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Madam Hayley in Massachusetts
The latest issue of the online journal Common-place includes Amanda Bowie Moniz's article about Mary Wilkes Hayley (c. 1728-1808) and her time in Boston shortly after the Revolution. Hayley was the younger sister of John Wilkes, the English radical politician whom the Boston Whigs admired in the 1760s. She was also the widow of a merchant with substantial business in America, and no qualms about collecting the debts that her trading partners owed her.
Moniz writes:
In May 1784, Mrs. Hayley arrived in Boston. Before she set sail, she had already made a savvy decision to shape Americans' perceptions of her. According to a newspaper report, she had bought the American frigate, the Delaware, which had been captured by Britain during the Revolutionary War, and had renamed it the United States. (It sailed under Captain James Scott, who was often employed by John Hancock [and would eventually be the second husband of Dolly Hancock].)Samuel Breck, born in Boston in 1771, provides a more eccentric portrait of Hayley, perhaps exaggerated by the passage of years:
The stunt paid off. Hayley's arrival in Boston was reported in newspapers from New England to South Carolina. Here, Americans were seeing somebody very different from the woman they met through business correspondence or the London press. This visitor was neither an aggressive merchant nor an object of ridicule but an enlightened friend of the new republic.
As Abigail Adams wrote, "nothing but the ardent desire she had to visit a Country so distinguished for its noble and ardent defence of the rights of Mankind could have tempted her at her advanced age to have undertaken a sea voyage." . . .
Ever alert to burnish her image, in October 1784, on the third anniversary of Lord Cornwallis's surrender at Yorktown, Mrs. Hayley commemorated the American victory with "a very brilliant firework" display in her garden. She again signaled her political sympathies when, with much pomp, she presented John Hancock with a new chariot. The gesture, one newspaper explained, "was a mark of her respect for the good conduct of this great patriot during the war." In addition, she helped fund a variety of public and charitable projects—a very uncommon role for a woman. She contributed to a meeting house in Charlestown [the old one had burned during the Battle of Bunker Hill]; gave three pounds to a fund for improvements to the Boston Common; was a founding member of the Massachusetts Humane Society, an organization devoted to the rescue and resuscitation of drowning victims; donated blankets to Boston prisoners and wood to Boston's poor.
She had certainly passed her grand climacteric, and in her mouth was a single tooth of an ebon color. Her favorite dress was a red cloth riding-habit and black beaver hat. In these she looked very like an old man. . . .In 1786 Hayley married a British-born merchant in Boston named Patrick Jeffrey. The marriage didn't last, and people gossiped that he "treated her with great brutality." Six years later the former Madam Hayley returned to England without her young husband or much of her old property. Jeffrey bought Thomas Hutchinson's former estate in Milton from James Warren, husband of Mercy Warren, and in the late 1800s Edmund J. Baker wrote a history of that estate which said:
This most excellent woman had surrounded herself with a menagerie, so that the court-yard was filled with cockatoos, poll-parrots, and monkeys. . . . She gave frequent dinners, at which I was often invited. We were sometimes annoyed by her monkeys and other pets, which, like spoilt children, were brought into the parlour at the fruit-dessert to gather nuts and gorge with raisins and apples. It was the custom at her table to place a well-filled punch-bowl in the centre as soon as the last cloth was removed. Surrounded by the choicest wines, there stood the huge vessel, always brought in with a little parade. On one occasion, when this ample bowl occupied its accustomed place, a mischievous monkey who was skipping about the table seized the wig of an Amsterdam merchant, old Mr. de Neuville, and, running to the bowl, soused it in.
He had the furniture, library, paintings, plate, relics, and ornaments that had graced the mansion of his wife's first husband while an alderman and a mayor of London. With his two housekeepers and a retinue of servants he kept up a magnificent style of living. Dr. [Charles] Jarvis, the leading politician, Robert Hollowell [Gardiner], and the late Governor [William] Eustis were members of the club that dined with him weekly.Jarvis and Eustis were leading Democratic politicians, which might give a hint to Jeffrey's own politics.


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10 Lessons from the Folk High School is a series of 11 short books, of which this first stands as the introduction. Each of the subsequent volumes examines one characteristic of the folk high school – its origin and its relevance for the past, for the future, for Denmark and for the world at large – and shows how it finds expression in folk high school practice today.
All the books consist of one longer text, unfolding the theme, and then 4 praxis perspectives from practitioners, to get different angles on the theme and to get an insight. It is for both internally between folk high schools, but also other school settings, that wish to become inspired by the folk high school.
0. A Foray into Folk High School Ideology – the history - Ove Korsgaard
1. Become Yourself - to be a master of your own life - Leo Komischke-Konnerup
2. Learn for pleasure - about a curriculum and exam-free school - Lene Tanggaard
3. Becoming a People - about popular education -Iben Benedikte Valentin
4. Learn for Life - about life enlightenment - Regner Birkelund
5. Take Responsibility - about democratic citizenship - Bjørn Hansen
6. Learn with your Body - by hand and spirit - Helle Winther
7. Sing Together - about the common song - Dy Plambeck
8. Tell Stories - about the living word - Hanne Kirk
9. Learn Together - about experience-based teaching - Johan Lövgren
10. Live Together - about residential schooling - Rasmus Kolby Rahbek
All the books will be published in both English and Danish.
The first book is to come at the beginning of may, while the last book is published in november. From may to november the published books will be launched at different events.
Pre-order the series here: https://hojskolerne.wufoo.com/forms/preorder-10-lessons-from-the-folk-high-school/
Buy the books in the danish webshop

subset: commoncrawl


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Elle Fanning in First Trailer for Haifaa Al-Mansour's 'Mary Shelley' Film
by Alex Billington
April 12, 2018
Source: YouTube
"I no longer see the world and its works as they before appear to me, and men appear to me as monsters." IFC Films has debuted an official trailer for Haifaa Al-Mansour's film Mary Shelley, which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival last year, and played at the Torino, Dubai, and Tribeca Film Festivals. This film tells the story of famed author Mary Shelley, showing her as "a fiercely modern 19th-century woman, and her Frankenstein as the product of unbridled imagination and profound grief." Elle Fanning stars as the Mary Shelley, with a knockout ensemble cast including Douglas Booth, Bel Powley, Maisie Williams, Joanne Froggatt, Stephen Dillane, Ben Hardy, Tom Sturridge, and Ciara Charteris. This looks like a very intense, extra-dramatic account of the events of Shelley's life. But also like an engaging watching.
Here's the first official trailer (+ poster) for Haifaa Al-Mansour's Mary Shelley, direct from YouTube:
Daughter of political philosophers William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft, who died giving birth to her, Mary (Fanning) is a bookish adolescent of humble means when she meets Percy Bysshe Shelley (Douglas Booth), who, though only 21, is already a celebrated young poet — and a shameless womanizer with one collapsing marriage already under his belt. Defying her beloved but disapproving father, Mary absconds with Shelley — her stepsister, Claire, in tow. Mary seeks "unconventional approaches to living," and finds it in spades with her debt-ridden bon vivant scribe, who desires neither monogamy nor the constraints of fatherly responsibility. Yet Percy believes in Mary, and two years into their union he whisks her away to a Swiss chateau for a summer of debauchery presided over by Lord Byron, where Mary will confront personal demons and compose the most influential horror novel of all time. Mary Shelley is directed by Saudi Arabian filmmaker Haifaa Al-Mansour, of the film Wadjda previously, and the short doc Women Without Shadows. The screenplay is written by Emma Jensen, and Haifaa Al-Mansour. This first premiered at the Toronto Film Festival last year. IFC will open Mary Shelley in select theaters starting on May 25th.
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Main Street at Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque, New Mexico (click here for more info)
4 comments:
you are gonna love the "glows",such beauty. it makes me feel very peaceful.ReplyDelete
I wish they hadn't canceled tonight's, I was soooo looking forward to it!!ReplyDelete
- AnonymousOctober 8, 2010 at 10:03 AM
I envy you being there. Someday maybe.ReplyDelete
Where were you able to camp? Is the town a madhouse?
Happy travels.
Louise in FLA
I made reservations to camp at the festival months ago, so I am in their RV section. There are tons and tons of rvs here.ReplyDelete
The town is not too bad. Everyone is excited about the festival, there are festival signs and merchandise and specials everywhere you go.
The worst part is traffic around event times (in the mornings and again in the evenings) so I am glad to be parked here and that I don't need to move the rv for 3 days.
There's a free shuttle that takes you from the rv section to the field where the balloons are, that runs constantly. It's a nice event and well organized.


