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This extraordinary timepiece is limited to 1860 pieces, to recall the year of the company's foundation.
TAG Heuer celebrates 150th anniversary and a history of making a watch-making legend. TAG Hauer watches epitomize prestige and performance and the company has truly revolutionized 150 years of watch-making history through a constant pursuit of excellence and innovation. The Monaco Vintage Calibre 11 Chronograph watch is a true jewel of watch-making artisanship produced in celebration of such an important event. This extraordinary timepiece is limited to 1860 pieces, to recall the year of the company's foundation.
The case
The original TAG Heuer Monaco replica watch dates back in 1969. It was a first water-resistant chronograph in square shaped case. Another revolutionary feature was the automatic chronograph movement, first used on Monaco watch. This watch is a true legend in the horology and motor-racing.
The dial
The TAG Heuer Monaco Vintage comes in the 39 mm square shaped case crafted from brushed and polished steel. Dark grey dial features the original placement of chronograph sub-dials. Chronograph functions include minutes sub-dial positioned at 9 o'clock and seconds sub-dial positioned at 3 o'clock. Hands are emphasized with racing red color, to add the additional sporty appeal to the timepiece. There is also a small date window positioned at 6 o'clock and contrasting TAG Heuer insignia at 12 o'clock.
The movement
This watch utilizes Calibre 11 automatic movement, revealed trough the transparent sapphire crystal case-back. The watch is water resistant up to 50 meters, suitable for everyday wear as it resists rain and occasional splashes. Complemented with black perforated calfskin strap, it is secured with a folding buckle and safety push buttons.
Our watch store
Top replica watches online for sale,such as TAG Heuer replica watch,Rolex,Omega,Breitling,Hublot etc,free shipping all over the world.


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Sydney Baum-Haines
Loring Pasta Bar sold; will reopen as LRx: Loring and Pharmacy Bar
A team of managers at Loring Pasta Bar bought the Dinkytown restaurant from its owner Monday. The restaurant closed after the sale until its slated reopening Aug.
UMN students to livestream solar eclipse
At about 60,000 feet in the air, a tiny camera in a plastic foam box will livestream a solar eclipse for the first time. The University of Minnesota's Gophernauts, the campus ballooning team, will attach the foam box to a weather balloon on Aug.
Turning pig organs to human organs
More than 100,000 Americans are waiting for an organ transplant, and Minnesota researchers think pigs could help them. Miromatrix Medical Inc., an Eden Prairie biotechnology company, works to create human organs from pig organs with a process called perfusion decellularization and recellularization.
Citizen science aided research delves into monarch larva population
For monarch caterpillars, the world of horror movies is all too real. Killer parasitoids live and grow inside their bodies, then burst from their lifeless corpses. This gruesome relationship has been unexplored on a large scale, but a recent University of Minnesota study at the Monarch Lab has started to uncover the extent of the fatal pairing. Laura Lukens, co-author of the study and senior Monarch Lab technician, is among those learning the natural mortality rate of the species, which includes death by parasitoids.
Behind UMN research, a 'cool' breakthrough in cryopreservation
For the first time ever, a fish embryo survived being frozen and thawed, which could help preserve species and repopulate oceans. For decades, researchers have successfully cryopreserved — frozen and thawed — mammal embryos and a variety of animal sperm, but scientists were unable to do the same for fish embryos. Now, with a pairing of gold nanoparticles and lasers that thaw at millions of degrees per minute, University of Minnesota scientists successfully cryopreserved zebra fish embryos.
The Science of Smiles
How do people perceive different smiles? Sofia Lyford-Pike, University of Minnesota assistant professor, assembled a top-notch team to study just that. Lyford-Pike, a facial plastic and reconstructive surgeon, works on patients with paralyzed faces.
A shell upgrade for Seemore the sea turtle
Eight years ago, Seemore the sea turtle was swimming off the coast of Florida when she was stuck by a boat, cracking her shell. The accident left the green sea turtle with the deceptively cute named affliction, "bubble butt syndrome." After finding a home and a temporary treatment at the Mall of America's Sea Life Aquarium, Seemore is set to receive a more permanent solution for her ailment from a team of University of Minnesota students.
Scientists not renewed for a second term advising the EPA, UMN professor among them
The Environmental Protection Agency did not renew several scientists' positions, including a University of Minnesota professor, worrying some academics. The EPA sent an email June 19 telling 38 Board of Scientific Counselors members — responsible for reviewing the quality of EPA's science research — that they would not get a second term.
UMN researcher develops method to detect high skull pressure in space
Zero gravity may cause a worrying condition in otherwise healthy astronauts. Researchers theorize zero gravity is causing increased skull pressure, which is the main culprit in a condition called papilledema, a swollen optic nerve that can lead to vision loss.
Top UMN administrator set to take job in Illinois
A top University of Minnesota administrator is leaving for a similar position at the University of Illinois. Danita Brown Young, Vice Provost for Academic Affairs and Dean of Students, will be Illinois' next Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs starting August 7, pending approval from the Illinois Board of Trustees, the University of Illinois announced. The school offered Brown Young the position earlier this month and she accepted soon after.

subset: commoncrawl


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Younger children exert more effort and have to activate more of their brain. As children get older, and read better, they can use less effort, and less of their brain's real estate, to understand what they're reading.
To decipher letters and words, the beginning reader has to use a large amount of cortical space in the visual areas of both sides of the brain. They use a slower, less efficient pathway (the "dorsal route") to decipher parts of words.
As kids get better at reading, the brain uses a more efficient route (the "ventral" or "lower route") in its left hemisphere.
"Once we know a word well, we no longer need to analyze it in a labour-intensive way," writes author Maryanne Wolf in Proust and the Squid, The Story and Science of the Reading Brain.
As kids get better at reading, the decoding process becomes more automatic, and the brain can concentrate on higher reading functions like comprehension.
Why do we need to know this?
So we can assure our kids, "It gets easier."
'Cause it literally does.
So it's kind of like exercise. When you're out of shape and you need exercise the most, it's the hardest - you're pushing all that extra weight, your muscles are flabby. When you're in shape, your metabolism is working better and your muscles are strong and exercising's easier.
All of this scientific-brain-information was taken from Proust and the Squid, by Maryanne Wolf. Once again, I have read and processed the hard stuff so you don't have to. No, no, your coming here is payment enough.
Photo by zetson.


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I've got an amazon EC2 instance, which starts up, runs a script, and when the script finishes, I want to shut it down.
I tried chmod g+s to give super user privileges on a .sh script which called shutdown, but that didnt work. Is there another way?
Or should I use the amazon API instead?


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A philosophical zombie is a hypothetical being that is indistinguishable from a normal human being except in that it lacks conscious experience. When a zombie is poked with a sharp object, for example, it does not feel any pain though it behaves exactly as if it does.
The notion of a philosophical zombie is used mainly in thought experiments intended to support arguments against forms of physicalism such as materialism and functionalism. Since a zombie is physiologically indistinguishable from human beings, its hypothetical possibility is an argument for a consciousness that is more than the sum of neurological pathways and brain states.
Though philosophical zombies are widely used in thought experiments, the detailed articulation of the concept is not always the same. Philosophical zombies were introduced primarily to argue against specific types of physicalism such as behaviorism, according to which mental states exist solely as behavior.
Belief, desire, thought, consciousness, and so on, are simply certain kinds of behavior or tendencies towards behaviors. A philosophical zombie that is behaviorally indistinguishable from a normal human being, but lacks conscious experiences, is therefore not logically possible according to the behaviorist.


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Young Privacy Professionals Roles and Expectations
Young Privacy Professionals (YPPs) work with their local KnowledgeNet Chapter co-chairs to plan networking activities. One or two YPPs are accepted per chapter (depending on the size of the chapter) and serve a one-year term. A YPP should be an IAPP member for at least 6 months and have attended at least one chapter meeting.
Young Privacy Professionals are expected to:
- Organize at least two networking activities per year
- Assist local KnowledgeNet Chapter chairs with networking activities
The Call for Volunteers is open at the end of each year.
Steps for Planning a Networking Activity:
These casual gatherings, such as Coffee Chats and Happy Hours, can be held before or after work, generally at a restaurant or bar. There is no educational component as they are meant for networking and socializing with local IAPP members. YPPs need to confirm dates with the local chairs and make sure there are no conflicts with other meetings before planning a networking activity. Non-members that may be interested in privacy or the IAPP are welcome to attend. Attendees are responsible for their own expenses and no CPE credits are awarded.
- YPP should confirm date with chapter co-chairs to ensure there are no conflicts with proposed date.
- After date is approved, connect with your IAPP staff partner to submit your activity details at least 4 weeks in advance. This includes deciding on a date, time, and venue.
- Once activity invite has been sent, the YPP is encouraged to invite their network. Non- members are welcome to attend but are required to register through the IAPP.
- The IAPP will send name badges and other materials upon request.
- YPP should arrive early on day of activity to greet attendees and take a general headcount. Sign-in sheets are not required.
Additional Resources
Online Orientation: This orientation will get you started in your role as a YPP.
Tips and Tricks: Looking for more? Get some insight from past leaders.
Listserve: This private listserve is just for KnowledgeNet Chapter Chairs and Young Privacy Professionals to communicate throughout the year and ask questions, get ideas, and share information. The IAPP will also use this to communicate with chapter volunteers about updates or helpful information. Email firstname.lastname@example.com to start a conversation.


