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Browse: Books | WILD AND WICKED (ebook) | Read an Excerpt
"You ask the impossible!" Apryll stared at her brother as if he'd gone mad. She slapped the reins of her listless mare into a stable boy's hand and frowned as she glanced up at the foreboding sky. Dark winter clouds, swollen with rain, moved slowly across the heavens as a keening wind tore through the outer bailey of the castle she'd called home for all of her nineteen years.
Mud speckled her skirts and gusts of the blasted wind snatched at her hair as she strode toward the great hall. Payton, her half-brother, marched at her side and she was certain he'd gone daft. "I cannot sneak into Black Thorn Castle and dupe the lord with my . . . charms--is that what you said--you want me to . . . 'charm' the beast of Black Thorn while you . . .you . . . what? Steal his jewels and his horses? 'Tis madness."
"You will not need to sneak. During the Christmas Revels the portcullis is raised and the doors of Black Thorn are thrown wide," Payton assured her, his jaw set, determination etched in his bladed features. He took a quick step in front of her and grabbing both her arms, forced her to stop just as the first drops of rain began to fall. "Look around you," he ordered, desperation and a need for revenge carved into his features as he insisted she take a harder look at the once-beautiful castle now falling deep into ruin. Thatching had blown from the roofs of some of the huts in the bailey, beams had rotted, even the mortar in the thick curtain wall surrounding the keep was giving way, pebbles littering the dead grass. Winter apples hanging on leafless trees were shriveled and wormy. Sheep were huddled against the wind, their coats black with mud and dung, their bleats pathetic.
"You can't be so blind not to see that there is not enough wood in all of the forest to get us through the winter, the stock is sickly, the grain supply infested with rats, the horses already showing bones. The stores of wheat and spices are nearly empty, the wool to make new clothes in scant supply as the sheep are dying. You're the lady here," he reminded her roughly as she threw off his hands and began walking again, hurrying through the inner bailey where chickens scattered, their tattered feathers flying into the puddles that had collected in the rutted pathways. "'Tis your obligation to help those who serve you."
"Aye, Payton I must do something," she admitted with a heavy sigh. Few hammers were banging as carpenters labored against impossible repairs and though the black smith's forge was glowing bright, the bellows hissing, 'twould only be a short time before the castle was depleted of steel. Boys ran carrying sacks of acorns they'd gathered for the pigs, but soon what meager stores of feed that had been harvested and gathered would be drained. Gripping her cloak more tightly around her, Apryll bit her lip and hurried up the chipped steps to the keep. A rail-thin guard with a pockmarked complexion and sad eyes, opened the door. "M'lady," he said with only a shadow of a smile.
"Geoffrey." She paused before entering and felt rain seep under her hood to run through her hair and down her face. "How is your wife?"
He glanced to the ground and clamped his lips together, then cleared his throat. "Mary–-she be fine. As soon as the babes-–twins they be, the midwife says--arrive, she'll be back on her feet, mark my words. A strong lass Mary is." But his gaze belied the courage in his words.
"I'll see that the physician stops to see her and that cook makes her best soup. I'll bring it to your hut myself."
"'Tis kind ye be, m'lady." Geoffrey nodded, managing a grateful, snagged-toothed smile as he shut the door behind them. Apryll felt cold to the bottom of her soul.
"His wife will be dead within a week," Payton predicted. The tables within the great hall had been pushed against the aging walls. He rubbed his gloved hands together. "As for Mary's unborn babes . . ." He clucked his tongue and shook his head in dire prediction. "'Tis a pity."
"They're not yet born, for the love of God. Mary has already birthed two fine, strong sons, so don't be placing the twins in their graves already." She refused to believe there was a grain of truth in his words. Mary, with her flaming hair and wide smile, was a big-boned strong woman. The twins would survive. Somehow. But the gloom of the castle with its cracked walls and cobweb dusted rafters couldn't be ignored. And if those babes die, and other children as well, who will be to blame?
You, Apryll.
A fire burned within the grate and yet the cavernous room was as chilled as if a ghost had passed behind the ragged curtains. There had been a time when the whitewashed walls had been covered by colorful tapestries, the rushes had been fresh and sweet-smelling, enticing aromas from the kitchen had been ever-present. Apryll remembered the smell of roasting pork as it turned on the spit, fat dripping into the coals, or the sweet scent of fruit tarts, or the smokey tang of charring eel flesh. Delicious scents had mingled and swept through the corridors and tunnels, sweeping through the great hall and filling the secret nooks and crannies where Apryll had played with the castle dogs or other children. But that had been long ago in a time when it had never seemed to grow cold, a time of laughter and songs and freedom. A time when her mother had been alive. Apryll had been her father's pet, a spoiled child who had easily weaseled sweet tidbits before dinner from cook, or been allowed to play seek and hide in the hay stored for the winter, or who had been dressed like a small princess for every festive occasion. She'd sat on her father's knee and tugged on this thick reddish beard. It had been long ago, of course.
Before the curse of Black Thorn had been cast upon us.
Wrapping her arms around herself, she rubbed her sleeves, as if warding off a chill.
Payton was too young to remember the happiness that had spilled like sunshine through this very hall.
"The treasury be nearly empty," he reminded her as Apryll tore off her riding gloves and, ignoring the hole in one finger, stuffed them into her pocket. Tossing off her hood, she warmed her palms by the fire. Piled high with ashes, the iron dogs supporting the burning logs seemed to glower up at her with their tarnished and blackened eyes. "The stores of feed are lower than they have been in years." She bit her lip and braced herself for she knew what was to come. Always, after Payton's prophesies of doom and disaster for the keep, he came up with suggestions on how to improve things. She wasn't disappointed this afternoon.
"'Tis simple, Apryll. Either you marry and marry well, or we will not make it through the winter. Your subjects will starve."
"I'll not marry--"
"Lord Jamison asks for your hand," he cut in.
She shuddered at the thought of the rheumy-eyed baron. His girth was as wide as his height and he had a cruel streak she'd witnessed while hunting. Angry that the quarry, an impressive stag had escaped, he'd raged and sputtered and whipped his dogs and steed with a fury that had brought a gleam to his eye and spittle to his lips. Apryll didn't doubt for a second that his brutality had extended to his wives. "He has been married four times, brother. None of his wives lived longer than three years. Think you I should be the fifth?"
"You are strong . . ."
"Fine, fine. But if not Jamison, why not Baron William of Balchdar? He asks of you often and would make a fine husband."
"Then you marry him," she snapped angrily, shaking the rain from her hair. "I detest him."
"You detest all men." Payton raised a dismissive hand.
"Not true."
"Then all suitors. 'Tis long past the time when you should marry. By now, you should be wed and have two or three babes."
"Not Lord William," she said angrily. William was a handsome man with crafty eyes and a prideful stance. He looked down his straight nose as if everyone he came upon-–peasants, servants, knights and even other lords–-were beneath him, were put upon this land but to serve him. There were secrets hidden in his dark, imperious eyes, secrets that sent a shiver down Apryll's spine, secrets she, nor any one else, dared not unveil.
"What of-–?"
"Say no more," she ordered. "You need not remind me of each and every baron who would deign wed me and save the Serennog. By the saints I know well who they are!"
Payton laid a brotherly hand upon her shoulder as the fire crackled and smoke spiraled to the patched ceiling. Raindrops found their way inside, running down the walls or plopping in ever-growing puddles on the stone floor. "I know you want not to marry them and so I am offering you another answer." Her half-brother's voice was soothing and sincere, yet she told herself he had his own reasons for scheming against Black Thorn.
The wind whistled eerily through the cracks in the walls muting the sound of a baby wailing, sobbing pitifully in some distant part of the keep. Payton, curse his sorry hide, was right. Soon the sickness that had infected a few would spread throughout the castle and village, killing many and leaving those who were strong and unlucky enough to survive the illness only to face starvation.
'Twas grim.
"Listen, Apryll, 'tis your sworn duty to protect and care for these people," her half-brother reminded her as he spied a page huddled in a corner. "You there boy!" Payton snapped his fingers. "John–-wine for the lady and myself!" he ordered and Apryll cringed inwardly for in light of their conversation, the wine seemed frivolous, best saved. "And see that it is warmed as we be chilled to our bones." The wool of his cloak was steaming, giving off an odor from the heat of the fire and his eyes, usually as blue as a summer sky, had darkened. "All the trouble that has come this way can be laid at the feet of those who rule Black Thorn. 'Twas Black Thorn's army and their lord that brought a curse upon Serennog. 'Tis only justice that we return the favor."
"Or revenge," she said, eyeing her half-brother and wondering how deep his hatred ran.
He lifted a shoulder. "As I said, you, m'lady have an obligation to those who serve you, and, as I see it, you can either marry some rich baron or partake in my plan."
She dropped into a chair near the fire. Neither option was acceptable, both left a bad taste in her mouth. "And if I were to agree, I would need clothes . . . A fine gown and jewels . . . as well as an invitation."
"I have considered all this."
"Have you?" There was more to her brother than she knew, a side far more shrewd and deadly. She would have to tread lightly.
"Aye, and I've found all but the invitation, which will not be necessary."
"Found?" She laughed hollowly and rolled her eyes. "You found a gown? When we have no grain for the livestock, little food and not even a scrap of cloth large enough for cook's apron, as you so just warned me, but now, now you claim you've got a gown and gems fine enough to wear to the Revels at Black Thorn?" She shook her head at the folly of it all. "Now, Payton, 'tis no longer a guess. Now I know you be daft."
