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DC creates "temporary" cycletrack around construction
The 15th Street NW cycletrack was the first major cycletrack in the city, starting as a pilot. While it's had some teething issues, it's now highly used. When construction first started on the site of the old Washington Post building, on the 1100 block (between L and M Streets), I wasn't surprised that the cycletrack was blocked off because of the construction.
But I was over there yesterday and I was surprised to see that the lane configuration for the block had been changed--regularly, it has more lane capacity than traffic, which is why the cycletrack hasn't been an extraordinary impediment to motor vehicles--in a manner that shifted the cycletrack around the construction site, by taking away a traffic lane.
This is in keeping with the general discussion of the March piece, "Making cycling irresistible in DC 2.0 | Revisiting a post from 2008," which posits that the year by year improvements to bicycle infrastructure are significant.
That the city is maintaining bike infrastructure during a construction project, rather than letting it go away "temporarily" for the duration of the construction is a big deal.
Labels: bicycle and pedestrian planning, car culture and automobility, change-innovation-transformation, government organization, sustainable mobility platform, transportation planning, urban design/placemaking


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Minions is a 2015 American 3D computer-animated family comedy film, serving as a prequel/spin-off to the Despicable Me franchise. Produced by Illumination Entertainment for Universal Pictures, it was directed by Pierre Coffin and Kyle Balda, written by Brian Lynch, and produced by Chris Meledandri and Janet Healy. The film stars Coffin (as the Minions), Sandra Bullock, Jon Hamm, Michael Keaton, Allison Janney, and Steve Coogan, and is narrated by Geoffrey Rush. It was first foreshadowed in the end credits of Despicable Me 2, where Stuart, Kevin, and Bob, three of the Minions, are seen auditioning for the film.
How to draw a Minion from Despicable Me step by step?
- Welcome to a funny "Hotel Transylvania 2".
- The Sweetest Day Weekend- get 123 Kids Fun Animated Puzzle Full FREE!

subset: commoncrawl


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Interesting photo. The blur effect gets rid of any small distractions and makes this more an image about shapes and colours. It actually took me a moment to orientate myself.
It is a nice use of lines and the colours are good. However, the subject does not hold my attention. It might be good as one of a series to depict a story.
Great shot!
Good colours!
The feeling of depth of this shot is astounding! The softness of this leaves the viewers mind open to many interpretations...a psyche tweak. ) Wonderful!!


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Dr. Gerald Campbell – Founding Doctor
Dr. Campbell was born and raised in Erie, PA and is the founding doctor of both the Animal Ark and Animal Kingdom Pet Hospitals. He earned a BS from the University of Pittsburgh and a MS in Microbiology from the University of Georgia. He graduated as a VMD from the University of Pennsylvania. He currently lives in Erie with his wife, and the two of them have four grown children. Dr. Campbell enjoys the outdoors and likes to spend his free time camping and backpacking. He continues his involvement with the Boy Scouts of America, and is also a member of PVMA, AVMA, and NW PVMA. He loves listening to client concerns and is specifically interested in canine ear disease and recurrent skin diseases.
Dr. Curtis Murphey – Partner
Dr. Murphey currently lives with his wife and three sons in the Fairview area. He came to Animal Ark Pet Hospital in 1991 after receiving a BA from Washington and Jefferson College in 1987 and a DVM from the University of Minnesota. Dr. Murphey is the practice scheduling "guru" and he's felt very fortunate to have spent time with such a great group of colleagues, employees, patients and clients. He's gotten to know a lot of fascinating people and pets over the years and looks forward to getting to know and work with many more in the future.
Dr. Kevin Ramey – Partner
Dr. Ramey graduated with a BS in Biology from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 1993, and earned his DVM from Ohio State University in 1997. He is especially interested in animal behavior and exotic pet medicine. He is a member of AVMA, PVMA and AAV. He also serves on the Luther Memorial Academy school board, and is a sponsoring veterinarian for Tamarack Wildlife Rehabilitation. Dr Ramey and his wife Michelle have four children- Hannah, Dylan, Lydia, and Natalie. He enjoys reading and camping, and is an active member of Millcreek Community Church.
Dr. Christine Nestor
Dr. Nestor graduated from Gannon University in 1992 with a BS in Biology. In 1996 she earned her DVM from Michigan State University and began working for the Animal Ark and Animal Kingdom in 1998. She is a member of AVMA and PVMA, and specializes in animal rehabilitation. She is very interested in all outdoor activities including hiking and triathlon training with her husband, Bob. She spends her free time with her son, Alex and her daughter, Sophia.
Dr. Valerie Reamer – Partner
Dr. Reamer earned a BA in Biology from Cornell University, a MS in Veterinary Science from Penn State University and DVM from the University of Minnesota. She has been with the Animal Ark and Animal Kingdom since 1997. Her veterinary interests include primary care, soft tissue surgery, and acupuncture. She's an active member of AVMA, AAHA, and PVMA. Dr Reamer loves spending time with her English Mastiff, traveling the country by train, and is a founding member of Oil City Free Christian Church. Valerie is also an amateur artist in clay sculpting and sketching and likes to spend time in the flower garden of her family home in Oil City, Pennsylvania.
Dr. Elizabeth Piersol
Dr. Piersol joined our practice in early 2006 after practicing in the local area for 12 years. She is originally from Columbus, Ohio and received her BS in Agriculture in 1990 and her DVM in 1994 from Ohio State University. She currently resides in North East with her two sons, Jimmy and Matt. She has special interests in theriogenology, pediatric medicine, ophthalmology and dermatology. She also enjoys boating, reading and gardening.
Dr. Katrina Craig
Dr. Craig graduated from Penn State Erie with a BS in Biology and earned a DVM from Ohio State University. She came to the Animal Ark and Animal Kingdom in 2016. She currently resides in Union City and shares her home with cats, dogs and horses. She enjoys yoga, running and horse back riding. She is a member of PVMA, AVMA, AAFP and has a special interest in surgery and feline medicine. She also strives to provide stress free visits for all of her clients.
Dr. Rachael Davis
Dr. Davis grew up on a small farm south of Erie where she developed her love of animals and interest in Veterinary Medicine. She received her BS in Biochemistry from Western Kentucky University and her DVM from the University of Tennessee. In addition to working for the Animal Ark and Animal Kingdom, she also owns her own ambulatory equine veterinary service. Her medical interests include general small animal practice and holistic medicine, including acupuncture, chiropractic, and traditional Chinese medicine. She is a member of AVMA, NWPVMA, AAEP, and is certified with the College of Animal Chiropractors in Veterinary Spinal Manipulation. She also enjoys competing her horses, spending time with her friends and family, and her two English Setters.
Dr. Jamie Araki
Dr. Araki joined Animal Ark and Animal Kingdom a few years ago. She earned her BVMS (Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine and Surgery) and MRCVS (Member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons) from the University of Glasgow. She is a member of RCVS, AVMA, BSAVA and VECCS, and is particularly interested in emergency medicine, toxicology and pathology. She is married with three young children, and enjoys traveling, the outdoors, crafts and baking.
Dr. Andrew Bean
Dr. Andrew Bean was born and raised in Erie, PA and has previously worked for several years at Animal Ark Pet Hospital as a technician. He graduated from Fairview High School in 2009 and went on to receive his bachelor's degree from Allegheny College in biology in 2013. It was there he was a member of the Men's swim team all 4 years and served as captain his senior year. He attended veterinary school at The Ohio State University in 2017 where he developed his interests in feline medicine, soft tissue surgery, dermatology, and emergency medicine. He is very excited to be back at Animal Ark and Animal Kingdom as a doctor and happy to be back in Erie with his cat Zelda.
Dr. Jennifer Simon
Dr. Simon has practiced veterinary medicine since May 2008. Originally from Sharon, Pennsylvania, Dr. Simon now resides in Erie. She received her undergraduate degree from Allegheny College in 2004 and undertook her veterinary studies at Michigan State, earning a DVM degree in May 2008.
Dr. Simon has special interests in internal medicine, emergency medicine and dentistry. She strives to practice high-quality medicine and believes strongly in the benefits of sound medical advice and compassionate care. She enjoys working with both pets and their owners and strives to offer the best care available.
Her interests outside of work include spending time with her husband and son, as well as exercisng. Dr. Simon's furry family members include a long-haired dachshund, Epcot and a cat named Figment
Dr. Simon is the most recent addition to our team and is looking forward to practicing with the doctors and staff at Animal Ark Pet Hospital on West 12th Street for years to come!


