions or strategies in certain circumstances.
For further discussion of the TransAlta decisions, see our August 4, 2015 and November 12, 2015 blog posts found here and here.
2. Don't Get Stranded: FortisAlberta Inc. v Alberta (Utilities Commission) (ABCA)
In September 2015, the ABCA released its decision in FortisAlberta Inc. v Alberta (Utilities Commission) (found here). In it, the court considered issues in appeals brought by five electric utilities and two gas utilities from two AUC decisions: a) Decision 2013-417, known as the Utilities Asset Disposition or UAD decision (found here); and b) Decision 2011-474, being the 2011 Generic Cost of Capital Decision or 2011 GCOC (found here).
At issue in the appeals was the treatment of "stranded assets", described by the ABCA as utility assets no longer used to provide utility service as a result of extraordinary circumstances (e.g., flood, fire or early obsolescence). The AUC found that stranded assets must be removed from rate base, regardless of whether they have been fully depreciated. The "controversial aspect" (in the words of the ABCA) of the UAD decision from which the appellant utilities appealed, was the AUC's finding that the risk of "stranded assets" should be borne by utility shareholders, as opposed to being retained in rate base and paid by ratepayers.
As summarized by the ABCA, in the UAD decision the AUC had concluded that the relevant jurisprudence, including theStores Block line of cases (found here, here, here, here and here), clarified certain legal principles regarding utility regulation relating to the disposition of assets inside and outside the ordinary course of business. The AUC found that any gains or losses on utility assets are for the account of the utility and its shareholders, and not ratepayers, and that rates should cover the cost of assets only when they are used or required to be used for utility service. Accordingly, assets that are stranded by virtue of extraordinary retirements must be removed from rate base, regardless of whether they have been fully depreciated. In the same way that the utility is entitled to the benefit of any gains on assets removed from service, the utility, and not ratepayers, must bear the risk for the loss of those assets.
The issues on the appeals were found by the ABCA to include: a) whether the Commission had the power to make the policy determinations it made, having regard to the governing jurisprudence and legislative schemes; b) the extent of the impact of judicial pronouncements in circumscribing the power of the AUC; and c) the extent of the effect of the jurisprudence beyond the gas industry, to the legislation governing the electric industry as well.
In a unanimous decision written by Madam Justice Paperny, the ABCA determined that the appropriate standard of review was reasonableness, which required it to consider whether the decision fell within "a range of possible, acceptable outcomes which are defensible in respect of the facts and law." In dismissing the appeals for both the gas and electric utilities, the ABCA found that it, as well as the AUC, were bound by the SCC decision in Stores Block and subsequent ABCA jurisprudence, and that only legislative amendment, reconsideration, or a reversal of Stores Block by the Supreme Court of Canada could change that. With respect to the gas utilities, it was held that the AUC is charged with fixing fair and reasonable rates, and that this role cannot be usurped unless one reads the governing legislation as guaranteeing a return on all investments in all circumstances, which the Court said it was unable to do (holding that there is no guaranteed return, but only an opportunity to earn a reasonable one). The UAD decision was found to represent a reasonable approach within the AUC's statutory authority, and in keeping with the Stores Block line of cases.
The electric utilities had argued that the Stores Block line of cases dealt with gas utilities, and that the legislation was different for electric utilities. In particular, it was argued that following the deregulation of Alberta's electricity industry in 1995, the legislation had been amended so that electric utilities were entitled to recover all prudently incurred capital investment. This position was based on the "used or required to be used" basis for cost recovery being replaced in the legislation with a prudent cost recovery model, with the determination of prudence occurring at the time the costs are incurred. It was held that while the prudent cost recovery model was a permissible interpretation of the Electric Utilities Act, it was not the only permissible interpretation. The ABCA stated that while it would be tempting to confine the effects of Stores Block to gas utilities to minimize the "deleterious effects on the regulation of utilities in Alberta", those legal principles remained sound. It was held that the Commission's decision, having regard to the legislation and the law of Alberta, was reasonable.
The AUC's treatment of stranded costs is considered to be at odds with mainstream regulatory practice throughout North America, including past practice in Alberta. The Alberta utilities have applied for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada.
3. Prudence, Deference, and the Role of Tribunals on Appeals: Ontario (Energy Board) v Ontario Power Generation Inc.; ATCO Gas and Pipelines Ltd. v Alberta (Utilities Commission) (SCC)
These companion cases, which were released simultaneously by the Supreme Court of Canada in September 2015, considered the reasonableness of decisions made by utility regulators in Ontario and Alberta that prevented the utilities from fully recovering their operating (as opposed to capital) costs through regulated rates. In the Ontario Power Generation case (found here), the Ontario Power Commission had disallowed certain labour costs (amounting to $145 million), notwithstanding that the utility had already committed to those costs in a collective bargaining agreement. In the ATCO case (found here), the AUC refused to allow certain pension costs (amounting to 50% of an annual cost of living adjustment for 2012), that the utility claimed it had previously committed to.
In both cases, the regulators considered comparator companies, and determined that the operating costs claimed by the utilities were unreasonably high, and not prudently incurred. In response, the utilities attempted to draw a distinction between operating costs already committed to or incurred, and operating costs that are prospective in nature. The utilities argued that if the costs have already been committed to by the utility, there is a presumption that they have been prudently incurred.
The SCC held that neither the governing legislation nor the common law required a presumption of prudence in retrospective cases. Rather, as part of their overarching mandate to ensure that the rates charged to customers are just and reasonable, the regulator has broad discretion to determine retrospective and prospective methods for evaluating the prudency of costs in each particular case.
These decisions highlight the deference which will be afforded to a regulatory tribunal's interpretation of its home statute, particularly where that interpretation invokes the tribunal's core policy expertise. They reject a formalistic approach in favour of regulatory flexibility, permitting the choice of approach that meets the statutory objectives given the specific facts before the tribunal.
In the Ontario Power Generation case, the Court also provided clarity regarding the nature and extent of the role which counsel for a regulatory tribunal is permitted to assume on appeal – an issue which has been arising with increasing frequency (see, for example, the discussion of this issue in paragraphs 104 and 105 of the UAD appeal decision, discussed above). It was held that a discretionary approach by the appellate body (as opposed to a categorical ban) provides the best means of ensuring that the principles of finality and impartiality are respected without sacrificing the ability of reviewing courts to hear useful and important information and analysis. Further, cases may arise (including this one) where there is simply no other party to stand in opposition to the party challenging the tribunal decision (in which case, the presence of the tribunal as an adversarial party may help the court ensure it has heard the best of both sides of a dispute). With respect to the issue of "tribunal bootstrapping", it was confirmed that a tribunal is precluded from supplementing what would otherwise be a deficient decision with new arguments on appeal. Absent a power to vary its decision or rehear the matter, a tribunal cannot use judicial review as a chance to amend, vary, qualify or supplement its reasons. In the Ontario Power Generation case, it was held that the Board had not stepped beyond the boundaries of its original decision in its arguments before the Court.
4. Collateral Damage: Togstad v Alberta (Surface Rights Board) (ABCA)
In June 2015, the Alberta Court of Appeal released its memorandum of judgment (found here) in Togstad v Alberta (Surface Rights Board). In Togstad, the ABCA dismissed appeals from two separate decisions of the Alberta Court of Queen's Bench, namely Togstad v Alberta (Surface Rights Board) (found here), and Kure v Alberta (Surface Rights Board)(found here). In Togstad, the ABCA considered the inter-relationship between the Surface Rights Board and the AUC, and confirmed that the SRB's role is ancillary to regulators who authorize or permit energy development. It also reviewed and applied the law relating to the doctrine of collateral attack.
By way of background, AltaLink had obtained a permit and license from the AUC to construct and operate the Western Alberta Transmission Line, or WATL. In AUC Decision 2012-327 (found here), intervener landowners had argued that the 500-kV transmission line and substations formed part of an international or interprovincial work or undertaking and were, therefore, beyond the jurisdiction of the AUC. This argument was rejected by the AUC which, on December 6, 2012, approved the application and granted to AltaLink the approvals it had requested.
AltaLink subsequently sought from the SRB a right of entry order (or ROE Order), over Togstad's lands for the purpose of constructing WATL. Togstad opposed the application arguing, among other things, that the approval of WATL by the AUC was not within the AUC's constitutional jurisdiction. The SRB rejected Togstad's position (decision found here), finding that it amounted to a collateral attack on the AUC's previous decision, and that the SRB did not have jurisdiction to decide a question of constitutional law. AltaLink was, accordingly, granted the ROE Order over Togstad's lands. AltaLink also applied to the SRB for an ROE Order over the Kures' lands. Similar constitutional arguments were raised in opposition, which were similarly rejected by the SRB (decision found here).
Both Togstad and the Kures applied to the Alberta Court of Queen's Bench for judicial review of the SRB's respective decisions. The applications were dismissed and the applicants appealed to the ABCA. The ABCA confirmed that the rule against collateral attack prevents a party from attempting to challenge the validity of a binding order in the wrong forum, and precludes a party from forum shopping for a different and better result. The ABCA held, among other things: a) that the AUC, which was the appropriate regulatory forum to consider the question of whether the transmission line is an interprovincial work, had considered and finally decided that question, from which no appeal was taken; b) that the SRB's jurisdiction is ancillary to that of the AUC and cannot be exercised to effectively repeal a permit granted by the AUC; c) that the SRB is entitled to decide that it will rely on the determination of the AUC and, indeed, is statutorily prohibited from making an order which is inconsistent with that of the AUC; and d) that the SRB has no jurisdiction to consider constitutional questions.
