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Dr Karin Hing
Reader in Biomedical Materials
School of Engineering and Materials Science
IoB Highlights
Bioresponsive Materials in Healthcare
Key strengths, technologies, know-how
- Rigorous materials and tissue characterisation Static and dynamic acellular 'physiological' environmental testing, including customised protein labelling for competitive binding analysis
- Analysis of cell response in both traditional 2D static tissue culture and bespoke 3D dynamic perfusion rig
- Supported by basic research into the phenomena behind normal physiological behaviour, biocompatibility, and the smart stimulation of tissue regeneration
- In vivo evaluation of material safety, efficacy and device functionality, study design for regulatory and basic science investigations
Selective research achievements
- Proven, internationally leading expertise in the discovery, innovation and translation of pioneering healthcare materials and therapies
- ApaTech: Internationally leading orthobiologics company, spun out in 2000 and sold for £220M in 2010
- 2012: ApaTech synthetic bone graft substitutes have 10% of global market with ActiFuse bone graft substitutes treating an estimated 125,000 patients annually in over 30 countries globally including the UK and USA
- 2013: Further research leads to launch of InductiGraft an osteoinductive bone graft substitute in the UK
Research InterestsKarin Hing is a senior lecturer in Biomaterials within the School of Engineering and Materials at Queen Mary University of London, prior to this she was an EPSRC Advanced Research Fellow within the IRC in Biomedical Materials. She was awarded the Fellowship in 1999, having worked as a post doc after completing her PhD studying the biological response to Bovine derived bone graft substitutes in 1996. As a Post-doc she invented a novel processing route for the manufacture of porous ceramics with a hierarchical porous structure (reflecting the structure of natural trabecular bone). She used this technology to achieve the objective of her advanced research fellowship, which was to develop a fully synthetic ceramic (apatite based) bone graft substitute material (Actifuse) with a pore structure and chemistry optimised to facilitate good quality, rapid bone repair in applications such as spinal fusion, total hip revision and skeletal reconstruction following trauma or disease.
This work formed the underpinning science behind ApaTech Ltd. a QMUL spin-out company that she co-founded with colleagues from the IRC in 2001. Apatech was aquired by Baxter in 2010 for $330m in recongition of its position as a global leader in the provision of their Actifuse based bone graft substitute technologies.
Karin's research group is now engaged in the development of next generation bone graft substitution technologies through physico-chemical and hierarchical 3-D structural characterisation of bone grafts, the study of protein interactions, cell response and chemotaxis, to probe the underlying mechanisms behind chemical and structural control of osteoconductive and osteoinductive behaviour in bone graft substitutes.
Wu F, Zhou B, Wang J, Zhong M, Das A, Watkinson M, Hing K, Zhang D-W and Krause S (2019). Photoelectrochemical Imaging System for the Mapping of Cell Surface Charges. Anal Chem 10.1021/acs.analchem.9b00304
Mafina MK, Sullivan AC and Hing KA (2017). Use of a fluorescent probe to monitor the enhanced affinity of rh-BMP-2 to silicated-calcium phosphate synthetic bone graft substitutes under competitive conditions. Materials Science and Engineering C vol. 80, 207-212. 10.1016/j.msec.2017.05.142
Sriranganathan D, Chen X, Hing KA, Kanwal N and Hill RG (2016). The effect of the incorporation of fluoride into strontium containing bioactive glasses. Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids vol. 457, 25-30. 10.1016/j.jnoncrysol.2016.11.018
Campion C and Hing KA (2016). Porous Bone Graft Substitutes: When Less is More. Mechanobiology: Exploitation For Medical Benefit 10.1002/9781118966174.ch21
Sriranganathan D, Kanwal N, Hing KA and Hill RG (2016). Strontium substituted bioactive glasses for tissue engineered scaffolds: the importance of octacalcium phosphate. Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Medicine vol. 27, (2) 1-10. 10.1007/s10856-015-5653-6
Coathup MJ, Blunn GW, Campion C, Ho C-Y and Hing KA (2016). The effect of increased microporosity on bone formation within silicate-substituted scaffolds in an ovine posterolateral spinal fusion model. J Biomed Mater Res B Appl Biomater vol. 105, (4) 805-814. 10.1002/jbm.b.33614
Hutchens SA, Campion C, Assad M, Chagnon M and Hing KA (2015). Efficacy of silicate-substituted calcium phosphate with enhanced strut porosity as a standalone bone graft substitute and autograft extender in an ovine distal femoral critical defect model. J Mater Sci Mater Med vol. 27, (1) 20-20. 10.1007/s10856-015-5559-3
Shah FA, Brauer DS, Hill RG and Hing KA (2015). Apatite formation of bioactive glasses is enhanced by low additions of fluoride but delayed in the presence of serum proteins. Materials Letters vol. 153, 143-147. 10.1016/j.matlet.2015.04.013
Shah FA, Brauer DS, Desai N, Hill RG and Hing KA (2014). Fluoride-containing bioactive glasses and Bioglass? 45S5 form apatite in low pH cell culture medium. Materials Letters vol. 119, 96-99. 10.1016/j.matlet.2013.12.102
Shah FA, Brauer DS, Wilson RM, Hill RG and Hing KA (2014). Influence of cell culture medium composition on in vitro dissolution behavior of a fluoride-containing bioactive glass. J Biomed Mater Res A vol. 102, (3) 647-654. 10.1002/jbm.a.34724
Castagna V, Olivares-Navarrete R, Schwartz Z, Boyan BD and Hing KA (2013). HMSC proliferation and differentiation are dependent on chemistry and surface roughness of calcium phosphate bone substitutes. European Cells and Materials vol. 26, (SUPPL. 3)
Campion CR, Ball SL, Clarke DL and Hing KA (2013). Microstructure and chemistry affects apatite nucleation on calcium phosphate bone graft substitutes. Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Medicine vol. 24, (3) 597-610. 10.1007/s10856-012-4833-x
Mafina M-K, Hing KA and Sullivan AC (2013). Development of novel fluorescent probes for the analysis of protein interactions under physiological conditions with medical devices. Langmuir vol. 29, (5) 1420-1426. 10.1021/la304244s
Ghani Y, Coathup MJ, Hing KA and Blunn GW (2013). Antibacterial effect of incorporating silver ions in electrochemically deposited hydroxyapatite coating: An experimental study. Jrsm Short Rep vol. 4, (9) 10.1177/2042533313481212
Hing KA (2013). Biomimetic bone regeneration. 10.1533/9780857098887.2.207
Chan O, Coathup MJ, Nesbitt A, Ho CY, Hing KA, Buckland T, Campion C and Blunn GW (2012). The effects of microporosity on osteoinduction of calcium phosphate bone graft substitute biomaterials. Acta Biomaterialia vol. 8, (7) 2788-2794. 10.1016/j.actbio.2012.03.038
Coathup MJ, Hing KA, Samizadeh S, Chan O, Fang YS, Campion C, Buckland T and Blunn GW (2012). Effect of increased strut porosity of calcium phosphate bone graft substitute biomaterials on osteoinduction. Journal of Biomedical Materials Research - Part A vol. 100 A, (6) 1550-1555. 10.1002/jbm.a.34094
Ghani Y, Coathup MJ, Hing KA and Blunn GW (2012). Development of a hydroxyapatite coating containing silver for the prevention of peri-prosthetic infection. J Orthop Res vol. 30, (3) 356-363. 10.1002/jor.21543
Coathup MJ, Samizadeh S, Fang YS, Buckland T, Hing KA and Blunn GW (2011). The osteoinductivity of silicate-substituted calcium phosphate. J Bone Joint Surg Am vol. 93, (23) 2219-2226. 10.2106/JBJS.I.01623
Parish A, Davis G and Hing K (2011). The quantitative and qualitative analysis bone ingrowth network quality of hydroxyapatite implants over time to investigate the process of internal bone growth via novel automated 3D image processing. 24th European Conference On Biomaterials - Annual Conference of The European Society For Biomaterials
Castagna V, Sullivan A and Hing K (2011). Fibronectin adsorption to stoichiometric and silicate substituted hydroxyapatite sensitive to FN concentration and presence of serum proteins. 24th European Conference On Biomaterials - Annual Conference of The European Society For Biomaterials
Guth K, Campion C, Buckland T and Hing KA (2011). Effects of serum protein on ionic exchange between culture medium and microporous hydroxyapatite and silicate-substituted hydroxyapatite. Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Medicine vol. 22, (10) 2155-2164. 10.1007/s10856-011-4409-1
