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- Stitch >
- MongoDB Atlas >
- Work With MongoDB
Run Aggregation Pipelines¶
On this page
The code snippets on this page demonstrate how configure and run aggregation pipelines against a collection. Aggregation operations run all documents in a collection through a series of data aggregation stages that allow you to filter and shape documents as well as collect summary data about groups of related documents.
Supported Aggregation Stages
Stitch supports nearly all MongoDB aggregation pipeline stages and operators, but some stages must be executed within a system function. See Aggregation Framework Limitations for more information.
Data Model¶
The examples on this page use a collection named
that contains information about historical item sales in an online
store. Each document contains a list of the purchased
including the item
name and the purchased
quantity, as well as a
unique ID value for the customer that purchased the items.
Snippet Setup¶
- Functions
- JavaScript SDK
- Android SDK
- iOS SDK
To use a code snippet in a function, you must first instantiate a MongoDB collection handle:
To use a code snippet in a JavaScript project, you must first do the following:
Import Stitch Dependencies¶
– or –
Instantiate a MongoDB Remote Collection Handle¶
To use a code snippet in an Android project, you must first do the following:
Set Up Your Project¶
Follow the steps in the Set up a MongoDB Mobile Project guide.
For more details on setting up your Android app to use Stitch, refer to Build a Mobile App with Sync or Build a Local-Only Mobile App.
Import Stitch Dependencies¶
For CRUD operations on a remote MongoDB collection, you will use one
or more of the following
import statements:
To Sync documents between a remote and a local MongoDB instance, you will also need to import the following packages:
If you use Sync, be sure to add
.sync() before every remote
database call in the examples below, as in the following:
To perform CRUD operations only on the local (on-device) database, import the following packages:
Instantiate a MongoDB Collection Handle¶
To use a code snippet in an iOS project, you must first do the following:
Set Up Your Project¶
Follow the steps in the Set up a MongoDB Mobile Project guide.
Import Stitch Dependencies¶
Initialize the MongoDB Stitch iOS SDK¶
Instantiate a MongoDB Collection Handle¶
Aggregate Documents in a Collection¶
You can execute an aggregation pipeline using the
collection.aggregate() action.
The following snippet groups all documents in the
collection by their
customerId value and aggregates a count of the
number of items each customer purchases as well as the total number of
purchases that they made. After grouping the documents the pipeline adds
a new field that calculates the average number of items each customer
purchases at a time,
averageNumItemsPurchased, to each customer's
- Functions
- JavaScript SDK
- Android SDK
- iOS SDK
Aggregation Stages¶
Filter Documents¶
You can use the $match stage to filter incoming documents according to a standard query filter.
The following
$match stage filters incoming documents to include
only those where the
graduation_year field has a value between
2019 and
2024, inclusive.
Group Documents¶
You can use the $group stage to aggregate summary
data for groups of one or more documents. MongoDB groups documents based
on the
_id expression.
You can reference a specific document field by prefixing the field
name with a
The following
$group stage groups documents by the value of their
customerId field and calculates the number of purchase documents
that each
customerId appears in.
Project Document Fields¶
You can use the $project stage to include or omit
specific fields from documents or to calculate new fields using
aggregation operators.
To include a field, set its value to
1. To omit a field, set its
value to
You cannot simultaneously omit and include fields other than
If you explicitly include a field other than
_id, any fields you
did not explicitly include are automatically omitted (and
The following
$project stage omits the
_id field, includes
customerId field, and creates a new field named
where the value is the number of documents in the
items array:
Add Fields to Documents¶
You can use the $addFields stage to add new fields with calculated values using aggregation operators.
$addFields is similar to $project but does not allow you to
include or omit fields.
The following
$addFields stages creates a new field named
numItems where the value is the number of documents in the
items array:
Unwind Array Values¶
You can use the $unwind stage to aggregate individual elements of array fields. When you unwind an array field, MongoDB copies each document once for each element of the array field but replaces the array value with the array element in each copy.
The following
$unwind stage creates a new document for each
element of the
items array in each document. It also adds a field
itemIndex to each new document that specifies the
element's position index in the original array:
Consider the following document from the
purchases collection:
If we apply the example
$unwind stage to this document, the stage
outputs the following three documents:


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Women, it seems, cannot live without three things: clothes, shoes and makeup. Jewelry comes as a close second but that is another story. It becomes really hard when someone who loves makeup suffers from dry skin.
It is a horrible feeling when you spend time decking yourself up, only to find that the makeup you had so lovingly put on have turned to flakes. Even worse, is to look down at your palms and find that your skin is getting chapped. You can avoid all that, if you just follow our winter makeup tips for dry skin.
Best Makeup Tips For Dry Skin
Moisturize As Much As You Can
You have heard this before, and we will tell it to you again: there is no substitute for moisturizing during the bitter winter reason.
Sure the weather ensures that you have rosy cheeks, but at the cost of chapped skin. Never! We suggest that you add a little moisturizer to the foundation, and then apply it evenly on your face and neck. Seal this off with a light compact. Now, you can enjoy a hassle free life.
Go for Almond Oil Massages
Oil massages have helped us to maintain healthy and glowing skin. During winter, it is advisable to apply almond oil as it would ensure that your skin does not dry.
Going in for the almond oil massage you are making sure that your skin is properly nourished even during the bitter, cold winter. The added bonus is that your makeup will not affect your dry skin. You can deck yourself up for work, for party or even both to your heart's content.
Switch to Liquid Eye Liner
No, we don't mean you have to go on a liquid diet. We are merely suggesting that if you are a fan of pencil eyeliners, you need to shelf that at least during the winter.
Liquid eyeliners work the best for people with dry skin. The pencil makeup has a tendency to flake which no one looks forward to. We also strongly recommend that you use cleansing lotion on a cotton swab and remove all your makeup before going to sleep every night.
Also Read
Five Basic Lip Makeup Tips
Best Summer Makeup Tips
Beauty Tips For Women With Long Faces
Find Cream Based Makeup
Experts have come to the conclusion that those who have dry skin should only use the creamy products during the winter.
So if you are unfortunate enough to have dry skin, we strongly advise you to purchase creamy foundation, blush and eye shadow, along with a makeup brush set. Using the products with hands would create the opposite effect of what you have in mind. The brushes would help you create the perfect look.
Say 'No' To Dry Lips
Our lips have a tendency to get chapped at the first sign of winter. Purchase a good lip balm and make sure you apply this every time your lips begin to feel dry. Applying a colorless lip gloss helps nourish your lips and makes you look beautiful. One of the old world remedy to help prevent chapped lips was to apply mustard oil in one's navel, as well as the nails of your big toes.
Does it really work? Well, you can only find that out if you try. Winter is a time for fashion with the frock coats, the cute caps and the high boots. Do not let a simple thing like dry skin from preventing you to apply makeup. Follow these simple tips, and stay beautiful.

subset: commoncrawl


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You are here
Message from the President of ISA
Lisbon, September 3, 2018
Dear Students,
The University of Lisbon just starts the 2018/2019 academic year. Therefore, to all who enter the undergraduate, master's and doctoral studies of the School of Agriculture (ISA) I wish to welcome you, with a special reference to those who will be with us and came from abroad. All of you bring experiences and have different expectations and projects but now, for at least another year, we will share the momentum of the "Instituto Superior de Agronomia" community. Together we will be imbued with the same tradition and history that makes the School of Agriculture an institution of reference in higher education and Tapada da Ajuda campus a great place.
The students are our reason and you will devote time and efforts on learning during the semester. It's natural. To consolidate knowledge, to acquire specific methods, to think systemically and to be willing to innovate believing that all problems contain opportunities and allow solutions that you can be part of, these are the main vectors of education@ISA. In this context, our vision is a school with impact, oriented towards the interests of the community and transforming the reality at local, national and international levels. As you know, the Institute has a teaching model structured in independent cycles following the basic model defined by the Bologna Declaration, the first for the bachelor's degree and the second for the master's degree. The undergraduate courses will continue to support the educational base and the second cycle (master's) and third cycle (doctorate) studies provide new opportunities, some sharing an important collaboration with other national and international institutions. In all of them we aim a teaching that inspires learning.
You are with us to keep advancing your knowledge. Therefore, please study. As you know, the academic outcomes will be the result of what you have decided to do throughout the semester, not just a few days before the tests or exams. But do not forget, the goal is to learn; it's not just to pass a year. However, do not just study. This School is inclusive and plural, encouraging different and original thoughts. I incite you to participate in extracurricular activities, whose offer by the academy and throughout the city of Lisbon is large and diverse. Between sports, culture and social volunteering, there are no offer shortage. I hope you challenge yourself!
In addition, I would also like to inform you that this academic year marks the beginning of a four-year track for a new management team of the School of Agriculture. We will be engaged towards the priorities we set out in our program of action aiming at to ensure the best School in our teaching areas. I assure you that we are committed to addressing all challenges with a clear strategy, watchful of opportunities and without neglecting threats. We will keep you informed of what we will do, giving priority to the dialogue with the Students Association and, where appropriate, directly with you. The door of the Management Board will be open, also to the other bodies in which students are present - School Council, Pedagogical Council and School Assembly.
Strive to do better today than yesterday and continue to learn to find new professional horizons, as well as personal ones. Although each one with its role, we know that the success of one will be the success of others and failure will have the same meaning for everyone. You can count on the School of Agriculture to make your talent to evolve and to achieve the goals you decide to set.
António Guerreiro de Brito
President of the School of Agriculture