The ABCA went on to hold that "[a]ll of this leads to the inescapable conclusion that the appellants' objections were collateral attacks on the Commission's decision" and that "[b]y seeking to raise the question again before the Board, the appellants were attempting to circumvent the Commission's order and were forum shopping for a different and inconsistent result", which was "precisely the approach that the rule is designed to prevent." It was held that the rule against collateral attacks should be strictly applied in these cases so as to maintain the integrity of the integrated and interrelated regulatory regime, and that a direction that the Board must consider this question "would turn the legislative scheme upside down." While the SRB and the Queen's Bench judges did not err in concluding that the objections were prohibited collateral attacks, even if they were not, it was held that they clearly fell within the doctrine of abuse of process.
Togstad is of widespread significance to the energy industry, given what appears to be a recent trend for aggrieved parties to seek to attack regulatory decisions in a different forum, in the absence of pursuing an otherwise available appeal or judicial review. See, for example, the Burnaby v. Trans Mountain decision discussed immediately below, and theOminayak v. Penn West decision discussed in our 2015 Top 10 Judicial Decisions blog, found here. The rule against collateral attack provides regulatory certainty to industry participants. In this respect, its confirmation, clarification and application by the Alberta Court of Appeal should be welcomed by industry.
For further discussion of the Togstad decision, see our June 15, 2015 blog post found here.
5. The Future of Rolled-In Tolling – Further Word from the NEB: NGTL's North Montney Mainline Project (NEB)
In April 2015, the National Energy Board released its decision on an application by NOVA Gas Transmission Ltd. for the North Montney Mainline Project. In June, the Government of Canada accepted the NEB's recommendation to approve the Project subject to 45 conditions addressing a multitude of issues, including pipeline integrity, protection of the environment, and matters regarding public and Aboriginal consultation. There was a strong dissent in the decision, based on the fact that a portion of the proposed pipeline and associated facility would traverse land that is of special significance to First Nations.
The Project includes the construction and operation of new facilities and a 301 km sweet natural gas pipeline, which will ultimately connect to a proposed Prince Rupert Gas Transmission pipeline and then to a future LNG plant on the west coast, which will supply global liquefied natural gas markets.
Apart from the dissent on facilities approval, perhaps the most significant aspect of the NEB's decision is in respect of tolling methodologies. NGTL had asked the Board to find that the costs of the Project should be added to the cost pool for the entire NGTL system (i.e. treated on a "rolled-in" basis), rather than creating a stand-alone cost pool for the Project's facilities. The NEB approved rolled-in tolling, but for only a portion of the Project's lifecycle, and subject to a number of conditions, including the following:
- NGTL can only use its current tolling methodology during the "Transition Period" (which the NEB defined as starting as soon as gas begins to flow on the project, and ending when North Montney gas production is first delivered at the Mackie Creek Interconnection, likely in 2019).
- Upon conclusion of the Transition Period, NGTL can revert to stand-alone tolling for the North Montney or, alternatively, it may apply to the NEB for a revised tolling methodology.
Other conditions were imposed intended to address cost accountability, cost causation, cost efficiencies, facilities integration and cross-subsidization, details of which may be found in our April 22 blog post (found here).
The North Montney decision is not necessarily to be taken as a general rejection by the NEB of the rolled-in tolling methodology. In a post-Transition Period filing, NGTL may be able to demonstrate that the North Montney Project facilities could be combined or rolled-in with other facilities, and still be consistent with the cost accountability, cost causation, efficiency and other objectives, which were identified by the Board.
That said, the North Montney decision is the latest NEB determination which challenges the notion that a rolled-in methodology is the Board's default position. In RH-001-2014, which addressed toll-setting methodology parameters until 2030 for the TransCanada PipeLine Mainline, the Board was clear that it would consider in future applications "the reasonableness of continuing the practice of rolled in tolling". The Board did precisely that in its denial of the Northwest Mainline Komie North Extension Project. The denial was based on Board findings that rolled-in tolls would not be an appropriate methodology since they would result in unreasonable subsidization of the extension of the NGTL Alberta System, and would create economic inefficiencies.
The key take-aways for applicants from the NEB's TransCanada Mainline, Komie North and North Montney decisions are that: (i) rolled-in tolling will be subject to increased Board scrutiny; (ii) demonstration of cost accountability and cost causation will be critical; and (iii) consideration of alternate toll methodologies is well advised.
6. Burnaby Bylaws Constitutionally Inoperative: Burnaby (City) v Trans Mountain Pipeline ULC (BCSC)
This November 2015 BCSC decision (found here) is the latest in a series of rulings and decisions involving the City of Burnaby's opposition to Trans Mountain's proposed pipeline expansion. Significantly, this most recent decision addresses an issue which has been the subject of much recent debate among academics and practitioners alike – to what extent is a municipality able to thwart the progress of an energy project falling within federal jurisdiction? The issue was characterized in the Burnaby Decision as "a contest between the applicability of valid provincial law in the form of Burnaby's bylaws and valid federal law as found in the NEB Act and the NEB's resulting jurisdiction over interprovincial pipelines."
In December 2013, Trans Mountain applied to the NEB for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity in respect of its proposed pipeline expansion project, which would largely entail a twinning of approximately 1,000 kms of existing interprovincial pipeline along a 1,147 km route. The pipeline, which is partially located on rights of way passing through Burnaby, moves crude oil and other petroleum products from Sherwood Park, Alberta, westerly to terminals and refineries in the Lower Mainland in British Columbia and elsewhere. The expansion project will require work on the existing right of way or, alternatively, elsewhere in Burnaby. Burnaby is one of 400 interveners opposing the expansion project.
In July 2014, following opposition by Burnaby to Trans Mountain's initial intention to use the existing Burnaby right of way, the NEB directed Trans Mountain to conduct certain engineering studies, to be completed by December 1, 2014, in connection with a newly selected route requiring tunneling through Burnaby Mountain. In response, Burnaby commenced enforcing validly enacted bylaws in such manner as to impede Trans Mountain's ability to conduct the required studies. Burnaby asserted that it was constitutionally permitted to control the routing, and the engineering work needed to determine that routing, through the enforcement of its bylaws.
Following the NEB's Ruling 28 (found here), which confirmed Trans Mountain's powers under section 73(a) of the NEB Actto carry out route location studies, among other things, Burnaby began serving Trans Mountain workers with bylaw violations. Burnaby then unsuccessfully sought an injunction against Trans Mountain (decision found here). Then, in October 2014, the NEB issued Ruling 40 (found here). In it, the NEB found that the impugned Burnaby bylaws were inoperative or inapplicable, based on the doctrines of federal paramountcy or, alternatively, interjurisdictional immunity, for the purposes of Trans Mountain's exercise of its powers under section 73(a) of the NEB Act. The NEB further found that it had authority to issue an order against Burnaby, which it did (order found here). Burnaby sought leave to appeal Ruling 40 to the Federal Court of Appeal (the "FCA"). That application was dismissed without reasons.
Burnaby then applied to the BCSC, which was called upon to decide the same constitutional questions which had been decided by the NEB in its Ruling 40, from which Burnaby was unsuccessful in seeking leave to the FCA (i.e., that the NEB lacked constitutional authority to issue an order that directs or limits Burnaby in the enforcement of its bylaws).
In this most recent decision, the BCSC declined jurisdiction over the six constitutional questions before it. Since the NEB and FCA had already ruled on the issue, it was held to be an abuse of process for Burnaby to seek the same relief from the BCSC that it had failed to obtain from both the NEB and the FCA. In the event of a possible appeal, the BCSC went on to consider the substance of the constitutional claims. Agreeing with the outcome in the NEB's Ruling 40, on the basis of federal paramountcy and interjurisdictional immunity it was held that Burnaby was precluded from seeking to apply its bylaws so as to impede or block any steps Trans Mountain was required to take to safely prepare and locate the Expansion Project. Burnaby's application was dismissed with costs. Perhaps not surprisingly given the history of the proceedings between the parties, shortly thereafter, Burnaby announced that it intended to appeal the decision, noting that the matter may eventually wind up in the Supreme Court of Canada.
The Burnaby Decision has addressed a fundamental constitutional issue which has been arising with increasing frequency – the ability of a municipality to thwart the development of a federally governed energy project. Moreover, the Burnaby case can be considered the companion case to the Togstad decision, discussed above. Both affirm that the proper venue for a constitutional challenge to an energy development is the regulatory tribunal charged with approving the development. If a party is unhappy with a tribunal's decision, the only recourse is by way of appeal or judicial review from that decision, and not resort to another body, the latter of which will constitute an abuse of process (or collateral attack).
7. No Leg to Stand On: O'Chiese First Nation v Alberta Energy Regulator (ABCA)
In this November 2015 decision (found here), the Alberta Court of Appeal dismissed applications brought by the O'Chiese First Nation (or OFN) for permission to appeal two decisions of the AER. Those decisions had dismissed requests by the OFN for regulatory appeals of two prior AER decisions, which approved applications brought by Shell Canada Limited for licenses and other approvals in connection with a proposed development falling within the OFN Consultation Area.
With respect to the first set of Shell applications, the provincial Aboriginal Consultation Office (or ACO) had deemed Crown consultation with the OFN to be adequate. Statements of Concern (or SOCs) were filed by the OFN, but the AER decided to not conduct a hearing. The AER found that the concerns raised by the OFN were general in nature and did not provide sufficient information to demonstrate how approval of the applications may directly and adversely affect them. The AER approved the applications, issued the requested licenses and approvals, and the OFN filed a request for the AER to conduct a regulatory appeal.