Campion CR, Chander C, Buckland T and Hing K (2011). Increasing strut porosity in silicate-substituted calcium-phosphate bone graft substitutes enhances osteogenesis. Journal of Biomedical Materials Research - Part B Applied Biomaterials vol. 97 B, (2) 245-254. 10.1002/jbm.b.31807
Castagna V, Sullivan A and Hing KA (2011). Behaviour of fibronectin on interaction with stoichiometric and silicate substituted hydroxyapatite bone graft substitiutes. European Cells and Materials vol. 22, (SUPPL.2)
Mafina MK, Sullivan AC and Hing KA (2011). Recording and evaluating the effect of silicon-substitution on protein adsorption/desorption to hydroxyapatite. European Cells and Materials vol. 22, (SUPPL.2)
Parish AJB, Davis GR and Hing KA (2011). Automated computation of 3D histomorphometry within implanted hydroxyapatite porous scaffolds. European Cells and Materials vol. 22, (SUPPL.2)
Hing K (2010). Tissue engineering. Mater World vol. 18, (9) 28-30.
Guth K, Campion C, Buckland T and Hing KA (2010). Surface physiochemistry affects protein adsorption to stoichiometric and silicate-substituted microporous hydroxyapatites. Advanced Engineering Materials vol. 12, (4) 10.1002/adem.200980026
Guth K, Campion C, Buckland T and Hing KA (2010). Effect of silicate-substitution on attachment and early development of human osteoblast-like cells seeded on microporous hydroxyapatite discs. Advanced Engineering Materials vol. 12, (1-2) 10.1002/adem.200980003
Mafina MK, Sullivan AC and Hing KA (2009). Monitoring the effect of silicate substitution on protein adsorption/desorption to hydroxyapatite. European Cells and Materials vol. 18, (SUPPL. 2)
Samizadeh S, Amogbokpa J, Fang SC, Coathup MJ, Hing KA, Buckland T and Blunn GW (2008). Osseoinduction by calcium phosphate bone substitutes is a function of chemical composition and structure. 8th World Biomaterials Congress 2008 vol. 2,
Hing KA (2008). Biomaterials - Where biology, physics, chemistry, engineering and medicine meet. Journal of Physics: Conference Series vol. 105, (1) 10.1088/1742-6596/105/1/012010
Rashid N, Harding I, Buckland T and HING KA (2008). Nano-scale manipulation of silicate-substituted apatite chemistry impacts surface charge, hydrophilicity, protein adsorption and cell attachment., Editors: Meenan BJ and Boyd AR. International Journal of Nano and Biomaterials vol. 1, (3) 299-319. 10.1504/IJNBM.2008.016877
Hing KA, Wilson LF and Buckland T (2007). Comparative performance of three ceramic bone graft substitutes. Spine J vol. 7, (4) 475-490. 10.1016/j.spinee.2006.07.017
Hing KA, Revell PA, Smith N and Buckland T (2006). Effect of silicon level on rate, quality and progression of bone healing within silicate-substituted porous hydroxyapatite scaffolds. Biomaterials vol. 27, (29) 5014-5026. 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2006.05.039
De Carlos A, Lusquinos F, Pou J, Leon B, Perez-Amor M, Driessens FCM, HING KA, Best S and Bonfield W (2006). In vitro testing of Nd : YAG laser processed calcium phosphate coatings. Journal of Materials Science Materials in Medicine vol. 17, (11) 1153-1160.
Harding IS, Rashid N and Hing KA (2005). Surface charge and the effect of excess calcium ions on the hydroxyapatite surface. Biomaterials vol. 26, (34) 6818-6826. 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2005.04.060
Mehta JS, Futter CE, Sandeman SR, Faragher RGAF, Hing KA, Tanner KE and Allan BDS (2005). Hydroxyapatite promotes superior keratocyte adhesion and proliferation in comparison with current keratoprosthesis skirt materials. Br J Ophthalmol vol. 89, (10) 1356-1362. 10.1136/bjo.2004.064147
HING KA, Annaz B, Saeed S, Revell PA and Buckland T (2005). Microporosity enhances bioactivity of synthetic bone graft substitutes. Journal of Materials Science Materials in Medicine vol. 16, (5) 467-475.
Hing KA (2005). Bioceramic bone graft substitutes: Influence of porosity and chemistry. Int J Appl Ceram Tec vol. 2, (3) 184-199. 10.1111/j.1744-7402.2005.02020.x
Hing KA (2004). Bone repair in the twenty-first century: biology, chemistry or engineering? Philos Trans a Math Phys Eng Sci vol. 362, (1825) 2821-2850. 10.1098/rsta.2004.1466
Rashid N, Harding I and Hing KA (2004). Effect of silicate substitution on the surface charge of hydroxyapatite. Transactions - 7th World Biomaterials Congress
Hing KA, Saeed S, Annaz B, Buckland T and Revell PA (2004). Bone development is sensitive to silicon level in substituted apatites. Transactions - 7th World Biomaterials Congress
Hing KA, Saeed S, Annaz B, Buckland T and Revell PA (2004). Microporosity enhances bioactivity of synthetic bone graft substitutes. Transactions - 7th World Biomaterials Congress
Saeed S, Hing K and Revell PA (2004). HA activates T cells and causes inflammation in liver and spleen from rabbits following intraosseous implantation. Transactions - 7th World Biomaterials Congress
Annaz B, Hing KA, Kayser M, Buckland T and Di Silvio L (2004). The role of microporosity in synthetic porous ceramics. Transactions - 7th World Biomaterials Congress
Annaz B, Hing KA, Kayser M, Buckland T and Di Silvio L (2004). An ultrastructural study of cellular response to variation in porosity in phase-pure hydroxyapatite. J Microsc vol. 216, (Pt 2) 97-109. 10.1111/j.0022-2720.2004.01403.x
Annaz B, Hing KA, Kayser M, Buckland T and Di Silvio L (2004). Porosity variation in hydroxyapatite and osteoblast morphology: a scanning electron microscopy study. J Microsc vol. 215, (Pt 1) 100-110. 10.1111/j.0022-2720.2004.01354.x
HING KA, Tanner KE, Best SM, Bonfield W and Revell PA (2004). Mediation of bone ingrowth in porous hydroxyaptite bone graft substitutes. Journal of Biomedical Materials Research vol. 68A, 187-200. 10.1002/jbm.a.10050
HING KA, Revell PA, McInness T and Damien E (2004). Novel Bioceramic Foams For Bone Grafting. Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery - British Volume vol. 86-B Suppl I:II,
Hing KA, Best SM, Tanner KE, Bonfield W and Revell PA (2004). Mediation of bone ingrowth in porous hydroxyapatite bone graft substitutes. J Biomed Mater Res A vol. 68, (1) 187-200. 10.1002/jbm.a.10050
Damien E, Hing K, Saeed S and Revell PA (2003). A preliminary study on the enhancement of the osteointegration of a novel synthetic hydroxyapatite scaffold in vivo. J Biomed Mater Res A vol. 66, (2) 241-246. 10.1002/jbm.a.10564
Lusquiños F, De Carlos A, Pou J, Arias JL, Boutinguiza M, León B, Pérez-Amor M, Driessens FCM, Hing K, Gibson I, Best S and Bonfield W (2003). Calcium phosphate coatings obtained by Nd:YAG laser cladding: physicochemical and biologic properties. J Biomed Mater Res A vol. 64, (4) 630-637. 10.1002/jbm.a.10440
Patel N, Best SM, Bonfield W, Gibson IR, Hing KA, Damien E and Revell PA (2002). A comparative study on the in vivo behavior of hydroxyapatite and silicon substituted hydroxyapatite granules. J Mater Sci Mater Med vol. 13, (12) 1199-1206. 10.1023/a:1021114710076
Damien E, MacInnes T, Hing K and Revell PA (2001). Insulin like growth factor (IGF-I) increases the bioactivity of porous hydroxyapatite (PHA) in vivo in rabbits. J Pathol vol. 193, 6A-6A.
Hing KA, Best SM and Bonfield W (1999). Characterization of porous hydroxyapatite. J Mater Sci Mater Med vol. 10, (3) 135-145. 10.1023/a:1008929305897
Di Silvio L, Hing K and Bonfield W (1999). Macroporous hydroxyapatites: Potential drug delivery systems. Proceedings of The Controlled Release Society (26) 1152-1153.
Hing KA, Best SM, Tanner KE, Bonfield W and Revell PA (1999). Quantification of bone ingrowth within bone-derived porous hydroxyapatite implants of varying density. Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Medicine vol. 10, (10-11) 663-670. 10.1023/a:1008900127475
Hing K and Knight M (1998). Prize-winning peeks at the microscopic world.
Hing KA, Best SM, Tanner KE, Réveil PA and Bonfield W (1998). Histomorphological and biomechanical characterization of calcium phosphates in the osseous environment. Proceedings of The Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part H: Journal of Engineering in Medicine vol. 212, (6) 437-451. 10.1243/0954411981534204
Hing KA, Best SM, Tanner KE, Bonfield W and Revell PA (1997). Biomechanical assessment of bone ingrowth in porous hydroxyapatite. Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Medicine vol. 8, (12) 731-736. 10.1023/A:1018500309969
Hing KA, Best SM, Revell PA, Tanner KE and Bonfield W (1996). Histomorphometric and biomechanical assessment of bone ingrowth in porous hydroxyapatite. Transactions of The Annual Meeting of The Society For Biomaterials in Conjunction With The International Biomaterials Symposium vol. 2,
HING KA (1996). Assessment of porous hydroxyapatite for bone replacement., Editors: Best SM and Bonfield W.
HING KA and Bonfield W (2009). foamed ceramics. US8613876 B2.


