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The Memphis Brooks Museum was recently awarded a $44,000 Art Works grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to expand its unique Art Therapy Access program.
Targeted to at-risk youth, adults, and families in partnership with local social service organizations, the year-long program combines the personal, yet connective outlet of creating art with the social aspects of a museum environment to facilitate interactive and ultimately therapeutic group experiences. This year, the Brooks' art therapy resources will extend to the Memphis Veteran's Affairs Medical Center, Youth Villages, and the Shelby County Relative Caregiver Program, with a specific focus on victims of trauma.
The Art Therapy Access program is tailored to meet the individual needs of selected participants - approximately 60 people in 2012 with 20 from each individual organization - who all receive a total of 45 hours of therapy, with some sessions held at the museum and some at the outside institution. The program will culminate in a public exhibition of participant artwork, on display at the museum for two months, as well as a website that will detail the benefits and outcomes of art therapy, to be used as a resource for other organizations.
Art Therapists Sarah Hamil and Karen Peacock are integral to the program's ideals. Ms. Peacock, who previously worked with the VA Medical Center, has served as the Brooks' Art Therapist since 2007 and wrote her master's thesis on the particular benefits of art therapy within a museum setting. Ms. Hamil acts as Ms. Peacock's clinical supervisor, and both are board certified professionals with substantial experience in art therapy and social work.
The Brooks has undertaken the multi-visit outreach since 2007, which includes art making sessions with licensed art therapists, museum tours, and an exhibition of the resulting work. Originally, the Brooks collaborated with Alzheimer's Day Services of Memphis, then with the VA Medical Center in 2008, and in 2009 with Youth Villages. In the summers of 2010 and 2011, the museum teamed up with the Shelby County Relative Caregiver Program to offer instruction and experiences in the arts to children raised by a family member other than their parents.
The NEA was established by Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government, awarding more than $4 billion since its inception to support artistic innovation. Art Works was created to encourage and support the arts in terms of creation, public engagement, lifelong learning, and the strengthening of communities, with 788 grants awarded to nonprofit national, regional, state, and local organizations, totaling $24.81 million to date.
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with Hope Martin
Are you uncomfortable or in pain when you meditate?
Is it hard to sit for long periods of time?
This unique one day workshop includes highly skilled hands-on work by the instructor, Hope Martin, applying the principles of the Alexander Technique to sitting meditation practice. She will provide practical guidance on how to be upright, supported and relaxed in your practice sessions, and in your life. Being upright is not just an arbitrary shape, but a perfect expression of the practice itself. Included will be instruction on basic body mechanics, experiential anatomy and alignment to help release unnecessary tension in your meditation sessions. Everything you learn in this workshop can be applied to the activities of your life.
" My retreat last week was wonderful and your instruction made a huge positive difference in my experience. I went through the whole week with virtually no neck and shoulder pain. Amazing and great!!! " - Jed Schwartz
" That day with Hope was the most helpful day I have ever spent in terms of understanding how a person could maximize their body posture to make sitting physically "natural" and how to talk about physical patterns as habitual in the same way mental patterns are." - Cara Thornley
Open to new and experienced practitioners.
Hope Martin is also teaching a week long meditation retreat called Shape of Awake, October 11-17, 2020. Details and Register
Hope Martin has taught the Alexander Technique for over 30 years in the United States and abroad. She maintains a lively private practice, is a Senior Teacher training Alexander teachers at the American Center for the Alexander Technique, and operates Hope Martin Studio, hopemartinstudio.com, in New York City. She is a Meditation Instructor and teacher in the Shambhala Buddhist tradition and a Focusing Trainer. Her particular passion is in assisting her students to discover how easeful, upright posture is an expression of their human dignity, confidence, and innate wakefulness.
Our Generosity Policy
In order to make our programs accessible to everyone, we have a "offer what you can afford" policy. If the program price is an obstacle for you, please decide what works for you and offer whatever you can.
For those who can offer more, we invite you to pay the Patron Price to help cover the costs for others who are not able to pay the full price.
Cancellation Policy
If you cancel less than 48 hours from the start of the program, your program fees will be credited towards another program, less a processing fee of $15.

subset: commoncrawl


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Okay – had dinner last night at hands-down the best Middle-Eastern restaurant I've been to since I moved to NYC. Nestled on Third Avenue in neighboring Bay Ridge, Tanoreen is a must.
Owned by chef Rawia Bishara, who circulates the restaurant throughout the evening checking to make sure every table is happy and enjoying themselves, Tanoreen has been reviewed by the NY Times and listed in the "Best of NY" in New York Magazine on more than one occasion.
Rawia Bishara
One of the great dishes we had last night was Muhammara – a delicious blend of walnuts, pomegranate and red peppers. While we can't get our hand's on Rawia's recipe for it – here is Paula Wolfert's (from the great website: Leite's Culinaria), the author of "The Cooking of the Eastern Mediterranean."
Paula Wolfert's "The Cooking of the Eastern Mediterranean"
2 and half pounds of sweet bell red peppers
1 small hot chili pepper
1 and 1/2 cup of walnuts
1/2 cup wheat crackers
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp pomegranate molasses (If you search at the top of the page, I've included a recipe for this elsewhere on this site)
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
salt to taste
1/2 tsp sugar
2 tbsp olive oil


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A Common-Sense Approach to Monitoring
The What:
Some things in life need not be explained. Geo-tracking your company vehicles and monitoring employees' activities while on the clock is quickly becoming a mainstream practice.
The Catch:
There are obstacles an employer needs to overcome before policy adoption rate is 100%. Like all things, knowledge is power and communication is the key. The following are some "good to know" items designed to help employers and employees accept the practice of monitoring in the work environment – and, in fact, feel good about the results.
The Take-Away:
Communicate early and obtain employee's written consent of your outlined Monitoring/Tracking policies.
Spread the Word – Get Consent
Legal Limits of Employee Monitoring: Generally speaking, employers have the right to monitor employees on the job – with some limitations. Always check with your legal representative for specific laws in your state or profession.
Federal Law: Employers may have the right to monitor employees' activities via email or GPS as they perform their work, although eavesdropping is not so clear cut. Placing microphones/bugs in the office area is generally legal, but a microphone in the cafeteria where one could assume they are free to speak about personal ideas and comments, is not; cameras/bugs in the locker rooms and bathrooms – a big "no-no".
State Law: State Laws about workplace monitoring efforts vary, mostly around consent issues—whether the monitoring occurs via e-mail, audio/video or Geo-tracking. It is recommended that you communicate with employees about monitoring and get written confirmation of employees consent. Employees should also have the availability to turn off tracking devices during non-work hours.
The Do-Nots:
- Avoid targeting legally protected classes. This includes people chosen on the basis of age, race, gender, religion or disability. Be sure there is no discriminatory impact on employees whom you choose to track.
- Keep monitoring/tracking devices out of non-work areas. Non-work areas include bathrooms and locker rooms where people disrobe.
- Be consistent in your action; avoid the appearance of selective discipline. Every situation is different; seek legal advice before introducing a monitoring program in your workplace.
The Good:
- Monitoring employee productivity like, work-day 'Check In – Check out' is simple and affordable.
- Improved Customer Service: this will always be good for business, profits, and employee retention.
- Monitoring/Tracking gathers information on business analytics; illustrates your company's best productive teams/time helping management plan for changes and workforce improvements.
- Decreasing distractions: If employees are aware that their activities are monitored, there is an obvious decrease in non-work activities.
- Safety: Having awareness of where your drivers/employees are located should give them peace of mind, especially at night or in severe weather or other threatening events. There is a life-line for them via your dispatcher if needed.
- Drivers will make better decisions, like seat belt usage and controlling speed. This could have a direct impact on your insurance rates.
- The Bottom Line: If you share the information of improved results with your employees – it can give them a sense of ownership and satisfaction that they are adding value and this translates into a more stable company and creates job security.
The Bad (as you can see a much shorter list)
- Distrust and fear among workers.
- Increase employee turnover.
- Monitoring could decrease productivity as it may cause stress.
The Commentary: Keep the human aspect of running your company in the forefront. Machine monitoring is practical and should be part of every company strategy, as it is nowadays, so affordable. But, the value of remembering team spirit, with individual personalities and ideas — should not be pushed off to the side. Open monitoring can improve workforce moral, safety, and profitability. Go Team on the Run.


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Revision Rhinoplasty
What is Revisional Rhinoplasty?
In general, revision rhinoplasty is about restoring good nasal breathing (function) and correcting one or more persistent deformities (aesthetic form) after previous nasal surgery. Houston rhinoplasty surgeon, Dr. Ben Cilento, realizes that there is an extra layer of emotion tied to revision rhinoplasty. This is because the normal & happy primary rhinoplasty story has often been replaced by one of disappointment mixed with guilt, and quite often, discomfort from nasal obstruction and even pain.
What are the Benefits of a Revision Rhinoplasty from Dr. Cilento?
Improved Nasal Breathing
Quite often after a rhinoplasty there is compromised breathing to a loss of structure that comes with cartilage removal or cutting. Dr Cilento is an expert at reconstructing the structure that both restores normal breathing.
Improved Aesthetics
Dr. Cilento has spent twenty years studying, teaching and writing about bad rhinoplasty outcomes. He has the knowledge, experience, and skill to restore natural-looking results in noses that look irregular.
Improved Self Esteem
Because the nose is the central feature of the face it can have a profound effect on our self-esteem when there is an irregularity that detracts from our overall appearance. Having this corrected can help to restore a person's lost self-confidence.
A Revision Rhinoplasty Expert
Houston Rhinoplasty surgeon Dr. Ben Cilento is a recognized expert in advanced techniques of revision surgery. It is not uncommon for other surgeons to refer to Dr. Cilento from all over Houston and all over the world to solve some of the more difficult post-operative complications.
Revision rhinoplasty can be very intimidating to unprepared or inexperienced surgeons. This is because there are hundreds of maneuvers, grafts, and suturing techniques described to change the shape of the nose.
Dr. Cilento has intimate knowledge of all of these techniques having taught residents as a professor during his time in the Navy. Since leaving the military he has also continued as an oral examiner for the American Board of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and as an active reviewer for many major technical journals on facial surgery.
Is Revision Rhinoplasty More Expensive Than Traditional Rhinoplasty Surgery?
The added complexity of revision rhinoplasty comes from several factors:
After primary rhinoplasty, there is a layer of scar tissue that replaces the various dissection planes that allow for easy surgical technique. The more surgeries that one has undergone, the harder the next surgery becomes. There is also a more difficult post-op period with prolonged swelling and a higher risk of complications.
These factors work together to drive up cost and prolong OR time. It is also the reason that so many surgeons choose to send their complicated cases to Dr. Cilento.
How long after my first surgery should I wait until my revision
It is customary to wait for 9 months to a year after your last surgery before contemplating most revision maneuvers. The reason for this may surprise you. The normal healing process continues after surgery for up to 18 months and can cause significant changes until it is over. These changes have to be accounted for when planning for the revision rhinoplasty that you've been thinking about.
Will I need cartilage grafts? If so where do they come from?
During a revision rhinoplasty, Houston rhinoplasty surgeon Dr. Ben Cilento often uses cartilage and fascia grafts from the septum and behind the ears to help support and cushion the nose after surgery. After a revision rhinoplasty, these sources of material are quite often exhausted even as the need for such material is increased when doing a revision rhinoplasty.
Dr. Cilento uses the latest techniques to reconstruct the nose and all of these techniques require access to the right materials. Some of these materials can be harvested from the patient and some can be obtained from outside sources. Rib cartilage is a common material to use. This can be obtained from the patient's ribs via a small incision in the crease of the breast or chest muscle. It can also be obtained from a cadaver through donation. This "cadaveric" rib has been used for 30 years with excellent outcomes and few complications. Ear cartilage is also used quite frequently and is harvested from the back side of the patients ear. It does not change the shape of the ear and does not leave a visible scar.
In addition to these grafts, Dr. Cilento sometimes uses alloderm (also a donated product) to help soften irregularities. Various products are also used depending on the type of irregularities that I am correcting.
Schedule Your Revision Rhinoplasty Today!
To learn more about revision rhinoplasty, call 346-413-9313 or 346-300-FACE to schedule a consultation with revision rhinoplasty surgeon Dr. Ben Cilento. Our practice serves Spring, Texas and the great Houston area.


