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Lẹ́bẹ́:An Update.
Good morning, true believers.
Thank you for the support and kind words and so on.
Lẹ́bẹ́ is a 3-part monthly series dropping in March, a crime-noir pulp magazine type publication. It will be available online at Okadabooks.com and Amazon.com. To buy on Okadabooks, you need an account.
If you have one, fine. If you don't, please click here.
Motivation Monday:Forgiveness Is Freedom.
I used to be very angry.
Yup. I was a very passionate young man with unlimited energy. I wanted to fix everything I considered wrong with the world. I'm sure if I was in a country where procuring guns is as easy as walking into a store, I'd have become a vigilante.
My world view was very much like Rorschach's – black and white. No middle ground.
And, very much like Rorschach, my refusal to compromise would have gotten me killed. Undoubtedly.
Or worse – I'd have ended up in a padded room.
But because for the most part I meant well, I was forced to learn more. And the more I learned, the more I realized – there's a lot more to life than one-dimensional perspectives. And the more I realized, the calmer I became. And the calmer I became…
Well. I'm still here.
Choose your battles wisely; the saying goes. What do you hold onto? What are you holding on to? Anger at issues that really have no consequence for you or your way of life? Irritation with people who have never done anything to you? Even anger at people who offended you is not worth it sometimes. Bare your chest – let it go.
I still have boundless energy – the people closest to me know this. But I manage it with wisdom and stuff. I would hate to have spent all my time on worthless things – and then, something that really matters comes along but I'm too spent to do anything about it.
Kinda like relationships.
Conserve your energy. Save yourself. Find something worth dying for.
And then, live for it.
Coming Soon: Lẹ́bẹ́
Do 'New Beginnings' Exist?
How much of the past do you leave behind?
An innocent man is pardoned by a General after nine years in jail for a crime he did not commit. He goes to work for the General as a companion for his cripple son, who has other plans for the ex-convict; save-the-streets-hero-type plans. Lẹ́bẹ́ examines the transition a street level amateur boxer has to make from tout to local hero.
Lẹ́bẹ́ is a three-part series that will be released monthly via OkadaBooks starting from March 2017.
Sober Saturday: On Catfish Peppersoup and Forgiveness – A Lesson From My Mother
These days I find myself cooking more often than is usual. I don't know; maybe eyaf reach time for someone to make an honest man of me.
Cam dan.
Today sha, feeling adventurous, I decide to make Catfish Peppersoup. I go to the market, buy stuff and get to work. Roughly two hours later, house smelling like curry leaves, I open the pot to look at my handiwork.
Sure, there's 'catfish', there's 'pepper' and 'soup', but the way I just separated them in writing is how they are separate in the pot. I sigh – and then, start to laugh.
I laugh because I remember something that happened years ago. I used to love moi moi a lot, so one day my mother decided to teach me how to make it. She started me from the beginning of the process; she gave me my own beans to grind – even though the whole house was having moi moi that morning. I brought it back home, mixed it, added all the other supplements and portioned it into leaves – myself.
And then, I set it on the fire.
About thirty minutes or so later, she opened her larger pot so I opened mine. Where hers was a happily boiling pot filled with moi mois resplendent in heat, mine was a boiling pot of 'a mess of beans and water'. I hadn't wrapped the leaves tightly enough so they'd opened mid-cooking.
I sat there feeling miserable. I must have thought that was my breakfast floating around in hot water – or maybe I was sad because I missed a chance to impress my mother. Whatever the case, I sha sat in the kitchen, pot before me, feeling sorry for myself.
My mom noticed and came to sit with me. I cannot remember her exact words, but it was something to the effect of; "You tried, right? Right now, you know more about moi moi than you knew last night. The next attempt will definitely be better than this one."
I remember asking; "What if it isn't? What if I make a mistake again?"
She said, "Wa je egba ni yen!" meaning "You'll be flogged, then!"
But she smiled at me and kissed my forehead.
And I think about that now and realize; while my mother's reference in that moment may have been moi moi, she was actually talking about life. And how sometimes, things don't work out the way we intend them to, how sometimes we blame ourselves for our failures and shortcomings – and forget to tell ourselves; 'At least you tried'.
At least I tried. And though it didn't turn out like I expected it to, I'm better for the effort. I've learned one more way to not kiss a girl, to not write a book. To not create an ad, to not write music lyrics. To not treat a spouse/partner, to not talk to a friend.
And more importantly, how not to make Catfish Peppersoup.
So I'm in my workspace now, chewing catfish, munching pepper and drinking soup. And with a pure water sachet at hand, I drink a toast to Mrs. Josephine Iyabode Odukoya, the only woman in nine realms who could have raised me.
Mama Mia. Mi Amore Forever. La 'mour ne pas nu frontier.
"…and of these three…Love"
I'm at one bus stop in Lagos; along Ikorodu Road to be exact. The clock on my dashboard shows 6:09. There's a spot of traffic, even though it's so early. I resist the urge to slam a tired fist into the steering wheel and instead, look outside the window on the far side of the car.
It's after six on a weekday morning after all; the streets are awake. All sorts of people bustle back and forth, most having left the warm comfort of their beds for the pre-sunlight cold morning, chasing the more-elusive-than-ever naira. My stare lingers on…and stops on a woman standing on the curb a few meters away from me.
In the light from several headlights she's easy to see, but there's something about her that makes her easy to watch. She's light-skinned, petite, well-built, nothing excessive, comfortably round in the right places. She looks like Elsie before Elsie looked like Elsie.
The thing that makes me stare; however is her smile. It's bright without being blinding; effusive without being superficial. She wears it with style, as naturally as armpits wear hair. It's the kind of smile Beyonce smiles when she and Jay hug. The kind of smile J Lo had in those pictures with Drake. The kind the girls in pictures with Deoye always have on…
You know; that smile.
Her lips are moving; for a second it looks like she's saying something to me (even though she isn't looking at me). And then, I realize; she's on the phone.
I lip-read to a small extent; snatches of her conversation come to me. Words like 'tonight' 'eat out' 'later' 'stress' 'office palaver' are beautifully formed by her mouth, she talks rapidly so it's hard enough already. Ambient noise fades away, along with the honking of horns and humming of restrained vehicles. It's almost too easy to imagine who's on the other end of the phone; the husband on his way to his own point of commerce sharing an intimate moment with the wife he can't seem to get enough of, the faraway boyfriend who goes to sleep when she goes to work, or maybe she's sleeping with her sister's husband –
My mind wanders into a few 'darker' possibilities; consciously I restrain and tell it to leave well enough alone. I like the idea of the faraway boyfriend best; I start to toy with –
Loud honking and yells alert me to the fact that vehicles are moving. Calmly, I take my foot off the brake and allow the car surge forward, waving my apologies to the danfo behind me. I drive away from that spot but her face – or rather, the look on her face stays with me. It's a look I want to put on the face of the woman I love for the rest of her life, a look I want for everyone I care about. It's a look that makes my chest full, and I have to sigh to relieve the pressure. It's a look that makes me believe in something other than myself; a look I'm sure makes Sango sit on his fiery throne and call to the other gods; "Abeg una go fit help? Dis one pass me o."
It's a look that, for the moment takes my mind away from my cold and lonely bed in a grim, humorless apartment in a light-less neighborhood, off the 145 naira price of fuel – and makes me think; instead of the warmth another human being carries on the inside, a warmth that blesses you if you're fortunate enough to find someone willing to share theirs with you. It's a look that makes light of darkness and makes a joke of time, of death, of sickness and sadness.
It's a look that tells me; as loudly as the thoughts in my head; "You are not alone."
Happy Valentine's Day.
#WeInTheKitchen #WeStayChefing #SomethingWarmYourWayComes
The Original DC Extended Universe Movie Line-Up
How I Would Have Planned The DC Extended Universe.
I think it's pretty much fair dinkum to say so far, the DC Cinematic/Extended Universe is barely batting averages. I mean, we could forgive the error that Man of Steel movie was – but since then, things have been pretty much downhill, with the critical failure Dawn of Justice is, the beautiful mess Suicide Squad is, and the obviously-rushed forthcoming Justice League movie intending to force us to root for characters we barely know or give a shit about.
Honestly, I don't have a lot of hopes for Wonder Woman.
As far as I'm concerned, there's a reason Marvel is doing so much better; they have fanboys at the helm of things. Jeph Loeb is executive producer. Joe Quesada is also pretty much high up there. How about Avi Arad, Stan Lee – and a number of others? When you put people who know their stuff in charge of stuff they have been working on for years, stuff they have grown to love, you can hardly go wrong.
Anyways, so here's me in the DCU executive producer's chair. In other words, if I began from Man of Steel, what would a DC Extended universe of my creation look like?
Check this out:
Man of Steel
I'm not particularly crazy about this one; there are a couple of things I would change (the ending, introduction of Lex Luthor/Bruce Wayne) but that's fine. We can still make do.
The Batman
A solo Batman movie would definitely be next. This would happen the same time as Man of Steel. Bats would hear about the arrival of an alien in Metropolis, but before he can investigate, Deathstroke arrives Gotham and is gunning for Batman. He leaves the alien issue and goes to battle the deadliest assassin he's ever come across.
Tie In To Extended Universe: At the end, footage used as the excuse for the Batman vs Superman conflict will come into play here. Is Superman really out of control? What if he decides to take over the earth and blah blah blah – who's to stop him? Superman takes objection to Bats M.O in Gotham. Battle lines are drawn. Luthor begins his plot to destroy Superman, and he gains an ally, somebody mysterious who points him to STARLABS. Cyborg cameo.
Wonder Woman
Pretty much a Captain America: The First Avenger rip-off, but that's okay. Where do you think Civil War came from? This will remain pretty much as is; except that it takes place BEFORE Dawn of Justice.
Tie In To Extended Universe: Darkseid will be introduced here – as a shadowy, mystic entity who just noticed Earth and is wondering if it is ripe for conquering. Aquaman/Superman cameo.