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Yes, these are SKINNY!
WARNING!!!…..This dish is Highly Addictive! Au Gratin Potatoes is a classic French dish that I have transformed to a "skinny" favorite. Your family or guest will enjoy this creamy, cheesy & smokey dish that is rich in flavor & easy on your waistline.
ENJOY this casserole with a piece of steak & a green veggie for a steakhouse experience in your own home. Read More…Pin It

subset: commoncrawl


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Scary, gripping and often deeply unsettling, Neil Gaiman's novel American Gods has reached a new audience since being adapted recently as a television series. Placing it in a specific genre has however proved tricky since its publication – some have described it as urban fantasy while others label it as mythic fiction. One description that is as good as any, given the novel's subject matter, is religious fantasy. A fantasy of religion is a text that depicts or makes use of commonly understood religious tropes, but which recasts them in the context of additional fantastic narrative elements. A clear example of this approach is the satire employed by James Morrow in his 1990 novel Only Begotten Daughter. Although it has a notionally science-fictional frame, being set a few years in the future and hypothesizing some near-future technologies, the overall effect of the book is clearly that of fantasy, as was recognised when it won the World Fantasy Award for its year. The book begins by following Murray Katz, a celibate lighthouse-keeper, who discovers that a sperm donation he has made has become a foetus: an immaculate conception. Overtaken by responsibility for his child-to-be, he brings home the 'ectogenesis machine' containing it, and ends up superintending the birth and childhood of the Daughter of God, Julie Katz. The body of the book follows Julie's adulthood, as she arrives at her credo despite the best efforts of fundamentalist ministers and the Devil. Of course, fantasies of religion need not be as overtly revisionist as Morrow's. Gene Wolfe is an author primarily known for science fiction rather than fantasy. His Catholicism is also a well-known part of his worldview; it is prominent in his most well-known work, The Book of the New Sun (4 vols, 1980-83). It is set on a far-future 'Urth', and many of the fantasy tropes that appear – wizards, magic and so on – can be understood from the text as, for instance, aliens or energy weapons. However, it cannot be denied that the experience of reading the series has many similarities with that of a religious fantasy. The unlikely protagonist, the torturer Severian, is a Christ figure sent and enabled to achieve the task of a new sun for a dying world. The many layers of imagery this invokes – Christ/Apollo, New Son/Sun, for instance – are left for the reader to understand.
Fantasies of religion often approach their subject obliquely or through misdirection. Nowhere is this more true than of G K Chesterton's The Man Who Was Thursday (1908). It begins in London with the recruitment of the poet Gabriel Syme by Scotland Yard to infiltrate a worldwide council of anarchists. When he does so, however, he discovers that each of the other members is also a spy with a similar mission. Each is codenamed for a day of the week – Syme is Thursday – and each takes their orders from the mysterious Sunday. Sunday himself is a figure increasingly mysterious the closer he is approached; his pronouncements imply that he is of more than earthly power. The book can certainly be read as an allegory of the Christian work of the difficulty of understanding God; but it is a very unorthodox kind of allegory. Both The Book of the New Sun and The Man Who Was Thursday were written by Catholics and may be read as providing paths to a religious understanding. John Crowley's Ægypt quartet is neither as directly scathing as Morrow, nor as orthodox as Wolfe or Chesterton. It tells several stories, each nested within the other, but the most recent – the one from which the others seem to subtend – is that of Pierce Moffet. His academic career in New York having failed, he goes to an upstate rural retreat. There, in the village of Blackbury Jambs, he encounters again the work of the historical novelist Fellowes Kraft, whose books he read as a child. Kraft lived near the town, and Pierce is asked by his descendants to see if he can complete the novel Kraft left unfinished at his death. However, the plot of Ægypt matters less than the density with which it's embedded with meditations of all kinds – some from fictional texts, some real – about history, religion, and how we make sense of things.
All the fantasies of religion described so far take Christianity as a starting-point, but the label can equally be applied to works which revise and critique other religions, including pantheistic ones. Prominent examples of the latter approach are Neil Gaiman's linked novels American Gods (2001) and Anansi Boys (2005). American Gods sets out to answer a relatively simple question: if the USA is made up of immigrant populations of all kinds, each bringing with them their own religious stories about the world, what happens when all those stories interbreed? The book begins by following a recently released convict named Shadow, who is recruited by a mysterious man named Wednesday to work for him. Wednesday, it transpires, is the Norse God Odin, and he represents a group of similar deities, including Egyptian and Indian ones. They find themselves in opposition to more American gods, such as the deracination of culture and experience by consumerism. Though nothing is as it seems initially – no god is entirely to be trusted – American Gods does in the end bring home a sense of the costs of the New World. Anansi Boys is different from American Gods in tone and, although it shares some of the same assumptions, cannot be considered a direct sequel. The action of the book, much of it comic, follows the negotiation between a Londoner, 'Fat Charlie' and Spider, a brother of whom he had been unaware, for the legacy of their father – an incarnation of the African spider deity Anansi – but it also embodies the tension between tricksterish fantasy and the mundane world from which Charlie originates. Both Gaiman books have in common a sense that gods are stories we tell ourselves to make sense of things, and that they exist to the extent that we can vest belief in the stories.
Stories, though, are sometimes treasures to be concealed or uncovered. In the context of fantasies of religion, this often means that a deity's existence or power is guarded by a secret society of some kind. The American fantasist Elizabeth Hand has written several books featuring one such society, the Benandanti, of which the most well known is probably Waking the Moon (1994). The Benandanti are described in the novel as a kind of puppet-master secret society, protecting the mundane world – and, indeed, shaping it – by holding back the return of the Moon Goddess. The Benandanti do have their roots in real events – specifically, as a kind of anti-witchcraft force in Italy in the 16th and 17th centuries – so Hand is able to use the weight of history to amplify and enrich the debate at the story's heart. Finally, it is worth considering a work in this vein not set in our own world, Terry Pratchett's Small Gods (1992), part of his well-known Discworld sequence. Its premise is that deities in the Discworld exist (like Tinkerbell) to the extent that people believe in them. The deity Om, now almost forgotten, is disappointed when he tries to manifest himself in the world: there is only enough belief to make him incarnate as a tortoise. He speaks to Brutha, a young but dim initiate in the church of Om, and the last remaining true believer in him. The body of Small Gods comprises Brutha's slow earning of wisdom, but the most striking image from the book is that of the small gods themselves, encountered by the protagonist during his wanderings. These are the deities left entirely without believers but who may be associated with a specific place such as a crossroads. Hence, Pratchett imagines a Discworld in which gods are as plentiful as microbes are in our own world, and in which everything is holy. What seems to tie all of these novels of faith and fantasy together is what the individual writer brings to shape their material – it may be an urge to critique or revise existing dogmas or it may be that the writer feels certain ideas about our past and culture can only be made apparent by going beyond the facts and physics of the world we know.


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Printed onto premium hammered card using LUCIA high quality ink system. LUCIA inks deliver a stunning finish with anti UV fade properties.
Childhood To do list.
If you are unhappy with your purchase please contact us via the website contact form within 14 days of receiving your print. If you wish to return your order you will be required to pay for the postage cost. You will receive a refund within 14 days of IVY OAK DESIGN receiving the item back. This is in accordance of the consumer rights act 2015. Please note we are unable to accept returns on personalised orders.


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Recipe of the Day
10-ounce package fresh cheese tortellini
2-ounce tin oil-packed anchovy fillets, drained
3 cloves garlic
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/4 cup Champagne vinegar
1 large egg
1 cup canola or olive oil
Ground black pepper
1 ounce Parmesan cheese, finely chopped
3 cups cooked and cooled chicken meat, torn into bite-size chunks
3 heads romaine lettuce, roughly chopped
Start to finish: 15 minutes Servings: 4
Heat a large skillet over medium-high. Spritz with cooking spray, then add the tortellini. Saute the tortellini for 6 minutes, or until lightly browned and slightly crisped. Transfer to a plate to cool.
Meanwhile, in a blender combine the anchovies, garlic, mustard, vinegar and egg. Puree until smooth. With the blender on low speed, drizzle in the oil. Add the cheese and puree until smooth. Season with pepper, then set aside.
In a large bowl, toss the chicken and romaine. Drizzle about half the dressing over the salad, then use your hands to toss until well coated. Add the tortellini and drizzle additional dressing, tossing again. You may not need all of the dressing. Serve immediately.
No Champagne vinegar? I've used white balsamic vinegar as a fine substitute. If you have leftover cooked chicken, use that. I found that a 1 1/2-pound rotisserie chicken worked well.
Nutrition information per serving (values are rounded to the nearest whole number): 980 calories; 620 calories from fat (63 percent of total calories); 70 g fat (13 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 170 mg cholesterol; 42 g carbohydrate; 46 g protein; 3 g fiber; 1,350 mg sodium.


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Consulats Vancouver
Mr. Henry (Hank) Jackson bestowed the Legion of Honor a few days before Vimy celebrations [fr]
"I'm not a hero, you know, because many other people did the same thing."
Calgary Honorary Consul Mr. Roy Klassen bestowed the Legion of Honor to Mr. Henry (Hank) Jackson on March 31st in Calgary (AB), a few days prior to the celebrations of Vimy Battle Centennial. Honorable Mr. Kent Hehr, Veterans Affairs Minister, was also present.
France's Legion of Honour was created by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1802. It rewards citizens for their merits, irrespective of social or hereditary considerations. The Knight of the French Legion of Honour medal is a five-armed cross with a V-shaped cut-out at the end of each arm, generally surmounted by a wreath of laurel leaves.
Media coverage :
- Calgary WW II veteran receives France's top military service medal, CBC News Calgary, March 31st, 2017.
- Mr. Jackson's video on CTV News.


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I wasn't going to blog about Eat well for Less again but was so annoyed by the family they showed and their profligate food spend that I am forced to reiterate what Gregg Wallace said to them about pasta sauces! There is no added sugar in this.
Every student I ever taught has learned to make it and add to it Bolognese or multiple chopped vegetables , put on pasta topping, serve over meatballs/koftas etc.
All you need is a carton of plain passata (31p from Lidl- came up as Cirio too when I scanned it for MFP) or use chopped tomatoes
1 onion
1 clove garlic
Tablespoon oil
Herbs and spices to taste
Simply heat oil gently, fry onion and garlic until soft, add tomatoes and seasoning then simmer at least 30 minutes.
That's all
It freezes really well so make a big batch.
Simple and CHEAP and healthy. Kids love it


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Revision history for Perl extension Text::Aspell.
0.09 Fri Sep 21 00:02:55 UTC 2007
- Updated test due to changes in Test::More v0.71
0.08 Thu May 3 04:59:31 UTC 2007
- Added explicit set_lang for en_US
- TODO fix Makefile.PL to make sure aspell installed
and en_US installed.
0.07 Tue Apr 3 20:18:11 UTC 2007
- Added patch provided by Peter Karman:
"Here's a patch to skip that funny test in 05-core.t if the sug-split-char
feature is not present."
0.06 Wed May 31 13:51:58 UTC 2006
- Replaced the PUSHs with XPUSHs as suggested by AWKAY in bug #15060
- Removed a comment that was left in the O_OBJECT typemap.
Alex Kapranoff reported that it was confusing xsubpp on some versions
of perl.
- Changed from testing return values to calling aspell_*_error.
In some cases the Aspell API was inconsistent with the code.
0.05 Wed Jul 27 10:34:55 PDT 2005
- Removed a number of const * casts. Also changed a few int returns to
void to prevent XS creating RETVAL when not needed -- clears up all
warnings when compiling the module with -Wall (on gcc 3.3.6).
- Fixed get_option_as_list() to fetch the error message from the config object
instead of the speller object. Reported by Gary Setter.
- Made _create_speller() static - closes 8635
Thanks to Alexey Tourbin
- gt_option_as_list now checks for valid speller object
and generates internal message if not valid - closes 8633
Thanks to Alexey Tourbin
- replaced the config list test from 'sgml-extension' to
'sug-split-char'. smgl-extension seems to not be available
anymore as a number of people reported this test failing.
- Ignore the return value in store_replacement() -- seems the
return value cannot be trusted from aspell.
- Updated typemap to use INT2PTR to quiet the following:
cast to pointer from integer of different size
- Updated the README file to included suggestions for building on various
- Moved to using Test::More. Sorry if that causes you pain. Just trying
to keep up with the times.
0.04 Sat Nov 1 22:10:03 UTC 2003
- Updated README for Windows instructions
0.03 Sun Aug 3 00:45:32 UTC 2003
- Fixed a bug reported in Debian bug 203467
An invalid config setting (such as Lang = "xx") was
causing a segfault.
Was freeing the config option between creating the speller
and checking for errors. The free was clearing the error status.
- Fixed Debian bug 203516
Was not correctly extending arg stack when pusing suggesions onto
an array.
- Closed Debian bug 203517
User was trying to modify the config settings (specifically the
"lang" setting) after creating a speller object. That doesn't
work because creating a speller object is what maps the config
options to a given dictionary file.
Documentation updated to clear up this point.
0.02 Sat Aug 31 14:58:31 UTC 2002
- Added new method:
@dicts = $speller->dictionary_info;
returns hash ref instead of a : joined string
- Added new method:
@option_list = $speller->get_option_as_list( $option_name );
returns the option setting as a list (since some options are lists)
- Added new method:
$options = $speller->fetch_option_keys;
returns the available config options and their defaults
- Removed option_list array.
0.01 Thu Aug 29 19:49:51 UTC 2002
- Updated and renamed from Text::Pspell to use GNU Aspell 0.50.
Update to GNU Aspell provided by T.J. Mather, Aug 24, 2002.
- Updated config options displayed in print_config() method.
- Added list_dictionaries() method to list available dictionaries
and added test.