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Director John Luessenhop's Texas Chainsaw 3D, a direct sequel to the 1974 horror classic, cleaned up at the box office.
Although analysts predicted the first place position would belong to either The Hobbit, Django Unchained, or Les Miserables, it would appear that audiences were more interested in seeing people get eviscerated on the big screen over the weekend.
According to Coming Soon, Texas Chainsaw 3D rose to the top of the cinematic pile with an estimated $23.1 million in ticket sales. Lionsgate's venture has proven successful, especially since the film's production budget was around $8 million.
Landing in the second place position with $20 million in receipts was director Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained starring Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, and Leonardo DiCaprio. Since hitting theaters on Christmas Day, the film has earned $106 million during its domestic run. The film is sure to earn quite a bit more when it opens internationally.
Peter Jackson's The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey found its way into third place with $17.5 million. According to Box Office Mojo, the lengthy adventure flick's worldwide total currently sits at $777 million. However, the film has yet to cross the $300 million mark in the United States.
Director Gus Van Sant's Promised Land starring Matt Damon and John Krasinski expanded into more theaters on Friday. The film, which opened in roughly 1,676 theaters, earned $4.3 million over the weekend. This total places the flick at the bottom of the top 10.
Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor's disaster drama The Impossible failed to connect with moviegoers over the past three days. Despite receiving mostly positive reviews from critics, the film only managed to bring home $2.8 million.
A complete list of the box office estimates have been included below.
1. Texas Chainsaw 3D – $23 million
2. Django Unchained – $20 million
3. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey – $17 million
4. Les Miserables – $16 million
5. Parental Guidance – $10 million
6. Jack Reacher – $9 million
7. This Is 40 – $8 million
8. Lincoln – $5 million
9. The Guilt Trip – $4 million
10. Promised Land – $4 million
Did you catch Texas Chainsaw 3D in theaters over the weekend? Are you surprised the film landed at the top of the box office?


text: 2307 Peachtree Court, Denison, TX Posted on October 8, 2014 by janetlafoyrealtor 0 Flares Filament.io 0 Flares × Peachtree Crt View the Property Details, More Photos, Map & School information here at the updated Single Property Website! Beautiful, well maintained home in a much desired neighborhood. This gorgeous home has been custom built and landscaped, creating the perfect curb appeal. You really don't want to miss out on this catch! Schedule a Showing Denison Homes For Sale Denison Homes for Sale Search All Homes For Sale Homes Close to Where You Work Avoid Foreclosure What is Your Home Worth? Call 903-267-4644 for more information on this or any other property. Visit Property Website Courtesy: Janet LaFoyKusch Land and RealtyEmail Me Now903-267-4644Licensed In: TexasLicense #: 0640179 2307 Peachtree CourtDenison, TX 75020Bedrooms:3Bathrooms: 2 full, 1 halfList Price: $ 289,000Living Area Approx: 2800 Have questions? Ask me.


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Hardware Description
A head-on collision of value and kickassness, the Two Hundred by Antec is our most affordable gaming case yet. Get the awesome features you expect from Antec, plus brand new features like a built-in hot swap SATA hard drive caddy! The Two Hundred also introduces a CPU cutout for installation of CPU coolers, a perforated front bezel for maximum air intake, plus a whopping ten drive bays! And with menacing style that'll strike fear in the hearts of men, the Two Hundred's got it all. So don't spend an arm and a leg. Sever an arm and a leg (off your opponent!) with the Two Hundred.


text: Before there was Netflix and chill, there was dinner and a movie. Forsake the couch (for an evening) and head out to Newton where Lumière is partnering with West Newton Cinema to make date night (or girl's night or movie night or whatever kind of night you want) even more awesome. Just show your movie stub to your server at the Washington Street restaurant, and you'll get a free dessert (on the house!) with a purchase of an entrée. This deal is available Sunday through Thursday, leaving your prime weekend nights free for other shenanigans (or going to bed early). Questions? Call 617.244.9199.


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Improving Survival Rate of Children and Teens Affected by Blood Cancers
We are delighted to announce the appointment of Prof Jonathan Bond as the Brendan McGonnell UCD Professor of Paediatric Molecular Haemato-Oncology as part of a NCRC/CMRF-funded research programme to improve survival rates of children and teens affected by cancers of the blood.
Genomic Research on Progressive Dystonia
Heart-warming story of how genomics research has transformed the life of a young patient with Progressive Dystonia allowing her to speak for the first time in four years. The research by Genomics Medicine Ireland and the UCD Academic Centre on Rare Diseases identified a gene mutation that identified her as a suitable candidate for Deep Brain Stimulation.
UCD Perinatal Research Centre Launched
The UCD Perinatal Research Centre based at the National Maternity Hospital, Holles Street was launched today with a symposium highlighting maternal and fetal health research undertaken over the past ten years and a reflection on the future challenges of the global obesity epidemic on mother and child health.
Newman Fellowship Programme Dinner 2018
The annual Newman Fellowship Programme Dinner was held on Tuesday, 6th March 2018 with UCD President Professor Andrew J. Deeks welcoming Donors, Fellows and their Academic Mentors to celebrate UCD's pioneering postdoctoral research initiative, the Newman Fellowship Programme.
James B. Coakley Medal for Dissection 2018
Applications are now invited for the James B. Coakley Medal for Dissection 2018. Closing Date: Tues 1 May 18 (5pm).


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CROTON – Tucked away in a far corner of the Hartford Fairground is a place that might not have the glamour of the stages or racetracks, but it's gaining in popularity nonetheless, and there's always some sort of activity happening. " It's cool; it's shady; it's relaxing," said Licking County Soil and Water Administrator Jim Kiracofe, as he described the fair's Natural Resources Area, which hosts everything from frog jumping competitions to lumberjack shows. "This is our sixth fair," he said.
Kiracofe said his organization used to have a booth on the midway to promote conservation and natural resources, but the cramped area and hot pavement weren't setting the right mood. "We weren't enticing people," he said. "We thought we needed to be in a natural area."
So, the organization moved to a woodsy spot behind the grounds complete with a pond. Kiracofe said the pond was enlarged and a wetland area with a babbling brook were added, and then a pavilion and bridges to cross the stream. " Every year, we keep adding more," he said. Kiracofe said the Natural Resource Area's activities have included wild game cook-offs, "what's in my creek," coon dog displays, and an FFA challenge, which sponsors canoe races, canoe jousting, log rolling, and canoe tug-of-war. "People were going crazy over that," he said. The area has also hosted live music and outdoors related sporting events and demonstrations.
The Hartford Fair ran this year from August 7 to 13. Thursday afternoon, children were "creeking," or exploring the stream on a mission to see what wildlife—such as tadpoles, adult frogs, or crayfish–or other interesting things they could discover. Afterward was Morrow County Coon Hunters Club President Parry Edman's coon dog demonstration.
Kiracofe said Licking County Soil and Water and Licking County Recycling are major contributors to the Natural Resources Area, and it receives help from the Ohio Certified Volunteer Naturalists and Dawes Arboretum, among others. "Funding is more in kind than anything else," he said, adding that the Licking County Commissioners helped with some start-up funding. "The volunteers have really helped, too," said Kiracofe.
Despite a struggling economy and other funding challenges, Kiracofe believes the Natural Resource Area's future looks bright. "We're getting a lot of good PR," he said. "We're happy."