The second set of Shell's applications were brought utilizing the streamlined approach and expedited timelines available under the Province's Enhanced Approval Process (for further discussion regarding those processes, see BLG's prior blog posts located here, here and here). Once again, the ACO deemed Crown consultation with the OFN to be adequate and stated that Shell could proceed with its applications. The AER received no SOCs and the applications were approved, following which the OFN filed a request for a regulatory appeal.
The AER dismissed both requests for regulatory appeals, concluding that the OFN was not directly and adversely affected by the approvals.
The ABCA dismissed the OFN's applications for permission to appeal. It held that the AER's decisions involved a question of mixed fact and law and that under the governing legislation, only questions of law or jurisdiction were capable of being appealed to the ABCA. It went on to hold that the OFN's position incorrectly conflated the Crown's duty to consult with the legislative requirement that the OFN be directly and adversely affected by the AER's decisions, to be entitled to a regulatory appeal. Having chosen to adduce no evidence to establish that they were so affected, the OFN was precluded from seeking the regulatory appeals.
The decision has clarified that in Alberta, the right to appeal an AER decision is not automatically engaged by virtue of development on treaty lands. The OFN failed to adduce specific evidence to demonstrate that it would be directly and adversely affected by the proposed development, and was not able to rely on the fact that that development would be located within the OFN's Consultation Area to establish this. A proposed oil and gas development on treaty lands which triggers a duty to consult, does not, in and of itself, mean that the First Nation is directly and adversely affected by the development, for the purpose of requesting a regulatory review. The decision has also confirmed that the AER's determination of whether a party is directly and adversely affected is a question of mixed fact and law that is not appealable. As a result, even had evidence been adduced before the AER, the OFN would have nonetheless been precluded from appealing the AER determinations that they were not directly and adversely affected.
For further analysis of the O'Chiese First Nation decision, see our December 10, 2015 blog post found here.
8. Late Assignments Costly for Landowners: Lemke v Petroglobe Inc. (AB SRB)
This recent Alberta Surface Rights Board decision provides further insight into the interesting and rapidly evolving area of law in which the nature and extent of rights and corresponding obligations in the face of ongoing bankruptcy and insolvency proceedings, are considered. In this particular case (found here), the SRB was called upon to review its prior decision (found here), in which it found that it was precluded from proceeding with an application under section 36 of the Surface Rights Act (the "SRA"). That application, brought by landowners/lessors under a surface lease, sought the SRB's assistance in recovering payment of overdue compensation by an operator, which had accrued prior to the operator's assignment in bankruptcy under the federal Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (the "BIA").
The SRB found that the stay of proceedings under section 69.3 of the BIA precluded it from: a) issuing a notice to the bankrupt operator demanding payment of the outstanding compensation and suspending the operator's rights under the surface lease, pending payment; and b) in the event of non-payment, terminating the operator's rights under the lease. Under the governing legislation, it found that it was required to suspend and then terminate the operator's rights before taking the ultimate step of directing payment to the applicants by the Province.
The application under section 36 of the SRA was found to be a "proceeding for the recovery of a claim provable in bankruptcy" and, therefore, subject to the stay under section 69.3 of the BIA. While directing payment by the Province would not constitute a step taken by the SRB against the bankrupt operator, the prerequisite steps of demanding payment and suspending and then terminating the operator's rights, would be, to which the stay under the BIA would apply. As a result of those prerequisite steps, it was found that an operational conflict existed between section 36 of the SRA and the BIA, since both of Parliament's legislative intentions under the BIA (i.e., the fair and orderly payment to creditors, and the rehabilitation of the bankrupt), would be frustrated. As a result, the BIA was found to prevail, resulting in the SRB being unable to exercise its powers under section 36 of the SRA, as requested by the applicants.
As discussed in our December 22 blog post (found here), the unfortunate result in Lemke for the landowner applicants is a consequence which was not likely intended by the legislature.
The Lemke decision is the latest in a series of decisions from the SRB in which the impact of the BIA on the SRB's ability to exercise its powers under section 36 of the SRA is considered. Read together, while the section 36 process will not be available for unpaid lessors under surface leases where the outstanding payments have accrued prior to the operator's assignment in bankruptcy, the relief, including a direction by the SRB to the Province to pay, will be available in respect of cases involving outstanding payments that become due following the effective date of the assignment. Given the prevailing industry economic climate, these decisions have important implications for landowners who are owed surface lease payments by financially troubled oil and gas companies.
A highly anticipated judicial decision which is expected to provide further significant insight in this area, is the ATB v. Redwater Energy Corp. application, heard by the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta in December, from which judgment was reserved. Redwater is mentioned in our 2015 Top 10 Judicial Decisions (found here), in the context of the SCC trilogy of bankruptcy decisions released in 2015, which address federal paramountcy.
9. To be (named), or not to be (named)…Decision to Issue a Declaration Pursuant to Section 106 of the Oil and Gas Conservation Act (AER)
Under Alberta's legislative and regulatory frameworks, the Alberta Energy Regulator has at its disposal numerous and often overlapping enforcement mechanisms to address regulatory non-compliance by oil and gas companies.1 The reach of one such mechanism, the "Actions re principals" provision found in section 106 of the Oil and Gas Conservation Act, extends beyond the defaulting company, to its principals. In this September 2015 AER decision (found here), the reader is reminded of the severity of consequences which may befall a principal of a non-compliant licensee, approval holder or working interest participant, who is named in a section 106 OGCA declaration. As acknowledged by the AER, "[t]he decision to issue a section 106 declaration is not made lightly."
Under this provision, where a licensee, approval holder or working interest participant fails to comply with an AER order, or has an outstanding debt in respect of suspension, abandonment or reclamation costs, the AER may make a declaration against one or more persons who were directly or indirectly in control of the non-compliant entity, where it considers it in the public interest to do so. In this decision, the person so named was found by the AER panel to be in control of three companies, which had failed to comply with a total of 18 regulatory orders between 2010 and 2013.
Section 106 is a reverse onus section – once a prima facie case has been established, the burden shifts to the individual named to show why the declaration and associated order should not be made. Despite having been given numerous opportunities to do so, and after having advised that he intended to file evidence and submissions as to why he should not be named, "[u]nlike all but one previous section 106 process", the individual named in this case did not file any evidence and the hearing which had been scheduled at his request, was cancelled. The panel went on to consider whether, on a balance of probabilities, the evidence filed by the AER liability management staff satisfied the section 106 test.
The individual named raised no issue with the first prong of the test (i.e., contravention of regulatory orders). At issue were the second and third prongs – control, and public interest.
With respect to control, the panel identified the test to be whether the person who is named had the "authority to cause the licensee to meet its financial obligations to or administered by the AER and to comply with AER orders, regardless of title or position". The panel confirmed findings in prior decisions that a person need not be a shareholder to be in control. It was further found that while the legislature intended that directors, officers and agents of companies be presumed to be in control of their companies, a person who is named as the sole director or officer in the corporate records is not, by virtue of that fact alone, to be considered responsible for their regulatory noncompliance, given the requirement under section 106 that individuals be given the opportunity to show cause why they should not be named. As mentioned, however, the person named in this case did not lead evidence to rebut that legislative presumption. The panel referred to other indicia of control, and, on a balance of probabilities, found that the evidence filed by the AER liability management staff in support of the declaration, had established that the person named was in control of the companies at the time of the contraventions.
Following identification of the public interest purposes of a section 106 declaration and a review of the evidence, the panel found that it was in the public interest to name the person in the declaration: "[t]he evidence and…apparent lack of respect for the regulator's processes, including this process, leads to the conclusion that it is in the public interest to name [him]." Among other things, the panel found that the person named was unable or unwilling to "to ensure that the licensees meet the most basic, yet important, regulatory obligations" (including payment of a $112.91 orphan fund levy), which considered together, "demonstrated a complete lack of care and attention to basic elements of the regulatory framework." As a result, the panel found that "it [was] not in the public interest to permit such behaviour to continue."
The declaration that was issued (Appendix 2 of the decision): a) was indefinite; b) required the individual to provide a list of the companies in which he was involved; c) required the individual to disclose his status with any of those companies, and that a section 106 declaration was in effect against him, at any time those companies applied to the AER for specified relief; and d) stated that for any company in which the person was in control, the AER could: (i) require abandonment and reclamation deposits; (ii) suspend operations; and/or (iii) refuse to consider applications for specified relief.
As is apparent, the impact of a section 106 declaration is significant. A person named can be impeded from conducting transactions in the oil and gas industry and, indeed, be precluded from earning a livelihood. In this decision, the panel appeared intent on providing every opportunity to the individual to avoid being named, and stressed the importance of companies working with the regulator when challenges are encountered. The panel specifically stated that "[i]n this case, it would prefer to incent [the person] to address impacts resulting from the noncompliance and demonstrate his ability to be a responsible operator." The panel also held that if the person "addresses impacts and his ability, the restrictions imposed by this decision could be suspended by the AER on recommendation by [the AER liability management staff] to the AER."
In the current economic climate, it is critical to be cognizant of section 106 of the OGCA, and to ensure ongoing compliance with AER orders to avoid the potential fate of being named in a section 106 declaration.
10. Parched…Technical Deficiencies and Flawed Consultation: Chief Gale v Assistant Regional Water Manager & Nexen (BC EAB)
In this September 2015 decision (found here), the British Columbia Environmental Appeal Board revoked a water license which had been issued to Nexen Inc. in May 2012, after having found serious technical flaws in the scientific evidence upon which the license had been granted, as well as defects in the consultation process with the Fort Nelson First Nation (or FNFN). The license had been granted by the British Columbia Ministry of the Environment in May 2012 for a five and a half year term. It authorized Nexen to divert water from the North Tsea Lake into storage dugouts for the purpose of oilfield injection (i.e., shale gas fracking) and storage.
