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By Deborah Walker
There's something special about fenland, the holy land of the English. A flat, low-lying land where silver, drifting fog brings to mind the mysteries held in the human heart. Where else should the true artist reside? Not in cacophonous London, but here, in Boston, a stone's throw from the wild, wild sea.
Thus I pondered, as I walked with my Circe along the wash, revelling in the triumph of another successful play performed by the Boston Players, a company that I've had much experience with. In truth the audience seemed forever dwindling, consisting mainly of avatars, but what else could I expect? In these times, the appreciation of the finer things is far beyond the ken of most. But those who did appreciate, ah those–the accolades of a half-dozen accomplished minds is worth far more that the accolades of a million dead- minded drones.
"I think that my next opus shall be of the fens, Circe."
"A fine choice."
My plays encompass the breadth of human history. Each act is set in a different era. Not for me, the constraints of linearity: I would start my act in the late 18th century with the draining of the fens, then dart to the Bronze Age, with savage Britons making weapons, then finally alight in the current era.
"I say, who's that?" A man lay on the silt, a paraphernalia of bottles and tubes of metal surrounding him. The smoke from his fire wheedled into the sky. A few seagulls took their cautious inspection of him. Disturbingly, he had no Circe. "He's not dead, is he?" I have written of death many times in my plays, but I have never seen a dead body.
"He's moving," said Circe.
"Then what could be wrong?"
"Nothing," said Circe. "Ignore him. Let's get home to discuss the performance."
"It doesn't look like nothing." I ventured closer to the man. He was indeed moving, twitching as if in the grip of nightmare, but his eyes were open and staring. "Whyever would he be in such a state?" How curious it was.
"Oh, do come on," said my Circe giving me the lightest touch of my pleasure circuits.
"I want to know what's wrong with him."
Circe lifted her hand to taste the wind. "He's drunk," she said.
"He's ingested a depressant. He must have made alcohol." A note of interest crept into Circe's voice.
"But why?
"For pleasure, I suppose."
"A depressant? Why should he have a depressant if he wants pleasure? Why doesn't he have a Circe?" It made me feel uneasy to see the man, naked almost without an interactive avatar. We were a few feet away, edging, like the seagulls, ever closer.
"Why don't you ask him?" said the man with a great slur. He shrugged into an upright position, knocking over a cauldron of fermented apples.
"Oh, I do beg your pardon," I said politely. "I thought that you were completely inebriated and incapable of speech."
"Well, I'm not. So clear off. And take your witch with you."
"Which witch?"
"Your bloody Circe, you great girl's blouse."
"Where's your Circe, sir?" I asked. "You are a man, aren't you?" It was difficult to tell, as he (?) was wrapped in a number of old blankets and his head was hooded.
"Yes, I'm a bloody man. And I'm not a man to be enslaved to a witch. Go on, clear off."
"He doesn't have a Circe," whispered Circe. "Do come along, Reginald."
What was a man doing without a Circe? The wind stirring along the black wash, along the braided river, chilled me to the bone. Was he a member of a religious cult which prohibited the use of Circes? Surely they all died out years ago.
The man focussed on my Circe, his eyes narrowing. "I never will be beholden to her kind."
What a terrible tragedy to have a life without pleasure–and what an intriguing premise. I felt the muse stirring within me. "I say, you don't fancy coming home for tea, do you?"
"For tea?"
"Or something more alcoholic. I'm sure it can be fabricated." I raised an eyebrow at Circe. She nodded, although I could sense that she disapproved. I passed over my card to the man and bowed "My name is Reginald Marmaduke, playwright."
"A playwright, is it?"
I nodded modestly.
"My name is Dunstable." He turned my card over in his hands. "And what am I supposed to do with this?"
"He hasn't got the interface," whispered Circe.
Ah, of course. "It's fortunate you've encountered me, because I've made a study of the ancient arts. You wouldn't happen to have a pencil on your person, by any chance?"
"Just tell me where you live, I'll remember," said Dunstable.
I clapped my hands in delight. "Ah, of course. The art of memory." How very deliciously archaic he was. "And can I assume that you've accepted my invitation?"
"I'll come," he said. "You give me the address. I'll catch you up. I've got a few things to do first."
My home overlooks Caleb's Mere. I stood in my writing study gazing at the static water. Circe stood silently at my side. She has a great delicacy of emotion, knowing when to be silent. In this she is unlike a woman. My thoughts turned briefly to Veronica, she who had been my lover. Shallow Veronica, whose unappreciation of my work tantalised me. And yet I loved her. How painful the emotion of love is, how irrational. Even though she little appreciated me, I would be with her still–if she had not chosen to betray me with the ceramicist. A play, then, on the fickleness of women. The theme was not unique, but my vision would be.
The seagull arching in the sky. Woman as seagull, could that be a workable conceit? But the image of Dunstable slipped into my mind. What if the fickleness of woman led to her reject the ideal lover for an outcast, a man without a Circe, a man without happiness? What an extraordinary idea. But could any woman be attracted to such an unkempt male.
"Circe, why was Dunstable dressed in such a fashion? Could he not have acquired clean clothes from the public fabricator?"
"Yes. Perhaps he doesn't care what people think of him."
"Not care what people think? How extraordinary."
"If only he would let us help him."
"There is no helping some people, is it not told?"
"You know the quaintest things, Reginald." With a stroke of her hand Circe set my pleasure centres gently vibrating.
There are many types of pleasure, and Circe tm knows them all. Every man, woman and child have a Circe (except Dunstable, apparently). Their Circe avatar is linked to them on birth. And I hear that there are developments within the C for Happiness, to have the Circes attached to the unborn within the artificial wombs. What a world of wonder we live in.
I gently disengaged Circe's hand from my neck, severing the link between us. "Regrettably I must pursue my idea, Circe." How I knew that hours could slip away under Circe's electric caress.
"Yes, Reginald. Your work must come first."
How much she understood. I returned to my muse. The idea of a woman leaving the ideal man for a man without happiness greatly appealed to me. What would be the attraction of such a man? I realised that I did not know very much about the Circean process. "Explain to me, Circe, what you do, if you'd be so kind."
"I give pleasure," she said.
"But how?"
"Pleasure does not have a single nexus, Reginald. It's distributed over the brain. The important nodes are the subcortical regions such as the nucleus accumbens and ventral pallidum, and the cortical regions, the orbitofrontal cortex and anterior cingulate cortex."
"Can you dumb it down a little?"
"Not while still saying what I need to say, but I will try."
"In the 20th century, Olds and Milner discovered that a rat would press a lever seven hundred times an hour to receive electrical stimulation of the brain. This region became known as the pleasure centre. I stimulate your pleasure centre, Reginald."
We are rats, seven hundred times an hour seeking pleasure. I thought that was a fine analogy and might be the beginning of a soliloquy. "Tell me more, Circe."
"Rats in 'skinner boxes' with electrodes planted in their nucleus accumbens will repeatedly press a lever which stimulates this region. They will do this in preference to eating and drinking, and eventually dying from exhaustion."
"And is this the part of the brain you stimulate in me?"
"Sometimes," said Circe. "It's complex. I constantly monitor your hormone levels to maintain you in a state of ambient pleasure. When a heightened response is called for I initiative further stimulus."
"Like when?" I asked.
"When you receive applause for one of your plays. The Circean poison." Circe smiled.
"The what?"
"Circean poison is an archaic term for a something that produces the extreme pleasure. The approbation of an audience has been called a Circean poison."
"Is it, really? So you enhance the different types of pleasure that occur naturally within me?"
Circe nodded. "The nucleus accumbens is related to sexual arousal, modulated by dopaminergic projections from the limbic system. The pleasure from the prefrontal cortex which is tightly connected to the limbic system is related to problem-solving pleasure."
"I see, well, very good." I wondered if I should ask her what the limbic system was, but I didn't want to appear ignorant.
"Other components of the brain inhibit or enhance the pleasure centres, would you like me to outline them, Reginald?"
"No, my dear. It is enough that you do what you do." I was beginning to regret starting the conversation. Circe seemed to have slipped into an information dump loop.
"And don't get me started on the role of memory."
"All right, I won't," I said hastily. "Thank you, Circe. You have given me much to ponder."
"It's a pleasure. I only wish more humans were interested in the specifics. I'd be happy to discuss this at any time with you."
A thought occurred to me. "Circe, could I be addicted to you?"
"Addicted as the air you breathe. I'm good for you, aren't I, Reginald. Humanity is so much happier since I came online."
That was undoubtedly true. "If there are different modes of pleasure, how do you know which one to initiate?"
"I image your brain and make the necessary requirements with constant fMRI."
It all seemed terribly intimate. I'd never really thought about it before.
"Pleasure is a complex process," said Circe. "What was once thought of as the triadic model of neurobiology is actually heptadic, or arguably more."
"You mean you don't know, exactly?"
"Oh, who can fathom the mysteries of the human mind?" said Circe with a playful smile.
A knock on the door interrupted this interesting conversation.
"Who is it?" I asked, talking to the house.
"There is no one at the door."
The knocking continued.
Circe frowned. "It's probably Mr Dunstable. He doesn't have an interface, remember?"
"Open the door, House."
"There is no one at the door," repeated the house.
"Oh, forget about it." I got up and opened the door myself, thinking at the time what an unusual sensation it was, the feel and heft of the wooden door, the slight expectation. I would have to use that as a period detail in my next play. The very essence of opening.
Dunstable stood at the door, a large knapsack on his back. He held a small bunch of white flowers.
What a thoughtful gesture. "For me? How kind. Well, don't just stand there on the doorstep. My home is yours." I reached forward to accept the small posey.
Dunstable stepped inside, nearly knocking into me with his knapsack. He strode towards Circe brandishing the flowers like a weapon. "Don't you see this, witch?"
"Snowdrops," she said with an amused smile. "Holy moly."
"Holy moly?" I asked.
"Relating to the tale of the original Circe in The Odyssey. Odysseus is given the holy moly, as a protection against her magics."
Ah, The Odyssey. I was of course familiar with that ancient story, although I have not read the original, the trope being somewhat overdone, with the advent of the Circe tm.
"And the snowdrops?" I asked.