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20cm Pink Baby Hippo Soft Toy
A gorgeously soft cuddly companion
Product Description
This gorgeously soft pink hippo has a big heart for hugs and a big smile for making friends. The heart, feet and inside of the ears have a pink and white polka dot design that give this hippo some style and make it an exciting new friend for babies and young children.
Key Features
- Pink Hippo with polka dot heart
- Gift tag "To… From..."
For some children, this hippo will become a childhood or even lifelong companion. For others it may just be part of a larger group of friends. Either way, the softness of the plush toy and the warmth of its colours and smile mean it's sure to be a hit with any child.
Buy this for a birthday or christening, or just to treat a child with some additional love.
- H27 x W17 x D11cm (approx. at widest points)
- 100% polyester
Please Note:
This toy has been manufactured to the highest possible standard in accordance with EN 71 standards. Hand wash in warm water only.
Young children should be supervised due to potential for pile loss.
Young children should be supervised due to potential for pile loss.
Remove tags, ties and packaging and any accessories before giving to a child. (Please retain for future reference)
Customer Reviews
Customer Reviews


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Friday, March 6, 2015
Bright Light Then Sudden Green Flash In The Sky Seen Over Pasadena Texas
Date: March 6, 2015
Time: 2:19 a.m.
It looked like an airplane about to land and it had a bright light, then all of a sudden there was a green flash and it looked like it disappeared horizontally across the sky.
I was driving to Texas city, my friend and I and the person we were talking to on the speaker phone well she was driving in Pasadena witnessed it at the same time, because at that very moment we all said did you see that.
It wasn't going vertical like a meteor falling to earth, it was March 6, 2015 at 2:19 a.m.
The green flash stayed in the sky at least for 2 minutes and after the green flash disappeared, it was than followed by what looked like a contrail.
The trail was in the sky at least a minute.
Its all I can think about been trying to do research, but nothing has come close to an explanation of what we saw.
There has to be more people who have seen it. Its really bothering me can't get it off my mind.
Thank you to the witness for their report.
If anyone has had a UFO/UFOs sighting, please send me an email at email@example.com or fill out the online UFO report form at http://sightings1.yolasite.com/ with details of what you saw.
Please remember to include the date and time and location. (Town/City – State or Province) and as much detail as possible.
Vike Factor Note: I do receive sighting reports from all over the world, and I post all of the reports I receive here: http://the-v-factor-paranormal.blogspot.com/
Brian Vike.
Box 1091
Houston, British Columbia, Canada.
Email: email@example.com or firstname.lastname@example.com
The Vike Factor - Houston, British Columbia Centre For UFO Research. Canadian UFO Investigator Brian Vike.
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Review: One More Try
Directed by Ruel S. Bayani (Star Cinema)
by Tessa Maria Guazon
One More Try attempts to revive the formula of beleaguered love by imbuing it moral choice. It failed disastrously. Caught in the snarls of an ill-conceived story, it stumbles countless times. In it, drama explores the limits of absurdity and viewing becomes an exercise in dredging the pit of incongruity. This is most apparent in the final conciliatory scene, one suffused with apologies and promises. After an awkward silence, the actors dutifully deliver lines in a final segment that can only be described as an inept afterthought. The droll and futile arguments they spewed at each other throughout their poorly imagined lives hover as ghastly background. The only reason we sit through the end is to pat ourselves on the back for becoming astute seers: knowing exactly how this movie will dissipate. The awards heaped on One More Try evade logic and at best illustrate the failure of 'entertainment' as conceived by the Metro Manila Film Festival organizers.
One More Try opens in Baguio and a summer affair. This arduous, youthful attraction between Edward (Dingdong Dantes) and Grace (Angel Locsin) begets a love child who now battles a rare lymphatic cancer. The child fails numerous bone marrow transplants and needs his father. Patch this past onto the life of a young, successful couple yearning for a child yet unable to beget another offspring. Jac / Jacqueline (Angelica Panganiban), the woman in this fairytale marriage is an upwardly mobile advertising executive torn between success and guilt. She is by turns, confusingly sharp and witless in her attempts to please husband Edward. This fairytale marriage is marred by the husband's past – a child from the brief summer affair who badly needs a bone marrow match. From when they began solving this matching conundrum, the film begins a headlong plunge to ruin. Failing numerous matches, the gynaecologist suggests in-vitro fertilization which again predictably failed. Seemingly pushed against the wall, old lovers were needlessly set for a night together which again fails – the rusty fulcrum of failure the film exploits. Jac, Edward, Grace and her lover Tristan (Zanjoe Marudo) are forced to gamble their hearts, bodies and gut for what they thought was a morally upright choice.
Up until this experiment in conceiving a child, the story maintains precarious lucidity but throw in this wavering mix the odd character of an obstetrician (the screeching Carmina Villaroel) and we begin to sense comic doom. Jac, Angelica Panganiban's character quips "We will never run out of money but my patience is running thin!" – such astuteness because I felt similar exasperation at this point in the film. From then on, One More Try attempted to regain its footing but to no avail. It seems like the ragged patch of road hastily mapped for the film to tread is but a slippery descent to sure failure. The requisite stream of tears, rage, and furies cannot make up for a slack and slovenly narrative.
Sparks fly between actresses Panganiban and Locsin, but the same cannot be said for the artificial chemistry between them and lead actors Dantes and the regrettably forgettable Zanjoe Marudo. Dantes glares, seduces, romps, but little can be said of his acting. Great wonder over the best performance award for a male actor, for lack of choice I guess. Marudo woos and pouts, cries and frets – the odd character in a poorly designed game. This film's trudge to ruin is long and drawn out. No acting from its lead actresses can ever redeem it. We waver between incredulity and absurdity as arguments are thrown back and forth, the conversations between the film characters swinging like a badly wound pendulum in offkilter rhythm.
So let's try this again and spell it out. Why can't we have a bevy of well directed, well told films when the year closes? Surely, entertainment need not be empty and inane (we endure this kind often enough from the halls of politics all throughout the year). Movies that bank on the surface gloss of fairy tale lives are not far from midday entertainment shows – they suck the heft of life's hardships, profit from them and deceive in cunning.
However much I turn the scenes from One More Try over in my head – from the early flashback sequence to the run of the mill ending, from that cloying end back to the formulaic beginning (such desperate straining) – there is no meat or backbone to this flagging and absurd story. What it lacks in credibility, it makes up for with the flashy trappings of an expected mainstream box office success – figures and promotions as tiresome and vexing as anything can get.
Image taken from pinoyexchange.com