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By M. Diane McCormick
From its beginning to today, the wine industry has become entwined with Pennsylvania tourism and entertainment and along the way, has learned to make some darn good wines.
(page 1 of 3)
Paul Vezzetti hasn't seen his vineyard in a week. On this early summer day, he lifts a leaf on the first row of vines, here on the hilltop where the delicate chardonnays live, and sees a hopeful sign.
"We have some grapes," he says with satisfaction. "We have some grapes. We're doing OK so far."
One of Paul's partners at the Vineyard at Hershey, attorney Jason Reimer, predicts that 2012 will be the best year ever for Pennsylvania chardonnay. Vezzetti, with his farming background, cautions that it's too early to crow.
Before 1999, Pennsylvania was home to 42 wineries. Today, Pennsylvania hosts more than 150 wineries – a 257-percent increase.
Like Vezzetti and Reimer, the industry represents equal parts hard work and hope, pragmatism and creativity. New wineries such as the Vineyard at Hershey were founded on a base built by pioneers, like Nissley Vineyards in Lancaster County. In between, a few farms, such as Shade Mountain in Snyder County, defied convention and converted to grape growing and winemaking.
From its beginning to today, the wine industry has become entwined with Pennsylvania tourism and entertainment – and, along the way, has learned to make some darn good wines.
The beginning:
Nissley Vineyards & Winery Estate, Bainbridge
J. Richard Nissley planted his first vines in 1972. "Then he built the winery and supplied it with equipment for making wine," says daughter Judy Nissley. "His first vintage was 1977. We opened to the public the following summer, in July 1978."
Winemaking is not for anyone looking for a quick buck.
Pennsylvania first legalized wineries in 1968, a mere three centuries after William Penn planted grapes. In the years between and since, growers and Penn State researchers experimented and hybridized vines that could repel pests and survive Pennsylvania winters.
Richard Nissley helped found the Pennsylvania Winery Association, which convinced the legislature in those early years to legalize sales on- and off-premise, and – quite shockingly – to allow Sunday sales at wineries.
"They recognized it was good for tourism in the state," says Nissley. "More places to visit on a weekend – that's better."
Since the passing of Richard Nissley, the Nissley family – Judy, with siblings John, Joyce and Mary Lee – continues to grow grapes, make and sell wine and produce their iconic summer concerts. The winery sells its four wines only in central Pennsylvania. They could expand, says Judy, but that would mean dropping the concerts to save enough wine for broader sales, and "we really enjoy the concerts."
"You can't just expand your production by making more throughout the year," she says. "The grapes are ripe at only one point in the year. To do more, you would have to plant more grapes and put in more grapes. How much do you want to expand, and how big do you really want to get?"
Still, wineries are a force in farmland preservation, Judy believes. Anyone who wants to make money on farmland surely isn't eyeing the wine business.
"People really love it," Judy says. "They love growing the grapes. They love harvesting the grapes. They love making the wine, tending the wine, nursing the wine, creating the wine."
Her dad, she says, would be proud.


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This product is restricted in the following states and may not be available for you to order:{{ state.Initials.toUpperCase() }},
This product is restricted in the following states and is not available for you to order:{{ state.Initials.toUpperCase() }},
Gift Options
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Not valid for Apple.com or Apple store purchases. Valid only on purchases made in the U.S. from Apple Media Services. Use requires an Apple ID & prior acceptance of license & usage terms. Not redeemable for cash, for resale, for shipments outside the U.S. & no refunds or exchanges (except as required by law). Data collection and use subject to Apple's Privacy Policy; see apple.com/privacy. Neither Apple nor Issuer is responsible for any loss or damage resulting from lost or stolen cards or for use without permission. Void where prohibited. Terms apply; see apple.com/us/go/legal/gc. App Store & iTunes gift cards are issued and managed by Apple Value Services ("Issuer"). © 2018 Apple Inc. All rights reserved.
Accepted At
iTunes, iTunes & App Store


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"We almost always have choices, and the better the choice, the more we will be in control of our lives."
-William Glasser
The above quote is from William Glasser, the founder of Reality Therapy. Glasser taught that too often we externalize our problems and blame them on others instead of realizing that it is our choices that are at the base of our problems. This was a rather dramatic departure from blaming (among other things) your parents, your friends, your abuser, your employer, God, etc. Glasser put the blame for your emotional problems on, you guessed it, you. Life can deal you some pretty harsh blows, but you choose how you will react to them. This emphasis on personal responsibility and free will appeals to me alot and has been found to be helpful with people who are highly resistant to change.
One of Glasser's theories was called Control Theory. Basically it postulated that much of our relational problems with others came not from the ignorant things those others do, but on our attempts to control those people. "Who can you control?" he would ask his clients. Eventually they always came to the same conclusion; the only person we can really control is ourselves (and even that is difficult). So why do we spend so much time trying to control others? It can never work! I have found that challenging clients with this question works extremely well - realizing you can't control others can be quite liberating.
I think that when I was first married I tried to control my wife a lot. Not in an abusive way, but in a "I'm just helping you improve" kind of way. Shockingly my attempts bore no fruit and didn't exactly contribute to marital harmony either. And of course I felt stress because she was resisting my attempts to change (cough, OK "control") her. Instead of accepting that she was going to act the way she chose, I felt an inner pressure to change her. I find that when I accept that I can't change someone, that they have to change themselves, it takes the pressure and stress off of me and almost always improves the relationship. I think this is because I am not subtly telling them "you need to become how I want you to in order for me to accept you." People can sense this in you when you talk to them and they will almost always rebel against it.
Try this experiment; think of someone you currently have a stressed relationship with. Are you trying to control them? What sort of "expectations" do you have of them that they aren't meeting? How would it look different if you weren't trying to control them? Keep in mind that this means you don't have to accept their behavior, but it does mean that you accept their right to choose their own destiny. If you can't accept this . . . well, I'm guessing you are feeling lots of stress!
May Light increase!
Thursday, March 1, 2007
Who Can You Control? Part 1 . . .
"We almost always have choices, and the better the choice, the more we will be in control of our lives."


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Many industrial and medical applications require temperature measurements with accuracies of ±1°C or better, performed with reasonable cost over a wide range of temperatures (-270°C to +1750°C), and often with low power consumption. Properly selected, standardized, modern thermocouples paired with high-resolution ADC data acquisition systems (DASs) can cover this wide temperature range and ensure reproducible measurements, even in the harshest industrial environments.
Maxim, Temperature Measurement, thermocouple, ADC, DAS


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Bred From BehindFavorites [+]
Pay-Per-Minute Viewing
You can now enjoy this movie on your iPhone®, iPad®, or compatible Smart TV & Android devices.
Purchase Options
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DRM-free downloads offer content that is not limited by standard Digital Rights Management (DRM) access technologies. These technologies allow hardware manufacturers, publishers, copyright holders and individuals to limit the usage of digital content.
When you purchase DRM-free downloadable content, that content is available for you to download on any computer and save to a disk whenever you like. You can also download to multiple computers. There is no timeframe associated with your purchase and the content will not expire.
Source: Aebn
Lucas Entertainment's "Bred from Behind" is the week's hottest new release. Its great camera work and combustible chemistry between the performers will make it a must-see for all of those who love bareback fucking and muscles—and that should cover a lot of porn viewers.
Returning after a break from performing, Stas Landon has come back with a performer he knows well, and who makes an excellent partner for him: Andrey Vic. Stas and Andrey have brought Ian Greene and Sergio in for a hot, sloppy four-way orgy. Ian and Sergio are just the kind of bottoms that excite Andrey and Stas: jocks who turn into submissive bottoms at the sight of a big, hard dick. Side by side, Ian and Sergio let Andrey and Stas have their way with their holes. This is a stunning way to start the movie, and it keeps up an exciting pace from here on out.
If you love a hot, versatile horn dog, then chances are you've already spent plenty of time enjoying Max Avila's performances. Max is a non-stop slut, whether he's giving or taking a pounding. This time he wants to power-fuck twinky Benjamin Gomez, including some rough ramming in doggy style. These Latin studs really bring out the heat in each other.
Not content to be fucked merely once in this round of scenes, Ian Greene is back, ready to take on Dylan James and his nine inches of raw fuck meat. Dylan's got Ian blindfolded at the beginning of the scene, and he uses Ian's white tank top as a handle so he can really deliver a pounding. Ian and Dylan look awesome with Ian on top, slamming down on that cock in cowboy position, but then there's nothing that Ian appears to enjoy more than pushing back against every thrust as Dylan hammers away at him from behind.
Muscle bottoms are Andre Donovan's favorite kind of fuck buddy. When this sexy, big-dick black hunk gets in front of the cameras with beefy Alexander Volkov, there's no containing the volcanic energy. You can see by the body language and the throbbing erection that Alexander is just as excited about Andre's BBC in his hungry hole.
"Bred from Behind is an AEBN VOD exclusive you don't want to miss!