"Trust me." Payton's face was sincere, his brown hair glinting red in the light from the fire. "There are treasures within this very castle that were hidden away–-our mother's bridal gown and her jewels, all packed and wrapped carefully with dried herbs and flowers, then hidden deep within a crypt, untouched by the castle rats or moths or mold."
"And you just happened to find them."
"Father Hadrian and I."
She scowled a bit. The priest was new to the castle, a seemingly pious man whose kindness seemed forced. Apryll wasn't sure she trusted the man. There was something very amiss here, something wrong. "Even if you did have these things--"
"I do."
"Then bring them before me and . . . Nay! 'Tis foolishness. There must be another way," she said, drumming her fingers on the smooth arm of her chair. Stealing from the Lord of Black Thorn would only spell deeper trouble.
"Mayhap." Payton scowled and shrugged out of his mantel, draping it on a stool by the fire. "But I know it not and we have little time."
As if on cue, one of the servants who had been hiding behind the thin curtains began coughing loudly, the sound rattling in the poor man's lungs and ricocheting through the rafters and ceilings of the drafty castle.
"Geneva has had a vision--"
"Hush! I'll not trust the prophesies of a woman who claims to see spirits and casts spells and practices the dark arts!" Apryll quickly made the sign of the cross over her chest, for, in truth, the sorceresses was a kind, yet disturbing woman.
"Did Geneva not foretell the death of the miller's son?" he asked and she refused to think of the poor boy drowning in the mill pond just this past spring. Payton lowered himself into the chair next to hers. "And what of the loss of the Father Benjamin's eyesight? Did not Geneva predict 'twould be so?"
"Aye, aye." Apryll's eyebrows pulled into a knot of concentration. Because of the rotund priest's blindness that Father Hadrian had been sent to Serennog. "'Twas happen chance."
"I don't think so."
John, the nervous page with pockmarked skin and hair that stuck out like dirty straw, entered quickly and poured two mazers of wine from a jug.
"Even Father Benjamin, a true man of our Lord, now believes that Geneva's is blessed by God with the sight to see what is to come," Payton insisted, taking his cup from the table and dismissing the page quickly with an impatient snap of his wrist. "Geneva has seen prosperity for Serennog again."
"Because of your plan against Black Thorn?"
"Aye." He crossed one booted leg over his knee and took a long swallow of wine. Firelight reflected in his eyes and the edges of his mouth curved ever downward. Deep in the rushes, the sounds of tiny claws, mice or rats, scraped against the stone floor.
Apryll sensed a half-truth hidden in her brother's plan. "There is more you have not told me."
Payton lifted a dismissive shoulder. "Mayhap."
"What is the rest of it?"
He hesitated. Buried his nose in his mazer.
"If I am to be a part of this or give your scheme any merit, I must hear it all."
"So be it." He set his cup on the scarred planks of a small table. "Geneva . . . she . . ." He sighed, clenched and opened a fist, and shook his head as if he were unable or unwilling to say the rest. Turning his head slightly, he called. "Geneva. Be you here?"
Apryll felt a tingle on the back of her neck, the fine hairs at her nape raising one by one. 'Twas as if Satan himself had breathed upon her.
Appearing on silent footsteps, Geneva rounded a pillar where, Apryll surmised, she'd been lurking and listening–-at Payton's behest.
Tall and slender, wearing a faded green gown and an expression of abject serenity, Geneva observed Apryll with eyes a pale watery blue. Her skin was without a wrinkle and so white it was nearly translucent.
"M'lady," she said with a half curtsey.
"What do you know of this?" April demanded, but Geneva's gaze was turned toward Payton.
"You were to tell her the truth, Sir Payton." Reproach edged the deep clarity of her voice.
Payton's Adam's apple bobbed. He didn't meet her eyes. The wind whistled and the coals in the fire glowed bright.
"What is it?" Apryll demanded. A frigid chill seeped deep into her skin and she knew in a heart beat that whatever it was, she would not like what the sorceress had to say. When Payton didn't answer, she turned her question to Geneva. "Tell me."
A second's hesitation.
"Now," Apryll ordered. "What is it you see?"
Geneva lifted an elegant eyebrow. Her gaze fixed deep in Apryll's. "In order for there to be peace and prosperity at Serennog again," she said, "you will marry the Lord of Black Thorn."
Apryll's blood turned to ice. "Never," she said in a hoarse whisper that was far from her normal voice. Her stomach clenched in repulsion when she thought of the powerful, brooding baron and the rumors that had swirled around him. Cruel. Without a heart. Feared rather than loved, Lord Devlynn of Black Thorn was known throughout Wales for his unbending will. "Did he not kill his first wife and unborn babe?"
"No one knows for certain." Geneva's demeanor remained unmoved, expressionless.
The wind seemed to have died. Apryll's heart drummed a furious, denying tattoo. "And yet you think I would agree to marry him?" 'Twas absurd. Swiveling her head, she asked, "Payton? You knew this?"
He nodded stiffly, then snapped his fingers for more wine.
"'Tis not about choice," Geneva said with quiet conviction as she stepped closer, and Apryll was drawn once again to those unblinking pallid eyes. "'Tis about destiny, m'lady. Your destiny."
Chapter One
Black Thorn Forest
December, 1283
"Happy Christmas," Lord Devlynn muttered without a trace of a smile. Tossing a sprig of mistletoe onto the grave where his wife and infant daughter were buried, he couldn't ignore the remorse that lay heavy upon his soul, nor the bitterness that had festered deep in his heart. He stared at the graying tombstone, fingered the rosary deep within his pocket, but could conjure up no prayer to ask God's forgiveness.
A raw December wind, promising snow, blew across the hillside. Frosted blades of grass crumpled beneath his boots. Two horses pawed the hard ground. Astride the bay, his brother sat, gloved hands over the pommel of his saddle, a long suffering expression on a face considered handsome by nearly every woman in the barony. "Come along, m'lord," Collin mocked. "'Tis time to put away the ghosts and leave the dead buried where they belong. There is living to be done and now 'tis the time. Like it or not, the Revels are upon us and soon the keep will be filled with guests and laughter and celebration." In the coming darkness, Collin slanted a wicked grin, the likes of which had melted the ice around more than one young maid's heart. "'Tis time to forget the past, get drunk, raise a skirt or two and make merry."
"Is it?"
"Aye." Deep lines of frustration burrowed across Collin's brow. He rubbed his hands together and his breath fogged in the air. "Mayhap you fancy a tongue lashing from our sweet sister but I, for one, would like to forgo that supreme pleasure at least for this night."
"Ride ahead."
"I'll be along! Tell Miranda to heat my mazer and fill it with wine." Mayhap his brother was right; 'twas time to look forward rather than back.
Collin hesitated, then glanced across the stream and tops of the forest trees to the hill upon which Castle Black Thorn rose, a massive stone and mortar fortress with towers spiraling heavenward. The main gate was thrown open, the drawbridge lowered and portcullis raised while high on poles above the watch towers twin standards emblazoned gold and black, snapped in the harsh winter breeze.
"Have it your way then. After all, you be the lord."
"Forget it not," Devlynn suggested striving for humor and failing miserably. His brother sent him a look of pity, reined his stallion and shaking his head, slapped the beast on his broad rump. With a snort the steed bolted, and Collin, fur-lined mantel swelling behind him, rode furiously down the hillside. The horse's hooves thundered against the frozen ground. Overhead a startled hawk flapped its great wings as it soared toward the woods.
Devlynn watched horse and rider splash through the stream at the base of the hill, then disappear into a thicket of naked-branched oaks on the far side of the creek. Waiting until the echo of hoof beats had faded into the low moan of the wind, Devlynn turned back to the grave. His jaw clenched so hard it ached. 'Twas time to let all the old pain die. Banish the guilt. He pulled off a glove with his teeth, then, reaching beneath his mantle he wrapped chilled fingers around the black ribbon he'd worn around his arm, the reminder of the tragedy that had claimed his beloved wife and unborn daughter's lives, the symbol of the guilt that was forever carved into his heart.
"'Tis over," he growled, stripping the band from his arm and dropping it onto the dead grass. The first flakes of snow drifted from the dark sky as he strode to his horse and swung easily into the saddle. Thoughts as black as the coming night, he yanked on the reins and urged his barrel-chested gray. "Run you devil," he growled.
The stallion shot forward. Sleek muscles moved effortlessly, long strides tore over the open fields and ever downward to the creek. On the near bank, the steed's gait shifted, his muscles bunched, Devlynn caught his breath. Phantom sprang, catapulting over the gurgling stream where ice had collected between the rocks. Devlynn felt a surge of power, a freedom as the raw wind pressed hard against his flesh and stung his eyes.
This night he would bury all thoughts of his wife and unborn daughter. By the grace of God he still had his son. A hint of a smile tugged at the corner's of Devlynn's mouth as he thought of the boy. A strong, smart boy nearing ten, Yale was as quick with a dagger as he was with a roll of the dice. A dead-eye with a bow and arrow, sly and bull-headed, Yale eagerly argued with the castle priest, defied his teachers, and often escaped from beneath his nursemaid's wary eye. He rode the finest steeds without a saddle alone in the forest, was known to shimmy up a tree or down a rope faster than the most agile knights and promised to be a handsome man in time. Gray eyes, thick black hair, a dusting of freckles and a bravery that bordered on recklessness. Aye, the lad was trouble, but also Devlynn's pride and joy. Soon Yale would grow tall and strong and Devlynn never once doubted his decision to keep Yale here, at Black Thorn, rather than send him to be a page at another lord's castle.