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After finishing up my mini from Prima's Bedtime Story (blog post is here) I had scraps laying on my desk, isn't that usually the way? Instead of scooping them up with the full sheets I thought why not make a few baby cards, one to go with the mini and the others for backup.
This is the one I made to accompany the mini. I had just enough ribbon left for this eye popping bow.
Here's the second one, with the baby banner swinging across the top from all the little baby words fussy cut from one of the mats.
The last one has these clouds that were in my baby bin (I have one bin where I put all things baby as I run across them). The ribbon and star also from the baby bin. You'll see how well the Prima paper pieced to form the mat and the perfect colors to go with what I already had on hand.
Love making envelopes to go with the cards, here's these three.
There's lots more photos on this short video -


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Text of the Convention
The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), adopted in 1979 by the UN General Assembly, is often described as an international bill of rights for women. Consisting of a preamble and 30 articles, it defines what constitutes discrimination against women and sets up an agenda for national action to end such discrimination.
The Convention defines discrimination against women as "...any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of sex which has the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by women, irrespective of their marital status, on a basis of equality of men and women, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field."
By accepting the Convention, States commit themselves to undertake a series of measures to end discrimination against women in all forms, including:
The Convention provides the basis for realizing equality between women and men through ensuring women's equal access to, and equal opportunities in, political and public life -- including the right to vote and to stand for election -- as well as education, health and employment. States parties agree to take all appropriate measures, including legislation and temporary special measures, so that women can enjoy all their human rights and fundamental freedoms.
The Convention is the only human rights treaty which affirms the reproductive rights of women and targets culture and tradition as influential forces shaping gender roles and family relations. It affirms women's rights to acquire, change or retain their nationality and the nationality of their children. States parties also agree to take appropriate measures against all forms of traffic in women and exploitation of women.
Countries that have ratified or acceded to the Convention are legally bound to put its provisions into practice. They are also committed to submit national reports, at least every four years, on measures they have taken to comply with their treaty obligations.
USuncutMN says: Tax the corporations! Tax the rich! Stop the cuts, fight for social justice for all. Standing in solidarity with http://www.usuncut.org/ and other Uncutters worldwide. FIGHT for a Foreclosure Moratorium! Foreclosure = homelessness. Resist the American Legislative Exchange Council, Grover Norquist and Citizen's United. #Austerity for the wheeler dealers, NOT the people.
USuncutMN supports #occupyWallStreet, #occupyDC, the XL Pipeline resistance Yes, We, the People, are going to put democracy in all its forms up front and center. Open mic, diversity, nonviolent tactics .. Social media, economic democracy, repeal Citizen's United, single-payer healthcare, State Bank, Operation Feed the Homeless, anti-racism, homophobia, sexISM, war budgetting, lack of transparency, et al. Once we identify who we are and what we've lost, We can move forward.
Please sign and SHARE
Monday, April 9, 2012
Text of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
Text of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
Posted by USuncutMN at 10:41 PM
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David Blume, a composer, record producer and folk dance club owner who wrote the 1966 hit "Turn Down Day," has died. He was 74.
Blume died March 15 of complications from a stroke at his home in Sylmar, his son Howard said.
Written as a jazz tune by Blume, with lyrics added by his writing partner Jerry Keller, "Turn Down Day" became a hit when it was recorded by the pop group the Cyrkle.
It was Blume's first and last foray on the pop charts, but he wrote the title songs for several films in the 1960s, including Don Knott's vehicle "The Shakiest Gun in the West," and "What's So Bad About Feeling Good?," which starred Mary Tyler Moore and George Peppard.
A native of Roxbury, Mass., Blume grew up in Brookline, Mass. He was a jazz fan at an early age and learned arranging and scoring. He majored in journalism at Northeastern University and played on the school's baseball team.


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Snapchat Users Blast Update 'Worse Than Plague'Newser — Arden Dier
A Snapchat update released last week, transforming the look of the popular messaging app, is not sitting well with users. How bad is it? It's "worse than the f---ing Black Plague," reads a comment on a Change.org petition aiming to revert the app to its previous version, signed a whopping 725,000 times, and rapidly counting, as of this writing.
The petition claims the "annoying" update—which sees Chat and Stories feeds combined into a new Friends feed—makes the app "more difficult" to use and "defeats the original purposes Snapchat has had for the past years," per Mashable.
And yet it may be all for naught. "Updates as big as this one can take a little getting used to, but we hope the community will enjoy it once they settle in," a Snap rep tells the Guardian.
- Self-Driving Uber Kills Woman Crossing an Arizona Street
- 'Time for Zuckerberg to Stop Hiding Behind His Facebook Page'
- Trump Throws Cold Water on Venezuelan Cryptocurrency
This article originally appeared on Newser: Snapchat Users Blast Update 'Worse Than Plague'


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- Roll over image to zoom in
The Affair Season 3 DVD Box Set
Availability: In Stock
The Affair Season 3 DVD Special Features
Actors: Dominic West, Ruth Wilson, Maura Tierney, Joshua Jackson
Language: English
Boxed Set: Yes
Number of discs: 3
Condition: New
Region: Region Free
Weight: 0.4 kg
Format: Support both NTSC & PAL
Rated: NR (Not Rated)
DVD Release Date: 2016
The Affair Season 3 DVD Photos
The Affair Season 3 DVD Overview
Alison confronts Cherry at the ranch,The Affair Season 3 DVD who blames everything, including Gabriel's death on Alison. Alison self-harms and later attempts suicide only stopping when she thinks she hears Gabe's voice. She tells a disbelieving Cole about the ranch and that she is leaving.At the train station, Cole catches up with Alison and, now knowing the truth, wants them to leave Montauk together.Alison's perspective: Noah talks of leaving Helen but Alison is unconvinced. Alison drinks heavily at a Montauk bar, and ends up having sex with Oscar. A regretful, hungover Alison makes to leave the next morning,The Affair Season 3 while Oscar makes pancakes and smalltalk. She mentions the ranch sale, and Oscar gives her the paperwork to show Cherry refinanced and no real equity remains.
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Code: PRZ-d08a834
Situated in a private domain, a couple minutes walk from the Pamplonne beaches. You are a 5 minute drive to the centre of Saint Tropez. This villa is set in a large landscaped mature garden with rows of orange, lemon trees and huge palm trees offering shade on hot summer afternoons.
There is a sea view from the terrace of the master bedroom, and pool area. This 6 bedroom provencal villa is designed for outside living, large shady terraces are available for outside dining.
The interior decoration is a mix of antique Italian and French furniture, with touches of modern art, sculptures and paintings. Light coloured textiles, make the living area a welcoming relaxing area. There are two bedrooms with independent access ideal for guests or older children.
Saint-Tropez St. Tropez Beachfront Rental with Pool - Villa Les ORANGERS is one of our France Luxury Rentals . View Guide to France Luxury Vacations
Disclaimer: Pins in map may not be accurate if Google Maps cannot find the exact address. In this case an approximation is made.
View Destination Guides: Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Saint-Tropez,


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Antibodies and proteins developed with new and advantageous functions and properties are known as engineering of proteins and antibodies. Protein engineering can be defined as a process of developing valuable proteins and modification of antibodies to increase similarity and is called antibody engineering.
Antibody and protein engineering is used in curing inflammatory disorders, as a new treatment of diseases, for protein purification, and in diagnostic procedures. There are two approaches used for designing new antibodies and proteins - directed evolution and rational designing.
Browse Report : http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/advances-in-protein-antibody-engineering.html
The market for antibody engineering is changing quickly due to novel technologies. Moreover, protein engineering offers flexibility in engineering, and designing new and desirable antibodies is expected to be the major factor driving the growth of the market. The future holds huge opportunities for this market due to the rising prevalence of diseases such as cancer and increasing health care concerns.
Emerald Bio, ProSci Incorporated, Precision Antibody, Fusion Antibodies, BioXcell, GenTarget Inc, ImaginAb, Covalab, and IBL International are some of the major players in this market.
This research report analyzes this market depending on its market segments, major geographies, and current market trends. Geographies analyzed under this research report include
North America
Asia Pacific
Rest of the World
This report provides comprehensive analysis of
Market growth drivers
Factors limiting market growth
Current market trends
Market structure
Market projections for upcoming years
This report is a complete study of current trends in the market, industry growth drivers, and restraints. It provides market projections for the coming years. It includes analysis of recent developments in technology, Porter's five force model analysis and detailed profiles of top industry players. The report also includes a review of micro and macro factors essential for the existing market players and new entrants along with detailed value chain analysis.
Browse All Market Research Report : http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/
Reasons for Buying this Report
This report provides pin-point analysis for changing competitive dynamics
It provides a forward looking perspective on different factors driving or restraining market growth
It provides a technological growth map over time to understand the industry growth rate
It provides a seven-year forecast assessed on the basis of how the market is predicted to grow
It helps in understanding the key product segments and their future
It provides pin point analysis of changing competition dynamics and keeps you ahead of competitors
It helps in making informed business decisions by having complete insights of market and by making in-depth analysis of market segments
It provides distinctive graphics and exemplified SWOT analysis of major market segments