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How to Heal After the Death of a Twin
Order your pre-launch copy of the book DOUBLE HAPPINESS MULTIPLIED – What you need to know about having Twins, Triplets, & Quads HERE:
On the final episode of Season One of the Double Happiness Multiplied podcast we discuss the different avenues people take to address their grief when things don't go the way they hoped during their multiple pregnancies.
Alexa Bigwarfe tells us how she turned to advocacy to help her heal following the passing of one of her twin daughters, just two days after her birth.
Scott Beedie gives us a dad's perspective of the emotional struggle and turmoil he experienced when he was told one of his twin's hearts had stopped beating t just 21-weeks' gestation.
And, Psychologist Dr Gretta Little shares some advice on recognising when it's time you need to get some professional help to deal with your emotions.
Joy and Sorrow
We've spoken about the joys and the sorrows of multiple pregnancies throughout Season One of this podcast, and it's clear each and every person who's been touched by multiples find their own way to face their realities, whether it's coming to terms with carrying more than one, two, or three babies or finding out that you won't be taking one or both of your twins' home.
Alexa's Story
After Alexa Bigwarfe's twin girls were born, she was certain the medical system would fix her daughter who was extremely affected by twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome, sadly Kathryn passed away just two days after she was born. Her twin sister Charis had a long journey in the NICU, which saw Alexa turn to advocacy to come to terms with the loss.
"In a nutshell, I started blogging both about my grief and about twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome,"
"I started interviewing other parents and talking with them about their stories, and what I found was that so many situations were so similar to mine,"
"Their doctors were either nonchalant about it, never mentioned it, didn't give them all the information,'' says Alexa.
Do your Research
During her research, Alexa found that there are a significant number of babies born prematurely between 26-and-30 weeks because of twin-to-twin-transfusion syndrome, which means they're impacted by all the issue that comes with being pre-term.
"I wanted to really make some noise about it,"
"In the year that I was looking at the research, I found out that more babies died annually from twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome than SIDS,"
"We couldn't change our story but potentially if someone else got the information in time then they could change theirs," Alexa says.
The Advocate
It wasn't long before Alexa found herself acting as an advocate for mothers. She says with doctors being so busy, mums and dads carting multiples have to be their own advocates and their own source of information," she says.
Alexa admits she never like being the negative person but now if she comes across someone who is pregnant with identical twins, whether she knows them or not, she gives them information about TTTS.
"I say to them, I don't want to scare you but I'd rather you be scared than go through a situation like I did,"
"I tell them about TTTS, and I tell them where the best resources for information are and I tell them where to find the questions to ask their doctor,
"And I say if your doctor is unwilling, or can't find answers to these questions, I beg you to go and find another doctor immediately," insists Alexa.
Alexa admits she's not deterred by the anger from other people when she's sharing information. She says she feels it's her purpose to inform people and try and save others from the same heartache she experienced.
"I'd much rather someone be terrified right now and be educated, and aware, and not ignorant,"
"I'd much rather someone be terrified right now and be educated, and aware, and not ignorant."
~Alexa Bigwarfe – twin mum~
"Unfortunately, in our situation by the time they were diagnosed they were so far along that it makes it more difficult to do things to help them," says Alexa.
Scott's Story
Scott Beedie was also forced to face a situation he never imagined. He was excited by the news that his wife Joanne was carrying twin boys. That excitement turned to disbelief when one of the boy's hearts stopped beating.
He says if it wasn't for his family travelling from overseas to help out he wouldn't have coped as well emotionally as he did, and even at times, he didn't cope very well.
"You know it was going well up until you know 15-weeks when we had scans, they were all looking very positive, the obstetrician was seeing everything she wanted to see, but when we went for our 18-week scan we were already at stage 3 twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome,"
"That was quite a shock, we had turned up to that scan expecting another good one and we hadn't been aware of twin-to-twin transfusion risk,"
"It moved very quickly with Joanne having surgery the next day," recalls Scott.
An anxious week-long wait followed before another ultrasound was conducted. Scott says they received good news, and it looked like the fetoscopic laser surgery had worked. The scan showed both babies had corrected in terms of liver size and the allocation of fluid.
"But unfortunately, when we went for the scan two-weeks after the surgery one of the twins had passed away,"
"That's a confusing situation because you do suffer grief but you haven't met your baby,"
"So, it's quite an abnormal situation, why do I feel emotions for someone I've never met?" says Scott.
Joanne went onto immediate semi-bedrest to try and give the second twin the best chance.
"When we went for scans after that I didn't look at the screen, I just listened to hear that everything was fine with the surviving twin. I didn't want to look at the screen and see the twin we had lost," admits Scott.
The Birth
Joanne was on her own in her hospital bathroom when the babies were delivered. Scott says it happened very quickly, there were no doctors there and essentially Joanne caught the babies.
"I had just gone home from the hospital for the evening and I got a call saying it's happened come in, and I came in and Joanne was clearly in shock,"
"It's quite confronting, what a 27-week gestation baby looks like. Even if you've seen pictures you can't imagine how small they actually are," says Scott.
"It's quite confronting, what a 27-week gestation baby looks like. Even if you've seen pictures you can't imagine how small they actually are."
~Scott Beedie – twin dad~
As Scott recalls the 13-week journey through the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit was exhausting. He admits that having a baby born so early makes it difficult to create the usual parent/baby bond.
"And, you do have to go back to work, you may have siblings at home, which is a challenge," says Scott.
Scott and Joanne's son Archie also had his own NICU journey. It was a confusing time for him, going from expecting to have two brothers joining their family to being told only one would be coming home from the hospital.
"Our elder son was saying where's mummy gone, why has she disappeared because for three-months she was out of the house for 8-hours a day,"
"You know, he was only two-years-old at the time, but they can pick up the emotional strain you're undergoing and it has an impact on them"
"So, you have to sort of put on a face and make sure they can get some time with you and you make it a brighter environment than you're actually feeling like being in," explains Scott.
Reaching Out
Having preterm babies and dealing with the loss of a baby from a multiple pregnancy places an enormous strain on your family unit. Psychologist Dr Gretta Little says there are some clear signs to look out for that indicate you probably need to get some help dealing with your emotions.
"There's very good research that shows depression and anxiety in mothers, both antenatal and postnatally, impacts infant development across all domains,"
"There's very good research that shows depression and anxiety in mothers both antenatal and postnatally, impacts infant development across all domains."
~Psychologist Dr Gretta Little~
"So, cognitive development, emotional development, physical development,"
"Mum's mental health, it's really important for her, it's also really important for the children," says Dr Little.
The Dads
As Dr Little explains, there isn't any good data on Dad's mental health, however, it's widely documented that the levels of stress go up significantly for dads of multiples.
"They're so much more engaged in the process and the care of the infants that I think it's fair to assume that mental health becomes a family system issue,"
"So, if dad's not travelling well that's going to impact the mum and the children,"
"Therefore, it's really important that everyone in the family is supported to get enough sleep, eating well, being able to engage in pleasurable activities that don't involve parenting, that's important for everyone," says Dr Little.
"It's really important that everyone in the family is supported to get enough sleep, eating well, being able to engage in pleasurable activities that don't involve parenting, that's important for everyone."
~Psychologist Dr Gretta Little~
Warning Signs
Feeling down for a period of two-weeks with no pleasurable feelings is a warning sign, according to Dr Little. Also, some other signs would be:
Feeling very anxious or worried.
Not getting good quality sleep.
Feeling stressed all the time.
Feeling like you're not coping.
Having a sense that something bad is going to happen.
A feeling of dread.
There might be feelings of panic, racing heart, finding it hard to breathe.
Abdominal Breathing
Dr Little says abdominal breathing is a really good way to calm yourself down if you find anxiety or worry is taking over.
She explains that the easiest way to do that is to:
Do the longest, slowest out breath you can do through your nose.
Then, the next breath in will be deeper.
"If you do three of those, and if you take time throughout your day to stop and take three deep breaths, say at breakfast, lunch, and dinner, it just reminds you what a deep breath feels like," instructs Dr Little.
Dr Little recommends an app called 'Mind the Bump', which has mindfulness meditations for mums.
"If we're anxious our minds tend to be in the future imagining bad things that can happen, and if we're depressed we tend to be in the past being sad or regretful,"
"If we're anxious our minds tend to be in the future imagining bad things that can happen, and if we're depressed we tend to be in the past being sad or regretful."
~Psychologist Dr Gretta Little~
"So, if we can bring our mind back to the present moment it gives us a break from some of those more negative thoughts," says Dr Little.
Abdominal breathing is a really good way to calm yourself down if you find anxiety or worry is taking over.
Bringing your mind back to the present moment by practising mindfulness gives you a break from negative thoughts.
Do your research and demand answers to your questions.
Twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome effects monochorionic pregnancies.
Season Two
Thank you for listening to Season ONE of Double Happiness Multiplied.
I really hope you've enjoyed listening and you've found the information invaluable.
On Season TWO, we're talking about taking your babies home and what to expect in their first year.
I hope you can join me then.
Until next time.
I wish you Double Happiness Multiplied.
Double Happiness Multiplied – What you need to know about having Twins, Triplets, & Quads book:
Double Happiness Multiplied
The Pregnancy & Birth Trauma Healing Lounge Facebook Group:
Helping Little Hands
Joanne & Scott Beedie
Alexa Bigwarfe
Never the Same – Families Forever Changes by Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome
Dr Gretta Little
Miscarriage, stillbirth, and newborn death support.
Podcast music by:
Catherine Ashley Harpist
Produced by:
Stuart James
Soundfield Studio
Louise Rowe
2 Comments
Thank you so much for sharing our story. xo


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I don't think people understood how weird it is that this album sold so much.
When was the last time such an experimental and almost avant-garde album sold so many records? Yes, I just described Slipknot as 'avant-garde'. Metalheads describe a lot of Nu Metal as 'generic', but being a metalhead means being ignorant of other genres. For an untrained ear, Slipknot is meaningless chaothic noise. If you heard some weird music (Which isn't limited to Velvet Underground) then this comes off as very experimental.
It's considered 'metal' because it's aggressive, but in many ways it's played like an Industrial record. Guitar riffs are not at the front. The songs don't ride these riffs. They're just another texture. Among other noises the band adds are creepy samples, Test Dept.-esque metallic clangs and frantic drumming. Then, there's Corey's vocals.
Corey sings like an angrier Mike Patton. He does it all – singing, screaming, spoken word, rapping, whispering. His delivery is inspired mainly by Hardcore Punk screaming, as seen on "(sic)" and "Eyeless". It's freeform ranting that Patton loves so much. It's a far cry from death growls, which tend to have a clear rhythm.
All this makes for a wild, experimental record with little single material. "Wait and Bleed" is the only thing that can be played on the radio (and that required an alternative mix). Its reason for popularity is how intense this record is. Slipknot's weird musical ideas stem not from a desire for creativity, but to vent. When Corey goes "fuck it all" ranting on "Surfacing", it's convincing even if it's a trite expression. That's why the frantic drumming and all this noise is effective. The drumming is just an extension of Corey's lyrics and vocals.
Its this blunt anger is also the album's downfall. Since the band only wants to slam their instruments and rant, there are no deviatons. "Scissors" comes close, but it's a token, long album closer. None of the above elements are expanded and worked upon. The band drops differnet amounts in different songs, but since the songs all serve the same purpose they all end up as "variation on a theme".
There are a few songs that expand on the rapping – "No Life", "Only One" and "Spit It Out", and they ended up standing out more. Light-heartedness and hedonistic vulgarity are one of Nu Metal's best assets. It's the bands that forget this that tend to be the weakest. There's also "Tattered and Torn", a song that has more in common with Skinny Puppy than anything else. These slight deviations help lift the album a bit, but it runs out of steam by the time you get to "Diluted" and "Liberate". You can't fault the band for this. Songs like "(sic)" are great, but this style gets too tiring. Slipknot knew that, but too bad they later introduced melody in expanse of the weirdness.
For the first five tracks it sounds like Nu Metal's classic. It should be. It gets why the genre works so well. It's just as experimental as its vulgar and catchy. Slipknot didn't have the wealth of ideas that would later make a record like Signifcant Other or (hed) pe. All the same, It's still a record worth checking out, regardless of how you feel about metal. The metalheads were right. This isn't really 'metal'. There's too much going on here.
3.5 only ones out of 5