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Goldman on Apple: Here are the Coming Catalysts for Shares
Goldman Sachs analyst Bill Shope offers up a couple quick thoughts on the possible next rungs in the ladder for Apple shares, in a note:
We believe the iPad 2 introduction and the June iPhone refresh will serve as critical catalysts in the coming months. Our model had conservatively assumed that the company would lower wholesale ASPs, so we are adjusting our estimates to reflect the unchanged price points. We are maintaining our unit estimates due to our view that the iPad 2 will accelerate Apple's competitive momentum in tablets.
Apple's up 8.2%, year-to-date, versus 3.2% for the S&P 500. The stock is up 1.5% just after the open Thursday. For more, check out MarketBeat on the regular, where we often churn out quick hits on Apple.


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Don't miss an episode: Subscribe to Retail Gets Real via Apple Podcasts, Google Play or Stitcher.
Anthony Lupo saw a niche in the Washington, D.C., restaurant scene for great food and equally great hospitality, and opened Southern Hospitality in the Adams Morgan neighborhood several years ago. "We wanted to really focus on the hospitality side," he says. The restaurant has gained popularity as a neighborhood staple with great brunches, event space and renowned customer service. When he and business partner Brian Schram saw the opportunity for another restaurant in the vibrant Navy Yard area, they thought it was a "no brainer" to open Scarlet Oak next to the ballpark.
This week, Lupo and Schram join Retail Gets Real to share how their restaurant family has grown and adapted to changing food trends, technology and customer expectations.
For Lupo and Schram, the inconsistency of the business is what keeps them going, whether it's working at all hours of the day or doing different jobs around the restaurant like bartending, waiting tables or helping in the kitchen. Their passion fuels the company culture where employees are encouraged and empowered and turnover is below average at both restaurants. "Lead by example with your staff in creating the atmosphere that you'd like," Schram says.
Both restaurants enjoy a loyal customer base and the restaurateurs keep their focus on customer satisfaction and creating great experiences. Social media helps maintain that reputation — though, as Lupo says, review platforms like Open Table and Yelp are "a necessary evil." Southern Hospitality serves close to 4,000 customers in a month "just on the weekends," he says; after more than five years in business, he estimates that there are probably "500-600 [online] reviews." Their lesson learned? "Take it with a grain of salt" — this type of social media is important to reach the modern customer who relies on online reviews.
Listen to this week's episode to learn about how changing technology and customer preferences are shaping the restaurant industry, and catch up on our past episodes for more information about what's really changing in retail.
Susan Reda is one of NRF's co-hosts on Retail Gets Real. Meet all the co-hosts and learn more about the show.


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Personally having a gap year was a dream come true. I was even more grateful that one year became two.
Deep down I always had a longing to experience life abroad and enjoy the challenges and new beginnings it would offer.
Did I plan to do a year away before having kids? Unfortunately I was too busy getting the degree, working and saving for a house that I didn't have time to think about it.
So I guess what I am saying is that you can have a gap year or go on sabbatical at any stage of your life. I certainly wasn't expecting to do it with two young children but that's when it fell into place for us.
There is definitely a rise in the 'adult gap year' and I was fortunate enough to be interviewed on ABC Radio on Focus with Jessica Strutt about this topic. Have a listen here as I talk to Jessica about our experiences and another lady shares how she like to take a year off at a time and travel around Australia with her pugaler.
There was never a specific country on where this adventure had to take place.
Sure the likes of New York or Hawaii sounded very exciting but after some initial research it didn't make any financial sense and there would be roadblocks with visas and the like.
Even after thinking about places in Europe, it quickly made sense for us to explore South East Asia. My husband, who took a lot of convincing in the first place to do this gap year, was the one to suggest Bali!
The idea of living in Bali came as a huge surprise to me and we had only ever holidayed there nearly a decade ago. However, it made perfect sense when he explained his criteria for such a move "we can enjoy our life and afford things we couldn't do back home, kids can go to an Australian school, good time zones, not far away, and we don't come back in debt".
Bali gave us all a life that was so different to what was back home and every day there was never a dull moment.
Having done a gap year with children everyone tells you how brave you must have been.
Being honest I really didn't stop to think it was brave at all. Yes it took us out of our comfort zone and gave us many challenges. But these challenges hopefully will teach our children resilience, compassion and so much more. Doing our gap year later in life with our 7 and 8 year old has made it even more special as we can share these memories and adventures as a family.
A gap year is short term – there is nothing brave about it. Brave to me is permanently immigrating to another country with no support system at all.
I never knew what it would be to have the 'expat' title. It is strange to be lumped into that category and to find yourself in new and strange community. You are also torn between being part of an expat community and also being involved and mixed in the local community and culture that you came to live in. One thing for sure, it gave me new outlook, clarity and time to reflect. I have learned lessons and grown and developed in ways I never would have if I'd stayed at home .
Together as a family we did things we normally wouldn't do back home – shopping for fruit and vegetables at the local markets, regular visits to a baby orphanage, teaching English to village kids, sponsoring schooling for Balinese children, making international friends, learning a new language and the list goes on.
It takes a lot of planning and organising if you want to make this happen but it is definitely worth the hard work. That is also why I decided to create a consulting business helping other families on how to make a move to Bali. If it isn't Bali that you are interested in, I can also consult on all decisions we made and research that was done in order to transition to expat life so you too can have a gap year. My skills and experience can be replicated for other countries.
I am so grateful we were able to do a gap year because it has made us change the way we wanted to live our life. We never returned to our home in Sydney and decided to move to the Sunshine Coast, a regional centre in Queensland.
On the Sunshine Coast, I feel we have moved to another 'expat' community but within our own familiar country. Everyone I meet wasn't born here and has moved their families from other Australian cities. It is great to be amongst like-minded people who have made the move like us. Often these families have lived overseas at some stage in their life too.
We would have never done this move interstate had we not done our gap year overseas. Bali was good training! We needed to leave our bubble and realise that maybe there was a different life available to us and our children.
Who knows what a gap year can do for you? We can make it possible!
Further reading:
Other expat families living in Bali