The boy would someday be Lord of Black Thorn.
There was no reason for Devlynn to ever marry again; he had his only son and heir.
Hours later, aided by warm wine, a long, hot meal, and the crackle of the Yule log burning brightly in the grate, the chill had drained from Devlynn's bones. Holly, mistletoe and ivy had been draped throughout the great hall where hundreds of candles burned, their flames flickering brightly.
As part of the festivities and feast a boar's head, replete with sprays of laurel and an apple stuffed into its snout, had been paraded through the guests upon a sliver platter, then consumed along with great trays of eel, pheasant, salmon and crane. Wine flowed. Music trilled. Laughter rang. Dozens of finely garbed guests, resplendent with jewels, were dancing and making merry, laughing and drinking as if they had not a care in the world. Half of them he'd never met.
The spirit of the season was lost on the Lord of Black Thorn. Seated on the small of his back at the head table with the rest of his family, Devlynn had no interest in the festivities, nor had he paid any attention to more than one fetching young maid determined to catch his eye.
"You break more hearts and dash more hopes than 'tis wise," Collin warned his brother after Yale, uncharacteristically drowsy, had been hauled off to bed. "There be skirts to be lifted tonight."
"So lift them," Devlynn replied, drinking heartily and motioning to a page to refill his cup. "All of them."
"Some of the maids have eyes only for you."
Because I am the lord, he thought cynically as the Yule candle burned bright before him. He had no interest in foolish, ambitious women. The page refilled his cup and he wondered when the evening would end.
"By the saint's 'tis an angel," Aunt Violet whispered almost reverently as she gazed upon the guests.
Devlynn slid a glance in the older woman's direction and saw her pale lips quiver in awe. Hurriedly, with deft beringed fingers, she made the sign of the cross over her ample, velvet-draped bosom. 'Twas as if she were warding off evil spirits rather than embracing a divine being cast down from the heavens.
Devlynn paid little mind to the old woman and swallowed another gulp of wine. Though her once-clear eyes had clouded with age, Violet was always seeing spirits and ghosts. Now during the holidays his aunt was forever searching for some sign of heavenly intervention–-conjuring up a miracle to lift what she considered a dark, gloomy pall that had fallen upon the Lord of Black Thorn's shoulders.
'Twas foolishness.
A scamp of a child, Miranda's eldest, screamed gleefully as she dashed past.
"Hush, Bronwyn, off to bed with you," Miranda ordered.
"Nay, mother, not yet," the girl cried, brown curls bouncing around her flushed eight-year-old face. "We've not yet played hoodman's blind or bob apple."
"But soon, the nurse will take you upstairs."
"Where be Yale?" she asked Devlynn.
"Already abed," her mother said sternly. "Where you should be."
"Why? 'Tis not like him," Bronwyn sniffed.
"Nay, 'tis not," Devlynn agreed, wondering if the lad was becoming ill.
"Mayhap he is only pretending sleep and he is even now escaping the castle as he has before!" Bronwyn said, her eyes bright at the thought of her adventurous cousin.
"Nay. 'Tis only too much merriment and festivities," Miranda said and Bronwyn, as if realizing she was in danger of being hauled off to bed this very minute, tossed her dark ringlets then scampered away, chasing after a servant carrying a platters of jellied eggs, tarts and meat pies.
"Violet is right. She is a beauty," Collin whispered under his breath. There was awe in his voice, but Devlynn refused to be infected with the rapture his brother felt for females.
"All women are beauties to you, Brother." Devlynn tossed back his mazer, wiped his mouth and, bored by the conversation, searched the milling crowd with his eyes.
Then he saw her.
Knowing instinctively that it was the "angel" of whom his Aunt had murmured in awe. Mayhap his doddery, ancient aunt was right for the first time in her seventy-odd years, that the unknown woman was a magical being sent straight from the gates of heaven.
She certainly was like no other Devlynn had ever seen.
Tall and slender, bedecked in a dazzling white gown, she moved thought the crowd with an easy, elegant grace. Her dress was embroidered with silver and gold thread intricately woven and her hair, as pale as flax, was threaded with silver and gold ribbons. Her eyes sparkled from the reflection of the hundreds of candles within the room, her cheekbones arched high above rosy spots of color on flawless skin.
Devlynn's heart thumped in his chest. He silently called himself a fool. Took another swallow of wine.
Who the devil was she?
"You told me not that you had invited divinity," Collin teased, leaning closer to his brother, one side of his mouth lifted in cynical, wicked appreciation.
"I knew not." Devlynn couldn't pull his eyes from the curve of her cheek, nor the lift of her small, pointed chin.
Christ Jesus. The air stilled in his lungs.
"I think I might ask her to dance." Scraping his chair back, Collin lift an eyebrow in his brother's direction, as if in challenge. 'Twas his way these days. Collin seemed restless and bored, ready for a fight, always daring his older brother.
A spurt of jealousy swept through Devlynn, but he raised one shoulder as if he was not interested in the woman. Not at all. Yet he couldn't stop following her with his eyes and felt the muscles at the base of his neck grow taught as Collin strode to the woman and with only the slightest bit of conversation, begin dancing with her.
She smiled brightly, radiantly, and slid easily into his brother's arms.
Devlynn's back teeth gnashed. His gut clenched. He feigned interest in the conversation around him, drank heartily, but the truth of the matter was that he could barely drag his eyes from the elegant woman bedecked in white as she swirled past lords and ladies festooned in purple, dark green, and scarlet.
When the dance was finished, Collin bowed and she inclined her head, then turned to yet another man, a burly knight, who swept her into his arms. For a second Devlynn thought she cast a quick glance in his direction, but 'twas but a heartbeat and then she laughed gaily in the bear of a man's embrace.
Collin returned, picked up his mazer and sighed. "Truly an angel, but one with a touch of sin, me thinks."
"How would you know?"
"Trust me, brother. I know women. This one--" he pointed her out with the finger around his cup, "–-is spirited and I'm not talking about heavenly spirits now."
"Hush!" Violet said. "I'll hear none of this!"
Devlynn finished his wine and while the tapers burned low and a jester tried to regale him with a bawdy joke, his attention never strayed from the bewitching woman as she danced. His eyebrows drew together and he wondered yet again who she was, why he'd never met her, how she'd come to be invited here.
As if he read his brother's mind, Collin said, "I did not catch her name. But mayhap I will the next time." The music faded and he started to climb to his feet, but Devlynn laid a hand upon his shoulder.
"Nay, 'tis my turn," he said, surprising even himself.
"Ah . . . So, Brother, you not be made of stone after all." Collin chuckled gruffly as Devlynn waded through the crowd, nodding to well-wishers as he passed, walking to the knot of guests near the fire where the woman swept a lock of hair from her cheek. He was not alone in his quest. More than one man was following her with appreciative and lust-filled eyes.
"Excuse me," he said, as he approached.
"Lord Devlynn." She dipped her head.
"Could I have this dance?" he asked as a musician began to play a harp. She smiled, her lips parting to show just the hint of white teeth. Gold eyes sparkled brightly at him, yet there was something deeper in her gaze, something hovering beneath the surface. One honey-colored eyebrow raised imperiously.
"Aye, m'lord 'twould be my pleasure, to be sure." She said, then tossed back her head to stare directly at him. "As it was, I thought I would have to ask you."
"You would be so bold?" He was surprised.
"As to approach the lord of the castle?" she asked, some of her gaiety fading.
"Aye. I assure you I would."
Who was she to flirt so wantonly with him? "And had I denied you?"
"Then I would have asked your brother." He swung her easily into his arms and she moved unerringly. "He would not have said 'nay.'"
Devlynn didn't doubt it for a second. Even now he felt the weight of Collin's gaze boring into his back. "Who are you?" "You know not?" she teased moving easily as the tempo of the music quickened. Other couples stepped lively and swirled around them. Fragrant smoke spiraled to the ceiling and conversation buzzed beneath the lilting music.
It had been years since he'd danced, forever since he'd wanted to hold a woman and spin her across the floor, but this one molded tightly against his body and followed his steps easily when they were together, held his gaze when they danced apart, her feet moving quickly over the rushes, her snowy dress smooth and shimmering. She smelled of lavender and roses and the sheen of sweat that covered her skin glistened in the candle glow. She cocked her head as if silently defying him; as if beneath a false layer of civility there was a wild, rebellious spirit lurking within the deepest part of her soul.
For the first time since his wife's death, the Lord of Black Thorn experienced a heat in his blood, a lust running through his veins, a throb in that part of him he'd thought long dead.
She angled her head and he saw the curve of her neck, long and slim, and fought the urge to press his lips against it. 'Twas foolishness. Nothing more. Too much wine and Collin's cursed suggestion that he bed a woman this night. 'Twas all. And yet as he caught sight of the tops of her breasts, plump white pillows pushed seductively above the squared neckline of the dress, blood thundered in his ears and his manhood, so long dormant, began to come to life.
She was innocent beauty and wicked seduction in one instant. Glancing up at him from beneath the sweep of honey-colored lashes, she met his gaze and didn't back down for a second. As if she could read his thoughts, her smile diminished and her eyes darkened.
By the Gods he wanted her.
Deep in the most vital part of him, he yearned to sweep her from her feet, carry her up the curved staircase, strip the glittering white dress from her body, drop her onto his bed and press his hot, insistent flesh against hers.
Oh, for the love of Jesus!