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WEST ORANGE, NJ – Golda Och Academy is pleased to announce that Dennis Kozar will be taking over as the new athletic director, replacing Janet Herman, who will be retiring after 25 years of dedicated service to the school.
Kozar has worked in the Upper School (grades 6-12) as a member of the health and physical education department and has also coached the Middle School soccer, junior varsity basketball and varsity baseball teams. He brings more than 11 years of experience working in various New Jersey school districts in the health and physical education field to the position and has also served as the athletic director for the Harding Township School District.
"Mr. Kozar has proven to be an asset to Golda Och Academy as a teacher and coach since he began working here in 2016," said Adam Shapiro, Head of School at Golda Och Academy. "His ability to connect with students and his passion for health and wellness, combined with his past experience working in school athletics, makes him the perfect person to elevate our athletic program to new heights."
Kozar holds a BA in Physical Education and Health from Kean University and a Masters of Education in Teacher Leadership from Rowan University.
Editor's note: This article was submitted by Erin Sternthal, of Golda Och Academy's Marketing and Communication


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New Hampshire Cemeteries and Gravestones
Rubbings, photographs, and slides illustrate the rich variety of gravestones to be found in our own neighborhoods, but they also tell long-forgotten stories of such historical events as the Great Awakening, the Throat Distemper epidemic, and the American Revolution. Find out more about these deeply personal works of art and the craftsmen who carved them with Glenn Knoblock, and learn how to read the stone "pages" that give insight into the vast genealogical book of New Hampshire. NOTE: This program is a part of Gravestone Resoration Day. Rain location is Cook Memorial Library.


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Are you into boy bands? It is likely that you are a fan of VIXX and you would like to make sure that you will have it on your Android phone at the soonest possible time. The quirky icons lined up on the bottom of the screen at the home page matches well with the band's boyish charms.
5.0 by 1 votesRating
To use this theme, you need to have Dodol Launcher installed.


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Bubble Witch Saga NEW Eternal Isles Levels (51) and NEW levels at the Road Home (446 – 455)
Hi there all of you Bubble Witch Saga Addicts!
I have finally got a clue of where my free Bubble Witch Saga GOLD BARS seem to have came. I have got 3 sets of free gold bars for 10 gold bars each the past month and I believe that it might be a feature that adds gold bars to your account when you get help from your friends with unlocking the new levels. At least the attached screen cap indicates that. However, I DID NOT get any gold bars when that screen cap was made, but earlier today I got 10 gold bars, but no message about it. My guess is that the gold bars earlier today MAYBE was because of unlocking the new episode at the Road Home with the help of my friends.
I also got a free scroll, that one did got added at the same time as I got the message, so that is always a plus. :D Thank you Bubble Witches! <3
I haven't yet started to make the none charm vids for Eternal Isles 51, but as usual I will upload them to our Youtube Channel the Blogging Witches, at the moment I am working on the 3 stars vids for the Main Saga levels, below are the first 3 vids. =)
Did you get a gift from the Witches? Have you received any FREE COLD BARS after the first 50 freebie golds? COMMENT BELOW VIDS!
Happy Bubbling!
// Mainewil.
Bubble Witch Saga Level 446
Bubble Witch Saga Level 447
Bubble Witch Saga Level 448


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More CBC News
Search Within News
Showing 1 - 20 of 26
Video Education
Citizens Budget Commission Calls for Changes to Foundation Aid Formula
December 21, 2016The Board of Regents is calling for a $1.2 billion increase in school funding next year, including nearly $1.5 billion for foundation aid. However, he Citizens Budget Commission says there is a much cheaper way to help low-income students.
Press Release Economic Development
Watchdog Groups Call for Emergency Oversight Hearing
October 13, 2016Numerous prominent budget and transparency watchdog groups today called on New York leaders to hold emergency oversight hearings on the allegations by the U.S. Attorney of the largest bid-rigging scandals in state history.
Press Release Pensions & Benefits
Report Reveals Benefit to Teachers Costs NYC Taxpayers $1.2 Billion Annually
October 05, 2016Like many public and private sector workers, New York City teachers can contribute to a voluntary tax-deferred compensation plan. However the teachers' plan is unique in its guarantee of a fixed rate of return. Taxpayers are making up the difference at an annual cost of $1.2 billion.
Video Economic Development
State Economic Development Programs: Are We Getting Our Bang for Our Buck?
September 29, 2016Allegations in state government are bringing more light to the state's economic development - the cost of many programs continues to rise but the rate of return doesn't hold up. CBC's Dave Friedfel explains.
Press Release Economic Development
CBC Releases Scorecard Assessing the NYC Metro Area's Competitiveness
September 28, 2016The Citizens Budget Commission (CBC) today released its 2016 Competitiveness Scorecard, which assesses the competitiveness of the New York City metropolitan area (NYC metro) in attracting and retaining highly educated talent.
Video Transportation
Proposed Changes to the MTAs Pricey Access-A-Ride Program Could Improve Service
September 20, 2016About 150,000 disabled New Yorkers use the MTA's pricey Access-A-Ride service to get around the city each day. Two new studies are proposing ways to dramatically improve service and save taxpayers more than $100 million a year.
Op Ed City Budget
The "20-20-20-20" Dilemma
August 03, 2016A giant and rapidly growing slice of the New York City budget pays for "legacy costs" - pensions, retiree health benefits, and debt service - which already exceed 20 percent of the budget and will expand by 20 percent to more than $20 billion in annual spending by fiscal year 2020. But the City can take steps to deal with it.
Op Ed Health Care
Improving Medicaid Further In New York Is Challenging But Vital
June 20, 2016The State's Department of Health and its Medicaid Redesign Team have developed and implemented strategies that have yielded significant quality improvements and savings, but much more is needed.
Press Release State Budget
Director of State Studies David Friedfel an Albany Rising Star
June 13, 2016City & State Magazine has named David Friedfel, Director of State Studies at the Citizens Budget Commission, one of its 2016 Albany Rising Stars.
Op Ed City Budget
The Rapidly Rising Cost of City Workers
June 09, 2016The mayor and City Council quickly came to an agreement on the details of an adopted budget for fiscal year 2017, but little attention has been paid to spending projected over the course of the five-year financial plan. We ought to focus, and hold onto our wallets.
Op Ed City Budget
Make NYC's Retiree Health Benefit Trust More Trustworthy
May 25, 2016The City of New York has a $70 billion liability for retiree health insurance costs and other post-employment benefits (OPEB), not including pensions. These benefits are contractually owed to retired city employees and are largely unfunded.
Press Release Health Care
CBC Report Finds Cost-Effective NYS Medicaid Reforms Face Challenges
May 23, 2016This report finds that the strategies of the Medicaid Redesign Team and the New York State Department of Health have yielded significant savings and quality improvements, but realization of their full potential faces serious implementation challenges.
Op Ed City Budget
A Mixed Budget Message
May 02, 2016Mayor Bill de Blasio's executive budget and accompanying four-year financial plan send a mixed message about New York City's fiscal outlook. For the short term, economic performance and local revenues are exceeding expectations this year.
Video Economic Development
NYS Exposed:Risky Business Investments
April 25, 2016Billions of your taxpayer dollars are used in an effort to lure businesses to our region to create jobs. What's being done to make sure state money isn't being wasted?
Press Release State Budget
CBC Prize for Public Service Innovation to Be Awarded to New York State's Lean Initiative
April 07, 2016The CBC Prize is awarded annually – in alternating years to either a New York State or a New York City agency – to recognize and promote successful innovations in the delivery of public services.
Op Ed State Budget
What Will Be The Long-Term Impact Of The State Budget Agreement?
April 03, 2016Gov. Andrew Cuomo's proposed budget projected out-year deficits of $1.2 billion, $3 billion and $3.4 billion in state fiscal years 2018, 2019, and 2020 (before unspecified savings associated with adherence to a 2 percent state operating spending growth cap).
Op Ed City Budget
Mayor de Blasio's Citywide Savings Program: Too Little of the Really Good Stuff
February 24, 2016In his second year de Blasio reestablished the practice under the new name of Citywide Savings Program (CSP). The resurrection has been uninspired; the CSP in the latest plan, released last month, is too small and includes too few efficiency initiatives.
Op Ed City Budget
Reducing Organic Waste Without Increasing Costs
February 03, 2016The Department of Sanitation's focus on organic waste is merited by the size of the waste stream (more than 1 million tons annually) and environmental benefits of reducing greenhouse gases through use of alternative disposal strategies, such as composting, rather than transport to distant landfills.
Press Release City Budget
CBC Report Recommends Targeted Approach to NYC Organic Waste Diversion
February 02, 2016This report analyzes the potential cost to New York City taxpayers of diverting food scraps and other organic material from landfills as part of the City's environmental agenda. It finds an expansion of the City's residential organics program would impose new financial costs of up to $250 million annually.
Op Ed City Budget
What de Blasio's Budget is Missing
January 21, 2016The mayor's plan increases spending without any increases to tax rates, thanks to rising property values and continued economic growth: Employment has reached an all-time high, real wages are growing and tourists are still flocking to the city in record numbers.