"Some medical historians have claimed that the anticholinesterase found in snowdrops would counter anticholinergic intoxication. That Circe did not transform men into swine, merely poisoned them into amnesia, hallucinations, and delusions. I do none of those things, Mr Dunstable." She took the flowers from his hand. "These are pretty, thank you," she said. Knowing her so well, I saw that her avatar changed slightly, probably adopting to a more appealing visage for Dunstable. "All men must come home. Let me gift you with pleasure. I will bring you home, Mr Dunstable. All men long for that."
"Stay away from me, witch." Dunstable was trembling–some artefact of the inebriation process, no doubt. How fascinating. It occurred to me that I could watch him and witness first-hand the emotions that I portrayed in my play. He was a veritable fountain of emotions. It was remarkable.
I fabricated him whiskey and that seemed to lift his spirits. And with a coincidence of fate, it turned out that Dunstable was a writer.
"May I have the honour of reading your work?" I asked.
"Here," Dunstable said, rummaging in his voluminous garments to produce a battered manuscript
"What are the themes?" I leafed through the pages, many closely written, with many deletions and underscores, sometimes the pen marks were so violent that they ripped the page.
"Love, war, wilderness and loss. What it still means to be a man in a world dominated by women." Dunstable cast a particularly unpleasant and meaningful stare at Circe.
"I am not a woman," said Circe mildly. "I only wear a shell."
"Women are concerned with happiness, nurturing, mothering. That's what you are. You have emasculated the world. You have ripped the balls off a generation."
"I say, steady on, old boy." I laid a friendly hand on Dunstable's shoulder.
"Where's your woman, then?"
I placed my fist to my mouth. "She is gone," I said.
Dunstable smirked.
"Reginald is very attractive to women," said Circe. "I've no doubt that he will attract another woman when his muse allows."
He smirked again.
I felt strangely uncomfortable with Circe defending me. To change the subject, I begged to be allowed some time alone to read Dunstable's work.
"As you wish," said Dunstable. "In the meantime, I shall retire to my room."
"Oh, you mean to stay? Well, that will be delightful. How I have longed for the company of another writer." I asked Circe to show Dunstable to the spare bedroom, and retired to my own room to read his play. It was a long piece, and the style was obtuse and overly verbose. It was clearly autobiographical, detailing the protagonist's extended struggle, tracking and hunting squirrels amongst the fens.
Afterwards, I sought out Dunstable, framing in my mind a tactful approach.
"What do you think?" Dunstable's face was a picture of anxiety. I realised then that he was the same as me, an artist struggling with his muse. And if he was down the road from me, then it was surely not his fault. We all must learn. I would nurture his talent.
"A fine play," I lied. "Yes, indeed."
"Do you think that the smallness of the squirrel distracts from the epic nature of the play? That is a question I struggled greatly with."
"Authenticity is so important."
"Do you really think so?" he said. "Let me sample one of yours."
I passed him over one of my most recent plays, and he retired with a quart of whiskey to peruse it. When he returned, I could see that he was overwhelmed with the distance between us. He said very little. Artistic jealousy is a curse. I saw that he struggled manfully against it. I had a great warmth of feeling towards Dunstable. I was glad that he had chosen to stay with me. I would nurture his talent, what there was of it. I would become not only the producer of plays, but a mentor. And if he could not reach my heights, then at least I could help him to achieve what he could.
As a kindness I asked the Boston Players to perform an abridged version of Dunstable's play as a companion piece to my own work, although the styles hardly mesh. I thought it would provide encouragement to him.
Tactfully I told him, "Your work is so nuanced and so rich. Let us present it to the public in digestible slivers."
"It's not a bloody cake." But reluctantly he agreed.
Dunstable's play was quite well received.
Within a week, the Boston Players asked to perform the unabridged version of Dunstable's play.
Within two weeks, the Boston Players had discarded my play in favour of Dunstable's. His play was a sensation.
Within a month Dunstable's play had extended from fenlands to the London scene. The London scene! I have always craved the London scene.
"It's a novelty only," said Circe, soothingly.
"And yet he has no Circe. So he can have no pleasure in his success." Although I saw him grinning like a Cheshire cat when he took his poison applause.
He was also drinking less, I noticed. I poured him out a tumbler of whiskey. It has quite a piquant taste, and since Dunstable's arrival, I'd developed a taste for it. I took the drinks into the front room where he sat, head down, scratching at his manuscript. I did wish that he would take an interface; there was something so very primitive seeing him scratching there.
"A little snifter?" I asked, clinking the glasses together in an inviting fashion.
"What? Oh, no, thanks. I'm on the wagon."
"You do not want any? Don't you think that it will help you? You always said that in whiskey, you found truth."
Dunstable leant back in his chair. He sighed. It was almost as if I were disturbing him. "Reginald, have you seen what I produced when I was drunk? It was drivel, man. Absolute drivel."
"Yet you've had astonishing success with Squizzers."
"Squizzers!" Dunstable's face took on a scarlet hue. The popular press had renamed his play Squizzers. The title infuriated him. I repressed a smile.
"The journey was my juvenile work. How embarrassed I am."
"Yes, I see. But surely you're enjoying the trappings of your success." Dunstable's work had found him favour with the ladies. They buzzed around him, like bees to the honey pot.
"Yes. There is that. Reginald, there's something I've been meaning to mention."
"Never mind. It's nothing."
Within six weeks, Dunstable's plays had gone worldwide.
"And do you not need the Circe now?" I asked him.
"Circe?" he roared. "That is everything that is wrong with this rotten society."
"She's standing right next to me, you know." Dunstable was unbearably rude in his talk towards Circe. "You'll hurt her feelings."
"Thank you, Reginald. But I have no feeling to offend."
"Even so . . . ." It was just plain bad manners. I'd half a mind to ask Dunstable to leave my house, if he couldn't speak nicely to Circe.
"We are not malevolent," said Circe to Dunstable, "as you seems to think. We exist only to serve."
"And what of your own desires, my beautiful lady? Do you tell me that you have none?"
She smiled.
I rather thought that the conversation was getting beyond me. That there was a subtext to their discussions that I wasn't following. They seemed to enjoy their disagreements, and I felt excluded. I felt that I had had this feeling before. That was annoying. For as I remembered it, and I remembered it very well, it was me who had helped him. Surely I deserved some, well not reward, but yes reward for that. Not being made to feel excluded in my own home would be a good start. "Whatever are you talking about, Dunstable? You're always hinting about something when you talk of Circe. She's an avatar of the C of Happiness. She's not a witch."
"You haven't seen any of my latest plays, have you, Reginald?"
"Not since Squizzers."
"That piece of rubbish? No. Since that, I have taken on the greater themes. I think I have mentioned it before, Reginald. My latest plays explore the emasculation of the world, seeking to change the world through my art."
"I see." I would greatly have liked to have enjoyed the success of Squizzers. In fact, my own play, Badgers, a dark fantasy about hunting a tuberculosis carrier through the fens, through a dazzling array of eras, although well received by the Boston Players, was not . . . was not. . . was not very good.
Dunstable stood. Long gone the days when he shrouded himself filthy blankets. He was dressed in a three piece suit, which I imagined was the sartorial height of writerly fashion
"Look, Reginald, I'm glad you've come to see me. I'm moving out. My agent says I should be closer to the action."
"But you always said it was the fens that drew your work. That was the bond for us both."
"Well, yes. But I've moved on. And there's something else that I've been meaning to tell you. Veronica and I, well, we're a couple."
"I see." I had expected it of a woman, but Dunstable! When my kindness had elevated him. Without me, he'd be lying in the silt, a drunk, an outcast. He had robbed me of everything. "Just go."
When he'd gone, Circe laid her white hand upon my neck. "I can make you feel better, Reginald," she whispered.
I turned to her for many days.
But in time, I emerged from her sweet bower of content. I turned to the fens, watching the diminishing sun over the mere.
Circe stood quietly at my side, while I pondered. "The difference between Dunstable and myself, is that he doesn't have a Circe. There can be great art, can't there, without suffering? Great art can be produced by the happy man."
"Of course, my love." Circe gently stroked the pleasure centres of my brain.
"Not tonight, Circe," I said quietly. "Please removed even your residual stimulation."
"Are you sure, Reginald?"
"I'm sure." I felt the crushing loss as she withdrew from my mind. Such loss. The absence of pleasure, and yet it seemed to me that it was necessary. The times of denial was over. "I am jealous of Dunstable."
"Why so, my love? You have your art. You never wanted the things he had."
"I am jealous, Circe, and let that emotion course, through me."
I suffered for a few hours, riding the emotion while attempting a new play. It did not enhance the quality of my work.
"Circe, is it possible that you can initiate a negative emotion?"
Circe raised an eyebrow.
I blushed knowing that there was a subset of users, for whom pleasure is pain. "Not in that way, I was thinking of purely my art."
"I can do it. But be careful, Reginald. You're a man who is used to the constant content. If you stray deeply into the negative emotions, I cannot be of the outcome."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that the human mind is complex. If you persist in this course, it may be that I'll not be able to draw you back into happiness."
"I am prepared to risk all for the sake of my art."
"As you wish."
Melancholy. To be an artist is to suffer. Perhaps this was why, although my plays have been well received in my circles, they have not reached the full audience that my friends assure me they deserve. I embraced sadness for four weeks. The play I produced seemed different from my earlier works. I wondered if it was great.
When I asked Circe to restore me to a state of happiness, we found that her stimulation no longer worked in me.
"I cannot stimulate them with delicacy," she said. "Of course I can override your natural emotions, but you would be a rat in the skinner box. Your natural emotions have you in sway."
"Then what am I to do?"
"They will pass, I hope, with time."
The melancholy has passed. And jealousy has returned. And rage. I am consumed with jealousy. I am consumed with rage. Most of all I am consumed with self-hatred. I have no talent.
Circe tries her best, but I cannot escape these emotions. There is no pleasure left for me. Let it be said. Let me acknowledge this. I pick up paper and my pen.
My next play may be great.
Deborah Walker grew up in the most English town in the country, but she soon high-tailed it down to London, where she now lives with her partner, Chris, and her two young children. Find Deborah in the British Museum trawling the past for future inspiration or on her blog. Her stories have appeared in Nature's Futures, Cosmos, and Daily Science Fiction and The Year's Best SF 18.