Batman VS Superman: Dawn of Justice:
This will also remain pretty much as is; except for a much less convoluted plot, ridiculous elements and story-line, and a better defined bad guy. Doomsday is unleashed, he destroys half of Metropolis and kills Superman. Darkseid is revealed as Lex's ally, he dispatches Steppenwolf on a mini-invasion of Earth.
Suicide Squad
The aftermath of a world without Superman. Amanda Waller recruits her squad – and in the process, falls prey to Joker who wants Harley back. We take away the Enchantress as the main villain (shudders) and make Joker the bad guy. He's gotten his hands on some kind of weapon of mass destruction and he's threatening to blow up an entire island, He has a gang of minions and the Royal Flush Gang at his beck and call. Will the Squad stop him or join him?
Tie In To Extended Universe: Batman and Flash cameos – just as in the original movie. Flash's is a bit extended though, he's in the beginning (extended sequence featuring the capture of Captain Boomerang – similar to the Batman/Deadshot sequence) and in the end (Batman AND Wonder Woman recruit him). Some strange activity is going on around Superman's grave.
Green Lantern Corps I
The creation of the universe's largest police force. Reckless pilot Hal Jordan and Vietnam vet John Stewart find employment with Danvers Flight Company. While on one of their test drives, the prototype fails and Jordan saves their lives with a dangerous maneuver. Suddenly, there's a green flash of light and blah blah blah.
You know the story.
Tie In To Extended Universe: Darkseid's activities have been stirring up some interplanetary energies and some Lanterns are sent to investigate. They engage with some straggling parademons – and then, John Stewart is dispatched to follow Steppenwolf's forces. Meanwhile, Sinestro switches sides to Darkseid because of a promise of greater power. He's the bad guy for this movie.
Justice League I
This will be the mashup to end all mashups. My Justice League will look pretty much like the one they have now – except I'll have a Green Lantern, probably John Stewart in there as opposed to Cyborg. I know Snyder's trying to remain true to the New 52 Justice League line-up – but let's face it; Cyborg's not much of a compelling character. He's pretty much as useful as Hawkeye in Marvel's Cinematic Universe – and that's putting it highly. Cyborg was moved up from the original Teen-Titans roster, why that was done is beyond me. But anyways, This movie has the originals Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Aquaman, John Stewart – and they are in a firefight. Steppenwolf's forces have arrived and they are tearing the Earth apart. The Leaguers are in the fight of their lives. As they continue – a black-clad figure suddenly appears and turns the tide of the battle. It's Superman back from the grave!
While the Justice League gathers around him – there's a sudden flash of light.
Darkseid the conqueror has landed.
What do you think? Would you have done yours differently? Let us know in the comments!
Movie Review: Fences Is A Baba Nla Film.
"People build fences for two reasons; to keep people out, and to keep people in."
Don't get it confused; Troy Maxson, the lead character of the play/film Fences is a good man. Which; in human parlance (as I so often quoth) is another way of saying he's deeply flawed. He drinks too much, spends too much time talking about how the white man doesn't like to see a black man do good and spent way too much time (most of the film actually) building a simple fence his wife has been asking about for years.
But he's a good man.
Fences is based on a 1983 play written by August Wilson. Original premiering on Broadway in 1987 and closing in 1988, the play featured James Earl Jones as Troy alongside others, and then, it was revived in 2010 featuring Denzel Washington in the titular role, which he carried over to the film.
August finished a screenplay for the critically acclaimed play since 2003, but couldn't reach an agreement with the studio on choice of director. August wanted a black director because; 'It's not about the color of his skin, it's about the culture'.
Denzel directs and stars in this masterpiece, his third behind the camera. He says 'Scott Rudin brought the screenplay to me seven years ago, and when I heard it was a play I was doubly interested. 'Can I do the play first?'"
Troy reeks of bitterness and gin. Every chance he gets, he complains about how his skin color kept him from making it into Major League Baseball; in spite of his excellence in Negro League Baseball, a fact echoed by his first son Lyon (Russell Hornsby) in the movie's closing scenes;
"You gotta take the crooked with the straights', that's what papa used to say. He used to say that when he struck out. I seen him strike out three times in a row, and the next time up he hit the ball over the grandstand."
Troy talked a lot; as men who drink as much usually do. In one scene he tells the story of a wrestling match he had with the devil, and how he fought the devil to a standstill. His listeners don't argue with him, but the looks on their faces give the impression they're used to his tale-telling. But, as we learn later in the movie, man knew what he was talking about.
Fences is a close-up, and sometimes uncomfortable look at a man and how he can't get better than his circumstances, and the irony of how sometimes, those same circumstances are of his own making. In the opening scenes Troy is having a conversation with his long-time friend Bono played by Stephen McKinley Henderson. Troy, a garbage man asked his boss a simple, yet uncomfortable question for that time, 1950s Pittsburg;
"Went to Mr. Rand I asked him. Asked him 'why'. 'Why he got all the…white mens driving, and the colored lifting. Told him, 'Whatsamatter; Don't I count? Think only white folk got sense to drive a truck?'"
He's told to take his complaint to the Union, probably thinking he was going to get fired. Turned out he's complaint is valid, and he's promoted. He becomes the first black garbage truck driver in Pittsburg at the time – and he didn't have a driver's license.
Troy feels guilty; the house he lives in with his family was bought with his brother Gabe's disability fund after he got half his head blow away in war. Played by Mykelti Williamson, Gabe is the spiritual core of the film which is interesting; he's brain damaged.
A lot of Troy's strength comes from his wife Rose played with great intensity by the great Viola Davis. One thing that sobers me constantly in the movie is how Troy, anytime its payday comes home and surrenders his money to this woman without a fight. When his son Lyon comes over and asks to borrow ten dollars, Troy refuses to give him – but says nothing when Rose takes out the ten dollars from his pay and hands it over to Lyon. And when Lyon returns to pay back the loan and Troy refuses to take it, he hands it to Rose. He proclaims his love for Rose every chance he gets; but that doesn't stop him from…
Fences is about choices and relationships – and really, about fences we build around ourselves for different reasons. My favorite scene comes in at 40:37, when Troy and Rose's son Cory (Jevon Adepo) summons the courage to ask his father a bold question;
Cory: Can I ask you a question?
Troy: What you gotta ask me? Mister DeWicker's the one you got the questions for.
Cory: [pause] How come you ain't never liked me?
Troy: Like you? Who the hell says I gotta like you? What law is there say' I got to like you? Wanna stand up in front of my face and ask a damn fool ass question. Talking 'bout likin' somebody. Come here boy when I talk to you.
Cory walks up, Troy smacks him in the chest
Troy: Straighten up, goddamnit! Now, I asked you a question. What law, is there say' I gotto like you?
Cory: None.
Troy: All right then. Don't you eat every day? Answer me when I talk to you! Don't you eat every day?
Cory: Yeah…
Troy: Nigga, as long as you're in my house you put a "Sir" on the end of it when you talk to me.
Cory: Yes, Sir.
Troy: You eat every day?
Cory: Yes, Sir.
Troy: You got a roof over you head?
Cory: Yes, Sir.
Troy: Got clothes on your back?
Cory: Yes, Sir.
Troy: Why you think that is?
Cory: 'Cause of you?
Troy: [chuckles] Hell, I know it's 'cause of me. But why do you think that is?
Cory: 'Cause you like me?
Troy: Like you? I go outta here every morning; I bust my butt, putting up with them crackers every day 'cause I like you? You're about the biggest fool I ever saw. It's my job. It's my responsibility. A man, is supposed to take care of his family. You live in my house, fill your belly with my food, put your behind on my bed because you're my son. Not because I like you – 'cos it's my duty to take care of you, I owe a responsibility to you. Now let's get this straight, right here and now before it go any further – I ain't got to like you! Mr. Rand don't give me my money, come pay day, 'cos he like me. He give it to me 'cos he owe me. Now, I done give you everything I got to give you! I gave you your life! Me and your Mama worked out between us and liking your black ass wasn't part of the bargain! Now don't you go through life worrying about whether somebody like you or not! You best be makin' sure they're doin' right by you! You understand what I'm sayin'?
Cory: Yes sir.
Troy: Then get the hell out of my face, and get on down to that A&P!
Talk about intense.
The film does feel a little hemmed in; the entire movie you see a backyard, a living room/dining area, a bedroom and street in front of house maybe once or twice – but you'll probably only notice that on your second or third viewing if you make it that far. Chances are you won't notice; the dialogue fills the head and heart and doesn't live space for much else.
At the end of the film, Rose talks to a reluctant Cory about his father and a little girl he brought home one day, and her closing line sums up Troy Maxson and really; what each and every one of us should aspire to do with our lives;
"And if the Lord see fit to keep up my strength, I'm gonna do her exactly how your daddy did you. I mah give her the best of what's in me."
Which is why I can say loudly; Troy was a good man. Or maybe he wasn't, depending on your perspective. But he did the best of what he knew how – which really is all any of us can hope for.
We all are put on this earth to do the best we can; and maybe he could have been more; maybe his failure to get into the Major League had more to do with his age and less with his skin – maybe. But Troy and Rose gave their all to each other.
Troy: It's not easy for me to admit that I've been standing in the same place for eighteen years!
Rose: Well, I've been standing with you! I've been right here with you Troy! I got a life too! I gave eighteen years of my life to stand in the same spot as you! Don't you think I ever wanted other things?
Fences is about hope, love, fear, anger, pain, frustration, how those things can take you and turn you into a carcass of what you were supposed to be. And yet it's hopeful, brave and fearless. It's about determination, faith –
And how sometimes, the fences we build to protect us also keep us away from the ones who love us. Troy unconsciously built fences between him and his family – and that cost him a lot.
But still, he made good in the end. And really, that's really what any of us can hope to do. Do the things that count while we can.
See Fences. And take down some of the ones you may have built around you. Who knows?
PS: Hypocrite Alert.


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Lulu Underwire Bra Caramel
Designer: Lonely
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Lulu is a Lonely staple, offered in luxurious corded stretch lace with scalloped edges and soft elastic strapping.
The Lulu Underwire Bra features double strap detailing that extends from the cup to a metal ring at the front. With a full wire, wide cross-over shoulder straps and wide elastic underbust band, the Lulu Underwire Bra provides high support and gives medium lift.