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Mi vengono spesso richieste informazioni sui corsi necessari per imparare ad utilizzare Teamworks; questi sono i corsi di formazione oggi disponibili.
I corsi attualmente sono tenuti solo nelle sedi di Londra e Austin. Se siete interessati a conoscere le dati contattatemi.
Teamworks Modeling Processes
This 4-day course will teach participants how to model and implement business processes with Lombardi Teamworks. It demonstrates how Teamworks can support different modeling goals using actual business processes as examples.
Teamworks Implementing Processes
This 2-day course covers the development of Teamworks services. Topics such as managing variables in Teamworks, creating services for integration with external applications, and handling exceptions will be covered. During the course, participants will have various labs that reinforce course topics.
Teamworks Operations, Administration, and Management
This 3-day course covers the operations, administration and management of Teamworks 5 and 6.
Teamworks Optimizing Processes
This 1 day course covers optimizing processes in Teamworks. Using an existing Teamworks BPD (Business Process Diagram), students will configure, interpret, optimize, and simulate processes. Once complete, students will have an optimized Teamworks BPD.


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The easiest and most environmentally friendly way to mow your lawn. Ideal for small lawns, the H40 is made from a rigid, dual tubular steel construction chassis which provides superior stability and eliminates body flex producing quality cutting results. Optional grass catcher available.
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Copyright © 2008-2014 Flymo AB (publ). All rights included.


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Publisher: CreateSpace Independent
Publication Date: 21st July 2013
My rating: 5 Stars.
*Contains some spoilers*
I was super anxious going into Thief, after everything my two favourite characters Caleb and Olivia had been through, the heartache, torment and destruction I needed their lives to get back on track, to be away from toxic characters that were hell bent on ruining their lives and finally live the life they were long overdue.
Even though I had fallen in love with their love story since The Opportunist, I was a bit confused about how Fisher was going to make everything happen. One of the reasons this largely was because of Noah. Noah was a decent guy, and I really didn't want Fisher to tarnish his character like what a lot of authors have done in the past, but at the end of the day Caleb and Olivia were meant to be! See how difficult of a predicament I found myself in? But I have to commend Fisher, I always knew some characters would end up getting hurt, but she really did play out the issues and situation the best way that she could.
And oh my gosh I thought Olivia and Caleb had dealt with their fair share of things in the previous two books, but no it seemed the entire world was against them being together, if it wasn't some sort of obstacle getting in the way, it was one of these characters trying to do the right thing. But I loved Caleb's persistency and resolve to not give in, they'd already missed out on so much, by letting toxic characters get in the way with their lives, so I respected and admired Caleb's resilience to go for what he wanted. Because Caleb and Olivia were meant to be! Their time together was once again off the charts, I loved how their love for each other just got stronger and stronger and that they just knew each other so well. They honestly had it all to deal with.
Fisher once again swept me away with her beautiful yet heartbreaking story, I really didn't think it was possible for my heart to break anymore, but my gosh, she thoroughly shredded it in Thief. But honestly I wouldn't have it any other way. I adore my books which pack a strong emotional punch and really make you experience all the hurt and turmoil the characters are going through, and Fisher was just on point with making me feel everything! 2016 has really being a rough reading year for me, but I'm hugely grateful that I was able to devour this fantastic series in a few days (the lack of sleep was totally worth it). I just know I'm going to struggle for the next few days to find something that can live up to these beautiful books!


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I'm still here! I bet you've been wondering "Is Krystal going to do another surrogacy?".....well you probably really haven't had 2 thoughts about it, but in my mind you care ;)
So to answer your question.....YES! I'm crazy, you say? Yea, maybe. But surrogacy is definitely something that is near and dear to my heart and I'm not quite ready to call it quits. Perhaps after I'm done carrying babies I will look into working for an agency or even start my own! I just know that surrogacy is something that I completely believe in and I want to be a part of this community for as long as I can, in one way or another.
Long story short....who am I kidding...I'm a bit long-winded sometimes. So, here's the story of how my 3rd (kinda 4th) journey has begun: (I'll give you random, cute pics along the way to keep you interested! ☺)
|Me & Ms. B. Isn't she a cutie?!
We weren't ready for the night to be over so we found a dive bar and had a couple of drinks and dessert; we stayed out until 2am! So fun!
IM and I began texting a few times and then went out to lunch a few weeks later. Unfortunately, things went awry. IM's family was a little less than pleased when they found out about them using a surrogate and she called to let me know that they were going to need some time to figure things out. I was sad, but not completely caught off-guard, as there were little hints here and there. It was a cultural thing, I believe. They are both great people and I wish them all the best!
|Me & the fam at the Color Vibe 5k run. Lots of fun!
We all agreed that it was a match and have decided to move forward!
|Mr. L talking to my daughter for her b-day
Well, that's that! I'll update when I have more "exciting" news! And I'll leave you with a couple more pics of the cutest little surro babes you've ever seen! ☺
|She's starting to walk!
|Cutest little elf ever!


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Not all yEnc decoders are equal. Is your yEnc Decoder doing everything it should? Or is it doing the bare minimum?
yEnc has more advantages than simply being smaller in size. yEnc also ensures that the file has been delivered intact via two methods:
- CRC32 Error Checking
- File Size Checking
If you yEnc decoder doesn't support the above features of yEnc, not only are you losing out on some of the benefits of yEnc, but your yEnc decoder is not even yEnc compliant.
CRC32 Error Checking
yEnc CRC32 error checking uses a technology similar to what CDs and DVDs use to check for errors. It uses a mathematical algorithm at creation time to generate a checksum value based on the data and stores that checksum on the data. At play time, the value is recomputed against the data and compared against the stored value. If the checksums do not match, then an error has occurred while reading the data.
In order for a yEnc Decoder to be compliant with the latest yEnc standards, a yEnc Decoder must include CRC32 error checking. All yEnc attachments have the CRC32 checksum, and if your yEnc Decoder isn't evaluating the checksum, then you won't know when you've downloaded a file that has been corrupted or modified since it was created.
You may download that treasured song that you've been looking for, then when you go to play it back, it may not play or it may contain defects. At that point, it may be too late to try to download the song again from another source.
Embedded yEnc Decoders will not provide CRC32 error alerts. yProxy notifies you immediately when an attachment with an error has been detected. yProxy beeps and changes the system notification icon to one with a large red exclamation mark, in addition to logging the error. None of yProxy's competing yEnc proxies provide CRC32 error detection.
File Size Checking
The file size is also computed at creation time and stored in every yEnc attachment. All yEnc compliant yEnc Decoders must check the final file size against the stored value. If a file has been truncated by the news server or parts of it are missing, the file may be unusable. It is important for your yEnc decoder to be able to determine the difference between a corrupt file and an incomplete file.
If the file is incomplete, you may simply need to try again later after the file has finished propagating. An incomplete file may still be usable, depending on the type of file. An MPEG video file with the last second missing will still be playable, and you may not notice that missing second. Therefore, it is important for your yEnc decoder to distinguish between a corrupted file and an incomplete file.
yProxy notifies you immediately if the downloaded file size does not match the expected size. yProxy will beep and place an exclamation mark in the system notification icon, in addition to logging the error. The error displays the expected file size and the actual file size so that you can determine the extent of the problem.
Embedded yEnc decoders cannot check the file size and none of yProxy's competing yEnc proxies provide file size checking.
yEnc Decoder Compliance
CRC32 error checking and file size checking are valuable features of yEnc encoding. yEnc decoders must support both CRC32 error checking and file size checking in order to be compliant with the latest yEnc standards. yProxy is the only yEnc decoder proxy that is yEnc compliant.