On appeal by the FNFN, the BC EAB found that the license was technically flawed in both concept and operation, and revoked the license. Among other things, the withdrawal scheme was not supported by scientific precedent, appropriate modelling or field data, and the withdrawal rate (which, in some years, was as high as 14% of the North Tsea Lake) was arbitrary, lacked scientific basis, and could not be rationalized by either the Ministry or Nexen. Data that became available after the license was issued led the BC EAB to conclude that the authorized withdrawals could cause adverse effects on aquatic and riparian species.
With respect to the flawed consultation process, it was found that the Ministry had incorrectly determined the level of consultation owed to the FNFN, based on the mistaken premise that granting the license would not impact the environment or the FNFN's treaty rights. The BC EAB stressed that the FNFN need not establish that there would be an adverse impact but, rather, only a potential, non-speculative, impact. Because of the intended large consumptive use of the diverted water, the BC EAB found that there existed a logical causal relationship between the withdrawal of the water, and the potential for adverse effects on species and habitat upon which the FNFN depended for the exercise of their treaty rights.
The BC EAB also found that the consultation process lacked transparency and the requisite clarity as to the need and expectations of each party. The Ministry should have: a) had a consultation agreement in place with the FNFN; b) proposed a consultation framework or informed the FNFN that it would be following the Provincial Consultation Policy; c) kept the FNFN informed of the process or the status of Nexen's application; and c) expressly or impliedly delegated procedural aspects of the consultation to Nexen.
Perhaps most significantly, the BC EAB found that the Ministry had not engaged in consultation with the FNFN in good faith. The BC EAB's determination in this regard focused on its finding that after two years of consultation with no hard deadlines, during a teleconference call between the Ministry and Nexen, the Ministry concluded that while the "technical side of the assessment was complete," and a license would be achievable within a couple of months, "consultation remained a 'major hurdle'". Following this, the Ministry issued a letter to the FNFN, arbitrarily imposing a 30-day deadline for consultation. Internal Ministry correspondence indicated that the Ministry intended to grant the license and had no intention of substantively addressing any FNFN concerns raised during this time. The EAB concluded that the Ministry did not consult in good faith and had not upheld the honour of the Crown.
Revocation, as opposed to suspension of the license, is a serious remedy. That said, the BC EAB found that Nexen had used the license for 3 out of the 5.5 years that it had been issued, and that it had installed works prior to its issuance under short-term approvals. As a result, Nexen could not claim that it had relied on the license when it incurred those costs.
While the AER, and not the Alberta EAB, issues water licenses for oil and gas developments in Alberta, the decision is nonetheless of interest to oil and gas companies with Alberta-based operations. The technical deficiencies found by the BC EAB are insightful in terms of water license applications, regardless of where they are brought. Further, the BC EAB's in-depth discussion regarding the duty to consult is a useful reminder as to the substantive and procedural factors that are likely to be considered in connection with any energy development that has the potential to impact treaty rights.
This decision is also a reminder of the dire consequences which can flow from a flawed consultation process. In order to best protect its interests, it is absolutely critical for industry participants to ensure that a fair and comprehensive consultation procedure is established early on – one that is compliant with all legislative and regulatory framework requirements.


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To see how campaign contributions from powerful interests can skew public policy and spending in Louisiana, just look at the nursing home industry. Nursing home occupancy in the state dipped below 80 percent in 1998 and has drifted downward since then. In the past few years, the number ranged from 69.8 percent to around 75 percent. So in any given year, one-fourth or more of nursing home beds across the state are empty.
Yet the industry has kept a stranglehold on its piece of the state budget even as Louisiana has slashed Medicaid payments to hospitals, doctors, home health care providers and other health services.
Why on earth would Gov. Jindal and lawmakers prop up a shrinking private industry with the public's money? Here's a theory: Cash.
Nursing home companies and their political action committee doled out a whopping $2.8 million in state campaign contributions between 2009 and 2012, according to a four-month investigation by NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune and WVUE Fox 8 News. That was more than the oil and gas industry, which has almost four times more companies operating in Louisiana.
The main beneficiaries of the nursing home donations were Gov. Jindal, who got more than $715,000 during the four-year period, and state legislators. That isn't surprising, since they control how much of the state's Medicaid budget flows to the industry each year.
The nursing homes are doing well in that regard -- increasing from $738 million in the 2009 budget to $871 million in 2011. The 2012 budget was slightly lower at $796 million. Because overhead costs are included, taxpayers are helping to pay for the unused beds -- which cushions the industry from economic realities.
Meanwhile, Louisiana lost $550 million in Medicaid funding when Congress approved a change in the formula to correct an error that had inflated payments to the state. The Jindal administration made up most of the lost funding by cutting the LSU hospital system's budget. In addition, the administration closed a hospital for the mentally ill in Mandeville, reduced Medicaid rates for private hospitals and cut Medicaid payments to rural hospitals.
To keep the money flowing to nursing homes, the governor and lawmakers have dipped into a trust fund established to help pay to care for the elderly for years to come. At the rate the state is drawing it down, though, there could be nothing left by the time Gov. Jindal leaves office in early 2016. The fund dropped from $830 million when the governor took office in 2008 to $410 million in July and is predicted to fall to $250 million by summer 2014.
Joe Donchess, executive director of the Louisiana Nursing Home Association, said that is how the trust fund was meant to be used. That is a shortsighted view. It also ignores the fact that the fund also is supposed to provide funding for in-home and community services for the poor and elderly.
The state should be putting more resources into those sorts of services to allow people to stay in their own homes as long as possible. Instead, more than 20,000 people are on a waiting list for home care. Contrast that with the more than 8,000 nursing home beds across the state that are empty.
More than a decade ago, policy experts at a health care summit convened by then-Gov. Kathleen Blanco suggested the state should change its approach. A health care analyst with the Congressional Research Service said then that Louisiana ought to put more of its long-term care resources into home- and community-based services as other states were doing.
The reaction from the nursing home industry seems to have been to cement its grip on the budget. The latest effort came this year when the Legislature approved a bill that would protect funding for nursing homes, pharmacies and intermediate care facilities in the state Constitution. That is bad public policy. Fortunately, voters will have a chance next fall to nix the proposal.
As the Louisiana Budget Project said in its analysis in May, "giving special protection to select health-care providers and removing hundreds of millions of state dollars from policymakers' discretion is a recipe for trouble." Forbidding the state to touch these revenues could lead to deeper cuts for other services.
In a May 26 letter to the editor, the director of policy and planning at the Advocacy Center in New Orleans said the legislation "results in public policy that favors expensive and unwanted institutionalization, while ensuring that ... home health care will continue to be cut."
Mr. Donchess claims that nursing homes aren't trying to buy favorable legislation with their contributions. The money just helps "pay to educate legislators."
Conveniently for the industry, lawmakers seem to have learned to make sure that nursing homes get a generous share of the state budget.
There is a need for nursing homes, certainly. But Gov. Jindal and lawmakers seem to be letting the industry's generous campaign donations drive budget decisions. That isn't right. The state should divvy up the money it has to spend on care for the elderly based on what is best for the people of Louisiana.

subset: commoncrawl


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Following a competitive process, three Trust staff were appointed to strategic leadership positions across the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Clinical Research Network. The NIHR Clinical Research Network (CRN) provides the infrastructure and support that allows the delivery of clinical research studies across the NHS. The network comprises 15 regional networks spanning the length and breadth of England and covering over 30 medical specialities.
Professor Eric Alton is the national lead for CRN Theme B. This theme encompasses respiratory, ear nose and throat, gastroenterology, hepatology and infection. In this role, Professor Alton will liaise with the speciality national leads and external stakeholders for these different clinical areas, to develop and catalyse delivery of the NIHR portfolio of research studies.
Professor Alton is also director of the Trust's respiratory Biomedical Research Unit (BRU) and co-ordinates the UK Cystic Fibrosis (CF) Gene Therapy Consortium. He was recently featured in several national news stories covering the world's first phase 2B CF gene therapy clinical trial, which is taking place at the Trust.
Professor Wisia Wedzicha is a speciality national lead for respiratory diseases where she has responsibility for the national portfolio of airway disease research (e.g. chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma).
Professor Wedzicha is a research lead in the Trust's respiratory BRU, an NIHR senior investigator and the current editor-in-chief of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
Professor John Pepper OBE, consultant cardiac surgeon at the Trust, has been appointed to the role of speciality national lead for cardiovascular disease with a sub speciality interest in surgery and heart failure. Professor Pepper will provide expert advice and have national oversight of the NIHR portfolio in this area.
Professor Pepper is an area research lead in the cardiovascular BRU and earlier in the year was awarded an Order of the British Empire for services to heart and lung surgery.
These appointments recognise the standing and track record these staff have in their respective academic and clinical fields. We wish all three well in these exciting new positions.
Discover more about the NIHR Clinical Research Network and how these roles help support it.


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I havent experienced anything that even remotely resembles the feminist paradise that rosin says that i as a woman should be living in. Furthermore, she makes sweeping (and unsubstantiated) generalizations about "cardboard men" and "plastic women". "plastic" used to mean "fake" when i was growing up; and rosin certainly is.
She also lies with statistics by sampling cities that have attracted wealthy young college educated white women OT1H, while also attracting low-paid immigrant men OTOH. Her feminist utopia immedately evapourates once this is taken into account.