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You're today's declarer at six hearts, and since I'm in a generous mood, I'll invite you to look at all four hands. West's bid of two spades is weak and preemptive; he leads the king of spades, and your ace wins. How do you approach the play?
If you ruff two diamonds in your hand, the fall of the king would give you a spade discard. So you take the ace of diamonds, lead a club to dummy's ace, ruff a diamond, lead a trump to dummy and ruff a diamond.
Both defenders play low. Are you ready to give up?
A loser-on-loser play may come to your aid. Draw a second round of trumps, cash the king of clubs and lead the jack. When West's queen covers, ruff in dummy and return the queen of diamonds. When East plays the king, discard a spade.
You're trading one loser for another, but you will actually gain because East has no more spades. He must lead a minor-suit card, and you pitch your last spade and ruff in dummy, making the slam.
This week: loser on loser.
South dealer
N-S vulnerable


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ObamaCare Weighing Less on Hiring Plans
The effects of the Affordable Care Act may be weighing less heavily on the hiring plans of U.S. privately held companies this year, according to a survey of accountants who work with small businesses.
The financial information company Sageworks found that slightly more than half of accountants working with privately held businesses said that the ACA is making it less likely that their clients will hire in the next 12 months. That is a smaller percentage than Sageworks found in a previous survey it conducted last summer in which two-thirds of the respondents said the ACA was making it less likely that private companies would hire in the year ahead.
In addition, a slightly larger percentage this year predicted the ACA would have no impact on hiring in the next year. Of the more than 500 firms surveyed in April and May of this year, 19 percent foresaw no impact on hiring, 20 percent were unsure and 5 percent noted that the implementation of the ACA will lead to more hiring in the next 12 months.
Unless there are further delays, the employer mandate requiring employers with over 50 full-time employees to provide health insurance to full-time workers is scheduled to begin in 2015 for businesses with more than 100 employees and in 2016 for businesses with 50 to 99 employees.
"Private companies in the United States are continuing to grow at a healthy rate, and while planning for the Affordable Care Act is still impacting many businesses' plans for hiring, it is causing significantly fewer businesses to slow hiring in the coming year in comparison to last year, which is positive," said Sageworks chairman Brian Hamilton in a statement,
Sageworks' new survey also asked accountants about their business clients' general hiring plans for the next 12 months. More than half said businesses plan to maintain their headcount. Just over 17 percent said businesses are planning to add employees, and 12 percent responded that businesses are planning to reduce headcount. In the summer 2013 survey, over 60 percent of respondents noted that their clients planned to maintain their headcount, and only 13 percent responded that businesses planned to increase hiring.