Lonely has refreshed the Lulu in vibrant caramel for the season.

subset: commoncrawl


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Battle Kata Roadblock
Green Stuff
I sculpted this figure's head out of Green Stuff and painted it to suit, after seeing what an abysmal disaster the official 3.75" Bane toys were. The only modification is to the head. All other parts are stock "Battle Kata Roadblock." I considered using some sleeveless arms, but I was not certain I would be able to find a model with the correct proportions, as the Roadblock figures are significantly larger than other GI Joes.


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Veronica Angeles Cruz
When I first entered the world of tourism, I started doing mostly field work. I would go as an assistant guide but also I would be at the office in charge of operating groups with my father, and then I became a trekking guide. Some years later I was in charge of administrating the agency I worked for. I believe my experience on the field was reinforced by my studies and enhanced the quality of my work. I am passionate about tourism and traveling because I feel that's how people interact and learn about different cultures. That's how people become more aware about what our planet has to offer, and learn to respect life, especially our environment. By working in tourism for so many years now I'm more aware of how important it is to be conscious about our environment and all the life in it.
What places and activities do you specialize in?
"The Cordillera Blanca is the place I have been working at for almost 35 years now. My speciality is operating groups that come for trekking and climbing. I'm in charge of the logistics and also the administrative area of our company. "
How did you get involved in travel?
"My father is a pioneer in alpinism here in Huaraz, so as a consequence I started working in tourism at a very young age, although I didn't fully understood it's potential as I do now. As years passed by, I'm aware, now, of many things that involve tourism besides just traveling. It's an experience that enlightens us about our environment, about cultural diversities, about life itself. "
Please share a unique travel experience you will never forget.
"My climbing to the Alpamayo summit ( 5947m.s.n.m ) is definitely one experience that I'll never forget. It was both mentally and physically challenging, but most of all I was very excited to see it's beauty, and finally understood why it is consider the most beautiful mountain in the world. "


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Decided on May 9, 2013
Midland Funding LLC, Plaintiff,
Joya Valentin, Defendant.
Attorneys – Maria Gonzalez – for plaintiff
Crystal Scott – for defendant
Fred J. Hirsh, J.
The following named papers numbered 1 – 2
submitted on this motion on March 14, 2013 Papers NumberedNotice of Motion and Affidavits Annexed1-2
Order to Show Cause and Affidavits Annexed
Affirmation in Opposition
Replying Affidavits
Plaintiff Midland Funding LLC ("Midland") moves for an order of preclusion precluding defendant from offering evidence if defendant Joya Valentin ("Valentin") does not respond to a Notice to Admit.
Midland sues as assignee of Citibank to recover the amount alleged to be due on a Citibank credit card. Midland alleges Citibank issued a credit card to Valentin, Valentin used the credit card and defaulted in payment. Midland alleges Citibank assigned Valenti's credit card debt to Midland. Midland alleges the assignment of the debt gives it standing to maintain the action.
Valentin's answer admits she is a resident of Nassau County but denies having information sufficient to answer the remaining allegations in the complaint. More specifically, she denies having information sufficient to form a belief regarding the issuance of a credit card, her use of the credit card, her default in payment and the assignment of the debt to Midland.
On or about June 15, 2012, Midland's attorney served a Notice to Admit upon Valentin's attorney containing 18 specific items requesting Valentin admit she applied for and used the credit card in issue, received the monthly billing statements, the billing statements attached to the Notice to Admit are true and accurate copies of billing statements, she defaulted in payment on the credit card, she never objected to any of the [*2]charges contained on the billing statements, she received notice of the assignment of the account from Citibank to Midland, Midland is now the owner of the debt, the credit card statements are business records and she owes to the owner of the debt the amount indicated on the final statement. Although Midland seeks Valentin to admit Citibank assigned the debt to Midland and Midland advised Valentin of the assignment, Midland did not attach a copy of the assignment or the notice purporting to advise Valentin of the assignment of the debt to either the complaint or the Notice of Admit.
Valentin did not respond to the Notice to Admit within 20 days of its service by either admitting, denying or setting forth a reason why she cannot admit or deny any of the specific items.
Plaintiff need not make a motion to preclude relating to a Notice to Admit. A proper Notice to Admit is self-executing. A party who does not respond to a Notice to Admit is deemed to have admitted the items in the Notice to Admit for the purposes of the action in which the Notice to Admit was served. Siegel, New York Practice 5th §364; 6-3123 New York Civil Practice (Weinstein-Korn & Miller) CPLR ¶ 3123.10; and CPLR 3123(a).
CPLR 3103(a) grants the court authority on its own initiative to make a protective order denying, limiting, conditioning or regulating an disclosure device. A Notice to Admit is a disclosure device.
A notice to admit is to be used to save a party the trouble and expense of proving a readily admittable fact. Siegel, New York Practice 5th §364. A Notice to Admit is used to get a party to admit facts that will not be in dispute at trial. 6-3123 New York Civil Practice (Weinstein-Korn & Miller) CPLR ¶3123.1.
"The purpose of a notice to admit is only to eliminate from the issues in litigation matters which will not be in dispute at trial. It is not intended to cover ultimate conclusions, which can only be made after a full and complete trial. A notice to admit which goes to the heart of the matters at issue is improper (citations omitted)." DeSilva v. Rosenberg, 236 AD2d 508 (2nd Dept. 1997). A Notice to Admit is to be used "…to elicit a stipulation regarding specific matters concerning which there is general agreement. (Citation omitted)." Lewis v. Hertz Corp., 193 AD2d 470 (1st Dept. 1993).
A notice to admit is not to be used to obtain information more properly obtained by another discovery device such as a deposition. DeSilva v. Rosenberg, supra.; and Tolchin v. Glaser, 47 AD3d 922 (2nd Dept. 2008); and Falkowitz v. Kings Highway Hosp., 43 AD2d 696 (2nd Dept. 1973).
The Notice to Admit served in this action is unquestionably improper since it requires plaintiff to admit or deny what amounts to all of elements of plaintiff's prima facie proof in its cause of action for breach of contract and account stated. Item 16 of the Notice to Admit requires defendant to admit "…you owe plaintiff, Midland Funding LLC $4,481.64 as demonstrated in the statements." Item 17 requests defendant admit "…billing statements are true and accurate business records that defendant would not object to as being admitted into evidence at trial."
The notice to admit in this case goes to the heart of the issues in this case, whether Citibank issued a credit card to Valentin, whether Valentin used the credit card, whether Valentin defaulted in payment, the terms of the credit card agreement, the Citibank's assignment of the debt to Midland and the balance due and owing on the account. These [*3]are ultimate conclusions that can only be made after a full anc complete trial.
One of the major problems assigned creditor such as Midland face in proving a prima facie case in assigned debt cases is proving the underlying debt. In order to get ths records establishing the underlying debt into evidence, Midland must establish the records upon which it relies are business records. In order to get these records into evidence, Midland must lay the appropriate foundation establishing the documents are business records of the original creditor, in this case Citibank. See, Unifund CCR Partners v. Youngman, 89 AD3d 1377 (4th Dept. 2011), lv. dnd. 92 AD3d 1267 (4th Dept. 2012), lv. dnd. 19 NY3d 803 (2012); Velocity Investments, LLC v. Cocina, 77 AD3d 1306 (4th Dept. 2010); Palisades Collection, LLC v. Kedik, 67 AD3d 1329 (4th Dept. 2009); Velocity Investments, LLC v. McCaffrey, 31 Misc 3d 308 (District Ct. Nassau Co. 2011); and CPLR 4518(a). A witness from an assignee such as Midland almost always lacks the requisite knowledge to lay the proper foundation to establish the documents, the credit card agreement and the credit card statement, are business records of the original creditor. Id.[FN1]Plaintiff is attempting to use a notice to admit overcome its inability to lay the proper foundation for the admission of documents necessary to establish its prima facie case at trial.
A notice to admit may not be used for matters that constitute the very dispute involved in the litigation. Siegel, New York Practice 5th §364. The precise dispute in this action is whether plaintiff's assignor, Citibank, issued a credit card to defendant, the terms of the agreement pursuant to which the credit card was issued, whether defendant defaulted in payment and the amount due when defendant defaulted.
The Notice to Admit is also being used to have plaintiff admit or deny facts that would not be within Valentin's knowledge. Valentin would not know and would have no way of knowing whether a credit card debt has been assigned from the original creditor to another party.
A party may not use a Notice to Admit to prove all the of the necessary elements of its prima facie case. A party cannot circumvent its burden proof and the rules of evidence through a Notice to Admit.
If Midland seeks to conduct appropriate discovery, such as a deposition or written interrogatories, at which defendant could be questioned regarding the issuance of the credit card, its use and her payment and/or failure to make payment, it may do so.
Therefore, plaintiff's motion is denied. The court finds plaintiff's Notice to Admit abusive and improper. The court on its own motion issues a protective order vacating plaintiff's Notice of Admit dated June 15, 2012. Defendant's failure to respond to said Notice to Admit shall not be deemed an admission for the purposes of this litigation. [*4]
Hon. Fred J. Hirsh
District Court Judge
Dated: May 9, 2013
cc:Crystal Scott, Esq.
Maria Gonzalez, Esq.
Footnote 1:The foundation for a business record is proof the document was made in the regular course of business, it was the regular course of business of the business to make such records, the entry was made at or about the time of the event being recorded and the person providing the information has a business duty to provide the information. William Conover, Inc. v. Waldorf, 251 AD2d 727 (3rd Dept. 1998); and Price-Richardson On Evidence §8-305 ( 11th Ed. Farrell 1995).


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First thing we did was sit down and have a good talk. Just getting everything out there helps.
The old website had been online for 5 years, and it certainly showed. It was important to emphasize that a simple facelift would not solve any underlying problems related to user interaction with the site, or the amount of visits turned into leads. Therefore, we talked some more.