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It can be challenging to stay up-to-date with the latest in wellness and food "trends," but many of these so-called emerging ingredients are not as new as we think. Think about it...kombucha is all the rage right now, but it's actually an ancient fermented drink that has been used for its healing properties for hundreds of years. Maybe we're just hearing about it now, or maybe we weren't really paying attention years ago. Either way, we've got you covered.
Today we're talking about ashwaghanda (pronounced ash-wah-gahn-da). What the heck is it? For starters, it is one of the most popular herbs used in Ayurvedic healing. It looks like a little red tomato engulfed in papery thin leaves. However, it is commonly compared to the ginseng root and has been dubbed "Indian ginseng," although the root grows in many places throughout Asia and the Middle East.
Ashwaghanda is commonly used to treat stress, fatigue, lack of energy, and difficulty concentrating. It also helps strengthen the immune system and has anti-inflammatory properties.
What makes it so special? Ashwaghanda is trending right now as an "adaptogen," or a substance that helps your body respond to stress and changing environments. But it is best known for its stress-reducing properties. Many animal and human studies have demonstrated that the super herb helps lower cortisol levels and reduces the number of damaged cells caused by stress. In some instances, ashwaghanda has been compared to brand new prescription medicines for anxiety and depression, although these claims have not been validate.
Although ashwaghanda is typically injested in a supplement form, many trending food and drink products also contain the super herb. Functional beverage companies have started to incorporate ashwaghanda into teas and elixirs, while supplement companies have started making powders that can mixed into drinks and foods available. However you choose to incorporate this herb into your routine, make sure you check with your doctor before beginning any new supplement regimen.


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Ex-combatants, homeless youth, drug dealers, street vendors, junkies, and petty criminals. Could there be a more interesting study population? We're studying economic and violent behavior and ways to change it. More on our Liberia street youth project here.
We are looking for a superstar research assistant on the ground to work with me, my colleagues (a behavioral economist and a cognitive neuropsychologist), and a big team on the ground. The job posting is here.
What are we looking for? This is a perfect job for someone with a BA or an MA and looking for a couple of years experience before heading to a PhD in economics or political science. People of all skills and stripes should apply. But I have star managers and ethnographers already, and we need someone with technical skills, especially stats and Stata experience. Some of my best field people were Federal reserve or treasury RAs, with no field experience, which they have now got in spades.
P.S. Please apply at the IPA site, not to me directly. I don't get involved until the short list stage.


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Telerik ALM Seminar Sydney - Invite Only
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Tuesday, March 15, 2011 from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM (AEDT)
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Telerik is a market-leading provider of end-to-end solutions for application development, automated testing, agile project management, reporting, and content management across all major Microsoft development platforms. Telerik's award-winning software development products enable enterprises and organizations of every size to generate tangible productivity gains, reduce time-to-market, and stay on time and under budget. With tens of thousands of users in more than 90 countries around the world, Telerik's customers include numerous Fortune 2000 companies, academic institutions, governments, and non-profit organizations


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Chris Caldwell (Strabane Chronicle)
IRISH international Andy McBrine returned home to Donemana last week after spending almost three months playing in Western Australias Premier Cricket League.
The 25-year-old signed for Midland-Guildford at the beginning of October and after an initial baggage debacle with Qantas was rectified, he and Eglintons Stuart Thompson, who joined Wanneroo for the same period, soon settled into life on the outskirts of Perth.
The national team duo lived at the Vines resort in the heart of the Swan Valley, which is home to golf courses, vine yards, breweries, chocolate factories and a host of other ways to while away any spare time.
For McBrine, as well as living in the scenic surrounds of the Swan Valley on Perths fringes, he was fortunate to get to play his cricket at Lilac Hill Park.
The clubs ground is nestled on the banks of the Swan River where it lies like an oasis of green on the edge of the scorched red earth on the boundary of the picturesque town of Guildford, which is a throwback to Australias colonial past. Red brick facades and tree-lined avenues give the suburb a distinctly old world feel, with the beautiful Stirling Square adding a sense of space and tranquility.
It would be hard for anyone not to enjoy a lengthy stay there, and Andy was enchanted equally by the area, his team-mates and the standard of cricket. While delighted that he made the decision to travel to Australias sunset capital to maintain his game during the winter rather than slog away indoors back home, he admitted it was an easy choice to make.
I had the choice to stay around here and practice indoors and in the gym or go away and spend 10 or 11 weeks in Australia, so it was a no brainer really, he said.
I was living in the Vines, a lovely spot with a couple of golf courses that suited me down to the ground, it had everything we needed.
We were only about five minutes from the Swan Valley and all the vineyards, which was pretty good as well.
While everything off the pitch was pretty much ideal, at the crease things didnt go as Andy and his team had hoped.
During his time with the club, which saw him play six Premier Cricket matches and three Premier T20 clashes, they won just once.
Fortunately for the North West Warriors captain, that solo triumph came against Wanneroo and Thompson, which, at the very least, gave him some bragging rights in their apartment for a few days.
Clubwise, we actually struggled. We only won one match, but in a lot of them we were very, very close, he observed.
We were just a very young team and missing a couple of experienced players that would help get us over the line.
Theres definitely a bright future there and Ill be keeping a keen eye out for them and you never know, theyve said Im welcome back any time Ive nothing on.
Midland-Guildford fell to defeats to Scarborough, Mount Lawley, Rockingham-Mandurah, Bayswater-Morley and Melville in the 1st Grade competition, and Andy wasnt overly impressed by his own performances during his time in Australia.
With the bat he scored 159 runs, averaging 17.67 with a high score of 47 against Bayswater-Morley and with the ball he took seven wickets for an average of 40.14 with a best return of three for 50.
Despite his own perceived short fallings on the pitch, Andy believes he has learned a lot from his few months Down Under.
I wasnt happy with my performances personally, he admitted. But I leaned a lot because we were training four times a week with a guy called Stuart Walters, so I learned a lot from him and the different conditions as well.
It probably wasnt the best for spin bowlers, but it helped my economy and it helped to outsmart batsmen because obviously youre not getting the same purchase out of the wickets.
It was a great experience and I would recommend any young cricketer from Ireland if they get the opportunity to go out, do it!
Now back at home, Andy will start preparing for what is set to be another hectic 12 months with club and country.
Donemana received testing draws in the North West Senior Cup and Irish Senior Cup, at home to Coleraine and away to North Down, respectively, but initially the talented all-rounder is focused on international duty.
Irelands schedule is packed from the turn of the year with the T20 Series against Scotland, Netherlands and Oman in Oman, then three T20s with Afghanistan, five one dayers and a Test match, which takes care of February to April, which is enough for him to concentrate on for now.


text: Violent protests have raged for four days in Indian Kashmir The five died in four separate clashes spread across two districts bordering Pakistan-administered Kashmir on Wednesday.An army spokesman said the dead were "Islamic militants" encountered during cordon and search operations.The strike closed government offices, schools and many shops in Kashmir. Traffic was light on Srinagar's roads and Indian paramilitary troops were out in force."The strike is to protest the brutal killings of three innocent boys," said separatist leader Sayed Ali Jeelani, who called for the protest. Checkpoint arrestsThe stoppage came after police in Indian-administered Kashmir intercepted a car packed with explosives on Tuesday night, Indian officials said.Officials said some 100kg of explosives was stuffed in the vehicle that was stopped at a checkpoint near Mazihama, 20km north of the summer capital Srinagar.The driver, identified as a member of the Hizbul Mujahidin group, was arrested, said police officer Javed Maqdoomi.Two other suspects escaped. "The strike is to protest the brutal killings of three innocent boys"Sayed Ali Jeelani,separatist leader "This is the first time such a powerful IED (improvised explosive device) fitted to a car has been recovered," said Maqdoomi. "Its impact could have caused devastation if detonated."Police intensified searches after a car bomb exploded near a Srinagar school on Wednesday last week, killing four Indian soldiers and a civilian. Tensions have run high in Indian-administered Kashmir since the killing of three of four boys who the army said fell into an ambush near Bangargund village in the early hours of Sunday.The surviving teenager is in critical condition.Violent protestsThe surrounding Kupwara district has been strike-bound since the killing and violent protests have continued.Several hundred people demonstrated in Kupwara on Wednesday and thousands on previous days, witnesses said.The protesters were defying an official ban on gatherings of more than four people.The Indian Army has apologised for the killings of the boys and an official inquiry is being held.Rights groups often accuse Indian troops of human rights violations, including shooting innocent civilians.Indian authorities say they investigate all complaints and punish those found guilty. SOURCE: AFP


