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Key West Map & Orientation
Need to Know
Key West Map & Orientation
When comes to getting around Key West, we've got you covered by land, sea, and air. Our Key West map and guide will make sure you can get to all the sights and attractions to make Key West a Spring Break destination of choice.
Directions to Key West
Depending on where you are coming from, a drive to Key West is the ultimate road trip to the Southernmost point in the United States. You're going to take Interstate 95 all the way to Miami, and then head south the Florida Turnpike to Exit 4 - Homestead/Key West. This is the Turnpike Extension that will connect you to Route US 1 in Florida City, which takes you through the Keys to Key West at the very end of US 1.
This is definitely a drive where you'll want to bring your camera along. There are many bridges and picture points worth stopping at during your travel for that special photographic moment.
Speed limits are strictly observed along Route US 1, so don't say we didn't warn you. Watch out for speed traps during high travel times, like Spring Break.
Flying to Key West
We prefer flying to Miami and then driving the 130 miles to Key West. It gets us there faster and we can still brag about our scenic drive.
For those looking to begin their Spring Break the fastest way possible, you can fly direct to Key West, land at the Key West International Airport, and, in about ten minutes or less, check into your hotel or be sitting at one of Key West's great bars. (Check out the airport's website for a great Key West Map of their location relative to downtown!)
Beware, most of the flights into Key West are based on smaller aircraft, also called commuter planes or 'puddle jumpers.' You'll almost always fly into Miami before connecting down to Key West.
Getting Oriented to Key West
Key West can best be described as a two by four (2x4), meaning the island's dimensions are roughly two miles wide by four miles long. Here's a Key West map with all the general idea:
For a more interactive Key West Map, with the ability to locate most major attractions on the island, click the link.
The downtown area, located on the West end of the island has even smaller dimensions. In fact, a walk down Duval Street (the street address for most of the island's hottest and oldest bars) is not even a mile long.
Therefore, no designated drivers are necessary if you stay in town. We walked from dinner to the bar and back to our hotel without much trouble, even after numerous liquid indulgences.
The airport is on the other side of the island, along with the bridge to the mainland, but on a four mile long island, cab fare is reasonable and so is the drive to just about anywhere of interest on the island.
Getting Around Key West
As noted above, don't be afraid to just get out and walk especially round downtown, where parking is definitely at a premium. (Although, I must confess that one night I could not stand the thought of walking around on my stiletto sandals any longer.) I was pleasantly surprised to find out, especially after the bars had closed that the taxis are plentiful and reasonable.
For those who are a little more daring, try renting a moped or scooter, but keep in mind alcohol and mopeds do not mix well. Sadly, three-fourths of Key West's automobile accident fatalities involve mopeds and tourists. Don't forget to wear your helmet and pay attention to your speed the local police are not afraid to write you a ticket. Take a Key West map with you, too.
For those who feel the need for a little exercise bike rentals are easy and plentiful on the island. Personally, I prefer the mopeds. The bikes were nice, but I prefer not to exercise that much during Spring Break.
Finally, look for more golf carts like these to pop up in Key West. They are available for rent by the hour or by the day. They are fun to drive and will definitely get you some looks, but parking them somewhere can still be a problem. Remember, while you rent any vehicle you are responsible for any parking or traffic violations!
Return to the Key West Guide.
Do you have a better Key West Map or Guide?
Are you a Key West local who knows all the shortcuts and the ins-and-out of Key West? We love to be updated by people who have been to Key West recently, please submit your Key West Map and Orientation links here.
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Great Collar!!, 5/21/2014 6:42:43 PMBy: Adam from TX - See all my reviews - PermalinkThis Collar is the best collar for the money. They fit great and wear better. Forget the garbage at the "Pet" stores. The nameplate doesn't wear off like the dangley kind from rubbing on everything. And the leather is tough as anything. I have hunting and house dogs alike in these collars and have only had to get another one when we get an addition to the family. I have yet to wear one out. The oldest one is going on 5 years old and it still looks great.
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Finest dog collars in the world, 12/4/2012 11:18:34 PMBy: Charles from CO - See all my reviews - Permalink

subset: commoncrawl


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Gordon & Rees attorneys Gina Haggerty Lindell, Susanna Matingou and Stephanie Halford successfully obtained summary judgment/dismissal in favor of Cosmetology School clients. The plaintiffs, former cosmetology students, filed suit in federal court in 2015 alleging that while they were students they performed cosmetology services on members of the public for which they should have been paid as employees. This case is one of several similar lawsuits recently filed against cosmetology schools throughout the country. After multiple depositions were taken, Gordon & Rees filed a joint motion for summary judgment with co-defendants (other schools/owners) seeking a ruling that the cosmetology student plaintiffs did not qualify as employees under federal or state law.
On August 22, 2016, Judge Dale Fischer of the Central District Court of California issued a tentative ruling granting the motion for summary judgment and finding the plaintiffs were not employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) or California or Nevada law. Following oral argument, Judge Fischer confirmed her tentative ruling on August 23, 2016.
In her memorandum of ruling, Judge Fischer agreed with the firm's argument that the appropriate test to determine the employment status of the plaintiffs under the FLSA is the primary beneficiary/economic reality test. The plaintiffs unsuccessfully argued that the court should follow informal guidance issued by the Federal Department of Labor (DOL). In applying the primary beneficiary/economic reality test, the court found the plaintiffs were the primary beneficiaries of the classroom clinic time because it allowed them to complete required hours for licensing, to receive the practical training required by California regulators, and to become eligible to take the state licensing exam.
The court also disagreed with the plaintiffs' argument that the California Supreme Court's holding in Martinez v. Combs, abrogated a 1944 California appellate case, Hutchison v. Clark, that held pursuant to the California Barbering & Cosmetology Act, that cosmetology students attending schools are not employees to whom wages must be paid. Instead, Judge Fischer agreed with the firm's argument that Martinez, a case involving contract farm labor, did not overrule Hutchison's holding and did not stand for the proposition that students of cosmetology schools should be treated and paid as employees.


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The future's so bright for the stars of The Voice, they've gotta wear shades.
Want more scoop on The Voice? Subscribe to TV Guide Magazine.
At a recent photo shoot to promote NBC's talent competition, debuting April 26, the celebrity coaches—Maroon 5's Adam Levine, Cee-Lo Green, Christina Aguilera and Blake Shelton—along with host Carson Daly, slipped on sunglasses courtesy of the spectacle-loving Green. Each coach already has a distinct sense of style but, according to Shelton, it's Green who is teaching them all how to look their hippest. Says the country singer, "I've really grown very fond of Cee-Lo. He may be the coolest human being I've ever met in my life."
Subscribe to TV Guide Magazine now!


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- A Frame, Tracking, Towing Vehicles
- Audio Equipment
- B Camera Operators
- Broadcast Camera Hire
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- Post Production Facilities
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Greenlight TV is an independent production company with extensive facilities and experience. Past work includes TT coverage, TT documentaries, British Rally Championship coverage. Greenlight has also made programmes from war documentaries to Premier League Football. Contact us on 01624 611601.
01624 611601


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The PV Performance Modeling Collaborative (PVPMC) recently released version 1.1 of the PV_LIB Toolbox for Matlab. The new version includes important bug fixes and many new and useful functions, including support for the single diode module model, clear sky irradiance models, incident angle modifier models and more! Sandia facilitates the PVPMC, a group of over 300 members around the globe who are interested in improving the accuracy and technical rigor of PV performance models and analyses.
Release of Version 1.1 of the PV_LIB Toolbox for Matlab
By admin| 2019-12-18T23:22:06+00:00 March 7th, 2013|Energy, Facilities, News, News & Events, Photovoltaic, Photovoltaic Systems Evaluation Laboratory (PSEL), Renewable Energy, Solar, Solar Newsletter, Systems Analysis|Comments Off on Release of Version 1.1 of the PV_LIB Toolbox for Matlab


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NASA | STScI | HubbleSite | 2019 Jan 08
Giant Blobs of Material Are Clearing Out Star's Disk
Our Sun is not one of the most abundant types of star in our Milky Way galaxy. That award goes to red dwarfs, stars that are smaller and cooler than our Sun. In fact, red dwarfs presumably contain the bulk of our galaxy's planet population, which could number tens of billions of worlds. Surveys by NASA's Kepler Space Telescope and other observatories have shown that rocky planets are common around these diminutive stars. Some of these rocky worlds are orbiting within the habitable zones of several nearby red dwarfs. The temperate climates on such worlds could allow for oceans to exist on their surface, possibly nurturing life.
That's the good news. The bad news is that many of these rocky planets may not harbor water and organic material, the necessary ingredients for life as we know it. Earth, which formed as a "dry" planet, was seeded over hundreds of millions of years with icy material from comets and asteroids arriving from the outer solar system.
If the same life-nurturing process is needed for planets around red dwarfs, then they may be in trouble. Researchers using the Hubble Space Telescope and the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile have discovered a rapidly eroding dust-and-gas disk encircling the young, nearby red dwarf star AU Microscopii (AU Mic). The disk is being excavated by fast-moving blobs of material, which are acting like a snowplow by pushing small particles — possibly containing water and other volatiles — out of the system. Astronomers don't yet know how the blobs were launched. One theory is that powerful mass ejections from the turbulent star expelled them. Such energetic activity is common among young red dwarfs.
If the disk around AU Mic continues to dissipate at the current pace, it will be gone in about 1.5 million years, which is the blink of an eye in cosmic time. Smaller bodies, such as comets and asteroids, could be cleared out of the disk within that short time span. Planets, however, would be too massive to be displaced. Without enrichment from comet and asteroid material, the planets may end up dry, dusty, and lifeless.
Observations of Fast-Moving Features in the Debris Disk of AU Mic
on a Three-Year Timescale: Confirmation and New Discoveries ~ A. Boccaletti et al
- Astronomy & Astrophysics 614:A52 (Jun 2018) DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/201732462
arXiv.org > astro-ph > arXiv:1803.05354 > 14 Mar 2018