We realised that the things that made Buyrite different from its competitors had been lost somewhere over those 5 years. It was our job to re focus on that and make sure the USP's were clear to all. Also, the copy on the website focussed too much on Buyrite instead of focussing on the customers' needs. The fact that navigation was cumbersome and disorganised added to the issues that might potentially hinder Buyrite from getting closer to their audience.
Customers commenting on the site said the connection between website and showroom seemed disjointed; the impressive showrooms were not communicated on the site.
Website we designed kept the vibrant colour scheme typical for Buyrite, but we toned it down to avoid clutter.
Based on customer feedback, more images of the showrooms and products were added. Slideshows were used to get across exactly how buyrite's expertise can help customers create realise their dream bathrooms. Navigation was simplified ensuring users found what they wanted faster. Copy was also revised to be more user-focussed, and help visitors make informed decisions about buying and installing bathroom products. These changes meant website users would be well prepared once they decided to visit a showroom, with a clear idea of what to expect from Buyrite.
The site has been up for some time now, and so far, everything is working just great! The site has a new, clean look, in line with Buyrite branding, and it's loading faster than before. We like it. But more importantly, Buyrite like it:
"The new website has helped us a lot; we've been getting more enquiries online and over the phone. From start to finish the whole process has been great."
- Paul Derighetti Jr, Buyrite Manager
Even more importantly, website users are responding well. Visits are up, along with time spent on site and pages viewed, and bounce rate has decreased. To top it off, Buyrite reports customers are buying more clearance items after seeing them on the site, and are enquiring about add-ons like their 3D bathroom design service.
After the redesign, Buyrite's web presence is now just as modern as its showrooms, and is helping customers build better bathrooms for less.


text:
Detail case presentation on pharmacology and therapy of gout
- Article Type: Research Article
- View Abstract
- Pages (21-28)
- No of Download = 101
Gout is a metabolic disorder characterised by precipitation of uric acid crystals especially in smaller bones of feet (commonest is metatarso - phalangeal joint in great toe), joints, kidney, subcutaneous tissue. The major symptoms of gout include severe attacks of pain, lingering discomfort, inflammation, redness and limited range of movement. Gout is caused due to deposition of uric acid which is a metabolic product of purines which naturally occurs in our body. Normally uric acid dissolves in our body but when the concentration increases above 6mg/dl because of improper functioning of kidney or over production of it by our body causes its deposition in the joints. People usually experience gout signs and symptoms again and again but medications can help prevent the gout attacks. If it's left untreated it may cause erosion, stiffness and destruction of the joint. Therefore, there is an urgent need to explore effective diagnostic approaches to catch and better treat the disease before it worsens. Usually joint fluid test, blood test, X-ray imaging, ultra sound, dual energy CT scan are used for diagnosis. Joint fluid and blood test help in finding the uric acid crystals under microscope whereas the X-ray ultra sound examines soft tissues and bone. Gout can be controlled by medication by either reducing pain on attack or reducing the uric acid build up. NSAIDS are given for reducing the pain and inflammation and if NSAIDS are taken in 1st 24hrs then it helps in shortening the attack. In sever cases uricosuric drugs or uric acid synthesis inhibitors are used to prevent the uric acid production.
Screening of ethanolic extract of artocarpus heterophyllus l. bark for anthelmintic activity
- Article Type: Research Article
- View Abstract
- Pages (29-37)
- No of Download = 125
The aim of the present study was to evaluate anthelminthic activity of crude ethanolic extract of Artocarpus heterophyllus bark by using test worm. Albendazole was included as standard. The results indicated that ethanolic extract was significantly paralysis and also caused death of worm in short time compared to that of the standard drug. Various concentrations like 5, 10, 15, 25, 50 mg/ml of ethanolic extract was tested, against the paralysis and death, but 50mg/ml showed less time (03.88±0.19) for paralysis and (23.57±0.38) for death of worm. So we conclude that the traditional use of Artocarpus heterophyllus has anthelminthic activity and further studies are suggested to isolate the active principles which are responsible for the activity. The observations showed the anthelminthic activity of Artocarpus heterophyllus by paralysis and death of earth worms.


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i Statutory framework and substantive law
Corporate insolvency in Singapore is primarily governed by the Companies Act, which is supplemented by the Companies (Winding-Up) Rules and the Companies Regulations. Certain provisions of the Bankruptcy Act also apply to corporate insolvency in Singapore and the Bankruptcy Rules are also relevant.
Apart from the general corporate insolvency provisions, Singapore has also provided for industry-specific insolvency or winding-up rules for certain industries, including the banking industry. These rules will apply to the relevant industry in addition to the insolvency provisions under general company law.
Singapore insolvency law and practice is substantially based on insolvency law and practice in the United Kingdom and Australia. Singapore's insolvency laws have undergone substantial reformation following the Ministry of Law's appointment in December 2010 of the Insolvency Law Review Committee (ILRC) to review Singapore's existing personal bankruptcy and corporate insolvency regime and to provide recommendations in relation to a new omnibus Insolvency Act.
In May 2017, the Companies Act was amended to implement significant changes to Singapore's insolvency regime with the stated objective of attracting more foreign debtors to restructure their debts in Singapore, thereby positioning Singapore as an international centre for debt restructuring. The scope of existing insolvency and pre-insolvency processes have not only been widened and enhanced; familiar features from leading insolvency regimes worldwide, such as the United States Title 11 debtor-in-possession regime, have also been adapted and incorporated.
ii Policy
The Companies Act provides for a range of insolvency and reorganisation options for companies in distress, namely: liquidation, judicial management and receivership, as well as schemes of arrangement between companies and their creditors and shareholders.
In October 2013, the ILRC issued a report (the ILRC Report), endorsing the enactment of a new Insolvency Act and setting out various recommendations on the provisions of the new Insolvency Act. The recommendations by the ILRC included proposals to enhance the existing insolvency and reorganisation mechanisms as well as the management of cross-border insolvency issues.
Subsequently, the Committee to Strengthen Singapore as an International Centre for Debt Restructuring (DRC) was established and issued its recommendations on 20 April 2016. Both the ILRC's and the DRC's recommendations were eventually broadly accepted by the Singapore government, culminating in some of the more significant amendments to the Companies Act in May 2017, which include:
- a amendments to jurisdictional requirements to give foreign companies increased access to the debt restructuring regime in Singapore;
- b enhanced moratoriums that will be granted by the Singapore courts in support of restructurings and can be expressed to have in personam worldwide effect and be extended to related entities of a debtor company;
- c improving features of the existing judicial management and scheme of arrangement regimes in Singapore;
- d the introduction of provisions to govern the granting of super-priority to debtor-in-possession lenders who provide much needed rescue financing during the restructuring process; and
- e the adoption of the UNCITRAL Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency.
iii Insolvency procedures
Liquidation is also referred to as 'winding up'. There are two types of winding up currently provided for under Singapore law: compulsory winding up (or winding up by the court) and voluntary winding up (consisting of creditors' voluntary winding up or members' voluntary winding up).2
The objective of compulsory winding up is to realise a company's assets and distribute them to creditors in order of priority. Any company can be compulsorily wound up, regardless of whether it is registered in Singapore, provided that it has some connection with Singapore and meets the relevant criteria under the Companies Act. For example, a foreign company may be wound up under the amended Companies Act if the creditor can demonstrate that the company's centre of main interests is in Singapore or that the company has substantial assets in Singapore.
On the other hand, the objective of a creditors' voluntary winding up is to wind up a company without reference to the courts. Any company registered in Singapore can be wound up in this way. In a creditors' voluntary winding up, the creditors have the right to nominate the liquidator. If the creditors do not nominate a liquidator, the liquidator will be nominated by the company.3
The objective of a members' voluntary winding up is to wind up a company when its shareholders no longer wish it to continue in business (usually in a 'deadlock' scenario), to pay all the company's creditors in full and to distribute any surplus to the shareholders. Members' voluntary winding up can only be effected when the company is solvent. The company has the right to appoint the liquidator in a members' voluntary winding up.4
A provisional liquidator will be appointed by the High Court (the Court) pending determination of the winding-up application5 if the applicant can demonstrate a prima facie case for the granting of a winding-up order and the Court is satisfied in the circumstances of the case that a provisional liquidator should be appointed.
The provisional liquidator is obliged to preserve the status quo so as to protect the company's assets. A provisional liquidator's powers are prescribed by the court order appointing him or her.6
Upon the making of a winding-up order or the appointment of a provisional liquidator, all the property of the company vests in the liquidator (or the provisional liquidator as the case may be).7
Judicial management
A company or its creditors may apply to the Court for an order that the company be placed under judicial management if: the company is or is likely to become unable to pay its debts; and there is a reasonable probability of rehabilitating the company or of preserving all or part of its business as a going concern or that otherwise the interests of creditors would be better served than by resorting to a winding up.8
Any company, including foreign companies, can be placed under judicial management provided that the Court is satisfied that the company is or is likely to become unable to pay its debts, and it considers that the making of the judicial management order would be likely to achieve one or more of the following purposes:
- a the survival of the company, or the whole or part of its undertaking as a going concern;
- b the approval under Sections 210 or 211I of the Companies Act of a compromise or scheme of arrangement; or
- c a more advantageous realisation of the company's assets than would be effected on a winding up.9
The judicial manager has the power to manage the business and property of the company.10 In addition, during the period for which a judicial management order is in force:
- a the company cannot be wound up;
- b no receiver and manager of the whole of the company's property can be appointed;
- c there is a moratorium on legal proceedings against the company; and
- d no security can be enforced against the company's property except with the consent of the judicial manager or with leave of the court.11
An interim judicial manager may be appointed by the court pending determination of the judicial management application if: the applicant can demonstrate a prima facie case for the granting of a judicial management order; and the Court is satisfied in the circumstances of the case that an interim judicial manager should be appointed.
Judicial management has become less popular as a corporate rescue mechanism in recent years, as creditors are often wary of replacing a company's management with individuals who are not necessarily as familiar with the business.
The Court may order the appointment of a receiver or a receiver and manager in 'all cases in which it appears to the Court to be just and convenient'.12 The Court has relatively wide discretion to make such appointments and usually does so where there is genuine concern that the company's assets are in jeopardy and may be dissipated to the detriment of the debenture holders.