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Gavin Newsome's Blue Ribbon Panel on Marijuana Legalization reminded me just how far politicians will go to thwart the will of the people. Lawmakers in Sacramento are still working to undermine Prop 215, almost 20 years after the voters demanded legal access to medical marijuana.
For decades, corrupt politicians, like Gavin Newsom, have used marijuana prohibition as the iron fist of American fascism at home, because it gives them the green light to use violence against American people with impunity, and allows them to turn American citizens into cheap prison labor. Cannabis prohibition has given a corrupt few, unfair, unreasonable, and unconscionable power over the many, and they'll only give that power up when we pry it out of their cold dead fingers.
They expect that the voters will finally take matters into their own hands in November of 2016, and by initiative, legalize "recreational" use of cannabis for all adults, regardless of their medical "need." Who knows what this initiative will look like, but everyone knows it's coming, because the people want their weed, dammit, and we are sick and tired of the oppression. Cannabis prohibition is wrong, and its long history in the US is nothing short of shameful.
If lawmakers in Sacramento actually worked for the people, cannabis prohibition would have ended decades ago, but they don't. Politicians work for money. Money can do anything it wants in California. Money can kill people or keep them locked-up for decades for no good reason. Money can destroy habitat and poison the environment. Money can kick poor people in the ribs while they sleep. That's what money does. Lawmakers in Sacramento get paid to make sure that money has what it needs to get the job done, and for the last three decades, marijuana prohibition has done that job well.
So, Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom convened a Blue Ribbon Panel to figure our how to preserve as much of the injustice of prohibition as possible, even in the face of overwhelming public support for complete legalization. Now they've issued their recommendations.
I didn't read the report, but I did hear Gavin Newsom himself explaining his panel's recommendations, and I could hardly believe he could keep a straight face as he read them. He explained that the best way to keep pot out of the hands of children is to keep the price high. He told us that kids don't have very much money, so if pot is expensive, they'll be less likely to try it, and they won't be able to afford as much of it.
I guess toy manufacturers, who spend millions of dollars marketing expensive video game consoles to children, didn't get the memo about kids not having money. I'll bet there isn't a single kid an America with a $500 dollar phone and a $100 dollar a month phone plan to go with it. Oh, wait, there's one. …and another… I suppose adults could be buying all of those rap CDs that glorify violence and drug abuse, but I somehow doubt it, and let's not forget what a great job high, prohibition-era, marijuana prices did at keeping marijuana out of our schools. How stupid do you think we are, Gavin?
Imagine if we applied Newsom's logic to alcohol. As an adult, you would pay $60 for a beer, because no kid would be stupid enough to waste that kind of money on it. Does that sound fair? We don't price products higher for adults in order to keep them out of the hands of children; we allow licensed retailers to sell the products at fair and competitive prices. That eliminates the unregulated black market, and then we prohibit licensed retailers from selling them to minors. It works for alcohol. It works for tobacco, and it will work for marijuana too.
Then Newsom tells us that he wants to keep the legal marijuana industry in the hands of the same people who have been selling weed to your kids, at $10 a gram or more, in every high school and Jr. high in America for the last 30 years. Why on Earth would we want to do that, Gavin?
You might think that the black-market marijuana industry is a paragon of ethical business practices. I don't know why you would think that, except perhaps if you lived on another planet, and got all of your information about Planet Earth from listening to KMUD, but let me tell you, as a lifelong marijuana consumer, who has lived in the heart of the Emerald Triangle for the last 15 years or so, drug dealers lie.
They'll say anything. You never find out what a drug dealer is really up to until they get busted. That's when they find the stream diversions, the soil erosion, the thousands of spent butane canisters, the stolen guns, the rat poison, and the banned pesticides. I guess Newsom picked up quite a few campaign checks when he made his visit to Garberville a few months ago. Like I said before, politicians work for money, not people. People should remember, however, that half of the reason to legalize marijuana is to put drug dealers out of business. Here's why:
Another body turned up last week in Whitethorn. This happens so often that we don't even blink anymore. In any other rural town of this size, a dead body would be a big deal. Everyone would want to know: Who was he? What happened to him? And especially, Could there be a murderer among us? This would shock most small towns to their core.
Not us. We're like: "Eh, it was just another kid, from out of the area. Somebody killed him, probably over a pot deal, and yeah, there are murderers among us. What do you expect? We're fucking drug dealers! Do you want us to drive the economy or what?"
Sure, marijuana is safe and effective, but drug dealers are dangerous, dishonest criminals who don't care how many people people get killed, how much habitat gets destroyed or whose hands their product ends up in, so long as they get paid. They're a lot like politicians in that way. They warn us that unless we protect their interests, the legal marijuana industry could end up in the hands of big tobacco companies. Honestly, could tobacco company executives really be any more callous? I don't think so.
Despite the murders, despite the fact that dope yuppies are rapidly turning the last wild habitat in the continental US into industrial wasteland, Gavin Newsome, and his dope yuppie supporters here in Humboldt County tell us that we, as pot smokers, who have done the work to legalize marijuana, without any help at all from the legislature, or drug dealers, for that matter, should now be forced to pay a premium price to subsidize the greedy drug dealers who have ripped us off for decades.
I guess Humboldt's dope yuppies are some of the few people left who have enough money to buy politicians these days, but still, watching Gavin Newsom suck-up to Humboldt County's Drug War profiteers shows us just how craven he really is. Maybe California needs a Republican governor in this next election. I'm really sick of Big Government wedging itself between me and my marijuana. If greedy, drug dealing, forest raping dope yuppies can buy Newsom, I don't see how a Republican could do any worse.


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Skip Links
Open-File Report 2008–1359
An acoustic Doppler current profiler interfaced with a differentially corrected global positioning system was used to map bathymetry and multi-dimensional velocities on the Matanuska River near Circle View Estates, Alaska. Data were collected along four spur dikes and a bend in the river during a period of active bank erosion. These data were collected as part of a larger investigation into channel processes being conducted to aid land managers with development of a long-term management plan for land near the river. The banks and streambed are composed of readily erodible material and the braided channels frequently scour and migrate. Lateral channel migration has resulted in the periodic loss of properties and structures along the river for decades.
For most of the survey, discharge of the Matanuska River was less than the 25th percentile of long-term streamflow. Despite this relatively low flow, measured water velocities were as high as 15 feet per second. The survey required a unique deployment of the acoustic Doppler current profiler in a tethered boat that was towed by a small inflatable raft. Data were collected along cross sections and longitudinal profiles. The bathymetric and velocity data document river conditions before the installation of an additional spur dike in 2006 and during a period of bank erosion. Data were collected along 1,700 feet of river in front of the spur dikes and along 1,500 feet of an eroding bank.
Data collected at the nose of spur dikes 2, 3, and 4 were selected to quantify the flow hydraulics at the locations subject to the highest velocities. The measured velocities and flow depths were greatest at the nose of the downstream-most spur dike. The maximum point velocity at the spur dike nose was 13.3 feet per second and the maximum depth-averaged velocity was 11.6 feet per second. The maximum measured depth was 12.0 feet at the nose of spur dike 4 and velocities greater than 10 feet per second were measured to a depth of 10 feet.
Data collected along an eroding bank provided details of the spatial distribution and variability in magnitude of velocities and flow depths while erosion was taking place. Erosion was concentrated in an area just downstream of the apex of a river bend. Measured velocities and flow depths were greater in the apex of the bend than in the area of maximum bank erosion. The maximum measured velocity was 12.9 feet per second at the apex and 11.2 feet per second in front of the eroding bank. The maximum measured depth was 10.2 feet at the apex and 5.2 feet in front of the eroding bank.
For additional information contact:
Part or all of this report is presented in Portable Document Format (PDF); the latest version of Adobe Reader or similar software is required to view it. Download the latest version of Adobe Reader, free of charge.
Conaway, J.S., 2008, Bathymetric and hydraulic survey of the Matanuska River near Circle View Estates, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2008–1359, 20 p.
Hydraulic Data
References Cited
Appendix A. Bathymetric and Streamflow Velocity Data Collected at the Spur Dikes, Matanuska River near Circle View Estates, Alaska
Appendix B. Bathymetric and Streamflow Velocity Data Collected at the Eroding Bank, Matanuska River near Circle View Estates, Alaska


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Garrycastle seniors qualified for their 10th Westmeath senior football final since 2001 with a comprehensive win over Coralstown/Kinnegad in sun drenched Mullingar last Sunday afternoon.
Right from the start Garrycastle moved the ball with pace and precision and had a goal in the first minute when Conor Cosgrove took a pass from Dessie Dolan and shot for goal, his initial effort was saved by Damian Molly but Conor gathered the rebound and finished to the net. A Dessie Dolan free was struck over the bar in their next attack, Eoin Monaghan had another goal opportunity but his effort was just wide. A point from James Dolan was added to by another pointed free by Dessie Dolan to establish a 1-3 to no score lead by the 8thminute. Coralstown/Kinnegad finally got on the scoreboard in the 10th minute with a point from play. Eoin Monaghan suffered what appeared to be a serious knee injury as he tried to gather possession and was stretchered off, accompanied by a sympathetic round of applause, after a long break in play in the 13th minute. Garrycastle continued to dominate and a point from James Dolan increased their advantage. Coralstown/Kinnegad responded with a second point when a goal bound shot was deflected over the bar by Jack Donoghue to prevent a certain goal. Alex Gardiner then got a point for Garrycastle. Garrycastle's injury woes continued when Alan Fox came off with a hamstring injury to be replaced by Enda Mulvihill. Karl Henson broke forward to point for Garrycastle and deep into injury time James Dolan pointed yet again. Coralstown/Kinnegad did register a point in the 6th minute of injury time to leave it 1-7 to 0-3 at the break.
The second period took a similar pattern to the first with Garrycastle having most of the possession. The sides exchanged points, the Garrycastle effort coming from James Dolan. A pointed free from Dessie Dolan was added to with a wonderful point from the wing by the same payer. Conor Cosgrove had a good point as Garrycastle added to their lead. James Duignan replaced Mathew Guiheen and got on the scoreboard with a good point in the 52nd minute. Coralstown/Kinnegad responded with a point straight away. James Dolan added yet another point and Coralstown/Kinnegad had a point from a free. Cathal Mullin made an excellent save to deny Coralstown/Kinnegad at the expense of a 45, which was not converted. Michael Monaghan had the last score, a point from play, in the final minute to leave it 1-14 to 0-6 at full time.
This was an excellent performance from Garrycastle but they will surely have to play better in the final if they wish to capture their seventh senior title. In truth Coralstown/Kinnegad did not offer much resistance. Nonetheless there were very good performances from Jack Donoghue, Karl Henson and John Gaffey in defence. Justin Barrett and Aidan Browne dominated in midfield throughout, while Dessie Dolan, Alex Gardiner and James Dolan were most prominent in attack.
We all wish Eoin Monaghan a speedy recovery from his injury.
GARRYCASTLE: Cathal Mullin, Mark McCallon, Jack Donoghue, Alan Fox, Karl Henson (0-1), John Gaffey, Gary McCallon, Justin Barrett, Aidan Browne, Eoin Monaghan, Dessie Dolan (0-4, 3f), Matthew Guiheen, Conor Cosgrove (1-1), Alex Gardiner (0-1) and James Dolan (0-5).
SUBs: Michael Monaghan for Eoin Monaghan (inj, 13 min); Enda Mulvihill for A Fox (inj, 24 min); James Duignan (0-1) for M Guiheen (46 min); Damian Rushe for C Cosgrove (51 min); Sean Brennan for D Dolan (57 min); Seanie O'Donoghue for A Gardiner (59 min).
Blood Subs: Tom McHugh for Mark McCallon; James Duignan for M Guiheen.
Report by Matt Ryan.