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Quofum by Alan Dean Foster
Well, for those of you who are regulars, I've taken the decision to postpone reading the third brick. It really is too big and heavy for me to want to hold for long periods of time. Since it's an omnibus, I'll probably treat it as separate volumes and read the individual parts on and off over the next month or so. This leaves me to fit in a couple of retrospectives alongside some hopefully good new books. I'm kicking off with a look back at Alan Dean Foster whom I read extensively when younger. He's another of these prolific writers who has one excellent feature. He's got one of these simple, yet highly readable, prose styles. While the content may not always be anything more than competent, it's always a pleasure to read the books. This time, I've picked up Quofum (Ballantine, 2008) which is, for those of you who like to fit things into an overall chronology, the seventh in the Humanx Commonwealth series. Perhaps more importantly, the plot line which begins in this book, is brought to a conclusion in Flinx Transcendent (Del Rey, 2009). The good thing for those who have never read any of either the Humanx Commonwealth or Flinx books, is Quofum is a perfect standalone. There are no character carry-overs from other novels and you don't have to know anything about the Commonwealth itself to understand what's going on.
Well, the continuing good news is that Alan Dean Foster remains highly readable. The slightly less good news is that the story itself is not one of the most original nor is it terribly exciting. Instead of this being one of the Big Dumb Object novels, it's a Big Dumb Planet novel. The way these things work is now one of the standard science fiction plots. In this case, astronomers discover an anomalous planet which seems to appear and disappear. This is registered as unusual and so, with the usual penny-pinching approach adopted by all bureaucracies, a Captain, support technician and four scientists are sent to see what's going on. Naturally, this elite team of expendables is told they must call for back-up if they discover anything of interest. Yeh, like that's ever going to happen. Within ten seconds of starting this book, you know the team will land and then the planet will disappear again with them "on board". The rest of the book will be them dealing with the consequences of being cut off. Except, this isn't quite what happens.
This world turns out to be one giant laboratory for testing out different evolutionary possibilities. Wherever they look, our four scientists find one anomaly after another as different life forms exist side-by-side with no common evolutionary source. Each species seems to have appeared relatively spontaneously and is randomly based on carbon, silicon or other elements. Some are sapient. Indeed, there's historical evidence of at least one highly advanced civilisation at some time in this planet's past. But none of the current examples of intelligent life have risen much higher than stone age levels of tool use. So all this sets us up with a big mystery and the scientists themselves are speculating this is an experiment of some kind, a leisure resort without any obvious tourists, or a circus of the kind where all the different interactions between species are viewed remotely for entertainment. This is all quite interesting but we then have a rather curious diversion which wastes quite a lot of time and fails to advance us very far. I'm not against subplots per se. Handled well, they add an extra dimension to the main narrative line. In this case, it just turns out to be redundant padding to make a thin story go the distance in terms of pages. Indeed, after the halfway point, the narrative dynamism dies away and we move at a glacial pace to the big reveal at the end.
All this would be tragic without the readability factor. Even though boredom threatened, I actually remained sufficiently interested to read through to the end. So where does this leave us? The early Flinx stories are actually quite good with the first, For Love of Mother-Not, probably the best. The Humanx Commonwealth Universe is also interesting in the opening volumes, but the later books like Sentenced to Prism and Cachalot are distinctly weak. This leaves Alan Dean Foster the king of the film novelisations with some individual standouts in the science fiction field. If you have not already tried him, Quofum is not the best place to start.
June 5, 2012 at 4:20 am
The first ADF book I read was Splinter of the Mind's Eye (one of the better Star Wars books) back when I was in middle-school, but I did enjoy Foster's Humanx/Flinx books, his early Spellsinger book and others, and you're right about his readability. In fact I think he may have strongly affected my own writing-style (spare writing, short explanations/descriptions, etc). He's on the other end of the spectrum from Tolkien, Susanne Clarke, and other writers who love the language itself.


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we availed of a voucher from deal grocer which entitled us to a three-course lunch from cav for P490 (50% discount). the voucher specified we had to go on a weekday, so we did. one tuesday we headed out in eager anticipation. honestly, i was more excited about the wine because i knew cav had this
a selection of over a dozen wines that we could try either with tasting portions, half glass or a full glass. but since it was the middle of the day, we only had enough wine to go with lunch which was, rightfully, the star of the show.
starting with a smoked salmon salad
a great way to start lunch. very bright and vibrant flavors. and what's not to like about smoked salmon?
main course was braised lamb shoulder
this was good, but not great. it was the tenderness of the lamb that really impressed me the most. the pork twill on top – which tasted almost like chinese pork floss – added a nice counterpoint to the dish.
but the best course had to be dessert. a deconstructed carrot cake
first of all, we're suckers for anything served on tiles. and this dessert was just overall clever. the swirls on the side was the icing and the classic cinnamon taste actually came from the ice cream. the orange squares on top of the cake was carrot jelly. very nice.
i don't know if this meal was worth the full price of P890. probably not. but at P490, it was certainly a good deal and one we were more than happy to have sampled.


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Unions say no gold producers' salary offer
JOHANNESBURG – Unions on Wednesday rejected the revised three-year wage offers of up to 7.2 percent salary increases made by South African gold producers.
This was as the fourth round of wage negotiations between four unions – the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu), the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), Solidarity and Uasa – and gold mining companies continued yesterday.
Unions are demanding a R9 500 salary for above the surface employees and R10 500 for entry-level underground staff over and above a housing allowance of R5 000.
Gold producers AngloGold Ashanti, Harmony, Sibanye-Stillwater and Village Main Reef tabled offers ranging from 6 percent to 7.2 percent for category 4 underground employees, and 3.5 percent and 4.5 percent increases for miners, artisans and officials, saying that the industry believed that these were responsible and sound offers.
Chief negotiator on behalf of the gold producers, Motsamai Motlhamme, reiterated that the industry was faced with a number of challenges, including a stagnant gold price, rising costs and falling profitability.
"These challenges have had a significant impact not only on the sustainability of the gold sector, but on the mining industry as a whole." – African News Agency (ANA)


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The San Juan National Forest (SJNF) is amongst the most beautiful overland destinations in North America, but if your summer plans lead you there, you may want to check their website. According to the SJNF rangers, a stage three fire closure is expected to be signed into place tomorrow, due to extreme drought conditions. The US Forest Service clarified further saying:
"The purpose of the closure is to protect natural resources and public safety due to the danger of wildland fire. The closure order will prohibit entry into the San Juan National Forest, including entry by the general public, most administrative entry by Forest Service employees, and most uses authorized under Forest Service permits and contracts. This means that forest campgrounds, day use areas, roads, and trails will be closed, including wilderness areas, and that hiking, dispersed camping, and other recreational activities are prohibited."
For those wondering, there is no clear end date for this travel ban. It will simply continue until enough moisture is present to improve the current conditions to a usable state. To keep up to date on the closure, check their website here, or follow their social channels at @SanJuanNF.


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Please note: the venue has changed to St. Peter's Church.
Beloved illustrator and political cartoonist Chris Riddell is coming to Ely to celebrate his beautiful new book.
In Poems to Fall in Love With Chris Riddell has selected and illustrated his very favourite classic and modern poems about love. This gorgeously illustrated collection celebrates love in all its guises, from silent admiration through passion to tearful resignation. These poems speak of the universal experiences of the heart and are brought to life with Chris's exquisite, intricate artwork. This perfect gift features famous poems, old and new, and a few surprises. Classic verses sit alongside the modern to create the ultimate collection.
We are delighted to welcome Chris to Ely for the first time, and we hope you can join us for this early autumn highlight!