Often, a secured creditor may also enforce its security rights against the debtor company by appointing a receiver, or a receiver and manager. The receiver's primary duty is to realise the assets for the benefit of the secured creditors that appointed him or her, or in the case of the receiver and manager, to manage and realise the assets that come within the ambit of his or her appointment.
Schemes of arrangement
A scheme of arrangement is often used as a means of corporate rescue. A scheme of arrangement is a binding arrangement between the company and its creditors or shareholders, which may among other things, seek to compromise the company's debts and liabilities.13
A scheme of arrangement is binding on all creditors or class of creditors or shareholders or class of shareholders, as the case may be, if:
- a a majority in number representing three-quarters in value of those creditors or class of creditors or shareholders or class of shareholders agrees to the scheme of arrangement and if the Court approves the scheme of arrangement;14 or
- b a majority in number and representing three-quarters in value of the creditors meant to be bound by the scheme of arrangement have agreed to the scheme of arrangement, and the Court is satisfied that the compromise does not discriminate unfairly between two or more classes of creditors, and is fair and equitable to each dissenting class.15
A scheme of arrangement will not be fair and equitable to a dissenting class if, among other reasons, a creditor in the class that has dissented to the scheme would receive an amount that is lower than what that creditor is estimated by the Court to receive in the most likely scenario if the scheme of arrangement does not pass.16
iv Starting proceedings
An application may be presented to the Court for an order that a company be wound up compulsorily if it is unable to pay its debts.17 A company is deemed to be unable to pay its debts when:
- a it is served with a statutory demand for a sum in excess of S$10,000 and it is unable to within 21 days of the date of service of the statutory demand, pay the sum or to secure or compound the sum to the reasonable satisfaction of the creditor;18 or
- b it is unable to pay its debts if execution or other process issued on a judgment in favour of a creditor of the debtor company is returned unsatisfied in whole or in part.19
Generally, a winding-up application can be presented to the Court by: the company; the company's directors; or the company's creditors.20 The winding-up application may provide for a private liquidator or the Official Receiver to be appointed as a liquidator of the company. Winding up is deemed to have commenced when the winding-up application is made.21
After the winding-up application is made, the company, any creditor or contributory may apply to the Court to stay any further proceedings in any pending actions against the company.22
A company's directors can begin the procedure to wind up the company voluntarily if they believe that there is no real prospect of the company paying its debts. The directors must convene an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) of shareholders, where the shareholders must pass a special resolution for winding up by at least 75 per cent of votes cast. A creditors' meeting is held within one day of this resolution to appoint a liquidator (and possibly a committee of inspection).23
A statutory declaration of the company's inability to carry on business by reason of its liabilities24 and a statement of affairs pertaining to the company must be filed with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) within seven days of the appointment of the liquidator.25 Within one month of the date of the statutory declaration, an EGM of the company's shareholders and a meeting of the company's creditors must be convened. Voluntary winding up is deemed to have commenced when the resolution for voluntary winding up is passed26 or on the date of the making of the statutory declaration in the situation where a provisional liquidator is appointed.
The company's directors must make a statutory declaration of solvency within the five weeks before the EGM of the company's shareholders is convened to consider and – if they think fit – to pass the special resolution to wind up the company.27 The directors must also prepare a statement of affairs.28 The EGM is convened (with at least 21 days' notice). At this meeting, the shareholders must pass a special resolution to resolve to wind up the company voluntarily and appoint a liquidator.29
In the event the liquidator in a members' voluntary winding up forms the view that the company is unable to make payment of its liabilities as originally envisaged in the statutory declaration of solvency, the members' voluntary winding up can no longer proceed as such. The liquidator may then summon a meeting of the company's creditors and lay before them the company's statement of assets and liabilities. At this meeting, the creditors will also have the option to appoint some other person to act as liquidator. Thereafter, the winding up shall proceed in the form of a creditors' voluntary winding up.30
Judicial management
The application for a judicial management order may be made by the company, a creditor (or creditors jointly) including a contingent or prospective creditor, or a director of the company if authorised by a resolution of the members or of the board of directors.31
There is an automatic moratorium on all proceedings against the company starting from the time the application for judicial management is made until the Court makes a determination on the application. The moratorium is wide-ranging and restrains, among others, the passing of a resolution for winding up of the company and enforcement actions against any charge or security held over the company's property, except with the judicial manager's consent or leave of the Court.32
Following the May 2017 amendments to the Companies Act, the Court may also grant the application despite the opposition of a person who is appointed or is entitled to appoint a receiver and manager under the terms of any debenture, unless the prejudice that would be caused to such person if the order was made would be disproportionately greater than the prejudice that would be caused to unsecured creditors of the company if the application is dismissed.33 In the event the Court grants the judicial management order, judicial management is deemed to have commenced from the time the application for judicial management is made.34
Holders of debentures that contain an express power to appoint a receiver or a receiver and manager can make such an appointment privately. The powers of the receiver or receiver and manager are prescribed by the terms of the debenture.
Where the debentures do not provide for the appointment of a private receiver or receiver and manager, the holders of such debentures may make an application for the Court to appoint a receiver.35
Scheme of arrangement
An application to the Court for approval of a scheme of arrangement may be made by the company, any creditor or member of the company or the liquidator of the company (where the company is being wound up).36 The application is made by way of originating summons supported by an affidavit.
The company may apply for a moratorium to restrain or stay proceedings against the company where it is proposing a scheme of arrangement.37 An automatic 30-day stay of all proceedings against the company arises upon the filing of an application for such moratorium under Section 210(10) of the Companies Act.38 The moratorium may also restrain the appointment of a receiver or receiver and manager. The company applying for the moratorium is required to provide evidence of support from creditors,39 a brief description of the intended scheme of arrangement40 and sufficient information relating to the company's financial affairs, which will place the creditors in a better position to assess the feasibility of any proposed scheme of arrangement. The company is also required to provide the Court with an undertaking that it will make the application for the scheme of arrangement as soon as practicable.41 A creditor may apply to the Court to vary or terminate the moratorium, especially if the applicant company has not filed the information required.42
A moratorium can be granted on the application of a subject company's 'related company' (i.e., the subject company's subsidiary, holding company, or ultimate holding company)43 and applies to acts taking place in Singapore or elsewhere as long as the creditor is in Singapore or within the jurisdiction of the Court.44
A scheme of arrangement that has been approved by the Court may only be amended by way of an order of court. A scheme of arrangement approved by the Court will need to be lodged with the ACRA before it becomes binding.
v Control of insolvency proceedings
The Singapore courts have assigned certain judges with the requisite expertise as docketed insolvency judges to hear insolvency and restructuring related applications, including on an urgent basis. Generally, the various insolvency procedures will be administered by the respective insolvency professionals appointed. However, the Court does retain a certain degree of oversight.
Upon the making of a winding-up order by the Court, the liquidator may only carry on the business of the company so far as is necessary for the beneficial winding up of the company for a period of four weeks after the date of the winding-up order. Thereafter, the liquidator can only do so with the leave of the Court or the committee of inspection.45 The powers of the company's directors also effectively cease when the winding-up order is made by the Court.
In the case of voluntary winding-up, upon the appointment of a liquidator, all the powers of the company's directors cease except to the extent approved by the liquidator or by the members of the company with the consent of the liquidator in the case of a members' voluntary winding up or the committee of inspection in the case of a creditors' voluntary winding up.46
The liquidator is regarded as an officer of the Court and is, therefore, expected to discharge his or her duties accordingly. All private liquidators are subject to the supervision of the Official Receiver. The Official Receiver may take cognisance of the conduct of a liquidator to determine whether the liquidator has faithfully performed his or her duties and observed all the requirements imposed on him or her by law in relation to the performance of his or her duties. In the event any complaint is made against a liquidator, the Official Receiver shall make inquiries into the complaint and take the appropriate action.47
The liquidator in a compulsory winding up is required to seek the Court's leave to be released from his or her office as liquidator.48
Judicial management
Upon appointment, a judicial manager steps into the shoes of the company's directors and is deemed to be the company's agent with the ability to exercise the powers of the company's officers.49 The judicial manager is also regarded as an officer of the Court and is therefore expected to discharge his or her duties accordingly. A judicial manager may be removed at any time by the Court and he or she is required to seek the Court's leave to be released from his or her office as judicial manager.50
A judicial manager is obliged to table a statement of his or her proposals to achieve one or more of the purposes stated in the judicial management order (Statement of Proposals) for the company's creditors. The Statement of Proposals must be sent to the Registrar of the ACRA as well as all creditors of the company.51 Thereafter, the judicial manager is obliged to summon a meeting of all the company's creditors to consider and vote on the Statement of Proposals. The judicial manager is required to report to the Court the proceedings of the creditors' meeting and the results of the voting on the Statement of Proposals.52
A judicial manager may be held personally liable for any contracts entered into by him or her on behalf of the company, or for any contracts previously entered into by the company and which he or she had adopted.53
A receiver or manager (regardless of whether he or she is appointed privately or by the Court), may apply to the Court to seek directions for any matter connected to the performance of his or her functions.54
Any creditor, contributory or liquidator of a company may also apply to the Court to examine the conduct of a receiver or manager who appears to have misapplied, retained or become liable or accountable for any money or property of the company; the same applies if the receiver or manager appears to have committed any misfeasance or breach of trust or duty in respect of the company.55
Scheme of arrangement
The Court has the power to supervise scheme meetings and it is open to the scheme manager to apply to the Court for directions and other ancillary orders as may be appropriate.
vi Special regimes
Singapore has enacted additional industry-specific legislative provisions for insolvency. Examples include the resolution regime for a bank licensed under the Banking Act as set out in the Monetary Authority of Singapore Act and the resolution regime for insurance companies as set out in the Insurance Act.
vii Rescue financing
The May 2017 Companies Act amendments have introduced provisions on 'rescue financing', which refers to any financing that is either necessary (1) for the survival of the company as a going concern, or (2) to achieve a more advantageous realisation of the assets of the company than on a winding-up of the company.56
The new amendments empower the Court to grant one of four levels of priority over other secured and unsecured debts, that is, for the rescue financing to: (1) be treated as part of the costs and expenses of the winding up; (2) have super-priority over preferential debts; (3) be secured by a security interest on property not otherwise subject to any security interest or that is subordinate to existing security, or (4) be secured by a security interest, on property subject to an existing security interest, of the same or a higher priority than the existing security interest.57
The availability of an order for priority for rescue financing depends on the level of priority sought, whether the company has made a scheme application or moratorium application, or both, or whether there is a judicial management order in force. In particular, in order for the rescue financier to be granted the priority levels as per (2) to (4) above, it must be shown that the company is unable to obtain the rescue financing from other persons unless the rescue financier is accorded that particular level of priority. Further, in order for an existing secured interest to be overridden (i.e., level (4) above), the Court must be satisfied that the existing secured creditor is 'adequately protected'.
viii Cross-border issues
Pursuant to the new Section 354B(1) of the Companies Act, the UNCITRAL Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency (the Model Law) will have force of law in Singapore and will facilitate the resolution of cross-border insolvencies by (among other things):
- a streamlining and clarifying the process for recognition in Singapore of foreign insolvency proceedings;
- b facilitating access by foreign insolvency representatives to the Singapore Court, as well as the granting of relief in Singapore to assist foreign proceedings; and
- c promoting cooperation and coordination between courts of different jurisdictions and insolvency administrators.