Personally, i dont see what other point there could be to publishing such an obvious falsehood other than bigotry, and ppl that do so are by definition bigots.
Hannah Rosin's writing can be thoughtful, honest, and interesting some of the time, but she suffers from the same flaws we see in many of the long form journalists from the 80s, 90s, and up to the present. She is addicted to a kind of manipulative careerism, and to embracing a narrow minded agenda which serves her ambitions. This is why we get "The End of Men", with all its lazy generalizations, provocative title, thinly disguised contempt, passive bigotry, and mediocrity. It's easy to see why people like her old colleague Stephen Glass was able to flourish in that environment for a while, and why journalists like her have failed us so badly over the years, until they really can't be trusted at all for any real understanding or thoughtful insights. Like too many journalists to name, I suspect she became a bigot over time in order to serve her own interests. It's a shame.
Rosen's horribly-titled book "The End of Men" sounds a lot like a call for male genocide. You can't have gender equality if you believe that half of the human race is worthless. And opposition to gender equality is definitely a sign of bigotry. Thus Rosin has failed to show that she supports equality for both men and women.
Yes, Hanna Rosin is a bigot, because she openly dislikes men based on arbitrary characteristics. Hanna Rosin thinks that all men are bad. This is very unfair, because it's not based on characteristics that men can help. Some men are bad, but so are some women. She judges people based on their sex, and that is bigoted.


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Eight weeks and counting. While kids double down on the weeks to summer vacation, parents' anxiety levels rise because those sunny days of summer inevitably shine down on vocally bored and fractious offspring. Worry no longer. The Santa Barbara Independent's ever faithful Summer Camp Guide to the rescue! Herein find life-saving springs and fonts of summertime bliss: water play, tough competition, doggy days, camp outs, nature hikes, barbecue sauce, rock 'n' roll, jazzy dancing, cryptography, a rainwater harvest, as well as activities designed just for teens. Read on to discover how to make this summer a breeze for kids of any age — and their parents, too.
80th Annual Children's Fiesta Parade
Participate in this S.B. tradition and make memories for your family. On Sat., Aug. 7, young people of Santa Barbara, along with their parents and other parade participants, will don traditional costumes and parade down State Street for the eighth decade in a row. Applications to enroll in this year's event will be available starting Mon., May 10; deadline to submit an application this year is Fri., July 9.
Contact the Children's Parade headquarters at 564-5495 to be put on the mailing list, or stop by the Cabrillo Pavilion Arts Ctr. (1118 E. Cabrillo Blvd.) Mon.-Fri., 8am-5pm to pick up or drop off an application. Registration and participation are free.
Animation and Video Film Camp for Youth
The S.B. African Heritage Film Series and Freshi Film Camp present a week-long immersion in digital filmmaking. Highly skilled professionals from every field of filmmaking teach young filmmakers the latest techniques and technologies available, and campers make their own films.
Mon.-Fri., July 12-16, 1-4pm. Fellowship Hall, First Baptist Church, 949 Veronica Springs Rd. Ages 8-18. $275/week. Preregistration required. Call 899-1160.
Art by the Sea Summer camp
Carpinteria Valley Arts Center presents Art by the Sea Summer Camp, a fine-art summer camp for children. Art by the Sea Summer Camp gives children a chance to draw, paint, and make art inspired by the ocean. Children will participate in weekly field trips to the beach, sketching sessions in the Arts Council's gallery, talks by working artists, and more. A mini art exhibition at the end of each week will showcase the children's many projects. All classes will be taught by experienced art teachers Jenn Buur and Maureen Foley in downtown Carpinteria. Weekly themes: Creature Feature; Living Color; and Earth, Air, Sky.
Multiple one-week sessions, June 28-Aug. 6. 855 Linden Ave., Carpinteria. Ages 5-12. $150; scholarships are available. Call 259-5099 or email email@example.com for more info or to register,
Art From Scrap: Green Kids Summer Day Camp
Looking for a small, fun, environmental day camp? This day camp is held at the Watershed Resource Ctr. at Arroyo Burro Beach and at Art From Scrap in downtown S.B. Children enjoy beach exploration, Art From Scrap projects, nature crafts, hikes, sandcastle building, experiments, beach cleanups, cooking, games, songs, stories, composting, planting seeds, and other environmental projects in a small, caring environment. Sign up early; only 20 campers per session.
Multiple one-week sessions for specific ages, Mon.-Fri., 9am-3pm: June 14-18, July 12-16, and Aug. 2-6. $220. Call 884-0459 or visit artfromscrap.org/afssummercamp.html for more info or to register.
Art From The Heart Summer Art Camps
Encourage diverse expression in your child this summer through specially themed art camps in dance, drama, music, literacy and visual art.
One-week sessions, Mon.-Thu., 9:15am-12:15pm.
• Solstice Parade Puppets June 14-17 and 26. S.B. Zoo, 500 Niños Dr.
• Solstice Parade Hats June 21-24 and 26. S.B. Zoo, 500 Niños Dr.
• Giraffes and Jump Ropes June 28-July 1. MacKenzie Adult Bldg., Las Positas Rd. and State St.
• Sunsets and Sea Creatures Aug. 16-19. MacKenzie Adult Bldg., Las Positas Rd. and State St.
• Tortoise, Hare, Lion, and Mouse Aug. 23-26. MacKenzie Adult Bldg., Las Positas Rd. and State St.
Ages 3½-10. $132/$120 RDC. Call 966-9078 or visit sbparksandrecreation.com/summerfun.


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- January 18, 1954 - March 25, 2015
- Huntsville, Tennessee
of Sinda's Passing
Share This Obituary
Make a Memorial Donation
Tributes.com partners with over 100 national charities. It's easy and secure.Donate
Sinda was born on January 18, 1954 and passed away on Wednesday, March 25, 2015.
Sinda was a resident of Huntsville, Tennessee at the time of passing.
Sinda was married to Clyde.
The family will receive friends for visitation on Sunday, March 29, 2015, from 6:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. at the Hempel Funeral Home; 373 Cleveland Ave., Amherst. Funeral services will be held on Monday at 11:00 a.m. at the funeral home. The Rev. Farrell Keith, pastor of Old Fashioned Grace Baptist, will officiate. Burial will follow at Evergreen Cemetery, South Amherst.
The family suggests that memorial contributions be made to Old Fashioned Grace Baptist; 500 W. Main Street, South Amherst, OH, 44001.


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Daniel MeyerDirector of Orchestral Activities
Mary Pappert School of Music
Performance Department
School of Music, 202
Phone: 412.396.4360
Education:Hochschule für Musik
Denison University
University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music
As Music Director of the Asheville Symphony and the Erie Philharmonic, Daniel Meyer has reinvigorated both orchestras with innovative programs and a dedication to create and sustain enthusiastic audiences for classical music.
He began the 2015/16 season leading concerts with the Indianapolis Symphony and opened his season in Erie with a newly commissioned work for Cello and Orchestra by Michael Daugherty. He returns to Germany for concerts with the Wüttembergische Philharmonie, followed by concerts with the Tonkünstler Orchestra in Vienna in a program of Golijov, Pleyel, and Schumann's Symphony No. 2. In the spring, Meyer returns to Austria to lead performances of the Wiener Jeunesse Orchestra in music of Bernstein, Brahms and Elgar at the Mozarteum in Salzburg and the Konzerthaus in Vienna.
Meyer's eclectic and groundbreaking programs in both Asheville and Erie include works this season by Richard Danielpour, Jennifer Higdon, and John Adams in and amongst the masterworks of Beethoven and Brahms, Dvorak and Schumann; the Metamorphoses of both Strauss and Hindemith; and great vocal works including the Mozart and Verdi Requiems, Beethoven's Mass in C, and a Gala concert performance of Loewe's My Fair Lady.
In Asheville last season, Meyer curated and led the inaugural Amadeus Festival, a sold out week of film, lectures, community events, and concerts featuring Emmanuel Ax -- an extension of his longtime dedication to music education and community involvement. In recent seasons Meyer has frequently conducted the Rochester Philharmonic and the Pittsburgh Symphony, as well as guest engagements with the Columbus, Phoenix, Eugene, Alabama, and Knoxville Symphonies. At the Asheville Lyric Opera he led a double bill of Puccini's Suor Angelica and Leoncavallo's I Pagliacci, Mozart's The Magic Flute, and Rodgers and Hammerstein's Carousel. His critically acclaimed European debut took place with the Staatstheater Stuttgart Orchestra and violinist Thomas Zehetmaier, and he returned to Germany soon after for concerts with the Neue Philharmonie Westfalen.
Meyer has led the symphony orchestras of Utah, Fort Worth, San Antonio, Syracuse, Tallahassee, Youngstown, Lexington, Portland, Santa Barbara, Lansing, and Wheeling. Summer festival appearances have included the Cleveland Orchestra at Blossom, the Aspen and Grand Teton Music Festivals, the Chautauqua Festival and the Brevard Music Center.
In 2003, Mariss Jansons invited Meyer to become Resident Conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony and Music Director of the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony, where he served until 2009. He worked closely with Manfred Honeck, Mariss Jansons, Sir Andrew Davis, and Charles Dutoit. He led the Pittsburgh Symphony on tour; conducted performances with Pinchas Zukerman, Sarah Chang, and Marvin Hamlisch, among other notable soloists; and conducted the world premiere of Richard Danielpour's Pastime, a co-commission of the Pittsburgh and Atlanta Symphonies and the Brooklyn Philharmonic.