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Please forgive me for my blog absenteeism, but I have been quite pressed for time (and far too sleepless) for the last month. However, I had to post today . . .
Albion, how I love you!
When Britain first, at Heaven's command
Arose from out the azure main;
This was the charter of the land,
And guardian angels sang this strain:
"Rule, Britannia! rule the waves:
"Britons never will be slaves."
The nations, not so blest as thee,
Must, in their turns, to tyrants fall;
While thou shalt flourish great and free,
The dread and envy of them all.
"Rule, Britannia! rule the waves:
"Britons never will be slaves."
Still more majestic shalt thou rise,
More dreadful, from each foreign stroke;
As the loud blast that tears the skies,
Serves but to root thy native oak.
"Rule, Britannia! rule the waves:
"Britons never will be slaves."
Thee haughty tyrants ne'er shall tame:
All their attempts to bend thee down,
Will but arouse thy generous flame;
But work their woe, and thy renown.
"Rule, Britannia! rule the waves:
"Britons never will be slaves."
To thee belongs the rural reign;
Thy cities shall with commerce shine:
All thine shall be the subject main,
And every shore it circles thine.
"Rule, Britannia! rule the waves:
"Britons never will be slaves."
The Muses, still with freedom found,
Shall to thy happy coast repair;
Blest Isle! With matchless beauty crown'd,
And manly hearts to guard the fair.
"Rule, Britannia! rule the waves:
"Britons never will be slaves."
A day that I did not expect has dawned. May it lead inexorably to the destruction of our perverse new world disorder (it can happen), and may the Lord richly bless the peoples of Great Britain and Ireland! One day soon, perhaps even the micks will return to their senses and faith—and reject the godless, soulless bureaucrats who have eagerly helped to transform their beautiful island into a degenerate consumerist wasteland of the spirit.
To show that my support of healthy patriotism and my hatred of the E.U. are not based on any antipathy toward Europe as such—or even toward the Germans—I present a Kraut's homage to the British—Beethoven's Wellingtons Sieg oder die Schlacht bei Vittoria:
And, of course, one must showcase "Rule, Britannia," here cheerily (if cheekily) performed on the last day of the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall by Sarah Patricia Connolly and the BBC Symphony Chorus and Orchestra:
Glad all over!
Last year, I started to hear recommendations to read the newly translated into English novel by Eugene Vodolazkin, Laurus («Лавр»). Then, I read Rod Dreher's discussion of it in The American Conservative: "People Need Other Things To Live By." I recommend the article, which includes an interview with the author. I am currently in the middle of the book, but I won't spoil it for you. Наслаждайтесь.
As a follow-up to "Christian Kitsch," I would like to share Jane Scharl's "The Gospels according to Thomas Kinkade and Jean-Jacques Rousseau" from the Intercollegiate Review. Scharl argues that there is a spiritual background behind shallow Christmas art, which she describes as the most that a secular world can provide:
Rousseau's sublimation is the best we can hope for from secular traditions. Secular Christmas music, even the best, exemplifies this attempt to sublimate experienced feelings—of loneliness ("I'll Be Home for Christmas," "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas"), nostalgia ("White Christmas"), or love ("Let It Snow")—beyond their context in ordinary life and elevate them to the level of the sublime. A sublime experience is a universal experience, one that has meaning outside of itself that both clarifies and validates it. This is the purest impulse of secular Christmas: to elevate our experiences to the level of the universal, and in so doing, to create a myth of Christmas to validate the feelings that punctuate our lives, even if just for one day.
We all hold an ideal of secular Christmas in our imaginations, even though for most of us it has never happened: cottages covered in snow, lanes fretted with sleigh tracks, children laughing, clear voices singing in a village square lit by lamps. Countless sugar cookies made by a smiling family while a perfect tree gleams in the corner and orphans smile at the feet of Santa Claus. It's the Gospel according to Thomas Kinkade. But in this picture, the light illumines only itself, reflecting endlessly. It doesn't illumine—or transform—the things of the world.
Scharl contrasts Kinkade's work with that of Rembrandt to make her point. Pitting Kinkade against the Dutch master strikes me as a bit unfair, but I found her essay insightful.
I found a cheeky but thoughtful musing by Paul Griffiths on Christian kitsch in Duke's Divinity Magazine, "A Defense of Christian Kitsch." Griffiths argues that kitsch is the bread and butter of pious art for Christianity, "a religion of peasants and proles." Therefore, he states, Christians should hesitate to look down on the gospel according to Thomas Kinkade.
I am not sure what to think. Griffiths is correct that most Christians have been from the unwashed masses; the good news is for all people, plumbers and MOMA curators alike, and there are always more of the former than the latter. However, I hesitate to agree with him—not (principally) because I am an insufferable snob whose stomach twists when I see sappy religious pictures and Jesus nightlights—but rather because art for the masses appears to have different characteristics in different regimes. In our contemporary democratic culture, mass tastes and consumption largely dictate what the entire society appreciates. Yes, we have art critics in the New York Times, and elite opinion trickles down (yes, yes, that cerulean speech in The Devil Wears Prada). Yet, our society's master class appears generally content to fill the trough according to the swine's appetite. In more hierarchical societies, the elite largely determines the aesthetics of the lower classes. Maybe, I just do not know enough about peasant art in ages past, but pre-modern religious art does not strike me as kitsch. Some of it crude, perhaps, but not kitsch (compare the paintings in the catacombs to the papal commissions of the Italian Renaissance—a striking difference in quality, but neither is kitsch). Consider traditional Christian iconography, the stained glass windows of Western Christendom, or the mosaics of antiquity. I do not even know whether we should call the governing force of such art "elite" taste—rather, artisans tended to work with canonical styles (hence, being determined by tradition, not any group's fancy). The architectural progress of sacred buildings clearly involved the engineering elite, commissioned by the secular and ecclesiastical elite, but entire towns were involved in cathedrals' construction and adornment. Would you call the windows of Chartres kitschy? Would the Most Reverend Maurice de Sully have found the aesthetic tastes in sacred art of his poor parents so different from that of the royal court? Griffiths even mentions the icons of Andrei Rublev, but surely this example provides a stumbling block for his position. Russian peasants and proles have always adored the transcendent beauty of Rublev's iconography.
Christian kitsch may simply be yet another symptom of our decadent age.
That said, who doesn't like angels and kittens, together, lightly hovering over little girls in Easter dresses having afternoon tea with their teddy bears in a peaceful meadow (with birds, chipmunks, and lots of unidentifiable flora in the background)?
Last spring, I read an interesting article about the Inklings in The Chronicle of Higher Education that may interest you: "Oxford's Influential Inklings." Philip and Carol Zaleski explore this famous bunch of dons and contrasts them to the Bloomsbury Group. It is a fascinating read.
The Inklings feature significantly in my intellectual and spiritual formation. I have made two Inkling-focused pilgrimages to Oxford (those stones on Beren and Lúthien's grave—yeah, those are from me; they surely outlasted the flowers that I bought at the petrol station for the Lewis brothers' tomb), and I delight to learn more about these veritable gifts to us English-speaking people living in the twilight of our civilization.
Anthony Esolen continues to show why he has become one of my favorite contemporary writers: "The Subhumanities: The Reductive Violence of Race, Class, and Gender Theory," in the current Intercollegiate Review. It is easy to ridicule the Left's stupid obsessions, but Esolen excels in showing the real horror—and loss—in leftist reductionism. He is brilliant.
Merry Christmas to my fellow Orthodox who continue to celebrate the Nativity season! Also, I wish my nephew a happy birthday, and I wish him well in his studies.
Appropriate for such wishes, I offer an essay in Salvo Magazine by Robin Phillips, "School Deform: How Common Core Promotes Cultural Engineering by Killing the Imagination." I am rather ignorant about the Common Core State Standards Initiative, but I mistrust pretty much any trend that gains traction in contemporary education. That field is full of confusion. It is therefore not surprising to read Phillips' assessment of common core. In short, it is an educational program designed to mold minds to be useful pegs in the machine. What else could education be?
One example of the core's folly is that it prescribes texts based on textual complexity—not complexity as profundity, but simply grammatical and terminological complexity. Hence, bureaucratic regulations and technical manuals are just as appropriate for students as the prose of Melville or Wilde. Phillips writes:
Moore also notes that Common Core elevates "informational texts" and articles by journalists above literary works through a computerized process for determining "text complexity." Readings that are found to use technical jargon are rated higher in the complexity scale than works that use more simple language. Complexity thus becomes purely quantitative, without attention being paid to the quality of texts.
How could this happen? Imagine how many people had to have been involved in the crafting of common core—how many "educators," school administrators, and civil servants. The rot is pervasive. And certainly well paid for.
You may have read this week that Amazon has started a Christian book imprint that will publish "faith-based non-fiction and fiction." I first saw the story on Yahoo News. The article only has a few comments, but I wish to address them because they unfortunately indicate common opinions that I find objectionable. The first comment, by a "Chad Vader," finds "faith based fiction" problematic:
"will publish "faith-based non-fiction and fiction,"
Faith based non-fiction? Really?
Religion has one intent. To save souls. I could never understand "faith based fiction."
Isn't that the definition of a snake oil salesman?
It's hard enough, and takes "faith", to follow what you wish to believe is true. Now let's generate fiction (truly, make believe) to really get the holy spirit rolling?
Religion should NEVER use fantasy to help convince.
Amazon sees how easy it is to make money selling snake oil.
My advice. It's an area of business that's only purpose is to take advantage of others. Stay out of it.
It may be easy to dismiss "Chad Vader" and like-minded folks as philistines, but Chad Vader likely appreciates "non-faith based fiction" (though we might ask if there is such a thing), given his pen name and avatar. Though apparently a Christian, Chad may be a victim of creeping secularism that has built a "wall of separation" in Chad's mind between religion and art. What justification can there be for such a separation? Man is a worshiping animal, and man is a creative animal. Only a bizarre psychic schism would prevent a man's religion from informing his art. For a man creates from his inner resources—training, talent, experience, knowledge, inner state—and his religion has probably affected a large portion of those resources. Why would one want to enfeeble the life giving springs of art?
Chad's worry seems to be that Christian fiction would sully the truth value of the gospel, and such reminds him of a snake oil salesman. One obvious difference is that the artist is transparent about his fiction; he does not pass it off as a historical record. He "sells" a story that the muses (or divine light, though I repeat myself) inspired him to create, and the truth value of such rests in its honesty about its subject matter (usually the human condition), though its particularities are made up. The snake oil peddler, by contrast, deceives his customers by claiming that his product is something that it is not.
Moreover, one would think that a Christian would readily see the usefulness of fiction to religion—especially since the author and finisher of our faith was so adept in making up ingenious parables that have taught billions of largely uneducated people many rather profound lessons. "Religion should NEVER use fantasy to help convince." But what about using fantasy to elucidate? Or what about using fiction as a form of doxology? There are many literary genres that convey truth, and it is meet and right to employ all the treasures of the arts to glorify God. I am reminded of McGuckin's essay on the Beautiful. Religion informs art, and art informs religion. They are both gifts from God to be rendered back to him in gratitude.
Another commentator—"J"—makes the following cynical point:
"and authors and promoters alike are still trying to understand the perfect formula for turning those books into dollars."
Religion and money. That's what it's all about. Get the rubes to buy your books, What a racket.
I addressed J's point in "Disney the Corrupter of Youth?":
I watched a fascinating but revolting documentary a year or so ago about marketing to children, but I cannot remember the name. The program argued that companies manipulate children to determine their parents' spending behavior. I believe that the documentary even stated that some cartoons were produced with the intention of selling merchandise. Obviously, the coin counters at Disney have mastered that game. Nonetheless, we cannot reduce the artistic product to the merchandising, even if, in one sense, the chief reason for the product's existence is the merchandise. For there were writers and animators who crafted a piece of art. Their efforts may have been commissioned, facilitated, and perhaps even directed by the coin counters, but their actions as producers of art are not identical to their actions as money-makers for the company.
The abbot's criticism could be applied to any human undertaking that coexists with paid work. We who find the coin counters merely pallid shades of real manhood hope that artists create art for the love of such creation and that teachers disseminate their learning for the love of knowledge. Yet, for most artists and teachers, their work has some component of wage-earning, as well. Unless one is rich, one has to pay for shelter and victuals. A person has to feed his children. Consider the history of art, and you will quickly see how most of the revered masters worked for commission. I think that it is clear that their work far transcends simply the desire to pay the bills, but practical matters matter in our human life of scarcity.
Perhaps, the abbot has a point about Disney the company—the commodification of culture in the age of mass production is disgusting. However, fine works can come from sordid circumstances. The nineteenth century amply supplies examples. Moreover, we should ponder the difficulties that underlie this issue. What is the end of production? Is it simply money-making, or are there other proper ends for human endeavors that may earn a living?
The head honchos at Amazon likely just want to increase profits and to grow the company. So? Many aristocrats over the centuries just wanted to show off their status when they commissioned sculptures, musical compositions, and paintings. Is there any doubt that their petty desire to invoke jealousy amongst their peers resulted in a marvelous enrichment of Western civilization? May Amazon's venture bring forth good fruit.
Speaking of Amazon and of Christian fiction, fellow Orthodox Ohioan (and Beltway transplant) Deacon Brian Patrick Mitchell has published a new book set at the beginning of the fourth century—A Crown of Life: A Novel of the Great Persecution. I wish the good deacon much success and many more visits by the muses.
Christ is born! May my fellow Orthodox Christians continue to enjoy the festive season. Happy birthday, as well, to my young nephew—many years!
The Orthodox commemorate the visit of the Magi with the Nativity and not on the feast of the Theophany. As it is still Christmastide for us, I would like to offer you two short pieces shared by Fr. Z. for Epiphany in the Roman Church. The first is "The Gift of the Magi"—a predictable but sweet short story by William Sydney Porter (O. Henry).
Fr. Z. also showcases an interesting passage in Helena by Evelyn Waugh: "An Epiphany Prayer to the Magi for Self-Absorbed Promethean Neopelagians." Liber locorum communium provides a longer passage that put the Empress' thoughts in more context:
But by Twelfth Night she rallied and on the eve set out by litter along the five rough miles to the shrine of the Nativity. There was no throng of pilgrims. Macarius and his people kept Epiphany in their own church. Only the little community of Bethlehem greeted her and led her to the room they had prepared. She rested there dozing until an hour before dawn when they called her and led her out under the stars, then down into the stable-cave, where they made a place for her on the women's side of the small, packed congregation.
The low vault was full of lamps and the air close and still. Silver bells announced the coming of three vested, bearded monks, who like the kings of old now prostrated themselves before the altar. So the long liturgy began.
Helena knew little Greek and her thoughts were not in the words nor anywhere in the immediate scene. She forgot even her quest and was dead to everything except the swaddled child long ago and those three royal sages who had come from so far to adore him.
'This is my day,' she thought, 'and these are my kind.'
Perhaps she apprehended that her fame, like theirs, would live in one historic act of devotion; that she too had emerged from a kind of οὐτοπία or nameless realm and would vanish like them in the sinking nursery fire-light among the picture-books and the day's toys.
'Like me,' she said to them, 'you were late in coming. The shepherds were here long before; even the cattle. They had joined the chorus of angels before you were on your way. For you the primordial discipline of the heavens was relaxed and a new defiant light blazed amid the disconcerted stars.
'How laboriously you came, taking sights and calculating, where the shepherds had run barefoot! How odd you looked on the road, attended by what outlandish liveries, laden with such preposterous gifts!
'You came at length to the final stage of your pilgrimage and the great star stood still above you. What did you do? You stopped to call on King Herod. Deadly exchange of compliments in which began that unended war of mobs and magistrates against the innocent!
'Yet you came and were not turned away. You too found room before the manger. Your gifts were not needed, but they were accepted and put carefully by, for they were brought with love. In that new order of charity that had just come to life, there was room for you, too. You were not lower in the eyes of the holy family than the ox or the ass.
'You are my especial patrons,' said Helena, 'and patrons of all late-comers, of all who have a tedious journey to make to the truth, of all who are confused with knowledge and speculation, of all who through politeness make themselves partners in guilt, of all who stand in danger by reason of their talents.
'Dear cousins, pray for me,' said Helena, 'and for my poor overloaded son. May he, too, before the end find kneeling-space in the straw. Pray for the great, lest they perish utterly. And pray for Lactantius and Marcias and the young poets of Trèves and for the souls of my wild, blind ancestors; for their sly foe Odysseus and for the great Longinus.
'For His sake who did not reject your curious gifts, pray always for all the learned, the oblique, the delicate. Let them not be quite forgotten at the Throne of God when the simple come into their kingdom.'
—Evelyn Waugh, Helena: a novel, chap.11, Epiphany ((London: Chapman & Hall, 1950), pp. 237-240).
Superb! And a very much needed prayer.
Merry Christmas to everyone who follows the new calendar! A blessed feast of Saints Spyridon and Herman to the O.C.'s out there.
For the day, I offer you "Eddi's Service" by Kipling:
Eddi, priest of St. Wilfrid
In his chapel at Manhood End,
Ordered a midnight service
For such as cared to attend.
But the Saxons were keeping Christmas,
And the night was stormy as well.
Nobody came to service,
Though Eddi rang the bell.
"'Wicked weather for walking,"
Said Eddi of Manhood End.
"But I must go on with the service
For such as care to attend."
The altar-lamps were lighted,—
An old marsh-donkey came,
Bold as a guest invited,
And stared at the guttering flame.
The storm beat on at the windows,
The water splashed on the floor,
And a wet, yoke-weary bullock
Pushed in through the open door.
"How do I know what is greatest,
How do I know what is least?
That is My Father's business,"
Said Eddi, Wilfrid's priest.
"But—three are gathered together—
Listen to me and attend.
I bring good news, my brethren!"
Said Eddi of Manhood End.
And he told the Ox of a Manger
And a Stall in Bethlehem,
And he spoke to the Ass of a Rider,
That rode to Jerusalem.
They steamed and dripped in the chancel,
They listened and never stirred,
While, just as though they were Bishops,
Eddi preached them The World,
Till the gale blew off on the marshes
And the windows showed the day,
And the Ox and the Ass together
Wheeled and clattered away.
And when the Saxons mocked him,
Said Eddi of Manhood End,
"I dare not shut His chapel
On such as care to attend."
May the feast enlighten the darkness.