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Product rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Website: www.dotnetinvoice.com
Price: Starts from $99
Billing is one of the most important aspects of any business, and providers of .NET developer or web-hosting services are no exception. A business could develop a billing system from scratch, but doing so would take a lot of time and effort, and the business would also have to hire experienced developers to upgrade and maintain the application. For many businesses, a better solution is to purchase a third-party application, such as DotNetInvoice from The Numa Group.
As its name implies, the product is based on the .NET Framework and requires a server running .NET 3.5 or later, such as SQL Server 2008 or 2005. DotNetInvoice was developed by using the .NET Framework exclusively, and it is available in C# and Visual Basic versions. DotNetInvoice has added substantial new features and improvements to the product since I last reviewed it in "DotNetInvoice v2.1: An ASP.NET-based Billing Solution."
Installing and Using DotNetInvoice
I tested the latest version, DotNetInvoice 2.6, on a SQL Server 2008–based computer, and the installation process went smoothly. As soon the installation process is finished, you log on to the Administrator Dashboard and provide the information needed to configure the application. I found it very easy to work with the various options because the UI is based on AJAX. The software includes a .pdf file that explains how to set up the product, and the source code package has in-code comments that are helpful if you want to customize DotNetInvoice.
Out of the box, DotNetInvoice can create recurring invoices, as shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1: DotNetInvoice's recurring invoice interface
If you bill the client monthly, you can also configure invoices so that payments are automatically charged to the client's credit card. DotNetInvoice supports nine different currencies, including the US dollar, Indian rupee, Australian dollar, and Japanese yen. And it's easy to add more currencies by tweaking the source code file.
Another nice feature allows administrators to quickly generate reports and view the results as charts. The admin panel lets clients view and print invoices for their records. You can even integrate the product into your website by modifying the structure of your original template.
Wish List
Like DotNetInvoice 2.1, version 2.6 requires administrators to provide each client's details and to create invoices manually. In a future version of DotNetInvoice, I would like to see a form for users to directly input their information, so that it can be automatically added to the back end of the product. I'd also like to see the product include an installation wizard to allow queries to run in the background and to automatically populate the initial data, rather than requiring the user to manually run the SQL queries. Finally, I would like to see an option in the Administrator Dashboard that allows the business send mass emails to clients and an option that generates coupon codes for clients.
Because of the product's simple design, even inexperienced users will find it easy to learn to use DotNetInvoice. I highly recommend DotNetInvoice, especially for web-hosting providers.
Anand Narayanaswamy ([email protected]) is a Microsoft MVP and ASPInsider who works as an independent consultant based in Trivandrum, India. He is the author of Community Server Quickly (Packt Publishing) and runs www.learnxpress.com and www.dotnetalbum.com. Follow him on Twitter @anandenclave.


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Vignettes from around the country on Election Day 2012.
Around the country on Election Day 2012 with AP reporters bringing the latest developments to you:
One particular race — the one for the right to reside at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue — gets the most attention on Election Day. There are thousands of others, too, of course.
The Associated Press tabulates results in 4,818 contested races, including 379 statewide races, nationwide.
That's in addition to declaring thousands of uncontested races. There are even 13 uncontested contests for the 435-seat U.S. House of Representatives.
Tuesday's races include 33 spots in the Senate and 11 governorships.
The AP also will tally 177 statewide ballot measures, along with state legislative races in 44 states, hundreds of state constitutional offices, judicial and mayoral races, many local ballot measures — and on and on it goes.
When does this start to wrap up? The first polls close in parts of Indiana and Kentucky at 6 p.m. EST. The last, in a small sliver of Alaska, shuts at 1 a.m. EST.
— Don Rehill
President Barack Obama has paused his Election Day schedule for a moment for something he loves — basketball.
The president's motorcade made a 10 minute drive to Attack Athletics, a sports complex, to play hoops with friends and staff. Dozens of people lining the streets waved and cheered as Obama made his way to the complex.
Among those playing alongside the president: Mike Ramos, a childhood friend from Hawaii, and Marty Nesbitt, a friend from Chicago.
— Julie Pace — Twitter http://twitter.com/jpaceDC
"Dear God in heaven America vote Mitt Romney Paul Ryan Republican and save America." — Classic rocker Ted Nugent on Twitter.
— Sandy Cohen — Twitter http://twitter.com/APSandy
Politicians on the ballot Tuesday aren't the only people praying for landslide margins. Election administrators hope for them too.
Take Jane Platten, director of the elections board in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, the most populous county in the critical battleground state with about 928,000 registered voters.
Platten says she is confident in her county's system of paper ballots that run through a scanner. She worries more about problems she calls "environmental" — like when one of her poll workers got in a fight with a voter, head-butted him and bit his nose last year. Or bad weather, like the ice storm that hit the area on presidential primary day in March 2008. Those types of problems keep her up at night, she says.
When an election is as close as the presidential contest is expected to be in Ohio, even the little distractions can make a difference, says elections expert Kimball Brace, president of the Washington-based consulting firm Election Data Services.
"Any tiny little thing can throw things off," he says.
— Jennifer C. Kerr
Count on New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie to put it plainly.
Some complaints and confusion arose after a last-minute provision in his state allowed people displaced by Superstorm Sandy to vote via email or fax.
The American Civil Liberties Union's New Jersey office asked a judge to intervene in the email voting process in Essex County, saying about two dozen voters complained they had not received their ballots.
An election official in Hudson County said a backlog was created by voters requesting email ballots even though they weren't forced from their homes by the storm.
Christie, as is his wont, put the matter in simple terms during his briefing Tuesday.
"If you haven't been displaced by the storm, get off your butt and go vote," Christie said. "I voted. There's no reason anybody else shouldn't vote. I'm pretty busy."
— Geoff Mulvihill — Twitter http://twitter.com/GeoffMulvihill
Vice President Joe Biden enjoyed lunch Tuesday at Cleveland's Landmark restaurant, a greasy spoon that often attracts factory workers, municipal employees and regulars from a neighborhood of African Americans, eastern Europeans, Middle Eastern immigrants and Spanish speakers.
Biden, accompanied by his wife and other family members — including several grandchildren — stopped at the blue-collar lunch counter to eat and shake hands in the ethnic Cleveland neighborhood.
"It's the iconic Cleveland restaurant," Cleveland Councilman Joe Cimperman said.
— Matt Rourke
Yes, those hard-hitting questions keep coming for the candidates, even on Election Day: President Barack Obama was asked by one interviewer Tuesday about the "Gangnam Style" dance craze.
During a radio spot with WZID-FM in New Hampshire, the commander in chief was pressed on whether he and first lady Michelle would do a rendition of the South Korean rapper PSY's hit, which has hundreds of millions of views on YouTube.
"I just saw that video for the first time," Obama replied. "I think I can do that move. But I'm not sure that the inauguration ball is the appropriate time to break that out."
"Maybe," he concluded, "do it privately for Michelle."
— Howard Fendrich — Twitter http://twitter.com/HowardFendrich
Ever wonder how a news organization calls a race at poll closing, when not one single vote has been counted?
For landslide elections, exit polls sometimes provide enough data to determine the winners. Workers stand outside polling places, asking voters to fill out confidential questionnaires about how they voted.
For more competitive races, analysts may use vote tallies from randomly selected voting precincts to supplement data from the exit polls. Workers report vote totals soon after the polls close, giving analysts a quick look at how the election is shaping up in that state.
For races that are even more competitive, news organizations rely on the AP vote count, the only national source of election results in all U.S counties and other vote-reporting jurisdictions. The AP is deploying more than 5,000 workers today to collect vote results and report them to news organizations — and the public — around the world. The AP will report results for nearly 7,000 races.
Government officials get the final say. Congress verifies the Electoral College votes for president and vice president, while state and county officials certify local election results.
— Stephen Ohlemacher — Twitter http://twitter.com/stephenatap
For those of you wondering, this nugget just in from Romney's Wendy's visit: He ordered a quarter-pounder (no cheese), chili and a Frosty.
It's been a long few days for sure. "He's kind of operating on fumes," Romney's running mate, Paul Ryan, tells the AP, speaking about the presidential candidate and their hectic schedule.
— Steve Peoples — Twitter http://twitter.com/sppeoples
Standing in front of a pile of junked refrigerators, a flood-destroyed car and a curbside mountain of waterlogged debris in front of his Hoboken home on Tuesday morning, Anthony Morrone didn't even realize it was Election Day. Since immigrating to New Jersey in 1967, the 76-year-old retired mechanic had never missed a vote. Until today.
"No time, no time to vote, too much to do," Morrone said, rattling off a list of things he needed to do after Superstorm Sandy ravaged his home last week, including mucking out the first floor, ripping out drywall, scooping Hudson River debris out of his driveway in a home a good quarter mile from the river. "Too much going on," he added.
At Hoboken's city hall, an American flag was draped over the railing where a huge board covered with handwritten instructions on where to get ice, hot food or other types of assistance was flanked by a printed sign saying "vote here." A steady stream of voters were climbing the steps, despite the FEMA and National Guard trucks that still form a ring around the building a week after the storm.
— Samantha Henry — Twitter http://twitter.com/SamanthaHenry
It's not at all scientific, but it is delicious: A Roseville, Minn., bakery is offering Obama and Romney cookies to test its customers' preference in the presidential race.
Roseville Bakery owner Amy Johnson says she's done her cookie poll in the past two elections, and it correctly predicted the winner both times.
It boosts cookie sales, too. Customer Muriel Sharpe read about the cookie poll online and when she heard Obama was behind, she drove in Tuesday morning and snatched up two dozen Obama cookies.
She passed some out to other customers. Then she bought eight more.
Despite her efforts, Romney still held an 830-to-731 lead over Obama in cookie sales.
Johnson says the political cookies have sparked some heated discussion between customers and gotten her young staff more engaged in what's going on.
— Amy Forliti — Twitter http://twitter.com/amyforliti
"I'm voting today for Obama...... Why? Because i just don't TRUST Romney. If you disagree with me...All you have to do is vote for Romney and cancel out my vote. (hash)ELECTIONMATH" — Actor-rapper Ice T on Twitter.
— Sandy Cohen — Twitter http://twitter.com/APSandy
On New York City's Staten Island, voters lined up outside dark tents to vote in areas still without power after Superstorm Sandy. In the Jersey Shore community of Little Egg Harbor Township, voters cast ballots in a mobile polling station dubbed the "vote-a-bago", just one week after Sandy devastated towns and cities along the state's coastline.
Check out two AP videos:
The first: http://bit.ly/SUBf3k
The second: http://bitly.com/UgLWBT
— Mary Clare Jalonick — Twitter http://twitter.com/MCJalonick
Judy Blume has been writing for young readers for decades, and she posted an election-day message to them on Facebook.
"I'm voting because voting is a privilege and I've never missed an election since I turned 21 and got the right to cast my vote. (Yes, you had to be 21 to vote then)," the author writes. "It makes me crazy when I hear young people say elections have nothing to do with them. I've got news for you if you think this election has nothing to do with your life. It has everything to do with your life."
Blume says the issues most important to her this election are women's rights, the environment, health care, foreign relations and "to have a say in who will be appointed to the Supreme Court."
"I'm voting for the candidate I trust more," she says.
— Sandy Cohen — Twitter http://twitter.com/APSandy
While Paul Ryan rode off in a motorcade with running mate Mitt Romney, Janna Ryan stayed behind on the Tarmac and tossed the football with her children, their cousins and her brother-in-law Tobin Ryan.
Even in a maroon shift dress and knee-high boots with heels, she has a tight spiral.
— Philip Elliott — Twitter http://twitter.com/Philip_Elliott
Here's an odd moment just in from Election Day, courtesy of AP's Philip Elliott, traveling by plane with GOP vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan. He reports:
"Ryan wheels down in Cleveland. On final descent, VP Biden's motorcade could be seen out the right windows pulling away from Air Force Two."
Biden made an unannounced stop in Cleveland a bit ago, placing him and Ryan, his rival for the vice presidency, in very close proximity on Election Day in the very competitive state of Ohio.
— Philip Elliott — Twitter http://twitter.com/Philip_Elliott
This just in from AP reporters with Vice President Joe Biden: He's made an unannounced stop in Cleveland en route to Chicago.
If you make cars in Detroit, the odds are reasonably good you have today off.
Employees of all three Detroit automakers have had presidential election days off for years. The United Auto Workers union says it negotiated the day in 1999, and it took effect in 2000.
All three companies extended the day off to salaried workers.
— Tom Krisher — Twitter http://twitter.com/tkrisher
"I also want to say to Gov. Romney, congratulations on a spirited campaign. I know his supporters are just as engaged, just as enthusiastic, working just as hard today. We feel confident we've got the votes to win." — President Barack Obama speaking to reporters in Chicago.
— Julie Pace — Twitter http://twitter.com/jpaceDC
France's version of the U.S. Election Day is playing out ... on the plate.
For 24 hours, the popular Breakfast in America diner in central Paris is offering two special additions to the menu: an Obama Burger and a Romney Omelette. The owner will count how many dishes are sold by the end of the day and the U.S. election winner, as decided by French palates, will be declared.
One problem: The Obama Burger is bursting with sausages and pickles, whereas the Romney Omelet is plain and simple — almost guaranteed to sell less.
"This morning we had some customers from America who were very unhappy. They were Romney supporters and were offended," says diner owner Craig Carlson, a U.S. citizen from California.
"We tried to explain it's just a joke and we tried to put a little slant on it. (Romney) always says he is a regular American, a plain American."
— Thomas Adamson — Twitter http://twitter.com/ThomasAdamsonAP
If you're voting in Washington, D.C., better put your phone away.
Many early morning voters in the nation's capital ended up talking with their neighbors as they waited in long lines to vote, because they were not allowed to check their cell phones. Poll workers offered no explanation for the rule.
— Eileen Sullivan — Twitter http://twitter.com/esullivanap
A pregnant suburban Chicago woman didn't let being in labor stop her from voting in her first presidential election.
Cook County Clerk David Orr reports that 21-year-old Galicia Malone's water had broken and her contractions were about five minutes apart. But Orr says she still made the detour en route to the hospital to vote this morning at the polls at New Life Celebration Church in Dolton, Ill.
No word yet on if the baby was born.
— Tamara Starks — Twitter http://twitter.com/tbstarks
Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan has cast his ballot — at the Janesville library in Wisconsin.
Ryan, wife Janna and his three children arrived at the Janesville library to vote in a presidential race that entered its final day on Tuesday.
Ryan did not wait in line and made his way to the front of the line. He greeted poll workers with hugs and asked one man, "Coach," if he was in touch with mutual friends.
Ryan was then heading to campaign stops in Ohio and Virginia before an election night rally with Mitt Romney in Boston.
— Philip Elliott — Twitter http://twitter.com/Philip_Elliott
EDITOR'S NOTE — Follow AP journalists on Twitter where available with the handles listed after each item.