Silently he condemned his soul to hell for his wayward, wicked thoughts. 'Twas reckless desire brought on by too much wine, the spirit of the Revels, the rapture of the night and the absence of a woman for too long in his life. Nothing more.
"We've never met before," he said. "I would have remembered."
"So would have I," she said, her voice without any trace of teasing. "Apryll of Serennog." She said her name as if it should mean something to him, yet it only conjured up vague thoughts of a castle some thought to be in ruin, a keep that was rumored to be haunted, a once-prosperous barony that had, under this woman's dominion, shriveled into poverty.
And yet she was here, in jewels and finery, boldly flirting with him.
Deep inside he knew he should tread warily here, that something was amiss, but the seduction of her smile caused him to cast caution to the winds. Tonight he would not be so suspicious. Tonight he would enjoy the festivities. Tonight he would let the tight reins on his desires slip through his fingers.
Tonight, mayhap, he would bed the lady.
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text:
The author Göran Schildt (1917-2009)
Göran Schildt's creative production comprises cultural history, the theory of art, essays, journalism, travel books, biographies and fiction. His works are associated with a variety of fields, primarily sailing and the Mediterranean.
Göran Schildt was born in 1917 in Helsinki. Since he was a child he dreamed of becoming a writer as his father Runar Schildt. In his memoirs, Göran Schildt told that he had a crate outside his father's study room where he wrote his first lyrics. Runar Schildt committed suicide when Göran Schildt was only 8 years old.
Since Göran Schildt had private lessons he graduated as a student one year ahead of his classmates. He then traveled to France to learn French. In the autumn 1934 he boarded at a family's house in the Pyrenees and during the spring of 1935 he studied at the Sorbonne University in Paris. In christmas 1934 he traveled to Mallorca and then for the first time in his life he came in contact with the fizzy Mediterranean. In 1937 Göran Schildt made another important trip to Italy with his friend Georg Henrik von Wright.
Göran Schildt participated in the Winter War of 1939-40 and was badly wounded by an explosive bullet that hit him in the stomach. During the long convalescent period, he decided that if he survives, he will sail down to the Mediterranean by a boat of his own. That dream became true in 1948 together with his first wife Mona Morales-Schildt when the ketch Daphne sailed along the French rivers and canals down to Lavagna. The book "In the Wake of a Wish (1949)" which was about this trip was a great success for Göran Schildt.
As a writer, Göran Schildt is best known for his books about sailing with Daphne. However, it was with the novel "In the Wake of a Wish" he debuted in 1943. Schildt's writing is diverse and includes cultural history, art history, essays, journalism, travel writing, biographies and fiction. His doctoral thesis in art history he wrote about Paul Cézanne. He has also written a book about André Gide that helped Gide receive the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1947. Göran Schildt applied for professorship in art history at the University of Helsinki in 1947. At the last moment he had second thoughts and withdrew the application. Instead he chose sailing and the free life as a writer.
In 1965 Göran Schildt acquired a second home on the Greek island of Leros. Here he came in direct contact with the Greek culture and his sailing boat Daphne got a new home harbour. Today, the restored Daphne is at display in Forum Marinum in Turku.
The friendship between Alvar Aalto and Göran Schildt Schildt began in 1952 when Schildt together with his friend Roberto Sambonet visited Aalto's architectural office in Helsinki. This meeting resulted in a close friendship that lasted until Aalto's death in 1976. Schildt published articles on Aalto's new buildings and after Aalto's death he wrote a biography in four volumes about the architect. As a token of friendship Alvar Aalto offered to design a house for Göran and Christine Schildt in Ekenäs. The house was completed in the 1970. It was in this house that Göran Schildt drew his last breath in 24 March 2009. The house is still in private use.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Indoctrination and education are similar processes except for two differences: one conditional difference, and one crucial difference. The conditional difference is that indoctrination is one-sided and uncritical, while education is multifaceted, allowing for free and critical evaluation of at least two perspectives, either intentionally or by default. This difference is "conditional" (a difference depending on circumstances) because education can be entirely one-sided in an environment of indoctrination and still be education, since the existing indoctrination serves as the strong presentation of the other side of the issue.
The crucial difference is that indoctrination necessarily involves some sort of influence, power, coercion, or appeals to authority or tradition to maintain a monopoly or similar control over information, and thereby control agreement or consensus; while education shuns influence, power, coercion, and appeals to authority or tradition of any kind as a method of controlling agreement or consensus. It is this difference that essentially distinguishes indoctrination from education.
The influence, power, coercion, or appeals to authority or tradition that defines indoctrination can come in many forms, and does not necessarily use any kind of violence or threats to maintain agreement and consensus. For example, the power inherent in financial or economic control over mass media and what information mass media presents is the kind of power that does not involve any violence or threats whatsoever against the public, but it is extremely effective in maintaining control over public opinion. Similarly, parents' sheltering of their child from information and reasoning that encourages the nonviolence of veganism can be entirely free of any violence or threats of violence. Even the momentum of mass market economics and widespread cultural prejudice itself is a form of domination, undue influence, and power over belief that qualifies it as a strong – and perhaps the strongest – mechanism of indoctrination.
Our Speciesist Indoctrination
We live in a society that heavily indoctrinates us, throughout our entire lives, to accept the widely shared dogma that animals are things, property, and commodities here for us to use, consume, and exploit in virtually any way we desire, as long as we do it "humanely". ("Humanely", as used in this context, is so inaccurate and misleading from a practical point of view as to be close in meaning to its antonym. See Note [1] at the end of the essay for an important elaboration on this point.)
The remainder of this two-part essay will focus on how, and how much, we are indoctrinated, in the hope that seeing the power-based, one-sided, and uncritical nature of such indoctrination, along with vegan education as an antidote to indoctrination, will help in overcoming it.
Indoctrination in Early Childhood
Our indoctrination begins when we are, as infants, fed certain foods before we have any idea what (or whom) we are eating. When we find out as children that we are eating the bodies of dead animals, many of us are uneasy about our new-found knowledge. Our parents or guardians, heavily indoctrinated for decades themselves, try to assure us that some animals are "meant" for us to eat, and that we "need" to eat animals to be healthy. Many of us continue to question such assurances, but even the most precocious of us will generally get no more of a "reason" from the adults in our lives than some form of "that's just the way it is" (e.g. the Bible says so; God put them here for us; they had bad karma in previous lives; they're not rational like us) or false statements to ease our consciences (e.g. they don't mind being our food; they couldn't live comfortable lives if we didn't eat them, and so on). Either way, the vast majority of us are forced – whether by threats of punishment for not eating our meat, or by duress in wanting to please our parents and siblings – to accept that animal products will be what we eat, whether we like it or not. Note the influence and power differential involved in, and uncritical nature of, our "learning" about animals-as-food, and how our concerns are almost always dismissed out of hand by the vast majority of non-vegan parents.
Indoctrination in Youth and at School
From pre-school to high school, the indoctrinated beliefs formed in our early childhood are further reinforced by teachers, other students, the school lunch menu, the "food pyramid" and nutritional "education" (formed by a political process heavily involving animal agribusiness interests), and a constant bombardment of advertising by industry on television, radio, billboards, and in newspapers. For the vast majority of us, there are no alternative perspectives. Our society and the institutions of which it consists have an extremely powerful monopoly on the information and perspectives we receive. Not only that, but almost without exception, the influential people in those institutions have been heavily indoctrinated themselves, whether or not they are aware of it.
We are to uncritically accept the claim that dairy, eggs, and meat are "necessary" for our health. We are to uncritically accept that there are no satisfactory alternatives to animal products. We are to uncritically accept that killing, enslavement, and exploitation is "humane", necessary, and morally acceptable.
Most of us, if we critically challenge or reject animal products in our diet and life as school-aged youth, are swimming upstream against an overwhelming current of parents, teachers, other students, the school lunch menu, and relentless advertising. Critical challenges of society's dogma regarding animal product consumption and animal use are often met with hostility and even ridicule. The exception is when we have parents who either are vegan or strongly support our decision to be vegan. Even then, however, indoctrination and hostility from non-parental sources is strong, and our sense of independence must be equal to the task. Again, the power differential is strong, and the nature of the reinforcement of the paradigm of animals-as-things is almost always blind and uncritical.
Indoctrination as Teenagers
As we enter our teens, the same indoctrination continues from the same sources as when we were younger, but there is perhaps a shift from parents and teachers to advertisers and our peers being the most influential on us. Most of us start attempting to create an identity for ourselves, and often choose role models to assist in this process. Our peers and potential role models will rarely, if ever, be vegans who have rejected the cultural prejudice of speciesism. In fact, as victims of powerful and heavy indoctrination themselves, they are just as likely to be as deeply prejudiced regarding species membership as anyone else.
Even if we are exposed to a positive vegan role model as a teenager, indoctrination from other sources continues, powerful and uncritical, and again, our sense of personal independence from those speciesist sources must be equally strong.
This concludes Part 1 of this two-part essay. Part 2 will continue with the on-going indoctrination we receive as adults and will conclude with vegan education as the antidote to indoctrination at any age.