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Most (if not all) of us are used to driving amidst streets backed up like toilets.
That's just the reality of urban life: anytime we step out of our homes and take a drive, we're faced with traffic, traffic, and more traffic. But what if after years of nothing but traffic, you're suddenly looking at a wide expanse of nothing, and in a truck that can -nee, designed and engineered- to drive through it fast?
That's exactly what it's like to drive in the Australian outback, and even better, we drove it with the Ford Ranger Raptor.
Everyone knows Sydney. The Opera House is extremely photogenic, and it comes as no surprise that a photo with that building in the background is quite popular as a profile picture on Facebook. Touring this city is indeed a treat, and perfect if you've got the time to walk around and really explore the many nooks and crannies around the urban center. A word of warning though: if you want to eat at the Opera Bar, be wary of the seagulls; they're quite aggressive when they see food.
But Sydney is still a major city; a big cosmopolitan one at that, and driving there would be no different from any other big urban area. But what sets Australia apart is the outback.
Generally, the outback is the term they use for the inland portion of Australia. It's different from what's known as the "bush"; the areas immediately around the cities. If you look at a map (or Google Earth) the outback is the dry, almost desolate region in the middle of the Australian continent, and it's vast.
To get a taste of the outback we had to go further, all the way to Darwin in northwest Australia. This place isn't at the top of the many places to visit on the vast island known as Australia, but you have to love the vibe and feel of it. The most apparent similarity has to be with Miami.
We didn't come here to be tourists, as Ford tossed us the keys to the Ranger Raptor; a special version of their global pick-up truck.
Ford pumped up the look of the standard Ranger to create the Raptor. They did this through the use of special wide body panels for the fenders, the big FORD grille, the taller ride height, beefier stepboards, decals and badges, so on and so forth.
Despite its appearances, the Raptor isn't just about looks. This is a true performance truck, one that can take on deserts with ease. Ford picked an engine that's quite new: a 2.0-liter twin turbodiesel motor. If it sounds odd, it's because the Ranger we've come to know has come with either a 3.2-liter or a 2.2-liter motor. Worry not though: thanks to twin turbochargers, the Raptor is more powerful and has more torque than the old 3.2 we're familiar with. And they matched it with a new 10 speed automatic gearbox.
We set off from Darwin and headed out onto the motorway; there's a fair bit of driving to do before we even set a tire on what is the "authentic" Aussie outback. You have to love the thrust of the new engine and gearbox combo, but on the road, the Raptor was already revealing its first surprise: it's superbly comfortable.
The key to that unexpected trait is the fact that Ford, together with Fox Racing Shox, have worked to produce a new suspension system for the Ranger Raptor. With larger shocks that have longer suspension travel, the Raptor is able to absorb the road more effectively, turning what is normally an uncomfortable drive into a sublime one. It's great on asphalt or concrete, but we're about to put it to the test on the much more demanding Aussie outback.
A lot of the Australian landscape is occupied by these properties called stations, which is their term for a cattle ranch. There is, however, one big difference: the Aussie concept of a cattle ranch (or cattle station) is much larger than many of us can imagine. It's not surprising for a single cattle station to have larger acreage than most small countries. One such property will be our destination for the drive: it's called Tipperary Station.
The sheer scale of the location is daunting. When we headed up one hill for a more traditional off-road driving exercise, we were told that if we drove the Raptors as far as the eye can see in any direction from that hilltop, we'll still be within the property. Actually, even if we went beyond the mountains in one direction, we still wouldn't have left Tipperary either. It comes as no surprise that the Aussie "cowboys" use helicopters to herd cattle. But maybe they can try out the Ranger Raptor instead.
While it's still a Ford Ranger, the enhancements to the suspension enable the Raptor version to sit higher off the ground. As it stands, the Ranger Raptor has an extra 50 millimeters (thereabouts) of ground clearance; what this means is that this truck won't have too many problems getting past most obstacles. And if you have to traverse rocks, hills, or even mountains, the approach angle of 32.5 degrees means you won't be bashing that bumper too often as you enter inclines. If you do, you can rest assured that the engine is protected with reinforced bash plates.
Perhaps the best thing about the Ranger Raptor, something that became apparent over hours of driving it, is that the truck is simply exceptional to drive hard. Ford made sure that the Raptor name isn't just some kind of marketing jargon, and that it's backed up by true performance credentials. Of course, being a truck that's inspired by the larger F-150 Raptor, that was expected.
The powertrain performs well; it's not quick given the diesel engine, but power delivery is smooth and there's plenty of torque. What I did like was the presence of a system that allows the driver to pick the mode to drive in. Casual driving isn't a problem, but it's when you start driving it fast off-road that it comes alive thanks to Baja mode.
So named after the famed Baja Rally in the Mexican desert, this drive mode is best enjoyed on places with sand dunes or a tricky, fast trail. Baja mode will allow quite a bit of drifting in the dirt, magnifying that smile on your face the more you drive sideways.
But what we really enjoyed was how surprisingly graceful it is. The Fox-tuned suspension (which we noted for comfort over tarmac) enables the Raptor to practically glide gracefully over bumpy terrain that can easily churn body fat to become butter. If you watch it taking on the Aussie outback at speed, you'll see how the suspension works to keep the truck planted on the ground by keeping the tires on the terrain, and not launch the Raptor into the air. If you do get airborne, worry not: the Raptor is built to handle it.
Ford wanted to do the Raptor name justice with the Ranger. The name, after all, is derived after birds of prey. Falcons, hawks, and eagles are all technically raptors. So no, it's not named after a dinosaur.
The grace (and comfort) with which it tackles fast off-road driving on the outback, the fun factor of how it powerslides around dirt, and the overall looks of the Ranger Raptor tell us that they've truly got a winner. The Ranger Raptor is something we can drive every day in traffic, something we can enjoy as we make our escape to the countryside, and maybe make a few off-road detours to kick up some sand along the way.
How long does it take to get to the dunes of Ilocos now?
Photos by Vince Pornelos and Ford


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ISAR aims to improve the care of severe asthma patients by combining existing knowledge with new research. By examining real-world data on the efficacy and safety of different treatment options, we hope to make a positive impact on patient care. Check out our mission statement to learn more about what we hope to accomplish.