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LUANDA, Angola — A Vatican spokesman confirms a deadly stampede broke out at a stadium a few hours before Pope Benedict XVI addressed young people in Angola.
The Rev. Federico Lombardi says the pope is "very upset" by reports that two people were killed in the crush.
The incident occurred as the stadium was opening its gates to people waiting outside, about four hours before the pope arrived.
Portuguese news agency LUSA cites an unidentified source at a local hospital as saying a man and a woman were killed, eight others were hospitalized with minor injuries, and 10 were given medical assistance at the site.
An AP reporter saw another stampede break out when the pope arrived, and at least 20 people were taken away in ambulances.
Pope blasts sorcery
On his first pilgrimage to Africa, the pope drew on the more than 500 years of Roman Catholicism in Angola, saying that Christianity was a bridge between the local peoples and the Portuguese settlers. He appealed to Catholics of Angola to reach out to and convert believers in witchcraft who feel threatened by "spirits" and "evil powers" of sorcery.
"In today's Angola, Catholics should offer the message of Christ to the many who live in the fear of spirits, of evil powers by whom they feel threatened, disoriented, even reaching the point of condemning street children and even the most elderly because — they say — they are sorcerers."
In Africa, some churchgoing Catholics also follow traditional animist religions and consult medicine men and diviners who are condemned by the church. People accused of sorcery or of being possessed by evil powers sometimes are killed by fearful mobs.
Benedict counseled Catholics to "live peacefully" with animists and other nonbelievers and urged Angolans to be the "new missionaries" to bring people who believe in sorcery to Christ.
Eighty percent of Angola's 16 million people are Christian, about 65 percent Catholic.
Benedict spoke at a Mass at the capital's blue-domed St. Paul's Church, where light streamed through stained glass windows onto veiled nuns and priests and bishops resplendent in white and lilac robes.
Earlier, he was welcomed by a huge crowd. Children screamed their excitement and held up cell phones to take photographs of the 81-year-old pontiff. Young girls prostrated themselves before him in a sea of pink veils.
People chanted and swayed to drumbeats and the rhythm of hymns in this tropical seaside capital. Many women wrapped their waists in cloth printed with photographs of the pope's face.
The pope lovingly caressed the faces of children and sketched the cross on their foreheads.
'Very emotional day'
Inside, veiled nuns and bishops resplendent in white robes with cerise belts and skull caps celebrated Mass with Benedict, who arrived in Luanda on Friday on the second leg of his tour of the continent with the fastest growing Catholic population in the world.
"This is a very emotional day for me, my first time to get a Papal blessing," said Sister Iliria Olivera, from Oaxaca in Mexico, among hundreds of foreign missionaries in the church. Olivera for nine years has been working with her Sisters of the Divine Pastor, teaching children and running a maternal health clinic outside Luanda.
After the Mass, the pope mounted a podium to bless the frenzied crowd of faithful who cheered him, crying out "Viva ao papa! Viva!"
On Friday, Benedict lamented what he called strains on the traditional African family, condemning sexual violence against women and chiding countries that have approved abortion.
Earlier in the weeklong trip, Benedict drew criticism from aid agencies and some European governments when he said that condoms were not the answer to Africa's severe AIDS epidemic, suggesting that sexual behavior was the issue.
In his remarks to diplomats, Benedict also called for a "conversion of hearts" to rid Angola and the rest of Africa of corruption.
Critics say last year's elections, which were swept by President Eduardo Dos Santos' party, were marred by fraud and corruption. Dos Santos has been in power for 30 years.
In his welcome speech after arriving from Cameroon on Friday, Benedict referred to Angola's poverty as well as its rich natural resources, saying the multitude of poor Angolans must not be forgotten.
Angola is rich in diamonds and oil, but war and mismanagement have left most of its people in poverty.
He referred to his own childhood growing up in Nazi Germany, saying he had known war and national divisions and was keenly aware that dialogue was a way of overcoming "every form of conflict and tension and making every nation, including your own, into a house of peace and fraternity."
Angola was lacerated by a civil war that started with its 1975 independence and ended in 2002. Its history as a former Portuguese colony has given the country Christian roots.
Dos Santos, who welcomed the pope at the airport Friday, said his government has good relations with the Vatican and underlined the strong role the church plays in the country's recovery from nearly three decades of war.
In a message of welcome published in the local press Saturday, he said "Today, the signs of reconstruction of Angola are already visible and we can say that the benefits of peace can be felt in the life of each citizen."
More on: Pope Benedict | AIDS
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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Employers that want to keep their employees, or at least keep offices and production floors calm, might want to give a little extra thought to how they say what they say about disability insurance and other benefits.
The job market is probably a little better than it was, but not much better.
The economy stopped imploding awhile back and resumed painfully slow growth, but part of that growth came from employers laying off workers who might not have been especially productive but at least were available to fill in when the productive workers took vacations.
The surviving productive workers have spent the past 4 years giving up vacations, working uncompensated overtime, doing the work of two or three people, and, generally, stuffing it, because, really, where they came from, there have been 10 jillion other people just as good looking for work.
ComPsych Corp., Chicago, recently reported that 38% of employee say they are unable to stop thinking about their problems.
The percentage who told ComPsych that they have felt sad over the past 6 months has increased to 36%, up from 26% in mid-2011, and the percentage who admitted that they have been angry has increased to 24%, from 23%.
Unum Group Corp., Chattanooga, Tenn. (NYSE:UNM), conducted a Web survey of its own and asked U.S. adults ages 18 and older to talk about their employee benefits.
Unum found that 28% of the 1,100 employed participants said morale has declined in the past year. Just 55% of the workers said they would choose to stay with their employers if they were offered the same pay and benefits elsewhere.
The percentage interested in staying with their current employers has dropped from 62% in 2008.
Unum also looked at employers' benefits communication efforts.
The percentage of employees who could speak to a benefits advisor over the phone has fallen to 29%, down from 47% in 2008, and the percentage who received printed benefits information dropped to 50%, from 70% in 2008.
Unum did not ask about the percentage of workers who felt as if they were locked out of seeing their benefits information at least part of the year because they have no idea what their benefits system user name is, let alone the password, and are too tired to go through the forgotten-password retrieval routine (for the 500th time).
About 82% of the workers who said their benefits education was excellent also said their employer was an excellent or very good place to work.
Maybe there's a message there: If you can't give employees great news, at least say what you can say nicely. Or, at least, supplement digital communications with flesh-and-blood communications.


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The subject was 'The right to privacy' – a matter of growing concern in our times.
The Press has long exploited any notable failings it can unearth in social behaviour. Nowadays it has fresh 'friends': TV, radio and Facebook etc, which extend the scope for intrusive prying. There is, of course, commercial exploitation of personal details. There is also plenty of junk mail and unworthy revelations. The consequences are that, maybe rightly- social faults of 'baddies' are revealed but – wrongly – some innocent and decent behaviour can be criticised by deliberate, irresponsible intrusion. There is another serious aspect: we tend to follow the fashion and lack charity and sink rather to 'I told you so', lowering our standards and level of fairness. There is more than a right to enjoy privacy: we have personal lives to live, say, in our relationships at home, with friends and in our work, features which are vulnerable. Could we look for the best in others and avoid the slander which is the lifeblood of those who care not for the good of others. We are not protected by the law as well as we should be. The Government and Press should act to remedy this situation.
Next meeting: November 9 'The value of the Arts in our Society'. Tom Gilmore.
Society Today – October meeting
The subject was 'The right to privacy' – a matter of growing concern in our times.


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Budapest 8 hours sightseeing tour with lunch on the Danube
Would you like to get to know Budapest in detail? Our professionally organized tour provides you a broad information of not only the historical background and legends of the city, but also its present situation.
Join us and take part in our 4-hour private tour with a private, high-class vehicle! We make a huge circle in the city and visit every significant sight: Saint Stephen's Basilica, Parliament, Chain Bride, Castle District, Gellért Hill, Elizabeth Bridge, Heroes' Square and the City Park.
Three short walks are included in the tour. We take one around the Saint Stephen's Basilica, the Castle District, and the Heroes' Square while your guide tells you all the most important informations regarding the landmarks.
Pick-up and drop-off service is included in the price.
- Meeting Time: tour starts according to your preferences
- Hotel Pick-up and Drop-off is guaranteed part of the service
- Tour operates with private sightseeing car and chauffeur
- Listed sights and route may be altered according to your preferences
- Main Sights: Heroes' Square, Andrássy Avenue, Buda Castle, Royal Palace, Matthias Church, St. Stephen's Basilica, Gellért Hill, Fisherman's Bastion
Lunch & Cruise on the Danube during the City Tour!
Once you are in Hungary you will feel obliged to try out the traditional gastronomy of the locals, during the grand city tour you have the opportunity to do so during your sightseeing.
Our program takes you on a 1 hour 30 minutes long ship cruise on one of our air conditioned / heated ships, including an open buffet lunch and two drinks. The meals on our boats are prepared by Chef Molnárka Péter. The menu includes various Hungarian dishes, cold entries, international favourites, vegetarian meals, desserts and much more. A perfect choice to try out most of the local dishes while admiring the daytime panorama of the Hungarian capital. After the lunch we continue our tour on land.


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BlueLab | Audio Plugins is a one person company founded in 2017 by a software engineer specialized in sound and multimedia, also holding a sound engineering degree. Based in France, the company is aimed to provide audio plugins at reasonable price, while adding innovative features when possible.
If you have questions or remarks, you can mail:
For support requests please fill the support contact form or mail:
Special prices for students on demand:


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Committed Committees
Do you have ideas on how to help shape our events, gatherings or communication style? The Communications Committee might be a great match!
If your interest or expertise is geared more toward landscape, structural issues or safety, then the Building and Security Committee is your gateway to helping shape our future!
Both groups are actively seeking participants. Be part of your community, join us and watch your ideas come to life.
Meeting Schedule:
All meetings are held in the Community / Conference Room unless otherwise noted.
Architecture and Rules Committee - meets as needed.
Building and Safety Committee - meets on an Ad Hoc basis We are in search of a new Committee Chair. See the staff for more info!
Social Committee - Seeking interested participants - please email the office manager if you're interested! firstname.lastname@example.com
Monthly Board Meeting - Fourth Tuesday of every month beginning at 6 pm, unless otherwise noted.
Annual Homeowners' Meeting- The Annual Meeting will allow homeowners the opportunity to vote in board candidates & receive updates on the year's accomplishments. The 2019 Annual Meeting was held on October 29, 2019, 6pm at the Ballard Library.


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SBTS is always a fun weekend, with plenty of workshops to coose from or relax in the spa the weekend is there for you to enjoy how you want to.
To give you an idea of the timetable:
Fri: 2pm check in, Welcome meet & greet, evening workshop, Performance of workshop dance & drinks in the bar
Sat: Workshops, souk, evening entertainment, teacher performances, Buffett
& disco
Sun: Workshops, shopping and post-festival photo, certifcates and fun,
Monday: 10am check out
We have spaces for 45 students sharing twin rooms (some single rooms are avaliable upon request). The amazing price for the weekend package per person is £265 which includes three nights accommodation (Sun night is included), ALL your workshops, Saturday night buffet, show & disco. To secure your place you will need to pay a £75 non refundable/non transferable deposit and contact firstname.lastname@example.com to pick your dates. The rest of your weekend will need to be paid by Jan 31st 2020. After this date full payments can not be refunded.
You can pay by cheque or by Paypal account to firstname.lastname@example.com or contact chloe for bank transfer details. .
If you'd like more information or to join the mailing list, please use our contact form


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With the release of the nvidia drivers for Xfree 4.0, I installed them and had hardware accelerated opengl in linux.
However, I have a question for those that care to respond. Can I now develop and have work applications that use glx(and count on full interoptability between linux and irix) and if so where can I find the header files and appropriate libraries for glx. Should I already have the libraries with xfree 4.0?
Aaron Bryden


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Check out The Ghost, the latest track from Jahlil Beats, which dropped on Saturday, July 20th, 2013. Jahlil Beats's movement grows stronger with each new release, and The Ghost has further strengthened that fact. It's a solid addition to the commendable body of work Jahlil Beats has been creating since stepping foot in the rap game, and we're definitely looking forward to what Jahlil Beats has on deck.
Hear more of Jahlil Beats on Cruising On Red Leather, featuring Ab-Liva & Ahken. If you dig this, visit Jahlil Beats's profile for the latest info, news, songs, and mixtapes. Follow Jahlil Beats on Facebook and Twitter, if you aren't already.
What do y'all think of this joint?