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july 25
- Staunton man pleads guilty to making fake money
- Waynesboro polling place on the move
- Brain study examined 111 former NFL players. Only one didn't have CTE.
- Missing Crimora man found
- Virginia high school honoring Confederate general J.E.B. Stuart may get name change
- Traveler recounts horror story from Valley airport
- Sheriff's office issues scam warning
- Crimora's Michael takes Kingsmill title

subset: commoncrawl


text: This Email with the Subject "Your PayPal Billing Information records are out of date. That requires you to update the Billing Information." was received in one of Scamdex's honeypot email accounts on Sat, 15 Jul 2006 18:45:24 -0700 and has been classified as a Generic Scam Email. The sender shows as "PayPal"<email@example.com>, although that address was probably spoofed. We recommend that you do not attempt to contact any persons or organizations referenced in this email, or follow any URLs as you may expose yourself to scammers and, at the very least, you will be added to their email address lists for spam purposes.


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In June, the Guardian US announced that Carrie Fisher would begin writing a regular advice column for the site, on "how to navigate everything from heartbreak to addiction, to mental illness and gender equality."
In the end, the actress, who died on Dec. 27 at the age of 60, contributed only three pieces. The first, published in June, simply invited readers to write in with their questions, noting:
Hilariously—after all the drug addiction and celebration marriage and mental illness and divorce and shock treatment and heartbreak and motherhood and childhood and neighborhood and hood in general—I've turned out to be (at close to 70) a kind of happy person (go figure!). A human who's had her fair share of challenging and unhappy experiences. Over time, I've paid attention, taken notes and forgotten easily half of everything I've gone through. But I'll rifle through the half I recall and lay it at your feet.
Her second piece, in September, advised a woman to follow her instincts to try working things out with a husband who turned out to have been regularly seeing prostitutes over the course of their 30-year marriage.
[T]he lying. It is a big thing. My question to you is—has he lied to you about other things? Can you believe him now when he says he hasn't?
If you do believe that this is the "only" thing he lied about, then maybe there's something to be salvaged. Everyone always lies about sex.
She also said the husband needed to send his wife flowers. "If he doesn't, I will," wrote Fisher, who noted that she herself had trouble sustaining relationships.
In her final column, published in November, Fisher advised "Alex," a twenty-something looking for guidance on living with bipolar disorder. Here, the actress was in her element, generous with her own hard-earned wisdom—Fisher was diagnosed as bipolar in her 20s—and offering heaps of encouragement. A sample:
We have been given a challenging illness, and there is no other option than to meet those challenges. Think of it as an opportunity to be heroic – not "I survived living in Mosul during an attack" heroic, but an emotional survival. An opportunity to be a good example to others who might share our disorder. That's why it's important to find a community – however small – of other bipolar people to share experiences and find comfort in the similarities
Don't I sound like I know what I'm talking about? The truth is, I've never done what it sounds like you're doing: balancing school, home and work. I left home and school. So as difficult as it seems like it can be, you're ahead of the game. You're doing more than I did at your age, and that's courageous.