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Are you looking for practical information about the most beautiful spots for diving and snorkeling during your next trip ? Check out SUBEA's list of 10 incredible and accessible destinations for your next snorkeling or diving trip. Get ready for an amazing display of underwater life and landscape that will take your breath away !
The Galapagos Islands are a truly extraordinary place : their biodiversity is limitless. In fact, 20% of the species that live on the islands can't be found anywhere else on the planet. It's no wonder that this is an internationally renowned diving destination ! Plan your dive and head off to discover the Galapagos penguins, sea-lions, dolphins, sea turtles or marine iguanas, at locations on Darwin Island or the Corona del Diablo.
An idyllic setting for extraordinary dives, Belize's barrier reef is surrounded by atolls that reach right out to sea. Explore the seabed while snorkeling or scuba diving and you'll come across some 500 species of reef fish, manta rays and eagle rays, as well as blacktip sharks, hammerheads, bull sharks, nurse sharks and tiger sharks. And let's not forget the whales and turtles ! Don't miss the Hol Chan marine reserve, Shark Ray Alley and the Great Blue Hole of Belize.
The Philippines are the perfect destination for an exotic trip : crystal-clear 27°C water, gentle currents, a welcoming population and incredibly beautiful wildlife ! Divers of all levels as well as snorkelers will be able to enjoy amazing natural displays, including pygmy seahorses and multi-coloured nudibranchs, as well as a wealth of coral fauna. Must-see location : Malapascua Island !
The island of Moorea in French Polynesia boasts crystal-clear shallow waters and an abundance of tropical fish, making it a paradise for snorkeling and scuba diving ! If you're a beginner, keep to the translucent waters of the island's lagoons in order to avoid strong currents. Keep your eyes peeled for corals, manta rays, lionfish, Oceanic whitetip sharks, blacktip sharks and turtles. And don't leave without having visited the diving spots of the Fakarava and Rangiroa atolls.
The Red Sea also offers countless superb spots for diving and snorkeling. It's also perfect for beginners, offering excellent conditions for learning to dive or snorkel : gentle currents, warm waters, and beautiful coral that's accessible from the shore... Take some time to discover this stunning location's incredible underwater flora and fauna, at spots such as Sharm El Sheikh or Dahab : you may well come across pelagic fish, dolphins, reef sharks or the very rare dugong… The mythical spot (and its lighthouse !) of Daedalus is also unmissable. Located in the middle of the Red Sea, this "lost" reef is known to see hammerhead sharks, longimanus and sometimes even manta rays !
If you're looking to dive in a grand scale, it's time to visit Down Under ! With its 2,900 reefs and 900 islands, Australia's Great Barrier Reef stretches more than 2,000 km along the east coast of Queensland. For scuba diving and snorkeling enthusiasts, the diversity of the seabed and of the Reef's underwater fauna is absolutely breathtaking. Whales, dolphins, turtles, sponges, crustaceans, coral and tens of thousands of colourful tropical fish all live together in these waters of the Pacific. And you'll be right there, for an unforgettable diving excursion.
There's no need to travel thousands of kilometres to enjoy snorkeling or scuba diving in an idyllic setting. Just off France's Côte d'Azur, the island of Port-Cros is one of Europe's best diving destinations. Among the wide variety of aquatic life you'll find in Port-Cros' waters, you may be lucky enough to see eagle rays, sunfish, nudibranchs, barracudas, eels, octopus, or sea fans ! Don't miss your chance to dive on shipwrecks, while the dive site of La Gabinière should be on every diver's wishlist.
The canyons of Babodi in Saint-Pierre, Martinique are another stunning diving location. Experienced divers will be able to head down into the depths of the canyon, while snorkelers will find this to be an ideal place to enjoy unforgettable views close to the surface. The dives in Martinique aren't just extremely beautiful, they're also relatively wild and not often visited. Rock lobster, lionfish, barracudas, turtles, moray eels and even sponges are waiting for you in this little Caribbean paradise !
When it comes to scuba diving and snorkeling, Thailand is one of Southeast Asia's most astonishing destinations. Head out to the Andaman Sea to come face to face with some truly "big fish" ! The Richelieu Rock diving spot is home to incredible flora, but also manta rays, whale sharks and sea horses.
A trip to Mexico offers the opportunity to dive in the caves of the Cenotes, some of the most beautiful in the world. Located between Playa del Carmen and Tulum in Yucatan Province, these caves in the jungle can offer visibility of up to 100 metres, meaning there's no better way to see thousand-year-old stalactites and stalagmites. Kukulka and Chac Mol will leave you breathless !
So, what's your diving destination for your next trip ? Share it in the comments :-)
These photos were taken by Olivier Delorieux. You will find all his pictures in his gallery Flikr via the link below.
I'm the Digital Manager for the Subea brand. I'm keen on spearfishing and freediving and have been scuba diving for over fifteen years. I have my level 1 FFESSM and PADI certifications up to "Rescue" level.


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I don't have any pictures from when I was young and in the theater. When I was almost thirty and thought, "Oh, enough of the arts. Let me get a job that actually pays," I found a job…And the woman in charge was such an aggressive bitch – excuse my language – and companies would work with her for about three months and then say forget it! But she always treated me very well and drove me around in her Mercedes. And one day she turned fifty. And I felt so bad for her! My heart went out to her! I thought…..
This is an excerpt/preview. You will be able to download the entire monologue once purchased.
- Written by: Mara Lee Gilbert


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I was delighted to finally catch a glimpse of these turtles basking in the sun. When my mother-in-law was visiting last November she was fortunate to see them her first time visiting. I have been frequenting Lake Mirror for almost a year and had not caught them! So happy to see them. By the way, my mom was with me when I caught these. It was only her second time visiting the lake.I am a turtle saver by nature. I have stopped traffic to save turtles. It's in my blood.
March 19, 2013 | Categories: Authentic, Beauty, Gratitude, Hollis Garden, iPhone, Nature, Photography, Photooftheday | Tags: animals, basking, basking in the sun, Lake Mirror, Nature, outdoors, turtle saver, Turtles | 3 Comments
My husband and I frequent Lake Mirror at least a couple times a week. These Black Swans are always there ready to pose. I have a difficult time keeping my eyes off them. Natures miracles. I hope you enjoy and thank you for stopping by.
Click here to view Black Beauties – Part 1.
August 24, 2012 | Categories: Authentic, Beauty, Black Swans, D90, Nature, Photooftheday | Tags: authentic, Beauty, Black Swans, couple times, D90, delicate, flowers, frequent lake, Lake Mirror, lakeland fl, mother nature, Nature, natures, Nikon, outdoors, photography, photooftheday | 1 Comment
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truTV is a comedy network that's hell-bent on bringing their unique brand of funny to the world. To make sure everything they do is funny, and to better connect viewers with the shows they love, we kicked off an unconventional hiring campaign for a funny job.
The Impractical Jokers is one of truTV's most popular shows. So we set out to hire someone to man their Scoopski Potatoes food truck at Comic-Con in San Diego via a real LinkedIn job posting on Turner Broadcasting's page. What is Scoopski Potatoes you ask? Don't worry, it'll make sense soon enough.
Fans were encouraged to apply by posting videos that showcased their scooping skills.
One passionate fan was hired to showcase their skills in San Diego. And we created a video piece that aired during the annual Jokers Block Party on truTV to prove we were hiring for real.