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Now if you subscribe to the Bertie Wooster school of sartorial styling (technically, I think you can probably only aspire to the Wooster school of style, as actually reaching those dizzy heights is beyond even the most sophisticated gents capabilities), you'll probably be aware that along with a pair of brogues on your feet and a stiff G&T in hand, the must have accompaniment for any gentleman's suit is a close clean shave and a quality haircut.
Amongst my more follically challenged friends, I have what they might describe as a very positive problem – lots of very thick, gravitationally opposed hair (sods law says that this post will kick start the onset of my male pattern baldness).
So a good barber that can help with the only element on my head I can easily change for the better is an imperative, which makes Gentlemen's Tonic hidden away on Saville Row such a find.
I think because it's nestled within Gieves & Hawkes at No.1 Saville Row, people don't necessarily know it's there. So for me who leaves booking appointments to the very last minute it's one of those rare as hen's teeth barbers, one where you can call up in the morning and get an appointment for 1pm that lunchtime.
If it wasn't blatantly obvious from the name of the establishment, Gentlemen's Tonic caters male grooming needs, and a wide variety at that. From barbershop classics such as traditional wet shaves, complimentary shoe shines to sports massages in a dedicated therapy room, pretty much the only thing they don't have on site is a quartet.
Apart from cutting hair very well (ask for Mark) it pulls off the male grooming experience with aplomb. Neither too metro-sexual or too "laddie", its traditional chairs, tiling, pots of barbicide and cut throat razors give the interior a really sharp edge (bad pun I know).
On my last visit I was quizzing Mark about wet shaves and how to shave properly. Given the average man will spend 5 months of his life shaving, I've never been taught the proper approach, and after reading Mark's top tips (given to everyone who has a wet shave) I've realised that even if I have umpteen blades on my Gillette razor, I won't get a closer shave without a few basic skills.
If you're a lady reading this (firstly thanks for showing interest in this very male focused post), I'd 100% recommend buying a male companion the experience of a traditional barbers wet shave for a present.
I imagine it's equivalent of us buying you ladies a massage/facial.. it's pampering, but with an unequivocally masculine edge (there's really dangerous blades involved.. grrr.). Also for us men it has an added bonus – a perfect excuse not to shave for three days beforehand…


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College Campus Visits: CAC is Family
Over the past month, a handful of faculty and staff piled in to an SUV armed with hundreds
of trivia cards and trekked to three college campuses across Arkansas to eat dinner and reconnect with recent CAC alumni. Teachers, administration and former students alike laughed over pizza and reminisced about their favorite Mustang Mountain memories.
At each campus the group visited (Harding University, Arkansas State University and Arkansas Tech) Danny Sullivan said he was encouraged to see the wide age-range of alumni who attended, from freshmen to graduate school students. Sullivan said that as soon as the students entered the room, their faces lit up with a sense of familiarity and comfortableness.
Melissa Leverett sensed the comfortableness as well, and said the word "family" was used multiple times to describe the Mountain.
"Even the kids who weren't always actively involved in high school said that we shouldn't change the family atmosphere. They kept saying that there is something different about CAC in a positive way, and that we should never lose the idea that we are a family," Leverett said.
2012 CAC graduate Caleb Rowan said it was good to see familiar faces and to get to catch up with people he hadn't seen in a couple of years.
"It's always good to see the teachers. They're what made the CAC experience so special. The relationships I have with some of them are the best kind of relationships because if we see each other after a year or two apart, it's like nothing has changed. They still care about what's going on in my life five years after I've graduated."
To Sullivan, "former-students" is an important term to define these alumni, because over the years, they have become something more.
"These kids turned into the people we, the faculty, hoped they would be. They are faithful as they start careers, become great leaders at their colleges and continue doing well academically. They aren't our students any more, they are our friends."
At each dinner, the faculty led discussions and asked alumni to give honest advice on how to make the CAC experience better. They posed questions such as, "What should we never change?" and "What needs to be changed?" A common theme across all three colleges was the importance of building meaningful student-teacher relationships.
"I learned that we as teachers can push math and push English, but that's not what the kids take away. What the kids take away five years later is the fact that we loved them and cared about them. We built relationships with them. While math and English are important, teaching God's grace and showing them that we love them has really made an impact on who they are now," Brittany Arnold said.
Collectively, the faculty said they were inspired and encouraged to listen to their former students talk about growth, hard times and memories. The dinners provided a unique opportunity for specific members of the CAC family to be reminded that even though they are no longer on the Mountain, they will always be a Mustang.


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The first of Building's series of interviews with the construction professionals standing in the general election
Name: Stephen Gee, Liberal Democrat prospective parliamentary candidate for Epsom & Ewell
Construction CV: Chartered QS with 35 years' experience; until October 2016 managing partner of consultant John Rowan and Partners
What can your party offer the construction industry?
A complete agreement to the Building Brexit Manifesto, a campaign against a hard Brexit, continued tariff-free access to the single market and a guarantee of the rights of EU workers in the UK. We will only have a strong and stable economy if we achieve these things. All industries will suffer under Theresa May's hard Brexit. We will all be worse off and will not have enough skilled labour to build our way out of a recession. The construction industry could take 15 years to recover.
Why is construction important in your constituency?
The provision of affordable housing is an issue throughout the country and particularly so in Epsom & Ewell. The pressure in Epsom to not build on the green belt is large but the issue must be addressed by finding enough brownfield sites. We hope to be at the end of Crossrail 2, should it ever proceed, which would be a huge boost for the area – but this isn't a hot topic in this election.
How will your party ensure a "good" Brexit?
No one can guarantee a good Brexit – I'm not sure those two words go together – but we must aim for one that won't damage the economy, jobs and trade. We need a strong economy to have the funds to invest in the NHS, social care and schools that face critical funding and capacity challenges. By voting Liberal Democrat you would ensure a strong voice in parliament and the only effective opposition to the hard Brexit Tory government. It's not too late to change the direction of the country.
Contact your candidate
You can download this model letter to your constituency candidates by clicking here.
The letter summarises construction's importance to the UK economy and calls on election candidates to consider the key demands in the Building a Better Brexit manifesto.
A list of the candidates is available from the official political parties' websites, along with contact details. Feel free to add local examples of important construction projects or related issues – we would also be interested to hear about these local stories, so please email us email@example.com.


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Wolf Crossings
A Rural Viewpoint On Wolf Reintroduction And Protection
{Download}1.78 megabytes
Updated 10-06
Feds reject Idaho plan to kill wolves, say science isn't solid
Free New Mexican Santa Fe, NM
By JOHN MILLER | The New Mexican
September 23, 2006
BOISE, Idaho (AP) - Federal officials have rejected Idaho's plan to kill
up to 43 wolves in north-central Idaho to boost elk numbers, saying
scientific data gathered by the state do not justify the action.
At a recent meeting, federal officials told Steve Nadeau, Idaho Fish and
Game Department's large carnivore manager, that state studies of elk
declines in the Lolo region didn't adequately demonstrate wolves are the
primary cause.
"We agreed the wolves are playing an important role in limiting recovery.
The question comes down to whether or not there's an unacceptable impact,"
said Jeff Foss, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service field supervisor in
Boise. "Based on the information that was provided at the meeting, the
service didn't feel it had enough at that time to draw (that) conclusion."
The Idaho agency said the federal decision means the plan will not be put
into effect this winter, but research to gather supporting data will
"The department would have liked to move forward by this winter," Jim
Unsworth, the department's wildlife bureau chief, told The Associated
Press. "That's not likely."
Last January when the state's proposal was unveiled, conservation groups
came to the same conclusion as the federal scientists. They argue that
poor habitat, not wolves, is the main reason Lolo elk now number less than a quarter
of the 16,500 counted in the region north of the Lochsa River in
Fires in the early 20th century cleared heavy timber there, creating good
elk habitat. In recent years, however, once-grassy hillsides that
supported thousands of elk have filled in with lodgepole pine, red fir and
western cedar, they said.
While the Idaho Conservation League backs removing federal protections
from wolves in the state because their numbers have met recovery goals in Idaho's wolf management plan, spokesman Jonathan Oppenheimer said plans to
remove specific wolves such as those in the Lolo still should be
scientifically sound.
"Regardless of whether they have to get the OK from Fish and Wildlife or
whether they get it (through) delisting, if you want to have more elk,
you've got to have the habitat to support them," Oppenheimer said.
State officials, including Gov. Jim Risch, say Idaho is collecting new
information to support its aim of reducing wolves in the Lolo elk
management zone on the Idaho-Montana border by 75 percent.
But they said their main focus now has shifted to getting the Interior
Department to lift federal Endangered Species Act protections from gray
wolves in the region.
Since January, Idaho has had day-to-day management over central Idaho
wolves _ including the Lolo pack _ that are considered "experimental,
nonessential" and thus not fully protected under the Endangered Species
Act. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service still manages wolves north of U.S.
Interstate 90 in the Panhandle, where the animals are listed as
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is considering removing federal
protections in most of Idaho and Montana, where wolves number 800. If that happens,
Idaho would no longer need permission from the federal agency to
start killing wolves in the Lolo or anywhere else in the state.
That's the state's main desire, Idaho Office of Species Conservation
Director Jim Caswell said. But he added the state is still committed to
its proposal to reduce the Lolo pack _ a stance he acknowledges has
political risk.
"It could cause people to fight against a potential delisting proposal,"
Caswell said. "Sure, it's a concern. It's always been a concern."