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Leap Years
..., 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020, 2024, 2028, ... etc
Leap Year
- A normal year has 365 days.
- A Leap Year has 366 days (the extra day is the 29th of February).
How to know if it is a Leap Year:
|Leap Years are any year that can be exactly divided by 4 (such as 2012, 2016, etc)
|except if it can be exactly divided by 100, then it isn't (such as 2100, 2200, etc)
|except if it can be exactly divided by 400, then it is (such as 2000, 2400)
Because the Earth rotates about 365.242375 times a year ...
... but a normal year is 365 days, ...
... so something has to be done to "catch up" the extra 0.242375 days a year.
So every 4th year we add an extra day (the 29th of February), which makes 365.25 days a year. This is fairly close, but is wrong by about 1 day every 100 years.
So every 100 years we don't have a leap year, and that gets us 365.24 days per year (1 day less in 100 year = -0.01 days per year). Closer, but still not accurate enough!
So another rule says that every 400 years is a leap year again. This gets us 365.2425 days per year (1 day regained every 400 years = 0.0025 days per year), which is close enough to 365.242375 not to matter much.
So, Which Are and Which Aren't?
So 2000 and 2400 are leap years but 1800, 1900, 2100, 2200 and 2300 are not.
Apart from that, every year divisible by 4 (2012, 2016, 2020, 2024, etc.) is a leap year.
How far away each year is from the average
As you can see, this keeps us pretty close, and any other adjustments can be done way in the future (when the Earth may be rotating a little slower, anyway!)