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A Biblical Perspective on How to Approach Politics
Introduction, Part. 1
At the heart of biblical faith is an awesome story.
An infinite, eternally existing, all-powerful God chose in love to create a finite but beautiful world I full of astounding complexity and stunning splendor. At the center of everything, God placed man and woman, fashioned in God's very image, to exercise servant-like stewardship over the rest of His handiwork. God designed them to find great delight in each other, in the material world enfolding them, and in the complex cultures God invited them to craft from the materials He entrusted to their care. But the Creator shaped them in such a way that their deepest joy and lasting happiness could come only from right relationship with and willing worship of their Maker.
Tragically, they rebelled. They chose to write their own rules rather than follow God's design. The results were selfish persons, twisted social relationships and institutions, and even a groaning, disordered creation.
But God loved this world far too much to abandon it to a descending spiral of chaotic evil. So the Creator began a long history of saving action to restore a right relationship among Himself, persons, and creation.
Over the centuries, many Christians have emphasized the political implications of one or another aspect of
this story. Those who focused on creation tended to be optimistic about improving society through politics. Those who emphasized the fall were more pessimistic. It is not wrong to find special insight for one's particular historical setting in specific biblical passages and themes. But we must be careful to allow the full biblical story, centered on Jesus Christ, to provide the overarching framework.
The full biblical story—creation, fall, salvation history centered on Christ, and the final restoration of all things—is chock-full of significance for Christian political engagement today. The story provides the foundation for understanding the nature and grandness of creation, the dignity and destiny of persons, the depth of sinful brokenness, the importance of history, and the glorious destiny to which God invites us all.
Discipleship Journal, Issue 165, Ron Sider
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Ann coulter and bill maher dating who is brook burke dating
"We are concerned about her disregard for the assessment and recommendations of law enforcement professionals whose primary focus is the safety and well-being of our students and other members of our campus community." This is hardly the first time Berkeley has been in the spotlight over a conservative speaker's plans to visit the campus.
In February, conservative provocateur and then-Breitbart News editor Milo Yiannopoulos was scheduled to give a speech at Berkeley when violent protests broke out on campus, forcing the speech to be canceled and the campus to be placed on lockdown.
When Bill Maher is at his best, he can be insightful, funny, and even brilliant. Make no mistake: Maher is the reason for the last-minute CPAC invite. Within 48 hours, Milo was disinvited from CPAC, lost a book deal, and lost his job as editor at Breitbart.
The now infamous video of Milo seemingly condoning pedophilia was put forth by the conservative "Reagan Battalion." Milo Yiannopoulos resigns from Breitbart after pedophilia comment Maher had absolutely nothing to do with Milo's downfall. Instead, here is what Maher told the New York Times on Tuesday night: "About a week ago, I went on Van Jones's show, and somebody asked me about the booking.
"The event has been canceled," he wrote on his Facebook page in February.
"I'll let you know more when the facts become clear.
In recent months, the campus has been the site of several political protests, some turning violent.
Though the school reversed its decision and extended a new invitation for Coulter to speak on campus on May 2, she rejected the offer.
The Alt-Reich's white nationalism has a word for sunlight it's called "publicity." And it is rarely if ever bad. The latter is simply the right not to be jailed for spouting the absurd. If there was ever a time a nation would understand the value of free publicity, it would be after Trump's election.
And by the end of the weekend, by dinnertime Monday, he's dropped as a speaker at CPAC. Without the release of the video by Reagan Battalion, Milo would still be speaking at CPAC next to his former Alt-Reich Breitbart colleague Steve Bannon.
Then he's dropped by Breitbart, and his book deal falls through. You're welcome." Maher's audacity is in full display here. Bill Maher's epic rant: F--k Patriots for ties to Donald Trump Maher refuses to admit this self-evident truth, when truth is supposed to be Maher's Holy Grail.
Maher's famous mantra of "sunlight is the best disinfectant" is not only a garbage — it is Maher's religion.
As many have done before him, it is repeated uncritically, and as an ideology without exception.


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Vegan Brats & German Potato Salad
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|German Potato Salad:
|2 pound red potatoes, cubed
|1 medium red onion, diced
|3 tablespoons olive oil
|1/2 cup vegan bacon bits
|1 1/2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
|1/2 cup,plus two tablespoons apple cider vinegar
|Chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
|1 package Tofurky Brats
|1 tablespoon olive oil
|1 teaspoon agave or maple syrup
|4 slices Chao Vegan Creamy Cheese
|1 cup sauerkraut, warmed
|2 tomatoes, sliced
|4 French rolls
|Vegan Mayonaise
|Dijon Mustard
|Freshly ground salt and pepper, to taste
- Prepare a steamer basket in a large saucepan. Steam the diced potatoes for 10-15 minutes or until they are fork tender. Remove the basket from the pot, empty the water and return the potatoes to the pot. Cover to keep them warm and set aside.
- Sauté the red onion in a medium or large skillet with three tablespoons of olive oil on medium high stirring frequently until the onions are soft and translucent. Add the vegan bacon bits then whisk in the apple cider vinegar and dijon mustard, cook just until heated then transfer the dressing to the warm potatoes. Stir and cover to keep warm until serving.
- Wipe out the skillet and add an additional tablespoon of olive oil. Heat it to medium high then add a teaspoon of maple or agave syrup. Add the four Tofurky Brats and roll them in the oil to coat them evenly and keep them from sticking. The maple or agave syrup helps to brown the sausages nicely, continue cooking them and rolling them to brown evenly for about 5-6 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to broil with the rack a few inches under the heat source. Open each French roll without splitting it completely in half, spread vegan mayo on the inside of each roll and place them under the broiler until they begin to lightly brown. Pull the rolls out and add 1 slice of vegan cheese divided to one side of each roll, return the rolls to the oven and heat an additional two minutes. Turn off the heat and leave them in the oven for an additional one to two minutes to melt the cheese.
- Remove the rolls from the oven, place each brat on a toasted roll and top with dijon mustard, warm sauerkraut, sliced tomatoes, and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Serve with the warm potato salad topped with chopped fresh parsley.
- Note
- Recipe courtesy of Liz Gary. For information about free local community cooking classes and special events visit www.newoptionsfoodgroup.com
More Vegan Recipes:
See Other Recipes Like This


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Senior WASH Advisor
Job purpose
The Senior WASH Expert is a key member of staff in the country programme, tasked with providing strategically focused WASH technical leadership to the country programme. Accountable to the Country Director, you will provide strategic technical input into the core work of the country programme, supporting government and donor engagements, programme design, partner support and the oversight of the quality of our programmes. As a WASH expert with extensive experience, you will play a role, with the country team, in reinforcing and shaping WaterAid's leading role and strategic ambition in achieving transformational change at scale through our work. Alongside others, you will support and maintain ongoing networking and engagements with key WASH related networks and partnerships and liaise collaboratively with the regional team and global teams (particularly the Programme Support Unit and the Policy and Campaigns department
As a Senior WASH Advisor you will be required to play the following roles: –
Technical advice on sustainable and inclusive rural and / or urban WASH services through a systems strengthening approach, ensuring that WaterAid's interventions are relevant, effective, and add value. The technical advice covers areas such as political economy and institutional capacity assessments, strategic planning, technical designs and specifications, life-cycle costing and financing;
Leadership on ensuring that the technical quality of our programmes is high and consistent with national and sector best practice and WaterAid's programme frameworks and quality standards. This will include driving programmatic activities that deliver model water services in communities, districts, towns, schools and health facilities and engagement key WASH stakeholders for scale-up and replicability;
Targeted support to WaterAid's own project teams as well as to key partners to ensure quality implementation, learning and adaptation as required. In addition, the role supports wider influencing of practice and policy beyond WaterAid, working with sector actors, providing specialist knowledge to donors and engaging other agencies on WASH;
The development and promotion of best practice guidance on WASH in the country and, when called on, develop and manage programmes of research and capacity development as well as facilitate learning from within WaterAid and externally to build on and improve our practice and policy interventions.
Overall programme quality lead in the country programme, advising and supporting the country programme senior management team to design strategic and effective programmes;
Support deveopment partners and other sector agency engagement and influencing with the aim to raise funds for WASH sector strengthening programmes, drawing on expertise and resources as needed from across WaterAid;
Provide an oversight on the development of impactful WASH programmes / grant proposals, ensuring these meet our organisation goals and standards and align with the country strategy and building on work already underway;
Provide advisory support, mentoring and capacity development necessary to embed these standards and commitments in the Country Programme and within partners;
Support and guide the continuous analysis, adaptation and documentation of key WaterAid WASH experiences for learning and analysis, to ensure experiences lead to scalable and sustainable interventions and are shared within WaterAid and within key external communities and networks;
Represent WaterAid in strategic collaborations to further develop WASH and to ensure WaterAid is benefiting from knowledge shared by other organisations. This will particularly focus on WASH sector strengthening, on the roles and responsibilities of different stakeholders and especially on the development of service providers, authorities and, where appropriate, the role of the private sector in the delivery and operations of these services;
Support the CP in identify specific areas of sector strengthening support required to remove sector blockages and improve WASH delivery at national local levels;
Provide advice on and / or develop relevant country level standards and advise on the effective implementation of water and sanitation facilities and processes to deliver clean water and appropriate waste management that meets the WaterAid's quality standards;
Work in close collaboration with others to assess institutional capacity of relevant ministries and national departments, local municipalities / district administrations, utilities, service providers and community actors to deliver water, sanitation and hygiene services. Support / lead as needed on the design of participatory action plans to strengthen capacity of these institutions to deliver on their mandates;
Support teams working with partners to build ownership and accountability for programmes in line with the programme quality standards outlined in the WaterAid programme accountability framework; make suggestions for improvement where gaps exist;
Facilitate and/or supervise the feasibility studies and design of technology and management models; promoting and supporting the scaling up/replication of such models within government systems;
Provide oversight to ensure all infrastructure to be implemented are in line with WaterAid technical designs specifications and national standards. Support state and LGA's to replicate similar standards and models in state and LGA financed constructions;
Liaison with staff in the region, PSU and PCD, identify appropriate technical expertise to draw down to support the continuous improvement in the country programme or partners, drawing on learning from the wider WaterAid community;
Actively encourage innovation in the technical spheres of our work, exploring possibilities of these being scaled up and replicated;
If required manage junior staff in the team, ensuring that they have dear objectives and receive meaningful feedback on their performance.
The Job holder shall meet or posses the following minimum qualifications and competencies.
Essential Criteria:
Academic qualification in a relevant technical WASH discipline, such as civil engineering, water / waste engineering, public health/Environmental engineering, behaviour change specialist;
Extensive experience across all sub-disciplines in WASH;
Extensive experience in development programme management (at a senior level);
Demonstrated ability to undertake and direct high quality rural / urban water and sanitation programmes;
Solid track record of working with government institutions to influence and direct policy / practice reform agendas;
Detailed understanding of WASH technical and management issues including water security and broader development and poverty reduction themes;
Experience of conducting formative research and feasibility studies, using the findings to make programme decisions and deliver appropriate design options;
Proven experience of building capacity of staff and partner organizations especially CSO's and government;
Track record of developing strategic & operational plans;
Planning and organising skils and the ability to prioritise;
Able to build and maintain trusting relationships, negotiate, influence and resolve conflicts with multi-level stakeholders including donor representatives, government officials and community level actors;
Strong communication skill and ability to effectively convey information and ideas verbally and in writing;
Experience of leading, managing and motivating others and driving change;
Commitment to WaterAid's values and a working style that reflects these.
Desirable Criteria
Existing links and network within the WASH sector;
Membership of relevant professional body
We offer very competitive salary alongside our benefits package
Or to apply through firstname.lastname@example.com
Closing date: 13 November, 2019
WaterAid is an equal opportunity employer
Warning: Never Pay To Get A Job. Legitimate companies dont ask for money.