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Two ways of looking at it
THEY say "fake it till you make it" WE say "live in your true energy" Two ways of saying EXACTLY the same thing. Me. I choose truth. Which one will you carry in your heart today? PS We have this guy in New Zealand. He's called Aaron Cruden. He's an All Black (NZ Rugby team)…Details


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An MD with a Holistic Heart
Dr. Lippman first studied conventional medicine. She received her MD in 1973 from the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine. After a pediatric internship at LA County-USC Medical Center, she studied Adult and Child Psychiatry at UCLA and was Board Certified in each specialty.
She soon became dissatisfied with the limitations of a purely psychiatric focus. She changed her practice from psychiatry to alternative medicine in Beverly Hills in order to address the whole individual. That was over 30 years ago. She is considered to be one of the leading alternative medicine doctors in Los Angeles, CA.
Dr. Lippman is referenced as a medical resource in books authored by Suzanne Somers: Ageless and Breakthrough. She is also referenced as a medical resource in Jenny McCarthy's book, Mother Warriors, and on McCarthy's Generation Rescue website. Dr. Lippman is also a regular guest on TV and radio shows.
Your health: A partnership
Since most people don't get sick overnight, it's not likely they will heal overnight.
Environmental and Preventive medicine is not a magic bullet. It takes time to develop the best treatments. The process requires a commitment from the patient. Dr. Lippman's patients should continue working with their primary physician, as well as consulting with Dr. Lippman, one of the leading alternative medicine doctors in Los Angeles, CA. As a medical doctor, she believes homeopathic treatments and natural alternative medicine can be blended with traditional medical care.
Dr. Lippman provides services that build a person's health and well-being.
By coming to see Dr. Lippman you will learn …
- What agrees or disagrees with you.
- What supports help your body reduce or eliminate symptoms.
- What supports help your body become well.
You will also receive an overview and perspective that will assist you in having an abundance of health and wellness. Together we'll find 'red flag' areas that could reduce your future health.
A reduction of complaints is the short term benefit of working with Dr. Lippman.; the mid-term benefit is feeling better and stronger; the long-term benefit is reduced risk for future major health concerns.
If you've tried conventional therapies and are still not experiencing optimal health, call Dr. Lippman. The initial scan is painless and will give you a new understanding of your body and how it reacts.
The Lippman Center for Optimal Health empowers you to live a balanced, healthy, vibrant, and joyful life.
"When my daughter was little, she suffered with chronic ear, nose and throat infections, as well as a myriad of food and environmental allergies. Her pediatrician had her on antibiotics almost all of the time, and she still missed a great deal of school and playtime with friends. Dr. Lippman prescribed such things as dietary changes, nutritional supplements, herbs and homeopathics. My daughter began to have fewer infections and her allergies decreased dramatically. Today she is a strong and healthy teenager due in large part to Dr. Lippman's help." –Lisa S.
Learn more about Dr. Lippman's approach to Environmental and Preventive Medicine
Watch videos of Dr. Lippman explaining symptoms and treatments.
Call today to schedule your appointment and your initial scan: 310-289-8430
Visit The Clinic page to download a patient information form for yourself or your child before your first appointment.


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Status: Closed
Know more about this business than we do? Cool! Please submit any corrections or missing details you may have.Help us make it right
Photographic Imaging Specialists!
Be the first MLive.com user to add photos or videos of Kalamazoo Color Lab
This place is fantastic. They helped me with a tough, rush order & I was impressed with the quality & service. Definitely top notch.
Kalamazoo Color Lab can be found at Portage St 1326. The following is offered: Advertising Supplies & Services. The entry is present with us since Sep 9, 2010 and was last updated on Nov 14, 2013. In Kalamazoo there are 9 other Advertising Supplies & Services. An overview can be found here.
Film & Digital
Kalamazoo Color Lab is a full service photo imaging service providing the highest quality photo printing in the area.


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Contact us at (320) 245-0235
Contact us at (320) 245-0235
We love raising English Labradors and are excited to show you our dogs that we are so proud of here at FLL. Feel free to click on one of the girls' images for more info on each Family Loved English Lab.
These girls have amazing Labrador Puppies that have become great Service Dogs, Therapy Dogs, Hunting Companions, and all around fantastic family dogs.