[1] "Humane", under the law, means no more pain, suffering, and torture than is approximately deemed "necessary" by the owner of property to achieve the instrumental goal in question; therefore, enslavement, solitary confinement, burning, torturing, beating, rape, stabbing, shooting, bone-breaking, electrocuting, inducing psychosis, inducing drug addiction, inducing severe mental illness, severe psychological torment, electrical shocking, and just about any other form of torture you can think of is perfectly legal, as long as it achieves legally established industry-specified or owner-specified instrumental goals set by animal experimenters, hunters, trappers, family farmers, dog owners, or any other industry or adult human. Even when the torture can be shown to be "gratuitous" or "unnecessary" for achieving the owner's goal, and violates a welfare law, the animal is still property, and therefore the legal consequences are trivial enough to almost never act as a deterrent to the cruel behavior. Consider reading Animals, Property, and Law (see recommended books on the side bar for a link) by Professor Gary Francione for more details on why legal welfarism protects, and will always protect, almost every kind of torture imaginable.


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The Secret To Saving More Pit Bulls? Train Them As Service Dogs
Pit bulls - thought to be the most euthanized dogs in America - could serve a noble purpose that saves not just their lives but improves those of humans, too.
Rescued pit bulls are working as service dogs, helping Marines and other people with post-traumatic stress disorder, the Associated Press recently reported.
"Certainly, a human and pit bull can make an excellent service dog team," canine expert Christy Hoffman told The Dodo. "How well the individual characteristics of human and dog complement each other should be the driving consideration behind creating a successful service dog pairing, not the breed."
Joe Bonfiglio, who was a Marine in Afghanistan, told the AP that his service pit bull, Zen, is "a fantastic dog." Bonfiglio says Zen calms him when he has nightmares or panic attacks.
But critics argue they're a dangerous breed who should be banned from that role. Colleen Lynn, founder of the organization Dogsbite.org, told the AP there are hundreds of other breeds "far more suitable" for service dogs.
"There is simply no need for pit bulls, rescued or otherwise," she said, "to be utilized as service dogs for people with disabilities."
Dogsbite.org did not respond to a request from The Dodo to elaborate what "suitable breeds" those might be, or how it defines a "pit bull."
No one deserves to live with dangerous animals, of course. In fact, one of Dogsbite.org's original aims was to hold owners liable for injurious or fatal incidents, as Brent Toellner, president of the animal welfare organization Kansas City Pet Project, noted on his blog. To paint every pit bull as vicious or aggressive, however, is to wield a brush against the advice of institutions as diverse as the American Veterinary Medical Association and the White House.
"The website Dogbites.org makes explicit that its agenda is to promote breed-specific legislation and pit bull bans," said Hoffman, a professor at Canisius College in Buffalo, New York.
Dogsbite.org has compiled a database of pit bull bites, which Toellner argued it has artificially inflated, deliberately including bulldogs, boxers and mastiff attacks under the "pit bull" label. The organization also collects studies examining dog attacks, but Hoffman pointed out Dogsbite.org "does not reference studies that fail to support the assertion that pit bulls are dangerous."
Not included on the site is a 2008 study, for example, that says pit bulls are no more aggressive toward humans than the average dog, Hoffman said, or a recent paper that says behavior isn't necessarily linked to breed. An additional study in 2014 indicated that human behavior - not breed - influences dog aggression.


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'Muhammad' teddy bear teacher arrested
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Joined: 09 Oct 2007
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Posted: Wed Nov 28, 2007 9:56 am
Post subject: 'Muhammad' teddy bear teacher arrested
This is the reason why Islam is the most backwarded religion in the world.
A British schoolteacher has been arrested in Sudan accused of insulting Islam's Prophet, after she allowed her pupils to name a teddy bear Muhammad.
Colleagues of Gillian Gibbons, 54, from Liverpool, said she made an "innocent mistake" by letting the six and seven-year-olds choose the name.
Ms Gibbons was arrested after several parents made complaints.
The BBC has learned the charge could lead to six months in jail, 40 lashes or a fine.
Officials from the British embassy in Khartoum are expected to visit Ms Gibbons in custody.
"We are in contact with the authorities here and they have visited the teacher and she is in a good condition," an embassy spokesman said.
The spokesman said the naming of the teddy happened months ago and was chosen by the children because it is a common name in the country.
"This happened in September and the parents did not have a problem with it," he said.
'Very sensitive'
The school has been closed until January for fear of reprisals.
Fellow teachers at Khartoum's Unity High School told Reuters news agency they feared for Ms Gibbons' safety after receiving reports that men had started gathering outside the police station where she was being held.
The school's director, Robert Boulos, said: "This is a very sensitive issue. We are very worried about her safety.
"This was a completely innocent mistake. Miss Gibbons would have never wanted to insult Islam."
Mr Boulos said Ms Gibbons was following a British national curriculum course designed to teach young pupils about animals and this year's topic was the bear.
Ms Gibbons, who joined the school in August, asked a seven-year-old girl to bring in her teddy bear and asked the class to pick names for it, he said.
"They came up with eight names including Abdullah, Hassan and Muhammad," Mr Boulos said, adding that she then had the children vote on a name.
Twenty out of the 23 children chose Muhammad as their favourite name.
Mr Boulos said each child was then allowed to take the bear home at weekends and told to write a diary about what they did with it.
He said the children's entries were collected in a book with a picture of the bear on the cover and a message which read, "My name is Muhammad."
Book seized
The bear itself was not marked or labelled with the name in any way, he added.
It is seen as an insult to Islam to attempt to make an image of the Prophet Muhammad.
Mr Boulos said Ms Gibbons was arrested on Sunday at her home inside the school premises after a number of parents complained to Sudan's Ministry of Education.
He said police had seized the book and asked to interview the girl who owned the bear.
The country's state-controlled Sudanese Media Centre reported that charges were being prepared "under article 125 of the criminal law" which covers insults against faith and religion.
No-one at the ministries of education or justice was available for comment.
Mr Boulos told the BBC he was confident she would not face a jail sentence.
One Muslim teacher at the independent school for Christian and Muslim children, who has a child in Ms Gibbons' class, said she had not found the project offensive.
"I know Gillian and she would never have meant it as an insult. I was just impressed that she got them to vote," the teacher said.
In Liverpool, a family spokeswoman said Ms Gibbons' grown children, John and Jessica - both believed to be in their 20s - were not commenting on her arrest.
"I have spoken with her children and they do not want to say anything and aggravate the situation over there," she said.
Rick Widdowson the headteacher of Garston Church of England Primary School, where Gillian worked for ten years, added: "We are an Anglican school and I know for a fact that Gillian would not do anything to offend followers of any faith.
"Certainly she is also very worldly wise and she is obviously aware of the sensitivities around Islam."
Cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad printed in several European newspapers sparked violent protests around the world in 2006.
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This three-level listening series is designed for young, beginner to low level intermediate students. Each book in the Listening Time series contains listening passages and conversations followed by a variety of activities designed to reinforce the vocabulary, grammar, themes, and concepts being introduced in each unit. Various dialogs and passages are used within each unit to enhance variations on each new theme, and each unit concludes with a quiz section to summarize the main objectives being taught. The goal of the Listening Time series is to improve listening comprehension while providing learners with a fun and rewarding learning experience.
Key Features
Key Features
- (1) Full-color photographs to aid comprehension
- (2) In troduction of new vocabulary with each unit
- (3) Natural,common expressions presented in passages
- (4) Quiz sections which allow students to check their progress
- (5) A free audio CD with recordings of the dictation texts and a variety of other exercises
- (6) Accompanying dictation book to help students further enhance their listening abilities
- (7) Answer key sand dictation transcripts.


text:
Ray Richardson chats about his new works and current exhitibtion 'Londons No. One' at the Ben Oakley Gallery – Greenwich
SFSA – Open Studios – Over 160 visual and fine artists and crafts and designer makers will open their studios to the public this November
SFSA studio member – Le Guo – new works featured in October's Matt Roberts Arts Salon Art Prize 2011
Ray Richardson – Londons No. One – Preview this week @ Ben Oakley Gallery
SFSA studio member Ray Richardson presents some right tidy little drawings and painting opening at the Ben Oakley Gallery, Greenwich this week.
Preview: Thursday 29th September 2011, 7 – 9:30pm
Exhibition Sept 30th – Oct 30th
Ben Oakley Gallery, 9 Turnpin Lane, Greenwich, London, Se10 9JA
SFSA studio member David Bray – works featured in new exhibition – this is CIRCUS
This is Circus – A Multi-Dimensional Exhibition by Tim Bret-Day & Jodie Harsh – Featureing David Bray and Lee Stuart for A Black Lie
Thursday 29th Sept to Saturday 1st October
Opening Times: 12pm – 7pm – Free Entry
BOND – 24 Kingly Street, London, W1B 5op
SFSA studio member Derek Curtis – New Exhibition – THE MAGIC KINGDOM ISN'T WORKING
THE MAGIC KINGDOM ISN'T WORKING by Derek Curtis
Art Work Space is proud to present THE MAGIC KINGDOM ISN'T WORKING, an exhibition of new work by DEREK CURTIS.
This show will feature a series of new, large scale paintings by British artist, Derek Curtis. Curtis is known for playfully exploring contemporary cultural, social and economic issues in his work and with this new exhibition 'The Magic Kingdom Isn't Working' he again invites the viewer to examine the real world around him, through an imagined land.
Specific to the new collection of paintings is a consideration of the effects of the current financial crisis. Acutely topical, the work uses the fantastical inhabitants of this 'Magic Kingdom' to illustrate the desires, disappointments and dichotomies of contemporary society: whether it be when the artist, as an illusionary estate agent, advertises and beautifies the most undesirable of properties – a Dragon's cave or an ivory tower – in the painting 'The Huntress' in which a goddess-like archer, surrounded by nature's bounties, chooses to target a shopping trolley, or the exhibition's title-piece, 'The Magic Kingdom Isn't Working', based on the infamous 1979 Saatchi & Saatchi advert which bemoaned Labour's efficacy.