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Congress's Tax Cut Imperative
Sometimes the biggest tax increases are not written into law. That's true for the tidal wave of new revenues our federal tax system is generating this year. Federal tax receipts have already risen by 11 percent ($100 billion) over what they were this time last year, and there are still five months left in the fiscal year.
But last year Congress enacted a tax cut. How can revenues be soaring? Part of the answer is the effect of lower tax rates on capital gains. Capital gains receipts have nearly doubled since 1995. No surprise here: over the past 40 years, every time Congress has cut the capital gains tax rate, tax collections on capital gains have risen. Cutting that tax remains the one tried and true method of soaking the rich.
But there's another more important explanation for record tax collections this year: American workers are suffering from "real income bracket creep." Real income bracket creep is a natural result of the graduated income tax. Graduated income tax rates mean that in a time of economic growth — like the one we're experiencing today — Americans' higher incomes push them into higher tax brackets. Income gains in the past five years have pushed millions of middle‐income families out of the 15 percent marginal tax bracket into the 28 percent bracket. Hundreds of thousands of others have been pushed from the 28 percent bracket into the 31 and 36 percent brackets, and so on.
Bracket creep is economically destructive and morally disastrous. One of its consequences is that, during economic expansions, the government's fiscal intake rises faster than the family's. In the past three years, federal income tax receipts rose at almost twice the pace of wages and salaries. For example, this year income is up a respectable 6 percent, but tax receipts are up 11 percent. This exacerbates what House Majority Leader Dick Armey has called the "middle class squeeze."
What is the effect of real bracket creep over time? Today, federal taxes are more than 20.2 percent of gross domestic product — the highest burden since the end of World War II. On the margin, the yearly change in individual tax receipts as a share of the change in personal income (less transfer payments) has reached an extraordinary 38 percent. This is the real effective tax burden on middle‐income working Americans. Thirty‐eight percent is way, way too high.
To protect against future bracket creep, Congress should also adjust the tax brackets for inflation plus real income growth.
Real bracket creep allows Congress to collect more and more tax revenues from the public without ever having to go on record as raising taxes. Hence, income tax bracket creep is the ultimate invisible tax hike. It gives politicians the best of all worlds. Newt Gingrich and Trent Lott can sanctimoniously thump their fists on their chests and boast about tax cuts passed by the GOP Congress while they pluck more feathers from the geese than ever before. No, Newt and Trent haven't raised our income tax rates. But they might as well have. They simply have allowed the built‐in bracket creep in the tax system to do the dirty work for them.
Congress's top tax priority this year should be to reverse five years of real income tax bracket creep. It's an easy problem to solve. First, expand the income threshold for the 15 percent tax bracket to apply to most middle‐income families and to reverse five years of real income bracket creep, just as Sen. Paul Coverdell (R‐Ga.) and Rep. John Thune (R-S.C.) have proposed.
Second, to protect against future bracket creep, Congress should also adjust the tax brackets for inflation plus real income growth. Recall that in 1981 Ronald Reagan began to adjust the income tax brackets for inflation. That was a huge bonus for taxpayers. But that procedure was insufficient. Milton Friedman recently announced his support for adjusting the income tax brackets for real income growth in the Wall Street Journal.
Here's how the new policy would work. Assume that in a given year inflation is 3 percent and real income growth is 2 percent. Under current tax rules, the income tax brackets would rise by 3 percent. Under the new rules, the brackets would rise by 5 percent. The government would still receive a dividend from higher growth, just not a bigger dividend than workers get. Taxes as a share of GDP would stabilize.
One attractive feature of this proposal is that it costs very little in terms of lost revenues in the short term. The five‐year cost of adjusting the income tax code would be small, thus mitigating budget rule problems of "paying for" the tax cut. But the tax savings multiply dramatically over time because of the odious compounding effect of real bracket creep.
For four years congressional Republicans have talked ad nauseam about the middle‐class squeeze. Yet — because of bracket creep — the squeeze has become a bear hug after four years of a GOP Congress. Here's a sensible policy to loosen the government's grip.


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atching the televised endgame to the waterlogged second Test in Wellington – a cosy space-filling, sofa-bound affair that cricket has always, from the days of the hair-oiled and unapologetically brusque Peter West, done better than any other sport – the Spin was struck by a number of things. First by the familiar low-key excellence of Ian Ward in the anchorman role, a presenter who manages to be nice without being anywhere close to bland, and to remain at all times attentively expert while still teasing the bulk of the chat out of his revolving roster of furtively suited ex-pros. And not to mention doing all this while resembling increasingly some elegantly ravaged fin de siecle decadent levered out of the casino and into a light blue business suit and persuaded to discuss at great length Australia's dearth of spin options with Shaun Udal and Dominic Cork.
Mainly, though, as the day passed in a companionable pretence of hope ("back over to Michael now at a deserted Basin Reserve"), Sky staged a lengthy, well-informed discussion about Brian Lara. The Spin isn't really sure why, other than the obvious fact that there is no time when it is not a good time to have a long discussion about Brian Lara, but on this occasion this was framed around the horribly pointless, horribly interminable, horribly irresistible ambient debate about who was a better batsman, Lara or Sachin Tendulkar: a discussion that under new proposals put forward to the EU could soon be banned in public places, which is punishable by ritual flogging in many of the world's more despotic outposts and which, reduced to its familiar interminable thrashings-out tends to end up recreating the exact physical sensation of arguing interminably about who would win a race between a satsuma and the colour green, while having a breadstick driven up your nostril into the front quarters of the brain. But which remains, for all it migrainous tedium, somehow also a brilliantly insatiable topic of conversation.
The main reason for this is Lara, who may or may not have been the better player, but who, as Sky's video selection ably demonstrated, was in his peak moments one of the most viscerally exciting athletes imaginable in any discipline, every movement an expression of the most unearthly sporting talent.
And happily this is a timely moment to talk about Lara. It is now 20 years since the last great West Indian announced himself, in the winter of 1993, with his first Test hundred: not the usual agonising trudge, but a jaw-droppingly fine 277 on the third and fourth days in Sydney against Craig McDermott, Merv Hughes and Shane Warne. After which Lara produced the two and half years that would define him, scoring just under 3,000 Test runs at 61 including in just his 16th Test his first world record mark, 375 against England in Antigua. This was followed that summer by his enduring 501 not out against Durham (off - gulp - 427 balls) and three brilliant hundreds against England in the summer of 1995.
If Lara's finest innings was perhaps the match-winning 153 against Australia in Bridgetown in 1999, it is this early period that seems to sum him up: not so much the weight of run scoring - Jonathan Trott had the same number of hundreds the same number of matches into his Test career - but a concatenation of unsurpassable peaks. This is the key to the Lara-Tendulkar debate, and in fact the only thing really worth saying about it. Tendulkar obviously wins on pure accumulated stats. Lara wins on visceral sporting elegance and also on the extremity of his peaks.
It is a question of differing frequencies. Lara's five best innings are superior to Tendulkar's five best. But Tendulkar has many more best innings, each one a separate perfectly self-contained draught of the homogenised high-grade matter that is Sachin Tendulkar. If Tendulkar's kind of greatness was the only kind of greatness the sport would be tonally diminished. But a sport whose giants were all Laras would leave you yearning now and then for the cool, clear, beautifully still artistry of a Tendulkar.
For whom, incidentally, the correct comparison is probably not Lara but Jacques Kallis: a fellow technician in a similarly stable team who scores hundreds at the same rate and at a slightly higher average, but who also happens to have the same number of Test wickets as Jimmy Anderson and is therefore statistically the greatest cricketer of all-time (there is a problem here for militant Tendulkar fans: their man may win the Lara battle on points, but bring in the world's greatest all-rounder and Sachin starts to look a bit like Kallis without the wickets).
It is, as The Spin has ably demonstrated while thrashing out its own variation above, still the grandest and most pointless cricketing debate of the past 20 years. And really the broader point is the only real point worth making here. Emerging over a six-year span of notably high-spec Test match bowling talent, all three – Lara, Tendulkar and Kallis – are and were truly great. But then, what a time it was for that kind of thing.
At the time the stand-alone greatness of extant Test cricketers in the 1990s and 2000s was simply a given. Category A specimens, All-Time XI candidates, real-deal merchants: they were everywhere. Shortly after the turn of the century you could have picked a world XI that ran: Hayden, Dravid, Ponting, Tendulkar, Lara, Kallis, Gilchrist, Warne, McGrath, Pollock, Muralitharan. Every member of this team, with others in reserve, would be a decent shout in an all-time composite team to play the all-time composite cricketers of Mars.
Inevitably, there has been a levelling out. There are as ever brilliant cricketers knocking about the place. But the current world XI - at a stab: Cook, Smith, Amla, Sangakkara, Clarke, Kallis, De Villiers, Steyn, Philander, Ajmal, Anderson - is a tangible step down from giddily unassailable to merely very good. If this sense of decline is tangible, it is also politically fraught. It is customary at this point to rage with ubi sunt zeal against the rise of the new world: the distractions of the new formats, the altered gravity of the roving global Twenty20 league, with its short-termist concerns, its stupefying riches, its greatness-skewering sense of dilution.
On the other hand, too many domestic cricketing setups are in a state of turmoil - only in England and South Africa does first-class cricket seem more rather than less organised than it was previously - for this to all be the fault of the IPL, or the BPL, or the SPL or even the FLT20L. It is simply a time of change and adjustment. And perhaps it is the right moment to accept that what it is to be a great cricketer has simply changed a little. What De Villiers, or Amla, or MS Dhoni have managed - excellence in three utterly diverse formats through a rolling calendar of disorientating demands - is not to be undervalued. Perhaps there is, if not greatness, then something close to it here under extreme pressure.
Or at least something that was never quite asked of Lara in his prime, a genius who undoubtedly missed out on a fortune by only just scraping into the T20 era, but whose career was at least agreeably narrow-focus. More likely it is simply cyclical, the greatness dearth - albeit cyclical in a way that is related not just to the standard wax and wane of global talent stocks, but also to the cycle of muddle and confusion beyond, the sense of a sport in the process of shaking itself down into a new and hopefully more coherent shape.
The West Indies may yet produce another Brian Lara but, as CLR James wrote in Beyond a Boundary, genius cannot exist in isolation from it surroundings. Cricket's recent past looks not just like a land peopled by giants, but something calmer and more settled, a mini golden age with little more in the way of distraction beyond the familiar sedate, deliciously irresolvable questions of competing cricketing ultimacy.
• Extract taken from The Spin, the Guardian's weekly email on the world of cricket. To subscribe for free and have a copy pinged to your inbox each week, visit this page and follow the instructions.