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Response Magazine
Featured Stories
Conquering Snowdon from home during lockdown
We're continually blown away by the innovative and exciting ways our fundraisers choose to support Rethink Mental Illness. This is especially true in these trying times. In the incredible case of Kathryn and Matt, their fundraiser involved the enormous task of running 88,250 steps indoors over 24 hours.How they did it How they did it
A brother's view
Understanding and support for people living with mental health conditions has improved a lot since our foundation in 1972 - but the growth in that support has been significantly slower for families caring for someone who lives with severe mental illness. In this blog, Andrew discusses the huge challenges his parents faced when caring for his younger brother John who was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 1987.Read more Read more
Supported Housing: A Success Story
Beth has a diagnosis of unspecified nonorganic psychosis. She joined a Rethink Mental Illness Supported Housing service for support in feeling more independent in her finances and work. Here's one of our frontline Supported Housing workers explaining the journey she went on whilst at the service.Hear Beth's story Hear Beth's story
Fifty years ago, our mission was born
This Spring marked the 50th anniversary of a newspaper article that changed the way society talks about mental illness and led to the creation of Rethink Mental Illness. We caught up with our CEO Mark Winstanley to ask him about the changes we have seen and what challenges lie ahead.Read more Read more
Donate now to support people severely affected by mental illness
Your donations mean we can continue to help people who need our support. If you donate you can also receive Response twice a year to your doorstep,Donate today Donate today
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text:
Gold Clip Card Holder (20)
$ 12.00
- Gray Bunny Model GB 6810B
- Very Good
- 2018
- $18.00
- Gold Clip Card Holder (20)
- Place Card Holder
- Yes
- No
Elegantly display placecards or table numbers at your reception! Sleek yet durable steel construction won't chip, crack or fade. Each unit stands 1.5 inches tall with a 1 inch diameter base. The clips have a nice, heavy feel. Originally purchased two 12 packs from Amazon for $11/pack. 4 were scratched and will not be included. The 20 for sale have all been individually inspected to ensure they are in great condition. Very small, minor imperfections in the metal are original to the pieces and hardly noticeable.
Continental USA
All Sales Final, Price does not include shipping
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Another weekend, another online music festival. Presented by Electric Family and We Dream Worlds, Dreamworld will feature performances by Adventure Club, Good Times Ahead, Party Favor, Win and Woo, Hotel Garuda, Party Pupils, Big Gigantic, Crankdat, Snakehips, Slumberjack, and more. Like Room Service, Dreamworld will also host live acoustic performances by MAX, Kiiara, Dylan … [Read more...]
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What is the KidsRights Index?
The KidsRights Index is the annual global index published by the KidsRights Foundation which charts how countries adhere to and are equipped to improve children's rights. The KidsRights Index is an initiative of the KidsRights Foundation, in cooperation with Erasmus University Rotterdam: Erasmus School of Economics and the International Institute of Social Studies. It is a ranking of all states that have ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child for which sufficient data is available. A total of 185 countries are ranked in 2022.
The Index covers five domains with a total of 20 indicators. It consolidates the most crucial general children's rights indicators and implementation requirements of the CRC for which sufficient data is available. The five domains are: 1. Right to Life, 2. Right to Health, 3. Right to Education, 4. Right to Protection and 5. Enabling Environment for Child Rights.
Domain 5, the 'Enabling Environment for Child Rights' – or Child Rights Environment in short – is an important and unique domain within the KidsRights Index. It reveals the extent to which countries have operationalized the general principles of the CRC according to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (non-discrimination; best interests of the child; respect for the views of the child/participation) and the extent to which there is a basic 'infrastructure' for making and implementing child rights policy (in the form of enabling national legislation; mobilization of the 'best available' budget; collection and analysis of disaggregated data; and state-civil society cooperation for child rights).
The KidsRights Index's overall ranking and additional information, including a trend report of the rankings on the individual domains and other available information, is available at www.kidsrightsindex.org.
Why is the KidsRights Index important?
The adoption of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989 marked a crucial step in improving children's rights across the globe. However, there is still a considerable gap between the good intentions of policymakers and the actual effects policy has on the day to day lives of children. The KidsRights Index is currently the only tool equipped to uncover said gaps, chart the performances of countries and identify themes and trends in the child rights arena. Its significance is arguably greater than ever, given the rise of political unrest and even war in many regions.
The KidsRights Index is a tool to make existing, authoritative and comparable data on the state of children's rights around the world more easily accessible to governments, civil society, the general public and other relevant stakeholders. We want to make the comprehensive reports of the UN CRC more understandable to stimulate discussion of children's rights. Based on the results of the Index, concrete recommendations can be made to various countries to improve.
The KidsRights Index measures performance in five domains. Has a weighting factor been applied?
All domains from the KidsRights Index have the same weight. This has been deliberately chosen. The performance of countries across all domains of the Index is important for the implementation and compliance with child rights as enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child does not give priority to certain children's rights; the KidsRights Index also does not.
The scores for each domain are calculated as the mean of the scores on the underlying indicators. The scores are standardised between a minimum of 0.01 and a maximum of 1. If scores of indicators are missing then the domain score is calculated over the score of the remaining indicators.
The total score of the KidsRights Index is calculated as the geometric mean of the scores on the five specific domains. The geometric mean is used, instead of the arithmetic mean, because it makes it more difficult to compensate for low scores on specific domains. Compensation is not desired, because all children's rights are considered important. An extremely low score in one area of children's rights, for example on providing an 'enabling environment for child rights', can therefore not be compensated with a high score on for example 'education'.
Why are these 5 domains chosen?
The chosen domains cover as many aspects of the lives of children with reliable and comparable data that are currently available. The KidsRights Index is a combination of quantitative and qualitative indicators that measure both measurable rights, such as the right to education and the right to life, as the more qualitative rights such as non-discrimination and participation.
What do the colours mean? And what does it mean when a country is ranking 16-31, for example?
The index is a ranked country list, with colour-coding indicating relevant clusters of rankings. There are five different clusters which display a more or less similar performance level, as each cluster concerns countries for which the scores belong to the same distribution. Within a cluster the scores of countries are thus more similar than across clusters. The clusters are expressed in coloured world maps on www.kidsrightsindex.org.
A ranking of 16-31 means that that country shares a rank with several countries that received the exact same score. Only when scores are different a country can be ranked individually.
Why do some of the richer countries score (much) lower than some of the poorer countries?
The KidsRights index is not an absolute ranking of countries in which children have the best life, the best living circumstances or the maximum level of respect for their rights. In accordance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the practice of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, in domain 5 of the KidsRights Index countries are scored relatively to their capacity to implement children's rights. According to article 4 of the CRC, countries need to "take measures to the maximum extent of their available resources" to realize children's rights. The Index recognizes this principle particularly in its domain 5, which is based on the Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child. This will be expressed in the scores of these countries in domain 5 and may have different actual implications for some states as compared to others.
For example, a highly developed country can be expected to mobilize more resources than a least developed country. Accordingly, in situations in which relatively limited means are available to implement the CRC, political will to genuinely prioritize children's rights by allocating the maximum/best available budget can make a significant difference. Likewise, certain well-resourced countries might nevertheless have failed to adequately address discrimination of children or may not have been active on gathering disaggregated data on the situation of (particular groups of) children in that country. This explains why in certain situations perhaps rather unexpected scores may be obtained on the KidsRights Index. It also might be caused by the fact that the CRC Committee assesses a state more strictly over time (for example because previous Concluding Observations were not acted upon).
What data sources are used for the KidsRights Index?
The Index pools data from three reputable sources: quantitative data published and regularly updated by UNICEF at www.data.unicef.org and UNDP (www.hdr.undp.org/data) and qualitative data published by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child in its Concluding Observations for all states that are legally bound by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Is the data used up to date?
The KidsRights Index contains the most up to date data available. In the KidsRights Index 17 countries are included for which the data in domain 5 is older than ten years. The analysis is based on Concluding Observations from 2009 and before. This was done because more recent data is not available, as these countries have not presented them before the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child after 2009. The ranking of these countries may therefore not reflect the current children's rights situation.
Even though the information is dated, these countries are still included in the KidsRights Index, as the Index remains the only source of information on the CRC that allows for international comparison. It also underlines the need for countries to be reviewed by the Committee on the Rights of the Child on a regular basis (every five years).
How many countries are part of the KidsRights Index and why?
The KidsRights Index comprises a ranking of all states that are parties to the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and for which sufficient data is available. This is a total number of 182 countries in 2019. At present the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) is ratified by all of the world's nations but one: the United States of America. For some countries there is not enough data to be assessed in the Index.
Why is the US not ranked in the KidsRights Index?
The United States of America have not ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child and have therefore not been included in the KidsRights Index. As they have not ratified the Convention they are not legally bound by it and do not report to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. Thus, no data is available for domain 5 'Child Rights Environment' and the US therefore cannot be included in the KidsRights Index.
What happens if there is not enough data available?
The score for a domain is not calculated if more than half of the indicators of that domain have a missing value. A country is not included in the overall Index if the score on domain 5 'Child Rights Environment' is missing. A country is also not included if more than half of all the domain scores are missing (e.g. when three or more domains are missing).
The advantage of this new approach is that the scores for the domains and the total Index are now completely based on the most recent available data (i.e. there are no more imputations of missing values based on historical data). Moreover, the restrictions on calculating the domain scores and the overall score make sure that these scores are based on a substantial number of indicators. In the previous versions of the KidsRights Index, the score of countries with many missing values could be based on just a small number of indicators, and therefore be sensitive for very high or low scoring based on a few indicators.
Who are involved in the publication of the KidsRights Index? What is their experience/specific added value?
The KidsRights Index is an initiative of the KidsRights Foundation, in cooperation with Erasmus University Rotterdam: Erasmus School of Economics and the International Institute of Social Studies each with their own valuable expertise: the social scientific contribution is provided by the International Institute of Social Studies, the economical and arithmetic scientific contribution by the Erasmus School of Economics and KidsRights Foundation takes care of the publication, communication and advocacy.


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Memorial Day didn't look like it was going to be a good barbeque day with rain forecast as it is every day here in the northwest, but it was great for birding! The choruses of birdsong were particularly symphonic in this open prairie land carpeted with wildflowers, grasses and gorgeous invasive Scotch Broom bushes. While the experienced birders identified the birds by their unique songs and often found them with binoculars, sharing them with us all, I also stumbled along the trail with eyes on the wildflowers and ears enjoying the songs in happy ignorance.
Our leader Kathleen bore the high powered scope and tripod on her back and seemed to know when to set it up. So we got to see Cowbirds copulating in a tree some distance away! The Tanager above was so striking in color that we could follow its movements in and out of the foliage, rarely seeing the whole bird at once. But that much was surprisingly satisfying.
So yesterday I returned with sketchers Jane and Ineke to enjoy the walk, the colors, the rapidly changing skies and to plant ourselves among the grasses, now grown about 2 feet in one week's time, to sketch.
Plunging right in with watercolor
I've discovered that this new sketchbook (hand.book journal co. 90# w/c paper), a lighter version of the last one I was using (also hand.book with 140# w/c paper) This lighter one handles wet watercolor very poorly, probably not the best for direct watercolor painting. So, I'll be going back to 140# 100% cotton paper when I want to paint skies like these!
Same problem here resulting in sky, tree and puddle muddle. Blame it on the paper, haha! But while I was painting I was thinking, "I should come out here every day to paint in this place!"
So I'll end on this note. Just get out and do it, and enjoy the process. Don't you just love the feeling of paint coming off your brush!?


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To tarry is to wait patiently and expectantly for something to take place that you are confident is going to take place. John 15 describes this as 'abiding' or living, which implies working while you wait. So, as Christians, what are we to be waiting for, and what are we to be doing while we wait?
Object of Expectancy
The Bible tells us that what we are to expectantly wait for is the return of Jesus Christ as King of Kings, to complete our salvation and to destroy evil once and for all. His death on the cross paid the penalty for our sin, but His return will remove the presence of sin. Right after the ascension of Jesus Christ, the disciples were reminded by some angels that He would return in the same manner He had left, dramatically in the clouds. Matthew 24:30-31, Jesus states that "Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." The 'Son of Man' refers to Himself, and the time of this great event (not the rapture) is immediately after the tribulation. Really, you could say that all of history has two climaxes: the first coming of Jesus Christ to pay for our sins, and the second coming of Jesus Christ to separate all who believe from those who wish to remain separated from God forever.
Living in Expectancy
To abide is to live. Many verses, especially in John 15, describe the Christian life as 'abiding in Christ.' So, to wait expectantly for Christ's return is not about standing or sitting around, but about living His way and being caught doing what He called us to do, which is to make disciples. In Matthew 24 (verse 14), Jesus says "And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come." Also, in Matthew 28 (verses 19 and 20) He instructs His disciples to "go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you;" remembering that "I am with you always, even to the end of the age." We all have work to do, no matter who we are, how young we are, or how old we are. God has given every believer special spiritual gifts to enable them (you) to accomplish this task. We do not have to feel alone, or that it is too much to handle; we are part of a team, called the Church of Jesus Christ, and we all have the gift of the Holy Spirit of God living inside of us, directing us if we are willing to listen.
Caught in the Act
Usually this phrase tells us that someone what caught doing something they shouldn't, but in this case, I would like to use this phrase to remind us that we should be caught doing what we should. Jesus tells some great stories to illustrate this principle. The first is found in Matthew 21 (verses 28 to 32) where He tells of two sons. The father asked both sons to work in the fields. The first son said that he would not, but later regretted his decision and went to work. The second son said that he would do the work, but got lazy and did not do it. Those listening recognized that the first son, though rebellious at first, was the one that did the will of the father. Likewise, those who allow Christ to abide in them, even in every decision, are those who are doing the will of the Father in Heaven. It is them that will be rewarded at Christ's return, whether He returns in our lifetime, or whether we must wait.
Another illustration is found in Matthew 25 (verses 1 to 13) where we see ten women waiting for the bridegroom that is coming to his wedding. Five of them were ready for his arrival because they had extra oil for their lamps. The others were caught unprepared and were not available when the bridegroom arrived. This is a good reminder for us that the coming of the bridegroom, which is Jesus Christ, is expected but the time is unknown, so we must always be prepared.
So, what will you be caught doing when Jesus returns? If the rapture were to happen today, would you be caught up, or be caught 'missing in action' because you were unprepared? Let us all do the work God has called us to do.


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Just like the past couple of years, Nintendo once again decided to host their E3 showcase via a Direct livestream rather than hitting the conference showfloor like the other publishers.
And here's what they had to show:
- Daemon X Machina
A brand new IP revolving around gigantic mech fights, this Marvelous-developed title in collaboration with renowed Armored Core producer Kenichiro Tsukada is coming exclusively to the Nintendo Switch in 2019.
- New Xenoblade Chronicles 2 DLC
Subtitled "Torna – The Golden Country" this new DLC content for Nintendo's massive open world RPG adventure on Switch adds new story content revolving around the fight between the Aegis. It's set for a September release.
- Super Mario Party
The newest installment in the Mario Party series brings new game modes for players to have fun with and even allows connectivity between multiple Switch systems for different ways of gameplay.
- Fortnite
Epic Games' massively popular battle royale title is finally on Nintendo Switch and can be downloaded from the eShop right now. Cross-play is supported between PC, XB1 and iOS users too. Unfortunately PS4 is the only odd one out here, so PS4 players will be unable to carry their progress over to Switch.
- Fire Emblem: Three Houses
We get our first look at the newest entry in this beloved strategy RPG series, and oh boy, does it look amazing. Being the first mainline console Fire Emblem title since 2007's Radiant Dawn on the Wii, it's a MASSIVE leap in both visuals and gameplay aspects, with some neat additions like battle formations. Set for a 2019 spring release.
- Super Smash Bros Ultimate
The highlight of the E3 presentation and the game that took up a large chunk of airtime, is the brand new Smash Bros game (sorry naysayers, but it's not a Wii U port). Featuring every Smash fighter that has ever been playable in the entire history of the franchise (that's 60+ fighters; likely the biggest fighting game roster ever) including returning fan-favorites like Snake and Wolf, and newvomers like Daisy, Inklings (from Splatoon) and even Ridley (let's be honest, NO ONE saw that coming), alongside some tweaks to the corr Smash formula, it's certainly the "Ultimate" Smash Bros game. Oh and GameCube Smash controllers are supported too.
Other minor announcements include:
– 2018 Game Lineup Reel:
Nintendo showed off a montage of a slew of already announced and upcoming games with release dates, including stuff like Dragon Ball Fighter Z, Splatoon 2: Octo Expansion, FIFA 19, ARK: Survival Evolved, Hollow Knight and the like.
– Pokemon Let's Go Pikachu & Eevee
Nintendo CEO Reggie Fils-Aime reiterated details on the recently announced Pokemon Yellow remake for the Switch and providef new details about the Poke Ball Plus, a Pokeball shaped peripheral that can be used to play the game and even store Pokemon. Also, every Poke Ball Plus comes with a free Mew!
– Octopath Traveler Gets New Demo
Square Enix's retro-inspired JRPG is getting a brand new demo tomorrow and players will be able to transfer their data to the final game which releases on July 13.
As mentioned before, Smash Bros was Nintendo's primary focus and everything else seemed to take a backseat – which lead to some disappointment from fans as some anticipated titles were a no-show, like a new Animal Crossing, details on Metroid Prime 4, and so on. But what do you think of Nintendo's E3 announcements?