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Thursday, October 11, 2012
Sullivan Stadium (Foxboro Stadium), 1 Patriot Place, Foxborough, MA
Capacity 55,000
In 1971, Schaeffer Stadium was constructed for a little more than $6 million. The name has changed (twice), but for the past 29 seasons the "home" venue has remained the same.
William H. "Billy" Sullivan, to ensure the long-term viability of pro football in New England, established one of the nation's first naming-rights agreements in 1970 when he persuaded Schaefer Brewing Co. to put its name on the facility. The price: a whopping $150,000.
Foxboro Stadium (originally Schaefer Stadium, formerly Sullivan Stadium, commonly Foxborough Stadium) was an outdoor stadium, located in Foxborough, Massachusetts. Although the official spelling of the town's name is "Foxborough", the shorter spelling was used for the stadium.[3]
The site was selected when the owners of Bay State Raceway donated the land, midway between Boston and Providence, Rhode Island. Ground was broken in September 1970, and it was built in less than 11 months at an announced cost of $4,000,000, (later determined to be about $7.1 million, or $37.5 million in 2007 dollars) a bargain price, even at the time, for a major sports stadium. This was because the Patriots received no funding from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts or the town of Foxborough. Because of this, and also the era in which it was designed and built, it had very few amenities — the type that became commonplace at football stadiums in the 1990s — such as individual seating, "club seats", luxury suites, and deluxe locker rooms for the teams.
During Kiam's ownership of the Patriots, ESPN anchor Chris Berman humorously referred to the facility as "Shaver Stadium", lampooning Kiam's ownership of Remington Razors.
When this agreement expired in 1983, Anheuser-Busch took over the rights, but instead of putting the name of one of its brands of beer on the stadium, agreed to name it Sullivan Stadium in honor of the Sullivan family, majority owners of the Patriots. After the family sold their majority interest in the team to Victor Kiam, the stadium was officially renamed "Foxboro Stadium."
By the late 1990s Foxboro Stadium had become functionally obsolete by modern NFL standards. The facility was built cheaply as a "bare bones" stadium and had very few modern amenities. It also lacked luxury boxes, a major source of revenue for other teams in the league, and most patrons had to sit on backless aluminum benches as only a small fraction of the stadium had actual seats (painted blue, red, and white near the 50-yard line). With a capacity of just over 60,000, it was one of the smallest stadiums in the NFL.
After 31 NFL seasons, Foxboro Stadium was demolished in January 2002, after the conclusion of the 2001 season (in which the Patriots won their first Super Bowl). The last game played in the stadium—"The Tuck Rule Game"—was played in a snow storm; a Patriots win against the Oakland Raiders, which famously featured an overturned fumble call based on the tuck rule in the final minutes. The stadium's former site became the parking lots of its successor, Gillette Stadium, before being developed into the open-air shopping center Patriot Place.
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Interview with Margo Machida, Co-Founder, Godzilla
The following oral history transcript is the result of a tape-recorded interview with Margo Machida on March 10, 2009. The interview took place in New York City, New York, and was conducted by Alexandra Chang. This interview was funded by the National Endowment for the Arts.
Margo Machida and Alexandra Chang have reviewed the transcript and have made corrections and emendations. The reader should bear in mind that he or she is reading a transcript of spoken, rather than written, prose.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 Unported License.
ALEXANDRA CHANG: Alright so now we're rolling. [laughs]
MARGO MACHIDA: Now we're rolling. Okay.
CHANG: Okay, so I thought that we could begin with pre-Godzilla so we could learn about its gestation and why it was conceived. And so I was wondering if you could tell me a little bit about Basement workshop and your participation for Asian American Art agency, and then what your participation was and how it affected you.
MACHIDA: Sure. I originally came to New York City in 1968, a moment that saw an incredible upsurge of activism of all kinds—the anti-war movement, the women's movement. And what was also happening was the rise of community arts movement. New York Chinatown was this vector where all these things were happening. It was this amazingly productive and exciting time. It was there that I first had contact with Basement Workshop, a grassroots arts organization. It's sort of a long progression. I moved to Chinatown in the late 1970s and had a loft on East Broadway and they were around the corner on Catherine Street. I'd been hearing about this group, and I was interested because I was a painter.
CHANG: How did you hear about the group?
MACHIDA: I guess from other artists and writers. I'd been meeting people along the way. I was going to poetry readings at St. Mark's Church on the Bowery, performances at La Mama Theater, all this kind of stuff. There was a whole scene on the Lower East Side. I'd been hearing about this group, and this incredible poet, Fay Chiang who ran Basement. I got really interested in the idea that there was this cultural organization that was activist, and Asian American centered. This was all new to me because as I said, I had not that long before come from Hawaii, where there wasn't that kind of a scene. I started to go to some of their events and the exhibitions and the readings. At that time Jessica Hagedorn was involved and so there was this blend of poetry and performance and music and visual art. And this was really the first time I was meeting people who were seriously involved in the arts, and also really committed to trying to bring forward this idea of an Asian American culture. You know, a visual culture, a performing culture. They were also trying to connect art making to the conditions in the community and this sense of a larger social mission. And I think that was really revolutionary to me. So I began to become more involved with Basement. And I actually worked for them for a while. I was doing—
CHANG: What did you do?
MACHIDA: Oh, I was doing press releases and other writing. Actually, one of my first pieces of writing on Asian American art was for one of Epoxy Group's early shows there.
CHANG: Oh, what was that?
MACHIDA: It was for their Thirty-Six Tactics project. Anyway, it was just this different vision of how to be an activist, how to think collaboratively; it's both about you as an individual creator, and also about how you share a larger sense of being part of something, and are collectively trying to build a history, trying to use visual culture as an expressive tool and a documentary tool to bring forward the lived experiences of communities. It was really a turning point moment for me. This would have been the late seventies. I came in relatively late, because Basement had been formed in the early seventies. So then I got more and more interested and I started to deal with family history and identity questions in my own painting. That got me involved with thinking about how I could integrate artistic production and cultural production. The thing about Basement was that people, as artists, didn't just do their own work, but they were also thinking about how to create a body of writing and documentation about the range of cultural production that was out there. So people were wearing many hats. You know, it wasn't just enough to be a producer, but you also had to help to create the conditions to build this dialog in this area.
CHANG: So you had mentioned that you were a writer coming to New York, so I mean…
MACHIDA: Yeah, I was.
CHANG: …was it specifically as— I mean, were you working on art? Or was it, you know, creative writing?
MACHIDA: Actually, it was creative writing. I came with aspirations to be a fiction writer and a poet. I was interested in pursuing English, which is why I went to NYU. I was also pursuing psychology, because I was interested in people's motivations for the things they do, which later played into my interest in orality and understanding artists' reasons for creating their work. I was into the applied end of it, rather than the theories of psychology, and later pursued training to become a therapist. This all came together around my interest in doing interviews with artists. These same skills became tools for me for this investigation of art and artists.
CHANG: So did Basement, really that kind of cauldron, influence you to become then, a cultural critic and—
MACHIDA: Yes. It definitely did inspire me to get involved with cultural criticism. At one end there's the need for documentation, but then there's also the question of how do you create a body of critical thought around that art. In other words, how do you analyze this work? How do you contextualize it? Where was the Asian American art history? Most people recognized that there really was not very much scholarship or critical writing at that time. And even now, it's still relatively nascent. But certainly, at that time, it was clear that we had a lot to do. And as I say, it wasn't just strictly producing a record of what's going on, but also the question of how are we going to think about the different functions of the art that's being produced? You know, a social function, a critical function and a creative function for artists. So that definitely was part of it. And so we had to do it all. Basically, anybody who was involved at that time really had a sense that we had a shared mission. Even if our politics weren't the same -- I mean, everybody was there, from the very far left to more mainstream liberals -- [chuckles] there was this notion that some kind of vision of an Asian American culture was important. How that was going to take shape was really open to what people were each individually willing to do to move it forward.
CHANG: So I was also wondering, then— because there seems to be a period of time between Basement Workshop and the formation of Godzilla, like a few years. And so what was developing with you at the time in your mind, as both a painter and a writer and a curator? And what was different between, Basement and this shift that then created Godzilla?
MACHIDA: Well, you know, it's an interesting question. Basement came out of the post-Civil Rights era—the anti-war movement, multiculturalism, and also this idea of forming connections between art and community. It was a certain kind of activist period. But I think that in between the two, what I noticed [was a significant shift in the environment], just being part of the art world [and seeing what was happening in New York.] I was exhibiting pretty actively and I worked for New Museum of Contemporary Art during the 1980s, probably for five or six years.
CHANG: What were you working there as?
MACHIDA: I was working on fundraising and membership. So I got to spend a lot of time looking at the institution, and also looking at contemporary artists. I actually contributed to the Decade show as a kind of informal advisor, and then I wrote an essay for the accompanying catalog. The Decade show was mounted in 1990 at the New Museum, Museum of Contemporary Hispanic Art, and the Studio Museum in Harlem. It was a kind of a summary of what people thought was important in the eighties, which of course didactually center on different kinds of identity questions. So it comes right up to the moment when we formed Godzilla. So anyway, I was around the art world, and I was also in contact with a lot of Asian American artists because of my prior involvement with Basement and other groups like Asian American Arts Alliance and Asian American Arts Centre. I think what we noticed was that there was a real shift in the environment because of the post-'65 waves of new Asian immigration, once the federal immigration laws were struck down in 1965 and the restrictions on prior immigration were lifted.
What you really saw, in a couple of decades, is this enormous influx of new Asian immigrants. That included, of course, numbers of artists. We were witnessing this palpable shift in the art world – and the Asian diasporic art world – as both immigrants and also transients coming through from Asia and from other parts of the world were becoming a larger presence in New York. And so we were thinking, well, this is obviously a very pivotal moment. The arts groups that had been around were either based in particular communities, or in some way connected to the prior Asian American movement, which was very much about claiming an American identity. So we're seeing a lot of new immigrants coming in who didn't necessarily share that background. Part of the question was, well, how do you deal with that? How do you engage with them and their ideas as an Asian American? I'm a third generation Japanese American from Hawaii. How do you engage with these new artists? How do you understand their issues? How do you create a conversation between these people and prior generations of immigrants? Which of course, included my own generation. So the nineties is really very, very important as a transitional moment. It was a real challenge to figure out how to do that. So the people that I knew and our various arts groups began to think about what kind of platform do we need, that addresses the shift to a much more obviously transnational moment, when prior domestic identity politics was insufficient as a way of understanding what was going on now?
CHANG: Were these formal meetings with people or just casual conversations that were—
MACHIDA: [Over Chang] No, this was just mostly— It was like a groundswell, organic kind of thing. Some of us were involved in other kinds of groups together. But I actually think one of the misperceptions about Godzilla was that it came directly out of the earlier movement. And that actually wasn't true. I had originally met both Ken Chu and Bing Lee [the co-founders of Godzilla] through the Asian American Arts Center. At different points, Ken and I were artists in residence working with Bob Lee. That was actually another important thing for me, because I was working with the Asian American slide archive that Bob had established. It was through that archive that I first saw Ken's work. And so I got really interested in the idea of wanting to curate a show that was based on issues of identity. I paid Ken an early studio visit, and that's how we got to know each other. Ken and Bing Lee and I got together later to discuss what has to happen now. We had very different visions of what needed to be done. We knew the moment was right to create some type of new platform for a discussion to happen. We weren't quite sure what form it should take. And I think that Ken's idea—which I'm sure you'll be hearing from him—was to establish an Asian American art museum. That was always his long-term mission. One that could both register the history of prior Asian-American artists' production and also be a public face that could allow for this kind of exploratory conversation. And then Bing's idea was, I think, more oriented towards networking and the archives that we needed to have. I likewise felt documentation was very important. But I also thought that there had to be some kind of a vehicle that could promote a broader conversation, like a newsletter format or something that could extend beyond just people who were in New York, which is how Godzilla ultimately started. It would enable us to share information, talk about shows that were happening around the country. There was the sense that there was a lot of parallel activity in different places, particularly in the major urban centers like San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, Chicago, D.C., Boston, and Philadelphia. These were places we knew things were going on.
CHANG: I was wondering— Well, just to rewind just a little bit, can you tell me the circumstances of that meeting? I mean, where it was, was it decided that it was going to—
MACHIDA: [Over Chang] Oh, it was in my loft. [laughs]
CHANG: So was it kind of casual, or did you say, "We have to meet. We have to talk about this"?
MACHIDA: Well, first of all, by this time I'd moved to Brooklyn. And so Brooklyn was the birthplace of this— [laughs]
CHANG: Where in Brooklyn was it? Park Slope or—
MACHIDA: It was in downtown Brooklyn, right behind Fulton Mall. And so we had the first meeting there. What was the second part of the question?
CHANG: If it was that you had gone together— that you had decided to have this meeting specifically to talk about this, or was it something that kind of organically, like this conversation, grew up and then—
MACHIDA: No, actually, by that time, we'd been kicking around these ideas of what had to happen. As far as I recall, that meeting was specifically to talk about what we wanted to do. We wanted to form some kind of group. We realized with a project like that, there is no way to do anything unless you first create a kind of a core community. Neither Ken nor Bing was actively involved with Basement. Our trajectories were different. Some folks who were involved in Basement, and who also became involved with Godzilla, would say later that there was a direct connection. And it's not exactly true. As I said, there were different streams feeding into its formation at a certain moment. Since both Ken and Bing were immigrant artists, they were very sensitive and aware about the changes taking place in the local Asian arts communities. Bing was part of these immigrant networks, in New York, in Chinatown, and the Lower East Side. So they brought that to the table.
CHANG: And so how did you go about actually contacting the first group that would then have a meeting and be Godzilla. How did you find the people? I mean, you knew them? Did you invite specific people?
MACHIDA: Mm-hm. Well, I guess I would back that up. Because as I said, each one of us probably came with a different sort of network and contacts. Some of us knew each other through various groups like the Asian American Arts Alliance and others through which we also were meeting. For myself, I had started out in 1989, with this Rockefeller Foundation Grant, through Asian/American Center at Queens College, when Jack (John Kuo Wei) Tchen was the director. That one-year fellowship gave me time to do foundational research on Asian American artists. In other words, I was already interested, because of my prior involvement with Basement, in trying to write about Asian American art and artists. I was very committed to bottom-up, artist-centered research, which involved oral history interviews with Asian American artists. And I was particularly interested in people who were using their art to address matters of identity, culture, history, and place. So this precedes Godzilla. Some of the artists who I met through that research I would later contact to see if they were interested in doing something together, something that became Godzilla. I interviewed in excess of fifty, sixty artists in the course of that year, and with the travel support, I was able to go up and down the East Coast. I went up as far as Boston, and as far down as D.C. So I was beginning to get a sense of some of the people who were around and working on these issues. Plus, these people were going back and forth to New York. We would see each other at these different events and that's what I mean by an organic connection. In our conversations, there was a kind of a groundswell interest in the idea of an Asian American culture or Asian American identity. Therefore, when it came time to think about who we could call upon, some of those names came up, such as Yong Soon Min and Tomie Arai, who had been a long-time activist in the New York Asian American arts community. Tomie is someone I did meet at Basement, when I first became aware of her work as a public muralist. I also learned, through her, about Lower East Side Print Workshop and some of the other places where artists who were interested in doing more social activist work were producing art. When I first came around the New York art scene, one of the places I went to was Bob Blackburn's Printmaking Workshop. And that's a place that I think almost every artist—of color, certainly—at one point or another passed through. In other words, there are circuits that many of us traveled on, that I think made me aware of certain people.
CHANG: So did you make a call out for people, and then there was going to be that first meeting?
MACHIDA: Yeah, basically. Some of it was more targeted, actually contacting specific people that we knew were interested in these kind of ideas. And then there was a more general call to other people they knew. The first meeting took place in downtown Brooklyn. It was through Rotunda Gallery, a nonprofit locally sponsored art space. They had an office nearby, and so they became the venue for our first meeting.
CHANG: How many people were at the meeting? Do you recall?
MACHIDA: I would say there were about fifteen to twenty people. But you know, memory can be faulty. I mean, there were enough there to at least start a conversation and to see what people felt was the most important thing to do. Is it to make shows? Is it to create a newsletter? How many people actually subscribed to the idea of trying to go for an Asian American art museum, which is like really a lofty goal? So in that sense, it was very open-ended. I think the main thing that we did agree upon was that there needed to be documentation of what was going on and who's making art, and of the shows that were happening that largely passed unnoticed. There were a lot of people having group shows or small two-person shows, and even one-person shows that just flew under the radar. Because at that time, there was still a real divide between the mainstream art world and what was happening, certainly, in the communities. You know, the community arts groups and even the alternative spaces in SoHo. There was very little crossover.
CHANG: For the newsletter, then, how did that grow out of documentation? Was there a committee that decided to launch it? You had mentioned your interest in it, so how did you help it along into being?
MACHIDA: Of course, everything was done by committee, although I contributed several articles to the early issues. Around that same time, one of the pivotal things that happened was that there had been a Whitney Biennial within a year of Godzilla's founding. We discovered that— as usual—there had been very little Asian American representation. Godzilla was not organized as a protest group, but advocacy was certainly a part of its mission. It was an extension of what Godzilla was about. One of the earliest newsletters actually documented our efforts to bring this lack of representation of Asian American artists to the Whitney's and other museums' attention. That wasn't the reason the newsletter started. The first one was really just saying that, here we are. Here are the members. We're interested in starting this dialog. [laughs]
CHANG: Right.
MACHIDA: The whole thing was bootstrap. I mean, there was no funding. We did this ourselves. Some of us, fortunately, had very good graphic skills. I wasn't one of them. I'm a writer, but I'm not a designer. So you know, maybe that's why you're hearing more of the writer's end of this story.