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"They can't beat us in a stand-up fight -- they never have -- but they're absolutely convinced they can break our will, [that] the American people don't have the stomach for the fight," Cheney said on NBC's "Meet the Press."
The vice president said U.S. allies in Afghanistan and Iraq "have doubts" the United States will finish the job there. "And those doubts are encouraged, obviously, when they see the kind of debate that we've had in the United States," he said. "Suggestions, for example, that we should withdraw U.S. forces from Iraq simply feed into that whole notion, validates the strategy of the terrorists."
Monday, September 11, 2006
Dissent is Treason
by Atrios at 08:42


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this is when she was still normal, nice!
en su bolsillo5 Apr
quick updates; i went to watch the malaysia f1 petronas grand prix last sunday. check out the pictures here.
and right now i just got back from klcc, firdaus is here for his pnb scholarship iq test, and we watched clash of the titans. firdaus watched this movie thrice and planned for the fourth run.
and i'll be away to kedah for the whole week. bye.
and and and, enjoy this. (:
bang bang bang10 Mar
tomorrow is the day, and everything is so lovely and blithe. it's coming it's coming yet the sun is so honey and the sky are just angel blue. my lips are chapped but i'm happy. hope this lasts. (:
and some random awesome find, enjoy. (:
den lille pige med svovlstikkerne23 Feb
i know, i know it's not christmas or whatever; but today i feel like sharing a favourite short story of mine. the german title is the original name of the story; written by the gifted hans christian andersen. enjoy!
The Little Match Girl
Most terribly cold it was; it snowed, and was nearly quite dark, and evening– the last evening of the year. In this cold and darkness there went along the street a poor little girl, bareheaded, and with naked feet. When she left home she had slippers on, it is true; but what was the good of that? They were very large slippers, which her mother had hitherto worn; so large were they; and the poor little thing lost them as she scuffled away across the street, because of two carriages that rolled by dreadfully fast
One slipper was nowhere to be found; the other had been laid hold of by an urchin, and off he ran with it; he thought it would do capitally for a cradle when he some day or other should have children himself. So the little maiden walked on with her tiny naked feet, that were quite red and blue from cold. She carried a quantity of matches in an old apron, and she held a bundle of them in her hand. Nobody had bought anything of her the whole livelong day; no one had given her a single farthing.
She crept along trembling with cold and hunger–a very picture of sorrow, the poor little thing!
The flakes of snow covered her long fair hair, which fell in beautiful curls around her neck; but of that, of course, she never once now thought. From all the windows the candles were gleaming, and it smelt so deliciously of roast goose, for you know it was New Year's Eve; yes, of that she thought.
In a corner formed by two houses, of which one advanced more than the other, she seated herself down and cowered together. Her little feet she had drawn close up to her, but she grew colder and colder, and to go home she did not venture, for she had not sold any matches and could not bring a farthing of money: from her father she would certainly get blows, and at home it was cold too, for above her she had only the roof, through which the wind whistled, even though the largest cracks were stopped up with straw and rags.
Her little hands were almost numbed with cold. Oh! A match might afford her a world of comfort, if she only dared take a single one out of the bundle, draw it against the wall, and warm her fingers by it. She drew one out. "Rischt!" how it blazed, how it burnt!. It was a warm, bright flame, like a candle, as she held her hands over it: it was a wonderful light. It seemed really to the little maiden as though she were sitting before a large iron stove, with burnished brass feet and a brass ornament at top. The fire burned with such blessed influence; it warmed so delightfully. The little girl had already stretched out her feet to warm them too; but–the small flame went out, the stove vanished: she had only the remains of the burnt-out match in her hand.
She rubbed another against the wall: it burned brightly, and where the light fell on the wall, there the wall became transparent like a veil, so that she could see into the room. On the table was spread a snow-white tablecloth; upon it was a splendid porcelain service, and the roast goose was steaming famously with its stuffing of apple and dried plums. And what was still more capital to behold was, the goose hopped down from the dish, reeled about on the floor with knife and fork in its breast, till it came up to the poor little girl; when–the match went out and nothing but the thick, cold, damp wall was left behind. She lighted another match. Now there she was sitting under the most magnificent Christmas tree: it was still larger, and more decorated than the one which she had seen through the glass door in the rich merchant's house.
Thousands of lights were burning on the green branches, and gaily-colored pictures, such as she had seen in the shop-windows, looked down upon her. The little maiden stretched out her hands towards them when–the match went out. The lights of the Christmas tree rose higher and higher, she saw them now as stars in heaven; one fell down and formed a long trail of fire.
"Someone is just dead!" said the little girl; for her old grandmother, the only person who had loved her, and who was now no more, had told her, that when a star falls, a soul ascends to God.
She drew another match against the wall: it was again light, and in the lustre there stood the old grandmother, so bright and radiant, so mild, and with such an expression of love.
"Grandmother!" cried the little one. "Oh, take me with you! You go away when the match burns out; you vanish like the warm stove, like the delicious roast goose, and like the magnificent Christmas tree!" And she rubbed the whole bundle of matches quickly against the wall, for she wanted to be quite sure of keeping her grandmother near her. And the matches gave such a brilliant light that it was brighter than at noon-day: never formerly had the grandmother been so beautiful and so tall. She took the little maiden, on her arm, and both flew in brightness and in joy so high, so very high, and then above was neither cold, nor hunger, nor anxiety–they were with God.
But in the corner, at the cold hour of dawn, sat the poor girl, with rosy cheeks and with a smiling mouth, leaning against the wall–frozen to death on the last evening of the old year. Stiff and stark sat the child there with her matches, of which one bundle had been burnt. "She wanted to warm herself," people said. No one had the slightest suspicion of what beautiful things she had seen; no one even dreamed of the splendor in which, with her grandmother she had entered on the joys of a new year.
lovely, innit? 😉
esok lusamu tak ku kenal lagi engkau siapa12 Feb
Potong Saga – Ho Yuhang25 Aug
a funny yet ironic short film by Malaysian filmmaker Ho Yuhang in the 15Malaysia project, about a Chinese boy's misguided attempts at opening an Islamic bank account, (involving circumcision!) watch it. notice that the main actor is Namewee, the guy who messed up our national anthem in YouTube some time ago.
i'll post another short film by the late Yasmin Ahmad soon.


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Our enormous Children's room in
Frugal Muse holds a wide variety of
children's fiction and nonfiction,
including classics, picture books,
beginning chapter books and board
books for younger readers. There's
also no shortage of nonfiction books
to help research school reports,
explore other lands or learn about art, music or American history.
Leading off of the Children's room is
the Pre-Teen/Teen room housing
thousands of popular series novels,
summer reading books and more.


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Thank you for attending the SPE Workshop.
The objective of this workshop is to discuss how we deal with lost circulation, with a strong focus on carbonate formations. The workshop discusses how to anticipate and plan for lost circulation, how to deal with it, and how it should shape well construction and field development plans.
The technical programme includes discussions and case histories on:
- Anticipating and planning for lost circulation
- Development and lab/field testing of lost circulation or loss prevention materials
- Current research into lost circulation and loss prevention
- Fluid-based approaches - old and new
- Drilling engineering approaches
- Success stories and best practices from an industry perspective
Drilling and Well Construction Professionals
Drilling Fluids Specialists
Well Planners
Geomechanics Specialists
said they would Definitely, Probably and Possibly recommend the event to others in their profession*
*Based on previous edition attendee survey
The Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) is a not-for-profit organization. Income from this event will be invested back into SPE to support many other Society programs. When you attend an SPE event, you help provide even more opportunities for industry professionals to enhance their technical and professional competence. Scholarships, certification, the Distinguished Lecturer program, and SPE's energy education program Energy4me are just a few examples of programs that are supported by SPE.