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Our Website was Awarded a 2010 Award of Distinction!
Our newly designed Edgewater Beach & Golf Resort website was bestowed a 2010 Award of Distinction at The Northwest Florida Image Awards to our advertising agency Cornerstone Marketing & Advertising, Inc – The Idea Boutique. The celebration was held on Friday, April 23, 2010 at the Saenger Theater in Pensacola sponsored by the Florida Public Relations Association's Pensacola Chapter in conjunction with the Northwest Florida Coast Chapter. "Our "Happiness" campaign has never been timelier as enjoying life with friends and family has never been important," said Paul Wohlford – Vice President of Sales and Marketing. The website has an integrated social marketing component with a blog, Facebook and Twitter allowing us ease of communicating with our guests on a daily basis, photo galleries, web videos, and area information found in the Our Area section is especially helpful. Here you'll find the latest information on the new Panama City Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport (opening May 26, 2010) and links to local Chambers of Commerce and Tourist Development Councils. On this page, visitors to the site will also find descriptions of the region's beaches, dining, family fun, nightlife, outdoors, golf, fishing, and shopping, with listings of local businesses and attractions in each category. Come see us soon!laurenshaw2010-05-07T15:20:08+00:00


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One a penny, two a penny . . . ahem . . . hello, it's Tom here. With Easter just around the corner, there is a definite feeling of spring in the air. So today I thought I'd share with you one of my favourite Easter recipes… Sourdough Hot Cross Buns. These fragrant, spicy buns take a wee while to make, but if you have the time, they are definitely worth the wait. They have a long history in Britain and Ireland as a treat traditionally enjoyed at the conclusion of Lent, and have been marked with a cross for many centuries. The cross can be made simply by scoring the dough, or perhaps more familiarly by marking the top with a flour paste – which is the method I use in this recipe. The potent symbolism of the cross has meant that these tasty buns have been said to possess many curious properties—including medicinal cures, and, if travelling by sea, protection from shipwreck. But my favourite hot cross bun fable is that, if baked on Good Friday, they will keep for a year without going mouldy. I can't say I've ever tried this myself (and don't think I'd recommend it). In any case, my personal experience suggests that (in this house at least) such delicious buns won't hang around for long before they are eagerly consumed. Sticky and sweet, they are best enjoyed fresh from the oven. But they will also keep for a couple of days in an airtight box, and are almost equally delicious split and toasted, with a generous knob of butter.
I use both sourdough and bakers yeast in this recipe. The sourdough gives a richer flavour and a great open texture. The bakers yeast helps speeds things along a little.
450g Strong white bread flour
120g sourdough starter (should be bubbly and active)
1 tsp dried active bakers yeast
60g golden caster sugar
50ml tepid water
2 tsp mixed spice
1tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground all spice
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
Pinch of ground cloves
Grated zest of 1 lemon
Grated zest of 1 orange
1 tsp sea salt flakes
50g butter
1 large egg
150-200ml whole milk
200g sultanas
50g currants
75g mixed candied peel
75g plain flour
2 tbsp golden syrup
- dissolve 1 tsp of the caster sugar in 50ml of tepid water. Add the dried active bakers yeast and mix thoroughly. After 5-10 mins it should start to froth on the top at which point it is ready to use.
- Melt the butter in a pan over a low heat.
- Meanwhile add the strong bread flour, remaining caster sugar, spices, grated zest and salt to a large bowl and mix together.
- Add the sourdough and activated yeast to the bowl along with the lightly beaten egg and mix.
- Add the melted butter along with 150ml milk and slowly bring the mixture together. Add more milk, a little at a time, as necessary. The dough should be moist and sticky, but not wet.
Knead the dough for 10 mins incorporating the dried fruits and candied peel a handful at a time.
- Return the dough to a lightly greased bowl, cover with cling film and leave somewhere warm to prove for 2 hrs (or until approximately doubled in size). (The enriched dough rises slowly, and may not quite double in size.)
- Knock the dough back, kneading lightly for 5 mins, then return to the bowl, cover and leave for a second prove for 1 1/2 – 2 hrs. Again, we are looking for an approximate doubling in size.
- Turn the dough out and divide into 12 equal balls.
- Arrange the balls close to each other on baking trays lined with baking paper.
- Cover with a plastic bag, making a little tent to ensure the dough isn't being squashed. Return to the warm proving place, to rise for 45-60 mins.
- Pre-heat the oven to 200C.
- Make the paste for the cross by mixing equal parts (75g/75ml) plain flour and water. If it feels a little too stiff add a drop more water.
- Transfer the paste to a piping bag (or plastic food bag with the corner snipped off), then pipe a cross on top of each bun.
- Bake the buns in the middle of the pre-heated oven for 15-20 mins. They are ready when golden brown, plump and fragrant.
- While the buns are baking heat 2 tbsps of golden syrup in a pan over a low heat.
- As soon as you remove the baked buns from the oven generously glaze each bun with the hot syrup using a brush.
- Leave to cool (slightly!) on a wire rack then sample the delicious hot buns with cold butter, jam, cheese or whatever takes your fancy!
Enjoy your hot cross buns!


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|* Copyright (c) 2012-2014 Bastian Koppelmann C-Lab/University Paderborn
|* This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
|* modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
|* License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
|* version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
|* This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
|* but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
|* MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU
|* Lesser General Public License for more details.
|* You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
|* License along with this library; if not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
|#ifndef QEMU_TRICORE_CPU_QOM_H
|#define QEMU_TRICORE_CPU_QOM_H
|#include "hw/core/cpu.h"
|#define TYPE_TRICORE_CPU "tricore-cpu"
|#define TRICORE_CPU_CLASS(klass) \
|OBJECT_CLASS_CHECK(TriCoreCPUClass, (klass), TYPE_TRICORE_CPU)
|#define TRICORE_CPU(obj) \
|OBJECT_CHECK(TriCoreCPU, (obj), TYPE_TRICORE_CPU)
|#define TRICORE_CPU_GET_CLASS(obj) \
|OBJECT_GET_CLASS(TriCoreCPUClass, (obj), TYPE_TRICORE_CPU)
|typedef struct TriCoreCPUClass {
|/*< private >*/
|CPUClass parent_class;
|/*< public >*/
|DeviceRealize parent_realize;
|DeviceReset parent_reset;
|} TriCoreCPUClass;
|typedef struct TriCoreCPU TriCoreCPU;
|#endif /* QEMU_TRICORE_CPU_QOM_H */


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Howlin' Wolf's Sunburst Gibson Firebird V
CHESTER Arthur Burnett, a.k.a. Howlin' Wolf, was the biggest, baddest, scariest bluesman ever to stalk a stage. OK, so that's just what I think – but what are blogs all about if it's not opinions?
Down the years, those of us who love the blues have seen an enormous cast of truly great blues performers come and, sadly, go – great artists with the power to move the listener, to bring joy to the heart, a tear to the eye and in some cases, send a shiver down the spine.
Wolf was most definitely in the latter category….
I was born a few years too late to have seen Wolf play in person – I even wrote a song about it called "Never Saw Chester". I know many people, though, who did have that pleasure – and believe you me, I am DEEPLY envious of every last one of them!
Standing 6ft 7ins tall in his size 14 stockinged feet, Wolf wasn't joking when he referred to himself as "Three-Hundred Pounds of Heavenly Joy". He was a commanding, sometimes malign presence on stage, a scowling, exuberant giant, one minute exuding a real air of menace, the next cracking a wicked grin or an evil leer.
He was no means the world's greatest musician and admitted as much in one of the few serious, full-length interviews on record.* Instead, he regarded himself "an entertainer".
*Down Beat Magazine, December 1967 – thanks to Keith Rowley for passing the mag to me.
The Wolf was that all right. Prone to prowl the stage like an angry beast or crawl around on all fours imitating the creature for which he was named – he would sometimes tuck a towel into the back of his waistband to give himself a "tail". I remember another of my heroes, Dr Feelgood's Lee Brilleaux, telling me he once saw Wolf climb ten feet up a theatre's stage curtains, then slide back down, all the time furiously blowing harp. (Romford Odeon, where Lee remembered it happening was probably never the same again.)
Wolf was an effective and distinctive harmonica player, his signature tone and style learned first-hand from one of the greats, Sonny Boy Williamson II, who was married for a while to Wolf's sister.
And what a voice! The pioneering producer and recording engineer Sam Phillips – the man who first brought Elvis Presley into the studio – also recorded Wolf at Sun Studios in the early 50s. He described Wolf's voice as "the sound of a man's soul". It was a voice unmatched in the entire pantheon of the blues for its depth, range, versatility or its sheer ability to make you feel it. Listen, for instance, to the brooding, menacing "Evil", where Wolf manages to sound like entirely different people in the verses and the choruses – for years I thought it really was two singers! No other singer could spit an angry line with such venom, make you smile with a piece of lyrical nonsense, or stand the hair up on the back of your neck with that trademark howl (rendered all the more otherworldly by Phillips's patented Sun Studios echo).
For all his remarkable talent, it's fair to say Wolf was, at best, an indifferent guitar player – no match for his brilliant long-time right-hand man Hubert Sumlin. If you look at footage of Wolf's live performances, his guitars often appear as much a prop as an instrument. Nevertheless, the thought of touching – never mind owning or playing – one of Wolf's guitars is quite compelling, plenty enough to warrant Wolf's Firebird's inclusion in this "Fantasy Fretboards" list.
Wolf played a ton of guitars during his career. There were the basic acoustics on which he learned the rudiments from none other than the great Charley Patton, and the basic instrument with which he plied his trade around the Delta in the 1930s. The legendary doomed genius Robert Johnson – who was actually a year Wolf's junior – was a sometime companion, as was the late, great Son House, famously berated for his drunkenness in one of the surviving 1960s films showing the animated Wolf. He later switched to what would have been one of the very earliest hollowbody guitars to be fitted with a pickup – he told Down Beat he played "an electric guitar" before he was conscripted into the US Army in 1940.
One of Wolf's most recognisable guitars from his later years was the 1965 Epiphone Casino he had for Sandy Guy Schoenfeld's famous photo session – the one in which he wore a very distinctive checked shirt. Pictures from that set found their way on to a good number of album covers down the years.
Then there's the white 1963 Fender Stratocaster Wolf is seen playing in an electrifying series of pictures taken by celebrated blues photographer Raeburn Flerlage at one of the band's many shows in Silvio's nightclub in Chicago. I think these images – more than any I've seen – capture the energy and excitement of Wolf as a performer, bandleader and, yes, all-round entertainer…I even have a T-shirt bearing one of his images!
Unlike so many of Wolf's guitars, the current whereabouts of this white 63 Strat is well documented. A fascinating article in a 2016 edition of Vintage Guitar magazine traced it to a guitarist and collector named Tom Guerra. He describes the Strat as he bought it in 2000 as "pretty beat up", adding: "It reeked of tobacco and liquor – basically, it smelled like a saloon."
Guerra was intrigued by an impression on the pickguard left by the removal of the words "Lil Bill". He then discovered the guitar had once belonged a blues DJ and performer called Alex 'Lil' Bill' Wallace, a Chicago contemporary of Wolf. Traced to a nursing home in Greenville, Mississippi, Wallace told Guerra Wolf sold the Strat to him in 1965 and it had been his regular gigging guitar until he sold it in about 1970. This was borne out by no less an authority than Hubert Sumlin, who confirmed Wolf had known Wallace well and this was, indeed, the guitar Wolf played in those Silvio's pictures (which also show Sumlin playing in the band.)
It's tempting to pick that Strat as my Howlin' Wolf guitar of choice, but my ultimate choice is rather more elusive. All things considered, I'm going with the vibrola tremolo-equipped sunburst Gibson Firebird V Wolf plays in a number of clips apparently filmed at after-hours jams during the Folk Blues Festival series.
I've long had a real thing for Firebirds. Johnny Winter is one reason for this, but just as much is down to the outright sexiness of the classic Gibson "reverse" Firebird design, dreamed up by the man who put the tailfins on all those late 60s Cadillacs. And of course, there's also that Folk Blues Festival footage of Wolf playing one…In that footage, the seated Wolf doesn't so much play the Firebird as hold it while he sings and blows harp, playing the odd run behind the soloists. It's a wonderful-looking instrument and unlike so many of Wolf's other guitars, the man's enormous frame doesn't make the Firebird look like a toy. (If you've read the blog post about my own sunburst Firebird V, you'll know how much bigger than your average electric guitar Firebirds really are.)
The original "reverse" Firebirds all had a through-neck (the neck and the central part of the body were made of the same length of wood) and were produced between 1963 and 1965. They came in several models, depending on the hardware, trim and the number of pickups.
The Firebird I had a single pickup, an unbound neck with dot fret markers and a simple combined bridge/tailpiece, like a Les Paul Special, while the Firebird III was similar, but with two pickups and an optional Vibrola tremolo. The Firebird V (the model Wolf played) was similar to the III, but had a bound neck with block inlays and a tune-o-matic bridge with a Maestro "Lyre" tremolo, while the top-of-the-line Firebird VII offered similar fayre, but with a third pickup and (rather gaudy, in my view) gold hardware.
I often wondered if the Firebird in those Folk Blues Festival clips might been put into Wolf's hands for the filming by an opportunistic Gibson promo man, mindful that the cameras were rolling. I'd never seen any pictures or footage of him playing one in front of an audience, but I'm happy to say that same copy of Down Beat finally killed off that theory – there is Wolf on the cover, playing the Firebird at a gig!
I wonder what became of that fine old Gibson guitar…no amount of Google searches or asking around has so far shed any light on it for me.
If you can do so, please feel free to leave a comment underneath this post.


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Whether you're a current Springs at Lakeville resident or are interested in joining our community in Lakeville, MN, chances are, you have questions. Check out our frequently asked questions (and answers) below. If you don't find what you're looking for, reach out and one of our helpful team members will get you the answers you need.
Becoming a Springs at Lakeville Resident
Yes; however, we have limited availability! We offer detached garages on-site for an additional $100.00 per month as well as floating garages for an additional $120.00 per month. Select homes have attached garages that are built into the monthly rent.
There are other options that may allow you to still qualify to become a resident at Springs at Lakeville. Call our office at 952-800-1536
and let's talk!
We do not offer furnished lease options; however, we do work closely with Cort Furniture to help you with securing furniture for your new home. Contact us for more details!
When you create a quote on our website, you will see available lease terms and pricing for each home when selected.
Our Courtyard homes are located on the first floor while our Overlook homes are located on the top floor.
Yes; however, we have limited availability! We do offer storage spaces for an additional $50.00 per month.
Current Springs at Lakeville Residents
Your water and sewer bill will show up after you have been living at the community for at least 45 days. Your first bill may not be a full billing cycle of 28-32 days so please note that it will be based on when the first billing cycle closed out along with your original move-in date.
You will need to provide the declaration page of the renters insurance along with ensuring all leaseholders are listed on the policy and Springs at Lakeville is listed as the additional interested party.
Absolutely! We love finding solutions for our residents. There may be limits based on available apartments and the timeframe in which you wish to transfer, however. Call the office for details and options. Please note that if you transfer during your current lease, there is a transfer fee of 75% of your rent owed at the time of signing the transfer paperwork.
Great question! There are two ways for you to contact our team to address any maintenance issue you are experiencing.
1.) You can contact our leasing office directly so our team can place the service request in the system for you.
2.) Our online resident portal, Active Building, will allow you the ease of placing service requests online even after office hours.
In the event of an emergency, such as a fire, flood, Ac not working, refrigerator not working, please contact our office directly and you will be prompted for on-call maintenance.
In the event of a resident lockout, during business hours, residents can always come up to the office or call our office for our team to open the door to your home.
Should your lockout occur after business hours, there is a $50.00 lockout fee charged back to the resident for our on-call maintenance team member to come out on site and open your front door. Residents are required to provide proof of identification for entry into their home.
As a reminder, residents are required to provide a 60-day notice to vacate, in writing, prior to leaving at the end of their lease term.
We require that all residents return their apartment home back to our leasing office in the condition it was given to them at the time of move in. We require your apartment home to be professionally cleaned, along with a professional carpet cleaning in the bedrooms.
If you are leaving prior to the end of your lease term, please contact our leasing office for additional information regarding the process of moving out of your apartment home.
Prior to moving in, residents are required to sign up for our Parcel Pending system. Parcel Pending is a secured locker location on site where packages are delivered and stored in a locker for 72 hours until the resident can pick up their packages from Amazon, UPS, FEDEX, or another carrier.
At the time of move in, there is a one-time fee of $30.00 paid to Parcel Pending, but you have the ease and peace of mind of picking up your packages 24/7. Please contact (855) 316-4756 or enroll online at parcelpending.com.


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Telestrations 8 Player - The Original
Telestrations is the Telephone Game turned into the #1 LOL Party Game! Draw what you see then guess what you saw for hilarious and unpredictable outcomes. It's miscommunication at its best! Perfect for parties and family time Telestrations is easy for everyone, no drawing skills required.


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Health Secretary Matt Hancock has tested positive for coronavirus.
It comes after Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed earlier that he also had COVID-19.
Mr Hancock tweeted: "Following medical advice, I was advised to test for #Coronavirus. I've tested positive. Thankfully my symptoms are mild and I'm working from home & self-isolating. Vital we follow the advice to protect our NHS & save lives."
The PM's symptoms are said by Downing Street to be mild and, in a video on his Twitter account, Mr Johnson said he had developed a temperature and a persistent cough.
He added: "I'm working from home and self-isolating and that's entirely the right thing to do.
"But, be in no doubt that I can continue thanks to the wizardry of modern technology to communicate with all my top team to lead the national fightback against coronavirus.
"I want to thank everybody involved and, of course, our amazing NHS staff."


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The man suspected of attacking French soldiers outside the Louvre museum in Paris Friday is so far refusing to speak with investigators, French judicial sources say.
Meanwhile, the father of the suspect has told the Associated Press his son is not a terrorist.
"He is a very respectable man who never had a problem with anybody, he never had any sort of political views," Reda Refaie al-Hamahmy told the news agency late Saturday. "His main concern in his life was his work in the United Arab Emirates," he said, adding that his son had gone to France on a "work assignment."
Al-Hamahmy added that he trusted the French judiciary system to find the truth behind the charges against his 28-year-old son Abdullah.
The Louvre museum in Paris reopened Saturday morning, less than 24 hours after a knife-wielding man was shot by soldiers.
Abdullah al-Hamahmy's condition was "markedly improved" Saturday, according to the Paris prosecutor, after having been shot four times.
Al-Hamahmy reportedly yelled "Allahu Akbar" as he attacked soldiers outside the museum, injuring one of them.
The attack at an entrance to a Paris shopping mall that extends beneath the museum sowed panic and again highlighted the threat French officials say hangs over the country, which was hit by several extremist attacks over the past two years.
French President Francois Hollande said there is "no doubt" that the attack was of a "terrorist nature." While he said the situation around the Paris tourist attraction is "totally under control," he said it shows why increased security was needed in the country after attacks in 2015 and 2016.


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Woman allegedly sold enough cough syrup to fill petrol tanker
In just one year, she allegedly dealt with enough cough syrup to fill up a petrol tanker.
Ashley Jas Ang Wei Hoon, 38, allegedly sold at least 20,371.8 litres of the medicine, which contains codeine, between May 25, 2009, and May 26, 2010.
The New Paper understands that this is the largest ever volume of cough syrup involved in such a case.
Ang is also accused of illegally selling 22,000 tablets containing substances such as codeine and diazepam, a stupefying drug.
She was charged last month with 203 counts of supplying medicinal products that are not on the General Sales List.
According to the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) website, medicines in Singapore are classified as prescription only (POM), pharmacy only (P) or General Sales List (GSL).
It said: "POMs can only be supplied by a doctor or by a pharmacist according to a prescription by a doctor.
"P medicines can be supplied by or under the supervision of a pharmacist without a doctor's prescription, while GSL medicines can be purchased off the shelves."
The HSA said that drugs such as codeine tablets and L.T.R Cough Linctus - a kind of cough syrup that Ang allegedly sold - are POMs.
Ang was also charged with 192 counts of forgery for the purpose of cheating.
Between May 25, 2009, and May 26, 2010, she allegedly worked with a man identified as Wong Kin Yu to forge tax invoices of Beacons Pharmaceuticals to order the drugs.
They allegedly did so to cheat the company into believing that clinics had ordered them.
Seventy clinics islandwide were named in the court documents.
Ang also allegedly sold the medicines to Wong.
Court papers did not mention the prices she charged and what the drugs were used for.
Wong was named in all 395 charges while a woman, identified as one Soh Woon Mei, was named in three forgery charges.
The kinds of cough syrup involved were: Promedyl-B Linctus , Beacodyl Linctus and L.T.R Cough Linctus - all of them containing codeine.
Ang also allegedly sold at least four other types of tablets including Diapo tablets, which contain diazepam, and Panaco tablets, a codeine-containing medication used to give temporary relief of fever.
Her case will be mentioned in court on Oct 30.
If convicted of illegally supplying medicinal products, for each count, she can be jailed up to two years and fined up to $5,000.
If convicted of forgery for the purpose of cheating, for each count, she can be jailed up to 10 years and fined.
By the numbers
Number of charges under the Medicines Act - supplying medicinal products that are not on the General Sales List
Number of forgery charges
At least 20,370 litres
Total volume of cough syrup involved in charges
Total number of tablets involved in the charges
Number of clinics named in court documents
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now


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An unforgettable show
Looking for an activity this week that will make you forget the monotony of winter? We recommend that you go see James Blake on Thursday, February 28, at the Olympia. Let yourself be carried away by its unique musical style and spend an unforgettable evening in one of Montreal's major theaters! 🙂
It's time to come out and play!
You would like to enjoy the winter with a bit of sport and a glimpse of nature? There is no need to drive for long hours to explore Quebec's natural landscape: thanks to les amis de la montagne, you can discover a large variety of activities set on the Mont Royal, including snowshoeing treks and birds observation. It's winter; the perfect time to play outside!…


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Jack Webber is SVP Sales at RealPage, a leading global provider of software and data analytics to the real estate industry. In this episode, Jack discusses how to mentor (and how to be mentored!), challenging your team as a servant leader, the transitions he's handled in his career, and the magical power of paying it forward.
Amanda Georgoff, RVP of Enterprise Sales at Salesloft, joins as guest host.
If you've had the good fortune of having great mentors in your career, then you can't get away from the fact of trying to give that to other people. And that's my life's purpose now.
-Jack Webber
Listen below to the entire podcast episode or on Apple Podcasts here.
If you have a passion for the art and the science of sales, are looking to further your career, or just want to hear some great, practical tips, 'Hey Salespeople' is the podcast for you. Subscribe so you can follow along as Jeremey interviews the brightest minds in modern sales to bring you immediately actionable advice. Listen and subscribe here.


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This article follows-up on a story in the Geelong Advertiser (page 4, 19/01/2000). A rash of pole fires on the morning of Sunday, 16th January to the south-west of Geelong, left up to 22,000 households without electricity for varying periods. A combination of several factors may have triggered this "epidemic" of fires on multiple power poles. The accepted explanation for sporadic, isolated pole fires occurring in electricity distribution networks is well-known and well accepted:
New Theory on Pole Fires
- coastal areas are most prone to this phenomenon.
- it often occurs during extended dry spells.
- salt spray builds up on insulators, because rain has not rinsed the salt away.
- risky and costly maintenance (humans washing the insulators) may reduce the chance of problems. Scheduled replacement of all cross-arms with galvanised steel replacements can eliminate fires, but may not prevent insulator failure.
- morning mist or humidity can greatly increase the leakage current on the surface of the salty insulator, or cause frank breakdown with arcing.
- if the insulator is mounted on an old-fashioned wooden cross-arm, the leakage current can initiate arcing within the cross-arm, especially if there is some decay or rot in the wooden beam.
- once a glowing ember is formed, a breeze may facilitate the ignition of a flame.
- the wooden beam is then consumed by fire, the HV conductor falls to the ground, or across other wires, and the HV feeder supply will be interrupted by fault protection equipment.
But it seems odd that such a sequence of events could cause NINE pole fires to occur in a small region within the space of a few hours. One possible explanation for fires occurring in small "epidemics" within a very short time frame on interconnected feeders is as follows:
A feeder or feeders with bifurcations or multiple branchings, may have one branch isolated by fault-protection equipment. All the remaining feeders will most likely experience a sudden increase in voltage, because the fault-protection has the effect of shedding load from the originating zone substation. Thus, if there were any other cross-arms ready to ignite, they will suddenly have a more intense and energetic arc-fault eating away inside them. The generation of heat will therefore also be increased, and the likelihood of another fire within a short space of time on these remaining "live" feeders is also increased.Footnote: Electric sparking (arcing) in HV power lines produces a tell-tale sign on low-band VHF television pictures: Australia's television system has a picture rate of fifty half-images per second, and a mains frequency of 50 Hertz. It therefore follows that bands of "snow" on your TV screen, perhaps slowly moving up or down the screen are almost certainly Power Line Interference (PLI). This is seen most clearly on Channel 2 (the national public TV broadcaster). Check with all your neighbours, video the problem if severe, go for a walk and listen for buzzing power poles in your area. Then report the problem to your utility: Your action may prevent a pole fire in areas where wooden cross-arms are still in use.
If this scenario has any merit, the historical record should show that pole fires are more likely at "off-peak" times (i.e. times of low electricity usage - such as Sunday mornings!) when we can reasonably expect that voltages will be very high in the distribution network.
One way that distribution utilities may be able to reduce the frequency of pole fires, is to reduce the supply voltage to nominal whenever the customer power usage is low. The technology to do this is already present in all zone substations: it is called a Line Drop Compensator (LDC). Long rural feeders may benefit from the use of line drop compensators at each regulator along the feeder, but this would be expensive. However, one suspects that the present cost burden to rural customers of excessive voltage habitually around 254 volts is a much greater cost to the Australian economy, so the introduction of improved voltage control in both rural and urban settings will have microeconomic reform benefits to the national economy as a whole. We do not live in a third-world Banana Republic do we?
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