CHANG: That's okay.
MACHIDA: We also had, from the very beginning, listings of exhibitions that other people were sending to us. We knew about arts groups that were active in all the cities I just mentioned. Some of those folks came out of the earlier Asian American movement; in Seattle there were Alan Lau and Kazuko Nakane, [as well as Mayumi Tsutakawa]. In San Francisco, we knew Kearny Street Workshop. Some people were actually going back and forth between the East and West Coast. So in other words, there were certain centers of activity.
CHANG: I heard mention that there was a Godzilla West?
MACHIDA: Oh, that was later.
CHANG: Oh, okay.
MACHIDA: That was after Godzilla had originally started; the artist Betty Kano and a number of other people in San Francisco were involved. In Boston, there was Asian American Arts Renaissance; I don't recall some of the names of the groups. But there were definitely clusters of people in each major city. And so we did contact them to try to get information of what was going on in their area of the country. So it became an expanding network.
CHANG: What type of articles were in the newsletter?
MACHIDA: The very first issue was really just us talking about wanting to establish a dialog. Depending on people's interests, it later became centered around a range of different questions. One issue addressed the problems of being associated with ethnic-specific shows and many artists' uneasy feelings about that. Was it constricting to them? Was it meaningful and generative for them? Were people conflicted about this? By this time, there had been this enormous backlash against identity politics. We were already in the nineties. For some artists, this issue of ethnic "pigeonholing" was really a problem that made them feel both interested in being part of groups like Godzilla, and also wary about it. They didn't want to ghettoize themselves. So we confronted that issue head-on by creating this issue featuring different members of the group with quite divergent attitudes about it. So I think there was always a space there for getting at issues that really mattered to people at the time. Another big issue was on HIV/AIDS and some of the shows that were coming up around that subject. Ken Chu had organized a very important show on this issue. Another one was education and community. So it was really driven by the interests of different members and their engagements on different levels. One of the distinctive things about the group was that we never felt there was any single agenda that drove it. It was really diverse and also constantly shifting, in terms of the membership. We all contributed money for stuff that had to get done— like, when we had to publish an issue of the newsletter – but we never actually wanted to become a 501(c)(3), because we felt like that would too immediately replicate the structures of institutions that existed.
CHANG: What was troubling about the structures, as it related to the artist collective and your goals?
MACHIDA: Well, I think that we wanted to remain fluid. We didn't want our agenda, necessarily, to be driven by funding, which we saw as a real problem that was endemic for a lot of smaller, grassroots arts groups. It was important to us to maintain independence and fluidity so that we didn't have to replicate that model, where there had to be the board of directors and there had to be a fixed leadership, because we didn't think that actually reflected the reality of our situation. In other words, we wanted to be able to change leadership as people came forward, to reflect the differences in the composition of the group. People moved on, people transited in and out. And it felt important to maintain that, to be responsive and flexible, rather than trying to create yet another institution.
CHANG: Can you tell me a little bit about how the group grew from the initial fifteen or so people? Like was it an immediate swell? Or did the word get out really quickly?
MACHIDA: It did. You know, it was quite remarkable. I guess that we just hit upon a moment where there was a real need. We said, okay, we're going to organize these slide slams, basically, where anybody could come in and show work and talk about work. And we would hold them in people's lofts. Michi Itami's loft [on Grand Street, in Soho] was the scene of many of the early gatherings. Eugenie Tsai's loft was home to a couple of these events. Also different alternative spaces, including Art in General, Artists Space, and Alternative Museum, were used at one point. The other thing that was very important to us was that we didn't want it to have only one location, because we didn't want it to become associated with any single ethnic community. For instance, if we had decided to try to find a space in Chinatown, that would have been associated with a certain sort of East-Asian-centric or Chinese-centric orientation. Whereas we felt that our membership was really varied. It wasn't just Japanese and Chinese, but it was also Korean, Filipino, Vietnamese. We even had people from Kazakhstan who were coming through. It was very mixed, and also multi-generational, so there were a lot of new immigrants, and then there were the US-born. So if we tried to find just one location that was not the message that we wanted to give out. In other words, we really wanted to indicate that we were open, that we were not tied to any particular single community. So all of these considerations obviated against forming the usual sort of community arts group. So it was a very different model than what had existed up until that time. Most groups did feel the need to go the nonprofit route. But deciding not to institutionalize also made Godzilla vulnerable as well. On the one hand, it was necessary, given what we wanted to do with the group. And the fact that we knew the leadership would turn over. Meaning—
CHANG: Right, right.
MACHIDA: In the beginning, yes, it was Ken, Bing, and me and a couple of others. But we also knew that we were a certain generation. We always envisioned that we were going to step down and the next group, whoever that might be, would then take over.
CHANG: Can you tell me a little bit about— There seems to have been kind of a— almost like a next generation, as you were talking about, that did occur during that time with the new immigration from Southeast Asia and whatnot, with people like Skowmon and Athena coming in.
MACHIDA: Yes.
CHANG: What was that like when that happened? When did it happen? And also there was the exhibition Urban Encounters, and maybe you could talk a little bit about that. MACHIDA: I was most directly involved with Godzilla, to be honest, during the first four or five years. As new people filtered in and the organization began to change, I became less directly involved. So most of my insight is really about the formative years. I also wanted to add—when you were asking about how this thing exponentially grew—that when we started doing these slide slams, there'd be a hundred, 200 people who would show up for these events. And it was remarkable. I think it was unexpected.
CHANG: How did you make the call for the slideslams? Was it within the newsletter?
MACHIDA: Well, it was through the newsletter, but also just through our regular— through our various networks, and word of mouth. We saw people we'd never seen before show up at these things. There was a real need. If you create the platform, then it's kind of an open question to see what's going to evolve from it.
CHANG: Do you think also that the letter to the Whitney that you all had presented, was that something that kind of made you known as a group and thus, people knew about you and wanted to be part of it? And can you talk more about that a little bit?
MACHIDA: Oh, yes. Sure. As I said, the '91 Biennial was quite troubling to us because we saw that once again, in painting and sculpture, there were virtually no works by Asian Americans. And there had not been for quite a long time. One of us did some archival research on that and discovered this persistent pattern. In media, you would have Nam June Paik and maybe one or two others. We felt that it was important to bring this issue forward because the Whitney Biennial is regarded as a standard for the most exciting, the most important new American art that's out there -- so we felt that this lack of recognition was really disturbing. So what we did is that a committee of us drafted a letter that we sent to David Ross. David Ross was then the director of the Whitney; he'd just gotten there. We said that we'd like to have a meeting to talk about this, and that we were happy to provide them with names of artists and their contact information. We specifically did not include any of our own members, because that would have been extremely self-serving, and we didn't want to be seen in that light. Although later on, through scuttlebutt, it was said that we were trying to do that. Anyway, a small group of us—that included Eugenie Tsai, who later became a curator there, and Paul Pfeiffer, who later got one of the major awards—were part of the original group that went. So we did meet with Ross and a couple of other people from the staff. This was at least an attempt to open up a conversation about the need for them to recognize the enormous amount of Asian American work that was being produced. I think it actually did make a mark. Godzilla got a certain notoriety for that. And so yes, I think that that did have an effect in drawing more people to come to our meetings. One of the other significant things about Godzilla is that it wasn't just artists who were in the group. There were also curators and critics; so it was a kind of— I think interdisciplinary is probably not the right word, but I mean— there were people working in different areas that took part. And we always saw Godzilla that way.
CHANG: I thought perhaps you might be able to tell us a little bit about—as somebody who was a writer and a curator and developing the discourse—maybe some of the conversation topics that you might have had with others such as Alice Yang or with Eugenie, or with other people that were specifically writers and curators as well, within the group.
MACHIDA: Well, I know Godzilla organized a public forum with curators, critics, and artists at Artists Space, but I think maybe I'll talk more personally about my interests during this period. Early on, I had a number of preliminary conversations with Alice and Karin Higa, who was also part of the group. Those of us who were writers were thinking about the need to do some kind of publication, like a book of collected critical and scholarly writings on Asian American art. For us, the idea of documentation and of bringing together critical writing, felt very urgent. Alice and Karin and I had actually met to talk about doing a co-edited volume, but because of Alice's untimely death and various other circumstances, this particular project didn't go forward. I can't account for every project that was done through Godzilla, however, because I wasn't directly involved with many of them. In that sense, Godzilla was a kind of an umbrella, in which different people would take leadership for their own projects. So there were many things happening in parallel. I don't feel like my account necessarily would be the most accurate in discussing Godzilla's later trajectory. You would have to talk to Skowmon [Hastanan] or to other people about their particular projects that were done under its aegis. But I think that was part of it, too. As I said, it wasn't driven by any one person's vision — and I think that's something that is very important to emphasize about this group.
CHANG: One thing I was wondering about was also— There was the idea that the group disseminated, or not disseminated, dissolved at the end, after the Canal Street project with the Why Asia? Exhibition. And yet there was Godzookie that came after it. I mean, was that something that you had talked about and kind of planned, that it is time now to end, but yet we want to have this as a group?
MACHIDA: Oh. No, it's kind of the reverse. I mean, some of these folks who started Godzookie were around for later Godzilla meetings, which became more and more sporadic, depending on people's energies. But no, I think that Godzookie is its own animal. It wasn't because any of us who were part of the original formation said, oh, yes, now it's time for us to pass down the mantle. I think people took up the mantle on their own. They saw some things about this kind of group that felt very vital and real to them, but they also knew that they wanted something that reflected their own generation and their own vision. So it was really more that it was driven by people's need, the same way that, earlier on, Godzilla had been. Depending on who you talk to— I suppose that Godzilla's swan song really was that last project. There had been talk for a while about Godzilla ending here. Everybody's got their own version of the story. I would say that Godzilla lived for about eleven years. Which, for a loose group like that, is really quite incredible. This is despite the fact that we never institutionalized, that it always had a very loose agenda, that it was never driven by one vision, but many visions. And in a way, it continually got regenerated by people's feeling of urgency around particular issues or their desire to do a particular project. Thus Godzilla became the umbrella for those varied initiatives.
CHANG: For you, did you find it as something that perhaps was like a cauldron for ideas? Because you had done other projects outside of Godzilla, but in relation in Asian American art, such as the 1994 Asia/America show at Asia Society. Was that something that you would be able to talk to Godzilla about or dialog with, you know, people who were also curating?
MACHIDA: I think that my contacts with artists and writers who were in Godzilla certainly were very, very important in my thinking about how to frame "Asia/America." [Full title: "Asia/America: Identities in Contemporary Asian American Art."] That project really focused on foreign-born artists who used their work to deal in different ways with their presence in the US. That exhibition was done for Asia Society in New York, as you know. And in a way, the focus reflected the institutional context, because Asia Society had never done a contemporary show. Since most of their prior exhibitions had been about traditional Asian art, they wanted something that could act as a link to connect Asia and the US. So they were interested in a show that dealt with immigrant generation artists. And that coincided with my own interests in noticing that so many of the artists that I had been talking to and interviewing and meeting through forums like Godzilla also were foreign-born; and were thinking about how they relate to the US, the US art world, and how they were positioned within those contexts. My involvement with Godzilla really sharpened that awareness, and also gave me access to a lot of artists through the slide slams and gatherings. So I think there was something organic about that relationship to my curating. In other words, my involvement with Godzilla gave me a more immediate sense, on the ground, of what was really happening. And so in that regard, it did feed into my process of organizing my thinking about Asia/America. But it was equally true that my research that began in 1989 was foundational. Again, it's not one stream for me, but rather the grounded understanding that came from my meetings with all of these artists, including those who weren't necessarily in the show. Hearing about the work and talking with them became grist for my own thinking. These insights were particularly important knowing that I'm third generation. I'm way down the line, in terms of being an Americanized Asian, and therefore my subjectivity is really different. In that sense, the Godzilla connection was very, very important to me. I mean, it wasn't primary; I wouldn't say that. But it was certainly extremely— It helped to shape the way that I was thinking about these issues.
CHANG: I'm just wondering— I mean, because as you were saying, things intersected with Godzilla for you, were there other groups that did come into contact with Godzilla and had a dialogue with the other group, that sort of thing? Or was it mostly like individuals that themselves would then bring their groups to Godzilla from their own experience?
MACHIDA: Well again, I think it depends on which project you're talking about. There are some projects people did that were specifically about doing collaboration with other groups. Particularly some of the art in education projects. I would say it was more about the initiatives of individuals who brought their connections to Godzilla. I was somebody who had been around the art scene for a long time, so some of my foundational awareness of other arts groups and communities predated this. For example, before that, I was very influenced by people from Studio Museum in Harlem, which was a really important model for me. To see institutions like that that were foregrounding African American and African diaspora artists and creating these really influential bases for that kind of work to continue. Or at that time, the Museum of Contemporary Hispanic Art, which Nilda Peraza was running—again, very, very important to me to see that, as well as other Latin American and Caribbean oriented groups with which I had direct contact. I think those are the kind of models that meant a lot to me. But again, it wasn't necessarily because Godzilla was working with them. Working with New Museum at the time that we did the Decade Show also brought me into contact with such people. If you're asking me on a more personal level what interests me and what was influencing me at the time, it was this kind of nexus: knowing about Basement, knowing about Asian American Arts Center, knowing about other groups around the country that were Asian American-centered, and also knowing about these other ethnic-specific or culture-specific groups that were doing really foundational work. It's really more about that for me, rather than necessarily using Godzilla as the central lens to frame all of my interests.
CHANG: I was wondering if you felt that coming in and then after Godzilla, do you feel that the goals that you had come in with were achieved? And were they shifted and achieved, or were the initial goals ones that remained throughout?
MACHIDA: Well, I suppose my initial goal was— or my initial investment was really around documentation and starting up some kind of network. And in that sense, yeah, I think that my immediate purpose was certainly realized. I also was aware that with a loose group like that, it's time limited, in that not only does the group necessarily change, but the levels of involvement of different people—including myself, as I moved on to different projects—would also shift. So I didn't think about it in any permanent sense, like it has to turn into something enduring. Within the context of Godzilla's life, I feel those goals were certainly realized. And it also provided a chance to work with people that are still, in some cases— I still maintain very close working relationships with. Some of the artists I went on to write about, like Tomie Arai. I knew her in Basement, we worked together in Godzilla, and then ultimately I wrote about her in my new book, Unsettled Visions: Contemporary Asian American Artists and the Social Imaginary, which came out with Duke [University Press] this year. So each of those platforms—Godzilla being one—was yet another opportunity for us to work together. In that sense, it was also really important to me. It's kind of this virtual community -- even though it doesn't exist in the same way, since the "lizard" [as we called Godzilla] no longer exists. [laughs] Yet the relationships that started there or developed there live on, even as they change as people change. I find that Godzilla's had its own life beyond its demise. Because I think it gave a lot of people hope in reinforcing a sense of agency. Like, yes, they can do this. Whatever form it takes — as I said, with Godzookie or the other groups -- they were aware of Godzilla as a certain kind of precedent. It doesn't mean they necessarily were going to follow the same track, nor should they have. You know, because this was about a different moment, different people, different needs. And that's as it should be. It's not necessarily exactly the same kind of activism. It wasn't necessarily driven by community or identity politics of the past, but by whatever people really feel was most urgent for them right now. But they know that it could be done. Every time they see a bootstraps effort like Godzilla, they're aware that artists and writers and others, have the capacity to do this, to make a platform for themselves. I think that's probably what Godzilla's legacy will be. And also the fact that Godzilla had a certain relationship to the mainstream. It wasn't the point that the organization was trying to mainstream people, even though it was protesting at the Whitney and so forth. The goal was not to shove people into that track. But it did interface with the art world in a way that I think perhaps some of the older community arts groups had not. Some of that was just an artifact of the fact that a lot of us were working in various arts agencies or in the museums and alternative art spaces. So Godzilla had a different relationship to the mainstream that was a little more fluid, I think. That was another thing that I think was important about its legacy— it's a conduit that pointed in different directions.
CHANG: So those are all of my questions I actually have. But I wanted to leave it open for if there's something perhaps that you would like to add. I know it's pretty difficult after speaking for an hour to do so, but—
MACHIDA: [laughs] No, I think that— I suppose what I would add is that I think about Godzilla as a model of a certain kind of dialogism, or the idea that a group can come together strictly around the notion of the need to have these kinds of exchanges with one another, as artists, as thinkers, as writers. And that in itself being a really powerful idea -- The value of dialogism in its own right, no matter what direction it takes. Face-to-face contact is still something that's very much needed. For all of our talk about new approaches -- well, we can do this on Skype, we can do this on the web; we can network around the world together— all these things are true. But the ability to create sites—Godzilla being one—where people can actually meet and can share their ideas and dialog face to face, I think remains a very powerful imperative. It's a certain kind of loose notion of community. So without folding back on any traditional notions of community, such open-ended dialogism creates its own conditions, and has its own life, in a way. I would hope that from these conversations, including the one we're having now, that people can access this, even at a distance. It would encourage other people to want to engage in this. As I said, it doesn't have to be forever. I don't think any of us were thinking about this, as something set in stone. Even right now, as you and I are sitting here, this is a piece of Godzilla's legacy. [laughs] So maybe that's how I'll end that.
CHANG: Great, thank you.
MACHIDA: You're welcome.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 Unported License.