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The Bank of Japan's review of monetary policy makes an increase in stimulus more likely, according to the majority of economists in a Bloomberg survey.
Twenty-two of the 33 analysts surveyed said the review makes an expansion by the BOJ more likely. Twenty-eight expect the central bank to retain its negative interest, despite opposition from commercial banks.
The survey was conducted Aug. 1-4. The BOJ review will be presented to board members for discussion at their next gathering on Sept. 20-21.
With the massive scale of purchases by the BOJ shaping trading in Japanese bonds and stocks and affecting currencies, there is intense interest in whether it change any policies after more than three years under Governor Haruhiko Kuroda. While Kuroda and Deputy Governor Kikuo Iwata have both said there will be no shrinking of current policy, many economists and investors question whether the BOJ's program is reaching its limits.
"I expect a revision of the policy framework to make it more sustainable, without triggering an excessive drop in long-term bond yields," said Chotaro Morita, chief rates strategist at SMBC Nikko Securities.
More than two-thirds of those in the survey said the BOJ will change or delete the two-year time reference for meeting its 2 percent inflation target.
Other economists think that the central bank will fundamentally alter what it is doing.
"The BOJ's shock-awe policy failed," said Hiromichi Shirakawa, chief Japan economist at Credit Suisse Group AG. "The BOJ will move to flexible policy management for the price target and will focus on maintaining its huge balance sheet for a longer period. It's a shift to a longer battle from a short one."


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Posts Tagged tools
The Google Research Tool in Google docs
Posted by Bridget Schaumann in Google Tools, Tools, Video on May 17, 2012
I noticed this yesterday when I was doing a quick document on Google Docs to record what had happened in a meeting, whoooah "what is that happening on my sidebar" I thought. Turns out I had stumbled upon the newest feature in the Google Docs department. The Google Research Tool. They've been blogging about it over on the Bright Ideas blog too! Here is how it works (thanks Bright Ideas, love your work).
This has lots of interesting implications for our students as it pushes keyword searches straight into their documents. Clever stuff. As many schools are using to Google as an entire school platform I think it needs lots of critical and information literacy to get students sifting as they create documents.
If you still aren't using Google Docs for documents which need more than one person to work on them (or even for all your wordprocessing) then you are missing out on one of the best tools on the internet. So many ways they are useful, so many hours saved. I now have most of my templates on there from the library timetable master to policy documents which get changed every year.
Watch the Video here to see the latest tricks.
Getting to grips with Google Reader
Posted by Bridget Schaumann in Google Tools on February 7, 2012
I know that many many readers of this blog will use Google Reader every day, but many of the teaching staff I talk to, and librarians too for that matter, wonder at the ability of some of us to munch through so many blogs, gleaning good stuff and sharing it around. Google Reader makes it easy.
The RSS feed is the key to all this blog reading goodness.
Sue Waters has written a really great explanation of how to manage your blog reading life using RSS feeds and Google Reader. If you struggle to keep up with online reading, or you are looking for a clear introduction to using Google Reader then her article is certain to help you.
You will find it here. You will also find all kinds of good things on the blog, it is specifically for people using Edublogs but even though I don't use that platform I find lots of really good things on The Edublogger.
The State of Wikipedia by JESS3 – Celebrating 10 Years of Wikipedia
Posted by Julia Smith in 21st Century libraries, Primary school, Secondary school, Tools on February 1, 2012
"The State of Wikipedia not only explores the rich history and inner-workings of the web-based encyclopedia, but it's also a celebration of its 10th anniversary. With more than 17 million articles in over 270 languages, Wikipedia has undoubtedly become one of the most visited and relied upon sites on the web today."
The video features the co-founder, Jimmy Wales as the the narrator.
Very clever, interesting and relevant, and very well done.
Virtual tour of Australian school libraries
Posted by Bridget Schaumann in 21st Century libraries, Display, Professional development, Tools on November 22, 2011
Judith Way – one of my library heroines (read more about her here) has achieved this grand feat. A fantastic inside view of lots of Australian School libraries. Just WOW!
I found out about this from here (another great blog I follow called Brave New World – it's all kinds of awesome too)
Top 100 Tools of 2011
Posted by Bridget Schaumann in 21st Century libraries, Tools on November 16, 2011
Judith Way has posted this on her blog The Way Forward. If you are looking to upskill in Web 2.0 skills then you could do a lot worse than work your way through this list. It is from Jane Hart from C4LPT whose Twitter feed has provided me with fantastic PD this year.
This list of tools has given me some new things to try, and it has also been interesting to see that some of the things I completely love (iGoogle for example) slip down in the rankings.


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Tree Walk
Tree Walk
Sunday May 21 2017
Washington University entrance, Lindell at Skinker
In partnership with the department of walking | http://www.dptwlk.org
This walk promotes the bodily experience of the Brookings Drive Pin Oak allée one last time. Participants will complete an orchestrated mediation between the vastness of tree body and individual body by materially mapping the interconnected condition between these beings. Each participant will partner with one tree, and begin their solo walk from that tree into the vastness of the allée — each establishing their individual trajectory, interacting with other participants and trees along the way. Pace, direction and interaction with fellow participants matter.
And so, while you begin at one tree – you go on a journey ultimately mapping out the constellation of trees and their interconnectivity that makes this landscape an allée. The material result is a mapping of individual paths, but also a mapping of interaction, and ultimately connectivity.
Tree Taste
Hacking into the final weekly
GAC happy hour to congregate
around this tree and sample beers
brewed with oak elements.
Being with a Tree
Trees & Shrubs
Archives are elusive and beautiful things. We thought we had viewed all of the documents related to planting on campus when Sonya, the University Archivist, and I found note of a 1936 "Trees + Shrubs" plan filed with some unrelated items. Upon pulling the file we found this incredible, 3'x7′ campus-wide plan of the University's landscaping. Here we found verification of the commemorative and alumni trees, as well as the first clear species call-out on the rows of pin oaks.
The 1936 date confirms much of what we deduced on our visit to the tree-ring laboratory last week. While the specific planting date of each one of these incredible oaks may never be known exactly, we are moving toward confidence that the trees are ~80 years old.
Worm's Eye View
The second iteration of our root/tree enclosure has been in place for several weeks and has seen more use than the first. Perhaps this is due to the increasingly warmer and sunnier spring weather? Perhaps it has something also to do with the configuration of the enclosure itself? A series of drawings for each iteration of the enclosure provides further opportunities to consider what it means to create an interior and exterior space, what it means to position ourselves in relationship to the tree. Critical to this analysis is the point of view of the drawing. Four drawings for each enclosure were made, all done in parallel (isometric) projection, however the most compelling point of view in my mind, was the worm's eye view.
This point of view seems appropriate for the enclosures because it positions the observer looking upward into the tree, as you would be if you were seated in the enclosure itself. It also strengthens, lengthens and underscores the tree and the enclosure, and their presence, while humbling the viewer. The worm's eye view offers a sensation of being embedded within the earth looking through transparent soil to the tree and the enclosure above. Perhaps root's eye view is more appropriate for the context of our studio? At least one more set of drawings to add to the current two would make a more complete series, so I am thinking about the next iteration of our enclosure project and what that might look like…


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Delta Health Alliance's garden projects are bringing in BIG harvests!
Thanks to two new grants, Delta Health Alliance's school and community garden program is expanding. With $8,000 in funding from Monsanto and $34,961 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, more children will get hands-on experiences with gardening and learning about healthy eating.
Funding from Monsanto in Hollandale will be used to install, build, and develop a school garden site located at Sanders Elementary School in Hollandale. Once in place, the garden infrastructure will provide an exciting and interactive outdoor learning space.
The Agriculture Department grant will be used by Delta Health Alliance to provide resources to groups throughout the Delta who want to establish school garden-related activities and other projects that support farm-to-school networks and gardening education efforts.
According to Karen Matthews, Delta Health Alliance CEO, "Our community garden program connects 5th grade students with a school garden to improve access to fresh produce and increase nutrition awareness to students in rural areas. This new funding from USDA and Monsanto will allow us to reach more children, their families and community partners to establish sustainable healthy nutrition practices in Hollandale and other parts of the Delta."
The Delta Health Alliance program is an innovative, collaborative approach that links community and state partners, area farmers, school administrators, food service and cafeteria staff, and teachers with 5th grade students to educate them about garden design and management and healthy diets.
To find out more about Delta Health Alliance's programs go to www.deltaheatlthalliance.org, or follow Delta Health Alliance on Facebook.