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Monday, June 2, 2014
Monday, May 19, 2014
Photo walk
Today I went on a photo walk
in the Bergen arboretum with our local photo club.
Here is some of my day's catch.
Thursday, May 15, 2014
Wednesday, April 23, 2014
I Heart Macro
So happy to see bumble bees in the garden these days.
They are so important to the process of ongoing life.
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243 Nui Ngoc, Cat Ba island, Hai Phong, Vietnam
+84 975151191 - +84 2253888126
Northern Vietnam
5 days - 4 nights
Note: B: Breakfast, L: Lunch, D: Dinner
Tour summary:
Day 1: Airport pick up – City tour – Night train to Sapa (B-L)
Day 2: Sapa – Overnight Hotel or Homestay (B-L-D).
Day 3: Sapa – Night train Hanoi (B-L-D)
Day 4: Hanoi – Halong Bay tour 1 day (B-L-D)
(Or you can choose another option one day trip)
- Perfume Pagoda: http://charmtoursvn.com/en-us/tour/view-tour/perfume-pagoda/7263.html
- Hoa Lu - Tam Coc one day: http://charmtoursvn.com/en-us/tour/view-tour/hoa-lu-tam-coc/7262.html
- Mai Chau 1day tour: http://charmtoursvn.com/en-us/tour/view-tour/hoa-binh-mai-chau-1-day/7258.html
- Countryside tour 1day: http://charmtoursvn.com/en-us/tour/view-tour/hanoi-city-tour/7265.html
- Trang An - Hoa Lu tour 1day: http://charmtoursvn.com/en-us/tour/view-tour/trang-an-grottoes-hoa-lu-ninh-binh/7260.html
- Duong Lam - Viet Ancient Village full day tour: http://charmtoursvn.com/en-us/tour/view-tour/duong-lam-ancient-village/7261.html
Day 5: Flying home (B)
Special offer:
* Bathroom or room for you to fresh, take shower between the trips.
* Breakfast every morning you back from the trip*
* Welcome drink
* Luggage storage
Tour itinerary:
Day 1 : Aiport pick up – City tour – Night train to Sapa (B-L)
Arrive at Noi Bai international airport. Welcome by your local tour guide and driver. Transfer to our hotel to leave baggages, relax – Enjoy breakfast or welcome drink. Get pick up for City tour. Visit the Ho Chi Minh Complex (before 10:30am), containing the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, the Presidential Palace, Ho Chi Minh`s house on stilts and the One Pillar Pagoda. Continue on to the Temple of Literature, Vietnam`s first university. Lunch at a local restaurant. In the afternoon, visit the Museum or Pergoda, Hoan Kiem lake, Ngoc Son temple. Visit Museum or enjoy your time in Dong Xuan Market for shopping. Dinner at the restarant on your own.
Night 1: You will get pick up at our hotel and transfer to Hanoi Train Station to get the night train to Lao Cai station 19:30 - 20:00. Overnight on the train with soft sleeper train.
Day 2: Lao Cai – Sa Pa - Cat Cat - Lao Chai - Ta Van ( B,L,D )
Our guide meet you at the Lao Cai train station, and you depart for Sa Pa by minibus. Arriving in Sa Pa, you check in to the hotel, have breakfast and short rest.
The guide takes you to visit two Black H'mong villages (Cat Cat Village) and a waterfall. There, you will have a chance to see the hydroelectric power station built by the French. After that, it's back to Sa Pa for dinner. In the evening, you're free to do as you wish. You can explore the town of Sa Pa. Overnight in hotel.
Day 3: Sapa – Lao Chai - Ta Van - Hanoi ( B,L,D )
After breakfast, our guide takes you to villages populated by H'mong and Dzay peoples, respectively called Lao Chai and Ta Van.
You'll have lunch either with an ethnic minority family. Back to Hotel to relax before getting pick up to the train station for a night train back to Hanoi. Getting back to Hanoi from Sapa trip so early at around 5am. You will be picked up from the train station to our hotel by our staff. Tour ends.
Day 4 : Hanoi – Halong Bay (B/L)
07h00 – 07h30: Enjoy your breakfast at Hanoi Guest House.
08h00: You will get pick up at the hotel depart to Ha Long city - the capital of Quang Ninh province. We stop half way for a short break in Hai Duong province. Arrive in Ha Long city about 11.30.
Have lunch at a local restaurant or on the boat. After lunch, the guide takes you to the boat for cruising Ha Long Bay (4 - hours), where you have a chance to visit the two most beautiful caves such as Amazing cave (Hang Sung Sot) OR Thien Cung cave OR the Palace Of Heaven Grotto and Dau Go Cave or Wooden Stake Grotto and we take a look at the Floating Village of the fisherman and the Fighting cocks. At about 4.00 pm the boat goes back to Ha Long city and we get on the bus to go back to Hanoi.
Tour finish at about 8.00 pm. Free & Easy time
Day 5: Breakfast – Airport Drop off - Flying home (B)
You will be served breakfast before getting pick up to the airport.
Tour itinerary and price are very flexible. In order to get the most special price and your require is met perfectly, please contact us here
Booking Now
Package 6days/5nights Halong Bay + Mai Chau tours
Northern Package Tour 6days 5nights
Northern Package Tour 7days 6nights
Northern Package Tour - 8days 7nights
Halong Bay + Northen one day Tour 5days 4nights
Northern Package one day trip - 4days/3nights
Sapa, Bac Ha 2 days/3 nights by train (COLORFUL Market) (2 Days - 3 Nights)
Sapa,Coc Ly Market 2days/ 3nights (2 Days - 3 Nights)
Halong Bay 2days/1night On Boat (2 Days - 1 Night)
Halong Bay 3days/2nights - (1night on boat/1night Bungalow) (3 Days - 2 Nights)
Halong Bay 3days/2nights - (Second night in Hotel) (3 Days - 2 Nights)
Copyright © 2017 Cannon Fort Cat Ba Hotel . All rights reserved
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I've seen a few people assert the precompiled headers are a pain in the butt, or not workable for large scale projects. In fact, it's incredibly easy to add precompiled headers to a GCC-based project, and it can be quite beneficial.
Since I'm mostly familiar with Makefiles, I'll present an example here that uses Make. It trivially extends to other similar build systems such as SCons, NMake, or Ant, but I'm not so sure about Visual studio projects. This example builds a single static library and several test applications. I've stripped out most of my compiler flags for brevity.
# boilerplate settings... SHELL = /bin/bash CXX = g++ -c CXXFLAGS += -std=c++98 -pedantic -MMD -g -Wall -Wextra LD = g++ LDFLAGS += -rdynamic -fno-stack-protector AR = ar # generic build rules # $@ is the target, $< is the first source, $^ is all sources define compile $(CXX) -o $@ $< $(CXXFLAGS) endef define link $(LD) -o $@ $(filter %.o,$^) $(filter %.a,$^) $(LDFLAGS) endef define ar $(AR) qsc $@ $(filter %.o,$^) endef # all library code is in src/ # all test applications are single-source # e.g. testfoo is produced from from testfoo.cxx and libsseray.a TEST_SRC = $(wildcard test*.cxx) LIB_SRC = $(wildcard src/*.cxx) TESTS = $(basename $(TEST_SRC)) LIB = libsseray.a all : $(TESTS) $(TESTS) : $(LIB) $(TESTS) : % : %.o $(link) %.o : %.cxx $(compile) $(LIB) : $(LIB_SRC:cxx=o) $(ar) # gcc-provided #include dependencies -include $(TEST_SRC:cxx=d) $(LIB_SRC:cxx=d) clean : rm -f $(LIB) $(TESTS) $$(find . -name '*.o' -o -name '*.d')
In order to use a precompiled header, this is what needs to be added to the Makefile. There are no source code modifications at all. I created a file pre.h that includes all of the system C and C++ headers that I use (in particular <iostream> is a big expense for the compiler).
# PCH is built just like all other source files # CXXFLAGS must match everything else pre.h.gch : pre.h $(compile) # all object files depend on the PCH for build ordering $(TEST_SRC:cxx=o) $(LIB_SRC:cxx=o) : pre.h.gch # this is equivalent to adding '#include <pre.h>' to the top of every source file $(TEST_SRC:cxx=o) $(LIB_SRC:cxx=o) : CXXFLAGS += -include pre.h # pre.h.gch should be cleaned up along with everything else clean : rm -f (...) pre.h.gch
The project itself is fairly small—16 source files totaling 1800 SLOC—but this small change just decreased my total build time from 12 to 8 seconds. This is entirely non-intrusive to the code, so adding it is a one-time cost (as opposed to the Microsoft stdafx.h approach, which is O(N) cost in the number of source files). It is also easy to disable for production builds, if you only want to use the PCH machinery for your day-to-day edit-compile-test cycle.


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Transform your walls with pure hand woven wall hangings. Our lightweight cotton and linen hangings feature vivid colors and crisp lines, giving you an awesome centerpiece for any space. Formaldehyde free! We use safe cotton and hemp plant printing and dyeing to ensure a no fading.
Product Specifications
Fabric material:Cotton and linen
Specifications:50*70cm Does not include 20cm Tassels
Package includes:1*Tapestries, Hanging rod, Lanyard,No trace nail
Washing instructions:Please use neutral detergent or neutral washing products. Avoid high temperature washing or long time soaking. Use your lightest setting or hand wash. Do Not Put In The Dryer. May cause damage or deformation.
Stretch around after washing and before drying, It can make the fabric flat and reduce the shrinkage ratio effectively


text: EdenOnlineVisit website - www.exploreedennc.com Eden offers seniors an affordable lifestyle in a close-knit community that embraces newcomers. With the cost of living around 12.9 percent lower than the nation's average, visitors, as well as residents, see their dollars stretch further.Golf course homes and villas make the links even more convenient. Housing options include new construction, older homes in historic neighborhoods and maintenance-free living in townhomes, condominiums, apartments or retirement complexes.Numerous fitness centers, including the Eden YMCA, offer specialized programs for seniors. An active senior center offers classes, activities, social functions and trips. Rockingham Community College has a Center for Active Retirement. Seniors can enjoy aerobics, computer training, day and overnight trips as well as various other recreational activities. The Smith River Greenway is a gathering spot for people of all ages, and one rarely walks the riverside trail without spotting others conversing as they put in their miles.River activities abound and, whether it's teaching a grandchild to fish from the riverbank or enjoying a peaceful paddle along calm waters with a spouse or a group, Gardening, hikes in the woods, boating on the two neighboring lakes are some of the activities people enjoy. And they do it without looking over their shoulders since Eden is a very safe community. Morehead Memorial Hospital is a past recipient of the "Top 100 Hospitals in the U.S." award; it was also named a "Best Value Hospital" in 2008.Volunteer opportunities abound. Groups like Friends of the Library, the Rockingham Literacy Project, Veterans' groups, SCORE, school volunteer programs, The Dan River Basin Association and the Eden Preservation Society are enhanced by the involvement of older adults.Learn more about Eden at www.exploreedennc.com.


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First World War soldiers
This guide was last updated in 2009
Beginning with a distinguished ancestor of his own, Martin Purdy offers his tips on tracing the Great War heroes in your family.
This story starts with an old sepia photograph of a First World War soldier. Frank Williams who was my great-grandfather, a sergeant with the kind of straight-backed pose and well-groomed moustache that appear to have been obligatory for men of rank in the Edwardian age.
I first became interested in "finding Frank" after accompanying a friend on a tour of the Great War battlefields. The preserved trenches and bits of rusting militaria that had been uncovered in the undergrowth impressed us both immensely, but it was the image of those rows of matching white headstones that were what really stayed with me.
I was also left with a burning question: how did the man in the family photo album escape the same fate?
For the record, Sergeant Frank Williams of the Royal Engineers won a Distinguished Conduct Medal at Passchendaele for carrying in wounded comrades when badly wounded himself. He was quite a man, and you may have such a "hero" in your own family.
Researching a soldier is not as daunting as you might fear. It requires patience and time, but the internet means much can be done at your leisure.
Photo © Getty Images


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Health officials warn against Mother's Day gatherings while modeling projects more US deaths than expected
"As a result, COVID-19 spread among attendees. Remember, the best way to celebrate #MothersDay and any other occasion is by STAYING HOME and staying healthy"
Louisiana health officials suggested safe alternatives, like having a virtual brunch together.
For those still planning to see their mothers in person, "Resist the temptation to hug your mom and maintain six feet of separation," the Louisiana Department of Public Health said.
Older adults have the highest risk of severe complications or death from coronavirus. And the numbers of cases and deaths keep rising.
By Sunday, more than 1,320,000 people in the US have been infected, and more than 79,000 have died, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
'Explosive increases in mobility' leads to more projected deaths
A projection model cited by the White House now predicts thousands more deaths, largely due to "explosive increases in mobility in a number of states."
The model,