As music director of the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony, Meyer led the PYSO on their first ever tour to China and an international tour to Vienna, Prague, Leipzig and Budapest in programs including the world premieres of David Stock's Clarinet Concerto with soloist Richard Stoltzman, and John Harbison's Mary Lou: Four Symphonic Memories of Mary Lou Williams.
A native of Cleveland, Mr. Meyer Studied conducting at the Hochschule für Musik in Vienna as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar, and is a graduate of Denison University and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. He composed and conducted works for ensembles at both schools, including a Stabat Mater for soprano, chorus and orchestra. At Boston University, Mr. Meyer received the Orchestral Conducting Honors Award and at Aspen was awarded the prestigious Conducting Prize from David Zinman.


text: Just upgraded my PB to Tiger today. Max/MSP required to be re-authenticated after the move. Cycling74 was very quick to reply to my email (within a hour) Max opened, and i got a message in the Max window saying it couldnt find Jsui. To fix this i just copied over the "JSRef.shlb" from my old library/CFMSupport to my current CFMSupport folder. Also when trying to open Max for the first time it prompted me to install the new PACE extensions for iLok, which i then proceeded to do. Tested 3 patches that are fairly complex and they seem to be working just as well as they were before. More extensive testing to be done later this week/early next week. Maybe some good news for us Max users.


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i learned this all... when i was 11!
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always yearned for love, but... never got it!
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Girls 2pk Seam Free Crop Tops
Make a cute and comfortable addition to her collection of underwear essentials with this two pack of girls' seamfree crop tops. Featuring one striped version and one plain, both with elasticated hems, these discreet crop tops are the perfect pick for growing girls.
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Okay, people, I still have prizes to give away thanks to the good folks at A&E Sports, so let's put our imaginations to the test.
One of the age old, hypothetical questions guys in bars ask each other after tipping back a few is, if you could travel back in time to see any band at any particular moment in time, who would it be and why?
My answers never sway. After all, how could one pass up the opportunity to experience a young Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin or Rage Against The Machine in the very first smoke-filled pubs they played?
This time around, I thought I'd incorporate that time travel argument into the glorious world of sports.
- Category: Straight Ballin Blog
- Tags:babe ruth, cassius clay, jesse owens, wilt chamberlain


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Double Ferrari Vinyl Layout, Site Animation & Development
Pug, Stylus, Anime.js, Parallax.js, CSS Animation, Javascript, Photoshop, Illustrator.
Art by David Hoskins. I laid out the full vinyl packaging for Double Ferrari's self-titled debut album, including sleeve, liner notes, and side labels. Then I took the cover art, separated it into layers of color, and made a promotional website at doubleferrari.com that moves in relation to mouse movement or device tilt. I'm so proud of this project!
Winter–Summer 2017.
View the live site here.
Lingua Franca EP Design
Illustrations by Erin Stacer. I laid out multiple variations of the design, and prepared the art for printing.
Download the album on Bandcamp.
Double Ferrari Shirt Design
Worked with Jace Bartet from the band to design this shirt. His request was, "Like a NASA shirt from the 80s, but even more rock and roll." I think we nailed it, and the first printing sold out almost immediately.
Summer 2017.
Mineko's Night Market Site Animation & Implementation
Pug, Stylus, Anime.js, CSS Animation, Javascript, Photoshop.
Responsive promotional site for Mineko's Night Market by Meowza Games and Kukubee. Meowza provided the art and layout as a Photoshop file, which I re-implemented as a responsive site. I animated various elements, including parallax scrolling on the header, squishy buttons, and wiggling stars.My favorite part is the parade of cats partway down the page, which is written in Javascript and Anime.js. The script sends new cats walking across the page at randomized intervals, speeds, and color. This was fun to write and fun to watch!
Caves of Qud Site Design & Development
Wordpress, PHP, Stylus, CSS Animation, Javascript, Sketch.
Responsive promotional site for Caves of Qud by Freehold Games. They had installed a basic Wordpress template, which I re-designed to match the game's aesthetic. I also worked with the Freehold team to help determine what content to display, and how.
I'm particularly pleased with the scanline effect, which is just made of CSS styles, and the Roadmap page, which needed to display a lot of information in a concise format.
February–March 2017.
VIDEOBALL.NET Site
Photoshop, Illustrator, Web.
Responsive site based on Action Button Entertainment's game VIDEOBALL. Working under director Tim Rogers, I assembled this site in just a couple of weeks. I created the GIF for the title bar, and re-created many aspects of the game's UI in HAML/SCSS.
I've updated it periodically over the following months as the game UI has changed, and as the game approaches release. I've written various Javascript components to add functions. The promo video at the top is replaced by Action Button's live Twitch.tv stream, if they are streaming Videoball. The ticker is live-updated as posts are made to the Videoball Tumblr.
As of May 2015, I've replaced most of the graphics with SVG, and am adding additional dynamic content.
View the site live here.
xray.games Web Application
vue.js, Jade, Stylus, Javascript, Sketch.
Responsive web application for OOTU, inc. I developed this application in vue.js to work with OOTU's database backend via JSON APIs. xray.games is a tool for finding video games you'll enjoy by defining and exploring unorthodox connections between them. The application shows information about games and their Traits, allows you to explore the database through multiple avenues, and add Trait-to-game relationships. Emphasis on smooth animation, response time, and user experience.
Where the Water Tastes Like Wine Site
Photoshop, Node.js, Jade, Stylus, Javascript, ScrollMagic.
Responsive promotional site for Dim Bulb's upcoming game Where the Water Tastes Like Wine, directed by Johnnemann Nordhagen of Gone Home. Used ScrollMagic to create a scrolling reveal at the top of the page. December 2015.
Cerulean Moon Site
Photoshop, Node.js, Jade, Stylus
Responsive promotional site for Nachobeard's upcoming game Cerulean Moon. May–June 2015. Updated February 2016.
I used this project as a chance to learn a new set of tools based on Node.js. I'm really pleased with everything I learned, and how the site turned out.
Venn Collective Site Implementation and Animation
Kirby CMS, PHP, Stylus, CSS Animation, SVG, Javascript, ScrollMagic, ScrollTrigger, other JS libraries, Sketch.
Responsive company site for Athens-based Venn Collective. I worked closely with designer Phil Goodwin and the rest of the Venn team to implement their vision for the site. Phil provided detailed Sketch mockups of each page, which I implemented as a responsive site on Kirby CMS, using PHP, Stylus, and Javascript.
I used ScrollMagic to create the effect of the red and blue circles coming together at the bottom of the page. There's a ScrollTrigger-based CSS animation for the sticky header. CSS animations create other effects throughout the site, including the mobile menu, SVG mobile menu button, and other touches.
All site content is editable by the client through a customized Kirby backend.
You're Too Show Podcast and Art
Photoshop, Reason.
My friend Caleb Zane Huett and I do a podcast about Sonic the Hedgehog (mostly). I made this album art in Photoshop, and I record/edit the podcast in Reason. There's technically a web site, but it's just a Podcast Generator template, because hey: I make web sites all day for work. When I'm at home, I just want to podcast.
Here's the iTunes feed, or you can search your favorite podcast app.
Every Day's Great Podcast and Art
Illustrator, Reason.
My second podcast with friend and collaborator Caleb Zane Huett. This one's mostly about playing the Persona games by syncing up the real and game world calendars.
Felix Kramer Portfolio & Blog
Kirby CMS, anime.js, barba.js, Sketch, Stylus, Jade, Node
Responsive personal site for video game producer Felix Kramer. Built on the excellent Kirby CMS, which I chose for its flat-file system and ease of client upkeep. Easily-maintained blog, portfolio, and other pages. Used Barba.js to progressively enhance page transitions, and anime.js to create subtle mood animations.
Caleb Zane Huett Site
Anime.js, Sketch, Pug, Stylus
Responsive promotional site for middle grade author Caleb Zane Huett. We worked together to implement his vision of a site that he hoped would be a modern version of the "classically-bad website." The goal was to communicate his humor and warmth as succinctly as possible, while generating interest in his forthcoming book Top Elf. (I've read early drafts; it's funny!) I used modern web animation techniques to evoke the sort of brokenness associated with late-90s personal sites. If it looks broken, we did it on purpose! There are things that happen when you click, text you can reveal by highlighting, and various other silly things. We laughed a lot while making this!
Squire.co Site
Photoshop, Node.js, Jade, Stylus, Javascript.
Responsive site for Squire.co. I'm working with the head of the company, Chris Dwyer, to gradually iterate on this portfolio of Squire's work.
Athens Game Jam 2015 Site
Photoshop + Monodraw + Web
In less than a week, I made this site and accompanying flyer for the annual Athens Game Jam. The coordinator of the Jam, Stephen Borden, gave me a week to make it. I said I would do it, but only if he gave me a prompt. The prompt he gave me was "floating islands."
In the jam spirit, I tried out a bunch of new stuff. I'd never done anything with ASCII art or CSS Animation prior to this project. I was generously given access to the alpha version of Monodraw, an app for drawing ASCII art, which I put through its paces. Then I copied groups of characters into Photoshop, arranged and colored them, and then arranged those elements into a flyer and this site.
When you scroll the page, it doesn't move down, it moves things around. My favorite part of the site is that, if you leave the page up for a couple of minutes, the elements begin to glitch out, which is all accomplished with CSS Animation and Transformations.
Site made with Hammer.app, Sublime Text 2, HAML/SCSS, Javascript, Skrollr.js, and a subset of Zurb Foundation.
Hot Corner Hip Hop / Lingua Franca EP Release Flyer
Illustration by Erin Stacer. I designed and laid out the flyer for printing.