Together with the abolition of the ring-fencing rule in respect of foreign companies under Part XI, the introduction of the Model Law is a marked departure from the traditionally territorial conception of cross-border insolvency and is emblematic of the shift towards the principle of modified universalism that was embraced by the Court in Re Opti-Medix Ltd (in liquidation) and another matter [2016] SGHC 108 as the golden thread running through cross-border insolvency law, which requires courts to, as far as is consistent with justice and public policy, cooperate with the courts in the country of the principal liquidation to ensure that all the company's assets are distributed to its creditors under a single system of distribution.
The adoption of the Model Law also provides clarity in respect of the recognition of foreign insolvency proceedings and coheres neatly with pre-Model Law decisions such as Re Taisoo Suk (as foreign representative of Hanjin Shipping Co Ltd) [2016] 5 SLR 787, where the inherent jurisdiction of the court was invoked as a basis for recognition of foreign winding-up proceedings.
There were 187 companies in compulsory liquidation in 2016. This was a slight decrease compared with the 189 companies that were compulsorily liquidated in 2015.58
In February 2017, the Court in Parakou Shipping Pte Ltd (in liquidation) v. Liu Cheng Chan [2017] SGHC 15 confirmed that a director who procured a company to enter into undue preference transactions under Section 329 of the Companies Act read with Sections 99 and 100(1)(b) of the Bankruptcy Act could be in breach of his or her duties and that an order could be made against such a director personally to pay a sum equal in value to the undue preference transactions.
In reaching its conclusion, the Court (per Chua Lee Ming J) affirmed the position that had been previously adopted by the Court (per Steven Chong J) in Living the Link Pte Ltd (in creditors' voluntary liquidation) and others v. Tan Lay Tin Tina and Ors [2016] 3 SLR 621 and reiterated the importance of ensuring that the courts must be slow in allowing a liquidator to employ the claim against the director as a means of circumventing the strict statutory criteria for an undue preference laid down by Parliament in the Bankruptcy Act. Notably, the Court also observed that the mere fact that the transactions fell outside the statutory clawback period could not excuse the directors concerned from being held liable for breach of their duties.
As stated above, in order to position Singapore to meet the anticipated increase in demand for insolvency and restructuring services in the Asia-Pacific region, the DRC was appointed by the Ministry of Law in May 2015 to build on the work of the ILRC and recommend initiatives and legal reforms to cement Singapore's status as a leading centre from which to coordinate a multi-jurisdictional restructuring.
Key recommendations by the DRC in its 20 April 2016 report have been implemented through the most recent round of amendments to the Companies Act, which came into operation on 23 May 2017.
Notably, several of the key changes to the existing insolvency framework were adapted, with appropriate modification, from jurisdictions that possess more mature and highly developed insolvency processes. In light of the current economic climate, it is anticipated that more companies (including foreign companies) will avail themselves of the new features under the enhanced insolvency regime.
1 Nish Shetty is a partner, and Elan Krishna and Keith Han are associates, at Clifford Chance Asia.
2 Section 247, Companies Act.
3 Section 297(1), Companies Act.
4 Section 294(1), Companies Act.
5 Section 267, Companies Act.
6 Section 267, Companies Act.
7 Section 269, Companies Act.
8 Section 227A, Companies Act.
9 Section 227B, Companies Act.
10 Section 227G, Companies Act.
11 Section 227D, Companies Act.
12 Section 4(10), Civil Law Act.
13 Section 210, Companies Act.
14 Section 210(3AB), Companies Act.
15 Sections 211H(2) and 211H(3), Companies Act.
16 Section 211H(4)(a), Companies Act.
17 Section 254(1)(e), Companies Act.
18 Section 254 (2)(a), Companies Act.
19 Section 254 (2)(b), Companies Act.
20 Section 253(1), Companies Act.
21 Section 255(2), Companies Act.
22 Section 258, Companies Act.
23 Sections 296 to 298, Companies Act.
24 The statutory declaration is made by the company's directors.
25 Section 293, Companies Act.
26 Section 255(1), Companies Act.
27 Sections 293(1) and 293(3), Companies Act.
28 Section 293(2), Companies Act.
29 Section 294(1), Companies Act.
30 Section 295, Companies Act.
31 Section 227A, Companies Act.
32 Section 227D(4), Companies Act.
33 Section 227B(5), Companies Act.
34 Section 227C, Companies Act.
35 Order 30, Rule 2, Singapore Rules of Court.
36 Sections 210(1) and 210(2), Companies Act.
37 Section 210(10), Companies Act.
38 Sections 211B(8) and 211B(13), Companies Act.
39 Section 211B(4), Companies Act.
40 Section 211B(4), Companies Act.
41 Section 211B(2)(b), Companies Act.
42 Sections 211B(10) , 211B(11), and 211B(4), Companies Act.
43 Section 211C(1), Companies Act.
44 Section 211B(5), Companies Act.
45 Section 272(1)(a), Companies Act.
46 Sections 294(2) and 297(4), Companies Act.
47 Section 265(1), Companies Act.
48 Section 275, Companies Act.
49 Section 227G(2), Companies Act.
50 Section 227J, Companies Act.
51 Section 227M, Companies Act.
52 Section 227N, Companies Act.
53 Section 227I, Companies Act.
54 Section 218(3), Companies Act.
55 Section 227(2), Companies Act.
56 Sections 211E(9) and 227HA(10), Companies Act.
57 Sections 211E(1) and 227HA(1), Companies Act.
58 Insolvency and Public Trustee's Office at https://www.mlaw.gov.sg/content/dam/minlaw/io/Statistic/Companies%20Liquidation.pdf.


text:
ALT-J Photoshooting
for Intro Magazine
There are no limits to Alt-J's love for experimentation. They create music that polarizes and casts a spell of merriement and passion. This way they also got us into the joy of experimentation, to transform their portraits for German pop-cultural music magazine INTRO into whirring artworks.


text:
Sfeeha on the easy
June 26, 2011, 6:39 p.m. | by Adriano Petrich | Categories: easy lebanese meat
Sfeeha on a pita
I got this idea from this post on taste of Beirut
I instantly fell in love with the idea. It was so simple and beautiful. I had to try it.
Sfeeha is a meat filling on a dough. (I've talked about them briefly before)
Sfeehas in Brazil comes in two ways. Open and closed ones. They ...
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A little bit of Uruguay: Chimichurri
May 7, 2010, 6:23 p.m. | by Adriano Petrich | Categories: dip easy german vegetarian herbs meat sauce Uruguay
The mystery sauce
Just recently when we (the wife and I) were in Uruguay for our honeymoon we went for a barbecue at the central market. Sure it was a gigantic tourist trap, or at least most of the restaurants there were. We found a place to eat which A) had some natives eating there and B) had no tables ...
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.


text:
12/21/2017 0 Comments
As you can see I am broken and I'm in search of glue that will take all the broken pieces and make me whole again.
Cause you see it's taken 33 years of wearing down and tearing away and open wounds and broken bones and cracked toenails and wounded hearts to get to this very place
In 33 years I have witnessed more violations than I can count
Penises as weapons
Hands that push heads down until choked throats can no longer speak
Men who forget to ask for permission
who appear perfect until the very moment of orgasm
who call and say I'll be there
but never show
Leaving two little girls to wait curbside clutching their backpacks melting in the hot sun
Men filled with clenched fist fulls of broken promises
men with 1 foot in and 1 foot out
men who leave
out the door
The very first one was when I was only three
Men who know nothing else but what they've been taught
So the vicious cycle keeps spinning
centuries of
comes this resignation of the female form
So we have been building this wall made up of cinderblocks mortared with blood and cum and spit and tears and muffled screams and "no!" and all the times I couldn't muster the courage to say "please leave me alone!!!!"