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Last year Cirque du Soleil fired an HIV positive performer because they believed that he was a heath risk to other performers, crew members, and the audience. I've only been to one Cirque du Soleil show, but I must have missed the part of the act that involved group sex and needle sharing.
Cirque du Soleil spokeswoman Renee-Claude Menard said the company regretted firing Cusick and blamed the decision on ignorance.
"We didn't have all the knowledge on what HIV is and how it's transmitted," Menard said. "We were very genuine in saying that we wanted him back. He could've done so much to raise awareness."
I'm suprised that such ignorance still exists in today's society. Too bad we can't make the religious right, who has spread many of these HIV/AIDS myths, also pay.


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Typical "dancing black dots" but living in spheres and with pics! - culture contamination (Jul/17/2011 )
Been reading through lots of posts about cell contamination, and even found one that had exactly what I was experiencing, but unfortunately there was no resolution. I thought I would post some pics I took to help elucidate the issue. There is a combo of contamination that involves the typical black dots everyone talks about, but also these curious spherical bodies that grow and float around the culture. Sometimes they have large masses attached to them and sometimes they are completely free floating. In both instances, there are dancing black dots on the inside. Dancing bugs are also seen free of these spherical bodies. If I let a culture go without washing of these spherical bodies, the culture will surely be lost and over run with bugs (notin spheres), with high turbidity and pH changes.
Cultures are incubated with Pen/strep mix, but to no avail. I haven't tried other, stronger antibiotics yet. They also seem to be highly contagious from culture to culture, as all of my cell lines have something in them.
Ealier post describing the same here.
I've attached some images. Imagine dancing black dots on the inside.
Some answers I've found might be possible pleuropneumonialike organisms (PPLO)and there are many other possibilities found in this thread.
We've done lots of cleaning: cleaned hoods with 70% ethanol and Conflikt with UV under tray area, decon the Heracell incubators with onboard decon routine (90C in humidified atmosphere for 24hours), stripped, waxed and mopped floors,changed filters on traps, serological pipetors, autoclaved pipet, etc. with no luck so far. There are more methods we're to employ as well, but I'm just mostly curious if anyone knows the biology of the bug in the pics and have had any luck getting rid of it. They seem to be intracellular, but I haven't necessarily seen them inside any live cells, but the spheres seem to come off of what were cells at one time. Dishes can be washed clean of the debris, but it always comes back. Any insight would certainly be appreciated. Thanks for your time!
The speherical bodies are dead/dying cells.