Humble Store OOTU Sidebar
Vanilla Javascript
Pure vanilla Javascript front-end for OOTU's Trait-based game recommendations on the Humble Store. I was given a <30kb gzipped target size, including data object payload, with no JS frameworks. I coded this in just a few days and came in well under the target. My code expands the JSON data object into HTML displayed on every Humble Store game page, as of December 2016. Includes expandable content areas and small animations.
Back-end content and distribution was provided skillfully by Mike Huffman at OOTU.
View an example live site here.
Real-Time Comments in React Exercise
React, Javascript, HTML/CSS
Responsive application test built in React. I coded this in a few days, with the goal of emulating Medium's highlighting & commenting system. Far from perfect, but I started out knowing nothing about React, and learned a lot along the way. Highlight some text and add comments in real-time. I'm not moderating the comments very often, so apologies if anyone posts something rude! December 2015.
View the project on Heroku.
While listening to Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz, I made this collage, then drew it, then combined them.
Kaleidoscope Montessori Identity
Photoshop, Illustrator.
Logo and identity for a Montessori school in Athens, GA. Balancing organization and peace with a sense of fun and hands-on learning. Custom geometric pattern filled with hand-drawn colored pencil.
Fall 2015.
Web Design - Action Button Entertainment
SublimeText 2 + HAML/SCSS + Hammer.app + ZURB Foundation
One of several sites I hand-coded in 2013 for Action Button Entertainment. I designed zggrt.com to be fast, clear, and visually-striking, and to work well on all screen sizes.
More information and images here.
Marshmallow Coast Flyer
Logo - Joel Hatstat Audio
Working with my frequent collaborator Brent Blalock, we made this logo for Athens-based producer and audio engineer Joel Hatstat.
More information and images from my collaborations with Brent.
Book Cover & Interior Design - Maypop Books
Photoshop + Illustrator + InDesign
I've done a variety of jobs for Coleman Barks and his personal press, Maypop Books. This was a book written by Coleman's brother, Herbert, that I proofread, laid out, and designed inside and out.
The book was printed by Thomson-Shore. Photograph by Jamie Walker.
Album Cover - Mary's Good Side
I took this photograph, made some modifications in Photoshop, and laid out the text. For an album of improvised piano duets I made with my friend Alex Wharton.
More information, images, and audio here.
Web and Print Design - PALS of Athens Musicians
Illustrator + Web
After designing the logo and preparing silkscreen images for their products, I put together this simple-but-effective web site to promote the organization and sell their goods.
More information and pictures here.
Logo - "Bird Shield"
Wacom + Photoshop + Illustrator
Proposal of a logo for a local business that I made with Brent Blalock. I'm not supposed to discuss the product itself, since it hasn't been made yet. We did several variations with background colors and type treatments, but this is the basic idea.
I started with a reference photo of a woodpecker and a thumbnail sketch by Brent. Then I worked between Photoshop and Illustrator to create this silhouette, finding the iconic balance between abstraction and realism.
Avid Bookshop - "An Evening With Mark Z. Danielewski" Ticket
Illustrator & Photoshop.
On May 18, 2015, Avid Bookshop hosted author Mark Z. Danielewski at the incredible Stan Mullins Art Studio. We sold tickets to the event, and wanted something special. I replicated elements from The Familiar's cover and interior to create a ticket aesthetically consistent with the book. It also includes a few visual references to Danielewski's earlier books. The ticket was a big hit with attendees, many of whom said it would be a keepsake for their scrapbooks
Avid Bookshop - "She Is Fierce" T-Shirt
In one afternoon, I iterated on a basic idea by the designers at Satisfactory to design this shirt for Avid Bookshop's limited edition Independent Bookstore Day 2015 T-shirt.
Back to the top.
Writer, Web & Print Designer, Musician, Property Manager, Business Consultant. Currently looking for short- and long-term projects.
, Athens, GA, 30603, United States


text: Hey Guys Heres the deal i got a few hundred brand new adult dvds i picked up real cheap all diffrent tittles they all have there own dvd case still in the plastic wrap. What i was thinking is create a website where we give free dvds and have them just pay the ship and handle not sure what to charge on that yet so i what i need from you? I suck a building websites so i need someone whos good at that and help with promoting the website. I will take care of packing and shipping all dvds. we split everything 50/50. Let me know your thoughts and if you think something like this could work if not no big deal ill just sell them on CL or something


text:
Moviedrone: Bill the Galactic Hero
I'm a member of a film club at my local library, and when it came to my turn to present a film I went with Alex Cox's Bill the Galactic Hero. This is my introduction to the film, or at least the one I wrote before I went off script and started rambling, followed by the film itself (as uploaded by Cox himself on to Vimeo):
(Edited to add: the film itself is mildly NSFW due to some animated blue alien nudity in the very first scene. Thought I better mention that.)
British director Alex Cox made a splash with his first two films, Repo Man and Sid and Nancy, in the 1980s, but for film fans of a certain age he's known less for his directing as he is as presenter of BBC2's cult film strand Moviedrome.
It was through Moviedrome that I first saw films as diverse as Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?, Django, Carnival of Souls, Solaris, Manhunter and Les Diaboliques. But overall its Cox's short intros, with his laconic manner and twangy mid Atlanticised Liverpool accent, that are most memorable.
So… when after a patchy film career of increasing obscurity and decreasing budgets Cox re-emerged in 2013 to kickstart a new movie, the campaign launched with a Moviedrome-style to camera video, it seemed only fair I should pay him back for my movie education by backing this new film.
Blame me for what you are about to see. I helped make it happen.
Tonight's film is Bill the Galactic Hero, based on the novel by Harry Harrison, adapted into a screenplay by Cox, rejected by movie studios for nearly thirty years, and eventually made as a $100,000 student film co-directed, starring and staffed by students on the film programme at the University of Colorado in Boulder.
Cox has described it as the largest student film ever made, and I don't know if that's true, but it's certainly one of the most ambitious. Bill the Galactic Hero is the story of a pizza delivery guy who is duped into joining up with the Space Troopers in their pointless and destructive space war against a race of lizards called The Chingers, though his real enemy proves to be the bureaucracy, stupidity and brutality of the war machine he is a part of. There are spaceships, alien planets and robots.
As a student film there are rough edges. The camera crew are frequently visible, reflected in space helmets. The secondary performances and sound mix are variable, and I don't really think the animated prologue and epilogue are all that great.
But the core of the film really works. The black and white photography, and the use of spacesuits and gas masks, create a nightmarish sense of disconnection as Bill is pushed around by forces much bigger than himself and driven to his wit's end. The unpolished student cast suit a story about conscripts in a war suffering massive casualties and rapid turnover. The use of redressed real locations is charmingly reminiscent of cheap SF of the past, from the B movies to the BBC, and the model shots and computer generated visual effects are ingenious and imaginative.
It's a weird, scrappy film, but a very individual one. Cox's anti-war sensibility and weird humour chimes with that of the book, which was based on Harrison's experiences in World War II. It's not surprising that studios turned down such an eccentric and downbeat project, but I'm glad that crowdfunding and the possibilities of digital technology allow for films like this to be made.
Cox has gone back to the crowdfunding model for Tombstone Rashomon, an episodic western showing the Gunfight at the OK Corrall from different perspectives, currently in production.
He clearly thought Bill the Galactic Hero worked out OK.
You can now judge for yourselves…
BILL THE GALACTIC HERO from Alex Cox on Vimeo.
Badge of Honour
So, while talking about the last series of Line of Duty I had an idea for some badges, which I eventually had made up and posted to a couple of friends, including Eddie Robson who took this pic:
I also sent some to the series production office, as it seemed only fair:
They seemed to like them. In the replies, quite a few other people would like similar badges.
So, for anyone who wants one, here's the image I very crudely made up in Paint and Open Office, for you to pop into the design tool of whatever online badge provider you prefer (I used Camaloon, who were very good.):
Because someone asked me to post this
A Brief History of Seven Novels
I know that as a writer I'm supposed to be a constant cheerleader for books and literacy and libraries, but there's a part of me that always kicks against that sort of thing. I'm always quite self-conscious that there's a great degree of self interest in these things, the pinch of salt that should be taken when someone advocates for the industry they work in. Of course we want you to buy and borrow our books, and those of our friends, who may notice the attention and reflect it back our way.
That might be a bit cynical. But that's the other thing – the more time I spend writing and working with words, the more anything connected to them begins to feel like part of the work-grind. It can be hard to capture an upbeat readerly enthusiasm after staring blankly at a word processor all day.
Which isn't terribly healthy unless you want to slide into a Marenghi-esque state of writing more books than you read, so I've been trying to find time to get away from screens and read more, including taking a month off to do some reading after my last big deadline.
These are the last seven books I read. You can probably guess the last one:
Metro 2033 by Dmitry Glukhovsky
Post-apocalyptic Russian SF, apparently originally written online by a young author. There's a certain looseness indicative of the book's origins as a rambling web-screed, oddities and dead ends in the plot, but for the most part, either through sheer talent or the work of editors and translators to bash the original text into shape, the end product really feels like a coherent novel. It's the kind of world-building I'm a sucker for, a densely imagined world of warring factions in the tunnels beneath a devastated Moscow, and the weird mystical and philosophical elements push the book outside of the genre comfort zone of resource banditry and radiation counters.
Years ago when I reviewed the game of the same name, I said I'd probably prefer to read the book, so never let it be said that I don't occasionally follow through on my intentions. I also picked up the sequel, Metro 2034, recently, which is an indication of how much I enjoyed this initial outing.