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Let the terror be-gin
Gaming with purpose
Geeking Out Over Film & TV
Misadventures and antics in the gaming world
Adventures in Robotics, Development and Electronics.
Halloween and horror inspired recipes straight from the Devil's Kitchen
Michels Book/Boardgame/Movie review Blog
Australian movie blog - like Margaret and David, just a little younger
Rambles about games...
Halloween food and horror recipes straight from the Devil's own Cookbook
Video games past, present and future.
Probabilmente il miglior blog bilingue al mondo*


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- 31-page comprehensive study guide
- Features 9 chapter summaries and 5 sections of expert analysis
- Written by a professional writer with a PhD in English
Machinal Summary and Study Guide
SuperSummary, a modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, offers high-quality study guides for challenging works of literature. This 31-page guide for "Machinal" by Sophie Treadwell includes detailed chapter summaries and analysis covering 9 chapters, as well as several more in-depth sections of expert-written literary analysis. Featured content includes commentary on major characters, 25 important quotes, essay topics, and key themes like The Untenable Position and Role of Women in Society and The Mechanical and Reductive Nature of the Everyday.
Plot Summary
Machinal, which means "mechanical" in French, is a play by Sophie Treadwell, and is based on the true story of a woman who murders her husband, after seven attempts; this woman, Ruth Snyder, is subsequently the very first female to be executed using the electric chair.The woman is convicted and executed for the murder.
Machinal was first performed in London, in 1931, at the Royal National Theatre. Treadwell was a journalist and learned of the murder in 1928 through her job. Treadwell's expressionist drama suggests that this Snyder's actions are the result of the stultifying and repressive role forced on women by society. Instead of focusing on the specificity of the woman who murdered her husband, she elevates the story to a broader view of the objectification of women in the early part of the 20th century. The play accomplishes this in several ways. Treadwell does not name nearly all of the characters but rather identifies them by their jobs (for example, telephone girl or file clerk); the dialog is staccato-paced and filled with clichés and repetitions; and the plot of the story is episodic, with each episode representing a mode of female repression. In this manner, the young woman, Helen, becomes an everywoman.
Each of the nine episodes that comprise the play represent typical elements or passages of a working-woman's life in the early part of the 20th century:
- Episode 1: "To Business"
- Episode 2:"At Home"
- Episode 3:"Honeymoon"
- Episode 4:"Maternal"
- Episode 5:"Prohibited"
- Episode 6:"Intimate"
- Episode 7:"Domestic"
- Episode 8:"The Law"
- Episode 9:"The Machine"
Episode One introduces the reader to the machines of the business office, and theseobjects appear on stage. After the machines, we meet the human characters, named by their jobs: file clerk, telephone operator, stenographer, and so on. We hear a cacophony of office sounds from the machines: typewriters, mimeographs, adding machines. Each character identifies their job by speaking in a manner that aligns with it: the adding-machine man starts speaking numbers, the telephone operator speaks snippets of answering the phone, the filing clerk wants to know "What's the matter with Q?" (226). All statements are rapid fire. The people then move into a conversation about the protagonist, Helen, hinting that they think she will marry the boss. The file clerk keeps repeating the phrase, "hot dog" (205).
Jones, the boss, is the only named character at the outset of the play; we learn in Episode 5 that the woman's name is Helen. The office workers respond to Jones by saying, "Hew to the line," (271) reminding them to stick to their jobs, and thengo about performing a set of commonplace office activities. Helen comes in late to the office, dreamy and unaware. She doesn't want to go to Mr. Jones's office to take a letter. Instead, she sits and dreams.
Each of the subsequent episodes pushes the young woman further into the mire of her life. Her mother nags her to get married and fit in. She doesn't listen when Helen tells her she wants to be free. She just " to the line," (271) living the life that is expected of her.
After the woman marries Jones, the play jumps to their honeymoon, which is horrid for Helen. Jones can't understand what's wrong with her when she keeps pulling away. She keeps asking for fresh air. The sounds of steel and riveting open the following episode, "Maternal." An offstage voice says, "she's had a baby girl." (717).The audience seesHelen in bed and is made aware she is not happy to have had a girl. Her husband reminds her that "aving a baby is perfectly natural" (722), to which the woman responds by gagging. When she is alone, she thinks that she's done enough submitting, and thinks of drowning puppies.
Next, we see Helen in a bar. Each table in the bar is occupied. The woman says she wants to keep moving. The man at her table tells her he's killed a man in Mexico, in order to get free. We then understand that the woman is having an affair. Further, she is from this point forward no longer referred to as the young woman, and instead "the woman" (Helen's name is almost never used over the course of Machinal). Helen feels purified for having broken her marriage vows.
Once the reader understands Helen is having an affair, her conversation with her husband is even more rote. He is obsessed with property and making money and drones on and on until it is time for bed. The impending murder is only hinted at.
When Helen confesses to her crime, she tells the court she killed Jones "to be free" (1636). Even on the day of her execution, she is nagged. The priest won't let her be and continues to pray, even though she doesn't want him to. Helen's mother arrives, and Helen refuses to see her. Just prior to being executed, Helen calls out, "Somebody" (1775).
Preface-Episode 1