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Mortgage rates today, May 4, 2018, plus lock recommendations
What's driving current mortgage rates?
Mortgage rates today dipped slightly, following this morning's highly-important financial reports. Nonfarm Payrolls increased by nearly 30,000 over March, but analysts expected 20,000 to 30,000 more new jobs than the 164,000 actually added. That caused stocks to fall, but it good for bonds and mortgage rates.
However, April's Unemployment Rate slipped from March's 4.1 percent to 3.9 percent, lower than the predicted 4.0 percent. That's a good indicator for the economy, but bad for anyone floating a mortgage rate.
Average Hourly Earnings also missed the mark, increasing by just .15 percent instead of the anticipated .2 percent. That's good for rates because inflation is less of a threat without upward pressure on wages.Rates Below Are Averages. Get Your Personalized Rates Here. (Aug 15th, 2020)
|Conventional 30 yr Fixed
|Conventional 15 yr Fixed
|Conventional 5 yr ARM
|30 year fixed FHA
|15 year fixed FHA
|5 year ARM FHA
|30 year fixed VA
|15 year fixed VA
|5 year ARM VA
Your rate might be different. Click here for a personalized rate quote. See our rate assumptions here.
Financial data affecting today's mortgage rates
The main indicator that concerns me about future rates is oil price increases. Prices were below $50 a barrel about six months ago; now they're approaching $70. That should concern anyone who doesn't own an oil company.
- Major stock indexes opened mixed and flat this morning (neutral for mortgage rates)
- Gold prices rose $9 to $1,314 an ounce. (That is good for mortgage rates. In general, it's better for rates when gold rises, and worse when gold falls. Gold tends to rise when investors worry about the economy. And worried investors tend to push rates lower)
- Oil prices rose $2 to $69 a barrel (bad news for mortgage rates, because higher energy prices play a large role in creating inflation)
- The yield on ten-year Treasuries held steady at 2.93 percent. This neutral, as mortgage rates tend to move with Treasury yields.
- CNNMoney's Fear & Greed Index rose 8 points to 35 (out of a possible 100). That means we're solidly in the "fear" range. However, moving into a less fearful state is usually bad for rates. "Fearful" investors generally push bond prices up (and interest rates down) as they leave the stock market and move into bonds, while "greedy" investors do the opposite.
This week
This week has some big and important reporting. Right out the gate on Monday and all the way through. As predictions come in, we will update this section. In general, when the economy is worse than predicted, rates drop, and when it's better than expected, rates rise.
- Monday: Consumer Spending (previous .4 percent increase), Personal Income (previous increase .2 percent) and the Core Inflation Rate (previous increase .2 percent)
- Tuesday: ISM (Institute for Supply Management) Manufacturing Index for April (previous level 59.3)
- Wednesday: ADP Employment Report (previously came in at 241,000 new payrolls; many think it foreshadows Friday's Employment report), and the Federal Open Market Committee issues its statement about the economy that afternoon
- Thursday: Weekly Unemployment Report, First Quarter Productivity (previous productivity showed zero increase), ISM Non-manufacturing Index for April (previous was 58.8), and Factory Orders for March (the previous increase was .2 percent)
- Friday: The biggest day of the month — Nonfarm Payrolls (previously 103,000 jobs added), Average Hourly Earnings (previously increased .3 percent), and the Unemployment Rate (previously at 4.1 percent)
Rate lock recommendation
Rates are rising overall, though we got a nice downward bump this morning. I would lock if I were closing any time soon. If my closing date was further out than 30 days, and I could lock without an upfront charge, I'd consider doing that as well.
In general, pricing for a 30-day lock is the standard most lenders will (should) quote you. The 15-day option should get you a discount, and locks over 30 days usually cost more. If you can get a better rate (say, a .125 percent lower rate) by waiting a couple of days to get a 15-day lock instead of a 30, it's probably safe to consider.
In a rising rate environment, the decision to lock or float becomes complicated. Obviously, if you know rates are rising, you want to lock in as soon as possible. However, the longer you lock, the higher your upfront costs. If you are weeks away from closing on your mortgage, that's something to consider. On the flip side, if a higher rate would wipe out your mortgage approval, you'll probably want to lock in even if it costs more.
If you're still floating, stay in close contact with your lender, and keep an eye on markets.
- LOCK if closing in 7 days
- LOCK if closing in 15 days
- LOCK if closing in 30 days
- LOCK if closing in 45 days
- LOCK if closing in 60 days
Video: More about mortgage rates
What causes rates to rise and fall?
Mortgage interest rates depend on a great deal on the expectations of investors. Good economic news tends to be bad for interest rates because an active economy raises concerns about inflation. Inflation causes fixed-income investments like bonds to lose value, and that causes their yields (another way of saying interest rates) to increase.
For example, suppose that two years ago, you bought a $1,000 bond paying five percent interest ($50) each year. (This is called its "coupon rate.") That's a pretty good rate today, so lots of investors want to buy it from you. You sell your $1,000 bond for $1,200.
When rates fall
The buyer gets the same $50 a year in interest that you were getting. However, because he paid more for the bond, his interest rate is now five percent.
- Your interest rate: $50 annual interest / $1,000 = 5.0%
- Your buyer's interest rate: $50 annual interest / $1,200 = 4.2%
The buyer gets an interest rate, or yield, of only 4.2 percent. And that's why, when demand for bonds increases and bond prices go up, interest rates go down.
When rates rise
However, when the economy heats up, the potential for inflation makes bonds less appealing. With fewer people wanting to buy bonds, their prices decrease, and then interest rates go up.
Imagine that you have your $1,000 bond, but you can't sell it for $1,000 because unemployment has dropped and stock prices are soaring. You end up getting $700. The buyer gets the same $50 a year in interest, but the yield looks like this:
- $50 annual interest / $700 = 7.1%
The buyer's interest rate is now slightly more than seven percent. Interest rates and yields are not mysterious. You calculate them with simple math.Verify your new rate (Aug 15th, 2020)


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After a completely sold out run at the Baxter Theatre and the Nassau Theatre in 2015, The Lilliput Children's Theatre Company will be performing one of their most popular shows, GOLDILOCKS AND THE THREE BEARS for the July school holidays. Goldilocks and the Three Bears is back by popular demand and will run from Monday 4th July until Saturday 16th July at 10:30am at the Nassau Theatre at Groote Schuur High School, in Palmyra Road, Newlands.
This delightful children's classic follows the adventure of Goldilocks in the forest before her birthday. Her grandfather is organizing a Birthday party for Goldilocks. Goldilocks get lost in the woods and stumbles across a house belonging to the three bears. With nobody home, Goldilocks goes inside and makes herself at home. The three bears come home to find their visitor fast asleep with hilarious consequences. This enchanting fairytale classic is full of laughter, audience participation and is great fun for the whole family to enjoy.
Goldilocks and the Three Bears is adapted and directed by Elton John Duffy, who has been producing Children's Theatre and delighting audiences for the past 23 years. This show stars Desle McConney (Athlone) as Goldilocks, Monique Rockman (Elsies River) as Mama Bear, Carmen Maarman (Woodstock) as Baby Bear, Robyn Maree (Plumstead) as Papa Bear and Elton John Duffy (Edgemead) as Grandpa.
Tickets are R70 per person. Bookings can be made at Computicket or book online at www.computicket.com . For school block booking prices or queries, please call Elton on 083 364 8284 or (021) 558-2650 or email@example.com. For more information visit www.lilliputplayers.co.za.
What the papers say:
"If you go down to the woods today, you're in for a lyrical surprise"
- Cape Argus
"This family fun fairytale is just right for the winter holidays"
- Cape Times


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Columbus Blue Jackets Sign Defenseman Nick Holden to One-Year, Two-Way NHL-American Hockey League Contractby Blue Jackets Staff / Columbus Blue Jackets
COLUMBUS, OHIO – The Columbus Blue Jackets have signed defenseman Nick Holden to a one-year, two-way NHL-American Hockey League contract, Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Scott Howson announced today. As is club policy, terms were not disclosed.
|Nick Holden
Holden, 24, made his NHL debut with the Blue Jackets against the Anaheim Ducks on October 20 and was scoreless in five games with the club in 2010-11. He tallied 4-21-25, 63 penalty minutes and was +2 in 67 games with the Springfield Falcons, Columbus' AHL affiliate, last season and ranked second among club defensemen in assists and points.
Holden signed with Columbus as a free agent on March 28, 2008 and tallied 6-17-23 and 52 penalty minutes in 68 games with the Crunch in 2008-09. The St. Albert, Alberta native has registered 14-56-70 and 163 penalty minutes in 197 career AHL games. Prior to his professional career, he notched 30-61-91 and 116 penalty minutes in 137 games with the Western Hockey League's Chilliwack Bruins.


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ZHOUSHAN WARSHIP - A flotilla of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy patrolled waters near the Diaoyu Islands on Monday after returning from a training exercise in the west Pacific.
The patrol marked the first time for China to confirm its naval operations in the waters near the Diaoyu Islands on the very day when the Navy warships conducted such patrol.
The flotilla, consisting of the DDG-136 Hangzhou and DDG-139 Ningbo destroyers, as well as the two frigates FFG-525 Ma'anshan and FFG-529 Zhoushan from the Navy's Donghai Fleet, passed through the Miyako Strait and entered the West Pacific for a routine training exercise on November 28.
After finishing a series of training operations, the flotilla sailed through a strait near the Yonaguni and Iriomote Islands and arrived in waters surrounding the Diaoyu Islands Monday morning.
According to a Xinhua reporter aboard the frigate Zhoushan, the four warships patrolled the waters in formation under rough sea conditions and weather.
Qiu Yanpeng, commander of the task force and also the Donghai Fleet's vice commander, said the Diaoyu Island and its affiliated islets have been part of China's inherent territory since ancient times.
It is legitimate for China's Navy to patrol in waters under Chinese jurisdiction and it is the Navy's responsibility to safeguard the country's maritime territory and interests, Qiu said.
Monday's patrol in the waters near Diaoyu Islands was the third of its kind conducted since Japan stirred up tensions with China over the islands earlier this year.
Sources with the Ministry of National Defense said a seven-warship task force from the Navy's Beihai Fleet patrolled the waters near the Diaoyu Islands on October 16.
In late September, Defense Ministry spokesman Yang Yujun confirmed that Chinese naval ships carried out patrols and military training in the waters earlier that month.
A statement issued by the ministry on Monday said that China will continue naval training in the West Pacific.
The training exercise in the West Pacific was a routine exercise conducted in accordance with the Navy's annual training plan and concerned countries should respect the Chinese Navy's freedom of navigation and aviation in line with international law, it said.