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Pray changes things sort of maybe
I read. I read like a man saved from drowning breathes. I've always been like this but I haven't always been so disciplined about it. My reading brings me little peace. I seek constantly to challenge what I believe. Sometimes religion, ALL religion (even mine) seems like its all just pretend.
There are two kinds of miracles. The first is a for-granted miracle. Physics is one of these. Life another. The fact that all over the world (and even the universe) the exact same Newtonian laws apply with equally facility is something seen as normal only because we see it everyday. There is no reason for reality to function this way, and the the fact it does is miraculous. Every moment the atoms don't fling apart is a miracle. Everyday that life resists entropy is a miracle. The fact that a female mammal and a male mammal can join a bit of DNA from each them and create a new member of the species is not less miraculous and wonderful despite the fact that we have the words to explain each part and process.
The second type of miracle is the suspension of physics and the modification of life. This is the kind that is usually prayed for. God is asked to make the blind see, the lame walk, the infertile conceive, etc. Now, this is my problem: if God does this often we should be awash in verifiable claims. But we're not. Sort of….
The first problem is the statistical challenges. A couple of studies have been done, and claim to be double blind. (the people don't know precisely what is being searched out and the researchers don't know who is in the control group and who is in the target group.) The 1st problem is consent. Which means that the people are told they might be prayed for and is that OK? So only people who WANT to be prayed for are prayer for. Further, people know that they are participating in a study on a prayer. So its not exactly a double blind. The first study was only born again Christians praying to their God. (San Francisco General '82).
Duke University doctors in '98 did a similar study. They found the results were similar. Off site prayer makes a difference. Oddly, though, for Christians, it doesn't matter which God you pray to. The results are the same when Buddhists, Muslims, and Christians pray. It hasn't been tried yet, but I seriously have to wonder? If atheist spoke aloud to entropy and asked it to leave you alone would that count? "Praying" actually doesn't make the difference. Positive meditation by non-religious people works just as well, btw.
What happens if prayer for people who don't want you to. What happens if you pray to Satan? (As a child I was led to believe thats what Buddhist were doing anyway…) Know what else is weird? In 20 "distance healing" studies 11 said prayer works, 9 said it does nothing, and 1 said it made it worse!!! Yikes.
One study found it improves healing in mice, which I guess disproves the consent to study bias (placebo) or proves that mice are smarter than we thought…
Know what else is weird? A total lack of this data being cross checked with spontaneous remission stats.
So, basically the stats at this time say "Prayer is good for you if agree to be [maybe] prayed for around 50% of the time. Hmm. 2 choices pray or don't pray, and of the two choices one works 50% of the time. Anybody else see a problem with all this?
A bed time story
Once upon a time there was land of elves, men, and dwarves. The men lived in the plains and the elves in the great forests. The elves were born to their kind and the men to theirs with many working side in the villages and farms. The dwarves lived were ever they hung their tunics. They were simple folk, and would follow the sovereign of any land. They lived only for pleasure and knew no law or rule but what they must follow to earn bread and ale.
Men and dwarves might be born anywhere, but true elves were born in the forest, and men in the plains. Elves joined Man only by transfer, and when elven children were born in the plain, they grew more man like with each generation until they were men. Contrariwise, the children of men born in the forest grew elf like. The dwarves bore young where it suited them (they did not marry or set up house), but even they were not immune to the forest in there own rustic way. Some walked through forest, staggering into trees and not seeing them, others worshiped the trees, and still others became elves the moment they stepped into the forest. The sages of men said it was some aether in the forest air that sustained the elves, and that all under heaven would be men were it not for this "strange air".
And so the kings of men were brought together under the bastard child the last of the mighty kings of yore. Reflecting his parentage, he was called simply the Prince. Believing the aether of the forest the cause of all of creatures contention he set out to destroy the forests. Many of the elves left the forest in fear, but not all. At first a tiny remnant, they called themselves wood elves to differentiate them from the masses of elves living among the men and dwarves.
Gradually they grew till there were more wood elves then plains elves, but the Prince was nothing if not crafty. He crafted arrows with poisons that caused madness. Further, he removed his seal from his offices and emirates across his empire, replacing it with the crest of the wood elves. Now there were two wood elf brotherhoods, one on the inside and one on the outside. Each said it was the true Way. Then, the Prince surrounded any forests he could find with his men, giving them three tasks:
One, let no one in. Two, let anyone out. Three: wherever any creature slips into the forest, ignore the creature and shoot the guide. Finally, the Prince had many people working in secret, often in such secrecy that they themselves did not know they were in his employ. Some were cripples to use up the strength of the wood elves, letting mercy destroy them and encourage them to destroy mercy. Some were sages of the Prince's brotherhood pretending to be wood elves. Some were even the Prince's own imperial guard, evil creatures of great power (not unlike himself) whom had participated in his palace rebellion against the true heir of the empire.
Into this malaise wood elf was born, he was named Struggle, as a testimony to his people. He was born in battle, nursed under arrows' flight, and raised in the camp, and he was born with a hunger. Some creatures hunger for females, some for food, or sweet drink but this elf hungered for sword. He devoted his life to the sword, even to the extent of not wearing full armor, to swing his sword with greater speed, and drive its blade with greater accuracy.
His sword was swift and his strikes clean, but he was often wounded, sometimes near fatally. The madness of the arrows made his forget his name, or perhaps remember it to well. He would go to the edge of the forest and watch the enemy, sometimes to learn their weakness, others out of lust to be of them and not his own people. Too, without the armor he had no protection from a single glancing blow of his own comrades, and this almost killed him twice. Wounds from wood elves weapons are not poisoned, oft they even heal, but cut far deeper than the random arrows of the Prince.
Struggle was nearly lost once when trying to save a companion under fire. She was the Princes own, sold into slavery long before she could remember and neither she nor Struggle knew she had been sent to the forest as bait for one such as him. The Prince's brigands had fired a barbed arrow with a cable into her thigh and begun to drag her out of the forest. Struggle was young and his armor weak, though his head was protected, his breastplate was thin. A wide leather belt, shoeless, a wooden shield, and tarnished silver sword was all he had. He took many hits of the mad arrows, stubbling he was hit and pierced from behind with a barbed arrow. Powerless, he watched his comrade be pulled into the Princes camp, fighting with all his life not to follow.
He tried to escape into the forest, but succeeded only in playing out the line from his captors. The Prince's men were patient. They knew that if they simply jerked the line toward where his comrade had been drawn to, eventually he would follow.
Struggle fought to go deeper into the forest, far away from the battle lines, though dragging behind him the nearly invisible cable of the Prince's militia. The poison of the arrow was to make him forget it was there except when the cable was cruelly pulled, so Struggle attempted to fight deeper and deeper into the forest, where it was said, a spring flowing with healing water, for the two part reason of escaping the front, and being healed. Along the way, he met a great and mighty warrior of the wood elves named Traveler. Traveler too was heading to the fount deep in the forest. The two became as brothers, sharing the path to quiet and stillness of the inner forest. The road was long. Both met fellow pilgrims and married them. They spoke constantly of what they would do when they found the fount, how they would go again to the front. Neither knew the way and they walked further.
Traveler found the spring first, then Struggle. They drank the sacred water, and both had a vision. For the first time in many years, the vision was not the same. At the spring in that still quite place, Traveler and Struggle continued to walk together, but both were looking for the fork in the road. After much petty quarreling, they parted badly, neither accustomed to it.
And so Struggle was twice wounded. Once by the Prince and once by his brother. He was troubled deeply by this, both cutting near to his heart. He pondered what to do as he had never pondered anything before. Question came instead of answers.
Why had those who called themselves his brothers and sisters hurt him so deeply? Why had he never been able to find good armor. Why was the silver of his sword so tarnished and the edge so dull?
Why did no one seem to want to fight the enemy? Around the sacred spring was a crowd: refreshed, strong and ready with sterling armor and blades that shined like fire. Yet they neither guarded the spring, nor when to the edge of the forest to guide creatures in. All dwarves believed in nothing at all, but why did some do work that helped the wood elves? Why did some elves live outside the forest, and become men, but dress and speak as elves? Why did some men become elves and others did not? He though often of his fallen comrades so he had known deeply others merely in passing. Why did they turn away from the wood elf way? What did he really know at all? What was the way of the forest and what was merely empty tradition passed down to him? He was crushed under the weight the questions.
Finally he stood resolved. He took off his armor, even his flawless helmet. He lay down his sword and walked naked out of the forest. He followed the cable that still pierced his heart, to the place where his sister had fallen. Though she had long left that place of failure he found her eventually. Together they cut the remaining cords, and parted ways at last.
He spoke the sage
s of the Prince's many faces. He saw the way of the forest buried under the Princes half truths. He began again to wear the flawless helm of a wood elf. But what of the rest of his story? Will he ever see Traveler again? Will he return to the forest? Why doesn't he have the rest of his armor? Tune in next time.
Waiting for ACT III
Nature is everything that is around us, from the atoms to the galaxies to the tools we use to see such things. All that exists is nature. Every thing man has invented is part of nature, and everything that will be invented. All the parts of everything that will be made already exist basic or raw way.
Man is nature as well. Man's body is made of same things as makes all nature, nature sustains him while he lives, and when he dies, his body goes back to the earth, in one form or another. In nature, man differentiates between what is not alive (forces of nature, laws of physics and science) and that which lives: plants, animals, and himself. These things are organized by order of freedom.
Forces of nature have no choice. They act without mercy or malice, and they wind down, slowly disordering and dissipating. Life, however, is anti-entropic. It does not slowly dissipate, it grows. It does not wind down, but up. It reproduces itself and passes on to each generation abilities. Thus ability pass on useful traits from generation to generation makes life inherently valuable. Even the life of a bacterium has value. It is bulwark against the sterile chaos that exists where no life is present.
Plants grow. They "learn" resistance to other forms of life and thrive, but they have no thoughts and little or no choices. Animals, however, chose. The brain of even the simplest animal is differential engine, weigh options and making selections. As the brain of the animal grows in complexity, so does its ability to differentiate between things. At the peak of the pinnacle is man.
Man has greater ability to differentiate and categorized than any other species. This difference of ability is orders of magnitude greater than the same difference between any other species. Human beings truly are amazing, but it not this mundane ability to chose that gives man his value. Only man has the ability to chose between good and evil. It is for this reason than man is intrinsically sacred.
All animals are capable of behavior which merely destructive, to themselves, their species, their, young, and their environment. Many animals can and do kill for play rather than purpose, but man is alone, not only in his ability to cause purposeful harm, but his ability to revel in the suffering such harm causes others. Similarly, while many animal parents will die to protect their young, and few will suffer harm to protect the lives of distant relatives, man alone will undertake a lifetime of hardship for the cause of other men a world away. Thus, every man is capable of acts of unspeakable evil or angel humbling acts of love and kindness. This capability is limited only by his ability.
The great problem of Good and Evil is not its existence, but its subjectivity. When good and evil are general issues, all of mankind agree on what is good and what is evil and have for thousands of years. It is when the moral question is specific that men can no longer agree. The question of morality is further complicated by the varied nature of man. Perhaps 10% of mankind will always be moral under all circumstances. Perhaps 10% will do evil under all circumstances. This leaves around 80% in a state of constant flux. Their actions are subject to the constant demands of expedience.
Some men are evil, and some good. These men, saints or devils live without choice. The vast portion of men must chose whether they will be good or evil with everyday. The ability to chose is called freedom. Without freedom there is no morality. Doing the good thing, because you are coerced isn't necessarily good. Doing the evil thing because you are coerced isn't necessarily evil.
All men must have freedom. Though he may use it for good or evil, without it, man becomes simply the cleverest of the animals. Because all men must be free, sometimes man must have some of his freedoms limited so that the practicing of his freedom does not rob another man of his. The robbery of freedom is called exploitation, and it is the beginning of a great more many evils.
Some men are devils, and some saints. Most are just men. To prevent exploitation, good men, must take away the freedom of evil men. This is called government. Government must have rules, and these rules are called law. The great challenge of law and government is that as mentioned, most men agree on what is good and evil when the issues are large and conceptual. When the issues are localized to single person, place, and environment, the consensus, grows shaky.
The writing of law must be based around six ideas: (1.) Man is valuable. (2.) Man's freedom is valuable. (3.) Most (though not all) men will exploit others if given the chance (4.) Governments are composed men very much like the ones they govern. (5.) Governments and law should be put in place by the same men whom it governs (6.) The purpose of government and law is to prevent and punish exploitation (ie, a person or group removing the freedom of another for some sort of personal gain.)
With a framework to judge man, law and government in hand, it it time to list the limitations of man, law, and government. Law and government are for most men, not saints and not devils. Saints need no government, they will always do the right thing. Devils will not be dissuaded from wrong no matter how harsh the penalties. It is not for these ungovernable men that law is written or executed. It for the common man. Because of this, many compromises must be made in the writing of law. The saint must be burdened with laws he does not need, and the devil with laws he will never follow, so that the common man may be governed. However, the saint and the common man both need not burdened with laws written solely punish the devil. Such laws burden the good and actively benefit the evil, for devils will have their vices, and if vices are banned the devil will simply be better paid.
No government can make man not prone to exploitation Further, no government in history has ever figured out how to produce saints but many have figured out how to produce devils. The common man is not easily pushed toward sainthood and his toehold on morality is precarious, but he will slide toward evil with great ease. This must be considered not only in the laws which regulate the actions of the common man, but those which regulate the actions of the government itself as well. After all, a government is nothing more than body of common men.
The last limitation of government is funding. Since man is prone to exploitation, and the government prevents it, few men will voluntarily pay the government to govern them. The government must collect its funding by force, called taxes. Since man's freedom is valuable and taxes are coercively collected, the government must be as small and efficient as possible to make this loss of freedom as negligible as possible.
The last limitation of man is how he acts in groups. A group is number of people who have some cohesion to each other for some purpose. Groups have many benefits to man but present two enormous drawbacks to his freedom. The first is the mob effect. The second is organizational. They are worst when combined. Without governing the only limit to these problems is the size and cohesion of the group. Groups of men, being composed of men, should have all the freedom of a man, restricted only by the groups power to exploit other individuals and groups.
Almost all men have a moral compass called the conscience. The strength of conscience decides the man's capacity for self government, and thus his need for governing. Groups tend to not only dull the conscience of the individual who belongs to it (which is bad enough) but even replace the conscience of the individual with lowest common average of the groups con