I know that I am not alone because ME TOO has been written a million trillion times across their backs in black ink sharpie, tarnished
That wall is so high it touches the sky and blocks the suns rays no longer warming closed eyes and soft skin across furrowed brow
I see how the corners of her lips where laugh lines once lived have now morphed into tightly pursed lips
no teeth
only grit
Where did she go? Nobody knows
Nobody knows what's behind that wall because it has been too long
but I know because I can see into that tiny window that there are these tender little beating hearts
yearning to be seen
yearning to be fed
yearning to be heard
yearning for a connection
yearning for respect
Whats The point of all that yearning when no one is willing to start knocking Down the cinderblocks with sledgehammers one at a time while yelling I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry for all the harm that I have cause
I'm sorry for all the harm that he has caused
I'm sorry for all the men in my lineage who could have caused harm
and then I'm left to wonder if sorry is even enough
I wonder when the fuck they would begin to wake up and listen and look directly into her eyes and say I'm sorry because you deserve nothing less than to be treated like goddess and I will kiss your feet and I will roll out the red carpet I will serve you hand because you are divine and you are God you are beautiful
And then I remember it is I who have let him in
flung open the doors too readily
loved and trusted full heartedly
forgiven too easily
forgotten too soon
but the violations reside in this broken body
and it never forgets
there is no surrender
until the story is told
As you can see that I'm broken, I stand before you broken and in acknowledgment that I inherit the words
the wisdom
the voice somewhere in this broken body
that reminds me of how to become whole again
As you can see that I am broken
At times it begins with I can no longer be silent
I can no longer sleep
It begins with 4 AM words Voice dictated onto a page
Listen And wake the fuck up
I am not Angry I'm livid
A fire has been lit under me and I will stop at nothing
And I will not apologize
And it begins with these very words
These words are the glue to our feminine
to humanity
to our future
and to becoming whole again.
12/6/2017 0 Comments
Face off.
When I look in the mirror at my own face. I study it with a furrowed brow. Only noticing blemishes, pock marks, scars, pimples. wrinkles, discoloration, and age. People like to flatter me and say "wowl you look so young for 33". And my immediate internal response is "that's funny cause I feel like I'm 66". Looks can be deceiving ya know.
When I look in the mirror at my own face I remember the day I showed up at a new school in a new town with a short bowl cut. I was scared shitless and what made it worse, everyone thought I was the new boy in school. It was terrifying. I also remember all the other kids spreading the rumor that our 6th grade teacher Mr. Kensington was having an affair with the Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Jaden. I wear the cruelty of kids on my face.
When I look in the mirror at my own face, I see scars left behind from my 1st grade bout of chicken pox. The crater left on my upper lip and the other to the right of my short fat nose. I can't remember when the mole appeared on my nose. It tries so damn hard to be a mole but it isn't quite because although it is raised, it is the wrong color. This mole is having an identity crisis. And as the only asian girl in an entire white school, so was I.
When I look in the mirror at my own face I see dark circles under my eyes. 20 years of central california allergies has taken a toll on these eyes. Child onset psoriasis has taken a toll on these eyes. These tired eyes that can see depth and into souls but look worn like a rag hung out to dry on the backyard line. I see eyes but they are darker in color, the crescent moons more crescent these days.
When I look in the mirror at my own face I see thick bulbous puckered lips. The ones that whisper into ears in dark candlelit rooms. The ones that yelp out in pain. The ones that suck. The ones that yell. The ones that sing off key. The same ones my old roommate referred to as "DSLs". What's that, I asked?" "Dick sucking lips", he responded with a grin. Which felt weird cause my lips look like my dad's. Thick and swollen and lay flat against my round face when I smile, just like his.
When I look in the mirror at my own face I am reminded of the many years I spent every morning putting on my game face. Thick lines of black eye liner on my upper lid, apple red lipstick, rose colored blush and way too much foundation, caked on to disguise my blemishes. I don't wear make up anymore except the occasional eye liner for a special occasion. I don't miss it. I show up just raw, eye bags and pock marks and all. I don't have to worry about it running down my face when I cry anymore. And there is no more deception, "here I am!" my face exclaims. I show up as I am and there is no more hiding.
12/6/2017 0 Comments
Wake the F up!
When I approach the blank page I go blank.
Except that I have so much to say.
I've witnessed too much injustice to just sit here and be silent.
Where do I even begin?
I have to remember that the weight doesn't have to fall just on my shoulders.
When I close my eyes the thing that I want to share most is that our world needs more activation.
During this time of year I am hearing everyone gripe about the pressure of having to buy shit for Christmas.
I mean, how much more SHIT do we actually need?
Why not take all that money and time and energy and put it towards some good.
Call up the local food bank and donate food or time or lend a hand to serve a hot meal to someone who needs it.
There's no reason to contribute to the evil empire of consumerism and capitalism any further.
Turn black friday into black dress day and go out and dance.
Dance out your toxins, your sins, let loose your monkey mind and let it doe the waltz with your inner child.
Discharge that shit.
Turn cyber Monday into meditation Monday.
Sit and be still.
Put off your to-do list until tomorrow.
Take your puppy into the forest and down the gulch and jump in some salt water with nothing else on but goggles and fins.
Get naked in the sea.
Turn giving Tuesday into something you do not just on one day a year but everyday.
Give, give in some way everyday even if it's just a smile or a conversation or ride to a hitch hiker.
Stop looking at your damn phone all the time.
Your neck is craning and aching from all that looking down.
By the time you're 40 you're gonna need a neck brace to keep your head on your shoulders.
Stop swiping left and swiping right, instead start skipping through the jungle and listen to the bird song with your whole being.
Stop wasting time scrolling through Facebook
and Instagram longing for another life
Instead activate!
Create your life.
Sign up for a class in something you would never imagine doing.
Go free diving.
Learn to spin pottery on a wheel.
Join the collective underground and go into the trenches until you unveil your deeper voice.
Take your hands and rough them up.
In the garden, climbing a tree, or embedded in pastry dough.
Go into a prison and offer your heart.
Offer your wisdom.
Shed some light into the dark.
The world needs more candles lit and sage burned and bonfires and skinny dipping and cliff diving and singing in the shower.
So go. Activate.
Stop staring at your blank page.
Get your soles of your feet on the ground
And make some shit happen.
12/6/2017 0 Comments
I am.
I am the lilikoi vine. I am an invasive species. I strangle all other life form in my path. I bear sweet tasting fruit and drop them to the ground once I'm ready to let them go. I am relentless. Nothing, nobody can stop me from spreading in all directions. Climbing, strangling, reaching. grasping, letting go, it is a vicious cycle. I am the insatiable lilikoi vine.
I the pointy tip of forest pines. I am rooted deep into the Earth. I am always reaching for the sky but can never quite touch it no matter how hard I try. I am the reason pine sol smells the way it does. I let the wind threaten to topple me over and fall but yet never let it. I will tip to the left and tip to the right but I default to straight up reaching reaching arms outstretched hugging the whole sky as if it was all mine and only mine.
I am the tailbone. Aged, sore, felt most at the end of a long day. I throb and ache and shout out for her to fucking stop already. I beg for him to apply pressure. I plead for her to work her magic on me with the souls of her feet. I know she can feel me and I know she knows I am asking her to slow down but yet she can't. It's not in her nature and I am just the lone tailbone so who am to dictate the pace at which she moves?
I am the tip of a cracked finger nail. Clickity clack I type on plastic squares with letters on them for hours on end. I am broken because she writes words of her brokenness with leaking ink pens and electronic devices hot to the touch. She seeks solace in the swipe left and swipe right like a fucked up metronomic meditation. She spells out her anger and sadness and magic with me and I have no say. She uses me as her weapon, her love sling, her hammock filled with songs and fantasy and desires and shadows and wonderings on the subject of death.
I am dried up mud caked at the bottom of her shoe. I slosh around when it rains and I get stuck when it dries. I am brittle, I crack. I'm not meant to be loved or desired. I am nothing more than a temporary stepping place. I dissipate in the wind, turning into nothing as I float through the ether. I am microscopic particles of Earth.
I am the jingle in the bell of her collar. I'm only activated when she's moving. Prancing on sand, frolicking in the forest, hopping over streams. I ding in the key of C # minor and I am pleasing to the ear. I am a reminder of her presence. I do not speak but I sing with every movement and I am essential to her existence.
I am the dancing flame of a candle lit on her altar. I am the scent of toasted coconut and fig tree. My single flame lights up the entire room. As soon as her eyes adjust she can see everything. Every stitch in the hem of her dress. Every wrinkle at the corners of her lips. With this light she navigates her thought patterns but ends up in a maze wandering around for lifetimes without ever finding the cheese.
12/4/2017 0 Comments
Conversations with my ancestors.
I'm spending my 34th birthday in Hong Kong, to trace the roots of my ancestral lineage. I am filled with the desire to meet and commune with all the women of my ancestry. I want to hear their stories with their own voices, their prayers, their wishes, their resentments, hear about all their coulda woulda shoulda shouldn't haves. I want to see their faces. How their single eyelid, flat nosed, puckered lip profiles match mine. They didn't have FB back then so it's not so simple to type in a name into a search box and scroll through years of photos and posts of them. I want to put my finger down and scroll up until I reach 100 years past and meet my great great grandmother, unfiltered, no editing, just raw. I want to see the way her thick wild black hair frames her face and the way she scrunches her nose and laughs when she's nervous at social gatherings. How her cheeks flush when meeting an attractive boy and whether or not she believed her soul belonged in the remote mountain villages of Guang Zhou, the bamboo forest, and out in the middle of the sea. I want to see how many of these women manifested their wildest dreams or succumbed to the status quo and drowned their livelihood in patriarchal obligation and responsibility to the family name—WONG. I want to see the way Cantonese rolls off their hungry tongues licking up the talons of the single winged dove flying over rooftops blessing each soul with a ca-caaaaaa letting them know they are on the right path. I want to hold the hands of these women, interlace fingers and see how mine fits right into the glove of theirs, and how brown eyes could get so brown that you can jump into the pupils and meet at the depth of soul where the center of the earth meets roots of trees and molten lava and moist red mud—the kind that gets trapped under toe nails and embedded inside the soles of feet for generation to generation until shoes are invented. I want to see the women who walked barefoot on wooden planks to the long tail fishing boats of Lantau Island where stilted houses stand on concrete pylons and wooden 2x4s with peeling paint, cracked windows, threatening the oncoming storms to refuse to collapse. I want to mack on steamed shrimp dumplings and steaming hot bowls of shark fin soup and stir fried bird's nest crispy noodles with carrots cut out to look like flowers and strips of beef marinated in pork fat and watch our bellies grow with food babies and kin so that we might teach them the lesson of the enriched life of the heritage of Tsois and Wongs, and Shins, and Chungs, and whatever the hell else name they wanted to call us for we could not be put in boxes and labeled because the soul of these women surpasses time, space, and identity.
12/4/2017 0 Comments
A manual for death.