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by Colin Perry
A figure stumbles across a tufted cliff-top field. She is abandoned in her Sisyphean task of dragging a dense bluish foam monolith, half-bleached yellow by the sun and storeroom-neglect, across a grassy terrain. The video is looped, her task endless. Her travails might be read as allegorical, for they appear otherwise without purpose: the foam is being taken nowhere, and its ungainliness appears designed specifically to impede the protagonist (performed by Bettina Buck herself) from making headway. This is the lot of the artist: the physical labour; the perverse logic of forcing mute objects into relational forms; the unwieldiness of interpretation.
I like to read the work as a backhanded tribute to plein-air art making: the artist as the post-Romantic wonderer. More obliquely, to my eyes the whole set-up recalls those television comedies from the 1970s and 80s, when recording outdoors was evidently a cheap trick to save on expensive artificial lighting. Growing up in television-age Britain, I watched endless capers set in fields and outdoor spaces. It was a sort of pastoral slapstick that's sadly vanished from today's small screen. Buck's purpose is, of course, more serious. And while they may be futile, they are not without satisfaction. She sits on the foam to rest: the sculpture can be a prop, too.
Like an homage to the wobbly inconsistency of home-movies, Interlude welcomes visual erratum. The horizon bounces up and down with the extreme zoom and lack of steady-cam technology; the air is electric with a tinnitus whistling that denotes audio-overload in the camera's microphone. In fact, these elements are all quite deliberate. The sound levels have been post-processed to a steady cyclonic buzz, and that quivering zoom is carefully utilized to capture moments of gentle absurdity (in one scene, a kindly stranger carries her load, a dog running alongside them bucolically). Also, it recalls the edginess of her location on a cliff-edge and the imperative of gravity (the sky here plummets straight to the sea and her sculptural burden slumps towards horizontality).
Gravity is a key ingredient in Buck's post-sculptural practice. Of all sculpture's innovations, the pedestal is the most consistent denial of gravity. Pedestals are the stepping-stones of art history's gods, nymphs and heroes. For thousands of years they have kept the toes of those immortals above our torrid world. Buck's Age of Bronze tips a nod to gravity's manifold meanings: the tired slump and our mortal end. These makeshift looking plinths are based on those created especially for Auguste Rodin's sculptures at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. The Museum's plinths are shallow affairs, giving the works some sort of ceremony, but allowing proximity and intimacy with the viewer. By contrast, Buck's plinths are not entirely well behaved objects, being constructed awkwardly from sheets of cast bronze that have been welded together, or rendered in cardboard – that most unmonumental of materials. Buck's works forever threaten to fall over in front of us, on us, or after we have left the gallery. The challenge is to feel relaxed about the mutability of such objects. After all, should the edifice collapse, we could simply learn to appreciate it anew – sit on its newly horizontal bulk or pick it up and trudge onwards, like the protagonist in Interlude. This contrariness is evident too in another, hidden aspect of Age of Bronze: Buck assigns as much effort and meaning to the residues of the casting process on its inner surface as to the welding marks on its outside. The object's potentiality sticks in the mind like a vague threat, or a rumour of things yet to come.
Installation photography: Erik Sæter Jørgensen


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Hi lovelies! Just a little something before I end the week. I bring good 'giddy' news – We're Engaged! Me & my fiancé (so cute) got engaged last September 24! And yes, it all happened under a tree in a park somewhere in good ol' Paris.
Just to indulge you with how it went plus a little bragging about him 😛 Here goes…
The whole idea of planning a surprise was nothing new to Aaron but its just so sweet to know that he went through this much effort to make it work. He knew that I've always loved getting married under a tree so apparently, four of our friends who were with us during the trip were in on it and gardens all over Paris were searched for that one perfect tree 😉
Another thing that made me prouder is that he actually shopped for the props. Never in a million years, would I imagine him shopping for vintage props! 😛 He had our friends setup the tree with white-painted wooden cutouts of 'love', letters 'E' and 'A' (which he painted to make it look more rustic). Plus polaroids of our pictures from whenever were also hung up from branches to branches. Simple but gorgeously done!
Oh and the ring! Remember when Carrie Bradshaw said that he is the right guy if he gave you the right ring? Well, I actually find it funny that he conceptualized the ring that just shouts 'me'! The ring is rose gold with a pink sapphire accompanied with 2 white diamonds on each side 🙂
We even had our friend photographer to document the whole thing! I don't have the actual pictures yet.
But no doubt I'll share them with you as soon as I get them! For the meantime, here's just a few of my snapshots:
Thanks again to Jess, Den, Charm & Jon! You made that day even more memorable! ♥
And thanks to everyone who greeted and congratulated us over facebook and all over!
have a good weekend everyone!


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About Me
Useful Stuff
Some hidden gems that have been added to this site over time.
Blog Archives
In addition to my former social business blog (ListenCompletely.com), this site contains archives of professional writings throughout my career.
Online Journalism Course
I had the great fortune to teach – and learn from – students exploring writing in the digital world. I taught this course from 2002-2012 as part of UMassOnline's Online Journalism Certificate program which was recognized in 2006 as a Program of Excellence by the University Professional and Continuing Education Association (UPCEA).
The lectures are archived here.


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Ryan Meier, David Marquardt and John Hawkinson finished first, second and third, respectively, as Knox College won the Midwest Conference South Division Tournament by 17 strokes Sunday at Soangetaha Country Club.
Meier shot a one-over-par 145 to earn individual medalist honors at the two-day tournament. He opened with a two-over 74 as Illinois College hosted the opening round Saturday.
Back at Soangetaha, the Prairie Fire's home course, Sunday, Meier fired a one-under 71. He edged teammate Marquardt, who shot a 149 (75-74). Knox finished one-two-three as Hawkinson carded a 152 (75-77) for third place. The three helped Knox shoot a 605 (304-301) to win the team tournament by 17 strokes……
Knox will next compete at the MWC championships, playing for an automatic berth into the NCAA Division III Tournament. The three-day MWC tourney will be played starting Thursday at Aldeen Golf Club in Rockford
Knox has won 19 of the last 25 MWC team titles, including the 2006 championship. This is the first year the MWC champion will gain an automatic berth into the national tournament.


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Women's Health: A Special Publication from Lexington Medical Center
At Lexington Medical Center, we care for women in all stages of life. Did you happen to see our special women's health section in The State newspaper this month? Here's an online version. From genetics to pregnancy to nutrition – and everything in between – we've got it covered. We look forward to taking care of you now and in the future.


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NC says USDA confirms it met food stamp deadline
State officials say they have received confirmation that North Carolina has met the requirement for meeting a deadline to clear a backlog of food stamp applications.
The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services said it received a letter Friday from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Southeastern Regional Office saying it met the Feb. 10 deadline.
DHHS had until last Monday to process a backlog of more than 23,000 food stamp applications and renewals that had been pending for more than 90 days. The applications were to be processed by law within 30 days. North Carolina faced the loss of millions in federal funding.
The state struggled for months to process a backlog of food stamp applications resulting from a faulty update with its NC FAST software.


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As Sri Lanka's east coast opens up to tourists after 30 years of civil war, anyone hoping to find deserted beaches will be disappointed. The Tamil Tiger guerrilla fighters have been replaced by busloads of young Sinhalese in party mode.
Driving north from rundown Trincomalee last month, fields have been turned into car parks for the weekend assault on the most beautiful beaches.
There is one decent tourist-class hotel, the 44-room Nilaveli Beach Resort, rebuilt following the 2005 tsunami, when a 15ft wall of water crashed through it, killing four honeymoon couples.
It is a rare survivor on this coast, where slender coconut palms arc gracefully over strands of powdery white sand. Only a few blackened walls remain of the hotel next door, burned down after the owner refused to pay protection money to the Tamil Tigers.
Offshore lies Pigeon Island, once renowned for its coral reef. A boatman takes me across in a fibreglass boat donated after the tsunami.
The coral is starting to recover and there are plenty of fish. There are also two men dressed in fatigues sitting on a wooden bench with sub-machine guns beside them.
"I asked for guards for the island after a German tourist cut his foot on glass last month" says the boatman. "These rowdy visitors from Colombo are becoming a real nuisance; they are drinking, fighting and throwing rubbish on the beach and the reef."
To the Muslim villagers the behaviour of the Sinhalese is insulting, but there is little they can do except clear up after them.
More than 700 families live in the creekside village scratching a living from fishing and farming. As we putter upriver, a villager hails us from his dugout. "Micky" apologises for his English. He used to be a dive instructor, he says, but he hasn't spoken English for a long time.
He is returning from his land across the river where he has been able to plant a crop for the first time in 30 years. His face beams with pleasure.
"I thought this day would never come," he says. As we wave goodbye, the boatman says Micky is an amazing man. His foot was blown off by a landmine last year.
South of Trincomalee, I come to Passikudah and Kalkudah, which were thriving resorts in the 1970s. All that remains of their heyday are piles of crushed bricks and lengths of plastic piping scattered across the coconut groves. There are several houses advertising rooms for rent in Valachchenai, a mile inland, but the town still has the look of a place under siege.
Nearly every building is marked with bullet holes. Rusty lengths of corrugated iron have been nailed to fences at eye level in an attempt to gain privacy from passing soldiers. Nobody will discuss what happened in this battleground between government and rebel forces; only the shopkeepers whisper greetings as I pass.
Back down on Kalkudah's white sand bay there is nowhere to sunbathe in peace. A thousand fishing canoes are drawn up along it. The catch is good, says the policeman in his sandbagged hut. Families live in thatched fishing camps, their cattle roam the beach, and there is plastic flotsam and jetsam everywhere.
If the beach were cleaned up and zoned into areas for fishing and tourism, Kalkudah could become another Goa. But while the wounds of the civil war heal, Sri Lanka's east coast is best left to the fishermen and farmers.