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By Janika Bates, Special to The New Tri-State Defender
Editor's note: While our former intern Janika Bates is in Rio, she will keep our readers updated — not just on the games themselves, but the whole experience. Look for her updates on TSDMemphis.com, the Digital Daily and in our print edition. And if wi-fi in Rio is good, you might even see her broadcasting live at www.facebook.com/TSDMemphis. As they might say in Brazil . . . bon viagem, Janika! Safe travels!
Transferring to the University of Memphis in January 2014 was one of the best decisions I have made. I have been blessed with wonderful opportunities — internships with The New Tri-State Defender in Memphis; another with Entertainment Tonight in Los Angeles.
But my biggest adventure so far starts this weekend. In April 2016, I found out I was one of 14 U of M journalism students chosen to cover the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, which start next week!
Other than me, four of the 14 student journalists, are African American. And like me, Sydney Neely, Rebecca Butcher, Catrell Maclin and Omer Yusuf are all excited about this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Another group of students from The University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill will join us in Rio — the only two universities chosen for this assignment.
Playing basketball throughout his life, Catrell Maclin — son of the late Corey Maclin, longtime sports anchor at Fox 13 — had dreams of going to the NBA. However those dreams faded once he lost his passion to play the sport and, in turn, grew a passion for learning how to report on the sidelines.
"God has given me an opportunity like none ever before," Maclin said. "To be one of 30-plus students who get to work and make contact with the best talent in the media realm, get hands-on experience and build my resume has literally floored me.
"When I walk across the stage in May of 2017 and talk to the first TV station interested in hiring me," Maclin continued, "their first question will probably be, 'Tell me about your experience in Brazil working for the Olympic committee.'"
Having a knack for entertaining and telling stories, Rebecca Butcher had dreams of becoming an actress before she finally settled on journalism. She feels it gives her a "wider, more direct impact" on telling the everyday person's story.
"What I'm looking forward to most about the Olympics is witnessing people from all cultures share a spirit of unity at the games," Butcher said. "Sure, everyone is rooting for their country or their favorite athlete, but I think it will bring a sense of global community like it does every four years. I'm excited to not only witness it, but to report on it."
Roxane Coche, assistant professor in the U of M's Department of Journalism and Strategic Media, will be supervising the program from July 29 to Aug. 22. We will begin work Aug. 1 and will receive three hours of academic credit. The 2016 Summer Olympics open Aug. 5.
Coche, who received her doctorate at UNC, is one of the driving forces behind this amazing opportunity. She sent about two dozen emails seeking credentials and, to this day, she's not even sure which email got through to the right person with Rio's Olympic Organizing Committee to set this adventure into motion.
However, students would need to come up with money to go — about $3,000 per student. In the spring, our team began raising funds including a crowdfunding effort at the U of M website that raised more than $3,000 for the effort.
And despite fears of a Zika virus outbreak in Central America, our determination to experience this opportunity hasn't changed.
Zika is spread mostly by the bite of an infected Aedes species mosquito. It can be transmitted through mosquito bites, through sex, and possibly a blood transfusion. It can also be transmitted from a pregnant woman to her fetus, causing a birth defect called microcephaly, which causes a baby to be born with a smaller head.
The most common symptoms of Zika are fever, rash, joint pain, and conjunctivitis (red eye). Though it is something we will keep a close eye on, the virus is not something we fear.
I can't wait to share my experiences with you — right here via the TSD!


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Other than some sort of Sanity/Insanity rules, what mechanical ties to the system does weird fantasy need?I can't think of any really. Maybe a slightly more detailed Fear/Fright system. It just seems to me that scary roleplaying is more about setting and adventure design than about mechanical support.
So, what are your thoughts on the subject?