science. In essence, the conscience of group is less than the sum of its parts. As the group grows in size and cohesion the individual's conscience is hijacked and replaced with the conscience that the group's leadership approve of. Though this is not always bad (armed forces in particular are famous for using this principal to encourage moral behavior) in general this principal is applied for exploitation.
The second problem of groups is organizational. While the conscience of a group is less than the sum of its parts, the power of group is much greater than the sum of its parts. The danger which groups can pose to the freedom of man is obvious: as power increases (either through cohesion or size) conscience is reduced proportionally. Power without conscience is license to do evil.
With these limitations the path is clear: groups, not having consciences, are not afforded the benefits the doubt that a man is. A group is not permitted freedom until they use it to exploit. A group must have its freedom restricted proportionally to its size and cohesion. A government is merely a group of men, thus the same rules apply. A nation of voters are a large group, but generally lacking in cohesion so their group needs few if any restrictions of freedom. A national government also represents a large group, who have not only a cohesive vision, but also, to do its duty, more power over others than any other group. As such, the national level government must be the most restricted of all groups.
Corporations and religions represent very challenging groups for government. Both are excellent for the the people. One encourages wealth and hard work, the other moral behavior at work and at home. However, despite these benefits, both can contain very large, highly cohesive, and very effective groups. These two types of group have enormous potential to exploit others. As such their freedoms must be restricted proportionally to any other group of the same power and wealth.
One last note on government and groups. Groups are the very reason for government. Government and group are interdependent. One person existing alone, without touching the life of an other person, need only govern themselves. A family needs few rules, rules which regulate how the family relates to its own members and rules which regulate how the family relates to other family. A nation is no different.
The study of government is the study of human history and the study of human history is the study of failure. When history is viewed through a narrow lens, it is the story of great triumphs and awesome failures centered around colossal figures. Sometimes evil men triumph and the innocent die, sometimes Good wins. But viewed through the wide angle lens, nothing really seems to mater. Good or evil, just or injust, all men die alike. Yesterday's revolutionaries become today's establishment. Morality becomes legalism. As competing religions grow in size they become more and more like each other. Revolutionary governments begin to abuse the very powers they fought and died to end. As a species, we become what we abhor.
Every revolutionary group is Utopian. Any group founded on the idea of change, either at a micro or macro level, is doomed. The group effect of increasing ability with decreasing conscience begins to create the conditions for hypocrisy (ie, a difference in the values group proclaims and the actions it takes). The quantity and quality of this hypocrisy is proportional to the power that the revolutionary subgroup has in relation to group it seeks to change. Though history is replete with examples so well known as to be common knowledge, perhaps the most obvious for Western readers is Christianity.
Christianity began as a sect of Judaism, differentiated from its parent religion primarily by the Christ, and his profoundly revolutionary teachings. Three simple and undeniable teaching of Jesus are: First that there is not mediator between God and man, but He. Second, morality is not about following the right code, morality is primarily about treating others with love and respect. Third, pacifism (to the point of aiding an occupying soldier, and even allowing him to strike you.) is moral and good. The first ends the priesthood, the second ends legalism, and the third ends holy wars. Between those teachings (and Jesus had many more) religion as most people understand it ceases to exist.
But a mere 10 generations after Christ, Christianity is established as the state religion of Rome.
The name of a man who said he was the last priest, that morality is in the heart and not a rule book, and was committed to pacifism at the cost of his own life was invoked to form a highly legalistic State ruled by priests and constantly at war. The late medieval Catholic church achieved levels of hypocrisy which still astound us today (consider the "Ballet of Chestnuts").
History is very, very clear about this: No revolutionary group will survive. Groups will be corrupted proportionally the power the exercise over other groups. The example of the Church is not even remotely unique. The story of Islam is similar. The story of communism in Russia and China is no different. For every king toppled, every constitution written, and slave freed, there is a tyrant established, a constitution ignore or made impotent, and freeman sold. It would be ultimate folly to conclude that any person or people could be so wise as to create a group to seize power who will not be corrupted by their own success. No group, no plan, no manifesto is a bulwark against the erosion of the power hungry.
lonely in a crowd
In the military people talk about getting out, how stupid the management is, and above all sex. They say Eskimos have 17 worlds for snow. People in the military may have only one word for sex (it starts with F and ends in K and isn't firetruck) but they talk about it like Eskimos talk about snow. They talk about good sex, bad sex, fun sex, sad sex, clean sex, dirty sex (they sort of specialize in that…), angry sex, happy sex. Sex alone, sex with one friend, sex with many friends sequentially, sex with many friends simultaneously. They talk about methods of sex, techniques, tools, toys, and what in a more innocent time was called marital aids. They talk about pictures of sex, magazines about sex, videos about sex, books about sex, DVDs about sex. They trade all of these things back and forth between themselves, just as they trade ideas about them.
I have to ponder things that I don't feel comfortable hearing about or it tears me up inside, so I try to think about why all these conversations bother me, and I stumble into the fact that 10 years ago these conversations would have been exactly the sort of thing I wanted to hear and know. Strange to be bothered by a certain presentation of facts (for it is the presentation and not the facts that bugs me) that would have delighted me not so very long ago.
If a man may be called a slut (usually men are not called that, even if the moniker fits) then I always thought of myself as a slut. I was always willing to sleep with someone I didn't care about at all. However, I never did, and I never understood why. I had ample opportunity and several bold faced offers. Sometimes with beautiful strangers, sometimes with friends, and something in me always recoiled with horror at the thought. For a long time I blamed this fear of losing my virginity (heck, you only have it once) but after I lost my virginity, I still felt that way, so that couldn't be it. I wondered if was a conservative Christian up bringing, but I've dropped all the baggage I know of that is being conservative merely for the sake of being conservative, and I still feel that way. I considered the idea that I really loved these girls and I wanted to be "part of the solution" and not "part of the problem". I think that is basically crap. Some of those girls I really did love, some of them I didn't even like. But always the answer that came when it was time to do the deed was "Ewwwwww! NO!" In fact not only sex, but even sexual behavior like kissing, making out, etc. just sort of creeped me out.
Through the lens of what I know now, my teen years look even stranger. I surrounded myself with females, many of whom had serious social and emotional problems. I obsessed about them. I fantasized about them. I knew the company of my hand probably more than was really healthy. I looked at more internet porn than anyone really should. I would pray every night for girl. Someone to hold, to kiss, to know. I was desperately, pathetically, emptily lonely. Sex, intimacy, and even the plain warmth of the human touch were my constant disfiguring hunger.
And through all that, the first girl I held hands with and put my arm around, I broke up with.
Why? She really wanted me to hold her. Nothing serious, mind you, just hold her a bit. I though I wanted too, so I would put my arm around her. Touching her didn't make me feel happy. Nor did it make me feel guilty for "leading her to sin". It DID did obviously arouse me, which was absolutely mortifying, though she never noticed. It made me feel a little panicky. Above all it made me feel a sort of emptiness, a sort of "I weighted 16 years for this?" coldness.
I decided to fake it till I made it. Every night we would sit on the park bench that overlooked the pool. It was regular routine: sit down, put arm around her, be totally humiliated by my erection, etc. Gradually the panicky feeling went away and the cold, dead feeling got stronger.
She wanted to get serious (we had known each other for 14 of my 16 years on earth), and the more serious she wanted to get the worse I felt. And I didn't know why I felt so awful. Wasn't this what I wanted? What I'd prayed for?
I broke up with her. Badly. It turns out that there is sort of an art to breaking up with girl and having her think its her idea. I must have missed that class. Anywho, my budding sexuality continued on in that fashion for several years. Always with the touching came that empty feeling. Why? Wasn't I a slut? Wasn't I willing to sleep with someone I didn't even care about? I know my heart, so I knew I would. But I never did.
The other day one of the guys at work asked me if I planned on cheating on my wife when I got deployed. I feel like a honest question deserves an honest answer so I said,
"Well, I won't stand up on a soap box and say 'I'll never do that!' because thats asking for trouble. Saying 'Never' is a mistake because then let your guard down. But I will say its very unlikely. One, girls don't really go for me like they do other guys so I don't have to say no as often as other guys might. Two, I've really got to have things spelled out for me to even know a girl is looking for sex, and women have usually moved onto to greener fields by the time I even know whats up. Three, the kind of woman who will just walk up to me and say 'I want you for sex' isn't the kind of girl that anybody wants anyway"
Now, I knew this answer wasn't quite right, but I had to think about. The answer really surprised me. I might be tempted to sleep with someone I don't care about, BUT I can't sleep with someone who doesn't care about me. AND since a woman who cares about me wouldn't ask me to cheat on my wife, it keeps me out of a lot of trouble. Upon further reflection it made a lot of sense, actually. I don't even like to shake hands with someone unless I really feel like it. When I pretend to give a damn, and that pretending requires me to touch someone it makes me feel dead and fake. Even shaking hands with a pastor at a church that I visit makes me feel really lousy.
So thats it. The whole I-thought-I-was-a-slut-but-how-come-I-never-really-got-laid problem. Now I can hear all the meaningless sex talk at work and know that (praise God) I'm not wired for that. Its strangely calming. I've always wondered with the kind of thoughts that make up a day in my head why I am able to be faithful to my wife. Well, simply, the grace of God, both in the "here's some grace, kid" sense and most recently revealed to me the "I made you, your brain and your gonads, this how I wired it all together" sense.
Ronin speaks of loss
I got an email from my old church today (I'm still on the autosend list.) . Its time for the annual "family reunion" when everyone from the all of the house church plants nationwide get together for a week of fun and fellowship.
I heard once that it is so painful to watch someone you love die that it doesn't even hurt. The pain crosses the threshold of feeling just and becomes a sort of post-amputation numbness, but in the soul. You watch the events happening through your eyes as if they were someone else's, and don't remember what happened correctly. The person slowly becomes less of a person and more of the vessel in which a person once resided. At some point, sometimes very clearly, sometimes hidden over long time, the soul is gone.
One of the reasons that I can't write the church and ask them to take me off of their auto-mailer is… I owe it to my own memories to watch it die. And its dieing. The church dies like the Roman Empire. An organization is not person. The soul doesn't just go out of it, the soul is changed little by little as the body stays the same. The Roman empire never fell. If you asked anyone who lived there at the time, it didn't fall. They saw the way it was as the way it should be. Its only when you are an outsider that you can see the truth.
With each mailing I get I see the church turn. The requests for money grow louder as the talk of the providence of the Lord gets quieter. Words about the organization's oversite into members affairs slip little by little into statements about the the members affairs. The church used to have a revolutionary mission: to be church whose only priest was Christ. The still have a revolutionary mission: to be a church who takes the gospel and American wealth into the developing world. And thats good, but did you notice the change? Once our leadership spoke of training us to replace them so they could take the message elsewhere. Now, they speak of training others to take the message elsewhere. Unspoken but clear is the fact that they stay in charge, and the new leaders they have trained go far away.
Words like "qualified" and "organizationally approved" suddenly precede the words "house church leader" in the church documents. The final statement of the 4 elements of house church is that the organization will guarantee you a perfect house church experience only if you and your other members dwell in Christian perfection. It states that house church can ruin people's lives if its not done right. All true, but in essence they absolve themselves of any responsibility. If your house church sucks it is from the bottom up, and you need to fix it.
However if your house church is rich, responsibility goes from the top down, as shown by the nature of tithes.
All the money goes to the organization who takes out 10% for the continence of the organization, 50% for the organzation's missions and returns 40% to the house churches. Each "designated" leader is totally responsible for his house church, but receives only 40% of the money he needs to do his job. We were told when we first got involved with the church to take ownership of our local house church. They said, "Its not just God's House, its yours! God is looking for people who want to be a part of the Church, not people who want to keep a pew warm. This is a partnership!" Now, only qualified leaders get ownership, and only 40% at that.
(The person who holds the purse string holds the true power in any relationship or organization. Its not about the money, its about who has the right to spend it.)
I broke my heart to believe in the message they preached. I came to believe on a sort of heaven on earth that would come about if everyone who wanted to love people went out and started house churches. Everything we, the church, did was to facilitate that goal. We all read the books and went to the conferences. Moreover, we worshiped with abandon, prayed with bleeding hearts, opened our very souls to each other, and sought the will of God is fasting and prayer in all the things we did. It twas not an easy thing to swallow. Pride in tradition was lost. Pride in knowledge was lost. Pride in sophisticated disbelief was lost. Pride in clever theories was lost. I was dressed like stone and purified like steel (by fire and hammer). And I BELIEVED.
And I still believe. Thats why it hurts to this day, and why I had leave them. I became the sword that my mentors wished to craft, my edge was too keen, and they refused to use me. Now, I am the outsider, watching the dream of a city die from my vantage point on the hill. I remember a wild free place where men and women danced for the glory of God. Where the music uplifted the soul and broke the heart on a holy alter. I remember teaching of hard truths, and healings.
Now I read about qualifications and see my leaders begging for money to continue building their little empire. I sickens me, and I weep for what might have been.
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Blog Archives
Big Sean- "Guap" Music Video
"WORLD PSA" ….From TrueSpeech
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This is a World Public Service Announcement from me to….Well the World. This is a VLOG describing the new joinit ventures I have with great like minded people, and what I have been working on besides the VLOGS…Which is DOPE MUSIC. Check out the video and as always…PLEASE SUBSCRIBE!!!
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A personal and eye opening outlook on the way I view men and how we deal with emotional issues and how young black men in America are raised in this country.
"Bitch Bad" – Lupe Fiasco New Music Video
Below is a link to the new Lupe Fiasco Music Video for his controversial new single "Bitch Bad" the video and the song are truly a deep intellectual look at the way society and the music industry has chosen to glamorize.
Dating and Relationships…The TrueSpeech Perspective
This week Jr The BossMan asked me to come on his show and give my take on Dating and Relationships, and some of the problems and issues that I see coming from both men and women(MAINLY WOMEN) today and how it has ruined the dating game. The first show was so Successful that he asked me to come on for part 2 to finish breaking down the game. Below are the links to The BossMan Podcast where you can listen to Part 1 and Part 2 of the show so you can get some game and knowledge about the Dating World of today.
A Conversation with TrueSpeech Part 1: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/thebosspodcast/2012/08/14/the-boss-podcast-conversation-with-truespeech
A Conversation with TrueSpeech Part 2: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/bossmanshow/2012/08/17/bossman-show-conversation-with-truespeech


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Nothing can truly top Kentucky bourbon, or the Kentucky Derby, but we can't ignore the fresh seafood, or exhilarating Preakness Stakes in Maryland. Recently, I took up a challenge to reinvent the classic Preakness Cocktail, The Black Eyed Susan, but with Maker's Mark bourbon. The best of both worlds! Adding to the recipe my own easy-on-the-sugar twist, I think you'll be fan.
This recipe can be easily edited to suit your tastes, though prepared my way will turn lean itself more to the tart and zesty side. Just how I like it! Here's how to make the cocktail:
- 1 shot Maker's Mark
- 1/4 shot Paula's Texas Orange Liqueur (or any orange liqueur)
- Squeeze of 1/2 Cara Cara or Blood Orange
- Lemon wedge
- Sparkling water (lemon/orange flavored works well!)
Add the first set of ingredients to a tumbler filled with ice, filling the glass the rest of the way up with sparkling water. Feel free to add more juice or liqueur. Heck, if you're me, you'll likely be adding another half shot of bourbon! Bottoms up, and may the odds be ever in your horse's favor.
Note: I received bourbon samples without payment to make this blog post. Recipe and opinions are all 100% by me.


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THE Palace of the Luxembourg, whose majestic facade forms the imposing vista of the broad Rue de Tournon, is the ancient residence of Marie de Medicis, the powerful widow of Henri IV, the first monarch of the House of Bourbon.
When Marie decided to build a palace without the walls of Philippe Auguste, upon a slope of the plateau of Sainte-Genevieve, she followed the example which half a century before her compatriot and relative, Catherine de Medicis, had set when she replaced her old residence, the Tournelles, by the new palace of the Tuileries, situated outside the fortified walls of Charles V.
The buildings of the Tuileries though not yet finished promised a sumptuous dwelling when Marie de Medicis became regent, but the haughty widow of Henri IV, though she found herself in-conveniently lodged in the Louvre, felt no interest in terminating the work on the Tuileries, and would not, in fine, occupy a palace commenced by another. The royal habitation which she visualized must be her very own.
Daughter of a grand-duke of Tuscany and of an archduchess of Austria, niece of a pope, a superb egoism was her natural heritage, as it was also the dominant note of the Italian Renaissance, of which Marie de Medicis was preeminently a product. Furthermore despotic tendencies in her character were fostered and developed by her early widowhood, which left her, at thirty-seven years of age, regent and sole ruler of France.
At the time of his father's death Louis XIII was a lad of nine years, and his mother, while enjoying to the full the power of the regency, looked forward none the less with reluctance to the time when she would be forced to relinquish the reins of government to the boy, whom she despised as an ineffectual rival, and upon whom she bestowed little of a mother's tenderness.
The position of dowager queen, to which the approaching majority of her son would soon relegate her, Marie de Medicis found distasteful and humiliating. She sought to ameliorate its horrors by the construction of a vast private palace, a monument to her name and race, an expression of her own vital personality, to which she might retire, nominally, when the time came, in considerable splendour and without sacrificing appearances or yielding more than the letter of her supremacy.
Renouncing, therefore, the two large residences of the rive droite, Marie de Medicis selected the calm and spacious faubourg Saint-Germain as the site of her palace. She purchased, in 1612, the estate of Francois de Luxembourg, duc de Piney, increasing the property during the following year by a number of acquisitions and exchanges. At last, in 1615, having cleared the united properties of all the existing buildings, the palace was begun.
Salomon de Brosse was the architect. History is doubtful as to his identity, his origin, and his birth. He is styled both nephew and student of Du Cerceau, as both son and brother of Jean de Brosse, architect to Marguerite de Valois. At the time of which we speak he had done none of his great workthe portail of Saint-Gervais, the aqueduct of Arceuil, the temple of Charenton, the Salle des Pas Perdus of the Palais, the chateaux of Monceaux and of Coulommiers are all posterior to the Medicis palace by several years. He *as a Huguenot, yet he. inspired Marie de Medicis, who was a fervent Catholic, with absolute confidence in his ability.
The palace was commenced in 1615 and finished in 1620. The plan is based upon a study of the Pitti Palace, in Florence, Marie de Medicis' birth-place, to which the palace bears indeed a certain resemblance. De Brosse was too talented a man to follow blindly his distinguished model; he adapted its general physiognomy, subordinating it to the current French traditions, introducing the long galleries and high corner pavilions, unknown to Italy, but demanded by the French climate. It was the queen's idea that her palace should be reminiscent of the Florentine masterpiece, and de Brosse succeeded so well that his plan found universal favour.
In its original form the general mass of the structure formed a parallelogram of almost exact symmetry. The architectural decoration of the principal facade, on the Rue de Vaugirard, and in the grand court, was practically what one sees `today. But the sides of the palace were lengthened in 1836-40 by the addition of a third section which pushed the facade towards the garden out a considerable distance. This alteration was the most important of the many changes made in the original plan and provided the necessary space for the housing of the senate chamber.
The principal entrance to the palace was through a court of honour built within the present corn t, raised about three feet above the main court and reached by a row of semi-circular steps. Three doors opened from this court of honour above which were placed busts of Henri IV, Marie de Medicis, and Louis XIII. The original stairway of honour was within these doors, where now stands the colonnade. Within, the ground floor was composed of great halls and vaulted chambers, reserved for the different functions of the guard.
The first floor contained the reception and ceremonial apartments and the living rooms of the queen. These faced the western exposure and communicated with the long, west gallery, a splendid room with windows on the garden and on the court, designed to hold the decorations by Rubens, now in the Louvre.
The magnificence of the gardens corresponded to that of the palace. The parterre was originally larger but not so deep as now; it was bordered on each side by flat bands of flowers and enclosed within a double wall. The terraces followed the mode of the day and were planted with yew and box trees cut into bizarre shapes.
The fountains were fed by abundant waters from the springs of Rongis carried through the village of Arceuil, where had been found the remains of the Roman aqueduct which transported the waters for the baths of the Palais des Thermes. The first stone in its reconstruction was laid by the queen regent and Louis XIII in 1613. It was finished in 1624 and proved a blessing to the city, for the demands of the palace and gardens were amply satisfied with but a third of the supply of water and the remainder was turned over to public use.
Sauval described the parterre as the largest and most magnificent of Europe, and John Evelyn, writing in 1644, says: " The parterre is indeed of box, but so rarely design'd and accurately kept cut, that the embroidery makes a wonderful effect to the lodgings which front it. 'Tis divided into four squares, and as many circular knots, having in ye centre a noble basin of marble neere thirty feet in diameter, in which a triton of brasse holds a dolphine that casts a girandola of water neere thirty foote high, playing perpetually, the water being convey'd from Arceuil by an aqueduct of stone, built after ye old Roman magnificence."
Marie de Medicis occupied her palace during a tempestuous period following the young king's accession to the throne. Devoured by love of power, she was incapable of directing anything alone and obeyed blindly the will of her favourites, Concini and Eleanore Galigai, his wife, who had accompanied her to France. Directed by these two the queen exerted her fitful influence, worked her stubborn will, now through the weakness of the king, now through her mouthpiece, Richelieu, whose power at first was of her making and whom she regarded as her creation and tool.
Desiring to have her coadjutor at hand the queen gave him a portion of her land upon which to erect a house, adjacent to her own. This was the Hotel du Petit Luxembourg and here Richelieu resided until the Palais Royal was built. One can measure his growth by these buildings alone. When he had attained the dignity of the latter he repaid the generosity of the queen mother by abandoning his estate to his niece, the duchesse d'Aiguillon, whom Marie de Medicis bitterly de-tested and desired to have banished from the court. The Petit Luxembourg is now the official residence of the president of the senate.
Meanwhile in the midst of everything the queen became embroiled in political quarrels and court jealousies. Her violent and dominating nature tended to push all things to excess, both friend-ships and hatreds. She excited against herself, and her favourite Concini, the enmity of the court, and after many painful scenes Richelieu, who was now hand in glove with the king, had her banished from Paris.
The chateau of Blois was the scene of her captivity from 1617 to 1620, and her escape forms one of the subjects of the series of panels which Rubens painted for the palace. Balls, fetes, and a round of gaieties followed her return and celebrated her restoration to favour and power. Marie, in the intoxication of the moment, thought her fortunes assured forever, and abandoned her-self once again to the beautification of her palace, calling to Paris the greatest painter of the day, then in the height of his power and renown.
The fame of Rubens, at this time, filled the ears of the civilized world. He was in demand at all the courts of Europe as ambassador as well as painter. His familiarity with diplomatic circles rendered the Flemish painter eminently the artist to cope with the difficult task which Marie de Medicis' vanity imposed upon him. It was indeed a delicate matter to satisfy the colossal conceit of the queen without incurring the displeasure of the king and of Gaston d'Orleans, to say nothing of that of the more formidable Richelieu.
Rubens chose the allegorical style of subject, then in vogue, as the most neutral mode of expression, as well as that best adapted to the purpose of decoration. He remained in Paris, on his first visit to the court, about a month, planning the work with the queen and familiarising himself with the political situation and the tempers of his clients. The preliminary sketches were finished within about two months after his departure, and in May, 1622, were submitted to the queen together with a general plan of the west gallery.
All of his compositions were approved with the exception of one which depicted the queen being sent into exile at Blois, conducted by Rage, Calumny, and Hate, and portraits of the queen's parents, the Grand-Duke Francis of Tuscany and Johanna of Austria, were substituted for this canvas. These sketches, to the artist much more valuable and interesting than the finished decorations, are preserved in the Alte Pinakothek, at Munich.
One year later Rubens again visited Paris, bringing with him nine finished canvases. The queen, who was at Fontainebleau, came up to Paris expressly to see them and was delighted. On his return to Antwerp Rubens continued the work with great rapidity, partly because he must have seen the unstable position of Marie de Medicis, and have been anxious to deliver the work, for which the recompense was a consideration, and partly also to accomplish its installation in time for the wedding of Henriette de France with Charles I, of England.
He brought the whole series to Paris in January, 1625, and installed himself in the east gallery of the palace, which, having the same exposure and arrangement as the room for which they were intended, served as the best of studios for the purpose. Here he put the final touches to the can-vases, and here he painted the coronation of the queen, by the cardinal de Joyeuse, at Saint-Denis, for which the queen and notables of the court, figuring in the composition, posed, and here he made the queen's own portrait, as Bellona.
Finally, on May 1, 1625, all was in place and the king, the queen mother, and the court gave it an enthusiastic approval. The west gallery, as has been said, was lighted by windows on both sides and the pictures occupied the piers between the windows and at the ends of the room. At one end was the portrait of the queen in the character of Bellona, the goddess of war, placed over a monumental chimney-piece. This portrait was flanked by portraits of the grand-duke and grand-duchess of Tuscany, in spaces above the two doors. The ceiling was richly ornamented by caissons and paintings of the twelve signs of the zodiac, by Jacques Jordaens, Rubens' pupil and friend.
It has become fashionable to decry this prodigious work of the Flemish painter, as not only inferior in quality to his great achievements, but as the mere hasty output of his school. So great a genius as Rubens rides easily over this unmerited criticism and the canvases themselves show too much mastery of composition, too much fluency of painting, too much joy of colour to have been done by apprentices, however clever. The panels were not hastily done, they were done with a rapidity born of enthusiasm and carried through, as one can see, with one inspiration; the work really gains in consequence.
It is true that his students helped; they were accustomed to throw the composition roughly upon the large canvases from the small sketches, to prepare the work for the master, and it might even be easy to say to which canvases Jordaens put his brush. Rubens' atelier was a strong one including with Jordaens, who was to become a master him-self, such capable painters as Diepenbeck, Van Thulden, Van Egmont, C. Schut, and Simon de Vos. But we know that Rubens made the sketches, and that he worked upon the canvases in Paris and that he painted the coronation scene and the portraits in the palace itself.
As for the painting the pictures are not the equal of such outstanding masterpieces as the Descent from the Cross, of Antwerp, nor of the marvellous Rape of the Sabine Women nor the Inferno of Munich, nor of the great treasures of the Prado, but they show nevertheless an inexhaustible strength and fertility of invention, an infinite variety, a knowledge and a virtuosity evident to every thoughtful observer.
The Marriage of Henri IV and Marie de Medicis at Lyon, is one of the most striking of the collection and the head of Henri IV is perhaps the most perfect existing portrait of the king. The Coronation of Marie de Medicis at Saint-Denis is regarded as the most successful of the historical series and it is classed amongst Rubens' most important works.
The series is composed of twenty-one allegorical flatteries, under which one reads easily the character of the haughty, obstinate, and false Marie, this princess of weak character, of violent passions, proud in prosperity, humble and suppliant in adversity, who by her detestable character became insufferable to her husband and her son, and who alienated her very favourites. Under the pure painting is the revelation of Rubens' complete sizing up of the situation which his bravura scarcely takes the trouble to conceal. He seems to have known that with Marie de Medicis there was no fear of going too far, that she would accept avidly flattery however fulsomely presentedthe great point was that there should be " sufficiently enough."
Rubens hands it to her strong, as the phrase is, in such a picture as that which depicts Henri IV receiving her portrait with an imbecile smile of rapture-" Quelle femme!" he seems to be saying to himself of this smug, self-satisfied face. But she was far from being as beautiful as Henri thought from her portrait. " Grande, grosse, aver des yeux' ronds et fixes, elle n'avait rien de caressant dans les manieres," says Sismondi, " aucune gaiete dans l'esprit."
How he exposes her in such a picture as that in which with an air of false humility and self-effacement she leaves the helm of France to the inexpert Louis XIII; or in that where, upon the apotheosis of Henri IV, she sinks at last upon the throne urged by the insistence of every factor of the kingdom; or again where, having given birth to the puny Louis, she occupies the centre of an admiring group of goddesses; or in the fabulous exaggeration of the Felicite de la Regencethat regency which as we know brought disaster to France and to Marie the hatred of her subjects.
The queen planned that Rubens should decorate the east gallery of the palace with the events of the life of Henri IV, but this wing was unfinished in her lifetime, and in any case, the political intrigues and discords, which led to the final banishment of the queen mother, forced her to renounce the project. It was characteristic of her that she took the precaution to secure her own series first.
The story of her undoing is pitiful in its completeness. Her last years were a succession of exiles. They first wished to send her back to Florence, but she, shrinking with all the strength of her racial pride against humiliation before her own people, urged the king to send her only to Compiegne. Later she was banished to Brussels, then to Ghent, and finally she fled to the court of her son-in-law, Charles I, under whose protection she spent two years. At last the poor lady, bereft of all power and reduced to a state bordering upon indigence, was obliged to retire to Cologne, where, stripped of all insignia of royalty, she died, in 1642, an old woman of sixty-nine years.
Amongst her colossal faults one virtue shines out strong, a virtue hereditary in her family, that of protecting the arts and letters. She gave pensions to Malherbe, and to Marin; named Philippe de Champaigne court painter, commanded of Rubens this series of decorations; constructed the Luxembourg Palace, built the aqueduct of Arceuil, and founded the Hopital de la Charite.
The old palace of Marie de Medicis has not played a role so considerable in history as has the Louvre or the Tuileries, but its part has nevertheless been brilliant and colourful. On her exile from France the queen gave the estate to her favourite son, Gaston d'Orleans, under whom it became the scene of the revels of a wild and dissipated society of which he was the leader. When the duke died the palace was inherited by his two daughters, the grande Mademoiselle, and the pious duchesse de Guise. It was here that Mademoiselle received the visits of M. de Lauzun, to whom, to the amazement and incredulity of the court, she was briefly betrothed. Lauzun was endowed with the titles, the names, the ornaments necessary to be named in such a contract of marriage, the prospective bride herself gave him four duchies of France and the name of Montpensier. The estate was estimated at twenty-two millions.
The contract was prepared but at the last moment Louis XIV withdrew his consent. Mademoiselle was one of the gaiest figures of the XVIIth century. She inherited the intelligence, the lack of scruple, and the spirit of intrigue of her father, and though she never married was proposed successively for the hands of Louis XIV, Philip IV of Spain, the Prince of Wales (later Charles II of England), and the emperor Ferdinand III. Voltaire writes of her: "Lorsqu'on porta le deuil de Cromwell a la cour de France, Mademoiselle fut la seal qui ne rendit point cet hommage a la memoire du meurtrier d'un roi son parent."
The last royal owner of the Luxembourg was the comte de Provence, known familiarly as Monsieur, afterwards Louis XVIII. When he fled from Paris at the time of Napoleon's return from Elba, his goods were confiscated and the Luxembourg became national property.
During the Reign of Terror, when the ordinary prisons were insufficient to hold the victims of the Revolution, the Luxembourg Palace was converted into a house of detention where were imprisoned, pelemele, without distinction of rank or fortune, numerous suspects. The list of unfortunates included Alexandre de Beauharnais and his wife, Josephine de la Pagerie, Camille Desmoulins, Danton, Philippeaux, Robespierre, and David, the painter.
Upon the establishment of the constitution of 1795 the palace became the seat of government and was consecrated to the use of the five directors. The Consulat followed the Directoire, with Napoleon as first consul in recognition of his magnificent victories in Egypt and Syria, and the Luxembourg became the Palais du Consulat. In 1801 Napoleon created the senate which three years later was to declare him emperor. The palace became the seat of the new government and was known as the Palais du Senat.
We know the garden to have been the site of the Roman camp which protected the palace of the Caesars until the time of Honorius. The history of the gardens then becomes that of the romantic old Chateau Vauvert, a maison de plaisance, said to have been built by Robert the Pious, and to have stood where now begins the allee of the Observatoire. Tradition said that the house was haunted, that it was the abode of the devil himself, and brave men hesitated to pass along the road at night because of the dreadful noises which issued from the manor' and the frequent evils which befell nocturnal ramblers in the vicinity.
The monks of Chartreuse begged the estate from Saint-Louis and established themselves there in 1257. The court, the two cloisters, the church, and the cells, composed each of a distinct pavilion, following the usages of the order, covered a space large enough to contain a city. The church contained a number of illustrious sepulchres and from the cloister were taken the series of pictures, rep-resenting the Life of Saint-Bruno, by Lesueur, now in the Louvre.
For her garden, Marie de Medicis exchanged a large tract of land lying on the other side of the monastery, towards the Observatoire, for a considerable portion of their property. She encroached also upon the domain of another religious order, the Filles du Calvaire. A charming souvenir of this scattered order is preserved in the pretty Renaissance chapel, which can be seen from the Rue de Vaugirard, west of the Petit Luxembourg. It was built by the queen and presented to the nuns in recompense for the ground taken for the garden.
The Revolution swept away royalties and made wholesale havoc of the estates of the many religious bodies, which occupied one-third of the area of Paris. The Filles du Calvaire were put to flight. The monastery of the Peres Chartreux was completely destroyed. The pepiniere of the Luxembourg, the allee of the Observatoire, the botanical gardens, houses and streets now cover the site.
Aside from its rich past, the garden gains peculiar significance from its situation in the heart of the intellectual quarter of Paris. Most of the institutions of learning surround itit is the garden of the Universityand artists have established their general quarter in the adjoining streets.
The museum of modern painters, the palace of the senate, and the national theatre of the Odeon mark its northern boundary. At its southern extremity rises the silhouette of the Observatoire, while its eastern length faces at every opening a series of historic institutions. The main eastern gateway opens upon the broad Rue Soufflot, closed by the imposing vista of the Pantheon. To the left lie the law school, the Sorbonne, the University of Paris, the Cluny Museum, the School of Medicine, etc.; and to the right, the Ecole des Mines.
Not in Paris, nor in any city of France, nor, perhaps, in the whole world exists a garden of nobler aspect, more graceful design, of proportions more perfect and harmonious. While the Tuileries were made over, by Lenotre, the Luxembourg retains its old Renaissance form. A fountain, by de Brosse, contemporary with the palace, lies towards the Rue de Medicis; another, by Carpeaux, a chef-d'oeuvre of the XIXth century, makes glorious the allée of the Observatoire.
The charm of this old garden is of a subtlety, a simplicity, which does not arrest superficial attention, but sinks in more and more profoundly as acquaintance with its varied aspect grows. One must know it bleak and bare in winter. One must have watched its gradual transformation in the early spring. One must have idled away there dreamy, summer twilights and walked through the rustling; russet carpet in the autumn, when, especially towards the Pantheon, the great trees have turned to glowing masses of rust and the terraces are vivid with the bright bloom of the late flowering plants.
The noble dignity of the palace, the elegance of the formal garden appeal to every aesthetic sense, are to feed upon and live into. As one gives up to the charm of the exquisite whole every finer instinct is stirred and satisfied. What poem, what picture, what music is more elevating than the spectacle of the garden on a sunny morning, its fundamental setting decked with flowers, nested in by birds, and peopled with the gay French life smiling out its destiny before one? It exhales the very essence of happiness.
It slips with even closer sympathy into one's minor moods when, wrapped in the first cool, close mist of those rare, unrelated days of late September, a penetrating tristesse pervades and tempers the joy of living. Then it is like a great cathedral, full of mystery and quiet.
But most sensitive and tender it becomes in early October, when the birds and the foreigners have taken wing and the marroniers, having shaken free of their crackling russet, unfold confidingly again into flower and the more sheltered trees show rifts of high-green leaves, their last touching protest against the inroads of winter. Then it is delicious to linger late in the open, to take all one can of this sweet parting.


text:
Published at Monday, January 23rd 2017, 08:17:57 AM by Jozua Guillaume. Kitchen
Now, it is time for you to know about kitchen cupboard hardware selections tips. When you are selecting hardware, make sure that it comes from famous brands. So many brands offer you various kinds of products. However, not all of them have best quality. You should deal with the famous brands for making sure that the products are the best. Do not forget to compare the price. Even though it is only simple thing in your kitchen decoration, spending money too much for this item is not a good idea also. Therefore, you must be excellent in setting budget. Those are some ideas for you to know for supporting your kitchen-decorating job. Hopefully, every installation in your kitchen is so good and excellent.
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Songs about climate change are not so hot
7. If you are, ahem, of a certain age, you will remember Jared Leto as the TOTALLY DREAMY Jordan Catalano from short-lived teen drama "My So-Called Life." If you are of Generation Z or whatever we're on now, you know Leto as the lead singer for mopey emo rockers 30 Seconds to Mars, who have distinguished themselves from dozens of other similarly tight-jeaned mopey emo rockers by … er … they went to the Arctic! To film a video, presumably in support of saving the Arctic.
Puzzlingly, the song isn't about climate change. Or the Arctic. It's about how life is totally a big lie and you just have to, like, maintain. "A quiet desperation's building higher / I've got to remember this is just a game." Oh, Jordan, if only it were. Er, Jared! We meant Jared!
[vodpod id=Video.16091707&w=425&h=350&fv=m%3D27190334%26type%3Dvideo%26a%3D0]