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Health Benefits
This medicine makes body strong & healthy along with semen to thicken and also raises the mood. It helps in eliminating fatigue and regulates blood circulation. This medicine helps in curing impotence, increases sexual activity, prevents sperm presence in urine, eliminates sexual weakness etc.
Nowadays the use of many modern drugs has been boosted to increase libido whose effect in formation of semen work but only for a while; semen in the body might not be available in the right quantities as these modern drugs does not help in increasing it constantly. Semen can only be increased via improving our body functions not via taking Silenafil (Modern Chemical) as it has several side effects. Majority of the people being unaware of the side effects of modern chemicals have to face various ill effects on the body later.
Side effects of taking Silenafil
Diseases that cause ED
Reasons for the occasional Non-performance
Diet Plan
Men are also advised to follow a sexual exhaustion diet to increase their stamina on a regular basis, which includes foods like
Fresh fruits, especially strawberries, quince, plums, peaches, mangoes, figs, coconuts, bananas, apples, raspberries, pomegranates, pears, papayas, grapes, dates, cherries and apricots.
Vegetables that have an aphrodisiac effect on the body include eggplant, cucumbers, carrots and corn. Other vegetables that are also highly recommended in a diet for sexual erectile dysfunction include garlic, tomato, beans, garlic, onions, spinach, turnips, soybeans, peppers
Nut and seeds, being good sources of protein, help boost sex drive and therefore, pine seeds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts are all good for sexual health.
Apart from following a healthy diet, it is important for people to make certain lifestyle changes too, which can help improve their sexual health. Stress reduction techniques, such as meditation, deep breathing and yoga as also massage therapy are all great for increasing sexual drive and performance. People should make it a point to get an adequate amount of rest, sleep and relaxation, to decrease sexual problems. Leading a sedentary lifestyle is one of the major contributors to sexual problems, in men and women. Hence, getting an adequate amount of exercise each day can be very useful in improving overall health, which also includes sexual health.
Recommendations while undergoing treatment
If the body's internal organs do not work efficiently or have internal weakness, then intake of Rasayan along with Yovan Ras is advisable (which is available in powder form as Power Win). Effects of Rasayan on the body – such as increasing Immunity, fix other diseases, improve digestion and other bodily functions, causing the body to absorb juice from food efficiently and then help in the production of Blood, muscles, bone, marrow and ultimately semen.
Yovan Ras capsules has such natural ingredients which enhance semen and condense its elements and if it is taken with Power win powder then the overall body becomes muscular, libido rich and robust. The combination of Yovan Ras and Power Win work on the root of the body's weakness and it do takes little time i.e.6-8 months but the overall benefit you get after taking it is unbelievable. Nowadays, modern medicines work for a very short time and later its adverse effects on the body have to be borne by us only as it makes our body hollow from inside.
Note: If the penis is short, loose, skinny or weak then it is highly advised to apply Yovan Ras Oil on it and if there is extreme weakness in body along with internal dysfunctioning of various organs of the body then the use of Power Win Powder is recommended.


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Author(s): Murdoch Riley
Learn Te Reo Māori / Te Reo Māori Language Resources
By Murdoch Riley. Over 500 sayings encapsulating the customs and traditions of race. A treasure stroe of accumulated wisdom handed down from the ancestors - Te oha o nga tangata matua (proverb 1-3). A list of Maori sayings, translation and explanations in English. Arranged under broad subject headings


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Category: Start / Ensembles/Performers/Associations/Societies / Ensembles/Consorts
- Sites currently sorted by: Title (A to Z)
- Sort links by: Title ( + | - ) Date ( + | - ) Popularity ( + | - )
"The Knoxville Early Music Project (KEMP), founded in 1991, is an ensemble devoted to performing Renaissance and Baroque music. The group's performances feature music from Italian monody and solo cantatas to English, Irish, and Scottish folk and art music. ... " Visit website for more information. (ed.)
Added on: Aug 02, 2008 | Hits: 2074
"Hailed as one of the most exciting period instrument ensembles on the New York scene, SYMPATICA has presented a dozen concerts over the last 18 months, to great critical acclaim. The ensemble comprises three exceptionally gifted musicians (Rachel Begley, recorders, Joëlle Morton, viola da gamba and Jennifer Griesbach, harpsichord), each an accomplished virtuosa in her own right. Sympatica's inventive programming draws on the standard repertoire as well as being dedicated to exploring contemporary music and adapting lesser-known music to the trio sonata medium. The ensemble's name (taken from the Italian term simpatia , meaning 'pleasantness') is reflective of the infectious chemistry and camaraderie that is evident among the group's members, and the delight with which its audiences receive the ensemble's whimsical and spirited performances. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)
Added on: Aug 06, 2008 | Hits: 1996
" Agave Baroque is a period instrument ensemble dedicated to the diverse and compelling repertoire of the seventeenth Century. Founded in 2007, Agave Baroque delivers expressive, thoughtful interpretations colored with imagination, wit, and humor. In 2009, Agave Baroque was chosen through a competitive application process to represent Early Music America at the APAP Conference in New York City, where they performed twice. Members of this engaging young ensemble also perform with some of the nation's leading baroque orchestras and ensembles, including Philharmonica Baroque, American Bach Soloists, Musica Angelica, and Ensemble Mirable, as well as the New Century Chamber Orchestra and Los Angeles Master Chorale."
Visit website for more information. (ed.)
Added on: Jan 21, 2012 | Hits: 1940
"Albuquerque Baroque Players was formed in the summer of 1997 by six Albuquerque musicians who found that they had in common a desire to play Baroque music on the instruments of the period. They held a common belief that such performances would offer a greater understanding and depth of expression to music written over 250 years ago. After two years of infrequent performances, ABP was reborn with the current four members and has been performing a regular series of concerts at Los Altos Christian Church and the Historic Old San Ysidro Church in Corrales, along with appearances at the Cathedral Church of St. John, the Albuquerque Museum, and the Albuquerque Public Library. To date, ABP has been financial assisted by New Mexico Arts, the City of Albuquerque Urban Enhancement Trust Fund , the Garcia Automotive Group, Van Dyke Software and the Walter A. Brooks & Marilyn Gulley Brooks Foundation, as well as many private sponsors. " See website for more details. (ed.)
Added on: Feb 18, 2008 | Hits: 1854
"Altramar, in the Occitan language of the troubadours, was the name given to the Near Eastern lands that lay "over the sea;" the lands where Crusade and trade resulted in the rich cultural interchange of East and West.
Altramar is an ensemble specializing in music of the Medieval Era, sharing historical repertory in the context of human experience, and evoking the vibrant tapestry of medieval culture. Altramar combines a process of collaborative partnership with a commitment to scholarship and expression. Since 1991, Altramar has been presenting their unique blend of song and story, drama and rhetoric, and voices and instruments to audiences throughout North America.
Altramar's members arrived at their medieval meeting place by way of diverse musical paths: Jann Cosart plays bowed string instruments from the twelfth to the twentieth centuries. Her varied performing and teaching experience has taken her throughout North America and the Orient. David Stattelman, a native Iowan, received his earliest musical training through participation in the Roman Catholic liturgy, in which he is still plays an active part. In addition to Altramar, he maintains interests in chant and medieval polyphony, and performs with Magnificat and Theatre of Voices. Chris Smith is a jazz guitarist and ethnomusicologist, specializing in performance traditions of the Near East and the African Diaspora. He is a faculty member at the Indiana University School of Music, and produces the program "One World" for National Public Radio affiliate WFIU in Bloomington. Angela Mariani is a specialist in the performance practice of medieval music, whose career has included experience in rock, folk, and traditional styles. She produces the nationally-syndicated early music program Harmonia at WFIU in Bloomington, and has taught and performed in Boston, Bloomington, Amherst, and Vancouver. " See website for more details. (ed.)
Added on: Feb 18, 2008 | Hits: 1865
"Founded in San Francisco in 1986, American Baroque brings together some of America's most accomplished and exciting baroque instrumentalists, with the purpose of defining a new, modern genre for historical instruments. The group's adventurous programs combine 18th-century music with new works, composed for the group through collaborations and commissions from American composers. An ensemble of eclectic, accomplished, and artful musicians, the performances bridge a gap between the edges of the new music frontier and the familiar roads to music of the past, and expands the repertoire and scope of historical instruments into the new millenium.
After many accomplishments in the field of early music, in the early 1990s American Baroque began exploring the territory of performing new music written for historical instruments through its collaboration with composer, member and gambist Roy Whelden and his pieces Quartet After Abel and Gamba Quartet, which resulted in a CD release on the New Albion label in 1993. Intrigued by the unique timbres and subtlety of sounds inherent in their period instruments, the group continued to pursue projects and programming that involved combinations of new and old elements. Collaborations with such artists and composers as Rudy Rucker, Jonathan Berger, Carl Stone, and the Common Sense Composers Collective yielded an unprecented number of commissioned works written specifically for the group's instruments. " See website for more information. (ed.)
Added on: Mar 02, 2008 | Hits: 1722
"Anima's early music performances are fresh, sincere, joyous and powerful. Since 2005, Anima's concerts have soothed and delighted audiences, with thematically-based programs that connect today's listeners with the music of 400 years ago.
Soprano Beth Anne Hatton, violinist Vita Wallace, viola da gambist and lirone player Motomi Igarashi and harpsichordist Barbara Weiss form Anima's heart, which expands to include such kindred spirits as harpist Christa Patton, violinists Marika Holmqvist, and Dongmyung Ahn, and reader R. Nemo Hill. Anima's approachable virtuosity is joyful, highly expressive and provocative. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)
Added on: Aug 06, 2008 | Hits: 1858
"Renowned for their unearthly vocal blend and virtuosic ensemble singing, the four women of Anonymous 4 combine musical, literary, and historical scholarship with contemporary performance intuition as they create ingeniously designed programs, interweaving music with poetry and narrative.
In addition to their unmatched medieval repertoire, Anonymous 4 has often reached out into the realm of contemporary music, and has premiered works by Peter Maxwell Davies, John Tavener, Steve Reich, and Richard Einhorn. The group has most recently expanded their repertoire to include traditional music of the British Isles and America.
Anonymous 4 has performed in major venues and festivals throughout North America, Europe and the Far East. The ensemble has appeared on numerous radio and television programs, including Garrison Keillor's "A Prairie Home Companion," "CBS Sunday Morning," A&E's "Breakfast With the Arts," and NPR's "Weekend Edition." Anonymous 4's award-winning recordings have attained unprecedented popularity, rising to the top of Billboard's classical chart, and selling almost 1.5 million copies worldwide. " ...
Added on: Aug 22, 2007 | Hits: 2228
"The Anitquarian Funks is a musical group specializing in authentic musical performances of rarely heard works from the Renaissance and Early Baroque periods. Based in Santa Cruz, California, The Antiquarian Funks were founded in 1971 by Head Funk William G. Mathews, and have been performing ever since in a wide variety of combinations and venues. The Funks perform with reproductions of original antique instruments.
Music of the 17th century and earlier was usually composed and performed for the church or European courts. A particular challenge in performing this early music is the absence of tempo and dynamic notation. Musicians of this time were expected to improvise embellishments on the original score, rather like modern jazz.
The aim of this website is to introduce you to both the Antiquarian Funks, as well as the amazing music, instruments and some of the composers we have featured over the years. Enjoy! " See website for more information. (ed.)
Added on: Feb 23, 2008 | Hits: 1911
"The Arbor Consort is a semi-professional group of singers based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, performing both publicly and privately throughout the year. Formerly known as "Our Lady's Madrigal Singers", Arbor Consort was formed over 20 years ago as the official madrigal ensemble of the Michigan Renaissance Festival in Holly. Arbor Consort can also be seen as carolers during the holidays, and is the Victorian Caroling quartet for the State Street Area Association and for Kerrytown Market & Shops in Ann Arbor. " See website for more information. (ed.)
Added on: Mar 03, 2008 | Hits: 1726
"ArcoVoce is a chamber group made up of some of the East Coast's most acclaimed performers on both modern and period instruments. ArcoVoce, whose name translates loosely from the Italian for strings and voice, may be unique in specializing in performances on both sets of instruments, as well as in including vocal chamber music as an integral part of its performances. ArcoVoce has performed in prestigious venues including Washington D.C.'s Phillips Collection and Corcoran Galleries, the German and Dutch Embassies, the Boston Early Music Festival, and Alexandria Virginia's Lyceum. ArcoVoce's repeated performances at the Phillips Collection have earned it status as a resident chamber ensemble of the gallery. Among the notable guest artists who have appeared with ArcoVoce are the celebrated baroque violinist Elisabeth Wallfisch, principal cellist of Musica Antique Koln Phoebe Carrai, and longtime principal clarinettist of the Cleveland Orchestra Franklin Cohen."
Visit website for more information. (ed.)
Added on: Mar 02, 2012 | Hits: 1687
"Delighting audiences around the country with their spirited performances, Armonia Celeste (ar-mo-NEE-ache-LES-tay) is an emerging ensemble specializing in rarely heard repertoire from the Italian Renaissance and early Baroque. The group is comprised of three distinct female voices accompanied by period instruments: lute, theorbo, guitar, and the rare arpa doppia (Baroque triple harp). Each of the five members of the ensemble is a highly experienced solo performer in their own right; together, the musicians create an unforgettable combination of varied vocal and instrumental colors, florid ornamentation, expressiveness, and a noticeable passion for this repertoire.
The idea for Armonia Celeste came about in 2008 when the musicians performed together at the Misiones de Chiquitos International American Renaissance and Baroque Music Festival in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. Since then, the ensemble has been featured in a concert of Monteverdi's Il settimo Libro di Madrigali with the Dallas Bach Society, performed at the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth in conjunction with the museum's exhibit, "Art and Love in Renaissance Italy," and has offered many concerts throughout Texas and Oklahoma. At the 2009 Boston Early Music Festival, Armonia Celeste presented an extremely well-received fringe concert entitled "Love and Longing." Early in 2010, the group appeared in, and provided music for, an educational PBS documentary presented by Early Music Television entitled "Culture Wars of Venice and the Birth of Public Opera." Eugene Enrico, Early Music Television organizer and professor of Musicology at the Oklahoma School of Music, commented, "[The] new professional ensemble Armonia Celeste is the finest group I've heard performing early baroque Italian music.""
Visit website for more information. (ed.)
Added on: Jan 21, 2012 | Hits: 1980
"Armonia Nova is an ensemble of instruments and voices based in the Washington D.C. area. Its members perform medieval and Renaissance music of Europe on instruments that are re-creations of historical instruments, applying scholarship and informed historical performance practice. Members of Armonia Nova strive to achieve an historically authentic performance with the desire for the listener to hear this remote yet remarkably beautiful music as it might have sounded when it was newly created.
Armonia Nova has been frequently praised for its intelligent and creative programming. The performances of this ensemble capture the emotional content of the music, bringing an intensity and immediacy to the performance while maintaining the purity and clarity of tone so essential to music of these early periods."
Visit website for more information. (ed.)
Added on: Mar 02, 2012 | Hits: 1756
"The seeds for ARS & AMICI — a 10- to 12-day travel, study and performance program in Italy for young professionals and highly talented amateur musicians — were planted in 1996 in Boston. Under the guidance of Sheila Beardslee, a well-known Boston-area teacher and performer in early music, the ARS & AMICI program has visited Rome, Florence, Orvieto, Siena, Cortona, Assisi, Bolzano, Padua and Venice. In addition to performances in churches, community centers and schools ARS & AMICI seeks to create connections between amateur musicians and rising young professionals in the U.S. and in Italy. ARS & AMICI participants frequently work with distinguished early music teachers and directors in cities which the program visits. Each year ARS & AMICI's repertoire changes to reflect the musical creativity of the Renaissance masters from Italy and the continent over the period 1520-1620, including choral and consort music in both sacred and secular genres, as well as historical dance. " ...
Added on: Aug 16, 2007 | Hits: 2308
"Ars Lyrica Houston (ALH) offers audiences a broad range of music from the 17th and 18th centuries, on period instruments and with careful attention to period style and context. Ars Lyrica, which means "lyric art," performs on period instruments because they produce a sweeter, more intimate sound than their modern equivalents and are better suited to the performance of Baroque music especially. Founded in 1998 by harpsichordist and conductor Matthew Dirst and incorporated in 2003 as a 501(c)(3) organization, this Grammy–nominated ensemble offers a yearly series of programs at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Houston and also performs regularly at other area and national venues.
Under Dirst's leadership, ALH "set[s] the agenda for imaginative period–instrument programming in Houston" (according to the Houston Chronicle) with a distinctive blend of chamber, dramatic, and sacred works from the late Renaissance through the Classical era in music history. Its recordings have garnered international acclaim: Gramophone, the leading journal of the classical recording industry, praised Ars Lyrica's debut CD for its "exemplary skill and taste," the ensemble's musicians for their "impassioned performance" of never-before recorded works by Alessandro Scarlatti; while Ars Lyrica's latest CD, the world première recording of Johann Adolf Hasse's Marc Antonio e Cleopatra, was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Opera 2011.
ALH is proud to have represented Houston's thriving early music community with programs at national meetings and conventions of the American Musicological Society, the American Bach Society, the American Guild of Organists, the Society for 17th–Century Music, and, this past summer, at the world–renowned Boston Early Music Festival. ALH also serves communities across Texas through frequent collaborations with other Texas–based arts organizations, including leading choral groups and early music sponsors. In addition to its concert and recording activities, ALH offers diverse educational and outreach programs, which focus on enriching the concert experience and on building new audiences.
Recent efforts in this area include two distinctive in–school programs for K–12 children in the Houston area, family concerts at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, university-level workshops and collaborations, demonstrations of period instruments, performances at nontraditional venues, and lectures about upcoming programs."
Visit website for more information. (ed.)
Added on: Mar 01, 2012 | Hits: 2033
"ArsAntiguaPresents.com, directed by Jerry Fuller, is a series of monthly, free audio web cast programs of music from the Renaissance, Baroque, and Classical eras performed on period instruments with engaging and enlightening commentary by Peter Van De Graaff. Programs focus on one composition or a few short works."
Visit website for more information. (ed.)
Added on: Jul 14, 2009 | Hits: 2066
"Art's Delight is a duo that performs popular music of the 18th century, at historic sites, re-enactments and special events of every kind. It consists of Bobbie Wayne and Dan Mozell who have been performing together for the past 24 years. Their 18th century repertoire combines dance music and airs with revolutionary songs, love ballads, drinking songs and more."
Visit website for more information. (ed.)
Added on: May 15, 2009 | Hits: 1645
"Audiences love ARTEK concerts for their exciting, dramatic performances of baroque music, with compelling musical settings of beautiful poetry and infectious dance rhythms that infuse the performances with vitality and spirit. ARTEK features some of America's finest singers: Laura Heimes, soprano; Barbara Hollinshead, mezzo-soprano; Ryland Angel, countertenor; Philip Anderson, tenor; Michael Brown, tenor; and Peter Becker, bass-baritone. ARTEK instrumentalists include Robert Mealy, violin; Vita Wallace, violin; Motomi Igarashi, viola da gamba & lirone; Daniel Swenberg, theorbo; Charles Weaver, lute and guitar; Grant Herreid, lute; Christa Patton, harp; and Gwendolyn Toth, harpsichord and organ. …
ARTEK toured from 1997 to 2002 with the Mark Morris Dance Group, visiting major venues in the United Kingdom, Italy, and Canada, as well as more than 50 of America's premier theaters: BAM, Cal Performances in Berkeley, The Schubert Theater in Boston, McCarter Theater in Princeton, and many more from California to the Northeast. ARTEK has appeared in Europe previously at the Regensburg Tage Alter Musik festival; at the Utrecht Fringe Festival; and in Feldkirchen, Austria; Dolni Lukavice, Czech Republic; Beaulieu, France; Konstanz, Germany; and Kreuzlingen, Switzerland.
In New York City area ARTEK has appeared on the Music Before 1800 series and on the Princeton Friends of Music series; on First Night New York at St. Bartholomew's Church; as featured performers with the Bach-Schutz Society Conference; and on the Kaye Playhouse Chamber Music Series. ARTEK presents its own series of evening concerts each season at halls and churches in New York City and Princeton, NJ. ARTEK also performs regularly throughout the concert season on the free midday concert series, Midtown Concerts, at St. Bartholomew's Church in midtown Manhattan. In spring 2001, director Gwendolyn Toth was awarded the Newell Jenkins Prize for excellence in early music performance in recognition of her work with ARTEK."
Visit website for more information. (ed.)
Added on: Aug 20, 2007 | Hits: 2301
"Asteria (Sylvia Rhyne, soprano, and Eric Redlinger, tenor and lute) seeks to bring a narrative quality and emotional immediacy to their late-medieval vocal and instrumental music. Their historically informed settings are based on extensive archival research into original sources in Paris, The Hague, and Basel, Switzerland. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)
Added on: Aug 06, 2008 | Hits: 2059
"Formed in 1973 by five Juilliard graduates, THE AULOS ENSEMBLE was at the forefront of a movement that was to capture the imagination of the American listening public. In 1978 with the release of their recording, "Masterpieces of the High Baroque", AULOS' reputation for exhilarating performances informed with scholarly insight was firmly established. In those groundbreaking years, the group's innovative programming featured a blend of flute, oboe, violin, cello, and harpsichord, later adding a viola da gamba. With its conservatory based training, Aulos brought an uncompromising standard of excellence in performance that resulted in invitations from virtually all of this country's major chamber music presenters. This exposure helped create a new audience awareness for the rich rewards of this repertoire performed on "period instruments" and comments such as "scintillating", "virtuosic", and "authentic baroque performance at its best" from America's most respected music critics. …"
Visit website for more information. (ed.)
Added on: Jan 21, 2011 | Hits: 1816
"Artistic director, Slobodan Vujisic has gathered some of the top early music specialists from Austin and around the nation for a premier appearance by his newest ensemble, Austin Troubadours! Featuring Medieval and Renaissance Mediterranean instrumental and vocal music, Austin Troubadours combine various well known and obscure historical instruments with lush vocals. They produce a unique kaleidoscope of sound and texture, lending the audience an ever changing pallet of musical delights for the senses. Historically informed and inspired by years of musical experience, each member of the Austin Troubadours will delight and move audiences to tap their feet and hum tunes of antiquity. .."
Visit website for more information. (ed.)
Added on: Apr 16, 2010 | Hits: 2249
"Bacchanalia Baroque Ensemble was founded in 2002 by flutist Laura Thompson. This period-instrument ensemble comprised of talented and dynamic musicians from all over the world engages New York audiences with unusual programming - including works that have never been heard in America's concert halls. Bacchanalia brings to audiences baroque and early classical music -from the intimate flute sonatas of Hotteterrre and Blavet, to the virtuosic concerti of Quantz and music by composers such as Gehot and Mozart.
Bacchanalia gave their debut at the Boston Early Music Festival Fringe in 2002, and have since been heard in many venues and early music series' in New York, such as Riverside Church's Christ Chapel, Midtown Concerts, Saint Peter's Classical Concert series, as ensemble-in-residence at the Church of the Resurrection, Music at Our Saviour's Atonement, Sundays on the Island, and Trinity Church in New York City.
Awarded grants from the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council in 2008 and 2010 for live concert programming, and from the Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance for the recording and production of a CD of American Federal era music, Bacchanalia is set to release their first recording, of trios by American immigrant-composer and violinist Joseph Gehot, which will be released on the Eroica label in 2011."
Visit website for more information. (ed.)
Added on: Apr 21, 2011 | Hits: 1596
"The Baltimore Consort has delighted audiences on both sides of the Atlantic and earned their CDs a place on the Billboard Magazine Top-Ten list. The Baltimore Consort's arrangements of early music from England, Scotland, France, Italy, and Spain speak to the heart as well as the mind, and their love for the early music of English/Scottish heritage has led them to delve into the rich trove of traditional balladry and dance tunes preserved in the Appalachian mountains and Nova Scotia. More recently, the group has explored the extraordinary repertory from the Iberian peninsula awill in a program entitled "Cancionero: Early Music from Spain."
The Consort tours all regions of the USA, has also appears frequently in Europe, and has held residencies at the Walters Art Gallery and the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore, and the Piccolo Spoleto Festival in Charleston, South Carolina. Its performances on such syndicated radio programs as Performance Today, St. Paul Sunday, Millennium of Music, Harmonia, and Onstage (CBC) have broadcast its music far and wide.
The Consort has recorded thirteen discs on the Dorian label (click on Recordings link above). The group also performs with orchestra, in a family-friendly show entitled O'er the Hills and Far Away, which is a set of symphonic arrangements created by Consort member and composer Larry Lipkis. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)
Added on: Mar 12, 2008 | Hits: 2338
Visit website for more information. (ed.)
Added on: Aug 06, 2008 | Hits: 1972
Founded in 2007 by British baroque violinist Garry Clarke, Baroque Band has rapidly established itself as one of America's most exciting period-instrument orchestras. Hailed by the Chicago Tribune in 2009 as one of the top ten most important happenings of the decade in Chicago classical music, and picked by the BBC Music Magazine as one of America's foremost period-instrument ensembles, Baroque Band is now an established and celebrated part of Chicago's cultural life.
Added on: Feb 10, 2016 | Hits: 2056


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Coliseum expected to lose $297,000 because it canceled Electric Daisy Carnival rave
The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Commission is expected to lose $297,000 for the fiscal year that ends in June, the result of canceling the Electric Daisy Carnival rave.
The producer of the rave, Insomniac Inc., moved the Electric Daisy Carnival to Las Vegas after reports in The Times that Insomniac was also paying money to an employee at the commission, events manager Todd DeStefano. His job with the commission was to help oversee security and emergency medical services at the Electric Daisy Carnival in 2010; a 15-year-old girl who attended the event died of an Ecstasy overdose.
A report submitted to commissioners this week said the Coliseum had anticipated more than $800,000 in profit from the Electric Daisy Carnival in 2011. The commission has also paid more than $135,000 in legal fees related to last year's rave.
"This fiscal year's results will obviously be much poorer than we would have liked," John Sandbrook, the Coliseum's interim general manager, told commissioners. Sandbrook was hired last month after the resignation of longtime general manager Patrick Lynch, who quit after The Times reported that he approved DeStefano's double employment.
The commission will get a financial boost, however, from UCLA, which announced last week that it will play a majority of its home basketball games at the Sports Arena next season while Pauley Pavilion is being renovated. The commission also runs the dilapidated Sports Arena, built in 1959. It is slated for demolition, but the commission has no funds to tear it down.
In other matters, commissioners took no action on a request by Sandbrook to loosen requirements they abruptly adopted in March. At that time, the commission voted to remove the general manager's authority to approve event contracts and instead require a vote by the commission. Sandbrook wants to be able to approve last-minute filming requests.
"It's clearly an impractical way to operate long term," said commission President David Israel. He said commissioners may consider easing those requirements in the next few months.
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Le Petit Manoir is the perfect place to switch off and leave the pressures of the modern world behind.
However there are a huge variety of places to visit to suite all tastes and ages within one hours drive. Take time to browse through the large collection of leaflets and brochures in the little sitting room.
Le Petit Manior is about forty minutes drive from the battle sites of the Somme, this will be an area of especial interest for many during 2014 and we look forward to welcoming you on your pilgrimage.
Berlencourt le Cauroy is a quiet farming village in the valley of the Canche one and a half hours drive from the ferry terminal at Calais or the shuttle terminal at Coquelles. The village isvery quiet with no shops or bars, in the summer the predominant noise is of birdsong.
However there is much to see within easy reach. If you wish to explore the beauty and history of northern France, here are just a few suggestions, all less than 1 hour away by car.
The Louvre at Lens, a world status gallery and museum.
Arras, A beautiful city, two lovely squares, high class shops and restaurants, and steeped in the history of two world wars.
Amien, after visiting the cathedral take a walk through Little Venice and eat at one of the canal side restaurants.
The coast offers everything for the visitor from the elegance of Le Touquet to the wild bird reserves at St Valerie in the bay of the Somme. Vast expanses of sand and a variety of eating places make a trip to the coast a great day out for all the family.
There are gardens, historical sites, Grande Randonee walks, marked cycle paths, a tiny chocolate factory and a large underground city. As well as watching the buzzards while sipping a coffee or aperitif.


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A-Z of beer part one A to F
A-Z of Beer and Brewing in Britain
Having now published Brewing Britain- The Quest for the Perfect Pint I seem to have a load of words left over, therefore I thought I'd blog them as this A-Z of beer. So far I've put together A to F and I'll add to it sporadically as I get time. Which in actuality could mean that if you check back in 2018 you still may only find A to F! (But lets hope not eh)?
A is for Ashley Down Brewery and Alpha Acids
I was first introduced to this brewery when I tasted a pint of Vanguard, an excellent mild. Here is what I thought of it: "Some sweet raisin and a whiff of lightly roasted coffee on the nose, then a lovely balance roasted and a touch of white bread from the malt. Fairly reminiscent of something a bit stronger the Traquir house ale springs to mind, as there are some similar fruity flavours – damson, dark cherry but with a touch of soy sauce". Also look out for a pint of Ashley Down "Best" another lovely beer from the Ashley Down Brewery.
Often abbreviated to AA, these are acids present in hops that impart bitterness. When your hands get a yellow sticky substance on them after handling hop cones (flowers) it is because of a resin in the hop called lupulin. Alpha acids are found in this resin and they therefore make up a certain percentage of what's in the hop, hence the AA % on the side of the hops bought from reputable sources.
These alpha acids are made up of other chemicals, each of which imparts a different type of bitterness into the beer. The two most important are humulone and the common belief is that in high levels is thought to give beer a 'clean' bitterness, and cohumulone is thought to give it a harsher bitterness. However, I've yet to taste the diffence nor has anyone else I know there may be a good reason for this, see cohumulone below for more.
B is for Boadicea hops
Not are rare hop but neither are they common place. There is a uniquely delicate floral aroma, they seem to be a marmite hop and many hate them. I personally love them and when used to dry hop a bitter they can really add something. It's exactly what Vince from Ashley down uses in his best and can also be found in some Adnams beers.
C is for Cohumulone
Granted you'll be showing off your beer geekery if you have even heard of Cohumulone but I thought it worth a mention. Beer is bitter due to the alpha acids in hops or rather the iso-alpha acids that are formed when hops are boiled. Or to put it another way asThomas Shellhammer wrote in the Oxford Companion to beer, "Cohumulone is one of the five alpha acid analogs in hop resin,…they serve as precursors to iso-alpha acids, the predominant contributors of bitterness in beer".
It is considered to give a rather harsh bitterness, the delicate noble hops are often used to exemplify this as they are very low in cohumulon. In actuality the bad reputation of Cohumulone is down to one suspect study back in 1956 and subsequent studies have suggest there is no real conceivable "harsher" bitterness from hops that are high in Cohumulone. The harsh bitterness is an apparent myth that unfortunately for some hop growers, still prevails.
D is for Durden Park Beer Circle
Formed in 1972 during the dark days of beer in Britain when big companies were taking over and beer was becoming increasingly mass produced. They look into old brewing records and recreate commercial beers brewed from 1840 to 1914. From the members I've met, they are a great bunch of fellas. To find out more and to even buy a copy of their book "Old British Beers and How to Brew them", visit their site.
E is for Elland
Yorkshire is home to some of best breweries in the world (in my opinion) and Elland comfortably sits with giants. Most famed for their 1872 porter, which often pops up across beers festival or as a guest ale. If you've got to know your dark beers you know to expect molasses, liquorice and sometimes burnt flavours. In this 1872 porter the molasses is more of a burnt toffee flavour and the liquorice dries as you drink and gives way to dark fruits and a chocolate flavour reminiscent of the finest Belgium chocolate fondant.
F is for Fraoch
Traditionally, (and we are talking over 1000 years ago), British ale was made with herbs, various different herbs and herb mixes were used to bitter the sweet wort such as rosemary, yarrow and bog myrtle. Williams Brothers up in Alloa claim to be the only brewery in the world to still make beer made with heather and what more it is more than just a very clever marketing gimmick the beer is floral, earthy and herbal and well worth a taste.


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Thai Takes
By PHILIP GOLINGAI
PERCHED on the edge of a 525m-high cliff that divides Thailand and Cambodia is the ancient Hindu temple of Preah Vihear, which has become the setting of a border confrontation between the two countries.
Days after Unesco designated Preah Vihear temple as a World Heritage Site on July 8, Bangkok and Phnom Penh deployed hundreds of heavily-armed soldiers around the contentious temple that the Thais call Pra Viharn.
Ownership of the 900-year-old temple has been in dispute since the French withdrew from Indochina in the 1950s. In 1962, the International Court of Justice awarded the disputed temple, easily accessible only from the Thai side, to Cambodia.
At the centre of the military build-up is a 4.6-square-kilometre overlapping area around the temple that is claimed by both countries.
The build-up began on July 15 when three Thais protesters (who Thai prime minister Samak Sundaravej described as "crazy guys") jumped over a barbed-wire fence to cross into the area, vowing to reclaim the temple that they say belong to Thailand.
Cambodian guards detained the protesters and Thailand sent its troops to retrieve them.
The military standoff between the two neighbouring Asean countries, according to Panitan Wattanayagorn, a military analyst at Chulalongkorn University, centres on three key issues:
> The listing of Preah Vihear as a World Heritage Site;
> Domestic instability spurring nationalism fervour in both countries (in Thailand, the Samak government is facing a concerted campaign by the People's Alliance for Democracy to bring it down, and, in Cambodia, Hun Sen's ruling Cambodian People's Party is seeking a fresh mandate in national elections tomorrow); and,
> The weakening of Thailand's national unity and the strengthening of Cambodia's national unity and economy giving Phnom Penh the confidence to push for territories over which it has long-standing disputes with Bangkok.
The number of soldiers currently amassed in the vicinity of Preah Vihear Temple varies with which government spokesman you talk to.
Cambodia says it has deployed 800 soldiers against 3,000 Thai soldiers while Thailand claims to have 400 men facing 1,700 Cambodian soldiers.
And depending on which day you read the newspapers, the situation on the ground fluctuates from "an imminent state of war" (to quote Cambodian foreign minister Hor Namhong) to a picnic.
On July 18, AFP reported that Cambodian and Thai soldiers pointed their weapons at each other for the first time over a tense land dispute on their border.
Four days later, Thai foreign ministry spokesman Tharit Charungvat told Reuters: "It is a peaceful military stand-off. It is like a picnic. They chat together and lunch together."
Will this military standoff lead to war?
Unlikely, says Panitan. "(Thailand's and Cambodia's) top commanders have agreed to solve the situation without using any force," he notes.
However, he acknowledges that, "on the ground, it is not easy to control the troops".
"Hopefully," he adds, "there will be no untoward incident such as an unknown militia attacking (the other side)."
Or, a careless statement, which can escalate tensions between Thailand and Cambodia.
In 2003, a false report in a Khmer newspaper quoting a Thai actress as saying that Angkor Wat belonged to her country sparked anti-Thai riots in Phnom Penh. The Thai embassy and Thai businesses were torched.
One cool cat in the armed standoff is Samak. On Wednesday, the Thai prime minister predicted that tensions would ease after Cambodia's general election tomorrow.
"After the election they will soften their stance, and talks will be easier," Samak said.
"Everything is being done with an eye on the July 27 polls, and I need to keep quiet so as not to discredit prime minister Hun Sen."
The next day, Thailand and Cambodia agreed to send their foreign ministers to Siem Reap next Monday to discuss a resolution to the border conflict.
Interestingly, Thailand is without a foreign minister as Noppadon Pattama was recently forced to resign for mishandling the Preah Vihear temple issue.
Panitan, the military analyst, warns that finding a resolution is not going to be an easy task, because Bangkok still does not have a real plan for an exit strategy.
"Who will withdraw their troops first?" he asks.
"Will it be a bilateral withdrawal? If it is a unilateral withdrawal, the other side can claim they are victorious."
(Published in The Star on July 26, 2008)
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Standoff mired in history
Thai Takes
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Labels: Thai Takes
Saturday, July 19, 2008
When lying in a coffin isn't so bad
By PHILIP GOLINGAI
A MOVIE trailer for a Thai supernatural thriller starts with a mass funeral for the living where believers slip into coffins that are then nailed shut.
And a television journalist reports: "In the province of central Thailand this morning thousands of people turned up for a bizarre ritual called Non Loeng Sadorcro which literally translates as sleeping coffin get rid of bad karma."
Did Ekachai Uekrongtham, the writer/director of The Coffin that premiered in South Korea on July 10, concoct a bizarre ritual so that he can weave it into his movie of two characters facing terrifying experiences after lying (separately) in a coffin?
No, a Thai ritual where believers lie in a coffin to get rid of bad luck or to prolong life inspired him.
"It is a story that I was keen to tell as it deals with one of my greatest fears – death. Not so much my death but the death of my loved ones," explained Ekachai, who also directed Beautiful Boxer.
His intrigue with the ritual began three years ago when he read an article in a Thai newspaper about thousands of people attending a death ritual for the living.
"How was it possible that you have to go so 'near' to death in order to prolong your life? It seems like a contradiction," he said, adding that at that time he also had difficulties in dealing with his father's death.
Convinced that the ritual was a good basis for a movie, Ekachai scripted a storyline about two people who performed the ritual.
The Coffin tells the interlinked stories of Chris (Ananda Everingham), a claustrophobic Thai architect whose Japanese fiancee is dying of brain tumour and Sue (Karen Mok), a nutritionist from Hong Kong, who is diagnosed with lung cancer one week before her wedding.
Non Loeng Sadorcro (which literally means 'Lie in Coffin, Rid of Bad Luck'), according to Ekachai, The Coffin scriptwriter, took off from a Thai practice of giving money to temples to purchase coffins for the poor.
"The practice evolved when donors wrote down 'I want to transfer the good karma I've accumulated (from buying a coffin) to my loved one who has passed away' on a piece of paper and pasted it on the coffin that they had bought," he explained.
In the last few years, the ritual took a bizarre turn when donors lie in the coffin (with its lid shut but not completely so that they could breathe) while a group of monks performed death rites on them as if they were dead. And when the donor rose from the coffin the monk read a chant of new life.
"Many participants felt as if they were reborn after the ritual – with all their bad karma buried behind them," Ekachai said.
"Some claimed that the ritual helped fool the spirits that they're already dead so they could start their new lives afresh like newborns."
In his interviews with believers, Ekachai said some told him that they met the spirit of their dead loved ones while they were lying in the coffin. "They told me that they made a connection with the dead," he said.
The scriptwriter also went through the archives of a Thai TV station, watching a documentary of a man – with a serious heart problem – who even his doctor gave up on his chances for recovery.
"The man claimed after going through the ritual he recovered gradually. And since then he performed the ritual annually," he added.
Non Loeng Sadorcro detractors brand it as an occult practice.
"Many feel it's bad omen to lie in a coffin when they're still alive," according to a press release issued by The Coffin producers.
"Some said this ritual is nothing but a case of commercialism entering the sacred religious domain."
Did Ekachai try out the coffin ritual? No. He's claustrophobic.
And he believes that a coffin is a place where you should only lie once. "I think I am just chicken," he added, laughing.
At the end of The Coffin trailer, Chris, who is inside a coffin, uses his handphone to light up his pitch-dark surrounding and then you hear anxious knockings as if someone was trying to escape death.
(Published in The Star on July 19, 2008)
Posted by Philip Golingai at 10:03 pm 0 comments Links to this post
Labels: Thai Takes
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Thailand faces judicial revolution
By PHILIP GOLINGAI
ON A rainy afternoon on Wednesday, strong winds uprooted a big Rajapreuk tree as Thailand's prime minister Samak Sundaravej arrived at the Government House, the seat of the Thai government.
Reporters covering the Government House beat saw the uprooting of the national tree as a bad omen for the embattled prime minister who had returned from chairing an urgent People's Power Party (PPP) meeting on how to cope with its judicial crisis.
This week several court verdicts hammered Samak's five-month-old coalition government.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court ruled that former speaker of parliament Yongyuth Tiyapairat was guilty of vote buying in the recent election and banned him from politics for five years.
And if the Election Commission found Yongyuth, a former PPP deputy leader, was acting in his party capacity in the electoral fraud, his party could be dissolved.
If this happened, it would be a repeat to the Constitutional Tribunal decision in May 2007 to dissolve Thai Rak Thai (the PPP's predecessor) and bar its 111 executives, including party founder Thaksin Shinawatra, from participating in politics for five years.
On the same day, the Constitutional Court ruled that foreign minister Noppadon Pattama acted unconstitutionally when he endorsed Cambodia's application to have the disputed Preah Vihear temple registered as a World Heritage Site without consulting parliament.
Two days later, Noppadon resigned.
"The country is more important than my political position. Therefore, although I have done nothing wrong, I will take responsibility by resigning," he said.
On Wednesday, the Constitutional Court disqualified public health minister Chaiya Sasomsap from office for failing to declare that his wife held more than 5% of stock in a private company, within 30 days of his taking office.
Is Samak worried about his party's judicial crisis?
PPP spokesman Kudeb Saikrajang said Samak told his party executives in the Wednesday meeting that he was unmoved by what had happened to his government.
The prime minister, The Nation reported, told party executives that what had happened to his government was not beyond his expectations.
Samak, it reported, said that despite its election victory, the PPP had been "targeted for demolition" because it was viewed as a tool for Thaksin to regain his political power.
While Samak is "unmoved" with his party's judicial defeats some political pundits are writing the doomsday scenario for his coalition government.
On Thursday, The Nation gave three possible scenarios.
Scenario I: Samak tenders his resignation as prime minister to pave way for A) a new nominee of Thaksin, B) Banharn Silapa-archa, the Chart Thai Party leader, C) Abhisit Vejajjiva, Democrat leader, or D) a non-elected prime minister.
Scenario II: Samak dissolves parliament and calls for a snap election.
Scenario III: Samak hangs on but will not last long because A) the Constitutional Court case will rule whether the prime minister's hosting of a TV cooking show on commercial television was in breach of the constitution, B) he is appealing a libel case that carries a jail term, or C) he faces corruption charges related to the procurement of fire trucks when he was Bangkok governor.
It is not only Samak and his Cabinet colleagues who are swarmed by a litany of litigations.
On July 4, the Supreme Court barred Thaksin, who is seen as the man behind the Samak-led coalition government, from leaving Thailand due to alleged corruption and tax evasion cases involving him and his wife currently before the courts. The billionaire politician also has several cases pending in court.
In an article analysing how Thailand's political landscape is being altered by the judiciary, an Inter Press Service (IPS) journalist Marwaan Macan-Markar wrote:
"Little wonder why a new expression has been coined and is being advanced within academic and media circles here to describe the judiciary".
"We are witnessing a new trend involving the judiciary.
"This month's cases are the latest. It is being called a 'judicial revolution'," Thanet Aphornsuvan, dean of the liberal arts faculty at Bangkok's Thammasat University, told IPS. "The courts are playing a more decisive role in politics than before."
Some pundits see the judicial revolution as a judicial coup which can do what a coup, an election and street protests could not - uproot Thaksin's political grip.
(Published in The Star on July 12, 2008)
Posted by Philip Golingai at 12:15 pm 1 comments Links to this post
Labels: Thai Takes
Saturday, July 05, 2008
Real-life Bangkok romances aren't typical Western cliches
HERE'S a book to read to avoid the cliches of Bangkok. It is titled Bangkok Blondes and it is a collection of short stories and poems about Bangkok by 14 women writers (13 Westerners and one Thai) who are from the Bangkok Women's Writers Group (BWWG).
"It is a good book to read before you come to Bangkok as it gives you an idea of real everyday life in Bangkok. And it pays attention to the small things in life," gushes Anette Pollner, who is the coordinator of BWWG, which was founded in 2000.
Bangkok Blondes, notes Pollner, is different from 90% of the English-language non-fiction books published in Thailand because it is not testosterone-laden with Bangkok stereotypes such as a farang (Thai for westerner) falling in love with bar girls or a farang ending up in prison.
These books (My Name Lon, You Like Me? Even Thai Girls Cry. A Farang Affair), which are written by farang male writers, says Pollner, portray aspects (such as prostitution, drugs, gangster and prison) of Bangkok which are completely different from the experience of the majority of the Thai and farang population in the City of Angels.
"As a resident of this city I feel angry that Bangkok has been misrepresented in a very negative way," declares the over-40 writer who has been living in the Big Mango, as Bangkok is affectionately known, since 2003.
When Pollner, who describes herself as a citizen of the world, returns to Europe, she is usually asked, "Isn't living in Bangkok dangerous?" or "Aren't there many bar girls in your street?"
"When I tell them, 'No, Bangkok is safe' or 'No, in my whole district there aren't any bar girls', they don't believe me because they believe the (cliche-laden) books they've read," relates the farang who lives in Ari, a trendy district.
Pollner's Bangkok is far removed from Soi Cowboy and Nana Plaza, which are Bangkok's touristy red light area. Her life revolves around the Bangkok Opera (she's the theatre director), National Museum (she's a volunteer) and BWWG.
You get the picture. She breathes a cultured, cosmopolitan life.
However, she admits that before visiting the Thai capital she thought it was "seedy, full of bar girls, and you have to be careful not to get shot in the street".
In 2003, while backpacking around the world, Pollner decided to visit the City of Angels for three nights and found her notions were false.
"My experience was against the cliche – farang women can't find love in Bangkok. I met my lover here. And he was not a bar boy but someone I could have met in London," reveals the writer whose story of that romance The Last of the Great White Lovers is immortalised in Bangkok Blondes.
The cliche that love eludes farang women in Bangkok, according to Pollner, is a malicious propaganda by men who visit the city to have sex with bar girls because they could not find a partner back in Europe.
There are Thai-based websites where these men write hate message against Western women who live in Bangkok, she adds.
Ironically, as the manuscript compiler of Bangkok Blondes, Pollner reinforces the stereotype when she include Jess Tansutat's short story Butterfly Game, which is about how it could be frustrating for Western women living in Bangkok to find real romantic partner.
"The choices for decent men are limited here," writes Jess, who is a Thai.
"There are several possible factors. Although Thai and Asian men are generally sweet and gentle, they can also be a bit immature and too feminine.
"The ones who are good-looking, dress well and smart can turn out to be the 'sorry, lady, I'm gay' type. (Farang guys) are spoilt. Thailand is just a big playground for them."
Refusing to be drawn into a discussion on whether Jess's story is a cliche, Pollner points out there are other stories in the book where various authors narrate their relations with men in Bangkok.
For example, Chloe Trindall's trilogy titled Love Bangkok Style focuses on her romance with a poor Thai boy from a small village in Isaan.
So what's real everyday life in Bangkok?
In Anna Bennetts' Ghostbusters, it is speaking to the spirit haunting a farang woman's new apartment.
(Published in The Star on July 5, 2008)
Posted by Philip Golingai at 11:39 am 1 comments Links to this post
Labels: Thai Takes