Don't Point That Thing At Me by Kyril Bonfiglioli
Remember Mortdecai, the Jonny Depp movie that was last year's first big Box Office disaster, and was promptly dumped on Netflix by the autumn? Well, it's existence prompted me to pick up the first novel the film was based on, just out of sheer perverse fascination, and it's actually a very entertaining read, with caveats.
(I actually liked the film too, but that's another story.)
Charlie Mortdecai and Jock are essentially a corrupted Bertie Wooster and Jeeves bouncing from disaster to disaster in a world of thuggish cops and elaborate art world cons, and how you react to their exploits depends very much on how you react to the louche, seedy tone of Charlie's narration. Bonfiglioli is clearly riffing on Wodehouse, and there's a similar humour but also callousness, crudity, brutality and plenty to offend. They're a product of their age, and while that means some of the words and sentiments within can be distasteful, it also means the book is blissfully short and well-paced, a welcome alternative to bloated modern thrillers. Nasty fun, and yet again another series where I've picked up the next instalment.
Tomorrow Never Knows by Eddie Robson
Eddie's a good friend of mine and sent me a copy of his first novel, so don't consider this a review because I'm completely biased. Suffice to say this is exactly in my wheelhouse, SF that's strong on character and worldbuilding that builds everyday lives and environments rather than focusing on the military or other crusading outliers. There's more than a touch of Douglas Coupland in the way Eddie's mostly young, disaffected characters intersect and go about their business, and a similar lightness of touch to the prose. Tomorrow Never Knows is an easy read but an intelligent one, and as the plotlines come together towards the end it develops a real page-turning momentum.
But don't trust me on that.
Goodbye Tsugumi by Banana Yoshimoto
Speaking of lightness, Banana Yoshimoto writes about heavy emotions with a lightness that I always enjoy and appreciate. Her stories are often about grief or loneliness but are never depressing, instead gracefully moving from one perfectly made observation to the next. As with the other books of Yoshimoto's I've read, the plot here is a whole lot of domestic nothing, a young woman reaching towards adulthood, moving away from the seaside town in which she was raised then going back for one last summer. There's a sick relative, some economic uncertainty, arrivals and departures. What matters here is the lead protagonist's thoughtful inner life and observations on her family and friends, and the pleasant melancholy of time passing and being aware of it. Don't worry about finding this novel in particular, just look for Yoshimoto's work and pick up the first one you see. They're all very good.
The Magicians by Lev Grossman
Now a TV series on SyFy, though it hasn't turned up in the UK yet. In terms of high concept pitches, this is basically Harry Potter in the style of Donna Tartt's 'The Secret History' with a big dose of Narnia and a dash of Alex Garland's 'The Beach'. Focus in on those first two and there's a high concept to die for, a school for magicians in upstate New York inhabited by the kind of laidback aesthetes that made Tartt's campus thriller such an infuriatingly compulsive read, although Grossman's characters are nowhere near as vile or snobbish – there's no central crime here, and outsider Quentin Coldwater is welcomed into the magical academic community without any need for pretending he's higher born than he is. Threats come from within and without, and Grossman is strong on both the logic of the magical world, and the more epic and whimsical fantasy that kicks off later on in the book. Really entertaining stuff and I can see why it got picked up for TV. Someone tell me when it's on.
The Man in the High Castle by Philip K Dick
Another TV related pick. I've only seen the pilot of the Amazon series, but I wanted to read the novel before embarking on the rest. I've never read Dick, only knowing him from the films of his work and his reputation. While this 1963 novel has some moments of disorienting trippiness as characters lose their grip – the kind of stuff I expected from the movies of 'A Scanner Darkly' etc – it wasn't really these head-messing moments that impressed me so much as the detailed social interactions and internal responses of characters living in a world where, thanks to the Axis powers winning the second world war, racism in its various forms is the global, respectable norm and informs everything, corrupting every thought. It's a brilliantly envisioned world, and one which has one of the best examples of Chekhov's Gun I've read.
A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James
Finally, last year's Booker winner, and a birthday present that I tore through in a month, its 700 pages passing by swiftly. The most serious and heaviest – in all senses – of the books I've listed here, James' novel covers twenty five years of Jamaican crime at home and, later, abroad. Most of the characters are heavily fictionalised which allows James' imagination to cut loose in their voices, with chapters of dense inner monologue and flowing dialogue from a large cast of characters. These voices are strong and diverse, and the differences between them and their changes over time are indicated by complex and subtle uses of slang and grammar.
Quotes on the cover compare the book to Tarantino but the 90s cult figure James reminded me more was Irvine Welsh – there's a similar willingness to dive into the confused mindsets and precise diction of troubled, often addled characters, and James digs deep where Tarantino would show off. The exploration of poverty and crime reminded me of 'City of God', that sense of lightly skipping back and forth through history, the combination of wit and horror, with characters who can dole out both. Where James rises above all these comparisons is that, while he sympathises for all his characters, he doesn't mythologise their crimes and vices above all else. Ultimately it's the consequences and trauma caused by crime and violence that linger that live on in the reader's thoughts rather than the acts themselves.
It's a great novel, and a very novelistic novel, doing what novels do better than anything, digging into the psyches of its characters, turning thoughts to words in a way that creates the illusion of mental connection between characters and reader.
I wanted to re-enthuse myself about the medium. Job done.
I did a little Black Library story recently, for a Deathwatch project that turned out to be the tie-in story collection for the Deathwatch: Overkill boxed game. My story is 'The Known Unknown' and involves Jensus Natorian, a Blood Raven Librarian with serious mentor issues. I think it turned out really well.
You can buy either the story as a standalone ebook or the whole collection, Deathwatch: Ignition in either ebook form or hardback. I haven't read any of the other stories (or seen the game – one of the interesting things about a job like this or the Fellguard stories is working from a brief that's perhaps a page or two of notes), but there's some good people in there like Braden Campbell (whose Dark Eldar story in Fear the Alien was great) and Doctor Who books alum Steve Lyons.
Not sure what the book's distribution will be outside hobby shops but you can get it either from your local Games Workshop or via the website:
Buy Deathwatch: The Known Unknown as a standalone ebook from Black Library.
Buy Deathwatch: Ignition in hardback or ebook from Black Library.
One more Black Library thing due from me, if the stars align. Later about that.
Hollow review
Off social media at the moment to get some work done, so instead I'll link to HachiSnax's review of Hollow Beginnings right here.
When writing for a big line with a lot of output it can sometimes feel like your work is getting lost in the deluge, so it's always appreciated when someone pays attention.
Hollow Beginnings
I introduced Anvindr Godrichsson and his pack of Space Wolves in the short story In Hrondir's Tomb three years ago, in Black Library's emagazine Hammer and Bolter. As part of Black Library's annual Summer of Reading campaign, where they release a new piece of fiction every weekday, that story has now been re-released as a standalone ebook. If you didn't buy it in the original issue of H&B, or in the H&B Year Two e-compilation, or in the print Best of Hammer & Bolter volume 2… well, here's another chance.
As part of the same campaign Anvindr and his pack return, some years later, in Hollow Beginnings. If the previous story hinted where I've been going with these characters, then this one outright states it. The title's a bit of a giveaway.
I like writing Anvindr. As a Space Wolf he sees himself and his pack as legendary warriors engaged in a mythic battle, and being a Space Marine he's pretty much right. But there are many ways to fight a war, especially a war for the survival of humanity, and Anvindr experiences a constant unease when dealing with branches of the Imperium with less honourable tactics than the Wolves. It's the tension between his loyalty to the Emperor and his dislike of some of the Emperor's other servants that makes him fun to write.
Speaking of which, I've been quiet for a while on here, and will probably be quiet for a while longer. We've had the Beginnings, now someone needs to finish the Rest Of.
tl;dr version:
New standalone eshort version of In Hrondir's Tomb can be bought for £2.49 here.
Follow up eshort Hollow Beginnings can be bought for £2.49 here.
Farewell Tour 2014
I'm getting a PS4 for Christmas. Lovely news, but it means one of the boxes under the TV needs to go away to make space. As it's been threatening to red ring for most of the year, I decided to mothball the 360. While this is actually my third 360 – I've had one new one, an ancient second hand one given to me by Family Gamer TV maestro Andy, and another second hand one I got to replace THAT when it keeled over – the platform has been my main gaming format for well over half a decade. So it's kind of a big deal to move on to all-Sony consoles.
First I had to wrap up some unplayed games. I played LA Noire, and fell through the bottom of the universe one time:
I also played Dishonored, tried Far Cry 2 but gave up after a bit, similarly played various review copies I'd given up on midway through until I got bored and gave up for good. Then I threw myself into Fallout New Vegas, where amongst many of the virulent bugs that survived countless patches, a corpse floated to the ceiling:
I enjoyed New Vegas, but it wasn't Fallout 3. It lacked the devastated urban splendour of that game, even though it was technically bigger – seeing a desert turned into a wasteland isn't as much of a transformation as Washington DC laid low. So before the 360 got boxed up for good, I decided to do a quick tour of the Mall and some other fondly remembered locations, meet some people and shoot some Super Mutants.
Oh, and I found a floating hammer:
Goodbye Capital Wasteland, you charmingly desolate hellhole, and goodbye buggy old 360.
Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, here are the badly formatted, uncropped and oversized pics.
Disney Infinity Yondu & the Falcon
I've read some comics so apparently that makes me an expert. The two corrections I've had to issue in the
comics comments *might* be considered to undermine that:
Oh, and let's just stick the Infinity Spider-Man Playset one here too, rather than expend another post on this stuff:
Let's Play Doctor Who Legacy: Robots of Sherwood (Season 8)
Second of my Family Gamer TV videos. You can now find a playlist of these in the links bar to the right.