text:
1 Thursday, 6th May, 1999
2 (Open session)
3 (The accused entered court)
4 --- Upon commencing at 9:10 a.m.
5 THE REGISTRAR: Case number IT-95-16-T, the
6 Prosecutor versus Zoran Kupreskic, Mirjan Kupreskic,
7 Vlatko Kupreskic, Drago Josipovic, Dragan Papic, and
8 Vladimir Santic.
9 JUDGE CASSESE: Good morning.
10 Counsel Susak?
11 MR. SUSAK: Mr. President, this morning at
12 7.00, I received some really bad news, that the mother
13 of Drago Josipovic died last night. I talked to
14 Mr. Drago Josipovic a couple of minutes ago, and he
15 told me that he would prefer not to be present at the
16 hearing today. Now it is up to the Chamber to decide
17 whether to adjourn or whether we should deal with this
18 in another way.
19 JUDGE CASSESE: Thank you, Counsel Susak.
20 First of all, let me convey to Mr. Josipovic on behalf
21 of the Court our condolences for this very sad news,
22 and we are very sorry, and of course it goes without
23 saying that Mr. Josipovic, Drago Josipovic, has the
24 right to leave any time, right away, to have some rest
25 and to think of his mother.
1 So we suggest that we should continue with
2 our hearing, but as I say, Mr. Josipovic can leave any
3 time, either right away or later on. It's for him to
4 decide.
5 MR. SUSAK: Mr. President, this actually
6 agrees with what Mr. Josipovic has thought. He wanted
7 to retire, to have some peace and quiet, but the
8 hearing should go on, because he does not want to
9 interfere with the course of the trial.
10 JUDGE CASSESE: All right. Thank you. So it
11 is so decided.
12 So you may leave any time.
13 Before we resume with the hearing, is there
14 any outstanding matter, procedural matter to be
15 discussed? Otherwise, as soon as the witness is in, we
16 will resume the cross-examination by Mr. Terrier.
17 (The witness entered court)
18 JUDGE CASSESE: Good morning, Mr. Drmic. The
19 Prosecutor will continue with his cross-examination.
20 Mr. Terrier?
21 MR. TERRIER: Good morning, Your Honour.
22 Good morning, Madam Judge. Good morning, Judge.
23 WITNESS: ZORAN DRMIC (Resumed)
24 Cross-examination by Mr. Terrier:
25 Q. Good morning, Mr. Witness. Mr. Drmic,
1 yesterday you told us that you were mobilised in
2 mid-March 1993 upon a telephone call by Mario Cerkez.
3 Did you know Mario Cerkez at that time?
4 A. Just one correction. I was mobilised by
5 Mr. Mario Cerkez in mid-March, but he came to see me in
6 my apartment, personally. It wasn't after a telephone
7 conversation. The man from the Defence Department
8 called me on the phone on the 16th of April and
9 instructed me to leave my building, to get inside of my
10 building. As for whether I knew Mario Cerkez -- that
11 was the question, right? -- I knew him very well,
12 from '87, when I started work in the company, in the
13 factory where he himself worked, and we were on good
14 terms, so to speak.
15 One day he visited me in my apartment -- he
16 had called earlier -- and then, in a relaxed
17 atmosphere, he asked me whether I wanted to work for
18 them at the brigade, whether I wanted to deal with the
19 formation of the brigade and the payroll for the
20 personnel, because he knew what I was qualified for.
21 I thought for a couple of seconds, three or
22 four seconds, to see what I wanted to do. He asked me
23 whether I wanted to do that or not, but then he just
24 laughed and said, "Well, you will be mobilised anyway,
25 whether you want to do it or not."
1 I knew at that time what the situation was in
2 Vitez, because before I was laid off at my company, 15
3 days before I was mobilised, I didn't have any work, I
4 was in my apartment, but when I went to work, that's
5 some 10 or 15 minutes away on foot from my apartment to
6 the place where I worked, and when we -- as we walked
7 by, we had to pass through a place called Mahala that
8 was between the town and the factory, and that was a
9 purely Muslim area.
10 The last day when I went to work I noticed
11 all of a sudden some bunkers that had cropped up in
12 that area, in the Mahala. They were made of logs and
13 of timber, some kind of shelter for combat operations.
14 I was very shocked that day. I did not know what that
15 was for, all the more so when I realised that the
16 openings that were supposed to be for opening the fire,
17 that they were turned towards the town and not towards
18 Travnik, and that was where we expected the Serbian
19 attacks against our valley.
20 That was when I was surprised, and I was
21 somewhat afraid. I guessed that the war was looming,
22 because in some towns in Bosnia and Herzegovina there
23 had already been conflict between Croats and Muslims,
24 such as in Gornji Vakuf and in Busovaca, and after all,
25 there had been conflicts in Vitez in October 1992, a
1 conflict broke out in Vitez between Croats and
2 Muslims. It lasted for five or six days, and after
3 that, people continued to go to the factory together.
4 They worked as if nothing had happened.
5 So the attack that happened again, we thought
6 that it would again be short-lived, but it turned out
7 differently.
8 Q. According to the explanation you provided
9 yesterday, up until that date in March 1993 when you
10 were mobilised, up until that date you were a
11 reservist?
12 A. I was at my job. In fact, every person of
13 military age was in the reserve force. All of those
14 people who did their national service were in the
15 records of the Office of Defence, and they were
16 automatically considered to be a part of the reserve
17 force, and if need arises, we are all considered as
18 conscripts. Not just me; every man of military age was
19 in the reserve force.
20 I don't know whether the terminology is all
21 right, whether it fits.
22 Q. Well, let's try and define the word of
23 "reservist." What were the obligations of a reservist
24 at that time and at that particular location?
25 A. Our obligation as a conscript was to report
1 to the collection point in case of mobilisation. I was
2 not assigned to any war unit. We had not received any
3 military ID from the new government, because all the
4 records dated back from the former Yugoslavia. We had
5 received some training in school and during our
6 national service, and after doing our national service,
7 we were still considered conscripts because if we
8 received our call-up which was issued by the Defence
9 Department, we were supposed to report to the
10 collection point. But I did not have my assignment. I
11 did not know where I was assigned to.
12 Q. Does a reservist have to go on training at
13 particular times?
14 A. They maybe had to do so in the former
15 Yugoslavia, because it was a structured army with 50
16 years of tradition behind it, and reservists at that
17 time had to undergo exercises from training from time
18 to time, but we in Bosnia-Herzegovina did not undergo
19 any training. We did not have to gather after
20 receiving the summons; nothing like that.
21 Q. Does a reservist, and I'm not talking about
22 the former Yugoslavia, I'm talking about Central Bosnia
23 at the time we're interested in, that is to say, late
24 1992, early 1993, at that time, did a reservist, a
25 member of the Croat Community of Bosnia, did that
1 reservist have at home military equipment or parts of
2 military equipment?
3 A. No. Nobody had any military equipment or any
4 kind of weapons, apart from those persons who were
5 active military personnel, and that was maybe half a
6 year or a year after the conflict, before the war.
7 Q. What about yourself? Did you have a grade in
8 the HVO army?
9 A. I did not have a rank until that time when I
10 was mobilised, but when I was mobilised, my functional
11 post was the chief of financial service, and in itself,
12 that meant that I had the rank of a Major. That was a
13 high rank. But later on, in the course of the war and
14 after the war, real ranks, your personal rank, was
15 assigned to you.
16 Despite the fact that I had been in the Vitez
17 Brigade for almost a year, I was then reassigned to the
18 3rd Guards Brigade, which was formed sometime in
19 January/February 1994, and I was on the staff, the
20 command of the Guards Brigade as the advisor for
21 information technology to the commander.
22 According to the structure, that was the rank
23 of Captain. But when I left the army, I wanted to be
24 discharged in September 1994, because I wanted to be
25 involved in some work that I really liked. I wanted to
1 start my private business. I got demobilised from the
2 army, and after that I did not have any military rank
3 any more. It was just during the war. I was at a post
4 which had a particular rank.
5 However, I was never given that rank, neither
6 during the war nor afterwards. So when I received my
7 military ID after the war in 1994, it says that I'm a
8 Private. I think it was, in fact, a bit unfair to me,
9 bearing in mind my qualifications and the length of
10 time that I had spent in service, but it wasn't
11 important to me. So that's how it ended up.
12 Now I have the military ID which lists that I
13 have the rank of a Private.
14 Q. The injustice that you referred to, who is
15 responsible for that, the new authorities in Bosnia?
16 A. I believe that it was just an omission on
17 somebody's part, because when the information was
18 gathered for the assignment of ranks in the Vitez
19 Brigade, I was moving to the Guards Brigade. They
20 probably thought that I would get what I have to get
21 there.
22 When this was happening, this process was
23 going on in the Guards Brigade, I was there from
24 January/February 1994, and when the proposals for ranks
25 were finished, I left the army. After that, simply
1 nobody thought about me. Nobody took my file to
2 correct this mistake.
3 On several occasions, I spoke with some
4 officials, some officials that I knew from the war, but
5 I never put anything in writing, nor did I ask for the
6 rank to be given to me.
7 Q. During the war, did you always stay in the
8 offices or did you fight on the front?
9 A. During the war, I was in the office at all
10 times. I slept virtually every night in my apartment
11 except in those cases when I was the duty officer as a
12 member of the command at the brigade command. Then I
13 would spend those nights in the command building, in
14 the brigade command building.
15 I was not issued any weapons. I did have a
16 pistol that was given to me by my wife's brother. He
17 was a soldier, and he actually got killed in December
18 1993. So I had that pistol with me during the war, but
19 I never discharged it, nor was I issued with any other
20 weapons.
21 Q. Mr. Witness, I'd like to get your
22 explanations on a document which was already produced
23 in the court, which is Exhibit D39/2, which is a
24 Defence Exhibit, D39/2.
25 Mr. Witness, as you can see, this document
1 was established on the 24th of April, 1993, signed as
2 Slovamir Sivic, and it reports the names of people who
3 were either killed or wounded in the operations carried
4 out by the Vitez Brigade. I'd like to refer to the
5 bottom corner on the left-hand side. Next to number 7
6 is the name of Zoran Drmic.
7 MR. PAR: Could the witness put this on the
8 ELMO, because we do not have a copy of this exhibit?
9 That would enable us to follow.
10 A. I do not see the name of Zoran Drmic here.
11 What number?
12 JUDGE CASSESE: I fail to see it.
13 MR. TERRIER: It's at the bottom of the first
14 page. There's a number 7 on the bottom of the first
15 page, in the left-hand corner, Mr. President. There is
16 a number 7, next to which is the name Zoran Drmic. But
17 I realise in some copies there is the bottom of the
18 page that's missing. So I'm going to give to the usher
19 my own copy.
20 JUDGE CASSESE: Indeed, in the copy received
21 there is no such thing as a number 7. We go directly
22 from 6 to 8.
23 A. Yes, I can see it now. When we talked about
24 lists yesterday, and about the formation of the
25 brigade, and about the job that I did, on several
1 occasions I mentioned that it is not sufficient to have
2 just the first name and the last name without the date
3 of birth and father's name. That's not sufficient
4 information.
5 In Vitez, to be specific, there are four
6 Zoran Drmics, and I often have some minor problems, so
7 to speak, because my mail is sent to their addresses, I
8 receive their mail, and even when I worked at the
9 company, sometimes the loan repayments were taken from
10 my salary and not from their salary. I know three
11 other Zoran Drmics.
12 I think I know who this is. His father's
13 name is Niko. Now, whether he was born in '63 or '65,
14 I don't know exactly, but his father's name is Niko.
15 That's not me.
16 I was wounded, but that was in 1994, on the
17 30th of January, 1994. I was wounded with shrapnel.
18 En route from my apartment to the brigade command, a
19 shell fell right in front of me, maybe 20 to 30 metres
20 away. It hit a tree. The tree caught most of the
21 blast, but I was hit by a large shrapnel in my groin,
22 so I was hospitalised. That was at the end of the
23 war. I have all the requisite medical documents. It
24 was declared that I was 20 per cent disabled after that
25 incident.
1 So those lists of the casualties, that refers
2 to the first few days. I know most of the names here
3 because I entered this data into the computer and I
4 kept the records. I recognise some other names.
5 Number 34, that's my friend I talked to you about when
6 I told you what it was like at the front line. That's
7 Goran Martinovic. That was on the 22nd.
9 Q. Thank you. We're now going to talk,
10 Mr. Witness, about the relationships you had with the
11 accused, Vlatko Kupreskic. You said that you met him
12 before the war when you worked together in the same
13 company.
14 At that time did you notice that Vlatko
15 Kupreskic may have health problems or may have a
16 condition that could be annoying him in his daily
17 life?
18 A. It is correct that I had met Vlatko during
19 the war, because we had our respective offices in the
20 same building. However, we never sat down together or
21 talked, not even for a minute or two. It was just in
22 passing really. We would greet each other, and that
23 was it. Perhaps just to exchange a couple of words,
24 shake hands, because we worked together but we had
25 never spoke about anything else. I had no information
1 that he had any condition, health condition. So I was
2 all the more surprised when he came to my office during
3 the war and gave this document to (redacted), and it
4 was only then that I learned about his health
5 condition.
6 Can I just ask something? This monitor is
7 flickering and this light is bothering me. Can this be
8 turned off, please? Thank you.
9 Q. As a consequence, Mr. Witness, when you met
10 and when you became acquainted with Mr. Vlatko
11 Kupreskic before the war, in the conditions you
12 described, it did not appear that he may have any sort
13 of condition in his daily life?
14 A. No. No, it didn't seem to me that way, and
15 we did not address that at all. My acquaintance with
16 him was such that I saw him for the first time when I
17 was going to serve in the army. I was 18 at the time,
18 and it was customary to have a feast, and Vlatko
19 Kupreskic played the guitar, and he came with a friend
20 who played accordion. That's when I saw him for the
21 first time.
22 After that, we saw each other infrequently in
23 our company. That is what really bound us, the only
24 thing, because we never sat down, had coffee, talked,
25 or anything like that.
1 Q. You said yesterday that after the war you
2 entered into a business relationship with
3 Mr. Kupreskic, and that in 1995, for instance, you
4 virtually met him on a daily basis. Can you be more
5 specific as to this business relationship that you had
6 with Mr. Vlatko Kupreskic?
7 A. Sometime in October or November, 1994, he
8 called me on the telephone, myself and a friend of
9 mine, because we had just registered a company which
10 was to provide some bookkeeping services for private
11 businesses. He was setting up his own company, and he
12 wanted to do so bookkeeping research so that he
13 wouldn't have any problems with the authorities. Then
14 we worked with him on that, because his company was
15 growing by the day and becoming more and more
16 successful.
17 So we worked throughout 1995, 1996, '97, and
18 '98. In fact, we still work with them even though he
19 has been absent, but his wife comes to us, and I know
20 all of his workers, all of his -- I know that on his
21 premises he has computers, and I installed for him the
22 programmes for the flow of merchandise. So I know of
23 him, of his business.
24 So he would come to my office frequently,
25 every 10, 15 days, or at least once a month to check
1 how the bookkeeping was going, whether there were any
2 documents missing or any other problems with respect to
3 that.
4 Q. At that time when you had that business
5 relationship, did the health of Mr. Kupreskic seem to
6 be problematic, according to you?
7 A. It didn't seem problematic to me, even though
8 at that time I had had a different opinion, because I
9 had learned from (redacted) that he had a
10 pacemaker. I was sort of trying to gauge whether that
11 was giving him any problems.
12 I think two or three years later I had -- I
13 finally asked him whether he had a pacemaker, and he
14 said no, that he did not have one but that he had only
15 been operated on his heart, and that (redacted) may
16 have misunderstood that he had a pacemaker. But I
17 could not see that he had any health problems,
18 something that would impede him in his activities.
19 Q. Would it be right to say that managing a
20 company like the one he was managing required physical
21 abilities, I mean, a major physical ability? In other
22 words, his business, his job was quite an active job
23 and it required him to be in good health?
24 A. You could say so, even though not
25 necessarily, because this business may have involved
1 just making phone calls to his business partners, and I
2 think that his workers and his wife may have been
3 involved. Perhaps his wife was keeping all the books
4 and doing the paperwork anyway. In fact, as far as I
5 recall, she was indeed the manager of the company, at
6 least on paper. But I knew that a point of fact,
7 Mr. Vlatko was running the company, that it was due to
8 his activities that the company had survived. Because
9 in this particular segment, business sector -- that is,
10 the wholesale food business -- the competition was very
11 strong.
12 Q. Could we say, Mr. Witness, that that company
13 managed by Vlatko Kupreskic was, in 1994, '95, '96, a
14 prosperous company which was constantly growing?
15 A. You could say so, because the company was
16 improving year by year until he went to The Hague, when
17 suddenly the company took a downward turn, and the
18 company posted great losses, and I don't know what its
19 future will be, in other words, how much longer it will
20 be able to go on. Now, this is perhaps a bit
21 confidential. I don't know whether I should reveal any
22 information about this business.
23 Q. I'm not going to ask you any more regarding
24 that anyway. Let's go back to the time of the war.
25 You said that the name of Vlatko Kupreskic was in the
1 computer with a marking saying that he was unfit for
2 service. What was the reason that the name "Vlatko
3 Kupreskic" was introduced in the computer if he could
4 not be mobilised?
5 A. The reason was that all lists coming to our
6 office were analysed to great detail, and regardless of
7 the circumstances, each individual was entered in this
8 list, whoever was -- every single person was registered
9 just so that we would have it there. However, when we
10 went into the field, we tried to find out whether this
11 person was actually a member of the brigade or not so
12 that we would able to come up with the actual numbers,
13 who was the member and where they belonged.
14 Later, when the units were -- when everything
15 was broken down into particular units, such as
16 companies, battalions, in the field, we then
17 interviewed each of these individuals, and whoever did
18 not have any kind of code, we would say, "Where does
19 this person belong?" Especially from the southern
20 sector, we would ask the commander, "Where is this
21 person?" And for instance, the commander would say,
22 "Well, he is a member of the company." Then we would
23 enter his wartime assignment. If the commander said,
24 "He is not part of the unit," or "He is unfit," we
25 would just enter that, because we could not trace
1 everybody. It was the commander's word which we had to
2 rely on, and we just had to take it for granted.
3 Q. As a consequence, Mr. Witness, if the name
4 "Vlatko Kupreskic" was entered in your computer, it is
5 that it was on a list which you copied?
6 A. That is correct. I believe that that was the
7 list which we saw yesterday. That is the exhibit
8 provided by the Defence. I think that that was the
9 list sent to us, and then these may have been actually
10 the first lists which we had at our disposal. However,
11 at that time, we did not know which individual was in
12 which unit. I mentioned that there was this date of
13 birth and father's name. We did not know the location
14 of each and every soldier. These were just the initial
15 lists.
16 Q. Could you please remind us of what lists you
17 are presently talking about?
18 A. I had a list here yesterday. It was signed
19 by Marijan Skopljak, and the heading was from the
20 Defence Department. It was some kind of report on
21 mobilisation which I believe the head of the office had
22 sent to someone in order to let those people know that
23 he had done something. I don't know who compiled these
24 lists, whether they are authentic, and so on.
25 Q. Mr. Witness, that list holds the date, unless
1 I'm mistaken, 22nd or 23rd of April, 1993. Are you
2 saying that the name "Vlatko Kupreskic" was not
3 introduced in your computer and in your logs until that
4 date, the 22nd or 23rd of April, 1993?
5 A. As far as I recall from yesterday, that list
6 was dated 29 April, and until that date we practically
7 had no records in our computers. So these were just
8 the initial -- that was the starting point. We only
9 had more complete lists in the course of the months of
10 May and June and so on. But early on, that is, in
11 April, these people who were in this list, we did not
12 have them on record, because we only had the active
13 part of these units entered.
14 Q. Mr. Witness, you told us yesterday that in
15 September '93, Vlatko Kupreskic was sent before you --
16 or came before (redacted), but at any rate, you were
17 there -- and he was shown in by two policemen wearing
18 uniforms in order to receive an assignment. And you
19 said that you had a very precise recollection of that
20 scene, as if it happened yesterday. Could you explain
21 why this scene was so striking to you?
22 A. It was striking to me how (redacted)
23 addressed me and looked at me in a strange way. She
24 was perhaps a bit angry, and she said, "See? See what
25 they are doing to me?" And I looked at her
1 questioningly, not realising what she was trying to
2 say, so I asked, "What is this all about?" She
3 said, "Well, they are bringing to me these unfit people
4 and asking me to mobilise them and to place them
5 somewhere. What am I going to do with him?" Then she
6 said, "I'm putting him in a medical unit as a driver."
7 So I remember it more by the reaction of
8 (redacted), but I do know that it related to
9 Mr. Vlatko Kupreskic. Had it been some other
10 circumstances, had (redacted) not reacted the way she did,
11 I may not have remembered it, because we had frequent
12 cases that people -- these people would be brought to
13 us. I think that this was during the most fierce
14 fighting in our valley, at the time we when were
15 suffering the greatest losses, and then the order from
16 the command was that basically nobody would be
17 considered unfit, that everybody should be involved in
18 the defence.
19 Q. You said yesterday, Mr. Witness, that in the
20 circumstances prevailing at the time when the enemy
21 would attack, everybody was supposed to bring in his
22 contribution to the measure of his skills and as far as
23 they could. As far as you know, what was the
24 contribution brought in by Mr. Vlatko Kupreskic in the
25 defence effort from April '93 and September '93 date at
1 which you met him?
2 A. No, I do not know that. I did not see him
3 during that period, nor did I see him in the period
4 just prior to the war, so I do not know in what way he
5 was engaged. I don't know if he even was engaged. I
6 only know that as far as the computer is concerned, his
7 name existed there, but he did not have any
8 assignment. It was not clear whether he had been
9 assigned to some battalion company, squad, or -- at the
10 time when he had been brought in.
11 Q. For things to be perfectly clear on this
12 point, Mr. Witness, what you're reporting is that the
13 computer does not say anything in this regard, and
14 besides, you have no particular recollection regarding
15 the action by Mr. Kupreskic at the time, and I'm
16 referring to the period April to September 1993. Is
17 that correct?
18 A. That is correct. At that time, in that
19 spirit, I did not see Mr. Vlatko Kupreskic, nor do I
20 know what kind of activities he was engaged in, what he
21 did.
22 Q. Mr. Witness, before this Court, in previous
23 circumstances, we heard that according to the texts
24 applicable in the HVO, mobilisation could be either
25 public or secret, partial or complete, in full. In
1 light of your experience and in your functions at the
2 time, could you explain what a secret mobilisation
3 involved?
4 A. I could not, because I hear these things for
5 the first time, and my function was really to just
6 process these lists. The data in the computer were
7 available at all times, and I could produce any type of
8 list in five minutes. So had it not been for the
9 computers, I don't know what kind of information we
10 would have been able to produce at all.
11 Q. Thank you very much, Mr. Witness.
12 MR. TERRIER: I have no further questions,
13 Your Honour.
14 JUDGE CASSESE: Thank you very much, Mr.
15 Terrier.
16 Counsel Par?
17 MR. PAR: No further questions, Your Honour.
18 Thank you. No further questions.
19 JUDGE CASSESE: We don't have any questions.
20 Mr. Drmic, thank you for coming to The Hague
21 to give evidence in court. You may now be released.
22 Thank you.
23 (The witness withdrew)
24 JUDGE CASSESE: Counsel Krajina, shall we now
25 call witness number 3, Court witness? Any protective
1 measures? Oh, Mr. Par will be conducting the
2 examination.
3 MR. PAR: Mr. President, this witness has
4 asked for closed session, because it is a witness of
5 another ethnicity who is afraid that his testimony here
6 may involve some consequences for him. Although
7 perhaps the content of his testimony does not warrant
8 this, it is his personal request, and he has requested
9 that this be conducted in closed session.
10 JUDGE CASSESE: All right. We will comply
11 with this request. Let us now move into a closed
12 session then, and then we will bring in the witness.
13 (Closed session)
14 (redacted)
15 (redacted)
16 (redacted)
17 (redacted)
18 (redacted)
19 (redacted)
20 (redacted)
21 (redacted)
22 (redacted)
23 (redacted)
24 (redacted)
7 redacted pages 9155 – 9225 (closed session)
17 --- Whereupon the hearing adjourned
18 at 1.00 p.m., to be reconvened on
19 Friday, the 7th day of May, 1999,
20 at 9.00 a.m.