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Blaze of glory.
Sam: Is this how you pictured it? The end?
Dean: Oh, you know it's not. I always thought I'd go out Butch and Sundance style.
Sam: Blaze of glory.
Sam: Blaze of glory.
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- Episode:
- Supernatural Season 12 Episode 22: "Who We Are"
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- Supernatural
- Related Quotes:
- Supernatural Season 12 Episode 22 Quotes, Supernatural Quotes
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- Sean McKenna
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Located in a separate two-story building on the grounds of the Resort, this flexible space comes with its own deck & BBQ, outdoors tables and seating for 20 people. It is ideal for receptions, parties and retreats. Interior can be configured as a spacious loft or playroom with table hockey and pool tables. This autonomous, air-conditioned unit includes a kitchen, several couches and beds as well as a compact bathroom with shower and even a stackable washer-dryer combo!
The Playroom can be rented in combination with any other accommodations or on a standalone basis. Please inquire about prices and availability by contacting us with your desired dates.


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Enhale Exhale — 100mg for 32.99
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text: A Wedding Photographers Wedding { Part 3 } The Ceremony. This is probably the most memorable part of my wedding day. The part I remember most and the part I replay in my mind the most…. I remember the drive over to the church. I was talking a hundred miles an hour to my dad. Trying not to cry. Trying to act like it was one of dad and I's trips to breakfast on a WARM summer day, but no, this was it. My wedding day and our five minute drive to the church to marry Aaron was happening. I was growing up. The lower photo of dad and I is probably one of my favorites. His boutonniere had fallen over, yet again, and it just struck us funny. Family and friends wait for me to arrive then down the isle to my Aaron I went… The best advice given to me was to stop throughout the day and take mental snapshots. Take a second to view the happenings around me. Hear the sounds of family, friends, and music. I don't remember who told me this but it was the best piece of advice. And then it happened… I was Mrs. Jackson! 😀 Share this:EmailFacebookTwitterPinterest Related therese eicher said: Reply thanks for sharing your wedding pictures.God bless you always.love aunt thertese Cancel reply Leave a note Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Notify me of new posts by email.


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Cafe Whiz
We stand firmly for the "New Smart" in Kids and we work hard to take parents from "Good to Great Parenting". We understand your innate need as a parent to do your best and to give your best. We empathise and care.
Our Mission
Our mission is to help parents build happy families and create capable adults. Our intent is to ensure that parents stay evolved throughout the upbringing years of their children and value their kids as adept individuals in the making.
I believe that every child is born with some unique traits, voice and character and our responsibility as parents is to identify that unique wiring, accept it whole heartedly and nurture the child with love. The end goal should always be to unleash her/his true potiential.
– Kushal Singhal
We offer baby counsel
Bringing a new life in the world and nurturing for the first time can be hard. We're here to help you start well.
We offer toddler counsel
Taking care of a frisky toddler can be challenging. We are here to assist you with techniques that will make it all easy.
We offer teen counsel
Raising a balanced teenager is one of the crucial phases of parenting. We are here to offer direction.
From the Founder's Desk
I came up with Cafe Whiz because I have two beautiful and talented children of my own. Therefore, I understand that the key to good parenting is to accept and respect your children the way they are and happily steer them in the direction that best suits them.
– Kushal Singhal, Founder at Cafe Whiz
Parenting by Design Coach
We help you nurture the "New Smart" in kids on a physical, mental, social, emotional and spiritual level.
Nurturing a child that encourages him or her to be healthy physilogically is crucial for the overall wellbeing. Parents should rank fitness high in their design of things.
Shaping the cognitive and memory functions in a child are key to performing well academically. Thus, this should be a priority for parents.
Inclucating social skills that make a child adept attitude wise is very important. A adpative child is an evolved child and will perform better in the community.
Helping kids know, understand and learn emotional balance is crucial for their emotional health. Parents should allow children to fully experience their emotions.
Inculcating spiritual values in children right from the day they get physically conscious should be customary for parents.
Our Approach & Philosophy as a Parenting Platform
We truly belive and endorse raising kids organically and not forcing them to change their innate identity. Disciplining children is not the same as modifying their behaviour. Training children is not the same as imposing your stereotypes on them. Imparting values is not the same as snatching theirs from them. As parents, your first responsibility towards your child is security – physical, social, emotional and psychological. Everything else comes secondary.
Kids raised in happy homes with happy families grow extremely confident and successful as adults. They understand themselves better as people and also end up having long lasting bonds with their parents for life. This deep connection is what defines an evolved parent from a obstinate one. Your own behaviour impacts your child's conduct. This needs to be understood by anybody willing to genuinely raise wholesome kids. Your parenting will go a long way in shaping the future of the planet.


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We've just taken an exclusive look at Asus' new tablet computer, which is designed to be tough enough to give to troops in Iraq. Currently at the prototype stage and on the show floor at CeBIT, it's the company's first model to be designed specifically with the military in mind.
Codenamed the Rugged Military NB, it's designed for those fighting in extreme conditions, like the desert. It complies with the IP 54 standard, which means the chassis is virtually impervious to sand and water.
There's GPS inside, which will help the military navigate in hostile lands, and the screen swivels. Click through our photos for more information.
The display rotates, is widescreen and measures 13.3 inches. It'll be touch sensitive, although Asus hasn't yet decided whether to use a standard touchscreen or a digitiser screen, which would require the use of a stylus.
James Tang of Asus held up the Rugged Military NB for us earlier today. It's a bit of a beast, but if you build something to work in extreme conditions, you have to make a few compromises somewhere.
There's a fingerprint reader to help keep the data on the hard drive secure if it gets nabbed by the enemy.
The side ports are hidden behind a flap to help protect the tablet from sand and other nasties.


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I dont think it's been brought up yet, but after reading through many posts in this forum and others many have concluded that if you were to connect your FAT-formatted harddrive to the player, it cannot be powered through the same USB connection.
Can't confirm the brand, but my buddy owns a portable that has one of those Y-shaped dual USB connectors. One is for data and one for power. He has some weird SONGYA brand dvd player from China that has a rear USB connector that is capable of playing movies through USB key.
So we tried connecting the hard drive with the just the one data USB plugged into the rear of the player, and predictably nothing showed up on the TV and the drive didn't boot up. I noticed that he has an HD PVR by motorola, the one with front A/V ports and USB port (i wonder what its for??). So i plugged the power cable from the hard drive into the front of the PVR and voila,...power. Read all compatible files on the hard drive.
Although this wasn't tested on a DVP5982,...Im curious if anyone with this equpiment can verify this, because I own a DVP5982 and am considering to get an HD PVR and a seagate freeagent go with the dual USB connectors.
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The second USB connector is for power. A single connector doesn't supply enough power for the drive to operate (as you noted above). Your best bet, knowing you will be using the ext HDD on the 5982, would be to just purchase a HDD with it's own power supply. You could experience operational issues getting power from two separate pieces of hardware.Google is your Friend
Exactly I would be very carefull hooking up to two different pieces of equipment via USB like that. What you are doing is hooking up two different 5 volt lines into the external drive. Some chance of damaging the equipment. USB is not that sturdy. I've seen people damage all the USB ports in a computer with a defective printer..
oh ok...thanks for the heads up
hi, can you confirm if this worked? i have a dvp5960 and the free agent go hardrive, but it wont read anything on the drive (plus drive is ntfs, i dont know how to make it FAT32 if that would change anyhting?) but if your dvp5982 works with the freeagent go i will purchase that dd player. thanks
Changing your disk drive from NTFS to FAT32 will involve a destructive reformat of the disk and you will lose all data on it. Nobody has yet reported any DVD player with a USB port that is capable of reading NTFS formatted devices.
To format the drive under Windows, connect it to your PC, boot the PC so it finds the drive. Click on My Computer and right click on the drive. Select Format and under File System choose FAT32. I don't have Vista so these instructions may be somewhat different under Vista, but they should be correct for XP (I checked) and below (I didn't check).
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- 1Appetizers - Russia - Yakutia
- 1Beadwork - Evenki people - Russia
This traditional wall-hanging, which represents the sun was part of a display of works by Semenova Polina Ivanova at the Museum in Yakutsk, Russia. This was one of several wall hangings, all made of reindeer hide, on display
Gustav Vigeland created the world's largest sculpture park by one person at Frogner in Oslo, Norway. He was born in 1869 and died in 1943. This sculpture is in the Vigeland Sculpture Park. The collection includes more than 300 sculptures.
At the opening of her beadworking exhibit, Semenova Polina Ivanova sat at a table and received flowers and accolades from a wide variety of people. She wore a headdress, necklace, vest and reindeer hide boots, all beaded with traditional Evenki designs. The ceremony also involved performances by...
A member of the gooseberry family, skunkberries or skunk currants are found across nothern Canada. This edible berry has a strong odor and bristly. Skunkberries can be used to make jelly and were used as a traditional medicine by Indigenous people.
This is a complete coat, hat and boots ensemble by Semenova Polina Ivanova, which was displayed at the Art Gallery in Yakutsk, November, 2014.
A banquet table for foreign dignitaries was laid out with zakooskee, a selection of small dishes traditionally eaten with vodka before a large meal. In this case the zakooskee included cold meats and fish, salads and a variety of fresh fruits.