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The Panasonic Lumix LX5
This book is very well worth reading and studying. Although I do not use a Lumix camera, there are areas which carry over to alternative cameras. I have now purchased every one of Robin Whalley's book and find them extremely useful and seem to give me the area of expertise that I am looking for. I would recommend all of his books.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Do you want to create photographs that show exceptional detail and sharpness? Or do you want to know why your images don't quite live up to expectations given all the great things you have heard about the LX5?
This book came about during a series of Lectures I was giving at photography clubs in the UK. I would be enthusiastically talking about the virtues of the LX5 only to have someone approach me later to say their results were poor or even dreadful. Initially I was confused, but then a pattern emerged about how people, often experienced photographers were using this camera. Once I understood what was happening I could quickly identify and correct the mistakes being made.
As time progressed, this evolved into a complete approach to achieving exceptional image quality with the LX5. I am sure you will be surprised learn just what is possible with the LX5 when used correctly, including being able to make huge prints.
This book is not however for everyone. If you are new to photography and want to understand how to use all the functions of the LX5, this is not the book for you. Neither is it a guide to using the LX5 and you certainly won't learn about video capture. If you want to learn about composition this book won't help you. If the thought of shooting using RAW files scares you then move on now and look for a different book.
No, this is a book aimed at Intermediate and Advanced photographers who want to achieve exceptional image quality from the LX5.
In this book I will share with you:
- How to define what is and isn't a high quality image – if you can't define what high quality means how will you achieve it
- How to set up the camera to support high quality capture
- The techniques of image capture that allow you to maximise image quality
- Bespoke workflows designed to create optimum results – the importance of this will I'm sure surprise you
- Details of software that can enhance your images in ways that you might not have thought possible
At the end of the book is a section pulling together all the information and using it to produce a high quality 30inch image from an LX5. This image will stand up to close inspection and doesn't rely on being seen at a "reasonable viewing distance". I also provide the high resolution image for you to download so that you can take a very close look at the final quality.
There currently isn't another book on the market quite like this one and I believe it's long overdue


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Elon Musk announced yesterday that SpaceX will send two private citizens in an around the moon mission next year. It is an exciting time to be alive in the shadow of Musk's benevolent quest for world domination.
The announcement came yesterday afternoon after Musk teased an announcement earlier that day (which was proceeded by the tweet that "Roller coasters are awesome").
SpaceX will work with NASA and employee their Dragon 2 rocket for the mission. An additional rocket, Falcon Heavy will be in use for additional liftoff thrust. If successful, it will be the most powerful vehicular craft to reach orbit since the Saturn V.
For updates on SpaceX's progress and timeline, visit their official page.


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Every baby is different and every woman will experience motherhood in her own way, but there's one thing that never changes. You will be inundated, flooded, besieged with advice on the best way to raise your child – you can count on it.
While most advice is no doubt well meaning, some can lead to nothing but confusion and stress. So in the spirit of cutting through the mixed messages, please find below my tips to surviving those first few weeks at home.
Google is not your friend. Especially not at 3am.
I think in one torturous breastfeeding session I discovered I might have elbow cancer and that we'd never be able to go to the beach again as my precious baby had a one-in-3.7 million chance of being eaten by a shark.
Your mum/in-laws/aunties/etcetera can be your best friend… or your worst enemy. Many a mum has been reduced to tears after someone 'helpfully' told them exactly what they should be doing. My advice? Nod politely and then back yourself in. It's your child and you'll learn together.
Contrary to those glossy magazines you've been reading while waiting in the doctor's office, you will not be ready to walk down a Victoria Secret runway after six weeks, so give yourself a break. Your body has just done something pretty amazing. Forgive its lumps, bumps and repeat after me: Miranda Kerr is a freak!
You will make no sense a lot of the time. And while I'm on it, you will do things that make you think you should book into a neurologist. Case in point?
I tried to heat up a wheat bag in my freezer. For 20 minutes.
Remember those moments in labour where you have never felt so close to your partner? The teamwork, the love, the achievement … I guarantee you'll be fighting within weeks of getting home with your newborn.
The lack of sleep, stress and a crying baby soon has you arguing over the really important things, like how loudly he eats his Cornflakes or the relative merits of The Real Housewives of New York as an educational documentary.
You will have more than one fit of the giggles when you realise that you have absolutely no idea what you're doing.
Just last week Miss Five had fallen off the stool (and was crying), Mr Three couldn't get a fairy dress on Spiderman (and was crying) and baby was hot/cold/hungry/tired/gassy – we couldn't work out which – and was crying. This is the moment you look around at your life and completely (and sometimes literally) pee yourself laughing.
"Oh my good lord … I think he/she is dying/has a terminal disease/must be rushed to hospital STAT!" Don't stress. These worries are perfectly normal. I may have been on a first name basis with the Parent Helpline people.
It doesn't matter whether you've had one child or enough to rival the Octomom, you will still ask repeatedly: Is this normal?
You will never, ever leave the house with just your phone and wallet again.
Instead, you will be loaded down with enough accessories to rival a Kardashian and you can be guaranteed two things. Firstly, the one time you forget the spare jumpsuit you will suffer a poo tsunami.
Secondly, it will grate on your nerves when your husband repeatedly asks "Honey, did we bring the such-and-such?" or "Honey, did we bring the thing-a-me?" What's this 'we' business? There's a reason he's sitting in the car and beeping the horn. It's because you're the one who's packing while he sips on his iced coffee and listens to the footy.
You know how the doc comes in for the last debrief and runs you through the importance of contraception, as you can resume your bedroom activities after about six weeks? Try to make sure hubby is in the coffee shop for that one then lie and tell him it's a three-month hiatus.


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Geraldo Rivera Eyes Senate Run in New Jersey
Geraldo Rivera said on his radio show Thursday that he is contemplating a 2014 run for the Senate in New Jersey as a Republican.
"I mention this only briefly: Fasten your seatbelt," he said on his radio show. "I mentioned this only briefly to my wife," he continued, "but I am and I've been in touch with some people in the Republican Party in New Jersey." (Mediaite has posted the audio.)