text:
Yadkin Valley Fiber Center, Elkin, North Carolina
Please go to https://yadkinvalleyfiberroom.com/tapestry-weavers-south-retreat/ for the most recent information, reservations, and payment for the retreat.
Please see the Summer 2019 newsletter in the Members Only section for details about entering the TWS Exhibit, "Point of View."
Saturday, August 31
Optional workshop "Weaving with Children" Connie Lippert 1-5 pm.
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The Yadkin Valley Fiber Center will be open 12-5 pm
TWS Meet and Greet 4-5 pm
Wine Tasting at Slightly Askew Winery 5-6pm
Optional dinner at Southern on Main in Elkin, North Carolina
Sunday, September 1
Social and Project time 10-12 noon
Brunch 12-1:30 pm on the porch
Pop Up Boutique 12-5 pm on the porch
TWS Exhibit Opening 3-5 pm
Optional Dinner at the Liberty Restaurant
Monday – Wednesday, September 2 – 4
Optional workshop "Wedge Weaving" Connie Lippert 10-4 pm, includes lunch.
The Retreat cost is $25 per person for the wine tasting and Sunday Brunch and is non-refundable.
Connie's Wedge Weaving Workshop is full (email Leslie to be put on a wait list), but there are still spaces available for the Weaving with Children workshop.
Registration for both the workshops and the Retreat will be processed through the Yadkin Valley Fiber Center. The deadline is August 15th, 2019.
For more information, check out the website: Yadkin Valley Fiber Center.
For more information about the area and lodging check out the website: Yadkin Valley Wine Country.
Please let us know your plans by August 15th so we are prepared.
Members will have the option to come to the Retreat and Exhibit Opening Saturday and Sunday if they choose not to take Connie's classes.
Lodging is on your own. There are several hotel/motel options in the Elkin area and a couple of Air B&B homes that are really close to the center. They are very nice and quite reasonable if several members choose to go in together.
There is also lots to do in the area including hiking, biking, kayaking, golfing, antiquing, and of course, several wineries in the area.

subset: commoncrawl


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How can i become a mod
But really, when I do change to a key before unseen, I'll be breaking out of the scale in some way, right? Not that it's bad.
My script is now complete. It'll move any scale on any tuning anywhere you like. I think it's a real beaut. <3http://chord.cerapter.net/scale_view.php
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Supplement your Spanish learning!
1. Work on current homework or study vocabulary words. (Use Vocab. Study ideas!)
2. Play Spanish games on your Ipad.
3. Read Spanish books or magazines from the shelf.
4. Grab a friend and make a movie depicting one of the Spanish books.
5. Make a music video to a Spanish song. (See me on Tuesday for a suggestion!)
6. Copy and Practice taking an AP Spanish test.
7. Play Apples to Apples in Spanish.
8. Play Bingo.
9. Make up 100 questions and play Snakes and Ladders with a friend.
10. Make flashcards and practice them (play Go Fish, Concentration, etc).
11. Play Hangman with Spanish words.
12. Grab a Hidden Picture or Coloring Page of Vocab. Spend 1-3 Wednesdays practicing and learning all of the vocabulary. (Use Vocab. Study ideas!)
13. Plan a trip to a Spanish speaking country in detail (flight, cost, hotels, transportation, itinerary, etc).
14. Google practice activities for the concepts that we are learning (Ex: Quizlet).
15. Practice your Spanish on Classzone.com
16. Read a book with Spanish themes (Check www.SraPaulsen.com for a list).
17. Listen to native Spanish Speakers talk (Check out www.SraPaulsen.com for info!)
18. Go to Voki.com and create an Avatar. Use it to practice speaking Spanish.
19. Grab a friend or two and do a play in Spanish (Sra. Paulsen has some scripts!)
20. Get a pen pal online. Be careful as to what information you disclose (don't ever tell anyone your full name, your phone number or your address--you may even choose to use a pseudonym). You can also chat with Native Speakers on Livemocha.com.
21. Go to the web and listen to music in Spanish (Shakira, Enrique Iglesias, Ricky Martin, RBD, Maná, etc.) Download the lyrics to a song and look up and learn any words which you do not know.
22. Try to read some articles on People magazine (en español). Research and learn about someone who grew up speaking Spanish or in a Hispanic country (A soccer star? A singer? An actor?)
23. Watch a Telenovela (Soap Opera) called Destinos. Go to http://www.learner.org/resources/series75.html.
24. Watch some news articles on Univision.com. See what you can understand!
25. Read about current events that are happening in Spanish speaking countries.
26. Take practice and review Spanish tests on www.studyspanish.com.
27. Look on the forums on Wordreference.com to learn how to say different phrases.
28. Find an article about issues facing Hispanic Americans or people living in a Spanish speaking country.
29. Research food that is eaten in a Hispanic country. Feel free to make it to share with the class!
30. At the end of each chapter in our textbook, read the "Conexiones" page. Choose one of the Proyectos to do.
31. At the beginning of our textbook, there are pages describing Hispanic holidays. Research one of them.
32. Make a poster collage of Spanish culture.
33. Take a popular song and change the words to explain Spanish (Example: Princess of SER).
34. Watch a movie with Hispanic themes or culture.
35. Learn and perform a Spanish dance (No Macarena). :)
36. Study Architecture in Spanish countries.
37. Study Spanish crafts and make one.
38. Make a 3D model of a country.
39. Study Spanish Flags and make replicas of them.
40. Study Hispanic artists and their works.
41. Do a Spanish Jaywalking Skit.
42. Your own idea / suggestion for increased learning!
Once you have done these items, please illustrate your learning! Make a poster board, brochure, web page, skit, video, etc.


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Running a music label is buckets of fun. I personally also believe it should be profitable as well. After all you want to support you artists for their hard work and you also want to make some own profit at least to reinvest into the labels future releases. Picking up some new industry figures at Future Music Forum 2015 just recently I decided to write this guide, mostly based on my personal experience with HMWL labels.
Electronic music used to be all about vinyl & CDs back in 1980s and 1990s, then about digital downloads in 2000s and maturing into a neat split between vinyl, digital downloads and streaming (free and premium) in 2015. Here is your guide to making money with the four above the way electronic music and general industry trends look for the next few years. Of course there are additional revenues in live, public performance and sync, but those will be covered in a different chapter.
I recently had an interesting discussion re vinyl revenues with Jimi Disko at Subwax Barcelona. 95% of all vinyl releases do not recoup. Even when you try and push down your pressing costs as much as possible going for just black sleeves, b&w labels and no jackets, it's still almost impossible to break even at 200-300 copies sold.
Vinyl costs
- Mastering: €200 – €400. Go for a pro engineer that charges at least €100 per track, to ensure quality.
- Artwork €50 – €200 depending on how nice your artist friends are to you
- Test press = €70
- Pressing: 300 copeis, Printed labels, plain sleeves ~ €900
- Shipping = €40
- + Add full color sleeves = + €400
- NCB, MCPS or equivalent mechanical rights registration. Copyright license to produce physical records ~ €250
So the cheapest possible vinyl produced in 300 ex will cost you at least €1500. This means you pay €5 per vinyl straight up. A distributor will pay you €3 – €4 per vinyl sold over the next year. You receive the money 14-30 days after every 3 month period. So unless you sell most of the vinyl yourself, count on getting back some 60 – 80% of your vinyl production cost after a year. Unless it sells so well that you make a few represses and hit some 700 – 1000 sold ex. But that happens very very rarely to only few releases.
So vinyl should be seen as purely a marketing cost for the artist / label. Very rarely as a revenue generating asset. On other hand the vinyl will generate more gigs for the producer / DJ so it can be wise to invest €1500 if you think the vinyl release will generate some additional gigs where you can charge €500-€1000 or more. 2-3 gigs generated by a vinyl means break even even though it's hard to track if a booking was generate by a vinyl release or something else.
Vinyl tips:
- Releasing "Vinyl Only" increase your chances to sell the whole run with 100% (source: Jimi Disko Subwax Bcn)
- Always makes sure to make test-presses to avoid 300 vinyl copies sounding crap.
- Vinyl market in US turned over $224M during the first half of 2015
Some 15,000 tracks are being released on Beatport platform every week. From our personal experience It's all about standing out from the crowd – i.e. getting featured, or charted or doing something else. A small featured icon on the first page gave us some 80 downloads during the first week of HMWL002 release. A track not featured in any way (feature, chart, recommendation, etc) won't be heard at all due to the constant noize of thousands of other releases.
The best thing that can happen to you on Beatport is that you get into one of the genre specific charts. According to some sources you need some 10k-20k sales during the first few weeks to get into the Top 20 on either Deep house or Tech house beatport charts.
Beatport tips:
- Tip: Make a good marketing job with blogs, Hypemachine and Soundclouds streams
- Good PR-tracktion will increase your chances to pitch in your track to be featured by Beatport team.
Premium Streaming
The fun part. Deezer, Spotify, Apple Music and the other streaming services generate some good chunk of revenue, at least for our label. Very simplified you make some €0,005 for ever premium (payed user) stream. Minus the distro cut in the end of every three months period. So if your distributor charges you 30% a 100,000 streams will generate 100,000 * 0,005 * 70% = €350 payed royalties. Every label should aim for at least 500,000 streams on "for streaming" selected tracks over period of 2 years. Hey, don't forget to pay your artist's royalties ;)
It would not make a difference for a small nisch electronic labels 5 years ago, but with current streaming volumes and number of paying users, there are actually good money to be made on premium Streaming. As example, US premium streaming market generated $1.03B in the first 6m of 2015.
Premium streaming tips:
- Re-release your tracks with the same ISRC codes when adding your old singles into EPs or compilations. This way you avoid duplicate tracks and accumulate streams on the same ones.
- The biggest playlists (Filtr, Digster, Topsify) are run by the Major labels who usually have no interest in putting your track in their playlists. You can always try.
- Chase nisch playlists, power users and tastemakers.
- Radio edits are easier to get on playlists. They are also shorter meaning more streams with "on repeat" users.
- Recent music discovery figures show that 60% of paid subscribers listen much more to new tracks (discovery mode) than to their old favorite tracks on repeat. So even if you release an electronic super track, talke Pachanga Boys – Time or Greece 2000 as example, your fans won't have them on repeat as their attention gets stolen by Deezers Hear This, Spotify discovery, and Youtube related tracks. Discovery and Tirany of choice combo can sometime be a bitch.
Youtube & other free, ad-financed streaming
Some $163M were generated in US during 1st half of 2015 by ad-revenue streaming services like Youtube, Deezer Discovery and Spotify Free. Basically you get paid by ads being shown on your track video on your channel or on other channels that use your music. Not much to be said here. Revenues per play are tiny, but remember Youtube (and Deezer Discovery and Spotify free) are perfect for reaching gigantic volumes of free streamers and should be seen primarily as marketing and awareness generating channels. The Youtube streamers population is so very much bigger than the DJs who buy their digital downloads or paying streaming users. Think catalogue over time rather than quick cash.
Youtube tips:
- Make sure your track are registered the right way with collecting societies (ask your distro) and connected to Content ID so you can royalties generated by your music being used by other channels (preferably ones with 1M + subs) all over youtube. This is crucial as there are so many ad generated revenues being collected by the channel owners rather by the music copyright holder says Georg Herlitz who works as music account manager at Swedish Youtube ad agency United Screens.
- SEO is everything. As Youtube is owned by Google and Youtube videos will show among the first few tracks when someone searches for it on Google, make sure to get all your meta data right in order to not miss out.
Sum up:
A successful strategy in 2016 is about deciding on your target group and being available for your fans in all their preferred channels. Vinyl releases won't reach many people but let you get your record into the hands of purists and collectors who are often much more dedicated fans. Youtube plays give tiny revs but reach global audiences. In the end of the day it's all about being available and growing on every channel may it be Soundcloud, Mixcloud, Deezer, Spotify, Apple, Youtube and funneling free and payed streams to payed downloads and even more payed streams.
Most importantly it is and always will be about releasing top quality music. If you are also a performing DJ, high quality tracks + good marketing over all platforms will naturally strengthen your brand and give you better paying gigs in the long run. Everybody wins.


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Our Online Catalog contains Scriptures in over 80 languages, Christian books in 45 languages, the Who Is Jesus? tract, Bible-based ESL materials, the JESUS DVD in over 1000 languages, plus foreign-language Christian DVDs.
Experience the New Testament in your choice of 21 different languages! Each New Testament Bible is narrated by a popular celebrity or spiritual leader chosen for a rich, full voice, style, and love for the gospel. Each of these recordings is a treasure of inspiration and literary understanding.


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When it comes to hair, so many people are looking for ways to help it grow longer, stronger and faster! So many pills out on the market promise to give you unbelievable results. The problem is that most of their results are unbelievable. And those that believe it, do out of sheer determination to find something that delivers the results they are looking for. We've all been there at some point, if not with hair products, with some other quick fix.
The truth is, quick fixes, even if they do provide a fast result, don't often provide a result that lasts. The best fixes are foundational, long term, sustainable fixes.
At Eurospa, we believe in natural healing and health through the power of foods, lifestyle and the plants around us. Why? Because all three of these 'fixes' has shown themselves to be dependable resources for long term change. And if you're looking for long term help with the health and growth of your hair - we want to share with you our best tips that not only last, but are healthy, affordable and show visible results faster than you think!
Eucalyptus oil is going to be the theme in this post, as it's uses are many as well as it's benefits. Eucalyptus is a plant native to Asia but thrives in similar climates. It's got a high menthol count which increases circulation, breaks down mucous blocks, improves cell regeneration and furthers oxygen delivery throughout the body.
But here's what Eucalyptus can do for your hair:
Eucalyptus oil can also help in getting rid of dandruff, which is not only unsightly but also clogs the pores, making it difficult for the hair to grow. Remember, when aiding our hair in it's growth, we want to make sure we are getting the stimulation needed and the roadblocks out of the way! When using eucalyptus oil for dandruff, simply wet your hair to open the pores, then spray Eucalyptus Oil Shower Spray onto the scalp about 8 inches from the head and gently massage your scalp for a few minutes. Allow the oil to sit for a few moments in order to be activated in the steam of the shower. Breathe in the steam as well, for the added boost to your immune system and respiratory health! This method is also beneficial in getting rid of head lice and their eggs, so parents are wise to keep this oil handy and keep the little one's heads safe against that invasion!
Another benefit of eucalyptus oil is that in can increase the elasticity of your hair. So many of us know how frustrating it can be when you are trying to grow out your hair in to luxurious locks only to loose your progress to breakage and more split ends. When doing both of the above treatments, you will happily enjoy stronger hair - more resistant to further breakage and split ends.
All in all, it's an incredible oil from a miraculous plant that delivers multiple health benefits at once. We are proud to provide such a quality product to you and would love to hear of your results. Get your own bottle and share your experience with us, at Eurospa!


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Is your engine beginning to show signs of damage? A broken vehicle is a major inconvenience when you need to be on the road, potentially losing you time and money. To get back on the road ASAP come to Baldyne Engineering Services and let our expert engineers repair your engine.
Do you own a classic car and want to have the engine restored by an experienced and professional engine specialist? Our skilled engineers can restore, recondition and modify your vehicle's engine, ensuring you maximise the potential of your machine. We also have the expertise to repair aircraft engines.
There are many ways to maximise your vehicle's performance, one of those is by modifying the engine.
If you race vehicles or just want to add an extra ten or fifteen percent to your vehicle's performance, visit our specialists and see how we can modify your engine.
• Engine restoration
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• Explore our engineering portfolio
Specialist Engine Repairs and Restorations from Skilled Engineers:
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Six degrees of separation is finished!
Long live two degrees of separation – in today's global market place. Let me share an amazing story with you. Last week I presented to the team at Mondo Direct, a leading recruitment firm in North Sydney. When I arrived, the CEO, Simone Allan mentioned that she had run into someone I knew last week – Alban – also in recruitment. I mentioned that I had a LinkedIn message from Alban the day before.
Apparently, Simone and Alban were both attending a conference in Shanghai and happened to be in a hotel lift together and started to chat – as you do….. The topic of networking was mentioned and Alban (who is based in Singapore) said that he had learned a lot about networking from Robyn Henderson, a woman who presented a few years ago to the recruitment company he was working with at that time in Sydney.
Simone's response – "I know Robyn, she is speaking to our team next Tuesday in Sydney." Can you believe that? What are the chances of a conversation in Shanghai between two people who knew me (and I worked out I was in Tweed Heads at that time) – chatting about something I was doing in North Sydney.
Tweed Heads – Shanghai – Singapore – North Sydney – true networking in our global marketplace
Closer to home, I regularly watch the sunrise on my morning walks and hopefully see a whale or two, though the season is almost over, so the whales are few and far between this week. Point Danger is a beautiful headland between Snapper Rocks and Duranbah Beach and has a great view of the horizon and is a fantastic whale spotting location. Yesterday I was walking past Point Danger and stopped to chat to a photographer I had spoken to a couple of times previously. Whales were few and far between and he mentioned that he puts his photos on flickr – and had taken some great cloud photos that morning.
We chatted away as you do on an early Sunday morning and I said I would check out his photos which I did later that day. They were excellent and as an amateur photographer, I thought I must look at some of his earlier shots and see if they were always as good as they are now. So I randomly flicked back through his photo library and there were many brilliant nature images. Then I saw a photo of my Kingscliff hairdresser, who had told me ages ago about a trek he did through Tasmania and Cradle Mountain. Amazingly, Larry the photographer and Trevor the hairdresser were on the same Tasmanian trek.
Those two degrees of separation are at it again.
In my networking presentations I often say that no one wears a sign dangling from their ears or their wrist with a list of all the people that they know. If they did, you could then know before you even start a conversation, the reason for connecting with them.
The randomness of networking is what really makes networking exciting. Two strangers meet, share a general conversation and then indirectly find they have mutual connections, shared interests or knowledge. Trust is built through communication and when there is a third party connection and sometimes almost an endorsement of that person, you are inclined to trust them that much more.
Bill Gates calls this the trilogy of trust, the trust that one person has in another that is passed on to a third party. We certainly do live in a very small world.
Chances conversations not only expand your network but also make you realise how small the world really is today. Can I encourage you to speak to at least one total stranger every day? You will be surprised who you meet. And always remember that every best was once a perfect stranger.
Happpy networking until next time.


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PAWS DBA Events
At the beginning of 2003, we decided to hold regular DBA tournaments as an excuse to get us all in together on a more frequent basis, and also to invite nearby clubs to join in. A small trophy was bought to be held by the "title holder".
It was decided to do three DBA Events a year, with a theme to be selected by the previous event's winner. To give a guide for selecting themes, it was decided that a century and (optionally) a geographical area would be suitable. Initially, to add some variety, in any one year we have one BC theme, one First Millennium AD theme, and one Second Millennium AD theme.
However, in 2004 we decided to add a fourth Event. For 2004 we tried having one as DBR Minis instead but from 2005 we decided on four DBA Events, with the four army list sections providing guides for the theme centuries. We also decided to award an additional Junior prize whenever a significant number of young entrants attended.
For 2019 only, we reverted to 3 Events, due to uncertainty over our location at the beginning of the year.
Junior prizes were awarded at all events until 2009. However, as Junior numbers have dropped, there will now only be a Junior prize if there are enough Junior players to justify it. A best performing Junior may still be presented with the Junior Trophy though.
The overall winner will be awarded a prize in addition to being presented with the Title Holder's Trophy. All Juniors will still be eligible to win the Senior prize.
The entry fee in 2019 is £5, payable on the day.
DBA Event Winners
Late Spring 2019 Theme
Autumn 2019 Theme
Winter 2019 Theme


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Caroline and I went to the Studio to do her Back to School pictures.....Crawford is up next (little does he know :-))
The Best part about taking her pictures....other than the million silly faces and tongue sticking through her missing teeth was when she started writing on the chalk board herself. She asked me how to spell teacher. Next, she asked if I would take a picture of her with the chalk board.
Be still my heart, she has only had one day with her new teacher and she "LOVES" her!


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Most people love when the end of April rolls around. Warmer weather (especially if you live in New England), longer days, and the thought that the summer months are almost here. I am here to tell you that this is NOT what teachers think about at the end of April.
© Stress-Free Teaching. Blog Design by RachBV Design. Template by Georgia Lou Studios. All rights reserved.


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Last week's announcement of a major resort-style housing development in Skaha Hills is welcome news for the regional economy and highlights the need for more construction professionals.
Greyback Developments Ltd. and the Penticton Indian Band Development Corporation announced the project, which will be located on a 550-acre site on the shores of Skaha Lake west of the Penticton. Groundbreaking is expected to take place in November, with sales to proceed in March of 2014.
The $250-million development consists of seven phases featuring approximately 600 homes, a golf course and winery. Additional spin-off benefits could include infrastructure and commercial building.
Penticton Indian Band has estimated that the project could generate up to 1,500 jobs. Skilled workers, particularly those with experience in residential construction and carpentry will factor prominently in the pool of workers required.
"There has been a lot of focus on the need for carpenters in our region and this development is another example of the opportunities that exist for good jobs close to home," explained Alf Leimert, Chair of Construction Trades at Okanagan College.
Leimert says the College's Residential Construction Program is a good place to start for anyone looking to capitalize on the opportunities. The program provides students with the experience needed to help fill the positions. In fact, unique to this program, students actually construct an entire wood frame building, from the foundation to lock up stage.
"Graduates will be able to set footings and foundations, build floors, walls and roofs, install doors and windows. Depending on the project and the class, students may also complete the exterior and interior finishing and trim," says program administrator Elizabeth Grosch.
"Although it's called Residential Construction, this program gives people carpentry skills that they could use for other parts of the construction industry as well. Carpenters build bridges and high-rises, dams and other infrastructure, and are in high demand throughout B.C.," says Leimert.
Upon successful completion of the 30-week program, students will have their Level 1 technical training credit and 450 work-based hours toward their carpentry apprenticeship. Most important, they'll have a solid foundation in residential construction and can start their career in the industry.
"Of all the trades, carpenters are most involved in projects because they are there from the very beginning to the very end," says Charles Cullen of Team Construction and past president of Canadian Homebuilders' Association of the Central Okanagan.
"As a result, carpenters tend to move into management roles, such as site supervisors, foreman and project managers, because they have a sense of all the different components of the job," says Cullen.
The next intake for Residential Construction in Penticton begins Feb. 2, 2014. Applications are being accepted until Nov. 22.
Call Elizabeth Grosch at 250-492-4305, ext. 3309 for more information. To register, visit www.okanagan.bc.ca/apply.


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Organize This: A Holiday Ready Home by Jen Jones of iHeart Organizing
Even though it is chilly outside, I am giving the month of December a nice, warm welcome. This month can quickly become overwhelming and busy with all of the holiday hustle and bustle, however, a little organization and forward thinking will ensure you have time to enjoy the most wonderful time of the year. Here are five super simple tips to prepare you for the magical season ahead.
1. Make a Plan
It seems as though there is always something going on during the month of December; holiday parties, volunteer time, shopping trips and school musicals just to name a few. The beginning of the month is the perfect time to take a few extra minutes and make a plan. Pin up a calendar in a central location and jot down every obligation for the entire month. Once you can see everything at a glance, really determine the importance of each commitment. People tend to over-schedule themselves during the holiday season, which takes away from the overall enjoyment factor. Try to prioritize the events (and maybe even axe a few from the lineup), while also blocking out days for rest and relaxation. A calendar is also a great place to keep track of your holiday to-do lists as well as your cleaning plan for the month.
Speaking of Cleaning Plan…
2. My next tip is to put together cleaning caddies to store withing commonly used areas of the home. Because December is already so busy, there is no sense in adding the stress of constant cleaning. However, with the amount of parties and people stopping by to mingle, you will most likely want your home to remain visitor ready. By keeping cleaning supplies easy to access in the bathroom and kitchen, a quick cleanup each day will prevent things from getting out of control over the course of the month. Bonus points for adding peppermint essential oil to your homemade cleaners, or picking up a pine scented all purpose cleaner at the store. Another tip is to set aside a total of 5-10 minutes each day for a quick de-cluttering. Simple steps such as putting away shoes, tossing mail into a basket, cleaning the kitchen counters and straightening seating areas, will make a dramatic impact to the main areas of the home.
Drink Up!
3. I personally love to create a small holiday-ready beverage station each year. I fill a tray with necessities to whip up seasonal drinks; everything from marshmallows to candy canes to cocoa powder and even a little Irish Cream. It is great to have a "go-to" spot when a neighbor stops by to chat or mom pops in with a bag of goodies for the kids.


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Tramp Stamp is a Belgian-style IPA from Clown Shoes which brews out of Ipswich Massachusetts. In recent months I started noticing bottles from Clown Shoes on the shelves of the shops I frequent. Clown Shoes is not an expensive beer and having a variety available is a good thing as I've now had about four or five different beers from them and I don't have a bad thing to say about what I've tasted. Sometime last year I reviewed Hoppy Feet 1.5, a Double Black IPA I got in a trade and was released to commemorate their One Year Anniversary. I gave Hoppy Feet 1.5, Five out of Five Beer Caps as I really loved the beer; check out the post here. I think of Clown Shoes as a fun brewery especially with the clever names they come up for their beers like Muffin Top, Chocolate Sombrero, and Tramp Stamp.
The aroma of this beer is a mix of orange peel and ripe peaches, very summerlike and refreshing and with the biscuit and yeast funk present, it stays true to it's Belgian roots. Much of what is in the aroma can be tasted, like the orange peel and peaches with a hop bitterness up front and just enough malt to round the sip. This beer is really delicious, it has the body of a wheat ale and is extremely refreshing. Tramp Stamp has a bubbly tangy mouthfeel from the carbonation and you'll get a smooth bitter finish after it washes down. I enjoyed drinking this beer and it's too bad it comes in a four pack instead of six. These cute four packs really drive me nuts and it's become a standard of so many breweries; just make a six pack and make me pay for six bottles, cut the cute packaging. I know I can't be the only one who's had this thought right?
Tramp Stamp is good, refreshing, and has great flavors, I recommend you pick some up before you head out back to start grilling this weekend. Three out of Five Beer Caps for the Tramp!
Throw one back for me ~ cheers!


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You all had several clever ideas for the wino cat card that made me chuckle so I made another cat and snapped a photo for the how to.
Left columns shows punches and right column shows what each one looks like after you follow my directions below.
Head - large oval - using temporary adhesive (dotto) stick on a scrap and reinsert into large oval punch moving so that you are snipping just a little off horizontally (see photo)
Body - word window - with scissors snip diagonally on both sides (see photo)
Ears - small Heart to Heart (2)
Hind legs - narrow Heart to Heart - trimmed with scissors (see photo)
Arms - wide Heart to Heart - punched next to hole and then again to get the narrow arms
Feet aren't shown in photo - small Heart to Heart cut in 1/2
Collar - Chain link - which is the word window punched around the slot punch hole - then repunched with the word window. - but since I stuck in up so close under the head - you could just use a strip of paper.
Cat was punched from whisper white and sponged with soft suede
Face and claws drawn on with thin marker
Wine glass from Cheers to You.


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Disclaimer: Joseph Diosana, his team, his associates nor does Keller Williams or any of its entities guarantees the performance of these referrals.


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I'm not usually one to make cakes, cookies or sweet breads, but if they are made with chocolate and sweet potatoes, I am easily convinced! Dinner with vegan friends on Saturday night and a promise to bring dessert has thrown my sweet tooth into a crazy chocolate frenzy! Perhaps more than the idea of baking something with both sweet potatoes and chocolate was the challenge to create something with whatever I have in the pantry at the moment. I do get a kick out of being able to make something out of nothing especially when I am cooking from the farmhouse and the nearest grocery is twenty minutes away.
I don't know how many of you do this, but when I am looking for a new recipe, I use keywords like vegan chocolate cake, but instead of looking at the recipes, I look at the images. I want to find something that gives me a visual of what I might like to eat. And, with the very talented food photographers in the world today, it can be a dangerous hobby to do on an empty stomach! In my quest for Saturday dessert ideas, I stumbled across the Minimalist Baker's beautiful Chocolate Hazelnut Cake and knew that I had to create something along those lines. I love that she has whole hazelnuts between her cake layers and for tasteful decorating on top – classy! I am a huge fan of a powerful nut crunch of any sort along with a forkful of gooey, fudgy chocolate.
So, once I choose a picture of something I think I might like to recreate, I toggle over to check out the recipe. Minimalist Baker's recipe Chocolate Hazelnut Cake calls for lots of things I do have in the pantry and lots of things I don't have. Her recipe obviously calls for hazelnuts, but I only have almonds. Her recipe calls for applesauce, but I only have a sweet potato. Her recipe calls for gluten-free flour, but I only have brown rice flour. Basically, I decide I have pretty much everything I need to riff off her fabulous ideas and delve into a little jazz improv of my own. Some key ingredients used as replacers for original components in the recipe are medjool dates and one giant sweet potato to replace the applesauce and sunflower seeds and almonds to replace the hazelnuts. I also traded out balsamic vinegar for apple cider vinegar and reduced both quantity and types of sugars. Because baking soda always seems to find me in sweet bread – yuck, I cut it by one-third. I figured with the vinegar, this cake will rise with less baking soda and I wanted it to be dense and fudgy. Goal accomplished!
This cake is everything I dreamed it would be – rich, dense and fudgy – punctuated with toasted almonds and deeply satisfying for someone who does not want to include animal products in their diet. It is completely plant-based and delicious! Try it. I even made a small extra in case I need to go to another party…or just eat it all myself!
Ingredients for Cake:
- 1 large sweet potato or 2 small (enough for about 2 cups mashed)
- 1 cup sunflower seeds, toasted and ground into meal
- 1 cup whole almonds, toasted then chopped
- 12 large pitted medjool dates
- 4 Tbs. flax seed meal
- 2/3 cup water
- 1 cup almond milk
- 1 1/2 tsp. balsamic vinegar
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 1/2 cup raw honey
- 1/2 cup coconut oil (I recommend unrefined virgin coconut oil retains more coconut flavor)
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1 cup cocoa powder
- 1 cup gluten free oats ground into flour
- 1 cup brown rice flour
Ingredients for Icing:
- 1 cup almond milk
- 4 squares unsweetened baking chocolate
- 1 cup coconut oil
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tsp. amaretto liqueur
Directions for Cake:
Step 1: Wash and prick sweet potatoes. Place them in a bowl to microwave on high for 5-7 minutes depending on the size. Cook the sweet potato(s) until soft and allow to cool.
Step 2: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place sunflower seeds and almonds on separate baking sheets to toast (unless, of course, you bought pre-toasted, unsalted nuts). Toast seeds and nuts until they start to brown. It helps to stir the sunflower seeds as they toast. Once toasted, remove from oven to cool.
Step 3: Once sunflower seeds are cool, grind to flour in a food processor with 1 cup gluten free oats. Add 1 cup brown rice flour and 1 cup cocoa powder then transfer these dry ingredients to a mixing bowl.
Step 3: In food processor add dates, flax seed meal, water, almond milk, balsamic vinegar, maple syrup, honey, coconut oil, vanilla, salt, baking soda and scooped out flesh of the sweet potatoes. Pulse until the dates are pureed.
Step 4: Add the wet ingredients from the food processor to your dry ingredients in the mixing bowl. Mix by hand or with a mixer.
Step 5: Oil cake pans or line with parchment. This recipe will make two 8 inch diameter cakes, two loaf pan cakes, a dozen cupcakes or one shallow 9 x 13 pan.
Step 6: Bake cake(s) for 35 – 45 minutes depending on thickness or depth of pan. Check with toothpick or knife. This is a moist cake, so never leaves the knife completely dry, but you will be able to see the crumb develop.
Directions for Icing:
Step 1: Put 1 cup almond milk and 4 squares of unsweetened baking chocolate in a bowl for 2 minutes in the microwave.
Step 2: Remove mixture from microwave and stir until chocolate melts into the almond milk. At this point it will seem grainy.
Step 3: Add coconut oil and mix until melted into baking chocolate and milk.
Step 4: Add 1 cup powdered sugar and 1 tsp. amaretto. Mix well. Now the chocolate icing will be smooth and pourable.
Step 5: Pour the icing over the cakes and decorate with chopped toasted almonds.


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Industry Night at the Alley
August 2 @ 4:30 pm - 11:30 pm PDT
An event every week that begins at 4:30pm on Sunday, repeating indefinitely
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Every Sunday night!!
If you work in the restaurant industry enjoy dinner with us and receive a 50% discount on all regular priced food!! Bar menu not included. Make sure you bring proof of employment to show your server 🙂


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a night off with peggy and pj
Near as I remember, I met Dave Pegg sometime in the fall of 1987. I had journeyed to Cincinnati for a performance by Fairport Convention, the landmark British folk-rock band Pegg – "Peggy," as he is called by everyone – has played bass guitar for since 1969.
I had written a short piece in the Herald-Leader for the occasion, as it was the first time Fairport had played anywhere in the region in nearly 15 years. In the lobby, a friend and I chatted a bit before showtime. "What did your editors think when you proposed writing about Fairport Convention?" she asked. Before I could answer, a low, thick and distinctly British voice from behind me replied, as if on cue, "He probably got sacked."
It was Peggy. That's how we met.
Over the years, I've written about Peggy numerous times. He doubled, from 1979 to1995, as bassist for Jethro Tull. So when either Fairport or Tull were in the area – and by this time, both were regular visitors to Cincinnati – we would chat a bit by phone for a story or column item and usually meet up briefly after the performances. A subtle friendship developed to the point where I would often take a drive to Cincinnati, Columbus or, in one case, Detroit to meet up with him.
We've chatted backstage following Cincinnati Tull gigs at Riverbend and what was then Riverfront Coliseum (now US Bank Arena). We met up in a church office amply stocked with libations after a Sunday afternoon Fairport concert in a Columbus chapel. There was a band celebration at a bizarre Mexican restaurant/disco in New York following Fairport shows at the now-demised Bottom Line. Best of all was a lunch shared at a stunning old-world pub called The Falkland Arms in the gorgeous British greens known as The Cotswalds when I went over to see Fairport's annual August festival in Cropredy in 1990. And, yes, there was one night where Peggy was on my turf: namely a late night dinner at the Cheapside following a Fairport set for the WoodSongs Old-Time Radio Hour in 2002.
Peggy hasn't been on North American soil in nearly four years. Then, out of the blue last month, a longtime Cincinnati friend called to say Peggy was playing a private house concert with guitarist PJ Wright (of the similarly progressive British folk-rock troupe Little Johnny England) on an upcoming Saturday and that my presence, from my bassist pal, was requested.
It was, briefly, a difficult call. The performance fell on the Saturday night of The Dame's final weekend of business. But as plans were already in place to review the club's Sunday night closing, I journeyed to Cincinnati, shared a joke and fine conversation with Peggy along with a very loose, relaxed evening of songs (with Peggy playing mandolin and acoustic guitar instead of electric bass) that included music he and Wright had cut for a fine album called Galileo's Apology. Also in the set was fare from Fairport, Tull, Little Johnny England and nods to skiffle champ Lonnie Donegan (Mark Knopfler's Donegan's Gone) and Buddy Holly (a lightly colored guitar/mandolin arrangement of It Doesn't Matter Anymore).
But it was the billing of Peggy's tour with Wright that struck me: "A Night off with Peggy and PJ." And, for me, that's exactly what it was. This wasn't a work assignment. This wasn't review fodder. This was a very informal evening of acoustic fun with zero frills (and zero PA system, for that matter) and some lively talk with a chum whose first view of my profession was that I had been fired because of the music he made for a living.
(above: Dave Pegg, left, and PJ Wright)


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It's with a bit of a heavy heart that I write to say I'll be leaving Skyrove as CEO at the end of February 2012.
While still a student in 2003, I started working on a cheap and easy-to-use system that would allow anyone to share their internet connection using Wi-Fi, while at the same making money from it, automatically paid into their bank accounts at the end of each month.
I launched Skyrove as a business in 2005 with my friend Allister Kreft, shortly after graduating from university and getting married at the same time! (me, not Allister…) We had no funding to start the business and no real prior business experience so it was the purest form of bootstrapping you could imagine. I rented a 5 bedroom house in Observatory, sublet 4 of the bedrooms so that I didn't have to pay rent for myself or for Skyrove, which used the attic as offices! (Garages are so 1970s)
We grew from strength to strength, raising finance from overseas and local angels and from a few small VC rounds. We went through many trials and tribulations and I grew tremendously as person. Today Skyrove is a profitable company with a well recognized brand with a great team of people and the best Wi-Fi products and services in the market.
But Skyrove has also grown up to be much more than a place where I could realise my dreams. It became a company with processes, procedures and SLAs and, truth be told, I found myself being stretched too thin and getting involved in minor operational issues on a daily basis rather than tackling the Big Hairy Audacious Goals I set out to.
And because of this intricate involvement, I started to realize that I became a barrier to Skyrove reaching its fullest potential. It became time for Skyrove to graduate into the big leagues.
In October last year, I told my board of directors of my feelings and how I see Skyrove becoming a much bigger, much stronger company, but without me at the helm. In an ideal world, I would step back into a CTO & Product Development role, but ultimately I realized that I would not be able to hand over the reins to a new leader if I was also looking over his or her shoulder.
I will still be involved in Skyrove as a director and will continue to help maintain some key client relationships. Michael Leeman will step in as an interim CEO while we continue to look for a new rockstar!
I am also proud to announce that Helen Mizon will become Skyrove's new COO. Helen started with us as an administration assistant 5 years ago and moved up the ranks through bookkeeper, financial manager, operations manager and Skyrove's "mum".
We are looking to hire enterprise sales people, engineers and various support staff in the coming months as Skyrove increasingly moves into solving enterprise Wi-Fi challenges. We will continue work on some of the Wi-Fi billing systems we've developed and we'll be launching some new products in partnership with some of South Africa's largest ISPs.
There have definitely been nights I'd worry about Skyrove's future without me, but the fact is that Skyrove is in better shape than it's even been before. If it wasn't, I'd probably have a much more difficult time "letting go".
So what next? I've been yearning towards Technology in Education for a long time now. An opportunity came along to join TENET, the Tertiary Education and Research Network of South Africa, to head up a TV white spaces pilot programme linking schools in the Western Cape to the internet using new "Super Wi-Fi" technology.
I'll work at TENET 4 days a week, and will spend the 5th helping Cape Town startups, working on new ideas and playing cricket with my son, Jack!
I have to give a big Shout Out to everyone who has helped me turn my Big Dream into a reality. To my co-founders who believed in me and my vision, to my family who had to put up with seeing me for only fleeting moments each day, to the many journalists who wrote about Skyrove and our story, to my friends and mentors who I could call on at all hours of the day, to the investors who put in their own hard-earned cash to grow the business, to every employee who ever gave their commitment to Skyrove and made it a fun place to work at and most importantly, to every customer who showed faith in my team and my product, gave us feedback to improve and then referred their friends to us.
So long, and thanks for all the fish!
24 February 2012


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When I was little, I dreamed about what I would grow up to do. I didn't realize how quickly life would fly by. Yes, folks, I am applying to college for the Fall 2013 semester. Let's take a moment of silence to remember my childhood… *silence*
I'm afriad, you've caught me in a silly mood. I don't feel old enough for college, however, I do have several things I would like to do after I graduate–and college is one way I can prepare for them.
Over the past few months my future has been rather hazy, or as some people, like a bend in the road (i.e. unseeable until I arrive at the bend). I knew (and still know) that God had/has specific plans for me, I just had no clue what they were, when they would happen, or what they would entail.
Two adventures this summer helped direct me towards my vocation.
First — My TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) 18-day certificate course in July.
Second — My 9 day trip to Ukraine.
At TESOL I discovered my love for teaching the English language. I've always dreaded public speaking–even after being forced to attend several 1-day speaking classes. So, I was almost shocked to realize that speaking about the English language to students was not only doable but also enjoyable. (of course in a good ESL classroom, the teacher does only 30% of the speaking)
I think I've struggled in the past with public speaking because I don't know what to say or I urn out of things to say on the topic at hand (A rare predicament for me, since I never run out of words, even when I'm asleep).
Then, almost exactly a month later, I flew to Ukraine, not knowing what to expect. What I saw there totally blew me away and stole my heart (in a good way). I became deeply attached to the people I met and a strong love for the people grew quickly. I saw many opportunities for me to serve them through my teaching and though everyday life on life service.
The orphans we visited also touched me. When I go back to Ukraine, I want to spend more time with them and show them through my love, how much Jesus loves each one of them and how God is their heavenly Father.
Returning to the topic of today's post, I've decided to apply to Moody Bible Institute–a small college in Chicago, Illinois.
1) Because they are a heavily missions minded college.
2) Because I would get a Bible Degree as well as a TESOL Degree.
3) Because they have a TESOL degree (something few colleges offer as a major).
4) Because I will be able to be close enough to home to visit on the breaks.
5) And finally, because the schooling will equip me to knowledgeably serve the Ukrainians (or anyone else God sends me to).
This weekend, during our neighborhood picnic, one of my adult friends made this comment to me. "For some unknown reason, when you were 12 or 13 the thought crossed my mind, 'She'll be a missionary someday.'"
She can't explain what made her think that, and I didn't know about this until Sunday when she told me. When I was 12 and 13 I had my entire life planned out (or so I thought). I was going to become a librarian and then get married and have 12 children. 🙂
I still love libraries and children (though… 12 ????!), but now I have a heart for foreign missions.
Some of the songs we practiced in drama yesterday fit well with this post… so I'll leave you with the lyrics.
The Bend in the Road
The bend in the road, unexpectedly it came our way one summer's day.
And who could have known it would lead us here to you.
For a bend in the road can lead you to a place you've never known,
But a bend in the road can lead you safely home,
For a bend in the road can lead you to your home!
(insert Ukraine for Avonlea)
Come away, come away to Avonlea.
Take my hand to this land of Avonlea.
Can you hear on the wind it whispers to me?
Like an old and dear friend,
it beckons me to travel where the flowers spill o'er the hillside to the sea.
For the young, for the old from afar going home.
No matter where I roam, my heart's in Avonlea.
No matter where I roam, my heart's in Avonlea.


text: The MARE 600 FRB is a single jet, single engine rescue boat produced in GRP (Glas Reinforced Plastic) and has a flexible area of usage. The FRB-series is also a wery popular mid-size rescue boat that suits many needs, like offshore- and fishing vessels. This plastic hull version of the FRB-series, is also known as a stabile boat who is approved for 15 person.


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Yeeeah this was a bit delayed by a week thanks to Awesome Games Done Quick and Oneechanbara. Ah well, Merry Christmas/Holidays/2015!
Beat the game, fell through the world twice, took about 6 hours. Verdict? FREAKING AWESOME. A few glitches and some questionable stage design isn't enough to hold back this awesome combat! "Better" games have done MUCH worse.


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"Completing Him" Challenge - 6/7 through 8/9
>> Tuesday, June 8, 2010
I decided to challenge myself a little bit this summer, as well as maybe adding a little spark back into our marriage.
Over the past year, we've just been so disconnected. My Marine has been so busy with work, training a unit before they left for Iraq, traveling to conferences, classes, weekend missions and the list goes on. I feel like we've been two ships passing in the night - occasionally meeting for a port call. We've graduated to communicating through texts, emails and voice mails. When he gets home, he focuses on time with the kids. And when we are finally alone at night, I'm usually heading up to bed because I'm so freakin' tired.
So, when I saw this challenge over at the "Women Living Well" blog, I knew that this was a sign from God to step it up and do something about it.
Here's the Topic Schedule for those who want to link up each week:
June 7 - Announce to your readers you are participating by posting the button on your site and leaving your link below.
June 14 – Post Pictures from your dating days (or tell us all about it!). Think about one thing you used to do or have as a couple that you have lost in the shuffle of life. How can you regain it?
June 21 - Remember Your Vows - post pictures of your wedding day. We will review the sacredness of this day.
June 28 - Ask your husband every morning how you can pray for him that day. Bonus: Fast and pray for him one day this week.
July 5 - Admire Your Husband. Write this post and then show it to him! He will smile!
July 12 - Make a list of 5 things you currently do and ask him to prioritize them for you of what is important to him. For example - a clean home, home cooked dinner, coupon clipping, service at church, having friends over for dinner, watching/doing sports with him, etc.
July 19 - Make him a priority. Ask him what his favorite dinner, dessert and drink are. Be sure to serve him all three one night this week. Bonus: cook his favorite dishes all week long!
July 26 - Support his vision. Discuss his vision for your family. Where does he see your family in 1 year, 5 years, and 10 years. Share with us how you let your husband lead.
August 2 - R-E-S-P-E-C-T! No complaining, criticizing, rolling your eyes, nagging, or giving him any friction this week. Enjoy a week of peace in your home!
August 9 - Kiss Him Like You Mean It (and be sure the door is locked!)
So stay tuned to see how it's going! If you want to participate, head over to the Women Living Well blog and sign up!


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To book your driving lesson or check availability Call us NOW 07989.422.985.
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Specially run by L M Driving School details are follow, complete course price including.
- Part 1 is the Theory test. Theory book, theory CD rom including hazard perception, high way code, booking fee theory test and a free one hour introduction, run by LM driving School.
- Part two is preparing for the driving test. 5 hours a day for 10 days.
50 hours one-2-one tuitions, including 2 mock test and practical driving test fee all cost plus we will book your 2nd test free*. We need one month's notices prior to the practical driving test booked. £1000 (one thousand pounds only) all the money should paid in advance. Including a deposit of £100 (one hundred pounds) please note all deposited are non-refundable.
- Crash course is 50 hours of tuitions over 10 days is £950 (nine hundred and fifty pounds only) including the test fee and must have 2hours pre-assessment session with our qualified instructor. Prior to the crash course*
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text: After spending almost 5 hours with Adobe support chat, in three different chat sessions, I was still unable to update to Lightroom Classic. (It just wasn't appearing in my CC desktop app.) I finally decided to uninstall all of my CC apps, and then uninstall the CC desktop app. After this, I was able to go to the Adobe site and download and install Lightroom Classic (which also downloaded the CC desktop app at the same time). Now, I have Lightroom Classic, but for some reason, LR Classic is still not appearing in my list of installed programs in the Creative Cloud desktop app, so I am unable to get updates. I have tried everything I can think of, run through every troubleshooting step I could find. I'm running Windows 7 SP1, and have plenty of RAM and disk space.


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Updating the drum blog which will soon be filled with show dates and drum nerd musings.
In recent news, I am getting prepared to play a show with Brian Bergeron on March 2nd at Hotel Utah. I am also working on a couple of drum etudes, as well as rehearsing with new band called Documents.
San Francisco is a wonderful music town and there will be much more music to come.
For now, you can find clips of my latest solos and performances on my videos page.