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Smithsonian Folkways is making more than 300 standout albums (over 5,500 tracks) from the famed Arhoolie Records catalog available digitally and on CD through the Smithsonian Folkways website starting October 21 (folkways.si.edu/arhoolie). The remaining titles from the roughly 650-album collection will be released on an ongoing basis. Arhoolie Records is best known for "down home" blues, jazz, country, gospel, Cajun, zydeco, Mexican-American, and world music. Smithsonian Folkways acquired the Arhoolie catalog in May 2016 from its founder Chris Strachwitz and his business partner Tom Diamente. It is the largest addition to the Smithsonian Folkways catalogue since it launched in 1987, bringing the total number of available tracks to almost 60,000.
Some albums of interest to our readers include the bluegrass recordings on Arhoolie Records. Artists include Del McCoury's I Wonder Where You Are Tonight (1967). Stevie Barr with Friends Along the Crooked Road features bluegrass from Virginia's The Crooked Road heritage trail. You'll also find Snuffy Jenkins' album Pioneer of the Bluegrass Banjo and The Vern Williams Band's Traditional Bluegrass and other recordings from the past.
From Blues to Bluegrass and Zydeco to Ukrainian folk music, there is enough roots music to keep you busy day and night being entertained by the vast catalog of roots music from the south and the world.
The collection features seminal recordings by artists such as Bukka White, Big Mama Thornton, Lightnin' Hopkins, Mance Lipscomb, Mississippi Fred McDowell, Big Joe Williams, Flaco Jiménez, and Clifton Chenier. More recent releases include titles from the Savoy Family Band, the Magnolia Sisters, and the Pine Leaf Boys. "Hear Me Howling," a collection of recordings made in the San Francisco Bay area during the 1960s, won a GRAMMY Award in 2011. That same year, the label issued a GRAMMY-nominated retrospective box set celebrating Arhoolie's 50th anniversary.
The Arhoolie acquisition brings more than 1,000 new artists into the Folkways family and includes 350+ albums released going back to 1960, as well as recordings from three South Texas regional labels specializing in Mexican music (Ideal, Falcon, and Rio); Andean Huayno music from the Peruvian label Discos Smith; and archival materials. Remaining titles from the roughly 650-album collection will be released on an ongoing basis.
Chris Strachwitz moved to the United States from Germany in 1947 and fell in love with American roots music. His first love was New Orleans jazz, but radio broadcasts from Los Angeles and Baja California introduced him to hillbilly, rhythm & blues, gospel, Mexican norteño music and beyond. A major collector of 78s, Strachwitz travelled to Texas in 1959 to meet his idol Lightning Hopkins, and was lucky enough to hear him perform live in a small beer joint.
Struck by the exchange between Lightning and his audience, and by the poetry of his improvised lyrics, Chris decided right then and there that someone had to capture this man's music live in one of those joints and put it on a record. The following year, Chris returned to Houston only to find Hopkins leaving for California, so he and Mack McCormick, his guide to all things Texas, ventured north out of the city to Navasota, where they encountered and recorded outstanding local songster Mance Lipscomb. A few months later, in November 1960, Arhoolie LP 1001 introduced Chris' new label and that small town Texas songster to the world. (An arhoolie is a field holler; the name was suggested by McCormick.)
Over the next 55 years, Chris and Arhoolie Records put out over 350 albums. A passionate seeker of just the right music, Chris's many recordings included Cajun, zydeco, norteño, bluegrass, gospel and blues. Regional forms like zydeco may have never had national exposure without Arhoolie. The Smithsonian acquired the Arhoolie label from Chris and his partner Tom Diamant in 2016 to assure that his recordings would survive and remain available to future generations.
A selected number of titles unearthed from Arhoolie's El Cerrito warehouse are also available on vinyl, in limited quantity. They include:
See a full list on vinyl at folkways.si.edu/arhoolie
Smithsonian Folkways Recordings is dedicated to supporting cultural diversity and increased understanding among people through the documentation, preservation, production, and dissemination of sound. Part of the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, it is the nonprofit record label of the Smithsonian Institution, the national museum of the United States.
Smithsonian Folkways Recordings retail distribution in the US is through ADA (Alternative Distribution Alliance) at 800.239.3232. Smithsonian Folkways Recordings releases are available through record and book outlets. Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, as well as Folkways Records, A.R.C.E., Arhoolie, Banjo Builders, Blue Ridge Institute, Cook, Collector, Dyer-Bennet, Fast Folk, I.L.A.M., The Mickey Hart Collection, Monitor, M.O.R.E., Paredon, and UNESCO, are available via mail order at 888.FOLKWAYS or 800.410.9815. Visit the Smithsonian Folkways Recordings website at folkways.si.edu or write to 600 Maryland Ave. SW, Suite 2001, Washington, DC, 20024.
A few recordings from Arhoolie Records. Click here for more CDs, LPs, and 7-inch singles.
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Who is this course for?
Young learners who want to combine English language study, activities and cultural visits.
Course outcomes
Your child will develop:
Join us this summer to study our flagship English Explorer programme, which offers a holistic language experience which is immersive, flexible and lots of fun.
Young learners who want to combine English language study, activities and cultural visits.
Your child will develop:
30 hours per two week course (15 hours per weekly course at St Albans)
English lessons include projects which are designed around the school's weekly theme. Small groups of students work together on their projects focusing on each child's language knowledge and skills development. Students at The Leys and Wellington also have the opportunity to demonstrate their language skills by preparing for and taking the Trinity College London Speaking exam (GESE).
18 hours per two-week course
Bell academies give students the chance to specialise in one particular area of interest such as tennis, performing arts or horse-riding. Delivered by professionals with many years of industry experience, students practise their English while focused on learning or developing their chosen skill.
Academy options incur an additional charge and are booked in advance.
View a summary of each academy below.
Students will receive professional football coaching from Reading FC Community Trust. Coaches are qualified by the FA and have extensive experience with both male and female footballers.
Coaching will cover technical aspects of the game including:
Students will get a chance to put all these skills into practice through supervised matches. The academy also includes a guided tour of the Madejski Stadium, home to Reading FC.
Taught by an experienced Performing Arts Specialist, students will improve their theatrical skills through activities such as:
Students will have their moment in the spotlight as they create an end-of-course production to be performed to their fellow students and Bell staff.
Our horse-riding academy takes place at a long-established equestrian school, approved by the British Horse Society and Association of British Riding Schools.
Led by professional trainers, students will:
Students will have the opportunity to display what they have learnt during the academy at a final 'tack and turnout' show and will be presented with a certificate and rosette to celebrate their achievements.
The tennis academy option is ideal for students who want to receive professional tennis tuition. All coaches are qualified by the LTA (Lawn Tennis Association) and have experience in teaching students of all abilities.
Students will play on a range of surfaces, working on their forehand, backhand, volley shots and services and will get to apply their newly learnt skills in regular games.
As the UK is the home of grass court tennis, students will have the chance to practise playing on this surface and learn about the different skills and techniques required.
18 hours per two week course (9 hours per weekly course at St Albans)
Students at Bell 'learn by doing', so the activity programme is an integral part of the course and allows young learners to practise and develop what they have learnt in lessons. Our afternoon activities – electives and academy options – are designed to improve communication and confidence while developing academic, creative and active skills.
A selection of active, creative and academic electives will be available each week. Choose your activities on arrival.
Examples include:
Students choose three electives on arrival at The Leys.
The following electives are always on offer at this site:
A selection of other electives will also be available on each course. Examples include:
Try our Tennis or Robotics Academies at The Leys (book in advance).
Students choose three electives on arrival at Wellington.
The following electives are always on offer at this site:
A selection of other electives will also be available on each course. Examples include:
Try our Football, Horse-riding or Performing Arts Academies at Wellington College (book in advance).
3 full day study tours per two week course (1-2 days per one week course at St Albans)
Students learn about British life and culture through study tours to historic UK destinations such as London, Oxford, Cambridge and Stratford-upon-Avon.
Study tours are learning opportunities outside the classroom and are part of the academic programme. Students are prepared for the study tour in class, given a task to do on the trip and have a feedback lesson afterwards. Young learners are carefully supervised on all study tours.
25.5 hours per two week course (9 hours per one week course at St Albans)
After lessons, afternoon activities and a delicious dinner, students have an evening activity – more chance for your child to learn and practise English. Examples of evening activities include team-building challenges, treasure hunts and film nights.
Students have the option to demonstrate their language skills by preparing for and taking the Trinity College London Speaking exam (GESE) at the end of their course. This is optional and is available at The Leys School and Wellington College.


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The National Head Start Association's Two Generations Together Initiative is focused on increasing awareness of two-generation adult education and job training models that are part of the comprehensive child and family services delivered by Head Start programs across the country. Head Start has a fifty year history of achieving long-term outcomes for children both by supporting their health and learning and by enabling their families to achieve their own goals for education, employment, stability, and success. As we approach our next fifty years, Two Generations Together will highlight the most successful two-generation efforts that have developed in Head Start programs across the country and disseminate strategies and resources to help other Head Start and early learning programs develop or enhance two-generation work of their own. This work is made possible by the generous support of Ascend at the Aspen Institute.
In January 2015, NHSA released a report highlighting the exceptional efforts of six Head Start programs to design two-generation programs with local partners and resources to best support families in achieving stability and self-sufficiency. The report also examines common mechanisms for funding, partnerships, and research. Our featured programs are:
Join us! NHSA hosts a Learning Network for NHSA members interested in sharing or developing the two-generation components of their Head Start model. Contact Victoria Jones at email@example.com to be part of the national conversation about funding, partnerships, research, and resources for two-gen. The Two Generations Together Webinar Series in the spring of 2015 will also offer opportunities for anyone interested in building two-generation supports for parents from an early childhood platform to learn and connect with our efforts.


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Most people know the hauntingly beautiful song "Hallelujah" written by Leonard Cohen. There have been many renditions, and many expositions of it including himself. He wrote various verses, and when he performed, he sang different sets of lyrics. But I digress. I keep coming back to the last verse:
I did my best, it wasn't much
I couldn't feel, so I tried to touch
I've told the truth, I didn't come to fool you
And even though it all went wrong
I'll stand before the Lord of Song
With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah
To me, that touches on a journey of trying, trials, disappointment, disaster, but confidence in the end that the Lord is worthy of praise. Even though the world is falling down around you, He is still trustworthy. Amen.
For your listening pleasure: