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Considering it is Easter I though it would be very appropriate to write something on an egg-related topic and, as a personal bonus, to mix some viruses in as well ☺ .
I suppose most of us are used to seeing eggs that have either white or brown shells. However, those are just the types that are sold in supermarkets, but people who grow different types of chickens will note that sometimes the eggshells can be blue or green as well. Were do all these colours come from? Eggshell colours are determined by the pigments that are secreted when eggs develop in uterus of a hen. Pigment protoporphyrin, for example, is derived from blood haemoglobin and contributes to brown eggshell coloration. By contrast, blue eggs predominantly have billiverdin pigment in their shells. Billiverdin is a component of bile salts and acts as an antioxidant, which is why it has been proposed that blue egg coloration could act as a signal of female genetic fitness (figure 1).
An oocyan locus has been for a long time linked to blue shell coloration, however, it was not clear what genes exactly induce the production for blue shells? To answer this question scientists used genetic linkage analysis to map the site of blue colour-linked genes to a 120kb region on chicken chromosome 1. Analysis of this region has showed that it codes for 4 genes called, SLCO1C1, SLCO1B3, LOC418189 and SLCO1A2 (figure 2).
As eggshell colour is determined in uterus the study next looked at the expression patterns of these 4 genes in the uterus of hens that lay either blue or brown eggs. Surprisingly, scientists found that hens which lay blue eggs specifically express SLCO1B3 gene whereas, brown egg laying hens do not. The same results were confirmed with in situ hybridization (a technique used to visually observe mRNAs produced from a gene of interest), where only blue-shelled hens were observed to express SLCO1B3 transcripts (figure 3).
Next, to determine the cause of SLCO1B3 expression in blue but not brown egg laying hens, the sequences of SLCO1B3 gene and its flanking regions were analysed. No significant changes in the sequence of the gene itself (i.e. single nucleotide polymorphisms) were found to be linked with blue egg phenotype, however the sequences that came from blue-egg laying hens had a 4.3kb insertion upstream of the SLCO1B3 gene. This insertion was not just a random sequence but an endogenous retrovirus sequence. It is perhaps not a great surprise to find a retrovirus integrated into a genome, after all 8% of human genome is made up of retroviral sequences. The standard retrovirus genome sequence can be depicted as 5′LTR-gag-pol-env-LTR3′ , where LTRs are Lon regulatory regionsl Repeats (sequences containing elements that regulate expression of viral genes) and gag, pol and env are genes required for replication and formation of virus particle. The retroviruses that are permanently integrated into a genome, however, are usually crippled because they lack some parts of their genes. The retrovirus that was found to be integrated upstream of SLCO1B3 gene, for example, lacks pol and some parts of its gag and env genes and therefore cannot itself replicate (figure 4). The sequence of this integrated virus most closely matched to that of EAV-HP avian retrovirus. While integrated EAV-HP cannot itself replicate its LTRs still contain regulatory elements that could potentially be driving the expression of SLCO1B3 gene.
SLCO1B3 gene codes for OATP1B3 protein, which is has been previously described as a liver-specific transporter of bile salts. As billiverdin (pigment that causes blue colour) itself is a bile salt it is possible that EAV-HP integration upstream of SLCO1B3 gene leads to increased production of OATP1B3 in uterus which in turn increases the amount of billiverdin deposited in eggshells, colouring them in blue. Amazingly EAV-HP insertion has been identified in 705 chickens from 12 different breeds worldwide and has been exclusively linked to blue eggshell production. Moreover, the insertion sites of EAV-HP in breeds of blue-egg-laying chickens from China and Chile are slightly different suggesting that the EAV-HP integration in these breeds happened in two independent events rather than a result of a descend from a common ancestor.
So that is my Easter science story for you. I should make a mental note on writing something more about endogenous retroviruses because they are quite a fascinating topic. Yes, colouring eggshells in blue may not seem to be something very significant, however, for example, a retroviral gene called syncytin is expressed in placenta of mammals including humans. This gene plays an essential role in placental morphogenesis and has potentially contributed to evolution of Mammalia clade .
Wang Z, Qu L, Yao J, Yang X, Li G, Zhang Y, Li J, Wang X, Bai J, Xu G, Deng X, Yang N, & Wu C (2013). An EAV-HP insertion in 5′ Flanking region of SLCO1B3 causes blue eggshell in the chicken. PLoS genetics, 9 (1) PMID: 23359636


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Seems to me, Thornley is one of those bands that when mentioned, most people don't know who you're talking about. But hum 3 notes from any of their numerous hits and people are naming that tune. From the newest radio mainstay "Make Believe" to the previous efforts like "Come Again" and "So Far So Good" to the oldies while penned in the now considered "retro" band, Big Wreck. Tunes like "The Oaf", "That Song" and "Blown Wide Open" are instantly recognizable to anybody subject to Canadian rock radio.
My opportunity to finally take in a show fronted by Ian Thornley arose through a friend and I graciously accepted the offer to shoot in exchange for photos. My kinda deal. I got to the venue early enough to take in and witness one of the longest sound checks I've ever seen. The ones I usually see, the techs run around like madmen setting everything up and the band walks on to play a song or two and they're gone. Not this time man. Most of the setting up had already been done by the time I got there so what I saw was the band walk on and do what seemed like a whole set. We're talking 8 or 9 tunes at least. A little fuckin around on guitar, a little this n that.. I really wanted to hang around and watch the rest of the sound check but the crew I showed up with was really hungry as I always am, so we buggered off to get some food in our gullets.
We got back to the venue just in time to catch Inward Eye which I have to mention as being one of the best live bands I've seen for pure raw energy, original sounding material and a pleasingly humble confidence that puts these guys heads n shoulders above most of the new crap they try to tell us is music these days. Thornley seemed rather mellow in comparison to the 3 brothers from Winnipeg but what Thornley lacked in energy, he made up with his truckload of hugely recognizable tunes and talent.
I've read it somewhere before and I must reiterate or what the hell, plagiarize what's already been said. Ian Thornley is Canada's answer to Chris Cornell. He can fire up a tune worth moshing to with a voice that commands instant respect and admiration and then he can slow it down to an easy going crawl but still bring one to their knees with his talent and soaring vocals as demonstrated on the very last tune when he walked out onstage and just did his own thing.. him and his guitar.
The new album, "Tiny Pictures" was heavily and justly represented with a smorgasbord of the album's numbers. Firing up the show with "Underneath the Radar" and the pulsating "Conscience or Consequence" but then thrust into the past with the classic "That Song" and back to the future for the huge radio hit, "Make Believe". Tiny Pictures is just an amazing musical offering highlighted by the likes of "All Fall Down", a jangley southern sounding hillbilly stomp that had me riveted during the sound check and stompin in the photo pit.
I can't say enough about the new album. Just go get it. Unless you're a 3 chord simpleton, dance music fanatic or into the latest 15 minutes of fame band, Thornley ain't for you. If you want REAL music with substance, talent and thought involved, get moving. Record store. Tiny Pictures. It's waiting for you.
Mike Forbes

subset: commoncrawl


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This past sunday was one of the best days this summer by far, and probably the best beach day ever! It was like the perfect storm or something, that brought 7 babes (and one dude) together, finally! I have been going to the beach quite a lot this summer, and I love always trying to get a big group together, not that it usually works out that way. But on this weekend the ever so lovely Ashley came for a visit, she is now living in Philly for an awesome job with Anthropologie, which makes her only a 2 hour bus ride away! It has been almost a year since I have seen this girl so I'm pretty glad we can make it more of a regular thing. So we all crammed into Alley's station wagon and scooted over to the beach, take a look down below for some instagrams of the day. All photos brought to you by @emilyrosetheo @borninflames @olivemylove @emmacooper @lincolntaft @ashleyording & @wraybird
Liz and Ashley being adorable
Leeann needed help from her boyfriend Derek to get her espadrilles unlaced. What are boyfriends for if not to help with wardrobe malfunctions and zippers ya can't quite reach?
"The Sticker Dude" came over to play us a tune. "Two rules" he says, "I don't accept tips or cash, and I don't take any requests. But I will play you a song and ya may even get a free sticker." And so that is exactly what happend.
Beach snoozing is really the ultimate
L to R: Emma, Liz, yours truly, Wray, Ashley, Alley and Leeann
Bathroom break before the ride back. Things got weird.
Alley and I both work at Beacon's and we are both paid in vintage playsuits
8 people packed into Alleys station wagon, thats three in the front, three in the back, and two in the way way back in the backwards facing seat. Station wagons are the best, especially for beach trips.


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Filling the Well, creating visual images to draw on, sounds, tastes, touch to stimulate and enrich your writing. Or just because it's fun and inspiring and gets you away from the desk.
The Art Gallery of NSW is one my favourite places. An imposing sandstone edifice edging The Domain and the Botanic Gardens. Inside you can wander through galleries of classic and contemporary European, Asian, Australian and Indigenous art. You can linger in front of a Rupert Bunny portrait full of elegance and swagger or an intricate Indigenous dot painting by Fred Ward Tjungurrayi. There is good food and coffee and always fascinating people, wearing wonderfully eccentric couture.
Yesterday I visited the new Contemporary Galleries opened last weekend and they're spectacular.
The Sydney Writers Festival is a well-filler. It's inspiring on many levels. To see so many people cherishing the opportunity to hear their favourite writers, to listen to ideas, to ask questions or just sit in the glorious Autumn sunshine on the Pier by Sydney Harbour. It's a great spot to watch and observe, to listen to the way people speak as well as what they say. And to scribble it all down.
This morning I chatted to Toni Jordan, author of Addition and Fall Girl, who was wonderfully encouraging and gave me some great advice. I hadn't read her work, but she was so entertaining during the Girls Wanna? panel and her reading was really engaging that I bought a copy of Fall Girl. And yes, had it signed.
Coming home from dinner in Paddington, I saw these fantastic skirts in the window of a shop called The Mix. What better way to use a tea towel?
It's full of wonderfully quirky, interesting bits for the home, like these fabulous retro pouffes. Great word pouffes, I immediately think of cubes of coon cheese and pineapple skewered through with a cocktail stick, fondue and macrame pot plant holders. And velour.
And I love this little guy.
The Mix – cnr Paddington and Elizabeth Sts. Paddington


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Home Repair & Remodeling
Our home structure and condition also play an important role in our life style. Home remodeling and improvement not only increase the space in the room for living but also makes it look gorgeous. Before going to make improvements in home it is necessary to decide why it is needed, whether to increase the selling cost of the home or for increasing the space and giving same new look to the home.
If it is decided that remodeling is required for increasing selling cost following things need to be considered: value of homes in neighbor, costs of remodeling, Architectural plans, timetable of completion, where to finance the project as well as personal disturbance due to starting it. Before starting the project make your mind for it as well as whether they will go to effect any previous commitments. Kitchen cabinet helps in increasing comfort level and keep everything organized as you will be able to find things quickly.
Home is not just a place to live for us; it is one of the investments which might some time return us more than we had invested for it. We kept it in a rank which can return to us in future since considering it as a long term investment. When we go for remodeling & improvements, we must keep in mind both of the aspects in our mind a well furnished home as well as a return of the financial investment.
Small Repairing and fixing of things will be good as it will not only conserve high price in future but also make your home attractive & good looking. Renovations, remodeling & other key improvements are intricate. It depends on you for how much time you have decided to live in your home, the more time you want to stick in one home the more you need to think about the improvements and remodeling, as it will affect your life style.
The most important thing before starting remodeling is planning. In this regard ideas can be taken for planning from Trade shows, Internet, showrooms, and decide yourself what is best for you within project budget, & within finance. It is necessary to take a permit before starting any major remodeling.
if the contractors from whom you want to Cary out the project bids more than your financial limit, then you need to reconsider the project and eliminate the things which are ranking below n your priorities. After that you required to re-plan the project. Few of the times minor change is good enough to make the project moving towards completion. You might need to consider that is a project cab is finished in phases. Everything just depends on your personal satisfaction.
It is not a compulsion that your project gets achieved on time, which you had calculated for it. For many of the reasons it can be finished by longer duration. Natural calamity or illness may be one of the causes for delaying it. A project may not be completed in the given time from either of the parties; because of which a great idea for improving your house can become a tedious task. A hand before planning for the project is always helpful in making good decision regarding the project and quotes for the best. Your kitchen needs same importance as you pay to your other living rooms. In order to organize, kitchen cabinet helps a lot but also adds a lot in grooming your kitchen.


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A raid on Kidriff 5 was conducted by Wraith Squadron and Rogue Squadron in 7 ABY.
Wedge Antilles and Chewbacca flew the Millennium Falsehood to the Warlord Zsinj-allied urban world of Kidriff 5, where they dropped off a pair of New Republic Intelligence Service operatives. Then, the ship left, seeking to attract the attention of Zsinj forces and fool them into believing it was the Millennium Falcon.
The battleEdit
Before the battle, Garik "Face" Loran discovered that pilot Lara Notsil was actually Gara Petothel, a former Imperial Intelligence agent and after TIE fighters run back from battle towards their base for regrouping, he confronted her and placed her under arrest. Petothel complied.
When hearing on public channel about Notsil's true identity, Myn Donos fired proton torpedo towards her starfighter, but detonating it before impact, damaging Garik Loran's X-wing in the process, who was protecting her. Petothel, didn't believing Wraiths could protect her from Donos's attempt to kill her again before facing court martial, jumped to hyperspace.
- X-Wing: Solo Command (First appearance)


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Over the years that I've been managing IT for small to medium businesses one thing is common. Passwords. No matter how far I go or what industry I am looking after, one thing is common. Passwords. I am horrified on how many passwords that I see or get told that are password or their username or qwerty or 1234.
Passwords WERE designed to be put in place to secure a system, so why use a password at all if it's going to be password.
In this age where everything is computerized – why use such a simple password to protect your identity/work/banking etc.
The most common defence I see is 'it's easy to remember' or 'long passwords are too hard to remember'. I don't see it being hard to remember something 10 charactors long, it dose not have to be completely random (and I don't recommend it to be, as im generally the one resetting it once you forget) but make it as long and complex as possible.
Use capitals, lowercase numbers and symbols. Some good examples of good passwords could include
– Parts of old phone numbers
– Parts of favrouite restaurants, places, citys
– Part of your work's occupation
You could have a password of a recent trip or goal for example 2012.Italy or you could do 2013!NOSMoking Using goals could also increase your likelihood of reaching them if your writing them every day.
Try to use different passwords for different things, to mitigate a personal attack on you (for example, ex partner/ex employee if they know your password for your email, they may try it for your banking etc.) Strong passwords and Multiple passwords will mitigate your risk here.
Everywhere possible I will enforce at least some of the following policy's to make sure the users that I look after are secure
Minimum length
Minimum complexity (not 'password' or not the users name)
Character complexity (minimum of 3 out of the 4 following – upper case, lower case, number, special character).
To Test your password I would recommend going to http://www.howsecureismypassword.net/
And testing your password, remember never enter your exact password into this site, use the same complexity though (eg. If your password is NoSmoking2013! Type NoDrinking2010 )
Never type your exact password or release your password to anyone, your password can protect your livelihood. Remember, always, STRONG PASSWORDS.


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We are down to the top nine and everyone is dressed in black and white in anticipation of performing songs from their own personal icons. I am not going to spend much time on the meeting with Tommy Hilfiger in the Authentic Icon boutique. All they did was stare at him like deer in headlights because he drones on like a math teacher.
Now let's get to the meat…The legendary Stevie Nicks is our icon this week and OHRS treats us to some vintage footage of Stevie and Jimmy Iovine jammin' out in the studio. We love Stevie and we can't wait to see her work her mentoring magic, even she endorses "Coke".
Colton Dixon is up first and he is thrilled that Stevie is a fan of him and his hair. He is going to sing "Everything" by Lifehouse and Jimmy and Stevie call him the third dark horse. He looks like he is in pain when he sings, judges love it, Steven calls him a "dream come true for a judge on Idol", he has star quality and he is over the top. JHO was moved and the DAWG loved his "fly" white coat. DAWG thinks he is believable and feels his passion, and calls him a "contender for the title".
Skylar is ready to sing "Gunpowder and Lead" by Miranda Lambert. Stevie is into it and starts singing along, Jimmy notes that Skylar may be in jeopardy if she doesn't hit it just right. Her wardrobe choice is a bit confusing because she is wearing a tablecloth like shirt and a cropped studded leather jacket. Crowd goes wild for her and JHO loves her energy, Steven calls her "over the top", which must be his phrase of the evening. DAWG reminded her to tell the story and likes her range and says he hasn't seen that since Carrie, which is a compliment coming from the DAWG. The wardrobe department needs to be put on a "time out". Poor choice for Skylar, we will get to Elise and her sparkly bell bottoms later.
Colton, Elise, and Dave Matthews treat us to a Fleetwood Mac medley and Steven calls it "most excellent". He says he had dinner with Mick Fleetwood for his birthday last week. C'mon Steven, you don't have to name drop, you are too cool for school!
Hey Jun decided to rethink his approach in light of the criticism he received for being the class clown last week. Jimmy said we got a "He New Jun" this week. He is going to sing "A Song For You" by Don Hathaway. He gets a standing O from the judges and Steven said he turned it around, JHO said it was beautiful and moving, and DAWG said JHO hit it on the head and calls him "buttery and beautiful." He isn't a coffee cake, DAWG!
Hollie is up next to sing "Jesus Take the Wheel" by Carrie Underwood. Stevie urges her to connect emotionally and gives her an example of her mother dying. Stevie became very emotional and whispered words of wisdom to little Hollie. She does an outstanding job and the judges are chit chatting, but DAWG seems a bit hesitant. He didn't think it was perfect, pitchy in the lower parts. The audience boos and he explains what "constructive criticism" is, air quotes and all. JHO disagrees and thought it was one of her best. Steven decides to go somewhere in the middle and wished she had sung a different song.
Milli Vanilli takes the stage next and Stevie and Jimmy laugh because Stevie used to have the same hair do. He selects the song "Sometimes I Cry" by Eric Benet. Sidebar: Eric Benet is probably better known as the ex Mr. Halle Berry. The perf is a little boring and lackluster for me, not my cup of tea. However, the judges suck it up and give a standing O. Steven jumps in first and felt the passion and said he "gave Prince a run for his money". JHO thinks he is unique and has a voice you don't hear every day, she urges America to pick up the phone and vote so that she can hear his voice a few more weeks. Which is funny, because it implies he will not win. DAWG says it was "ol' school throwback R & B" and DeAndre is "back in da' house!"
Jessica Sanchez is going to take on Beyoncé with "Sweet Dreams". Stevie likes that she made it into a ballad and notes that Jessica is a good student. Jessica is wearing a dress with a mullet, which I am not a fan of, but our little resident powerhouse pulls of the song and she has props! As she strolls through the five red prop doors, the judges swoon. JHO loved the rendition and wanted more, Steven thought the dress was beautiful and called the song "delicious", DAWG feels stars are truly born and compliments her on her maturity and innate talent. Jessica reveals after the commercial break that she also has an alter ego like Beyoncé and it's "BB Chez", who we were introduced to this evening. MMMMMKAY…
DeAndre, Mantasia, and Hey Jun treat us to a Michael Jackson medley. JHO thought it was great, but a good think they were not here for "So You Think You Can Dance".
Dave Matthews is up to sing "Still Rainin" by Johnny Lang. Steve thinks he has "magic" and she says he would have been asked to join Fleetwood Mac if he was around back then. Stevie thinks he's gorgeous and Jimmy says he looks like Lindsey from 1974. Jimmy gets a bit testy, but Stevie strokes his ego by saying "you were gorgeous, and still are, you had the little Greek body of life, you were darling and still are." Jimmy feels better, but I just threw up in my mouth. Phillip gets the third standing O from the judges, but Steven is a little slow on the take. JHO says she feels the music, she feels how present he is in the moment. Steven feels the same way, "but there's still someone in there tryin' to climb out." DAWG is so happy, he loves Johnny Lang, he's a friend, he loves the individuality, and gives him "big props".
Mantasia is going to sing "Without You" by Mariah. Jimmy says it's one of the top five hardest songs to sing. Mantasia makes his way out of the creepy wilderness props and delivers. He is very emotional at the end of the song and another standing O. DAWG is name dropping again saying that he just talked to Maria and if she was listening, she would be proud. He called Mantasia "flawless" and said that he delivered the emotion. Steven says he pushed beyond his limits and JHO calls him a "phenom" and he is something special.
Hollie, Skylar, and Jessica sing a rather karaoke Madonna medley. IT's become painfully evident that the wardrobe department is trying to camouflage Skylar's junk in da' trunk, but it appears the outfit choices call more attention to it. DAWG called it fun and liked Skylar's "twang".
Elise is rounding out the night with "Whole Lotta Love" by Led Zepplin. Jimmy said Elise murdered it. They loved Elise so much, Stevie sang "Dreams" with her and said she would hire Elise in a second. She delivers a unique performance, which gets the crowd rockin' and slowly urges the judges out of their seats. JHO starts screaming "I didn't wanna get up!" Is that a backhanded compliment or is she just lazy? Steven said she pulled it off and JHO called her a "rock star". DAWG said something is in the air and everybody is in it to win it. OHRS points out that Elise and Steven are wearing the same pants. How cute. Elise deserves mad props for this because it was a really difficult song to pull off, but she did it perfectly. Performance of the night, point blank to the period.
Five standing O's later…who will go home? OHRS has Aerosmith breaking news, which isn't really breaking…they are going on the "Global Warming Tour" and Steven wonders if he can say "Ass" on TV. This results show has really become a giant info-mercial. OHRS shows off the tweets from the contestant's icons, which of course are all hearts and flowers. Milli Vanilli didn't get a tweet, but since Eric Benet was not busy, he delivered the props in person.
Elise, Dave Matthews, and Hollie are first up to face their fate. Jimmy gives Elise props and says it was "one of the most transporting things" that can happen. He thinks she may also do well in the 80's theme next week. Phillip impressed Stevie and Jimmy agrees that she is rarely wrong and we are witnessing a big star being born. Little Hollie did a beautiful job, but Jimmy thinks she lacks experience. OHRS calls out to "Karen" to dim the lights and he sends Hollie to the stools of death. Elise and Phillip are safe.
After that nonsense, OHRS calls Colton, Mantasia, and Hey Jun to center stage. The ever diabolical Jimmy didn't think Colton was good enough, he thought Mantasia delivered 85% of the song. The emotion cut off his voice, but he enjoyed Mantasia during the MJ medley. Hey Jun still doesn't impress Jimmy. OHRS cuts up, it should be "harsh tag Jimmy, not hash tag Jimmy". With that OHRS sends Hey Jun to the stools of death and Colton and Mantasia are in the clear. Mantasia also makes his way over to hug Elise who hangs in the balance. That kid is a class act.
Skylar, Milli Vanilli, and Jessica are summoned for the moment of truth. Jimmy enjoyed Skylar, but she needs to go for more melodic songs, but he felt she rose to the top during the Madonna medley. Milli didn't drive Jimmy wild and he feels there is still something missing. Jimmy finds Jessica talented beyond her years and he wants to see more girl power. OHRS sends Skylar to the stools of death and Jessica and DeAndre are safe.
Skylar and Hollie are spared and Hey Jun makes a reprise of last night's song during his "sing for life". Dave Matthews looks on, tearily, wondering who will entertain him in the big, lonely mansion.
The judges huddle together and pretend to "discuss" scarves and halter tops whether or not they will use their one precious save.
We all know it won't happen, as JHO's eyeliner runs, OHRS prompts them for an answer. Steven says "for the record you knew this was coming" as if to soften the blow. See ya' funny man!


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A stone's throw from the banks of the Mississippi River and the Helena Bridge, Mikey Taylor wades into fields of yellow on his east Arkansas ground and points across 450 acres of a debut, waist-high crop in full April bloom—canola. Watching and waiting for June harvest, Taylor hopes to add the oilseed to his crop lineup: "It's early, but canola could be another option for my farm and it might pay better than wheat."
Could canola grain traction in the Mid-South as a potential wheat rival, double-crop candidate and follow-up yield booster? Linked in a three-year rotation, the longer growing seasons and warmer Southern weather may open a path for double-cropping beyond soybeans, and extend into corn or cotton.
Long Lake
Taylor, 40, pulls the levers at Long Lake Plantation (a family operation dating to 1938) in Phillips County, and planted canola for the first time in October 2018. "I'd say management-wise, canola has been close to wheat."
Brian Caldbeck, an agronomist and owner of Caldbeck Consulting in Philpot, Ky., compares canola input requirements with wheat management. Both crops share a similar fertilizer profile, he explains: "Canola may need a little more N, and a bit more sulfur and minor nutrients, but nothing dramatic (15-20% more nitrogen and 50% more sulfur). Overall, risk is easier to manage with canola, with no vomitoxin or test weight issues. Also, there are no equipment investments to consider," he emphasizes.
The use of non-GMO varieties in the Mid-South also has several advantages, according to Caldbeck. One, no herbicide-tolerant volunteers are left in the following crop. Two, non-GMO canola is eligible for price premiums. Three, non-GMO winter canola hybrids demonstrate significant yield advantages to GM winter canola. "Canola harvested in June generally finds a better market when stocks are a little lower because the farmers in the Northern Plains harvest in August and September," he says.
Yield Advantage?
Canola is prevalent in Canada, reaching 20-plus million acres and bolstered by heavy processing infrastructure. In the U.S., canola is centered in the Northern Plains, with approximately 2 million acres nationwide. Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) is promoting canola as a Mid-South crop possibility, and growers have 1,500 acres spread across Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee. The current miniscule acreage numbers hide a key advantage for farmers like Taylor: Canola may fare very well in in the South.
Caldbeck says Mid-South yields are significantly higher than the national average. "According to NASS, average yields in the Northern Plains (planted as a spring crop and fall-harvested) are just short of 1,900 lb. per acre, or 38 bu. per acre. Looking at the Mid-South and Southeast and you're talking about yield reaching 2,500 lb./50-plus bu. per acre with experienced growers achieving farm averages in the 50-70 bu. range per acre. It has a lot to do with winter-planted genetics and a longer time to develop a root system, but Southern yields are definitely higher, and canola already has a higher cash value than wheat."
Duane Dunlap, ADM regional manager-Grain Group, echoes Caldbeck's assessment: "In 2018, we saw Tennessee yields up to the low 50s, and that was a tough, cold winter and a hot April with pollination issues. We've seen field trials in Arkansas from seed companies in the low 60s and 70s. We're very excited to see what canola yields in Delta ground, and certainly hoping for 50-plus bu. per acre."
Wheat acreage has consistently dwindled over the last several years in the Mid-South, a decline noted by Dunlap. "A big part of our discussion when we decided to provide this market was the struggle of wheat prices, as well as quality issues and discounts. We know wheat acres are down about 90% since 2013 in this region, so there is big need for a substitute crop for wheat. Certainly, canola may bring a better return than wheat."
A viable canola option could play a significant role in providing options, Dunlap adds: "This is about putting another tool on the farmer's belt to make money, and it's worth exploring and providing a marketplace to see if it makes sense in rotation. Winter canola varieties can allow growers not only to get a yield that is in many cases superior to what Canadian farmers see, but they can also double-crop beans behind it."
The double-crop window for canola is slightly wider than wheat, opening the possibility for a variety of follow-up choices, Caldbeck notes. "Winter canola genetics from both Rubisco Seeds and Photosyntech seed companies offer a range of genetics that will harvest from 4 to 12 days prior to wheat, and if you're far enough south, that might mean double-cropping grain sorghum or even cotton."
Bushel Boost?
What do Mid-South soybean yields look like following canola? The question is hanging, but Caldbeck suspects a marked benefit awaits. "University of Kentucky research by Lloyd Murdock shows double-crop soybeans getting a 3-7 bu. boost after canola in a majority of years."
Further, two broadleaf crops (canola and soybeans) in a row produce a bushel boost for winter wheat, Caldbeck contends: "We've seen many times across the South where farm average wheat yields go up 20% to 25% as a result."
Dunlap cautions growers regarding canola after soybeans. "Be aware of chemical residues if coming behind beans. The wrong herbicide could bring stand issues."
In addition, he recommends a three-year rotation, and no back-to-back canola plantings. "Rotate or you can run into disease issues. A lot of guys aren't sure, but canola is an insurable crop and we've had success getting coverage in Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee."
"We recommend rotating to canola in every three to four years," Caldbeck echoes. "That's largely due to disease, and we don't let anything build up. Keep the rotation wise and the crop insurance people happy."
New Crop on the Block
With no infrastructure in the Mid-South, Dunlap discourages on-farm storage. ADM's canola from Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee is handled at the company's grain elevator on President's Island in Memphis, and placed on rail cars for processing in Canada.
Lauren Nickell, grain origination specialist with ADM, says anticipation over canola growth is building. "We're very excited about the potential for this crop in the Mid-South. We've already had multiple producers come back to this crop after last year."
"If growers are interested, please contact us and we'll provide something new and different that could make sense to a farming situation," Dunlap concludes.
For more, see:
Against All Odds: Farmer Survives Epic Ordeal
Killing Hogzilla: Hunting a Monster Wild Pig
In the Blood: Hunting Deer Antlers with a Legendary Shed Whisperer
The Living and the Dead: Black Vultures Expand, Farmers Pay Cost
Agriculture's Darkest Fraud Hidden Under Dirt and Lies
Blood And Dirt: A Farmer's 30-Year Fight With The Feds
Living the Dream: Honoring A Fallen Farmer
Pigs Don't Fly: Feral Hog Spread Is A Man-Made Mess
Who Killed the Finest Soybean Soil in the World?
Hemp Fraud Hits Farmer With Clone Scam
Seeds of Discord: Crossing the Great Cover Crop Divide


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Since Tom Hiddleston is the winner of the role of Sir Percy... (and well deserved the role is, I might add)... I thought it appropriate to give you all a little taste of how well he fits the part. Sure, Shakespeare and Orczy aren't exactly on the same level, but this monologue from Henry V is TOTALLY worthy of "Into the Fire." What think you all?
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
A Glimpse of What Might Be
Posted by Miss Dashwood at Wednesday, September 19, 2012 9 comments:
The TSP Dream Cast: Results!!!
And the Dream Cast is....
(drumroll, please)
Sir Percy
Tom Hiddleston
Romola Garai
Richard Armitage
Nicolas Giraud
Sir Andrew
David Tennant
Kimberly Nixon
Lord Hastings
Ioan Gruffud
Lord Tony Dewhurst
Orlando Bloom
Countess de Tournay
Jane Seymour
Count de Tournay
Anthony Andrews
Ian McKellen
Other members of the league?
All the actors who lost to Sir Percy and Sir Andrew and the rest of the gang....
Brendan Patricks
Rupert Friend
Jonny Lee Miller
Benedict Cumberbatch
Dan Stevens
Harry Lloyd
Jamie Bamber
Simon Woods
JJ Field
Hugh Dancy
Stephen Campbell Moore
Rupert Penry-Jones
Neil Jackson
I hope you all enjoyed this!
Posted by Hayden at Wednesday, September 19, 2012 6 comments:
Tags TSP Dream Cast
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
The Polls are up!
The polls for the secondary characters of TSP are now up! Please vote! :)
Posted by Hayden at Wednesday, September 05, 2012 6 comments:
Saturday, September 1, 2012
The Dream Cast: Poll Time (Part 2)
Actors suggested for Secondary characters of The Scarlet Pimpernel Dream Cast:
Sir Andrew
Sir Andrew
Brendan Patricks
age: 27 height: ?
Rupert Friend
age: 30 height: 6'1'
Jonny Lee Miller
age: 39 Height: 5'11'
Tom Hiddleston
(also suggested for Sir Percy)
Benedict Cumberbatch
(also suggested for Sir Percy and Chauvelin)
David Tennant
(also suggested for Sir Percy)
Dan Stevens
age: 29 height: 6'0''
Lord Tony
Harry Lloyd
age: 28 height: 5'1''
Jamie Bamber
age: 39 height: 5'9''
Orlando Bloom
age: 35 height: 5'11''
Lord Hastings
Ioan Gruffud
age: 38 height: 5'11''
Orlando Bloom
(see above)
Simon Woods
age: 32 height: ?
Armand St. Just
Nicolas Giraud
age: 33 height:?
Nick Jonas
age: 19 height: ?
JJ Field
age: 34 (born 1978) height: 6'1''
Suzanne de Tournay
Imogen Poots
age: 23 height: 5'4''
Louise Bourgoin
age: 30 height: ?
Keeley Hawes
age: 36 height: 5'8''
Kimberley Nixon
age: 26 height: 5'5'
Charity Wakefield
age: 31 height:?
Katie Hall
age: ? height:?
Countess de Tournay
Jane Seymour
age: 61 height: 5'3''
Catherine Jacob
age: 55 height:?
Cate Blanchett
age: 43 height: 5'9''
Count de Tournay
Anthony Andrews
age: 64 height: 6'0''
Toby Jones
age: 45 height: 5'5'
Viggo Mortensen
age: 53 height: 5'11''
Ian McKellen
age: 73 height: 5'11''
Andy Serkis
age: 48 height: 5'8''
Charles Dance
age: 65 height: 6'3''
Ciaran Hinds
age: 59 height: 6'1''
Other Members of the League:
(Vote for more than one)
Hugh Dancy
Stephen Campbell Moore
Rupert Penry-Jones
Dan Stevens (see voting for Sir Andrew)
Orlando Bloom (see voting for Lord Tony)
Neil Jackson
Posted by Hayden at Saturday, September 01, 2012 5 comments:
Tags polls, TSP Dream Cast
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)


text:
Uncategorized | August 27, 2010
Thanks to our fellow bloggers at http://montanaartscouncil.blogspot.com/:
Front Range, an internationally-circulated annual literary journal, seeks submissions of high quality fiction, poetry and creative nonfiction beginning 1 August for our 6th (2011) issue. Deadline is 7 November 2010. We report results by end of December, publish first week of March each year.
For writers' organizations: Please feel free to pass this along to your memberships.
Strongly suggested: Take a look at a recent copy. Archives and submission guidelines on our website: http://www.frontrangemt.org/
We love Montana, and the Rocky Mountain West. We also love work from and about other places that juxtaposes our existence with that of the world at large.
Poetry: Up to 8 unpublished (preferably) poems, maximum 15 pages total, single or double-spaced, left justified.
Short Fiction: Up to 3 unpublished (preferably) stories, not to exceed 4,000 words each, double-spaced, following standard conventions of paragraphing.
Nonfiction: Up to 3 unpublished (preferably) creative nonfiction pieces, not to exceed 4,000 words each, double-spaced, following standard conventions of paragraphing.
Artwork: .JPEG files of paintings, drawings, or photography, each file saved with title of piece. Shock us, surprise us, or yank on our emotions. We publish two pieces in color each year (front/back cover); all others are converted to b/w. Color photos should be high res, at least 430 dpi.
While we have accepted previously-published work from established authors, this is normally by prior arrangement.
Please note requirement for separate identifying info and author/artist bio: Name, address, phone number/email of writer should appear on a separate cover sheet, no identification on the work itself. Please list title of each submitted poem or story on cover sheet. Artist/author bio should appear on cover sheet or in text of email.
Electronic submissions only, as separate email attachments in .doc, .docx or .rtf format (no other formats).
Simultaneous submissions accepted. All rights revert to author/artist upon publication. Payment in contributor copies.
Submit to: firstname.lastname@example.com (preferred) or email@example.com
Please note: due to the volume of submissions we receive each year, those not conforming to submission guidelines will not be read or acknowledged.


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Dr Ashley Barnwell,(Ashworth Lecturer in Sociology, School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Melbourne, Australia) Research areas: sociological aspects of life writing, narrative, authorship and memory; intergenerational transmission of stories and memories; family histories, relationships, and kinship; post-colonial literature and social experience; classical and contemporary theories of affect and social transmission/contagion; social theories of memory and truth; secrets and truth-telling; emotional vs. verifiable truths. Relevant publications:
"Identity Hoaxes and the Complicity of Social Authorship" – Brian Schiff, Elizabeth McKim & Sylvie Patron (eds), Life and Narrative: The Risks and Responsibilities of Storying Experience. Oxford: Oxford University Press (forthcoming).
"'Unpacking the Complexities of Authorship' on This American Life", Continuum: Journal of Media and Cultural Studies, 28 (5), pp. 708–718, 2014.
"The Genealogy Craze: Authoring an Authentic Identity through Family History Research", Life Writing, 10 (3), pp. 261–275, 2013.
Contact: http://ssps.unimelb.edu.au/about/staff/dr-ashley-barnwell, https://theconversation.com/profiles/ashley-barnwell-164482/articles
Natalya Bekhta is Postdoctoral Researcher at the Department of Philosophy, History, Culture and Art Studies at Helsinki University where she works on a project called "Imagining Alternative Worlds: Spectres and Saviours in Semi-Peripheral World-Literature". This comparative project explores how new forms of sociality and figurations of alternative futures are imagined and articulated on the semi-periphery of world-literature. More specifically, she is interested in contemporary Ukrainian cultural productions, emblematic of the semi-peripheral sphere, in comparison with relevant texts from Hungarian, Belorussian, Serbian and other world-literary semi-peripheries, and in relation to the dominant forms of storytelling and utopian imagination in the Anglophone context. Her first monograph, We-Narratives: Plural Narrators and Collective Storytelling in Contemporary Fiction, is currently under review for publication. Her recent publications include "We-Narratives: The Distinctiveness of Collective Narration" (Narrative 25.2 2017) and "Emerging Narrative Situations: A Definition of We-Narratives Proper" (Emerging Vectors of Narratology, de Gruyter 2017). She can be reached at natalya.bekhta @ helsinki.fi.
Dr Ana Belén Martínez García is a PhD Assistant Professor at the English Department in ISSA – School of Management Assistants at the University of Navarra, Spain, and belongs to GRINEA (Research Group on Autobiography Studies), the Emotional Culture and Identity project at the Institute for Culture and Society, and Culture and Its Uses as Testimony, an international, AHRC-Funded Research Network. Her research areas cover comparative literature (English and Spanish), popular culture, narrative studies, identity, life writing, human rights activism, young women. Contact: firstname.lastname@example.com
Her most recent publications include:
'Construction and Collaboration in Life Writing Projects: Malala Yousafzai's Activist"'I",' Journal of Writing in Creative Practice (forthcoming).
'TED Talks as Life Writing: Online and Offline Activism,' Life Writing (2017).
'Unearthing the Past: Bringing Ideological Indoctrination to Light in North Korean Girls' Memoirs,' a/b: Auto/Biography Studies, 32.3 (2017): 587-602.
Gabriele Biotti holds a PhD degree in "Cinéma: esthétique, pratique et théories" at Lille 3 University, jointly with Siena University. His actual research topics include Film Studies, Film Theory, Literary Studies, Memory and Historiography, the archive, the Anthropology of performance and of representations. His PhD thesis was dedicated to the presence of the anachronism in some moments of European modern cinema. He actually focuses his work on memory ritual telling, documentary cinema and the audiovisual understanding and definition of social memory. He has worked on modern cinema, the links between cinema and knowledge, the documentary film practice and the heuristic function of the essay film. Interested in understanding how cinema offers different ways to approach, to perceive and to code the world, he has published books and articles on Alain Resnais's "Hiroshima mon amour" in relation with time and memory, on the cinema of Edgar Reitz, on the films of Chris Marker in their audiovisual process of time reading and understanding, on theoretical questions about the history of cinema, on the relationship between cinema, history, memory and human experience. He has presented papers in conferences and seminars in various countries (Italy, United Kingdom, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, France), concerning New German Cinema, the work of film in describing history and memory, the cinema of Chris Marker, film practice and the exploration of time and space, myth telling in cinema, among others. He is currently developing a research project concerning a group of uruguayan documentary films about the ritual process of memory telling of uruguayan military dicatorship (1973-1985), between memory narrative, oral history and audiovisual construction of memories. Contact: firstname.lastname@example.com
Some of his publication includes:
'Everything Everywhere. Chris Marker's 'Level Five' and the Boundless Visual Archive', The International Journal of New Media, Technology, and the Arts, vol. 11, Issue 2, June 2016, p. 11-19.
'La memoria, la Storia, le immagini. Un'analisi di Level Five di Chris Marker', in Dimitri Chimenti, Massimiliano Coviello, Francesco Zucconi (ed.), Sguardi incrociati. Cinema, testimonianza, memoria nel lavoro teorico di Marco Dinoi, Rome: Fondazione Ente dello Spettacolo 2011, 105-120.
'Entre esthétique du film et mémoire. Sur quelques stratégies de construction d'une expérience visuelle du passé: les cas d'Alexander Kluge et de Chris Marker', in Antonio Costa Valente, Rita Capucho (ed.), Avanca Cinema 2011, Avanca (Portugal) : Cine-Clube de Avanca 2011, 139-145.
Daniel Blackie is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the History of Science and Ideas at the University of Oulu. His main areas of expertise are disability studies; British and North American social history, 1700–1900; and the history of mining. He has recently finished a book (with David M. Turner) entitled Disability in the Industrial Revolution: Physical impairment in British coalmining, 1780–1880 (forthcoming, Manchester University Press) as part of the Wellcome Trust-funded 'Disability and Industrial Society' project. Daniel has also published on disability in early America and his chapter on 'Disability, Dependency, and the Family in the Early United States' in Disability Histories received an honourable mention from the Disability History Association's Publication Award Committee (2015). His new project uses life-writing sources to explore the meanings of disability in nineteenth-century England through an examination of the life of Edward Rymer, an injured industrial worker and union official. For updates on Daniel's work, follow him on Twitter: @daniel_blackie
Raquel da Silva is a British Academy Postdoctoral fellow in the International Development Department at the University of Birmingham, UK. Her research mainly focuses on the pathways of engagement with and disengagement from armed organisations, as well as on radicalisation and deradicalisation processes. Her current research projects include exploring the interplay between narratives of intervention and statebuilding and the life stories of former foreign fighters, former soldiers and their respective families; creating family support interventions for families of individuals suspected and/or convicted of terrorist offences; and the impact of terrorism legislation in the UK (i.e. Prevent) on the education sector, particularly on primary schools. She has published a monograph entitled Narratives of Political Violence: Life Stories of Former Militants (Routledge), as well as different articles, such as:
da Silva, R., Rosa, C and König, J. (forthcoming) "I'm not the same, but I'm not sorry, my ideas and my fight remain the same": Exploring dialogical positioning in the self-transformation of a former politically violent militant. Journal of Constructivist Psychology.
da Silva, R. and Ferreira, A. 2018. The post-dictatorship memory politics in Portugal that erased political violent activism from the collective memory. Integrative Psychological and Behavioural Science. doi: 10.1007/s12124-018-9452-8.
Graef, J., da Silva, R. and Lemay-Hébert, N. 2018. Narrative, political violence and social change. Studies in Conflict and Terrorism. doi: 10.1080/1057610X.2018.1452701.
da Silva, R., Fernández-Navarro, P., Gonçalves, M. M., Rosa, C. and Silva, J. 2018. Disengagement from political violence and deradicalisation: A narrative-dialogical perspective. Studies in Conflict and Terrorism. doi: 10.1080/1057610X.2018.1452709.
She can be contacted on firstname.lastname@example.com and she tweets at @RaquelBPSilva
Jason Finch, Lecturer in English Literature, Faculty of Arts, Psychology and Theology, Åbo Akademi University. Research areas: E. M. Forster; the literary history of the 'London slums'; literature, space and place (theory and practice); literary urban studies; London in literature 1800- present; the contribution of literary studies to cultural and historical geography, urban sociology, planning, cultural studies, architecture and design; literary archaeology. His recent publications concerning SELMAs main areas include:
(with Elle-Mari Talivee). 2015. 'Eduard Vilde and Tallinn's Dynamic Peripheries, 1858-1903'. In Literature and the Peripheral City, edited by Lieven Ameel, Jason Finch and Markku Salmela, 164-83. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan. [storytelling, experientiality and memory in the construction of discourses of the modern city and new national capital]
'Beckett's Manywheres'. Literary Geographies 1.1: 7-23.2015. [mental mapping; the experientiality of location]
'Grotland Explored: The Fleeting Urban Imaginaries of Post-War Inner West London'. Journal of Urban Cultural Studies 2.3/2015 : 279-95. [the role of memory and oral history mediated by television documentary, in processes of urban gentrification and transformation]
Contact: firstname.lastname@example.com. See also Academia.edu
Josefin Graef is a Dahrendorf Postdoctoral Fellow at the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin. She is a European Studies scholar with a particular interest in Germany, the UK and Sweden. She works on the narrative politics of difference and deviance, focusing especially on the issues of migration, populism and political violence. Her current research explores 'populism' as a narrative phenomenon and the use of 'narrative' as a concept and tool in policy-making and policy advisory work. She is also working on a book manuscript entitled "The Politics of Reading Right-wing Violence". Her recent publications include:
"Using Narrative Analysis to Explore Print News Media Stories of Violent Crime", SAGE Research Methods Cases Part 2, http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781526473233, 2019.
"Narrative, Political Violence, and Social Change", Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, advance online publication, pp. 1-20, 2018 (with Raquel da Silva and Nicolas Lemay-Hébert).
"Telling the Story of the National Socialist Underground (NSU): A Narrative Media Analysis", Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, advance online publication, pp. 1-33, 2018.
She can be reached at email@example.com and tweets at @graef_j.
Anne Heimo, Dr. Adjunct professor of Folkloristics, School of History, Culture and Arts Studies, University of Turku. She is the chair of the Finnish Oral History Network (FOHN) and co-chair of the European Social Science History Conference (ESSHC) Oral history and Life Stories network. In addition to oral history research and memory studies her research interests include participatory historical culture, online memory practices and diasporic genealogy. Contact: email@example.com.
Her most recent publications include:
Heimo, Anne 2016: Nordic-Baltic oral history on the move. – Oral history 44:2, 37–46.
Heimo, Anne 2016: Socialist Endeavors, Fist Presses and Pen Wars: Literacy practices of early Finnish migrants in Australia. – Ann-Catrine Edlund, Anna Kuismin & Timothy Ashplant (eds.): Reading and Writing from Below: Exploring the Margins of Modernity. Vardagligt skriftbruk. Umeå University & Royal Skyttean Society, 97–113.
Heimo, Anne 2014: The 1918 Finnish Civil War Revisited: The Digital Aftermath. –Anne Heimo, Ene Kõresaar & Pauliina Latvala (eds.): Folklore 57: History, Culture and Selected Pasts, 141–168.
Ilona Hongisto is a docent and lecturer in Media Studies, Macquarie University, Sydney/Australia and Adjunct Professor (Docent) in Media Theory and Aesthetics, University of Turku, Finland. She works across film and media studies, critical theory and political philosophy, specialising in questions concerning the ethics and aesthetics of documentary cinema. Her current interests include serial forms of storytelling, fabulation, and Eastern European documentary cinema. For her recent publications see here. Contact: ilona.hongisto(a)utu.fi.
Kaisa Ilmonen, Ph.D., is a postdoctoral research fellow in TIAS, Turku Institute for Advanced Studies, and works at the department of Comparative Literature. Her research areas include Caribbean studies, postcolonial studies, queer studies and intersectionality. Currently Ilmonen is particularly interested in narrativity included in theoretical discourse about intersectionality. Few of her publications concerning SELMAs main areas include Caribbean Journeys. Intersections of Female Identity in the Novels of Michelle Cliff. (Annales Turkuensis, 2012), "Vapaus (post)koloniaalisen modernin myyttinä." Teoksessa Säännellyt vapaudet: Tulkintoja toiseuden tuottamisesta. Marianne Liljeström ja Marko Gylén (Toim.). UTU-kirjat, 2014), and co-edited book Seeking the Self – Encountering the Other. Diasporic Narrative and Ethics of Representation. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholar's Publishing (2008). Ilmonen is also interested in storytelling and experientiality in drama and theatre, and she is a member of the board in multiarts group Third Space whose central focus is the internal dialogue between, and an investigation of, the relationship between art and science. Contact: email@example.com.
Riitta Jytilä, Ph.D., researcher in Finnish literature at the University of Turku. Her research focuses on contemporary Finnish trauma fiction and the new forms of memory, in particular its transnational, affective and future-oriented dimensions. She is also interested in normative and moralizing aspects of life narratives, the ways of "othering", and the politics of speculative imagination. Her most recent publications include:
2017: "Memory as Imagination in Elina Hirvonen's When I Forgot" Storytelling and Ethics. Literature, Visual Arts and the Power of Narrative. Edited by Hanna Meretoja & Colin Davis. London: Routledge. (Forthcoming)
2017: "Tuho ja toiveikkuuden tarinat Elina Hirvosen romaanissa Kun aika loppuu" Kotimaisen kirjallisuudentutkimuksen vuosikirja Joutsen – Svanen. (Tulossa)
2015: "Kuvittelun keinoin. Sodasta kertominen ja muistamisen mahdollisuus Katja Ketun romaanissa Kätilö" Nainen kulttuurissa, kulttuuri naisessa. Toim. Viola Capkova, Heidi Grönstrand, Ritva Hapuli & Kati Launis. Turun yliopisto: k&h-kustannus.
Contact: firstname.lastname@example.com
Kaisa Kaakinen, Ph.D., works as postdoctoral researcher in Comparative Literature at University of Turku. Her research focuses on intersections of literature, history, literary studies and historiography in the context of historical transitions of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, on 20th and 21st-century literature (especially in German), theories and practices of comparison in comparative literature, transnational and postcolonial studies, memory studies, and biographical forms and documentary strategies in contemporary literature.
Selected Publications:
Comparative Literature and the Historical Imaginary: Reading Conrad, Weiss, Sebald. Palgrave Macmillan, 2017.
"Melancholy and the Narration of Transnational Trauma in W. G. Sebald and Teju Cole." In Hanna Meretoja & Colin Davis (eds.): Storytelling and Ethics: Historical Imagination in Contemporary Literature and Visual Arts. Routledge (forthcoming in 2017).
"A Readjustment in Our Bearings. Untimely Reference in Peter Weiss's The Aesthetics of Resistance." In: Pirjo Lyytikäinen et al (eds.): Rethinking Mimesis. Concepts and Practices of Literary Representation. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2012.
Markus Huss, Kaisa Kaakinen, Jenny Willner (eds.): "Dislocating Literature: Transnational Literature and the Directions of Literary Studies in the Baltic Sea Region." Theme section in Baltic Worlds. Vol. 5:2, 2012.
Päivi Kosonen, PhD, literary scholar & bibliotherapist, works as a senior lecturer in comparative literature, bibliotherapy and creative writing mainly at the University of Turku & University of Helsinki. Her research interests lie in the field of autobiographical studies. She has studied modern autobiographical literature (Perec, Duras, Sarraute & Robbe-Grillet) and the genre history of autobiography. She has published a monograph on the autobiographical writing in the antiquity and is currently finalizing a book on the main forms of autobiographical literature during the Middle Ages. As a bibliotherapist she is interested also in the self-care potential of reading and writing. Her most recent publications include "Modern autobiographical literature & the forms of self-storying" (article written in Finnish; niin&näin, 2016) and "Creative autobiography. From self-knowledge to the teaching of writing" (written in English; Scriptum 2/2015). Contact: firstname.lastname@example.com
Elisa Kriza is interested in the way literature and films portray difficult pasts, how they reinterpret certain historical events and historical figures, and what political backdrop these interpretations have. Secondly, she focuses on the dynamic relationship between politics and culture in historical and social narratives: She studies how dissidents use fiction to influence politics and how politicians use fiction to influence society. From September 2017-August 2018 Elisa holds a postdoctoral research grant financed by the Bavarian State (BGF). In her present project, she studies how subversive satires in the Soviet Union and in Mexico criticized past modernization policies in these countries.
Her publication include:
Alexander Solzhenitsyn: Cold War lcon, Gulag Author, Russian Nationalist? A Study of the Western Reception of his Literary Writings, Historical Interpretations, and Political Ideas, Series: Soviet and Post-Soviet Politics and Society, Vol. 131, Ibidem Press: Stuttgart, 2014.
'From Utopia to Dystopia: Bukharin and the Soviet Constitution of 1936', in: Jonas Ross Kjærgård, Karen-Margrethe Simonsen (eds.): Discursive Framings of Human Rights. Negotiating Agency and Victimhood, Routledge: London, 2016.
'"Anti-Communism, Communism, and Anti-Interventionism in Narratives Surrounding the Student Massacre on Tlatelolco Square (Mexico, 1968)"', Bulletin of Latin American Research, DOI:10.1111/blar.12783, 2018 (In press).
Susanna Lahtinen, M.A., PhD student at the Department of Cultural History at the University of Turku. Research areas: history of travelling, history of the senses, spatiality, long 18th century and cultural history of the night. In my doctoral thesis I research how British ladies experienced the night and the dark landscape during the long eighteenth century. Contact: firstname.lastname@example.com
Pauliina Latvala, University lecturer/Docent works at the Department of Cultural Heritage Studies/Cultural Production and Landscape Studies, UCPori/University of Turku. Research areas cover Intangible Cultural Heritage, Oral History, Narrated History, Political narratives and Experiences of Everyday Political Culture, Cultural Heritage Conventions, Heritage Politics, Everyday life, Archived memoirs, Interviews, Memory and Power. Recent publications: Pauliina Latvala 2016 (January): The Use of Narrative Genres inside Oral History Texts. Past Representations of the Finnish Civil War (1918) – Genre -Text -Interpretation. Eds. Frog, Ulla Savolainen & Kaarina Koski. Studia Fennica Folkloristica, SKS, Helsinki. Pauliina Latvala 2013: Kerrottu politiikka. SKS, Helsinki. 2013. Sami Lakomäki, Pauliina Latvala ja Kirsi Lauren (toim.) 2011: Tekstien rajoilla. Monitieteisiä näkökulnmia kirjoitettuihin aineistoihin. SKS, Helsinki.
Maarit Leskelä-Kärki, PhD, Adjunct Professor, works as a University Lecturer at the Department of Cultural History at the University of Turku. She is also the co-director of SELMA. Her main research interests cover cultural history of women's writing, autobiographical sources and life-narratives as well as biographical research and feminist studies. She has published widely both in Finland and in international publications e.g. on the history of women's writing, on methodological questions concerning biographical research and autobiographical (particularly epistolary) sources. She has mainly been working with the 19th and early 20th century textual material, but she is currently interested also in life-narrative practices in popular culture, particularly in women artist's production. Contact: email@example.com See for publications here.
Sahdev Luhar teaches at College of Agriculture at Anand Agricultural University, Vaso, Gujarat, India. He is also a research scholar at Department of English, Gujarat University, Ahmedabad. He has authored three books (one co-authored) and several research articles. His areas of interest are narrative studies, translation studies, folklore studies, and contemporary Indian English. Recently he is documenting the folk narratives of Gadaliya Luhar community of Gujarat state to understand the process of framing the identity by those cultural groups who have lost their memory as a consequence of the cultural amnesiac attacks. His publications include:
Constructing a New Canon of Post-1980s Indian English Fiction (co-authored). Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholar Publishing, 2017.
Literary Canon Studies: An Introduction. Anand: N S Patel Arts College, 2014.
"Whose Curriculum is this Anyway?" – Interpretations of Intentions. Anand: N S Patel Arts College, 2014.
Contact: email@example.com.
Hanna Meretoja is Professor of Comparative Literature, director of SELMA, and leader of the research project Ethics of Storytelling and the Experience of History in Contemporary Arts (Emil Aaltonen Foundation, 2013-16) at the University of Turku. Her research interests lie mainly in the fields of narrative studies, cultural memory studies, trauma studies, hermeneutics, and the interrelations between literature, philosophy, and history. Her most recent publications include The Narrative Turn in Fiction and Theory (Palgrave Macmillan, 2014), "Narrative and Human Existence: Ontology, Epistemology, and Ethics" (New Literary History, 2014), "Understanding Narrative Hermeneutics" (with Jens Brockmeier, Storyworlds, 2014), and Values of Literature (co-edited, Brill Rodopi, 2015). She is currently finalizing a monograph entitled Ethics of Storytelling: Narrative Hermeneutics, History, and the Possible, which explores the intersections of literary narrative studies, narrative psychology, narrative ethics, and cultural memory studies.
Olga Michael is a lecturer in English Literature at UCLAN Cyprus. She has published on contemporary American women's graphic memoirs and particularly on Lynda Barry and Phoebe Gloeckner and their representation of childhood sexual abuse. Currently, she works on graphic life narratives and the representation of trauma and human rights violations therein. She is interested in how hybrid media like comics represent traumatic and fragmented memories and in how memories of human rights violations of non-Anglophone people are mediated through Anglophone graphic life narratives created by Western creative practitioners and targeting Western audiences. She is also a treasurer for the Cyprus Society for the Study of English, the local Association of the European one and Europe representative for IABA SNS (International Auto/biography Association, Students and New Scholars Network).
Her recent publications include:
Olga Michael (forthcoming, 2018), "Graphic Autofiction and the Visualization of Trauma in Lynda Barry and Phoebe Gloeckner's Graphic Memoirs". In Hywel Dix (ed.) Autofiction in English. Basingstoke: Palgrave
Olga Michael (forthcoming, 2018), "The Other Narratives of Sexual Abuse in Phoebe Gloeckner's A Child's Life and Other Stories", Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics, 9.5: n.page
Elina Mikkilä, Dr., free literature-based researcher. Born and raised in Finland. Studied Comparative Literature and Romance studies, as well as Slavic and Scandinavian / English studies in Vienna, Paris and Saint Petersburg. Completed the first German-language PhD in Creative Writing with a meta-literary thesis about today's autofictional communication process at the University of Applied Arts Vienna. Former research fellow at Bern University of the Arts and Freie Universität Berlin. Research interests: Migration literature of culturally bi- or multilingual authors, intercultural hermeneutics and questions of identity. Recently published: "Autor 2.0 – Schreiben ohne feste Identität" ("Author 2.0 – Writing Without Firm Identity") and "Das Fremde im Eigenen" ("The Other in Ourselves"), both: paraflows/monochrom.
Nena Mocnik holds a PhD from Balkan Studies, University of Ljubljana/Slovenia, and is currently a post-doctoral research fellow at TIAS, Turku Institute of Advanced Studies. Her research interest covers topics of conflict related sexuality and violence, multiculturalism, cultural dialogue, cultural trauma and collective memory, art based research and community theatre. She is the author of the book "Sexuality after War Rape: From Narrative to Embodied Research" (Routledge, 2017), and has published and presented her work worldwide. In 2014, she was a Fulbright visiting researcher at University of Southern California, USA, in 2015 Brown International Advanced Research Institute Fellow (Brown University, Rhode Island, US) and in 2016, the International Centre on Non-Violent Conflict, (Tufts University, Massachusetts, US) Fellow and New Europe College (Bucharest, Romania) Research Fellow. As an applied drama practitioner she focuses on community work and education on the topic of political & mass violence, discrimination, and sexuality. She is also an author of several forum theatre performances on human rights violation and her own monodrama, Canned (slo. Konzervirano).
Sini Mononen is a PhD candidate and art critic at University of Turku, at the department of musicology. Her research interest covers following areas: music and violence studies, representations of violence, cultural studies of music, music and phenomenology, study of contemporary art, study of audiovisual art, film music and sound, the representations of violent experience, trauma studies. Currently she works on her PhD thesis on the sonic representation of the violent experience of stalking in film. She is also an art critic interested in political and socio-culturally critical contemporary art.
Mononen, Sini (2017) Taide ja tarinan poliittisuus [Art and the Politicality of the Story]. IHME-katalogi 2017.
Mononen, Sini (2016) Voiko musiikilla raiskata? Vainoaminen off-screen-raiskauksena ja akusmatisoitu vainoaja-raiskaaja elokuvassa Hirveä kosto. Widerscreen-lehti.
Satoko Naito, PhD, is a docent at the Centre for East Asian Studies, University of Turku. Research areas include gender studies, cultural history, and Japanese literature, particularly biographies, autobiographies, and issues of authorship. Relevant publication:
"Beyond The Tale of Genji: Murasaki Shikibu as Icon and Exemplum in Seventeenth- and Eighteenth-Century Popular Japanese Texts for Women." Early Modern Women: An Interdisciplinary Journal 9.1 (2014), 47-78.
Marjo Nieminen, PhD, University lecturer, Department of Education, University of Turku. Recent publications in the area of life-writing research: Nieminen, Marjo. 2014. Opettajat Turun tyttölyseon kouluhistoriikkien muistelukirjoituksissa. Kasvatus & Aika 8 (4), 36–54 [www-lähde.] http://www.kasvatus-ja-aika.fi/site/?lan=1&page_id=652
Nieminen, Marjo. 2016. From elite traditions to middle-class cultures: images of secondary education in the anniversary books of a Finnish girls' school, 1882–2007. Paedagogica Historica 52 (3), 236–251. DOI:10.1080/00309230.2016.1148059
Contact: email@example.com
Niina Oisalo, M.A., M.Soc.Sc. works as a Doctoral researcher at Media Studies at the University of Turku. Her research areas include: Contemporary Nordic documentary film, transcultural/transnational film studies, documentary filmmaking practices as well as politics and representations of migration. Her recent publications include eg. "Kynnyksellä: välitila, ruumiillisuus ja kohtaaminen dokumenttielokuvassa" ("On the Threshold: Liminal space, embodiment and encounter in the Finnish documentary films Ghosts and Neighbours"), Lähikuva 3-4, 2014. Contact: niina.oisalo[at]utu.fi and see more in Academia edu
Jarkko Oraharju, M.A., PhD student at Cultural Heritage Studies at the University of Turku. Research areas: memory and remembering in culture, arts studies. His current doctoral thesis research is "Poetics of remembering. The meanings of memory and the layers of meanings in the short fiction of Raija Siekkinen". His research examines the literary texts as a cultural production of inner and personal forms of remembering.
His recent publications: "Jäljistä spiraaliin. Raija Siekkisen lyhytproosatekstien muistimetaforat". Vaasan yliopiston kääntämisen, erikoisalaviestinnän ja monikielisyyden tutkijayhdistys Vakki Ry:n Symposiumijulkaisu Teksti ja tekstuaalisuus, Vaasan yliopisto 2016. 95–105.
"Hitaasti muistin, muistaessani unohdin". Muistamisen merkityksen rakentuminen Raija Siekkisen novellissa Vieras maa. J@rgonia, vol. 14, nro 27 (2016). Historian ja etnologian laitokset tutkijat ry:n elektroninen julkaisu, 2016. 1–15
"Ei voi unohtaa, ellei muista." Muistitutkimuksen kysymykset ja Raija Siekkisen lyhytproosatekstit. Avain 1/2016. Kirjallisuudentutkimuksen aikakausilehti. 73 – 77.
Sungju Park-Kang is Adjunct Professor at the Centre for East Asian Studies, University of Turku, Finland. Sungju's research interests include International Relations, narrative, memory, emotion, methodology, gender and transitional justice. He is the author of Fictional International Relations: Gender, Pain and Truth (Routledge, 2014). Publications:
Park-Kang, Sungju (2015) 'Fictional IR and imagination: Advancing narrative approaches', Review of International Studies, 41(2), 361-381.
Park-Kang, Sungju (2014) Fictional International Relations: Gender, Pain and Truth, London: Routledge.
Minna Rainio (D.A., Doctor of Arts) is a visual artist and a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Media Studies at the University of Turku. Her long-term interests in art and research include memory and remembering as well as migration and borders and their impact on people's individual experiences and histories. Her research has engaged with the relationship between art, politics and ethics and the affective quality of art in relation to traumatic experiences. Her research also contributes to the epistemological discourse about art as a form of knowledge. Since her doctorate she has worked as a post-doctoral researcher in the project Journeys through time and places. Asylum seekers in Northern Finland at the University of Lapland, Finland. Currently (2018-2020) she has funding from Kone Foundation for her artistic postdoctoral research "Encountering Climate Change through Art" which contributes to the newly emerging fields of creative ecologies and environmental humanities through the methods of art and research and interaction between them. She is interested in how visual arts can create experiental knowledge about climate change through affectivity and storytelling.
Rainio collaborates with Mark Roberts to create moving image installations and short films. Their artworks often employ narrative techniques to create a "documentary fiction" to challenge the notions of truth and fiction and blur the boundaries between past and present, us and them. Their works has dealt with topics such as Finnish-Russian border, refugees and migrants in Finland, as well as Finnish immigrants experiences of racism in the USA. Their most recent works investigate climate change and global inequality. Their latest short film "They Came in Crowded Boats and Trains" won the Turku Biennial Award in February 2018. In the film refugees from Finland and Iraq struggle across geographical and temporal borders on a journey to find safety. The division between us and them, the past and the present, becomes blurred. She authors also The Factory of the World (Rainio & Roberts 2014) and Some we kept, some we threw back (Rainio & Roberts 2010).
Recent and upcoming publications:
Upcoming 2018: Migration and Boundaries of Belonging in Short Films and Moving Image Installations. In Routes of Difference. Migration in Artistic, Academic and Media Discourses. (Eds. Annimari Juvonen, Ana do Carmo and Verena Lindemann)
Globalisaation varjoisat huoneet. Liikkuvan kuvan installaatiot eettisen ja poliittisen kohtaamisen tiloina ("The Shadowy Rooms of Globalisation. Moving image installations as spaces for ethical and political encounters") (Eds. Mari Mäkiranta and Eija Timonen) in Ruukku. Studies in Artistic Research (2016)
Moniääninen Maamme-laulu ja rajoja ylittävä suomalaisuus (The many voices of "Our Land" – Finnishness across boundaries"). Lähikuva 4/2016 (Journal of Audiovisual Culture). Special issue on Belonging.
Globalisaation varjoisat huoneet. Kuulumisen ja ulossulkemisen tilat rajanylityksiä käsittelevissä liikkuvan kuvan installaatioissa (The Shadowy Rooms of Globalization. Spaces of Inclusion and Exclusion, and the Politics of Belonging in multichannel, moving image installations.) Doctoral Thesis, Acta Universitatis Lapponiensis 300, University of Lapland Press, 2015.
Freja Rudels, Postdoctoral researcher, Comparative Literature, Åbo
Akademi University. Her research interests cover contemporary Swedish language fiction, postmodernism and beyond, PerOlov Enquist, Feminist theory, New Materialism, Ethics of narration
1) Rudels, Freja: I berättandets makt. Om tre romankroppar av Per Olov
Enquist [diss.], Åbo Akademis förlag, Åbo 2016:
2) Rudels, Freja: "Monstrous Subjectivity in P. O. Enquist?s
Nedstörtad ängel 1985″, Scandinavian Studies vol. 86, nr 3 2014, s.
Sanna Salanterä, professor of clinical nursing science, PhD, Department of Nursing Science. Research areas: Clinical Nursing Science, Nursing and patient Decision-making, Smart technology in nursing, Pain nursing, Health Service Research, Children's Nursing, Empowering Patient Education. recent publications concerning SELMAs main areas:
Flinkman M, Salanterä S. 2014. Early career experiences and perceptions – a qualitative exploration of the turnover of young registered nurses and intention to leave the nursing profession in Finland. Journal of Nursing Management.
Salmela M, Aronen ET, Salanterä S. 2011. The experience of hospital-related fears of 4- to 6-year-old children. Child: Care, Health and Development, 37(5):719–726.
Contact: firstname.lastname@example.com
Samira Saramo, PhD, Post-doctoral Researcher, John Morton Center, University of Turku. Samira Saramo's research focuses on the History of Everyday Life in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, as seen through life writing sources. Using Finnish North Americans as case studies, Saramo explores issues in ethnic, gender, childhood, and family histories, with a keen interest in memory, emotion, identity, and representation. Saramo's research has examined the letters and memoirs of Finnish Canadians and Americans in 1930s Soviet Karelia and Finnish immigrant women and children in the Canadian Left. Currently, Saramo is beginning a new research project, "Death and Mourning in Finnish North America." In addition to historical studies, Saramo has also begun to analyze contemporary Canadian feminist and environmental activism, applying life writing analysis to social media narratives. Saramo's publications include:
"Terveisiä: A Century of Finnish Immigrant Letters" in The Finnish Experience in Canada, edited by Michel Beaulieu, Ronald Harpelle, and David Ratz. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, forthcoming 2015.
"The Letters, Memories, and 'Truths' of Finnish North Americans in Soviet Karelia." Histoire sociale/Social History, 46, 92 (November 2013): 471-495.
"'One girl who left for Canada': A Teenaged Immigrants' Life Seen through Her Letters." In Letters from an Immigrant Teenager: Letters from Varpu in Canada to Kaisa in Finland, 1963-1965, by Varpu Lindström, 150-161. Beaverton, ON: Aspasia Books, 2012.
Dr. Ulla Savolainen is an Academy of Finland post-doctoral researcher at the University of Helsinki, Department of Cultures. She holds a PhD in Folklore Studies (University of Helsinki, 2015). Her research interests include oral history and memory studies; folklore; narrative theory; vernacular literature; and experiences of migration, diaspora and transnationality. Her doctoral dissertation focused on the life writings of former Karelian child evacuees in Finland and the poetics of life writings and reminiscing as a genre of vernacular expression. She has also researched oral histories of internments of German and Hungarian citizens in Finland in 1944–1946. The research was a part of the multidisciplinary and international research project 'Livingmemories: Living together with difficult memories and diverse identities' (2015–2017, 'ERA.NET Plus with Russia', EU FP7, Academy of Finland). Her ongoing research project 'Memory Unchained' (2017–2020, Academy on Finland) focuses on testimonies an autobiographical literature of Ingrians (a historical ethnic minority of Russia) from the viewpoints of creativity and cultural memory. Savolainen is a secretary and a board member of Finnish Oral History Network FOHN and an appointed member of the Youth Academy of Finland (2017–2020). She has worked as a visiting research fellow in 'Frankfurt Memory Studies Platform' at the Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany (2016), and at the University of Tartu, Estonia (2017).
Her publications include:
2018: 'Miksi historian hyvitykset epäonnistuvat? Törmäävät muistikäsitykset ja hyvityksen moraali.' [Why Do Compensations of the Past Fail? Conflicting Ideologies of Memory and the Dilemma of Restitution]. Historiallinen aikakauskirja 116(1): 56–68.
2017: 'Tellability, Frame and Silence: The Emergence of Internment Memory.' Narrative Inquiry 27(1): 24–46.
2017: 'The Return: Intertextuality of Reminiscing of Karelian Evacuees in Finland.' Journal of American Folklore 130(516): 166–192.
2016: 'The Interplay of Memory and Matter: Narratives of Former Finnish Karelian Child Evacuees.' Oral History 44(2): 59–68. (Together with Anna-Kaisa Kuusisto-Arponen.)


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Discover why travelling on Rovos is reminiscent of the golden age of travel. You'll enjoy formal dinners where traditional dishes are served, accommodation in Edwardian-style suites, picturesque views every day of the journey, and excursions to places of interest and first-rate game reserves. The train's staff will ensure that you enjoy a comfortable stay, and if you need anything, room service is available 24 hours a day.
Cottars Camp offers you a carefully chosen Masai Mara Experience. It provides genuinely stunning wildlife and wilderness experiences, engaging in the original spirit and essence of 'safari': an abundance of wildlife, a guarantee of privacy and the highest standards of professional guiding, in a luxurious and authentic safari environment.
Lalibela is known as 'New Jerusalem,' a town internationally renowned for its rock hewn churches often called the Eighth Wonders of the World. Physically carved from the rock in which they stand, these towering edifices seem to be superhuman creations of workmanship and concept. At the end of the 12th and beginning of the 13th centuries, King Lalibela of the Zaghwe Dynasty built a series of rock-hewn churches on this spot, calling it New Jerusalem.
Egypt has millennia of history and culture to explore. Cairo, home to the pyramids, has one of the world's best museums, offers world-class cuisine, culture, shopping, and it sits along the world's longest river. When the whole city is essentially an open-air museum, it can be hard to know what landmarks are essential. Our final stop on this epic journey showcases one of the great cities of the world – a fitting place to end.
Begin your Journey of a Lifetime in Cape Town, one of the most diverse and breathtakingly scenic cities you'll ever have the pleasure of visiting. Fondly known as the Mother City, Cape Town has everything for the curious Globetrotter who enjoys the good life in all its forms. From exquisite wine farms in magnificent green settings to captivating architecture and a rich history, the city's many attractions will leave little doubt in your mind as to why it has been voted one of the world's top cities to visit.
Your epic journey includes a luxury rail experience on the world-renowned Rovos Rail. The next 15-days you will journey through South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia. The sojourn begins in Cape Town taking guests to the historic village of Matjiesfontein, the diamond town of Kimberley and the capital city of Pretoria for short tours followed by two nights in the Madikwe Game Reserve.
On the far northern border of South Africa lies a beautiful area known as the Groot Marico and it is in this spectacular setting, in the malaria free Madikwe Game Reserve, that Tau Game Lodge, South Africa is situated.
The jumbled hillocks of Tshwene-Tshwene and the dramatic ridge of the Dwarsberg Mountains expose rocks of up to 2630 million years old and artifacts of the Stone and Iron Ages are still found in the Groot Marico dust.
Victoria Falls presents a spectacular sight of awe-inspiring beauty and grandeur on the Zambezi River, forming the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe. It was described by the Kololo tribe living in the area in the 1800s as 'Mosi-oa-Tunya' – 'The Smoke that Thunders'. In more modern terms Victoria Falls is known as the greatest curtain of falling water in the world.
Columns of spray can be seen from miles away as, at the height of the rainy season, more than five hundred million cubic meters of water per minute plummet over the edge, over a width of nearly two kilometres, into a gorge over one hundred meters below.
No other wildlife encounter in Africa matches the life-changing experience of coming face to face with wild gorilla's. This coupled with the fact that trekking is a highly restricted activity – only 10 gorilla families are habituated, and only 8 people per day get to spend an hour in their space – means it truly is a once in a lifetime experience.
"Travelling from Cape to Cairo was truly a Journey of a Lifetime that'll stay with me forever. Right from the start, I knew we were in for a treat. In Cape Town, we stayed at a beautiful hotel before boarding Rovos Rail for an awesome 15 days aboard the train, travelling through the vastness of Africa. The game parks were all exceptional. Game viewing in East Africa felt like we were in God's Garden of Eden—it was simply breathtaking.
I'll also always remember a gorilla sitting right next to me on our Mountain Gorilla Encounter in Rwanda. We ended our journey in Cairo, where each morning, we'd open the curtains and see the pyramids. It was an excellent end to a wonderful journey.
The team saw to the finest detail everywhere we stayed. I have no hesitation recommending them for your African Journey of a Lifetime."
~ Bev, Australia
Truly the journey
of our lifetime!
"In our many years of international travel, we can truly say that this was a journey of a lifetime. The Rovos Rail trip from Cape Town to Dar Es Salaam must be the most luxurious and spectacular journey of them all! No wonder it's called the Pride of Africa. This wonderful adventure (including well- chosen game lodges), allowed us to see limitless wildlife, spectacular scenery and parts of the 'hidden' Africa, while enjoying fabulous amenities and the delightful company of our fellow passengers. Our trip was carefully and thoughtfully organized - it was well and truly the journey of our lifetime - well done!"
~ Rod and Janet, Toronto


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Luke 12:35-36
"Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning,
like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet,
so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him."
Well, Tijge's first tee-ball season is in the books. I don't know that it is a sport he will pursue any further, but the season certainly taught me something. All of these kids were playing for the first time. They knew little to nothing about the game, but some definitely had some pre-conceived notions. One little girl in particular comes to mind. She was all decked out at the first game, with her pink bat, pink helmet, and matching black and pink glove. And she was ready to play. I think in the end, she was disappointed with the slower tempo of the game. I remember one of the first games, while the team was in the field, when she asked the coach, "When will it be our turn?" You see, in her mind, their "turn" only came when they were up to bat. It didn't even dawn on her that she might get more action in the field. After all, when a team is at bat, each player spends most of their time on the bench. And often, it's players' fielding performances that can win or lose the game. But on the surface, the field seems quiet, subdued—like a waiting game.
I wanted to somehow convey to her the idea that this time spent playing defense, and seemingly waiting, was equally as important as time spent on offense. It didn't take but a hot second for me to see the parallels between being a 5-year old on a tee-ball team and being a Christian in today's day and age. How so? I'm glad you asked.
For starters, don't we always want to be where the "action" is? We want to be in the spotlight, at the plate, hitting home runs, getting noticed. We don't realize that the real, hard work of the Christian life often happens in the quiet, slow, behind-the-scenes moments—when we don't feel at all important. We beg for God to put us in the game—Come on, Coach, I can do it!
But in truth, God may (and probably is) doing something extremely powerful and valuable during the waiting. He may be doing something in you—culling sin, developing gifts, igniting passion. He might be doing something through you. He might have someone who needs to see you handle those times of waiting with grace, humility, and purpose. He may be preparing you for the world beyond the waiting or He may be preparing the world for YOU. Can you imagine?
As we wait though, in seeming limbo, we sometimes lose focus. Like 5-year old tee-ball players, we need constant reminders to get into ready position, to watch for the ball, to support our teammates, to stay vigilant—READY. When we aren't ready, we can miss opportunities to make huge contributions to the team, to the Kingdom. We must stay present, focused, and engaged, even when it seems like our role is small.
Finally, when we do make the big plays, I think that there is a very real temptation to bask in the limelight, to take the credit, and accept the glory. Just as in tee-ball, where success is a team effort, we can't accomplish much in this Christian walk without the help and support of God and our fellow sojourners.
So now, when I'm tempted to ask God, "When is it my turn?", I try to hear Him reminding me that it is my turn, now and always. The question is, my turn to do what? And if I can find the answer, I can make the very most of this life. And so can you. So let's get in ready position, because it's our turn!