Last night, I died.
And I felt it all.
The pain, the sadness, the grief, the halting of breath, and heart without beat.
A warm body turned cold.
Rigormortis setting into the tips of my fingers and toes stiff.
I remember feeling lost.
I remember feeling the void.
I remember thinking, omg, this is crazy.
And relief.
I think about where they would take me.
The morgue?
An autopsy?
Poking and prodding?
Cutting away skin and breaking ribs to get to the heart.
What was the condition of her heart?
Was it full or deflated?
In my death I think about how my name and my identity and humanness would be taken away.
How I would go from Jazzy, to "It" or the "body".
I wonder what I would look like.
What facial expression would I make.
What would I wear?
Shoes or slippers?
Freshly showered or would there be dirt caked under my nails?
How many battle scars left behind on my shins and elbows.
How my last breath would feel.
A last Inhale, and then a last exhale.
Then I thought about all the phone calls
And the voicemails
And the shocked faces.
And the "oh! poor thing!"
The condolences
With sympathy cards
Bouquets of flowers
Letters and photos laying at the altar.
The soups and casseroles and envelops of red money drenched in tears.
And then I thought about my funeral.
What I don't want.
I don't want a casket or chemicals and embalming shit to fill my body.
I want to be returned to the ground, in ashes or as a tree.
I want to be wrapped in nothing more than burlap sack and flowers from Hawaii.
I want noone to be burdened by my death because that shit is whack
Take the money and backpack through southeast Asian and bring my spirit along
Take the money and buy a boat and sail from SF to Hawaii
Take the money and sign up for a detox and yoga retreat in Bali
Turn me into an engraving on a bench at a beach or a park.
Or name a star a million miles away after me.
And let me know if that star can be seen with the naked eye even on a full moon night.
Make a slideshow from all the FB photos.
Show images of shit eating grins and endless adventures and waterfalls and jungle hikes and motorscootering across Thailand and teaching yoga in prisons and letters to my homies and and all the cuts and bruises and gashes requiring first aid kits.
I want to hear stories.
All the stories.
The embarrassing ones.
The ones that remind everyone of my darkest shadows and flaws.
The ones I can't remember.
The ones that spoke to legacy and memory and impact and someone who loved so fucking hard that she died doing so.
I want to hear from them.
I want to hear from my family.
And the Collective.
What would they all say?
What stories would emerge?
I hope they'd talk about my work.
The importance of social work in the world.
Of going into homes, prisons, hospitals.
What kind of legacy did Jazzy leave behind?
I want everyone to feel and laugh and cry all at the same time.
Last night I died.
Really, I did.
I was left to ponder all the questions
Who would adopt Mochi in my absence?
Who would fly to Hawaii to clean up my things?
What secrets would they find?
Who would read all my pieces or journals and secret notes scattered throughout notebooks?
Who would be shocked?
Who would be pleased?
Who would be offended?
Who would be disappointed?
Who would take my place in my home?
Who would drive my car?
Or take my paddle board and promise the ongoing pursuit of adventures?
Who would tell them all that I want them to have a big party?
A big giant celebration of LIFE?
No tears.
And since I never got to have a wedding or a 50th or 90th birthday party
I want this party to be barefooted
Twinkle lights
On a warm summer night
With fireflies
A fire pit
I want there to be the most yummy food they have ever feasted on.
In a lush garden or on the beach or upcountry overlooking the entire island.
And balloons.
And confetti.
And fuck, how about a bounce house and a waterslide?
I want everyone to wear vibrant colors of the rainbow.
I want there to be cake and ice cream and Mark's cookies and a table full of candy.
I want there to be sushi
And dim sum, and bowls of ramen, and fresh mochi ice cream from Bubbies.
And everyone to get buzzed on tall glasses of sangria
And trip out on magic mushrooms
And practice yoga imagining my hands on their lower back in childs
Caressing their scalps in savasana
I want someone to roll a fatty to pass around the table
Massages in the shade under a big oak tree
At my funeral I want everyone to feel free to sing and play music on every type of instrument imaginable and hold ceremony like open mic meets a witchy church.
I'd want everyone to paddle out to sea, spread petals of orchids and roses and bless the ocean with life and vibrancy and richness and gratitude.
I want them to speak of generosity and humility.
My yoga classes and my humor.
My mistakes and my failures.
My accomplishments and all the times I reached the finish line and cried.
I want them to speak of grace and love and a big open heart.
I want them to speak of courage and thoughtfulness and the sound of my laugh.
So yeah, last night I died.
And it was painful and beautiful and in my wake it appears as though I left a deep imprint on many hearts and left a legacy behind that won't be forgotten for many generations to come.
7/17/2017 0 Comments
Mischief (for Uncle Mo)
His breath is labored and he's wheezing a high pitched whistle through his lungs.
these words are the answer to my prayers. they are my greatest form of creative expression. may we always write to break down, heal, and crack open parts of our deep inner place of knowing.
December 2017


text:
I have spent what seems like almost half my life down south in Sweden, on an island just off its coast, connected by one long bridge; namely, Öland. We own, or did own, a summer house there, from before my own birth (in fact, when my mother was about my age now, I believe). We have just sold it, moving on to other adventures, and it feels a little like the end of an era. It's somewhat bitter-sweet, but I think I have been weaned off the place gradually, which makes it easier; once, we would spend endless weeks there–at least five or six, and that was making it a minimum–whilst with the years coming on, we spent perhaps maximum two weeks at a time, making the place more of a problem, then a delightful retreat that it once was.
In all that time, I had never been to Skansen; a hotel, restaurant and spa. It's probably the fanciest place (that I know of) on the island, and I had never even set foot into the place. Even my parents agreed this was somewhat tragic, so, on the last night with the 3 of us together on the island, we had dinner. Oh man, what a dinner. It was pricey (as most things are in Sweden!), but the return was so worth it.
Above pictured is mum's starter; a beautiful carpaccio of tuna with aioli and pickled ginger. I adore those colours, and felt a little jealous! The pieces of fish were amazing, and rather generous too, though the sauce could have packed more of a punch, even with those large chunks of pickled ginger, we all thought.
This was my chosen starter; duck breast with apple, pea shoots, blue cheese, currents and spring onion. It was lovely, but you had to make sure to get a little piece of everything together to make the flavours work at their best, which, given the variety, was a bit of a struggle. Nonetheless, I think I managed okay 😉
And dad chose the pata negra, a Spanish cured ham, with mozzarella and tomatoes. This was very good, I don't even have anything else to say!
For main, I surprised everyone, including myself, and chose the lamb back, with risotto, pesto, and wine-marinated pears. SO GOOD. Ignore my feelings on lamb for a second, this was amazing. I asked for rare, to raw side, because I am such a carnivore at heart, and I had to restrain myself from shredding it between my teeth within seconds. Every single element together was amazing, and that risotto (not even a fan of risotto at times! I wonder almost why I chose it from the menu…but I'm glad I did) was so intensely creamy, I wonder what on earth they did with it…cheese? I've done that before, can't say it turned out like this!
Mum went for the venison back cut, with mojo-rojo potatoes and saffron butter, and grilled vegetables. I remember mum loving this, but they were a bit generous with the butter considering its intensity in taste! But better, I suppose, for the guest that there's too much rather than too little…
And father surprised absolutely no one by choosing the risotto on its own. I can't say I understand why he didn't choose the same as me since the risotto was the same, but he would have gotten the meat too — but oh well, no regrets. He was in his own little heaven.
Finally, I was stuffed, as were my parents. However, the dessert menu had a licorice and chocolate cake, served with raspberry mousse and salted caramel sauce. The combination in the cake intrigued me; I'm a true Sweden, I quite like licorice 😉 And boy was this good; the aniseed flavour was subtle, present in the background, and was heavenly with the caramel. The mousse was so creamy it was like a sinful dessert good enough on its own. So, no regrets for me either!
All in all, a delightful last evening on an island of my childhood.


text:
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e-Science : July 2012 Issue 2
FEATURE It also looks as if the junk food offspring didn't increase their energy intake during lactation as much as the control mothers did. In all species the energy needs of females who are breast-feeding is much higher than even pregnant women, so the increase in the energy intake during this period in our rats is expected. It's interesting that the types of foods the junk food mothers chose to eat in pregnancy and lactation were also quite different. This may well be a result of their need for specific nutrients during the lactation period. Question 2 Figure 2 shows the growth rate of the male and female offspring in the control and junk food groups. • Which of the groups of offspring are growing faster in the suckling period (graphs A and B)? • Which groups of offspring are growing faster in the post-weaning period (graphs C and D)? • What are the differences between males and females? CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE Figure 2: This graph shows the weights in grams of male and female offspring born to mothers fed a normal rat food (in the white circles) or junk food diet (in the black circles) during pregnancy and breastfeeding. Graphs A and B show the weight gain during the time the offspring were being suckled by their mothers and graphs C and D show the weight gain of the offspring after they were weaned onto solid foods (graphs C, D). The * and ** symbol indicates those results that were significant when analysed with statistical tests. (the more * there are, the more significant the result)
April 2012 Issue 1
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June 11, 2014
Installed a new dvr today and am unable to connect remotely either via web browser or TechProSS Lite on my android phone. I can use logmein to access the network and work with the system. When using IE I get the following error screen;
When using TechProSS Lite all I get is login failed. We are using a dyndns account that worked ok with the previous dvr. Have opened ports in the router, and verified login credentials.
June 11, 2014
What Operating System are you using as well as the browser?
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text:
Blisters of the feet are very common especially in those playing competitive sport. Tennis players, football players, soccer players, basketballers, runners and netballers all experience blisters of the feet when placing the feet under extreme stress.
Blisters of the foot are caused by excessive friction to the skin - in other words excessive rubbing. When the friction persists the skin begins to break down allowing infection to enter through the skin.
Blisters of the foot should not be broken as this allows infection to proliferate. If blisters do burst allowing the release of fluid then it is important to dress the blisters properly with antiseptic and a sterile dressing.
Consult your Podiatrist if foot blisters persist as it may be indicative of a foot fungal infection or tinea pedis.