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→ See review here (in Portuguese)
→ See review here (in Portuguese)
Published by NovoJournal – 20.3.2015
Download → NJ372_1º Caderno → NJ372_Mutamba
Published in Angola Journal – Jun 12th, 2012
A Primeira-Dama da República, Ana Paula dos Santos, elogiou, no domingo, em Luanda, o tenor angolano Nelson Ebo, que estuda nos Estados Unidos, pela forma como prestigia Angola no estrangeiro.
Ana Paula dos Santos, que falava à imprensa no final de um concerto na Casa 70, comemorativo do 14º aniversário daquele espaço, que teve a participação do tenor Nelson Ebo, disse sentir-se orgulhosa por haver um talento angolano a brilhar no estrangeiro.
"É preciso dizer que este momento foi sentido e não ouvido. Estou muito orgulhosa por saber que ele é angolano", referiu.
A Primeira-Dama lembrou que há muitos artistas angolanos com talento, que apenas precisam de ser descobertos.
"Os talentos existem e precisam de ser descobertos e polidos para poderem brilhar. Estou orgulhosa de haver um angolano com toda esta capacidade e potencial", insistiu.
Angola, declarou, deve orgulhar-se por "Deus ter concedido a Nelson Ebo um dom sagrado".
"Espero que continue a espalhar pelo mundo todo o seu talento e que consiga preservar a sua linda voz", concluiu.
Mr. Ebo, soprano Chloe Moore, and pianist David Antony Lofton to perform a series of concerts in Luanda in June.
PHILADELPHIA: Angolan tenor Nelson Ebo, who has just completed his first year as a resident artist at Philadelphia's prestigious Academy of Vocal Arts, will present a series of three concerts in Luanda, Angola. He will be joined by fellow AVA artist, soprano Chloé Moore, in a program that includes opera, musical theatre, art song and even some Gershwin and Edith Piaf songs. AVA faculty member David Antony Lofton will accompany the singers. The three concerts will be held over a period of one week, with performances on June 6th, June 8th, and June 9th in three different locations: Casa 70, Luanda's Convention Centre, and the National Theatre, respectively. All concerts will be open to the public. The last concert, on June 9th, will be attended by the President and First Lady of the Republic of Angola as well as other government authorities and diplomatic corps in Luanda. This will be Nelson's first time back in his home country since obtaining a scholarship to study in Madrid, Spain in 2001.
The second youngest of fifteen children, Nelson's formative years were spent singing in his parish choir where he began to experiment with opera and found his vocal passion. His first professional opportunities were on the stage at Casa 70, Luanda's premier music hall. As Casa 70 is celebrating their 50th anniversary, they have invited Nelson to once again impress Angolan audiences with his lyrical style.
Nelson's performances at Casa 70 led to an opportunity to further his vocal studies, when a U.N. Human Rights officer from Spain happened to hear him sing one evening. With the help of the Spanish Embassy, arrangements were made for Nelson to travel to Madrid to audition for the Royal Conservatory of Music and Carlos III University in Madrid. When Nelson arrived in Madrid his health had deteriorated and he had been diagnosed with early-stage tuberculosis. Even so, Nelson knew this was a "make or break" opportunity. He sang an impressive audition, scoring a perfect "10" and was accepted on full scholarship to Carlos III University of Madrid.
The next few years saw a transformation in Nelson, as he quickly adjusted to life in Madrid, embracing the language and culture, and throwing himself into his vocal studies. It was in Genoa in 2004, that the late Julian Rodescu of Philadelphia, heard Nelson sing. He was by all accounts bowled over by Nelson's voice, and became a mentor, friend, and teacher. He encouraged Nelson to audition for the prestigious Academy of Vocal Arts, which he did in 2005. He was not accepted, and this first-ever rejection sent him into a period of self-evaluation and even depression. With the support of friends such as Mr. Rodescu and others, he enrolled in Westminster Choir College, then the Hartt School of Music and continued his vocal studies. He re-auditioned for AVA in 2011, and this time, he was accepted. He currently studies with Bill Schuman, the legendary teacher who has had particular success with tenors.
As the AVA trio prepares to depart for Angola, they recognize the fact that, although it is a growing part of Angola's musical culture, opera is still rather unique. Nelson's achievements, and those of other young Angolan opera singers studying and performing abroad, are a great source of pride for his compatriots. The June concerts are being billed as the triumphant return of Nelson Ebo, who left Angola a poor, sickly teenager with big hopes and dreams, and returns a poised, educated, talented artist on the cusp of a career in opera.
Nelson Ebo, tenor, a first-year resident artist from Angola, attended the University of Carlos III in Madrid, Spain, Westminster Choir College, and the Hartt School of Music. Among his awards and recognitions are an encouragement award from the Giulio Gari Foundation in 2011 and 2010, second prize in the 2011 Gerda Lissner Foundation International Vocal Competition, first place in the 2010 Connecticut Concert Opera Competition, and first place in the 2008 Lakes Region Opera Competition in New Hampshire. Mr. Ebo has sung in a variety of concerts, including the Richard Tucker Foundation, Gerda Lissner Foundation, Marcello Giordani and Friends, Scenes from Carmen, and the UN Human
Rights Day in Geneva, Switzerland. He has also performed solo recitals in New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Spain.
Chloé Moore, soprano, from Calgary, Alberta, is a second-year AVA resident artist. She is a recipient of the George London Award from the George London Foundation, third-prize winner of the Liederkranz Competition, third prize winner in both the Gerda Lissner Foundation International Vocal Competion, and the Loren L. Zachary Society Vocal Competition, all in 2012. In 2011, Ms. Moore received the Leoš Janácek Prize and Donald James Goldberg Prize, both with the Czech & Slovak International Voice Competition at Théâtre Lyrichorégra 20, the Rosalind Jackson Memorial Award from the Crested Butte Music Festival, first place in the Sacred Vocal Competition with Concerts@First, and encouragement awards from the Gerda Lissner International Vocal Competition and the Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation International Vocal Competition. At AVA she has sung Adina in L'elisir d'amore, Mélisande in Pelléas et Mélisande, Antonia and Stella in Les Contes d'Hoffmann, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, Zdenka in Arabella, Mistress Brown in The Scarlet Letter, and Sister Osmina, Sister Dolcina and the Infirmary Sister in a concert version of Suor Angelica. Other performances include Giulietta in I Capuleti e i Montecchi, Frasquita in Carmen, and Antonia in Les Contes d'Hoffmann with the Crested Butte Music Festival. She holds a M.M. in Vocal Performance from the University of Arizona and a B.M. from the University of Toronto.
David Antony Lofton, pianist, is a native Philadelphian and a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied piano accompanying with Dr. Vladimir Sokoloff. While at Westminster Choir College he developed his choral conducting skills and studied the organ. He has served as artistic director of Opera North (Opera Ebony) and as conductor of La traviata, Les Contes d'Hoffmann, Faust, L'elisir d'amore, Die Zauberflöte, Susannah, and Der Vampyr for Mozart & Friends Opera Company.While at Curtis, he was the accompanist and vocal coaching apprentice of the late Todd Duncan for eight years.
He has been a recital collaborator for many renowned singers including, Stephen Costello, Aylin Pérez, Marietta Simpson, Angela Brown, Indra Thomas, Wilhelmenia Fernandez, Nancy Fabiola Herrera, Eglise Gutiérrez, Burak Bilgili, John Packard and Othalie Graham. He has also served as coach and accompanist for the Luciano Pavarotti International Voice Competition and participated in the Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto, Italy, where he was assistant conductor for televised productions of Carmen and Amahl and the Night Visitors, staged by the composer Gian Carlo Menotti himself. Mr. Lofton has performed as a pianist in both solo and chamber music performances. He appeared as piano soloist in Beethoven's Choral Fantasy with the New Jersey MasterChorale. He has conducted full concerts of operatic and
symphonic music including one with the famed Harlem Boys Choir at Carnegie Hall and Hansel and Gretel with the University of Minnesota at Duluth.
Prior to joining the AVA faculty, he began a ten-year period as faculty member of the Curtis Institute of Music and was also on the faculty at the Combs College of Music. Aside from being a conductor and accomplished pianist, Mr. Lofton has composed spanish music for television commercials and served as a vocal consultant for Sony Recordings. He has conducted the Mozart and Faure Requiems and was pianist for numerous recitals at Neumann University. Three times he was chosen to conduct "Opera on the Square" for Sunoco's Welcome America Celebration. In 2010 Mr. Lofton made his debut with Opera Delaware conducting Puccini's La bohème. He is Music Director of St. Paul's Episcopal Church of Elkins Park, which presents a series of recitals each year with AVA artists.
David Antony Lofton has been the exclusive Music Director and Conductor of AVA's Jubilate. A Concert of Sacred Music for fourteen years.
The mission of The Academy of Vocal Arts, founded in 1934 by Helen Corning Warden, is to provide tuition-free vocal and opera training of the highest quality, and financial support during training, to exceptionally talented and committed young singers who have the potential for international stature, and to present them in professional performances that are accessible to a wide community.
Gifted singers come from throughout the world to seek the exceptional guidance and training that The Academy of Vocal Arts offers. AVA's four-year program is unique, not only because it is a fully tuition- free institution that focuses solely on operatic training, but also because it has established a niche as an organization that produces opera. Admission is determined by competitive annual auditions, with an average of 8 to 10 singers admitted each year. The total roster of resident artists is purposely kept low and averages 25-30 in total. Those who are accepted receive training equivalent to more than $70,000 per year. A faculty of individuals who are among the finest in their fields provides intensive training in voice, acting, stage combat, repertoire, languages, and other related subjects necessary for an operatic career.
Over the past seven decades, outstanding singers of international stature have attended AVA, including David Adams, Lando Bartolini, Joyce DiDonato, Ryan Edwards, Wilhelmenia Fernandez, Nancy Fabiola Herrera, Luis Ledesma, James Morris, Stuart Neill, John Packard, Julien Robbins, Valerian Ruminski, Jane
Shaulis, Ruth Ann Swenson, Indra Thomas, Richard Troxell, Beverly Wolff, and currently making their mark in the opera world, recent graduates Burak Bilgili, Stephen Costello, Ellie Dehn, Joyce El Khoury, Michael Fabiano, Othalie Graham, Eglise Gutiérrez, Bryan Hymel, Angela Meade, Keith Miller, Latonia Moore, Ailyn Pérez, Dongwon Shin, Taylor Stayton, James Valenti, and Corinne Winters.
I was born in Angola, a war torn African country. I had 15 brothers and sisters but, due to illness and war, nine of them and my parents are dead. My family and I hid in a Franciscan seminary to escape the guerrillas terrorizing my country.
During the years at the seminary, I began to sing at mass, became familiar with sacred music and soon realized that I love to sing. I listened to borrowed recordings of renowned tenors Luciano Pavarotti and Placido Domingo and tried to imitate them.
The masses that I sang were televised. People noticed me and invited me to sing at other events. I began singing in restaurants to provide food and medical care for my family.
During one of my performances, I met a representative from the United Nations who said I must learn to sing opera. He helped me emigrate to receive more formal musical training, first in Spain and now at The Hartt School.
The decision to leave Angola was one of the most difficult I've ever had to make because I was the sole support of my remaining family. But I know that with better vocal training, I will be in a better position to provide for them.
I study with Wayne Rivera, chair of Opera Performance.
Nelson Ebo '11 – The Power of Song · University of Hartford
By HELEN O'NEILL, AP Special Correspondent
In this March 10, 2011 photo, tenor Nelson Hebo prepares to sing in a concert with prominent and rising opera stars at the Church of the Heavenly Rest in New York. Nelson's journey has been an odyssey as dramatic and surreal as any opera. It has swept him from the war-ravaged streets of Luanda to the universities and opera houses of Europe and America, transforming his life and many others along the way. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews) — AP
WEST HARTFORD, CONN. — In his tiny dorm room, Nelson Hebo keeps an envelope containing a few tattered photographs of his family. His mother, Maria, gazes distantly from a black-and-white passport photo. His father, Francisco, stands on a patch of dirt outside their house in Angola clutching his young nephew, Fabio, and holding a Bible. Scribbled on the back, in Portuguese, are the words, "remember your father."
Nelson turns away. He cannot hide the sadness in his eyes.
"It is very hard to look at them," he says quietly.
These are reminders of the world Nelson Hebo was born into: a world of poverty and violence and disease, where soldiers dragged young men from dusty streets at rifle-point, where gunfire shattered the night, where the only meal of the day might be a bowl of rice steeped in sugar washed down with "coffee" brewed from burnt beans.


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Printing Service Representatives
Dan Mustoe, Manager
(573) 526-2165
Printing Service Representative
To assist state agencies with all their printing needs, State Printing has designated a specific Printing Services Representative (PSR) for each agency. Your PSR is your link to State Printing services and will provide information, answer questions and help with all your agency's printing needs. The goal of each PSR is customer satisfaction. They will strive to ensure your agency's printing requests are completed accurately and on time.
To locate your Printing Service Representative, click on your agency:
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Quick Copy Centers - Contact Information
State Printing Center
Contact: Dan Drinkard
or Mitch Herigon
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Phone: (573) 751-3307
Fax: (573) 526-7900
Jefferson State Office Building
Contact: Greg Smith
205 Jefferson Street B-15
Jefferson City, Missouri 65101
Phone: (573) 751-6979
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Contact: Robert Duckworth
301 West High Street Room 154
Jefferson City, Missouri 65109
Phone: (573) 751-2404
Fax: (573) 522-1227
Department of Natural Resources
Contact: Aaron Dickey
1738 East Elm Street
Jefferson City, Missouri 65101
Phone: (573) 522-4371


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Gamification Of Learning Examples Gamification in eLearning development imparts an effective informal learning environment and gamification of learning helps learners practice real-life situations and challenges in a safe environment. This Video shares 6 killer Gamification of learning examples that showcase how to use Gamification in business effectively. Learn more on Gamification of learning. About EI […]
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A couple of days ago, I put together an outfit entirely comprised of clothes that are at least four years old. Unfortunately, it was rather cold so I had to put on my jacket, but then that looks pretty old too, so I don't think the effect was ruined too much.
I hope you are having a lovely spring, and enjoying your weekend!
Tweed Blazer: Zara
My Little Pony T-Shirt: Urban Outfitters c.2007
Watch Necklace: Urban Outfitters
Red Waistcoat: 'Hand-me-down' from my friend Eleanor. Originally H&M.
Tweed Shorts: Topshop c.2007
Green Tights: H&M c.2008
Dr. Martens


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Simple craft store roses get a charming makeover with a bit of paint and some sparkly crystal beads! Get the tutorial created by Carmen of RoCa and Company by clicking this link. These sweet little pins/clips would be perfect accessories for your bridesmaids or flower girls. Thanks for the link Carmen!
Indeed perfect for flower girls and bridesmaid! Love the color and the texture of these florals!
Annabella MErlin
Creative Photo Albums