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The Craziest Sports Show On The Net
Every year collectors can't wait to see their favorite stars twinkle even brighter on radiant Topps Chrome Baseball cards. This year, Topps Chrome delivers two sparkling Chrome insert sets, and…Continue
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Well here it is for all you Finest Freaks! Looks like a thumbs up from this view.
Celebrating the most superlative NFL gridiron competitors along with a special focus on the newly drafted 2011 NFL Rookie Class! Hobby only Finest returns with the content collectors loved.
Every Finest Master Box Contains:
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Last Sunday was the inaugural Sports Card & Memorabilia Show at THE JERSEY SHORE! The show will run the second Sunday every month and is held at the East Dover First Aid building in Toms River, NJ just a couple of traffic lights before the bridge that connects Seaside Heights.
Well Snookie, The Situation and the rest of their gang were not there...however there were tables and tables of Show Dealers showing off their goods! While customers walked the aisles they could…Continue
Added by Doctor Wax Battle on April 17, 2011 at 7:36pm — No Comments


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Mentmore Conservation Area Review.
This link takes you to the documents.
The Parish Council generally meets every first Wednesday of even numbered months but this is subject to change. The meeting dates are always displayed on the website as well as the parish notice boards in Mentmore, Crafton and Ledburn.
Parish Councillors: [email protected] will mail to all councillors and the Clerk.
Peter Brazier - Chairman [email protected]
Jonathan Langley - Vice Chairman j[email protected]
Elizabeth Dack - Councillor [email protected]
Rob Fletcher - Councillor [email protected]
Iain Butler - Councillor [email protected]
Clerk to the Council: Mrs Bridget Knight. c/o Mentmore VIllage Hall, Bucks, LU7 0QF
Tel: 07960 605393. Email: [email protected]
All are welcome to attend Parish Council Meetings. There is a limited amount of public time at each meeting but if you wish to raise any issues, make a proposal or contact the Parish Council for any reason you can write to the Clerk at the postal address above or send an e-mail to the address below. If you wish a subject to be discussed at the meeting please submit it to the Clerk at least a week before the meeting date.


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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 14:52 — 20.4MB)
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In this episode of The Happy Workaholic Podcast I am sharing what I have been up to over the last week!
A little run down of my One Year Anniversary having NMO as well a a big change I recently made in my life.
Giving you the details on some of my darkest and happiest moments this year as I now begin the process of healing which is a long time overdue.
Let me know what you think of this week's show in The Happy Workaholic Podcast Facebook Group! That's where I'll be to answer any questions that you may have!
If you liked this episode please let me know by writing me a review on iTunes! I would truly appreciate it.
Talk soon, Kelly
PS I'm sharing a lot more on my Instagram this year. Come say hello.
You can connect with me @thehappyworkaholic.