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Chancellor Motor Lodge & Conference Centre
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Palmerston North Local Attractions, Activities and Events
Nestled in the heart of Palmerston North, Chancellor Motor Lodge & Conference Centre is an ideal spot from which to discover Palmerston North. Chancellor Motor Lodge and Conference Centre's central location allows guests to enjoy a short comfortable stroll to the city centre. Visit the Rugby Museum or Te Manawa Art Gallery and Museum. Wonderful cafes, restaurants and bars located in the nearby CBD serve a variety of cuisine ranging from traditional New Zealand style fine-dining, to ethnic food and casual meals.
Mar 2020
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December 2013
New Year's Eve Party
New Zealand Stockcar Teams Championship
10 Reasons to Visit Manawatu
New Year's Eve Party
31 Dec 2013 (Tue) - 1 Jan 2014 (Wed)
The Square, Palmerston North
Tuesday 31st December 2013, 06:00pm to very late
Tuesday 31st December 2013, 06:00pm to very late
Welcome in 2014 with Katy - The Katy Perry Show, The Monroes, Palmerston North's very own Truly Made, Kiwibop and Captain Festus McBoyle!
KATY - The Katy Perry Show - starring Nikki
The Monroes - They play the songs people want to dance to and they rule the stage like rock stars.
Truly Made - are a funk.soul.reggae band - they've created a solid catalogue of tunes.
New Zealand Stockcar Teams Championship
1 Jan 2014 (Wed) - 2 Jan 2014 (Thu)
Arena Manawatu, Pascal St, Palmerston North
Wednesday 1st and Thursday 2nd January 2014, 07:00pm
Twelve of New Zealands meanest stockcar teams all fighting hard to get through to finals. No holds barred racing where anything goes out on the track. You will see a Stockcar Teams battle for supremacy.
Teams of five cars from each track race to win at any cost. Roll the opposition or smash their wheels off. If you want to see hard hitting Stockcar action then this is your chance to cheer on your favourite Stockcar Team.
The Stockcar Teams are keen to flex their muscles!
10 Reasons to Visit Manawatu
10 Great Reasons to Visit Manawatu
Here are ten great attractions that will appeal to the whole family and are open to the public most days!
Coach House Museum
Feilding's Coach House Museum is home to an outstanding collection of rural New Zealand heritage, showcasing over 140 years of history.
Feilding on a Friday
Feilding is a beautiful town, with much to see and do, including Feilding Saleyards Guided Tour & Feilding Farmers' Market
The Herb Farm
The herb farm offers a natural, eco and feel-good experience in a scenic, rural retreat setting.
Mangaweka Adventure Company
Forming the Manawatu regions western border, the Rangitikei River provides unsurpassed family camping and rafting adventures.
Mokai Gravity Canyon
Mokai Gravity Canyon is the ultimate extreme adventure playground, set in a spectacular river canyon with an onsite cafe and shop.
New Zealand Rugby Museum
The sport that shaped a nation. How did rugby come to play such an important role in the culture and heritage of New Zealand, and why are the All Blacks so good?
Owlcatraz is a native bird and wildlife park featuring a guided tour to view rare and interesting animals, set amongst native bush and farmland.
River Valley
River Valley offers white-water rafting, hill country horse trekking and hokio (walks) with a restful stay at the on-site lodge in a beautiful location beside the Rangitikei River.
Te Manawa
Te Manawa is a cultural museum of art, science and history. It showcases and stores the Manawatu region's nationally significant taonga, contemporary art, science and heritage collections.
Tui HQ
Tui brewery is the home of everything Tui.
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text:
Is this a holy thing to see.
In a rich and fruitful land.
Babes reduced to misery.
Fed with cold and usurous hand?
Is that trembling cry a song?
Can it be a song of joy?
And so many children poor?
It is a land of poverty!
And their sun does never shine.
And their fields are bleak & bare.
And their ways are fill'd with thorns
It is eternal winter there.
For where-e'er the sun does shine.
And where-e'er the rain does fall:
Babe can never hunger there,
Nor poverty the mind appall.
Poems are below...
Provide your analysis, explanation, meaning, interpretation, and comments on the poem Holy Thursday (Experience) here.
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