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The Super Bowl "Selfie Kid" Speaks Out About His Big Justin Timberlake Moment
In what was arguably the best moment from the Super Bowl, or at least the halftime show, 13-year-old Patriots fan Ryan McKenna was captured looking at his phone screen while performer Justin Timberlake shimmied beside him.
Naturally, this moment spawned the nation's new favorite meme:
Ryan, now a minor celebrity himself (check his Instagram follower count), swears he wasn't checked out during Timberlake's performance. During an interview with Good Morning America, the teen admitted that he was having some technical difficulties. "I had a video going and my phone shut off, that's why I was on my phone," he explained, telling the hosts that Timberlake is his favorite singer. Watch it here:
"I'm a huge Justin Timberlake fan, and that was my favorite song—"Can't Stop [the] Feeling"— so I was just so excited that he was right there playing that song," he told the Today show.
All memes aside, Ryan has a pretty incredible memento from the night.


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It turns out that it's neither money nor yoga that results in prosperity—it's the ability to breathe regardless of circumstances; it's the balance, flexibility and commitment to improvement. With both yoga and money, the true path to peace was in accepting where I was while knowing where I wanted to be, and creating the space to get there.
–Ashley McCann, Elephant Journal


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Together we can give people living with vision loss the skills they need to achieve their full potential!
To make a tax-deductible donation right now by credit card, please fill out the form below and click "Enter Payment" to proceed with your gift information.
We accept all major credit cards. Lighthouse Central Florida, Inc., is a non-profit 501(c)(3) Federal Tax ID #59-2418228
To make a gift by mail, send your check made out to Lighthouse Central Florida to 215 East New Hampshire Street, Orlando, FL 32804.
To make a gift by phone call 1-407-898-2483.
**If your gift is in Honor or in Memory of someone, please list their name and any notification information in the Comments section at the bottom of this form **


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Most commonly, weapons are sealed with several coats of liquid latex. Sealing is required to give the weapons a tough and damage resistant finish, but also to let it look good.
Liquid latex can be pigmented with acrylic paints, so the sealing also functions as the painting/colouration of the weapon. Though it's not strictly necessary, latex really needs a final sealing with a transparent flexible top coating, typically Isoflex Special Primer in the UK (designed as a roof repair product).
However, about 6 years ago I went over to using Plastidip instead of latex as my coating material. For a while, I used both, but now I use Plastidip exclusively.
Plastidip was originally designed as a liquid rubber coating for tool handles. It is an air drying liquid rubber and is solvent based, whereas liquid latex is ammonia and water based.
Pros and Cons
Drying time – this is probably the largest single reason I went over to using Plastidip. Living in a very wet and cold climate, the drying time for non-assisted latex, particularly where it pooled, was very long for me. Normally, I'd only be able to paint 2-3 coats a day, if I was around at the right time to be able to space those coats out. Plastidip dries much faster as it's solvent based, and is a lot less effected by the moisture content of the air. Even if pooling, I'd expect Plastidip to be ready to recoat in 1 hour, often it is ready to recoat almost as soon as the previous coat is done. This means, if I need to, I can finish sealing and painting a weapon in a day rather than the week it would take me with latex.
Chemically Inert – Latex suffers adverse chemical reactions from other materials, particularly copper. This can happen from contact with copper piping or jewellery (including brass and bronze both of which contain copper) that can be common in Larp kit, and also from copper based pigments in a lot of gold/copper paints. These all react badly with latex leaving a sticky green/blue finish. Plastidip is a synthetic rubber and doesn't have these issues.
Latex allergy – Though I've never had to check it, Plastidip is likely a better product for people who suffer latex allergies.
Non-tacky – uncured latex sticks very well to itself, as anyone who has left a couple of latex weapons drying on a rack outside can attest when they discover the wind has blown them together. Separating weapons stuck together like this can be very difficult. Plastidip is non-tacky through-out its life. Once a latex-weapon is fully skinned, it can be finished off to avoid the tackiness issue, but I'm pleased not to have to worry about it.
Better Control – I find Plastidip to have much better viscosity to liquid-latex when painting. This lets me produce much better paint effects than latex does.
Curing – within a few weeks of applying latex, it cures and cannot be easily recoated with other layers of latex. This makes taking a break from a project or lifetime repairs very difficult.
Top-coat – for various reasons covered above, latex needs an Isoflex or similar top coat. Plastidip doesn't need this. Isoflex is expensive (and for not a great shelf-life), is chemically pretty nasty (isocyanate based fun) and very strong smelling – which in general makes me glad not to have to use it anymore.
Paintable – latex is very resistant as a coating to being painted. Plastidip is far closer to plastic when finished and can be painted with plastic appropriate spray paints (like Plastikote – which, despite the name, is a separate company). Painted on paints do wear slightly over time but the result is far more effectively and can be easily touched up.
Advanced Painting - Weathering with acrylic paints and inks is difficult with latex because the Isoflex top coat needs a clean surface to bond directly to the latex to be effective. Plastidip can be effectively weathered to give much better finishes. Additionally, advanced painting techniques can be used that don't work with latex.
Matt Finish – Plastidip, once dry, produces a matt finish. Isoflexed latex has a distinct sheen. I much prefer the matt look for all my weapons, particularly for modern/real-world props.
Thin-able – Plastidip can be easily thinned with white-spirit. This makes it a bit more effective when it comes to painting some areas/applications. Latex can be thinned with distilled water, but I've never had great results with that method.
Thinner Skin – In my experience, Plastidip requires fewer coats and leaves a thinner finish than latex. This means that carved details show up better in Plastidip. Also along with the faster drying times, weapons can be made ever faster.
Cleaning – Plastidip can be cleaned from brushes with white-spirit. I've never found a way to clean latex from brushes, so even with careful rinsing, brushes used with latex will only last for a short while.
Finish Quality – Due to the cleaning issues and thicker coats skin required for liquid latex, I find that latex sealing often suffers from attracting debris and dried latex from the brushes used. Once stuck into the latex these are very hard to remove and often can detract from the finished paint job.
Bonding – Over time and combat, the latex skin will separate from the weapon foam. I have never found this to be the case with Plastidip and it does seem to form a better bond with the foam surface.
Shelf-life – The faster dying times for Plastidip's solvents become a problem in storage. Unless stored carefully, Plastidip has a shorter shelf-life than latex. Particularly as the smaller cans don't have the 'paint-tin' hard seal around the top. Shelf-life can be extended by storing cans upside down and ensuring the lids are tightly closed (and ideally using sealing clips). If the can is very empty, then it can be worth decanting the Plastidip to a smaller container with less air-gap. I would expect latex, if well stored, to last years, whereas a half-full sealed can of Plastidip might only last 6 months. Partially dried Plastidip can be thinned as discussed above. Unopened cans don't have as big a problem.
Price – by volume Plastidip is more expensive than latex. Though I don't make weapons for sale, I find, however, that the time saving more than makes up for the additional cost. Also, avoiding the need for Isoflex keeps the overall cost down.
Colours – Latex can be easily mixed with acrylic paints to give almost any colour required. Plastidip doesn't have that luxury. It can be coloured with special pigments, but these can be expensive and the colour ranges take a lot more practice. However, you can paint over Plastidip with other paints, something you cannot easily do with latex, which, for me, makes up for this problem. Plastidip is available in a lot of premixed colours – I use black for most of my work.
Wrinkles – Plastidipped foam, particularly with a Plastikote spray paint colour-layer can wrinkle with use. Latex has a thicker finish and doesn't wrinkle in the same way. I don't find this too bad for the other benefits I get, and the wrinkles are pretty slight but I would prefer not to have it happen.
Solvent – though latex produces ammonia when it dries, the fumes off Plastidip are from solvents and noticeable (though I've never found them that bad). However, they are a lot better than those off impact adhesive, also used in weapon making, so your work space should already be well ventilated.
Wrapping up
Regardless of the name, I don't dip weapons in Plastidip, instead I brush exclusively – though one can buy Plastidip in aerosol cans. I don't see why one couldn't dip with Plastidip and I am aware that some people do dip latex weapons, though I have never found it to be an effective skinning method (maybe because I've only ever done small batches of personal or group weapons). Though, as Plastidip does dry a lot faster, and requires fewer coats, I suspect that it wouldn't be much of a time saving to dip a Plastidip weapon.
I've tried to be as objective as possible in the above points and certainly liquid latex saw me good for probably 10+ years before I made the change, but I don't think I'd ever latex a weapon again now. Plastidip isn't perfect, but I couldn't get the finishes I like without out it.
I'll close by saying that I think everyone who makes weapons should try Plastidip and for those starting off, it's worth using over latex as it's a bit more forgiving as a material and gives some easy options when it comes to painting that can lead to a better looking finish. Also, as it is can be used faster, you don't have to be so patient when learning processes and can therefore practice quicker. All I would say is to make sure that you order a larger can (750ml) as some of the small ones don't have a well sealing lid, so there is a risk the can will dry out unless you plan to use it very quickly.
Give it a try, and have fun.


text:
The Theological Forum presents its report 'An Approach to the Theology of Same-Sex Marriage', which is commended as a resource and 'basis for study and discussion'. The report looks at how different approaches to scripture have resulted in different views, before considering arguments based on human rights, on 'building outwards from traditional understandings of marriage', and on theological arguments in favour of allowing same-sex marriage.
It concludes that the Forum 'does not believe there are sufficient theological grounds to deny nominated individual ministers and deacons the authority to preside at same-sex marriages… however, the Forum does not believe that such permission should be granted until there is assurance that the conscientious refusal of other ministers and deacons to preside at such marriages is protected'.
The deliverance invites the church to 'apologise individually and corporately' for 'its history of discrimination' against gay people 'and seek to do better', and to instruct the Legal Questions Committee 'to undertake a study of the matters which would require to be addressed in any new legislation permitting Ministers and Deacons to officiate at same-sex marriage
The Panel on Review and Reform's update on the Path of Renewal scheme reports that the Panel continues to support 43 congregations and one area grouping going through the process, although one congregation dropped out early this year. It says that the main focus in 2016 was initial work on: "helping ministers and Kirk Sessions to reflect on the changing culture, the challenges it presents and the change of leadership styles and approaches needed for this. Alongside this, ministers have been encouraged to invest heavily in a few people seeking to disciple them." Early research indicates that this work has been effective in helping the people involved develop a 'missional mind-set'.