To create his work Curtis initially assembles collages – incorporating images and texts to give visual representation to his ideas. Once the basic structure is formed, he begins the painting process, using gloss paint on aluminium sheets to produce his striking images. The reflective quality of the surface exaggerates the impact of the bright, seductive colours employed by the artist – inviting viewers to enter his playful realm, where fictional characters act out contemporary narratives in glorious Technicolor.
In 'The Magic Kingdom Isn't Working', Curtis once more succeeds in drawing in the viewer through his seemingly cheerful images, only to cleverly reveal deep and resonant social insights.
For more information go to www.artworkspace.co.uk/derek-curtis
Derek Curtis 'The Magic Kingdom isn't working'
Monday 3rd October—Friday 18th November 2011
- Art Work Space
- Lower Ground Floor, The Hempel Hotel,
- 31—35 Craven Hill Gardens, London W2 3EA
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|This article or section includes a list of references or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations.
You can improve this article by introducing more precise citations.
The Uskevren (meaning "too bold to hide" in some forgotten tongue) were a noble family of Selgaunt who lived primarily in Stormweather Towers. Their house badge was a gold horse-head-and-fouled-anchor. Their money originally stockpiled through piracy, the family was nearly destroyed in the 1330s DR by rival families who discovered their illicit means of money-making.[1]
The only surviving family member, Thamalon Uskevren, rebuilt the family fortune by buying and selling land, and then began sponsoring common folk. After this, the people of Selgaunt began to trust the Uskevren name again[1]
- Shamur Uskevren, Thamalon's wife[1]
- Thamalon "Tamlin" Uskevren II, Thamalon's foppish first son[1]
- Thazienne "Tazi" Uskevren, Thamalon's daughter[1]
- Talbot "Tal" Uskevren, Thamalon's son[1]
- Thamalon Uskevren, Aldimar's son[1]
- Phaldinor Uskevren, the founder of the Uskevren as a noble family[1]
- Thoebellon Uskevren, Phaldinor's wastrel first son[1]
- Roel Uskevren, Phaldinor's son[1]
- Tivamon Uskevren, Phaldinor's son[1]
- Aldimar Uskevren, Thoebellon's son[1]
- Ilrilteska Uskevren, Aldimar's wife[1]
- Perivel Uskevren, Aldimar's first son[1]
- Liferna Hedare, an adventuress known in certain circles as Shadow Wind, who married into waterdhavian nobility[2]
Primary among the Uskevren's enemies were those that helped nearly destroy them: the Soargyl, Talendar, Baerodreemer, Ithivisk, and Malveen.[3]
In addition to Stormweather Towers, the Uskevrens had a tallhouse near the Way of the Manticore and another on Lurvin Street. They also owned a smaller home outside of the city, named Storl Oak.[1]
Magical Items Edit
Throughout the years, when there was doubt if someone was truly an Uskevren, the family used a magical cup called the Quaff of the Uskevren. Enchanted long ago by Helemgaularn of the Seven Lightnings to keep revelers from stealing his mead, its enchantments were later altered so that only one of the blood of the Uskevren could touch it bare-handed and not be instantly burned.[1]
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 Various (February 2007). The Halls of Stormweather. (Wizards of the Coast). ISBN 978-0-7869-4244-2.
- ↑ Erin Evans (February 2010). The God Catcher. (Wizards of the Coast). ISBN 978-0-7869-5486-5.
- ↑ Richard Lee Byers (June 2001). The Shattered Mask. (Wizards of the Coast). ISBN 978-0-7869-4266-4.


text:
Rosalind Rosenberg
Jane Crow
The Life of Pauli Murray
Oxford University Press 2017
New Books in African American StudiesNew Books in American StudiesNew Books in BiographyNew Books in Gender StudiesNew Books in HistoryNew Books in Peoples & PlacesNew Books in Politics & SocietyNew Books Network August 6, 2017 Lilian Calles Barger
Rosalind Rosenberg's book Jane Crow: The Life of Pauli Murray (Oxford University Press, 2017) is a multi-layered and rich biography of Pauli Murray, an activist, lawyer and Episcopal priest whose life intersected with the most significant civil and human rights issues of the twentieth century. As a mixed raced woman who felt that her identity was at odds with her body before transsexual had become part of the popular consciousness, Murray's life provides insight into a lived intersectionality of race, class, gender, and sexuality. Beginning with her southern upbringing, we follow Murray through multiple educational, vocational and identity challenges she suffered. In a journey through a dislocated life, she contributed to multiple movements and institutions working with many key social leaders such as Thurgood Marshall, Eleanor Roosevelt and Betty Friedan. Appearing as a one-person social movement with a deep religious faith she pursued justice not only for herself but also for others. Rosenberg has provided sympathetic insight into the personal cost that Murray incurred on the road to a more equitable society. Rosalind Rosenberg is Professor of History Emerita at Barnard College.
Lilian Calles Barger is a cultural, intellectual and gender historian. Her current book project is tentatively entitled The World Come of Age: Religion, Intellectuals and the Challenge of Human Liberation is forthcoming from Oxford University Press.
Podcast: Download (Duration: 59:58 — 82.4MB)
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text:
Welcome Back to Hazel Park
October 28, 2019
Greetings Hazel Park Preparatory Academy Community!
Welcome to another productive, academic year. Our teachers and staff are excited to be a part of your child's life and education at Hazel Park Preparatory Academy (HPPA). As your principal, I am overjoyed to lead and serve such a committed community of learners.
We have an amazing group of talented, compassionate educators. We place students at the center of our work through academic rigor, high expectations, and ongoing support from you—parents and families. Together, we can support your student's success in every area of life. HPPA is committed to a collective team effort.
We have clearly defined goals for this school year. We will continue to strengthen our literacy work with students, including the use of FAST for SUCCESS to guide instruction in PYP classrooms. We will grow our International Baccalaureate (IB) philosophy of quality, rigor, and international education. We will expand implementation of our AVID program to ensure ALL students' success in high school and beyond. My leadership goals include developing a shared leadership environment, increasing literacy and math scores, and strengthening our positive school climate. Together, we are moving toward a goal of all students reaching their fullest potential.
I am honored and excited to be a part of HPPA's educational environment. With you, we can fulfill the SPPS Vision Statement, "To inspire students to think critically, pursue their dreams, and change the world."
Duane Dutrieuille


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Lop-Sided Philosophy: Science Versus ReligionPositronWildhawk It is part of mankind's curiosity and thirst for knowledge that makes us ponder about the origins and functions of our world, and to theorise, experiment and peer review our arguments to provide a cognitive and academically refined, but sometimes dumbfounded and ignorant model of our universe. The fire is constantly fuelled, since there isn't any way to prove what we are an insignificant but curious part of, and the extent to which we are insignificant; and this model transmutes dramatically when spanning across history, culture and subject background. That last part is dwelled on here,because of two backgrounds which have been segregated into two camps on dispute over this age-old question.
We look over the conflict between these camps by considering what each is defined by. Science, a mathematical study of physical nature and its origins and evolution through experimental and theoretical analysis; and Religion, the worship of a superhuman deity which has created our world as that being saw fit. It would take a true philosopher to state the obvious that these two cannot be integrated into one stance, as they are built on the foundations which would contradict their implications, and the method of explaining one is undemocratic on the mechanism of the other. The question is, is one right and one wrong?
Let us consider the empirical feats which each thesis is based upon. Science is a practice which is constructed on evidence, and it explains from the perspective that we live every day, as well as imagining in higher dimensions and on complex mathematical frameworks, not only what makes us alive and what makes us fall to the ground, it questions the notion of time being finite and the universe obeying the same thermodynamic laws which support life on a much smaller but macroscopic scale. Through millennia of research, we have unified all of our mechanical and systematic data to comprise a "theory of everything", however incomplete, stretches as far as our knowledge permits. As we expand our knowledge through observation and experiments, we refine our peer-reviewed vision of the universe ourselves, and knowing of time as a co-ordinate, we can extend our scientific thinking into a bigger picture. If we could look at our universe from outside, we would in fact see all points along the arrow of time along a temporal dimension aligned with space; "the view from nowhen." Hence, by analysing the world from inside an infinite framework, we build a hypothetical picture of everything, everywhere, at every time, but it is based on the assumption that the universe as we know it is all there is. We cannot determine whether this is all encased in an eternal shell to allow the cyclic universe to be dynamically viable, all because of the instinctive perceptions which limit our understanding.
Religion is an equally long-serving belief that our universe was not born, it was built. The details of this may vary from belief to belief, but the core point is that there is a conscious, ageless force, a God, which is responsible for all that exists. Religion would say that we came into this world as we are, as an entity and civilisation which is manipulated by a higher power. And this is based purely on the faith that there is a God, without the flexibility of rewriting the model, or in this case, the books. To question this faith within the cult is blasphemous, and this highlights how the notion of religion confines its followers into its own ideology. But if there is an ultimate creator, it raises the question of what is powering said creator. The idea that it has the intelligence and power to fashion the Earth and the Universe is all fine n' dandy, but who, or what, created the creator, or its creator before it? If there is a God, can it really be the largest aspect of all there is? Just like in science, where the fundamental building blocks of the universe are constantly being divided, so are the forces of belief. What differentiates them is that science intends this to make our ideas extend,whereas religion, assuming God is infinite, does not account for God arising from a finite dynasty: either us, whose faith is what makes a God, or God's creator, which would be partly debated and not fully justified in the name of religion.
It would appear here that science, like religion, digs deep into their own separate theories about our origins and how to analyse them,from Laplace's Demon to the book of Genesis, although only science is unlimited. Religion says that the answer is simple, but hides it from us; for God to maintain existence in the eyes of believers, the believers must be, in a sense, ironically unenlightened. With the complexity of science and the notion of studying it to find more, there is no limit to what it can accomplish. There is no limit to a scientist's faith in discovery, something which is restrained in religion's basis, which otherwise promises boundless faith. Therefore, a way around this limit to belief could be a proofread stance, faith that results can be confirmed. String theory is the only strings attached.
Religion further claims that it offers a way of living, by saying that there are rules which members of its cult follow in order to meet a fate decided by their actions. Life is a test to them, one in which followers are awarded with pleasure in a life yet to come if they pass, and punished if not. Whether this is by reincarnation or by taking them to heaven or hell, this is a test. However, it is made clear that they do this under the judgement of an all-knowing higher power, whose wisdom is enhanced by watching and assessing the actions of God's own creation. Surely, if God is a being which can see the future of His creation, every event for every moment in absolute time, then God already knows what we are going to do, and has done since the beginning. No matter how free our will may be, it is bound to the cycle which has already been laid out. There is nothing we can do or are doing to challenge this, and nothing that will alter the fate of each living follower of the faith. Thus, is life really an experiment, given that whether we acknowledge the teachings or not, our past, present and future are unaffected? Do life and the universe really serve a purpose under this ideology, if its events are exactly how they were written, and entirely predictable given the wisdom of God?
Science has yet to formally define life, and how a being qualifies as conscious and knowing. Nevertheless, science has shown that organic life itself serves a purpose for the non-designed universe. Life is essentially a biochemical phenomenon, which manifests itself from electrical impulses and chemical reactions, but to maintain this in a living being's life span requires a constant supply of free energy. Life on Earth is essentially solar powered; the Sun's rays supply energy to plants for photosynthesis, which release the oxygen which aids respiration in plants and animals.
Thermodynamics states that this "free energy" of a physical system is the energy which can be used naturally to do work, and in accordance with the second law of thermodynamics, it is the total energy which can be expended with the consequence of maximising the entropy of the system. Life is thus dependent on the concept of Maxwell's Demon; the energy required maintaining life is in constant supply from solar energy and biochemical fuels such as oxygen,but the entropy of the system that is an organism must be kept down, and information kept up, to support a free energy supply needed to keep it alive.Organisms die because they lose the ability to use this energy, or it is exhausted by an environmental factor.
In the bigger picture, this means that the various worlds which could potentially exist will impact the increase of the universe's entropy, slowing down the predicted "heat death", where no free energy is left. Our world on its own has a negligible effect, but with the ratio of entropy of all life in the universe to the total entropy being high enough, this is what slows the aging of the universe. Stellar matter has the same effect, as the evolution of stars consists of stages of instability which require a form of free energy, perhaps from asymmetrical patterns of fusion, or degenerate pressures. A star's expansion is a battle against gravity, which requires low entropy to fight. Given that the number of stars is much greater than the amount of living matter in the universe, the universal effect is greater still. If our world was the centre of the universe as religion would have one believe, it wouldn't be able to take this energy from the necessary sources like it does,and would suffocate and diminish its supplies in little to no time.
It is also worth noting that the natural world is unpredictable; a simple system will eventually respond to its physical influences chaotically, and this limits how predictable the nature of the universe is. Just as entropy is related to disorder, so is chaos. We cannot determine to full accuracy whether an arrow will hit the absolute centre of a target, as much as we cannot evaluate how the universe will end from the position and momentum of every object within it. If we were to calculate this at the universe's current stage, it would not be long before the actual track of each object is vastly different and disordered from our predictions. When this applies to us, if we consider an underpinning dynamic system which causes the events in our lives to take place, it makes our fates vastly unpredictable. In religion, these fates, both of living and inanimate beings, are accurately predicted by the underlying system, and cannot be questioned, which detracts from observation altogether.
All in all, the scientific models we have made about life have shown more of an explanation of why we are here, why we cannot go on forever, and what awaits our world. Furthermore, it shows us that we do have an impact on our universe; a fate which is a result of thermodynamics and chaos theory. Science makes it definitive of life that life is controlled by the mechanism that makes it feasible, and not by the options that it takes. If you look it at from either perspective, however, choice is an illusion, but only religion makes manipulative teachings concerning the simple aspects of birth and death. As long as there is a system in place which links events with the arrow of time, we never make choices. But science, along with its implications, allows us to arrive at some concrete conclusions, tells us more of the truth about our world, and continues to open more questions about the world as we answer others. Science is an endless source of polymaths.
That is my lop-sided philosophy on this case, and as I move on to what awaits me in my future, I see myself being brought back to this page by nutjobs who side with one of these arguments and personally believe, with all due respect, that the other argument is a pile of bollocks. I only hope that they are mindful that this is a two-sided philosophical debate, if not lop-sided, or going to end with me burning at the stake and then in hell.
"But if there is an ultimate creator, it raises the question of what is powering said creator. The idea that it has the intelligence and power to fashion the Earth and the Universe is all fine n' dandy, but who, or what, created the creator, or its creator before it? "
God cannot have a creator, because then he is not God. He is not the ruler. Duh. I still respect science and all the things it's done. - Puga
I agree with pugs. We honestly don't know if God exists, but we believe He does. Personally, there are some signs that I have received that He does - Therandom
Then how, Puga, can he have come into being, in a universe where God is meant to have created everything? - PositronWildhawk
I could argue, who or what created the big ball of gas that exploded to form everything we know? Concerning the beginning of everything and the creation of the universe, something had to be there. Just there. And to me, that was God. Can't go any simpler. - keycha1n
And I got quick question not to offend your belief why aren't there monkeys becoming humans and where did the the circle or whatever that made the big bang where did that come from and like Puga said God created everything including himself - 2storm
Why aren't there monkeys becoming humans? We have proof that both of us share a common ancestor: prehistoric apes.
As for the circle, I assume you mean the cyclic universe. It's a recent theory which states that the observable universe is a part of a structure which contains its entropy when the universe is at a low entropy state, its lowest being at the Big Bang. However, the natural logarithmic increase of entropy is a factor which does not depend on temporal parity; it increases either way through time. Time cannot reverse, but this is for analogy. So the Big Bang could simply be a point in a cycle of entropy, meaning that time is eternal, and not with a beginning or end. - PositronWildhawk
Why aren't there monkeys becoming humans. That is the dumbest thing I have ever heard. We don't believe that they are our direct ancestors, but we share a common ancestors. And anyway, we wouldn't be monkey one day and human txt, it is a gradual process. - gemcloben
As said before. God's existence is a feeling. I do rely on faith, but I also rely on the fact that I've felt His irrefutable presence. He's changed my life, my ways, my morals, my personality, and made me a better person when I was depressed and angry. I've felt nothing stronger than His love and mercy. Of course someone logical like you can't possibly grasp this, but it's not something anyone would grasp without having felt it. So when I start to doubt and when I start to fall away, I remember everything God has done and how very real His presence was, and I can't help but say He must exist. It's not feelings one can simply brush off, and a feeling you probably wont ever feel. So I don't blame you for questioning us, in fact, continue. Christians can't be wimpy, and I'm willing to defend my faith against anything. I'm not offended, simply here to share my thoughts on why I believe what I believe. - keycha1n
Wow I love that - 2storm
And I was asking a science person not a Christian because I am Christian - 2storm
Well spoken keycha1n. - Therandom
This sounds like something a mental patient would write. Don't take offense, I can explain. - gemcloben
Impressive - JaysTop10List
And why are you calling us "unenlightened"! - 2storm
Because, ironically, faith in religious origin is restricted, as debated above. Science achieves knowledge of the universal origin through investigation, with no underlying limit to what can be obtained. - PositronWildhawk
PW, as I said earlier, we have to believe in God with faith, I have no idea if He really exists, but I believe He does. - Therandom
My point. If we have no idea if he exits, do we believe in him instead of something strongly backed up by real evidence? Surely we know who wins... - gemcloben
Well, I believe in Big Loop (that Big Bang wasn't the beginning). Which means the universe was always there. Now if God does exist, it means he must have existed all the time.
Regardless, I don't like having a debate on religion vs science. Religion and science have their own seperate significance and that's it. - Kiteretsunu
By Big Loop I meant Big Bounce. - Kiteretsunu
And I also don't think they're necessary exclusive either. - keycha1n
The fact that we are still debating on evolution, which has already been proven by science, doesn't make me think so. - Kiteretsunu
I'm not trying to say that you're wrong, but I'm just giving you my opinion. Exactly how could the universe have never begun? How is it possible that it's always been present? It does not make any sense to me. Again, I'm not bashing your beliefs or anything, just putting my 2 cents in. - Alpha101
There are plenty of philosophical interpretations I can take on the coexistence of evolution and the story of Adam and Eve. This is not a black and white religion vs science debate. As with all debates, there's a solution that lies in the middle, we just gotta keep discussing until we find it. Especially since neither science or religion has ideas set in stone. For example, neither the Big Gang Theory or Big loop can be proved, and neither can the existence of God. There's not really room for debate here anyways. - keycha1n
Science DOES have ideas set in stone; it's what drives our debates about developing our knowledge. Although any postulate can be proven or disproven, from Newton's Law of Gravitation to String Theory, the fact is, we base them on things we know to be true from observations; the quantum probabilistic nature of electrons is the best way we can explain why electrons can tunnel across insulating gaps, as much as the Big Bang Theory and the Theory of Evolution are the best ways we can explain how the universe came to be and how we originated from monocellular organisms. As far as we can investigate, we know these ideas to be true, and we can't disprove what we see. When we see an explosive chemical reaction, we can't use science to say the explosion never happened, but we do use science to explain, and potentially change our explanation for the explosion. - PositronWildhawk
Yeah Postrinwildhawk did you know Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, and even Einstein themselves were Christians - 2storm
The only thing I can say is I believe in God but we don't actually know if he exists. And he created everything and no one actually created him just like Puga said. And I agree with Keycha1n. - cosmo
Well, Positron, did God really need to use different features on all creatures?
The universe had to be created somehow, and saying the universe was created by an explosion is no different than saying it was created by a deity - CityGuru
Actually, it is very different. - Alpha101
I don't believe in God so does Danteem! Anyway Heaven and Hell aren't real! I'm non-religious so is Danteem! The universe is form by the Big Bang theory. - visitor
You are Danteem, it's pretty obvious. - Puga
Actually, lots of people today agree that the theory of creation and the big bang theory can co-exist with each other. I'm not saying you're wrong or anything like that, I respect your opinion. Just wanted to provide you with that information. Also, where did you go to school? You're grammar is awful. - Alpha101
You are danteem. You always comment everything with exclamation marks. Wait a minute, did danteem type all the everyone sucks on rate game post. - Therandom
This comment just proved how immature Danteem is. - Therandom
Positron, regarding your comment asking how could God exist without someone else creating him, there is an answer. before I start, I'm no Jesus freak or anything. But, before God created everything, there was no time. In order for something to be born, or to come into existence, there has to be time. So, therefore, God can exist on his own. He could have always existed, because there was no time. But, this can also contradict itself, because then, again, without time, nothing can come into existence. It's a sort of paradox. A very frustrating one that can give me a headache every time that I think about it. Very interesting to think about, though. Nice post. - Alpha101
I respect that, but recent theories of science point to the hypothesis that time is eternal; it has no beginning, and the Big Bang, although being a significant stage in the universe's history, was not the moment that time began. If it was a boundary like so many non-experts assume, time would be an approximation which ceases to be valid near the Big Bang, and it fails to explain irreversible natural processes. For the universe to begin in a compressed state like so, there would need to be an underlying principle to explain why it would appear to violate dynamical laws. The universe has always been subject to time, and to leave it and observe from outside, you would see every co-ordinate in space for every point in time, as it is also a coordinate. This is explained in the post. Time is eternal, and all of the energy that was subject to time has always been here, only it naturally changes its form and its entropy by time. It isn't known where this energy comes from, but this is how the universe works. - PositronWildhawk
All that energy came from God ever thought of that Postrinwildhawk - 2storm
But it can't have been created. Energy simply isn't created or destroyed. Sure, energy is not conserved under the influence of the universal expansion, but there will be a theory which accounts for this. If energy was unlimited, what would stop it confining itself in finite space, causing the universe to spontaneously collapse? - PositronWildhawk
Ok 2storm my friend, I have to point this out, it's spelt positron not positrin. - Therandom
Yeah I spell it my own way - 2storm
I think it was a combination of both God and science. - Pony
I think so too. I mean, how was the universe by itself. Someone had to create it - Therandom
We have no evidence of god. Faith is a pathetic excuse for that.
Science however, we have lots of evidence.
If god exists, why did he make me an atheist? ~ricky gervais - gemcloben
Well, He didn't interns for you to be an atheist. He gave you free will. Still, how was the world created by itself, and how was it always by itself. The universe had to have had a God. - Therandom
Because after the big bang, elements exploded into the universe, and some of these merged together to make earth. That is perfectly logical, unlike a guy saying let there be light and suddenly everything was. - gemcloben
Interns should intend - Therandom
God's powers defy logic... - Therandom
Point proven. There is no logic behind it, so the excuse "god can defy logic" is created to cover up. - gemcloben
Not everything must have logic. - Therandom
Ok, I think this statement will end this whole discussion. Some people believe God exists, some don't. Boom, discussion should be over. - Therandom
True, but people need to respect athiests - AnonymousChick
And you need to respect Christians - Therandom
Then if God exist then why there is no purple monkey-walrus van dishwasher? - CerealGuy
I'm Christan,bum not offended,don't worry,anyways,good job,just don't tell let dot about this - Nateawesomeness


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Folkways FJ2865 – Roots: The Rock & Roll Sound Of Louisiana & Mississippi LP – Boss Walk
The Perails were a New Orleans based group who were around in the early days of Reginald/Lynn's. The Odex 45 would have been right after the Barbara Jean 45 and as we can see from that and the Boss Walk 45 Allen Orange is listed as a composer. The Odex 45 Billboard listing also mentions Orange's publishing company so it's a safe bet he had a hand in that too. Both the Barbara Jean & The Perails 45s on Odex are extremely rare. Boss Walk saw 45 release on the Nashville based Todd label and I wonder if this was through Allen Orange's move to Nashville or through Hines' travels. Boss Walk appears as the last track on the Folkways LP.


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It's been quite a while since we have seen Shia Labeaouf in the silver screen after doing Transformers. And if you are a huge fan of the matinee idol, you would be glad to know that he is back and this time with Brad Pitt to add on his resume of high profile films done. The movie that this two superstars will be on is called Fury and just today, the trailer was released. The movie is about the soldiers back in World War II and their lives during the war. The trailer has shown the realistic view of the event and the horror that the American troops had to go through during those times. The trailer alone has already showcased the acting skills of Shia and Brad so it's definitely a must-see. The movie will without a doubt become a hit aside from the fact the two will star on it.
Michael Peña, Scott Eastwood, Jon Berthal and Logan Lerman are also in the movie which makes it all the more a must film to see. If you want to dig deep into history and you want to gain some words of wisdom from the character of Brad Pitt, then you shouldn't miss out on this one. Critics are already saying that they have a great feeling about this war film that's it going to be good plus was there ever a movie that Brad Pitt made that disappointed the crowd? So far, we don't have a record for that. The movie opens on October 2014 so watch out for that. This is one latest celeb gossip news that you fans of Pitt and Labeaouf are dying to know about. And it's definitely a good news that Shia is back on the scene!


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|You are in: Entertainment: Music
Thursday, 28 February, 2002, 06:50 GMT
Alicia has keys to stardom
Singer Alicia Keys, who has swept the board at the Grammy Awards, has become one of the biggest new stars in music. BBC News Online charts her rise.
When Alicia Keys sang at the Scala in London in October 2001, she could have travelled to the King's Cross venue by Tube without being noticed.
Not any more. A lot has happened since then and a more likely scenario would be a blacked out limousine en route to Wembley stadium.
The 21-year-old R&B singer has won five Grammy Awards at the prestigious ceremony in Los Angeles.
And she has already been in the top 10 in the UK album and single charts.
The New Yorker, who recently topped the US charts with her debut album Songs in A Minor, was nominated in six categories in the Grammys.
Such acclaim would not surprise those who did see her debut concert in London.
Afterwards, London's Evening Standard newspaper said: "She slipped from Beethoven to blues and Gershwin to gospel without dropping a stitch.
"Her influences include Roberta Flack, with whom she shares the ability to tumble through chord sequences most divas don't touch.
"Lauryn Hill just got herself some serious competition."
Keys is a musical prodigy who was born in Manhattan, where hip-hop was the most common music heard from the street corners in her neighbourhood.
But her mother arranged for her to have piano lessons at an early age.
"My mum didn't force me, " Keys told a newspaper.
"I've loved the piano ever since I was young and I begged to learn it.
"My mum just helped me stay focused because you can lose focus as you get older, you want to hang out and meet boys and all that.
"So I'm thankful for that support."
Keys is also thankful for a teacher at the Professional Performance Arts School in Manhattan who gave her valuable instruction on her voice.
Aged 16, Alicia's outstanding grades allowed her to finish high school early.
She went straight to Columbia University, but soon left to focus on music full-time.
With her classical musical education, plus her own songwriting talent which she developed in her teens, Keys has been compared with a young Roberta Flack by her record company J Records.
But the firm nearly missed out on the young star.
Sony won a bidding war for her signature in 1998 but she disliked the direction in which they wanted to take her.
So she followed record company impressario Clive Davis when he left in 1999 to head a new label J Records, where she found she had more creative freedom.
And she continued writing, producing and recording the debut she had begun aged 14.
Songs in A Minor topped the American charts with 235,000 copies sold in its first week in June.
The single Fallin' followed it to the top of the charts in the US and reached number three in the UK.
The long gestation of the album was, she thinks, a blessing because it meant the music could develop in the face of any adversity.
"Fortunately for me different situations happened in my life that weren't always perfect, especially when it came to the release of my album.
"It didn't happen immediately so I had time to really develop my patience and develop my skills and confidence.
"So when the time came there wasn't a lot of pressure.
"In the beginning though when we were doing intimate shows for certain high profile people I did get a bit nervous.
"I'm not a very nervous person normally but those nerves were good for me."
See also:
14 Nov 01 | Music
Alicia Keys is awards favourite
09 Jan 01 | Entertainment
In pictures: American Music Awards
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