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Rail and Metro Innovation Guide 2018www.SmartRailWorld.com31SECTION 4: ROLLING STOCKImagine one of the busiest national railway networks in the world. It's a heavy rail network, so intensely used and with such density of track, it actually more closely resembles a country-wide metro system. Now add an increasing number of trains each year plus a privatized market for daily maintenance with performance driven contracts and you will have a picture of the complex 3000km daily reality for Strukton Rail in the Netherlands. Their challenge is a significant one and we are today able to share with you an exclusive insights into their work. The company has had to deal with ever stringent contractual requirements to guarantee better track performance and safer working conditions in less time, and yet continued to make money out of the contract. They have managed to reduce their total maintenance costs by 30% since 2008 and reach a 90% reduction on rail safety related exceedances. Their daily reality is the cradle for many proven, tested and implemented innovations by Strukton Rail, so let's find out more about how they've done this... The latest in Strukton Rail's search for ways to prevent failures from occurring is a combination of POSS (an in-house developed preventative maintenance and breakdown diagnosis system which has been collecting data for over 15 years) with the know-how of the operation of points combined with the big data and artificial intelligence expertise brought in by 'Anchormen' (a Dutch data science expert company). The system itself already automatically issues a warning if a point is consuming too much energy, but this often happens just before the failure occurs. Based on patterns in historical data, a computer model can detect aberrant behaviour before it is actually observable. By learning the behaviour that accompanies a particular type of malfunction, it can identify potential failures at an early stage and issue a warning. Test results show that a substantial number of failures can already be predicted two weeks in advance with a high degree of reliability. Specific maintenance actions can then be taken without obstructing rail traffic, in order to prevent the actual occurrence of the malfunction. This way of working delivers that much needed time to plan maintenance work in a usually very short window of opportunity which in some cases in the Netherlands is just a couple of hours once every four weeks.The POSS system is sold worldwide, but with this added function of predicting potential failures weeks in advance the system truly delivers railroads better and safer track performance in a much shorter possession with a higher level of efficiency."It is possible to train computers in recognizing when maintenance is needed simply with self-learning algorithms. But such systems will always perform better when domain experts are involved. In this case, we were glad that the people from Strukton could guide us and indicate why points can fail and know which data you need to predict specific malfunctions" - Jeffrey Van der Eijk, Anchormen (@anchormenBDS)At home in the Netherlands, the company created a complete control room to keep track of all the track data that comes their way almost every minute. In this data driven environment the POSS monitoring system gives an alarm ideally two weeks in advance. The various systems in the control centre bring up images of the switch in question, made earlier by a video inspection train. The maintenance engineers take a look at the maintenance history of the track combined with satellite images, and plan the necessary maintenance. This planned maintenance action then becomes visible on the clients web portal informing them of when to expect a crew in their track. Based on the principle of the systems and philosophy that they use it doesn't matter whether or not that data comes from a track two streets down the road or from a track on the other side of the world. With the current technology in place it is also possible to monitor a switch and subsequently predict a failure two weeks in advance in Australia or the United States. Strukton Rail can monitor track on another continent by remote control and data analysis while taking on contractual risks as to the performance of that track. This closely resembles a situation which has long been in use in the aviation industry with remote censoring.The rail industry is only just stepping out of a traditional and conservative way of doing things and is just waking up to the potential of new technologies already common elsewhere. Strukton Rail (@StruktonRail) has embraced these new technologies for some time now and has implemented them while continuously improving existing technologies and learning about new ones.Expert view: Identifying problems before they become delays.
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Soroptimist Clubs and Associate Members work on "projects" which support Soroptimist International's Vision and Mission. The overarching theme is "Educate to Lead", and projects must Educate, Enable and Empower women and girls to help them to improve their lives. Some examples of projects that have recently been carried out are shown below:
SI Crieff , Scotland North
The Scotland North Associate member and myself seized the opportunity to do something with our village's unused local red telephone box.
SI Weston-Super-Mare , South West and Channel Islands
Skirting Science is a one day event attended by 200 12/13 year old girls from 12 schools l where they participate in 16 science, engineering and maths interactive workshops to educate and empower the students, enabling them to make career choices..
SI Harrogate and District , Yorkshire
To raise awareness of and funds for the Meru Women's Garden Project (MWGP) by creating a Meru Garden in Yorkshire at the Annual Harrogate Autumn Flower Show and how the project educates, empowers and enables Women in Meru.
SI Halifax , Yorkshire
The ongoing provision of initial basic foods and toiletries for women and their children who have to seek refuge away from abusive relationships
SI Surrey Hills , Southern England
Money raised has enabled the charity to buy 10 new sewing machines which will provide opportunities for very poor women to become self-sufficient making garments in their own homes- this will transform their lives and empower them
SI South Kolkata , India
'A Fistful of Grain' is a unique project teaching school-going children the value of caring through sharing. This is being undertaken by all Clubs in India. As an act of sharing and empathy - before one meal at home, a fistful of rice/lentils are put aside for the deprived.
SI Ikeja , Nigeria
Recently 10 members of the Soroptimist International School, Lawanson, Nigeria were admitted into the Indomie noodles Fan Club.
SI Dewsbury and District , Yorkshire
We decided to enter a float and promote our programme acton work, whilst recruiting for members and giving out leaflets about safe relationships.
SI Bingley , Yorkshire
The £5,000 grant from the Safer Communities Fund is strongly focused on raising awareness of violence against women and girls through the design and provision of a wide range of resource materials across the Bradford Metropolitan District.
SI Mansfield and District , Midland East
Making dresses
SI Lichfield and District , Midland Chase
A dementia sufferer can use a twiddlemuff to educate the brain with the sensory information from the fingers, empowers by engaging with others about what they are feeling, and enables them to calm themselves, thus reducing the need for drugs
SI Madurai , India
Provides purified drinking water, thereby ensuring good health for women and children of Narasingampatti village.
SI St Vincent and the Grenadines , St Vincent And The Grenadines
A Panel Discussion on the "New Domestic Violence Act 2015". Tthis Panel Discussion seeks to educate on this very important instrument of the Law which seeks to improve and address the issue of "Access to Justice" by victims of Domestic Violence .
SI Ilkley , Yorkshire
Our project was designed to give women an equal voice in creating strong and equal communities by enabling them to feel empowered by telling their own story whether or not they came from an educated background.
SI Drogheda , Republic of Ireland
This is part of the National Public Speaking Competition run throughout Ireland, to encourage young girls to develop communication skills and an awareness of women in public life. Topics selected reflect the Programme Action goals of Soroptimism
SI Kenilworth and District , Midland Arden
We are supporting the training of specialist pediatric nurses, working closely with the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Blantyre, & Kamuzo College of Nursing, and so addressing problems of child mortality in Malawi.
SI Bilston and District , Midland Chase
Attendance at a Conference on Forced Marriage hosted by The Ark St. Albans Academy Birmingham to bring together members of Faith Organisations, Government Departments and charities involved with the elimination of Forced Marriage in the UK. Bilston members promoted the Karma Nirvana Spoon Lapel Badge Campaign.
SI Ipswich and District , London Anglia
SI London Anglia Region's project for 2015 to 2017 is "Neat Feet, Happy Hands", which provides medical supplies bowls, creams and sandals to children and adults to help eradicate the parasite 'jiggers' and educate communities to keep it at bay.
We built two rooms for children affected by cerebral palsy, including many girls of very young ages for an Early intervention school, Able Kids (run by JK Maass Trust Foundation, Madurai), which were despaerately needed to conduct physiotherapy for the the children to enable them to move on their own.
Working with our sister club, SI Huddersfield, we ran a stall at the Huddersfield University Freshers' Fair, distributing 'Loves Me, Loves Me Not' bookmarks, as well as leaflets about Soroptimists and their work.
SI Bournemouth , Southern England
Inspiring, enabling and empowering girls, through a STEM based education challenge, to choose to study STEM subjects within their GCSE options and further studies with the aim of improving their career prospects.
SI Rugby , Midland Arden
To give away books to highlight World Book day and to highlight what SI Rugby is doing for education.
SI Dunfermline , Scotland South
This is one part of our Rwenzori, Uganda Project. The aim for this strand is to improve the educational attainments in 6 rural schools in Kyondo sub-county by providing a solar panel and extra school books for each school.
SI Lichfield and District raised funds to purchase 50 tickets for the Hippodrome Theatre, Birmingham in January 2016 for 17 mothers and 33 children from the Women's Refuge to see a Pantomime for the very first time. This enabled the women and children to socialise, boosting confidence, and also raised awareness of domestic violence during the fund raising activities.
SI Pretoria Tshwane , South Africa
SI Pretoria and 2 members of their club project, The Mapula Embroiderers, went to Kibeho in Rwanda to train and empower 12 women to embroider so that their products could be sold, to enable them to earn a small income.
SI Richmond and Dales , Yorkshire
An ongoing project encompassing support and education for traditional birthing attendants, and support for a local school, aims of which include the setting up of a sustainable source of sanitary products to ensure education all through the menstrual cycle.
SI Madurai donated Physiotherapy equipments to the tune of Rs.74500 to Able kids School, an Early Intervention Centre, run by JK Maass Foundation for the rehabilitation of children affected by cerebral palsy, in January 2016.
Contribute to education of the people in the Kori Chiefdom through supply of books for library, send dresses made by our Sewing Bee to empower the girls with confidence & also as a gift as part of the replacement of the FGM process.
SI Llandudno and District , Cheshire North Wales And Wirral
To fill as many backpacks as possible to send to children who need basic things like pens and notepads to help them with their education, t-shirts and dresses to enable them to attend school, and empowering them to escape poverty when they grow up.
SI Tamworth , Midland Chase
SI Tamworth held a series of events, including a pyramid of shoes, to mark Handicap International Day on 4th December.
Every year SI Rugby has a stand in the local shopping centre to raise awareness about the effect of land mines and cluster bombs which have been indiscriminately dropped around the world. They collected 100 signatures on a petition and lobbied the government to support more people with artificial limbs.
SI Southend-on-Sea and District , London Anglia
The London Anglia Region held a work day producing sanitary towels, and SI Southend-and-District carried on producing them for the Kori Project, a project run by SI Thames Valley. This enables girls to attend school when they are menstruating so that they do not miss out on their education.
SI Southend-on-Sea prepared small toiletry bags for the elderly or patients at Southend Hospital who are without relatives, following a need being brought to our attention.
SI Grange-over-Sands , North West England And The Isle Of Man
Singing is recognised as a powerful stimulant for memory; SI Grange-over-Sands run a Singing for the Brain group, which educates people on the power of music, reduces isolation and enables people and carers living with dementia to joyfully participate in the local community.
SI Plymouth and District , South West and Channel Islands
A mother with a 5 year old disabled child was leaving a detox unit after 6 months residential rehab and had been allocated a bare shell of a house that needed painting, carpets, furniture white goods and she only possessed a double bed and a small TV. SI Plymouth and District helped to paint and furnish her new home.
SI Crieff give an annual Award to a girl in Class S4 at Crieff High School. 29 girls took part in 2015-2016.. They have to complete a short form, writing about what they do out of school, how they are managing at school, and, what they would like to do when they leave school.
SI Hamilton , Scotland South
Smalls for All is a 6 year old Scottish Charity which recycles bras to Kenya and Malawi for women and girls, it also asks for new pants from age 8 upwards ensuring that girls in these countries do not miss school due to monthly periods. SI Hamilton collected 80 bras and 230 pairs of pants to donate to the Charity.
SI Ilkley raised awareness of issues related to Violence Against Women (VAW) and highlighted the UN Day for Elimination of Violence against Women in their local community, with an information display at the entrance to a local supermarket.
SI Edinburgh , Scotland South
SI Edinburgh provided children with back packs and a meal to attend school, via Mary's Meals.
SI Chester , Cheshire, North Wales and Wirral
SI Chester encouraged the minimum no of individuals/organisations (schools, cafes, churches etc) in stated categories to donate to Toilet Twinning - this works to improve sanitation in remote areas in several countries, thus reducing the number of girls who miss school because of lack of suitable toilet facilities.