text:
A custom reusable wall vinyl set I was hired to illustrate for a little boys room. Created vector illustrations with custom packaging and label design.
Illustrations that I've done for the great music website, Daytrotter.
Editorial layouts presented to Grayline Worldwide for their 100th anniversary book. Many of the elements from the mocks are used in the final piece.
An Illustration I donated to the Scream Scram Run and Walk fundraiser in Denver. The vector images were used on marketing materials, t-shirts and a billboard.
I've worked with the band, Head for the Hills for about 6 years and have done everything from their logo, t-shirts, web graphics, posters and anything else they've ever needed for promotion.


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|Spy of Influence
|PhollopGuy (Concept)
|22 May 2011
|Spy influences Scout's death
|Lawful Neutral
|Fighting style
|All ranges
|Private Funnyman
|Cheese Scout
|Captain Demoman
"Influence death!"
Spy of Influence is a RED Spy TF2 Freak. He was created by YouTube user PhollopGuy, but adopted by AdmiralTrainstorm.
Appearance and PersonalityEdit
Spy of Influence appears as a standard RED Spy, though he can be distinguished from other mercenaries due to always wearing a BLU Spy mask. Spy of Influence seems to be collected and serious most of the time, even in clearly stressful situations, for instance when being attacked. He is also rather quick-thinking and clever, as he was able to direct Private Funnyman's fury about dishonour away from him and name a Scout the new target.
On several occasions Spy of Influence has shown he is a very helpful individual. He voluntarily provided assitance to fellow RED teammates, like an Engineer or Cheese Scout, and helped them get revenge or achieve other goals on his own accord. He also rescued Private Funnyman from the wrath of Heavydile once.
He loyally follows Private Funnyman, and together with Cheese Scout and the RED Engineer forms his entire unit.
Powers and AbilitiesEdit
He boasts the power of Influence, which allows him to affect various events to his or his ally's benefit. For example, he has been witnessed using the Influence to teleport to a specific location, or repeatedly bring death upon his enemies in indirect ways. They usually consist of summoning someone who takes care of the threat, or rendering an otherwise harmless attack a one-hit KO.
From time to time Spy of Influence carries a regular fire extinguisher with him. Even though it was used to defeat Heavydile once, its exact relation to the Spy's powers is unknown.
Faults and WeaknessesEdit
Spy of Influence seems to be an average human physically, which means he is extremely fragile in comparison to many other TF2 Freaks. and his Influence has a few flaws:
- Whilst the power of Influence allowed him to knock away a high-rank Freak like Heavydile, it usually requires some time to come into effect, leaving him vulnerable for this period.
- Though quite effective until now, the indirect and sometimes elaborate way the Influence functions may not provide a 100% success rate.
Notable VideosEdit
By the creator of the FreakEdit
- Spy influences Scout's death
- How all the Pros play Cp_Coldfront
- Heavydile kills Captain Demoman
- Spy of Influence betrays Captain Demoman
- Private Funnyman's Guide to being honorable
- How all the Pros play Ctf_2Fort
- Robot Engie gets kidnapped by the Gravel Pit Mafia
- Private Funnyman meets Karma Soldier
- Zetta radical influence video featuring Happy Hat Heavy
- Private Funnyman goes to court: Part 1


text:
* "Strong storytelling, pacing, emotive illustrations that match the deceptive plot and an exuberant sense of fun make this little gem a winner."–Kirkus Reviews, starred review
* "Dyckman's (Boy and Bot) and Campbell's (Flora and Ulysses) story is like a pretty petit four with an unexpectedly zingy filling."–Publishers Weekly, starred review
* "Dyckman (Boy and Bot, 2012) and Campbell (Flora and Ulysses, 2013) are a winning pair, using their comedic chops to pace the story beautifully. . . . This battle of wills between two charmers hits just the right note."–Booklist, starred review,
A Junior Library Guild Selection


text:
I just got back from a week of training in Butte, Montana, for my new job as outreach coordinator for the Gulf States Region with the National Center for Appropriate Technology. The whole experience gave me chill bumps — literally and figuratively.
First was the incredible ride over the Rocky Mountains, looking down on snow-capped peaks.
To say the view was breathtaking would be an understatement.
But, once we landed, the view remained stunning — maybe even moreso! Behind the headquarters building is the Continental Divide. That's right. The actual backbone of the North American continent is in NCAT's backyard, so to speak.
I could (and did!) spend hours watching the mountain as clouds drifted over the peaks, and the sun dappled shadows across the tree-covered flanks. Its face always changing, the mountain is a living presence in the town of Butte.
Of, course, we were there to learn a few farming techniques, among other things (hoophouse growing is pictured; something Butte needs even this time of year in midsummer for some crops like tomatoes).
While we were in Butte, on June 13, as the temperature was 93 degrees with high humidity back home in Mississippi, it was misty at its numerical opposite 39 degrees in Butte; I could see it snowing in the mountains overlooking the city.
I have to admit, it was an usual experience. The last day I was there, I got up at sunup and went outside with a cup of coffee. There was heavy frost everywhere, temps in the 30s, but since I was standing in the sunshine, it didn't "feel" cold! Just wearing a t-shirt and a jacket. The city is a mile high and the humidity hovered around 20 percent, with highs in the low 70s.
Of course, while in Montana, I had to do a little personal scouting, and found this incredible fishing shop — The StoneFly Fly Shop (https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-StoneFly-Fly-Shop/116061955126376). Had a great time talking with Chris, co-owner and outfitter. Check out their Facebook page, with tips on what's biting.
I also hung out some at Bob Ward & Sons Sporting Goods and Fran Johnson's Sport Shop. Both have tons of fishing equipment and supplies, too.
It was a great time, but I'm a bit pooped — arrived home after midnight last night.
I plan to return with my fly rod!
Read more about NCAT, where I now work, at: http://www.ncat.org/
A lot of what I do helps the ATTRA program – the National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service. Farmers and ranchers can call in toll free for information about sustainable agriculture. NCAT has specialists who will answer questions, for free. Call 1-800-346-9140; or en Espanol, 1-800-411-3222.


text:
Express InterCity Premium - at first buy a ticket
Express InterCity Premium (EIP) is the most comfortable category of trains offered by PKP Intercity to its passengers. It's also a whole new dimension and standard of travelling through Poland, ensuring comfort and safety of passengers, ensuring of which is our ultimate goal.
We introduce changes for your convenience
We would like to provide you with maximum comfort and total safety. Therefore, we only sell as many tickets as there are seats on the train and the tickets must be purchased in advance.
Benefits of purchasing tickets in advance:
- free seat that is waiting for you
- space for luggage
- safety when moving through the train
- easy access to any part of the train (WARS, toilets, exit)
- efficient ticket control.
Where to purchase a ticket?
Tickets can be purchased in a number of convenient ways at the chosen place and time.
Please be aware!
Travel by EXPRESS INTERCITY PREMIUM can take place only with a ticket purchased in advance. Travelling without a ticket will result in additional fee of PLN 650.


text:
Our neighbor has an orchard near South Point and gave us a few sapote fruits to try. I thought, why not pair one exotic fruit with another exotic sweetener-lucuma powder. Lucuma powder comes from the Peruvian lucuma fruit. I recently purchased the powder at our local health food store, Island Naturals and have to say, I love it. I haven't done the nutritional research yet, but I'm guessing organic lucuma powder is a safe bet. This smoothie turned out to be sweet enough for a dessert. However, we enjoyed it for a midday snack!
For the organic creamy sapote-lucuma smoothie, blend:
- 1 1/2 cup frozen sapote chunks
- 1/2 banana
- 1 1/2 cups rice milk
- 1 tbsp. lucuma powder
- 1 tbsp. flaxseed
- dash of cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract