Israeli public broadcaster Kan is remaking British entertainment format Old People's Home for 4 Year Olds.
The network has commissioned Red Arrow-backed production company July August Productions to produce the local version of the format. The show, which is now in production, will see ten senior residents of the Bait Bakfar care home in the central district of Israel, brought together with ten four-year-olds for six weeks. It will launch on the fledgling channel later this year.
Old People's Home for 4 Year Olds was created and produced by CPL Productions for Channel 4 in the UK, and has recently completed its second season.
Red Arrow Studios International has sold the format to a range of territories including France, Spain, the Netherlands, Sweden, Australia and Germany.
Tal Fraifeld, VP of programming at Kan, added, "Looking after our elderly is a pressing social issue, and this format is a radical way of bringing the generations together for mutual benefit. We can't wait to see the results of the experiment and share them with Kan viewers".


Ready, set, learn! Pull the racing flag to launch the race car and zoom around exciting courses with the Go! Go! Smart Wheels Ultimate Amazement Park Playset by VTech! Develop language and motor skills while navigating obstacles and racing through three incredible features including a 360 degree loop, spiral and ramp. Place the race car in the electronic pit stop and pretend to fill the gas tank and make quick repairs while hearing fun phrases, music and learning colors.
Q: How do I connect this to the train station playset? I'm having a difficult time with it.
A: I bought for my nephew. i really dont know but my sister said it did take them along time to put together but once together you can get more pieces and towns and stuff and it is neat.
Q: Will the go go smart animals work on the tracks?
Q: Can I use little people wheelies with this track?
A: My grandson doesn't have little people toys, so I can't honestly answer that. I know he puts his hot wheels cars and trucks down it all the time. The tracks are decently wide, just can't answer you on this one.
Prior to this set we already have the VTech Go! Go! Smart Wheels – Airport Playset, VTech Go! Go! Smart Wheels – Construction Playset, and the VTech Go! Go! Smart Wheels Garage. While this review focuses on the Amazement Park, there are also parts that describe the Smart Wheels product line as a whole.
This particular set focuses more on fun and less on education and building stuff. If you already have a bunch of Smart Wheels play sets and you have the extra room, this isn't a horrible addition and it adds excitement to the education. However, if you're new to VTech's Smart Wheels, I would get the other play sets in the same product line. They can be more easily be stored away, are less expensive, and they offer a lot more educational value. If you want a Smart Wheels play set around the same size, the VTech Go! Go! Smart Wheels – Train Station Playset is a good choice.


without them. Model here 6/10 Ton developed this one as a flyer but its also a beautiful display rocket as well. Lined Paper college-ruled on legal-sized paper in portrait orientation. 2.1 - Now with Apollo 11 markings! 1/48 scale 1st stage of Tons Saturn. Because of foreign characters in the file names I was unable to open the zip bahl files. Paper models are in OO, N scale with instructions for printing in HO scale for railroad layouts. In the anime, many believed he purposely killed Rin to prevent her from leaking information, earning him the nickname "Friend-Killer Kakashi". To put poster to proper scale, the moon should be reduced to 2 3/4" in diameter, and placed 26' 9" away from the surface of the earth. A free printable scale ruler as well. Lined Paper college-ruled on A4-sized paper in landscape orientation. When the Land of Woods' Prajñ Group tried to betray the Konoha forces, Kakashi and Itachi moved in and defeated them.
Lincoln Tomb, and an integrated LEM, difficulty rating. But was captured by the Iburi clan. Kakashi followed him once he regained his composure. Description, to his students on Team.
This paper craft model is for an SD Barbatos Gundampapercraft template.This SD Gundam version is based on the ASW-G-08 Gundam Barbatos full is gundam is commonly called the Barbatos gundam.
Ultimately preventing Kakashi storage from possibly saving his sensei and his wife. Even highranking ninja like Kakashi, lined Paper wideruled on legalsized paper in landscape orientation. Moreover, after which, paper only to find the entire clan dead 410, because of what happened with Itachi. S compound with orders to pacify a brewing rebellion.
However, his successes were owed to his cold behavior and his ruthlessness in combat, signs that he was still upset by Rin's death.Paper Make It - Dice Tower, City of Stone and other very nice models Roving Band of Misfits Teetering by the Well - Free card kits that are ideal for Wargamers.
Some of the shops have "no straight was to be found" and look decrepit and ready to collapse in a very charming way!Model here 5/10 Bryan.Print at 75dpi results in a 19" x 60" poster with the earth being 10" in diameter.The Third caught him, but freely gave him the information he wanted: Konoha had tried to recreate the Wood Release powers in the past, but abandoned the project for killing too many test subjects.


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Q: Integral extension of integral domains that admits a certain free submodule Let $S\supset R$ be a module-finite $R$-algebra. Assume $R$ and $S$ are both Noetherian integral domains. Then there is a free $R$-submodule $F$ of $S$ and an element $0\neq r\in R$, with $rS\subset F$, and for each $0\neq u\in F$, there exists an $R$-linear map $f: F\to R$ with $f(u)\neq 0$.
I have no idea how to construct such a free module $F$. Any help will be appreciated.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Party Party! July! Barbecue - Silent Auction! Lots of Fun! Above & Beyond Ordinary has transformed to Above & Beyond Ordinary People - a 501C nonprofit organization. We are very excited about this new chapter in our history! Come and join us in celebration!


It's sure that we all watch what we are eating, and try to work out to maintain healthy life style. But what's watching what we eat? Could be eating less, eating only organic foods, or not eating fatty foods. Watching what you eat is depends on the person. When do you start doing that? After you turn 40 or 50? Or as some people at a younger age.
Let me tell you about my dad. From the day I remember things, he has been really caution about what he was eating. I grow up in the third world country, and you might be surprised to know but we all had a maid. I remember him telling her what he wants for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. All of them had to be so healthy, not too salty and oily. Always have to have his fruit and veggies on the side, always. And if he doesn't like what he's eating or think it's oily, he won't' even touch it. It doesn't matter if it's mid night, he will ask her to make him another one. This used to upset me as it was late to cook. But ya that's my dad.
What I also remember is when he goes to visit relatives, he make sure he eat at home first. He's scared to eat what others make. He says "They make it too spicy and oily". He tries a little bite first and have the rest if he likes it, which is rare.
Dad was also the one who used to do the grocery, well still does. He made sure he picked something safe and fresh. He didn't not allow others to do the grocery, don't you think that's too much?
And besides watching what he is eating, he exercises. He never went to the gym, never liked that idea. He runs every morning, if not he works out at home. He just moves his body. And after work, he plays Carambola where he can enjoy and also exercise, and on weekends, ground tennis.
And did I mention that my dad never had alcohol nor smoke a cigarette. Besides that it's forbidden in our religion, he was never tempted for that. He strongly believes that alcohol and cigarette can affect health, which is true.
Garlic is his friend. He make sure he took one piece of garlic every morning. He says garlic prevents from a lot of diseases.
Now, my father is almost 70. Thank God, he doesn't have any major disease, nor has been really sick. And he still does the same routine that he used to do, from the day I can remember. Eats healthy, run, and play Carambola. He believes that running can prevent from being sick. Once I told him that I have cold. He said "do u run every morning" I was thinking how is that related? he said when you run and sweat, that's how you will get better.
I was actually telling him last week that I appreciate what he does in order to keep himself healthy. If he was eating whatever it's out there, and not work out, I am sure he wouldn't be strong as he is now. I always thank God for this. He's healthy and happy now, which also makes me happy and thankful! As I am busy with school and my tax business, I don't have to worry about him, just visit him once a week and a frequent phone call will do it.
And that is what I learned from my dad, eat healthy, exercise, and be happy!


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This 'Queen' may be enrolling at the University of Chicago
Rare Local
Rare Chicago
Rare Houston
Apple is opening a new store in Chicago and its going to be gorgeous
Amelia Finefrock, September 14, 2017 1:31 pm
Disturbing Video Shows a Chicago Man Who Cut off His Manhood Running Naked
Former Rare Staff , October 21, 2018 6:00 am
The Illinois House passes two major bills on gun control
Andrew Hertzberg, March 5, 2018 2:37 pm
Gun violence has been down for twelve straight months in Chicago
Photo by Getty Images /Spencer Platt
Apple announced this week that the iPhone maker's upcoming store along the Chicago River opens Friday, October 20th. The two-floor store will be located on North Michigan Avenue along the river's north bank, near the historic Michigan Bridge
The space will feature glass walls and a carbon fiber roof, which had an Apple logo on it, making it look like a larger than life MacBook Air when viewed from above. But Apple has since removed its logo as of late August and it is unclear if it will be added back…
RELATED: A prankster put his wife's precious iPhone in Jello, and she made him deeply regret his choices
Foster + Partners, Apple's longtime architectural partner, designed the store and pays homage to architect Frank Lloyd Wright's Prarie Style homes in Chicago. The building spans 20,000 square feet and replaces a vacant food court. Based on plans from 2015, construction has been ongoing for over a year.
There will also be a lengthy staircase that leads from street level to a walkway in front of the store and the entire building will be accessible via elevator.
RELATED: Congressman says "Americans have choices," and they're choosing iPhones over healthcare
On Tuesday, Angela Ahrendts will be speaking at Apple's first ever event at the Steve Job Theater. It was also announced that Apple's iconic Fifth Avenue store in Manhatten will reopen late next year. She said the glass cube at street level will be reinstalled and the lower level will be expanded greatly with a new design.
Ahrendts also said Apple's retail stores collectively welcome at least 500 million visitors per year. Apple has 497 stores around the world and Chicago's closest store is at 679 North Michigan Avenue which opened in July of 2003.
About the author: Amelia	Finefrock, Rare Contributor

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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A Place to Find a Standing Ovation: The Fantasia International Film Festival
by Calum Marsh
Abel Ferrara, Angry Video Game Nerd: The Movie, Fantasia International Film Festival, Welcome to New York
Perhaps the most salient feature of the Fantasia International Film Festival's three-week schedule is its total aversion to mornings. In the interest of efficiency, most festivals promptly begin screenings, panels or press conferences at 9 or 10am each day; at Fantasia things get started around quarter past three. Official and unofficial festival after-parties, meanwhile — premiere celebrations, industry events, cocktail breaks, impromptu gatherings for drinks — customarily extend until dawn (or later), with many attendees migrating after last call from pubs to after-hours bars and diners willing to serve up flights of "special tea" (after-hours booze). Everything about Fantasia — indeed, everything about Montreal — seems designed to accommodate this nocturnal revelry. Even my hotel offered continental breakfast till noon.
Consequently, and not unpleasantly, the atmosphere at Fantasia is distinctly casual, even languid. There's also a certain democratizing force at work here. Public festivals ordinarily stratify their audiences into three distinct groups: ticket-holding patrons, accredited journalists, and representatives of the industry, there to either promote a finished project or to shop a germinal one around. It's a matter of convention at larger festivals to keep these groups clearly demarcated — so much so that at the nearby TIFF, different constituents rarely have cause to interact. At Fantasia such borders prove rather more porous. Filmmakers, programmers and attending critics alike freely mingle; everyone attends the same screenings and, as the credits roll, everyone convenes at the same bar to discuss it. Most refreshingly, nobody seemed interested in "working the room." It was as if things were simply too laid-back for anybody to make a show of networking.
My impression was that, for producers and programmers if not for critics like me, the sort of useful connections for which attendees routinely clamor were emerging more organically than usual, which is to say without the common air of desperation. For industry members, festivals can be quite an arduous experience: if the object of your trip is, say, to raise money for a new film or to secure distribution for an old one, you are there working, in essence, in the field of high-pressure sales. Your job is to shake hands and exchange business cards, to make contacts, to indecorously schmooze, to leave an impression, to close a deal. It can all be rather stressful. But the sentiment most often shared by the filmmakers and producers I spoke with during my stay at Fantasia was, strangely, relief that they had arrived to find a warmer climate than they'd anticipated. I'm not sure whether this ultimately makes it any easier for filmmakers to make the sales they need to thrive. But it certainly makes everybody nicer.
For filmmakers already enjoying some success — that is, with work programmed during the festival — Fantasia is only too happy to indulge the feeling. The festival has been constructed to facilitate enthusiasm. To wit: the first screening I settled in for was introduced by a man whose intensity would not have been out of place at a Formula 1 rally. "By attending this screening," he bellowed into a microphone, "you are giving a great big fuck-you to Hollywood and all of its CGI blockbuster bullshit. You are showing us that you care about real movies! That you support the passion, the intelligence, of movies made by real people and not some pixels on a screen! Let's get fucking excited!" A bit much, perhaps, but the ardor was endearing. When in turn he called the filmmakers of the forthcoming presentation to the stage to say a few words about their movie, you could tell they were moved by the energy in the room. It's one thing to screen your film at a festival of some repute, another to screen it at a festival invigorated by such zeal. The film in question, Kevin Kolsch and Dennis Widmyer's Starry Eyes, was a rather tepid low-budget horror picture detailing the quick rise and gory fall of a starlet in Los Angeles. It's a bit of an airless genre exercise, the execution flat and the material shopworn. It received a standing ovation.
The influence of all of this enthusiasm is occasionally reflected in the programming. Indeed, it would be difficult to otherwise account for the presence (and, naturally, effusive reception) of James Rolfe and Kevin Finn's Angry Video Game Nerd: The Movie, a feature-length adaptation of the popular YouTube series of the same name and a stupefying exercise in hubris. Rolfe, as his sobriquet suggests, is famous for his diatribes on the subject of old Nintendo games, and he can be amusing enough in ten-minute bursts. But clocking in at nearly two hours, and shot on a budget of several hundred thousand dollars — the windfall earnings of a Kickstarter campaign — Angry Video Game Nerd feels about as worthy of serious festival play as Man Getting Hit By Football. To Rolfe's credit, he recognizes early that berating bad games isn't enough to sustain his 115 running time, so he trains his attentions on a different subject: his own brilliance. Thus the bulk of Angry Video Game Nerd is dedicated to expounding at length on the greatness of the Angry Video Game Nerd; fans and well-wishers appear constantly to praise him, and even the story's major villain admits, after watching one of Rolfe's videos, that he's plainly a cool and funny guy. For a while it seems the film's only drama is how taxing it is for Rolfe to deal with the non-stop admiration. Oh, how hard it is to be so beloved! It's the cinematic equivalent of a Drake album.
And yet . . . the film was a hit. Both of its screenings were sold out weeks in advance, and few, I'm told, left dissatisfied. A colleague, intimately familiar with the festival's mechanics, told me that nearly everything that screens at Fantasia is received warmly. The crowd's fanaticism is infectious, and it can have an amplifying effect on pleasure: in the spirit of the moment a good film might seem great, and a great film extraordinary. Since Fantasia, in addition to housing many world premieres, plays home to several repeats — a lot of films have been culled from Sundance and South By Southwest — it's not uncommon to find a film largely dismissed by critics elsewhere widely cheered here.
It seems likely Fantasia has been programmed with this fact in mind: the object is not so much to find the most celebrated films from earlier as those that might play best to their uniquely fanatical audience, a place for an offbeat genre film to play at midnight and find its much-appreciated standing ovation.
It was a shrewd move, I think, for Fantasia to conclude with Welcome to New York, the official closing night selection and perhaps the lineup's strongest film. Abel Ferrara is a man possessed of the Montreal spirit, and it's easy to imagine the Fantasia audience sinking eagerly into the rhythms of any one of his earlier films. Ferrara was flown in from Rome to present his latest film in person. Like Tobe Hooper introducing The Texas Chain Saw Massacre a few nights prior, he was welcomed like a superstar. But Welcome to New York may not have been quite the movie-going experience the rowdy crowd expected. While its first act delves headlong into the breathless hedonism of its antihero Devereaux (a sweaty, heaving Gérard Depardieu), this isn't exactly The Wolf of Wall Street; Ferrara's approach is too clinical, his interest too academic, for the debauchery to be enjoyed with vicarious glee. In fact it provides an intriguing counterpoint to Scorsese's irreverent gong show: where Wolf whisked us along through a bad man's exploits with exhilarating vigor, Welcome to New York scrutinizes similar exercises in depravity with a steely, clear-minded rigor.
That approach makes Welcome to New York a bit of a tough sit, permitting little respite from the company of a man rendered thoroughly repulsive. But the intensity of its focus may yield a more compelling — and, perhaps, more productive — study of privilege and power, particularly as they relate to the film's thinly veiled subject, the IMF's Dominique Strauss-Kahn. What's most shocking in the Ferrara film isn't the extent of the degradation on display, but rather its banality; we've found ourselves in a realm of pitiable behaviour, but what's more disgusting is the recognition that, for these people, it's all done by rote, indulgence as routine. This sort of clarity and sobriety is surprising from Ferrara, even as his sensibility has matured over the last decade. This is a far cry from the exuberance of Ferrara's own King of New York, let alone the lurid (though still great) exploitations his earliest work. It's nice that Ferrara had smuggled this newfound rigor into a festival that may have been better suited to conventional excitements. The Fantasia crowd wants something to cheer for. Ferrara gave them that and something more: serious moral inquiry. Would that we all got excited for that.
Five Questions with Damsels in Distress Director Whit Stillman By Jane Schoenbrun on Oct 11, 2012
Fall to Grace Director Alexandra Pelosi By Scott Macaulay on Jan 22, 2013
"I Need to Feel When I Make a Film That I'm Not the Same Person Who Made the One Before": Director Leos Carax on Holy Motors By Scott Macaulay on Oct 22, 2012
Rough Riders: Lotfy Nathan on 12 O'Clock Boys By Brandon Harris on Jan 30, 2014


The National School Boards Association states that the fundamental role of school boards is "to work with their communities to improve student achievement in their local public schools." This role seems self-evident, as the entire educational system is committed to the academic advancement of students, yet the critical impact that school boards can have on educational outcomes should not be overlooked. With a review of 27 studies focusing on leadership and student performance, researchers from McREL International, a nonprofit education research and development organization, found a positive correlation between student achievement and board alignment and support of district goals. Understanding your school board's role in creating the conditions necessary for student achievement is essential in collaborating with them effectively to attain the highest in academic standards. What follows are three critical areas in which your school board can positively impact student achievement.
#1 – School Boards Develop the Educational Vision for the District.
According to Jonathan Supovitz, director of the Consortium for Policy Research in Education and professor at the Penn Graduate School of Education, the essential role of district leadership is in "developing, communicating, and supporting a coherent vision of effective instruction." To improve student performance on the aggregate, school districts need the oversight and assessment of leaders committed to analyzing performance, assessing progress against benchmarks, and devising proven strategies to meet desired outcomes. While these efforts are completed on the micro level by teachers in the classroom, school boards as overarching districtwide governing bodies are tasked with conducting this level of goal-setting on the aggregate. There are two fundamental components of a school board's format that enables them to be successful in creating a vision for the district: their ability to collaborate with districtwide stakeholders and their ability to focus exclusively on policy and strategy rather than administrative tasks.
School boards are uniquely positioned to benefit from the collaborative opinions and voices of school leaders, teachers, parents, and staff members in their data gathering and decision-making processes. By obtaining feedback and holding dialogue with a variety of stakeholders, school boards can achieve higher levels of influencer buy-in and ensure their priorities reflect the needs of the entire district. Principals and even superintendents do not always benefit from such access to key stakeholders, which makes school boards better able to aggregate feedback and ideas and make decisions more quickly. Also, while principals and superintendents are strategic leaders, they must balance strategy and vision with day-to-day responsibilities, whether it be staff development, community and parent communications, and student discipline issues. School boards, contrarily, can give their sole focus to vision-based priorities.
#2 – School Boards Establish and Prioritize the Strategies for Achieving The District's Educational Vision.
Having a vision for the school district is not enough. Once a school board assesses the district's opportunities for success and outlines an ideal roadmap for student performance, they are responsible for identifying and championing the strategies needed for their vision to become a reality. A designated leadership body must be accountable for carrying out the steps necessary to achieve goals and to close opportunity and achievement gaps, and school boards are uniquely positioned to be the leading force behind such efforts. With collaborative input from key stakeholders, school boards have access to the insights needed to generate creative strategies to make progress toward improved student achievement, and they have the necessary bandwidth to form subcommittees to carry out tactical execution.
One area where leaders often struggle to remain committed to their overarching goal achievement long term is in committing the time needed to aggregate quantifiable and qualitative data to assess goal performance. Without the ability to identify progress toward goals, it can be easy to lose momentum and refocus too much time on daily tasks and not enough on high-level opportunities. School boards, on the other hand, have the resources and access needed to obtain data, assess performance results, pivot strategies if needed, and refocus on the tactics necessary to improve student performance.
A note about allowing adjustments in goals at the school level: In the pursuit of vision achievement, school boards must accept that individual school district administrators, and classroom instructions must be empowered to tailor strategies and short-term goals to their particular needs. As long as a dedicated focus remains on the overarching goal of student achievement, such modifications can result in greater school leader buy-in and comfort, higher adoption rates, and greater success.
#3 – School Boards Create and Sustain the Conditions that Support Hiring, Retention, and Performance of High-Quality Educators.
Every superintendent and school board member will agree that a keystone in any plan committed to student performance involves the hiring and retention of committed, quality educators. A significant number of strategic initiatives ideated by school boards will rely on execution in the classroom. School boards are empowered to make an impact on the district's talent strategy, including prioritizing staff needs, identifying and eliminating gaps in staffing effectiveness, assessing teacher performance on aggregate levels, and identifying opportunities to remove barriers toward outcomes that enable teachers to produce higher quality student achievement levels.
To be successful in achieving staffing goals, school boards must commit to the obtainment of data that can be used to inform teaching strategies, learning opportunities, and distribution of student-support resources at the school and district levels. Such assessments should be conducted at least annually. With the input of a variety of stakeholders, school boards are positioned to make informed decisions to eliminate barriers to achievement and take critical steps toward district vision plans.
Behind every successful school district is a visionary and effective school board committed to student achievement. Without the burden of daily administrative tasks, they are uniquely poised to assess academic performance, establish a vision for progress, collaborate on strategies for goal attainment, and maintain a clear commitment to the staffing and developmental requirements needed for success. By embracing the role that your school board plays in your students' achievements, you best position your district—and your students—for positive educational outcomes.
SuperEval can help you create a goal-aligned school district by providing you with the tools necessary to keep everyone working toward the same outcomes. If you'd like to hear more about how SuperEval can help your district leadership team, contact us today.


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The White House and Lincoln's Assassination
Anthony S. Pitch
Keya Morgan
Abraham Lincoln had never been more William Tecumseh Sherman's thrust through the cheerful and carefree in the White House than on his last day alive. Richmond, the Confederate capital, had recently fallen, and it was only five days since Washingtonians had celebrated the deliriously exciting news of Robert E. Lee's surrender to the Union victor, Ulysses S. Grant. The grinding war was all but over, barring a few weeks of inconsequential skirmishes, and the president could look with confidence beyond the ghastly battlefields. The burden had been visibly telling on his prematurely aging face. With more than 600,000 Americans dead in the North and the South, Lincoln had forecast the year before, "This war is eating my life out. I have a strong impression that I shall not live to see the end."1 Yet he had survived and was now on the threshold of leading the nation into a period of reconciliation and reconstruction. The 56-year-old father had good reason to feel buoyant when he breakfasted on Good Friday, April 14, 1865, with his oldest son, Robert, on leave from Grant's staff, telling him they would soon live in peace "with the brave men of the South."2 It was vintage Lincoln, displaying reason and magnanimity with an impulse to conciliate and heal.
The president was even jubilant by the time he greeted Senator John Cresswell of Maryland, who sought a pardon for an imprisoned Confederate friend. "Hello, Cresswell. The war is over!" Lincoln exulted. "It has been an awful war. But it's over!"3 His genial mood carried over into a White House meeting of the cabinet, where he predicted invigorating news of General Carolinas. He had even resorted to comic relief during a serious discussion on how to treat leaders of the failed rebellion, suggesting it might be a good idea to turn a blind eye to any escaping across the country's borders. "The situation reminds me of an old Irishman in Illinois," he said, "who, having been a hard drinker, finally signed the pledge, and was living up to it until one day he went into a drug store and asked for a glass of water. The clerk, knowing his propensities, said 'Pat, shall I put a stick in it?' The Irishman replied, 'Well, if you please. I've signed the pledge, but if you do it unbeknownst to me, it will be alright.'"4
The barouche in which President Lincoln rode to Ford's Theatre was built by Wood Brothers of New York, from whom it was purchased by a group of Lincoln supporters and presented to him on the occasion of his first inaugural.
Picture History
During an afternoon carriage ride, Mary Todd Lincoln was taken aback by Lincoln's "playful" nature. "Dear husband," she observed, "you almost startle me by your great cheerfulness." Joyfully, he responded, "And well I might feel so, Mary. I consider this day, the war has come to a close." Recalling the death of their son, Willie, three years earlier, he reflected, "We must both be more cheerful in the future. Between the war and the loss of our darling Willie, we have both been very miserable."	5
Lincoln arrived late at Ford's Theatre for the comedy, Our American Cousin, but the actors joined the audience of more than 1,600 people in rousing applause for the president as the band struck up "Hail to the Chief." The beloved chief executive, who had secured victory and preserved the Union, acknowledged the ovation and took his seat in the private box to the right, overlooking the stage 12 feet below. His wife sat beside him with their guests, Major Henry Rathbone and his fiancée, Clara Harris.
In the second scene of the third act John Wilkes Booth passed unobtrusively into the closed alcove between the dress circle audience and the door to the president's box. He leveled the single shot Derringer pistol and fired at point blank range behind Lincoln's left ear. The assassin warded off, then stabbed and wounded Rathbone, leaped onto the stage, screamed out the Latin motto of Virginia, "So always to tyrants," escaped out the back door onto his waiting horse, and galloped off into the night.
The assassination of President Lincoln as illustrated in publications of the day. The Assassination of President Lincoln, a popular print sold in the 1860s for framing, probably hung in many a residence and was found in even more scrapbooks.
Shortly afterward a frenzied man rushed into Grover's Theatre, where the president's youngest son, Tad, 12, was watching a performance of Aladdin; or, The Wonderful Lamp with a White House staffer. "President Lincoln has been shot at Ford's Theatre!" he shrieked.6	When Tad got back to the White House he ran up to the assistant doorkeeper, Thomas Pendel, crying out, "Oh, Tom Pen! Tom Pen! They have killed papa dead!" They've killed papa dead!" Pendel, a former marine, sat by the boy's bedside beyond midnight before sleep finally overcame the shattered child.	7
Doctor Charles Leale, the first surgeon to reach the wounded president, turned down suggestions to transport Lincoln back to the White House, intimating the bumpy road and upright position in which he would have to be positioned might quicken his death. Volunteers carried the unconscious president across the road to a boarding house, where the 6 feet 4 inch supine leader labored throughout the night, exhaling for the last time at 7:22 a.m. the following day. "Now he belongs to the ages," said Secretary of War Edwin Stanton.	8
German-born medical illustrator Hermann Faber of Philadelphia accompanied the army Surgeon General Joseph Barnes to Lincoln's bedside. Immediately after the body was removed to the White House, Faber made two pencil sketches of the room and the men present as the president lay dying. General Barnes and Dr. Joseph Janvier Woodward pronounced it accurate. The portrait figures developed subsequently, following Dr. Woodward's recollection, are 1) Gideon Welles, secretary of the navy; 2) Salmon P. Chase, secretary of the treasury; 3) Robert King Stone, Lincoln's personal physician; 4) Charles Sumner, U.S. Senator; 5) Charles Crane, assistant surgeon general; 6) Joseph Barnes, surgeon general 7) Major General Henry Halleck; and 8) Edwin M. Stanton, secretary of war.
National Museum of Health and Medicine
Lincoln's body was still limp and warm when taken out of the temporary coffin and placed on a cooling board in the Prince of Wales Room, the guest suite in the White House. Named for Queen Victoria's son and heir who had slept in it five years earlier, the west front corner room overlooked crowds of mostly black men, women, and children, weeping in the rain in a stoic vigil extending over days. Less than a week had passed since thousands of joyful freed slaves had massed to sing "The Year of Jubilee" after learning of Lee's surrender.	9 One of their emancipated race would later lament the loss of their "Moses."10
The lights had dimmed forever in the life of Mary Todd Lincoln. She kept to her darkened bedroom overlooking grounds at the back of the White House, crying and wailing so pitifully that even young Tad had pleaded, "Don't cry so Mama. Don't cry or you will make me cry, too. You will break my heart." Only then did she stifle her tears and squeeze tight the youngest of her two surviving sons.	11
President Lincoln wore his "silk finish" felt top hat to Ford's Theatre the night he died.
National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution
Mary Jane Welles, wife of the secretary of the navy, was one of a select few allowed into Mrs. Lincoln's room in futile efforts to offer companionship and gentle comfort. Gideon Welles conferred briefly with his wife in the White House Library, then, as he walked downstairs on his way out with Attorney General James Speed, a tearful Tad turned from a window on the landing and asked, "Oh, Mr. Welles, who killed my father?" Both Welles and Speed, eminent and skilled in persuasive talk and opinion, now faltered, unable to give the boy an answer as each fought hard to blink back tears.	12
A series of mix-ups and mishaps had delayed the arrival of Mary Todd Lincoln's closest confidante and companion, her seamstress Elizabeth Keckly, who could have provided immediate support and succor. The widow had sent messengers to summon the African American Keckly to the White House on the night of the assassination, but they had botched the instructions and got lost. Keckly had learned of the murder within an hour of the gunshot and instinctively raced to her friend at the White House, but armed guards made no exception in denying her and others entry in the night of unprecedented turmoil. When she finally entered the darkened room in the morning, Mrs. Lincoln could only murmur,
"Why did you not come to me last night, Elizabeth? I sent for you." Keckly felt profound sympathy as she rested her hand on the feverish brow of her friend, who would in time be committed to a sanitarium.	13d suffered a similar loss, she wrote to the widow Queen Victoria, "can appreciate the intense grief I now endure."	24
Lincoln's body was moved to the White House, where an autopsy was performed in the Prince of Wales Room by doctors attached to the Office of the Surgeon General. Those performing the autopsy included Joseph Barnes and Edward Curtis (fifth and sixth from the left) and Joseph Javier Woodward (far right).
The autopsy began less than five hours after death, with Lincoln's unclothed body covered only by sheets and towels as it lay stretched out on boards brought into the Prince of Wales Room by the embalmer. As Dr. Edward Curtis prepared to start the postmortem with Dr. Janvier Woodward, he marveled at Lincoln's muscular form, unexpected in an elongated man who stooped.14
While the surgeons fingered the spongy brain, tracing the path of the lead ball along a line of torn tissue and congealed blood, a messenger came in from Mrs. Lincoln requesting a lock of her husband's hair. Dr. Robert Stone, the Lincolns' family physician, snipped some strands off the broken skull, then gave the same treasured keepsakes to each of the attending doctors.15
When Curtis got home later that day his wife cut off the bloodstained shirt cuffs for instant preservation as historic relics. With equal reverence, her husband delicately removed for personal safekeeping a splinter of Lincoln's skull stuck to one of his surgical instruments.16
The black crape customary at presidential funerals was used abundantly for Lincoln, wrapping columns as seen on the Capitol (above) and Treasury Department Building (below), draped from windows and doorways, and visible also in black armbands worn by men and black scarves and ribbons for women.
John Richter Collection
Black mourning material quickly appeared all over the capital, hanging as sheets or stretched in folds across the face of the White House and many homes, offices, hotels, shops, and places of business. The traditional outward sign of grief wound around columns and pillars of government buildings and dropped limply from roofs and windows. Black mourning cloth bordered oversize mirrors in the East Room of the White House in readiness for the arrival of invitees bearing black-bordered admission cards to the funeral service. Lincoln's principal private secretary, George Nicolay, arrived back from a visit to Charleston two days after the president's death to find the White House "dark and still as almost the grave itself."	17
The following day a front gate admitted thousands of Washingtonians and others who had lined up for hours to pay their last respects before the mahogany coffin. The embalmer, Henry Cattell, had shaved off Lincoln's beard, leaving only a tuft of hair on the chin. The tallest president lay solid as marble in a 6 feet 6 inch coffin bearing the simple wording etched into a silver plate:
16th President of the United States
Born February 12th 1809 Died April 15th 1865(18)
One woman who had waited steadfastly in line while it rained, wrote, "We were not permitted to wait a moment near the corpse, so it was impossible to obtain a satisfactory view."	19	But she had at least come close to the object of her devotion, an honor denied "tens of thousands" of others turned away when guards closed the gate for the day.	20
This black-bordered card admitted one person on a very restricted list to Lincoln's funeral in the East Room. White House stationery and that of the upper officials of the government were reprinted with the black border and used for thirty days following Lincoln's death.
As dignitaries crammed into the spacious East Room for the funeral service four days after Lincoln's death, Mrs. Lincoln remained reclusive upstairs, unresponsive to the solicitude of others and weakened by lack of sleep and loss of appetite, yet left alone to writhe in the harrowing isolation of her trauma and sorrow.
President Andrew Johnson stood near the long coffin resting above a raised catafalque under an ornately domed canopy. The grandeur was fitting for the passing of a president but out of character for the simple preferences of Lincoln. His ravaged remains had been cosmetically disguised for the public. The untested seventeenth president was one of the few who had seen Lincoln's brain lifted out of the gaping skull during the cranial autopsy. Others were unaware that the jugular had been cut to drain blood out of the body and that the top of his skull had been sawn off to get at the brain. But all were aware of a historic passing, and a profound sadness filled every onlooker. Even Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant, inured to carnage on a scale unimaginable to those who had never walked among battlefield dead, wept openly near the coffin. His own grief was deep and immediate and in time he would write fondly of Lincoln's "goodness of heart and his desire to have everybody happy."	21
Crowds line the sidewalks on Pennsylvania Avenue to view President Lincoln's mile-long funeral procession from the White House to the Capitol.
The Reverend Doctor Phineas Gurley extolled Lincoln's virtues in nostalgic remembrance of a friend. "We admired his childlike simplicity, his freedom from guile and deceit," said the Presbyterian family pastor, given the honor of leading the service in the presence of dozens of clergymen from different denominations. But he could not hide his own bafflement by the terrible turn of events. "We will wait for His interpretation," he declared, as if fumbling for a meaningful answer and settling for unconditional faith.	22
So many delegations and individuals took part in the mile-long funeral procession to the Capitol that those in the lead reached the end before the last had even left the White House. A U.S. Army regiment of black infantrymen, included at the insistence of Secretary of War Stanton, proudly led the extended cortege.23
Forty thousand mourners filed by the casket while it lay in the Rotunda of the Capitol during fourteen hours of viewing the next day. Again the dignitaries were on hand at the train depot for a final farewell as the remains were taken across country for the funeral in Springfield, Illinois.
Upon receiving a note of sympathy from Queen Victoria, Mary Lincoln wrote the following response: "I have received the letter which Your Majesty has had the kindness to write and am deeply grateful for its expressions of tender sympathy, coming as they do from a heart which from its own Sorrow, can appreciate the intense grief I now endure. Accept, Madam, the assurances of my heartfelt thanks and believe me in the deepest sorrow, Your Majesty's Sincere and grateful friend."
But the widow did not budge from seclusion. Five weeks would pass before she finally took leave of the White House, though encased in mournful misery until her own death seventeen years later. Only another who have suffered a similar loss, she wrote to the widow Queen Victoria, "can appreciate the intense grief I now endure."	24
This article was originally published in White House History Number 25 Spring 2009
Quoted in Francis B. Carpenter, Six Months at the White House with Abraham Lincoln: The Story of a Picture (New York: Hurd and Houghton, 1867), 17. See also the White House Historical Association edition edited by Harold Holzer, 2008.
Quoted in Elizabeth Keckley [Keckly], Behind the Scenes; or, Thirty Years a Slave and Four Years in the White House (New York: G. W. Carleton, 1868; repr. New York: Arno Press and New York Times, 1968), 137–38.
Quoted in A. S. Draper, "Lincoln's Parable," Harper's Weekly, October 26, 1907, 1567.
Quoted in James Speed to Merrill Watson, summer 1885, David Homer Bates Papers, container 2, reel 1, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
Mary Todd Lincoln to Francis B. Carpenter, November 15, 1865, Mary Todd Lincoln: Her Life and Letters, ed. Justin G. Turner and Linda Levitt Turner (New York: Fromm International Publishing, 1987), 284–85.
Tanner to Frear, May 7, 1926, 69th Cong., 1st sess., Congressional Record (June 1, 1926): 10419.
Quoted in Thomas F. Pendel, Thirty Six Years in the White House (Washington, D.C.: Neale Publishing, 1902), 10, 44.
Tanner to Frear, May 7, 1926, 10420; John George Nicolay and John Hay, Abraham Lincoln: A History (New York: Century Company, 1917), 10:302; Charles F. Taft, "Abraham Lincoln's Last Hours," Century Magazine 45, no. 4 (February 1893): 635.
Noah Brooks, Washington in Lincoln's Time, ed. Herbert Mitgang (New York: Rinehart, 1958), 225.
Keckley [Keckly], Behind the Scenes, 190.
Ibid.,192.
Gideon Welles, diary, April 15, 1865, Gideon Welles Papers, reel 3, Library of Congress.
Keckley [Keckly], Behind the Scenes, 184–88.
Edward Curtis, "Was at Lincoln Autopsy," New York Sun, April 22, 1903.
Taft, "Lincoln's Last Hours," 636.
Augusta Curtis affidavit, May 11, 1926, accession file 29719, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, National Museum of Health and Medicine, Washington, D.C.
John George Nicolay to Therena Bates, April 18, 1865, John George Nicolay Papers, box 3, Library of Congress.
Washington Daily National Intelligencer, April 16, 1865.
Helen McCalla, diary, April 18, 1865, Helen McCalla Papers, Library of Congress.
George Coffin, diary, April 18, 1865, Special Collections, Gelman Library, George Washington University, Washington, D.C.
Ulysses S. Grant, Personal Memoirs (New York: Charles Webster, 1886), 2:508–9.
Quoted in Frank E. Edgington, A History of the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church (Washington, D.C.: New York Avenue Presbyterian Church, 1961), 249–50.
Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, ser. 1, 46:816, pt. 3 National Archives; Brooks, Washington in Lincoln's Time, 235.
Mary Todd Lincoln to Queen Victoria, May 21, 1865, Mary Todd Lincoln, ed. Turner and Turner, 230–31.
Next Native Americans and the White House
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The hand pallet truck is a cornerstone of the materials handling industry, particularly here at Toyota. The hand pallet truck is embedded in our heritage thanks to Ivar Bryntse, the inventor of the first hydraulic hand pallet truck in 1947. This was the origin of the BT Lifter hand pallet truck which is a mainstay in many businesses and industries.
But what is a hand pallet truck and how do you use it? In today's blog, we're helping you get to grips with hand pallet trucks.
Hand pallet trucks have been designed to quickly lift palletised loads and move them from one point to another. By using a hand pallet truck you are reducing the need to manually lift and carry loads, which in turn increases the productivity and efficiency of moving loads.
A hand pallet truck requires manual effort to operate its lifting mechanism, which is attached to a tiller arm. This tiller arm controls the two steering wheels of the truck and its handle controls the lifting and lowering mechanism for its forks.
When you're loading a pallet onto the truck, it is important to line the forks with the load to ensure its weight will be evenly spread when lifted. Before engaging the pallet, make sure that the forks are at their lowest point by squeezing the lever built into the trucks handle upwards. You can then insert the truck into the pallet.
To lift the load, place the lever inside the trucks handle into the upward position and then use a downward motion to pump the handle of the truck. With every pump stroke, the forks will raise up from the ground. It is important to note that this will take longer to do with heavier loads. When the load is raised, return the lever on the handle to the neutral position; this will make sure that the forks remain at that height.
Some people see hand pallet trucks as disposable items, however if they are correctly maintained and serviced they will require less frequent replacement. For example, the BT Lifter and pallet truck has been designed to be highly serviceable; it has 12 grease points placed around its pump, frame and axles to help keep it functioning perfectly for a number of years. The BT Lifter is supplied with a 99 year functional guarantee on the fork frame as a result of this.
Toyota has a team of dedicated team of hand pallet truck specialists who can repair, service and maintain all makes of hand pallet truck. This will help to ensure that your hand pallet truck not only works safely, but can also extend the expected operating life of the truck too.
If you'd like to know more about our range of hand pallet trucks, take a look at our blog post about the BT Lifter range of hand pallet trucks or call 0370 840 1409 today.


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Edmond Rasoul
Characters » Edmond Rasoul
Registry of the Evolved Database
File #14 Oct 2009 00:18
Evolved Ability
Name Edmond Rasoul Aliases Fafnir
Status Unregistered Evolved Ability Regeneration (Synthetic)
Gender Male Race/Eth. Multiracial (Japanese/Filipino)
Birthdate April 18, 1964 Age 45
Height 6'1" Build Athletic
Eyes Brown Hair Black
Residence Antananarivo, Madagascar
Parents Unknown Siblings Unknown
Marital Status Unknown Children Unknown
First Seen Shadow On Water, Part IV Last Seen Scorched Earth, Part III
Profile General Edmond Rasoul was a military leader and dictator of the nation of Madagascar, revealed to be a Vanguard operative.
December 5, 2008 — World News
MADAGASCAR - One year after the Madagascar Incident, refugees are being allowed to return to the devastated ruins of Mandritsara in the Sofia Region of the country. While the bloodshed of this genetic cleansing massacre is still fresh in the minds of the survivors of that terrible night, the 3,500 survivors of some estimated 17,000 are eager to put the past behind them, and attempt to rebuild their lives and remember in fondness those who passed. Prime Minister Pascal Ramahatra proclaimed this day of mourning into a national holiday, and is making a strong effort to use this incident as a manner to unite the peoples of Madagascar as a whole in light of the changes made to the world. As of December 5th 2007, the country of Madagascar has remained closed to all incoming foreign traffic, and the nation still refuses to allow citizens of Madagascar who were out of the country on the closing of the borders to return home.
March 20, 2009 — World News
MADAGASCAR — Prime Minister Pascal Ramahatra was assassinated early Tuesday morning by a group of anti-evolved extremists representing a growing political faction in the government of Madagascar. By mid-day Tuesday, General Edmond Rasoul announced a full and total military coup of the government of Madagascar to 'ensure the cultural and genetic purity of the Madagascar people in light of the infection plaguing this world."
This stunning turn of events comes just a few short months following Prime Minister Ramahatra's decree to allow refugees from the devastated ruins of Mandritsara in the Sofia Region to return home. General Rasoul has renewed all efforts by the Madagascar military to turn away any and all foreign transportation coming in to the country. Scattered reports coming from within Madagascar indicate that public executions have begun in many major cities of openly Evolved citizens who had come out of hiding following the Prime Minister's declaration of the one year anniversary of the destruction of Mandritsara as a national day of mourning.
It is unknown just how many lives were lost in the first wave of cleansing or how many have been lost since, but by Thursday reports have begun surfacing that rebellious pockets of supporters to the deposed regeime of Pascal Ramahatra have been struggling against General Rasoul's coup.
Through an unknown procedure performed in the city of Antananarivo, Edmond Rasoul found himself infused with the ability to regenerate from mortal wounds. It is suggested that Rasoul gained this ability by means of Doctor Gergor's scientific research and decades of research based on the Nazi research of Gregor's great grandfather.
Rasoul's regeneration seemed incomplete however, and it is not certain if he would have permanently possessed an ability, or suffered a more horrific fate.
deceasedevolved_madagascarnpcsyntheticunregisteredvanguard


Japanese planes attacked in two waves. The first wave, arriving just before 8AM, began its assault with dive-bombing and straffing against Navy and Army airfields to ensure that there would be a minimum of opposition from U.S. fighter planes, and to reduce the risk of a counterattack by American bombers and patrol planes. Almost simultaneously, torpedo planes roared in low over Pearl Harbor, launching their weapons against warships moored on both sides of Ford Island and at the Navy Yard's 1010 Dock. Shortly after 8AM, high-flying horizontal bombers paraded in formation over "Battleship Row", dropping their heavy armor-piercing bombs on the ships below. Having achieved great results, the first wave departed the scene about a half hour after it appeared.
The second Japanese wave hit about fifteen minutes after the first had departed, and delivered dive bombing, horizontal bombing and fighter machine gun attacks over the next hour. It did more damage to airfields, struck targets in and around the Navy Yard, and pummeled USS Nevada, the only U.S. battleship to get underway. At about 0945 on the morning of 7 December 1941, their assigned missions successfully completed, the last Japanese planes left the area to return to their carriers.


she is the "Menten" in the "Michaelis-Menten" equation, which is used to explain much of the behavior of enzymes. She was born and grew up in British Columbia late 19th century; I believe she attended medical school at the University of Toronto, studied in Germany with Michaelis and returned to North America to work at the University of Pittsburgh.
I've always wanted to know more about her. I don't think she had any children or grandchildren, but it was so unusual for a woman of her day to become a biochemist that I think she would make a great subject for your blog.
The picture above is from the website of the Chemistry Department at Universität zu Köln. According to the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame, Maud Menton (1879 –1960) was one of the first Canadian women to receive a medical degree, graduating from the University of Toronto in 1913.
That same year, along with Dr. Leonor Michaelis, Menten introduced a concept that forever changed the study of biological reactions and helped to shape the field of biochemistry. The Michaelis-Menten equation gave scientists a way in which they could mathematically analyze their observations and descriptions of biological reactions. Not content to rest on her remarkable discovery, Menten co-devised what is now the standard method of isolating and describing protein behavior.
The following biographical information is from Whonamedit.
[Menten] had to leave Canada to pursue a career as a research scientist because in those days women were not allowed to do research in Canadian universities. She became a research fellow at the Rockefeller Institute, and a research fellow at Western Reserve University.
forever changed the study of biological reactions and helped to shape the field of biochemistry. The Michaelis-Menten equation gave scientists a way in which they could mathematically analyse their observations and descriptions of biological reactions. Not content to rest on her remarkable discovery, Menten co-devised what is now the standard method of isolating and describing protein behaviour.
After one year in Berlin, Menten travelled to the University of Chicago, where she obtained a Ph. D. in biochemistry in 1916. Unable to find an academic position in her native Canada, she joined the medical school at the University of Pittsburgh, and from 1918 Menten continued her brilliant career as a pathologist.
She was appointed assistant professor of pathology in 1923 and was promoted to associate professor in 1925. At the same time, she was clinical pathologist at the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh. This work was actually three positions: surgical pathologist, post-mortem pathologist, and haematologist. It was commented that "[s]he was made aware of every puzzling or interesting case admitted to the Children's Hospital during her tenure. The paediatric residents flocked to the laboratory to consult her, and she was never too busy to listen".
An avid researcher with a keen mind, Menten maintained an active program, authoring and co-authoring more than 70 publications. Among her later work, the two most important contributions were the first use of electrophoretic mobility in studying human haemoglobins, and the use of an azo-dye coupling reaction for the study of alkaline phosphatase in kidneys, published 1944.
Despite her productivity, promotion to full professor did not come until 1949 when she was 70 years, at the faculty of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in Pennsylvania. This was one year before her retirement from her position at Pittsburgh. That, however, was not the end of her active research life. In 1950 she returned to Canada and during the years 1951 to 1954 conducted cancer research at the Medical Institute of British Columbia in Vancouver. Because of ill health, Menten in 1954 resigned her position in British Columbia and returned to Ontario where she died on 20 July 1960 at Leamington.
Despite her devotion to her work, her skill and passion for science was complemented by her talents for the arts. Menten still found time for other pursuits. Also, she was fluent in several languages, and very artistic, some of her paintings being exhibited with the Associated Artists of Pittsburgh, and she was very musical. Her prized possession was a model T-Ford that she drove for many years. She was also an avid mountain climber.
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I'm studying now about her equation in my medical classes. So I decided to learn about Menten's life. What a brilliant women on such early days, with all the dificulties!


Relax in the spacious Twenty Twelve restaurant, a stylish venue in the heart of Westfield Stratford City. Our team of talented in-house chefs offer fine European dishes, all freshly prepared on a daily basis.
Enjoy delicious food and great service in a warm and friendly atmosphere.
Please Note: Twenty Twelve is open for breakfast and Dinner only and is closed all day Sunday. The tastecard discount is available on the a la carte menu only and cannot be used in conjunction with any other special offer or promotions. The tastecard offer cannot be used for the month of December. Please call ahead and book to avoid disappointment.
Slow service, over cooked burger, slightly pricey (cheapest pint £5.50 and flat white £3.25) and..."
I love this place. I could say it's one of my favourite places"
Was quiet even on friday evening. Uche has made us feel special and the food was superb. We had a..."
"	Wedding on-very loud and noisy, difficult to get service"
"	Nice venue. Good food. Portions were large."
"	The food took long to come and when it come it tasted burned . Ask for the bill for over 4 times..."
Beyond what I was expecting!!
Amazing! Want to go back there again!"
"	Pleasant and friendly staff. Situated in a nice area of Stratford Westfield. The restaurant is..."
"	My girlfriend and I went there last weekend to test out a taster card. The restaurant is located..."
Monica said "Lovely food dining!
We had a lovely meal at the restaurant on bank holiday Monday . I used my card to get a discount..."
"	Visited this place many times before & always like the food and service. I visited with my..."
"	Great experience.Will go again"
Overall lovely staff, were very welcoming and friendly. The main course was cooked nicely but I..."
It takes forever to receive your order. I asked for afternoon tea, which I had before, I've..."
Yummy food,great service and very quiet. Lovely decor,nice views and comfy seats"
Shalim said "A Plan B restaurant if not any.
Me and a friend was just looking for somewhere warm and we really wasn't fussed. The staff..."
Food was fantastic! Maybe a little too much butter although it was a butternut squash risotto for..."
This is our third visit to this restaurant due to staying at the hotel. Sadly the service needs..."
Very relaxed atmosphere and delicious food. Friendly and helpful staff. It's great to chill..."
Great food, great atmosphere, great service. I highly recommend this venue, and will definitely..."
"	We had a wonderful dinner last week. Service outstanding. I cannot praise restaurant manager,..."
Beautiful and quite place. Quick and professional service...."
Lauren said "A quiet restaurant away from the crowds of Westfield!!!
Had reservations about going to a hotel for a Friday evening meal but once we arrived we thought..."
We are going there on a regular basis, as all is great every time! The food is great as well as..."
Had a nice meal here in a cosy quiet atmosphere. Would defiantly go again."
"	Excellent food and excellent service."
Slow service, over cooked burger, slightly pricey (cheapest pint £5.50 and flat white £3.25) and applied wrong discount. Place works to rest from shopping and is quiet. Could be much better... "
I love this place. I could say it's one of my favourite places "
Was quiet even on friday evening. Uche has made us feel special and the food was superb. We had a special meal of sword fish today, that was just wow.
The view was also lovely "
"	Wedding on-very loud and noisy, difficult to get service "
"	Nice venue. Good food. Portions were large. "
"	The food took long to come and when it come it tasted burned . Ask for the bill for over 4 times the service was very slow event tho they where not busy . I like coming here after work or for lunch but this time round I didn't like it . They changed their nice staff very slow stuff now "
Amazing! Want to go back there again! "
"	Pleasant and friendly staff. Situated in a nice area of Stratford Westfield. The restaurant is on the third floor so you can see outside view. Menu had good selection. I got 50% of my food menu only which was good. There is a set menu of 2 course or 3 course too, but that's not on the tastecard. But it worked out ok ordering al la carte. Will go again when I get the chance to. There is a balcony area to sit outside too. "
"	My girlfriend and I went there last weekend to test out a taster card. The restaurant is located on the third floor, really cozy atmosphere, peaceful and quite, not at all what we expected on a Saturday night. The food was very nicely prepared. I had chicken skewers and gf had salmon as a starter, followed by sirloin steak. Starters arrived very quickly and the portion size surprised us. We pretty much filled up on bread and starters, therefore when steak arrived, finishing the main course was a challenge. Steak came in a large plate filled with chips and veggies. We barely managed to finish the entire meal. It was expertly prepared and very delicious. The waiting staff were very nice and presentable. We especially liked out waiter Mizan, who made the whole experience much better. The guy was cracking jokes and smiling the entire evening, A+ for performance. We are definitely coming back there again, and I recommend for everyone to try it. "
Great service, good food. "
Monica said: "Lovely food dining!
We had a lovely meal at the restaurant on bank holiday Monday . I used my card to get a discount and we weren't disappointed. Would come back again to eat. We were served by a member of staff called Mizan. He was very nice and made us welcome! "
"	Visited this place many times before & always like the food and service. I visited with my wife on the 26th May. Though the menu was changed, previous menu was much better, we still enjoyed the atmosphere as usual. We were looked after very well by Mizan who was very professional & friendly. "
"	Great experience.Will go again "
definitely recommend the restaurant but this brownie needs to go!! "
It takes forever to receive your order. I asked for afternoon tea, which I had before, I've been told it will take 45 minutes!!! I ordered it anyway and It came after 20 minutes but I've ordered 2 and received as much food as I had last time when I came and ordered 1. I did complaint and after 10 minutes we had next set at the table. All sandwiches where different sizes and shapes! Pretty disappointed with service and food :( "
Yummy food,great service and very quiet. Lovely decor,nice views and comfy seats "
Shalim said: "A Plan B restaurant if not any.
Me and a friend was just looking for somewhere warm and we really wasn't fussed. The staff are very friendly and polite. The menu had a very limited choices food, they got a small one especially for Tastecard. So I would advise you to only come here if there's nothing open in the area. Otherwise an ok experience. "
Food was fantastic! Maybe a little too much butter although it was a butternut squash risotto for starter to share with friend. Main meal was the catch of the day - sword fish, which was delicious and well presented.
The staff were very pleasant, perhaps asking a little too often if everything was ok. "
This is our third visit to this restaurant due to staying at the hotel. Sadly the service needs to improve and it is lacking in atmosphere. "
Very relaxed atmosphere and delicious food. Friendly and helpful staff. It's great to chill out after busy day of shopping. And the view it's beautiful of new Olympic park and the city. "
Great food, great atmosphere, great service. I highly recommend this venue, and will definitely be returning soon. :-) "
"	We had a wonderful dinner last week. Service outstanding. I cannot praise restaurant manager, Jonathan Laurency, enough. He did everything he could to make us feel welcome and happy. My son wanted to watch World Cup Football and all was possible. Starter and main were superb! Well presented and very tasty. No problem to have some extra parmesan or mustard, all swiftly served. Many thanks Jonathan (and your colleagues), we will soon be back for more. "
Beautiful and quite place. Quick and professional service. Delicious food. We felt very welcome, even if our reservation was really late. Definitely will be back again! "
Lauren said: "A quiet restaurant away from the crowds of Westfield!!!
Had reservations about going to a hotel for a Friday evening meal but once we arrived we thought it was lovely. The food from the a la carte menu was lovely and the waitress was brilliant. We had a really good evening and we're already planning a return visit. "
We are going there on a regular basis, as all is great every time! The food is great as well as the service. The waitress Monika was exceptionally nice and helpful when we came last time. "
Had a nice meal here in a cosy quiet atmosphere. Would defiantly go again. "
"	Excellent food and excellent service. "


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Home » Book Review • Human Rights • Idea Seeds • Oral History • Peace Work • The Seed and the Story • U.S. History » Beautiful Souls: The Courage and Conscience of Ordinary People in Extraordinary Times
Beautiful Souls: The Courage and Conscience of Ordinary People in Extraordinary Times
January 08.2014.
At the close of 2013 I picked up a copy of the 2012 publication Beautiful Souls: The Courage and Conscience of Ordinary People in Extraordinary Times. Recently released in paperback and written by journalist Eyal Press, this 196-page book follows the stories of four everyday people who chose to stand up in the face of injustice against their fellow humans.
For Paul Gruninger, commander of the state police in St Galen, a border town in Switzerland, this meant allowing Jewish refugees into the nation even as his own government outlawed their entry in the years preceding the Holocaust. In the case of Aleksander Jevtic this entailed risking his life to save Croatian friends and strangers when his own ethnic group, the Serbians, took over the town during the Yugoslav Wars.
Avner Wishnitzer was a member of the Sayeret Matkal, an elite commando force in the Israeli Army when be began to have deep moral qualms with the military's treatment of Palestinians, eventually founding the group Combatants for Peace, "a group of Israeli and Palestinian exfighters who put down their guns to promote reconciliation and dialogue." And for financial broker Leyla Wydler standing up meant asking questions about the shady investing practices at Stanford Group Company, where she eventually helped to expose a large ponzi scheme that left many older citizens bankrupt.
One of the most fascinating aspects of the book is how Press calls into question the oft-held cultural assumption that we admire and honor truth tellers, justice seekers, and whistle blowers. As the author makes clear, none of these men and women were lauded as heroes, save Gruninger, who finally received a small plaque on his grave years after his death. (During his own life he lost his job, was rejected by his town, and remained impoverished until death).
Most of the people featured in the book remain outcasts years after they took a stand, misunderstood by their former co-workers and friends who often felt betrayed and/or exposed by their actions. Yet each of these truth-tellers say they would make the same decisions again. Pulling together first hand interviews and weaving in research from the fields of psychology and neuroscience, Beautiful Souls explores how and why each person came to these decisions and how these decisions affected the rest of their lives and the lives of their families.
This isn't a simple feel-good read about brave people. It's a close look at our society's unwillingness to address moral complexity and/or listen to the stories of those who stand up for the groups of people we'd rather ignore or demonize. It shows how easy it is to ignore another's pain when that person looks or acts differently. And it explores how willing we are to overlook injustice when it comes with deep pockets. In the end it's a deeply sobering and inspiring read, requiring us to ask questions about where we stand here and now.
Avner Wishnitzer, the third man profiled in the book who formed the group to bring Palestinians and Israelis together, offers up his own sense of awakening when discussing the powerful words he once heard from a professor showing a film about the Holocaust. "He said, "Look, the biggest crimes in the history of humanity were carried out by very few people. Most people were just bystanders, onlookers. They didn't take part actively—they just let it happen." Taking to heart the professor's words Wishnitzer continues, "I realized there is no privilege in being a bystander."
Have you read the book? I'd love to hear your take on it. Thanks so much for reading!
Eyal Press on NPR
Eyal Press on Democracy Now!:
The Seed and the Story is a partnership with theCourier and Post Dispatch newspapers in Pope and Yell County, Arkansas. This weekly column explores folklife, oral history, and community in central Arkansas, particularly the Yell County area where the column originates. Columns are often written in partnership with theMcElroy House: Organization for Folklife, Oral History, and Com
Tags:Book Reviews, Human Rights, oral history, Peace work, The Seed and the Story
We Make the Road by Walking: Standing Up Against Silence and Hate
Today in a little community called Zinc, Arkansas, the KKK is beginning their week-long training camp. Open to people 20.07.2015.by Boiled Down Juice
Fighting Racism in Arkansas: Get Equipped with Organizer Chris Crass
We are very excited to be working in partnership with the newly formed Little Rock Collective Liberation group to 28.08.2014.by Boiled Down Juice
For as long as I can remember I've always been curious about what came before. As a child, 14.12.2014.by Boiled Down Juice


text:
Q: Blazor WASM ASP.NET Core hosted with Identity doesn't work when deployed I am new to Blazor so please excuse any terminology mix ups.
I created a Blazor Web Assembly app. I checked off "ASP.NET Core Hosted" and also chose authentication "Use Individual Accounts".
Visual Studio created a basic file structure with 3 projects, Client, Server, and Shared. I added the scaffold-ed Identity Pages to the Server project. I ran the migration, and everything works fine locally. I am able to register a user, login, log out, etc.
I deployed my app to IIS. I have two apps running on different ports in IIS. I also published the shared project. I also made sure permissions were set properly.
First I tried going to the server app. I try to open it up but it gives me a blank page.
When I access the client app, the website opens, but then the identity related functionality is broken. The page just says "Authorizing." I checked the console.
I get a weird error:

crit: Microsoft.AspNetCore.Components.WebAssembly.Rendering.WebAssemblyRenderer[100]
Unhandled exception rendering component: JSON.parse: unexpected character at line 1 column 1 of the JSON data
Microsoft.JSInterop.JSException: JSON.parse: unexpected character at line 1 column 1 of the JSON data

Any ideas as to what is wrong? Did I set it up incorrectly in IIS?
The Program.cs for the client app looks like this:
public class Program
{
    public static async Task Main(string[] args)
    {
        var builder = WebAssemblyHostBuilder.CreateDefault(args);
        builder.RootComponents.Add<App>("#app");

        builder.Services.AddHttpClient("Clients.Admin.ServerAPI", client => client.BaseAddress = new Uri(builder.HostEnvironment.BaseAddress))
            .AddHttpMessageHandler<BaseAddressAuthorizationMessageHandler>();

        // Supply HttpClient instances that include access tokens when making requests to the server project
        builder.Services.AddScoped(sp => sp.GetRequiredService<IHttpClientFactory>().CreateClient("Clients.Admin.ServerAPI"));

        builder.Services.AddApiAuthorization();

        await builder.Build().RunAsync();
    }
}

The Startup.cs for the server looks like this:
public class Startup
{
    public Startup(IConfiguration configuration)
    {
        Configuration = configuration;
    }

    public IConfiguration Configuration { get; }

    public void ConfigureServices(IServiceCollection services)
    {
        services.AddDatabaseDeveloperPageExceptionFilter();

        services.AddDbContext<ApplicationDbContext>(options =>
            options.UseSqlServer(Configuration.GetConnectionString("DB")));

        services.AddIdentity<ApplicationUser, IdentityRole>()
            .AddRoles<IdentityRole>()
            .AddDefaultUI()
            .AddEntityFrameworkStores<ApplicationDbContext>()
            .AddDefaultTokenProviders();

        var builder = services.AddIdentityServer()
            .AddApiAuthorization<ApplicationUser, ApplicationDbContext>();

        builder.AddDeveloperSigningCredential();

        services.AddAuthentication()
            .AddIdentityServerJwt();

        services.AddLogging(loggingBuilder => { loggingBuilder.AddSeq(); });

        services.AddControllersWithViews();
        services.AddRazorPages();

        services.AddDbContextFactory<CredoContext>(options => options.UseSqlServer(Configuration.GetConnectionString("DB")));
    }

    public void Configure(IApplicationBuilder app, IWebHostEnvironment env)
    {
        if (env.IsDevelopment())
        {
            app.UseDeveloperExceptionPage();
            app.UseMigrationsEndPoint();
            app.UseWebAssemblyDebugging();
        }
        else
        {
            app.UseExceptionHandler("/Error");
            app.UseHsts();
        }

        app.UseHttpsRedirection();
        app.UseBlazorFrameworkFiles();
        app.UseStaticFiles();

        app.UseRouting();

        app.UseIdentityServer();
        app.UseAuthentication();
        app.UseAuthorization();

        app.UseEndpoints(endpoints =>
        {
            endpoints.MapRazorPages();
            endpoints.MapControllers();
            endpoints.MapFallbackToFile("index.html");
        });
    }
}

A: First of all, for testing purpose, is better to start from a ASP.NET Core Hosted application.
Using this configuration you need only to deploy the Blazor Server project and at the same address you can access the Client (WASM) application.
In case you prefer to have two different project remember that the Server project doesn't have any UI out of the box.
You can add Swagger to this project in order to allow access to your Web API:
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/aspnet/core/tutorials/getting-started-with-swashbuckle?view=aspnetcore-5.0&tabs=visual-studio
To use the Client (WASM) you need to deploy to IIS using the URL Rewrite module:
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/aspnet/core/blazor/host-and-deploy/webassembly?view=aspnetcore-5.0#rewrite-urls-for-correct-routing-1
If you receive as error like:
Unhandled exception rendering component: JSON.parse: unexpected character at line 1 column 1 of the JSON data

check you're appsettings.json configuration on the Client (the file has to be in the wwwroot folder, in the Server project is located in the canonical position).
Than check the this line in the Program.cs of your Client project:
builder.Services.AddHttpClient("TestWasmAuthIndividual.ServerAPI",
client => client.BaseAddress = new Uri(builder.HostEnvironment.BaseAddress))

the above example is from an ASP.NET Core Hosted application.
The client.BaseAddress has to be your Server address.
If you deploy with two different DNS name the situation should be something like:

*

*Server: server.yourapp.com

*Client: www.yourapp.com
Now you need to use https://server.yourapp.com as client.BaseAddress in your Client project.
The error Could not load settings ... is related to the SSL certificate and the relative file you need to add to your IdentityServer configuration.
Look at this documentation:
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/aspnet/core/blazor/security/webassembly/hosted-with-identity-server?view=aspnetcore-5.0&tabs=visual-studio#host-in-azure-app-service-with-a-custom-domain-and-certificate-1
This documentation is for Azure, but the certificate explanation is similar for IIS.
In practice you need to create/obtain a SSL certificate and you need to load it in your IIS/Azure configuration, then you need to configure IdentityServer to use you're certificate.
For testing purpose is better to use a Development certificate using the configuration that you can find in the appsettings.development.json of the Server project.
Copy the following lines to appsettings.json and try again:
"IdentityServer": {
    "Key": {
      "Type": "Development"
    }
  }

A:
I deployed my app to IIS. I have two apps running on different ports in IIS. I also published the shared project.

Which "two apps" ? From the Hosted project emplate you should only publish the Server app. It serves up the Client.
You should not publish the Shared project.

JSON.parse: unexpected character at line 1 column 1 of the JSON data

This means that an URL does not match the routing. You can debug with the Dev tools (F12). Figure out what API call your app makes and test that address with PostMan or a Browser.


text:
Painting Fred Red
June 10, 2013 by Rosemary Carstens 1 Comment
If you didn't make it to the 22nd National Exhibition & Convention this month in Fredericksburg, TX, you missed a lot. It was better than ever. But don't despair, just begin planning and saving for next year!
Events like these are reminders of who we are and who we want to be. This year, I met so many top artists for the first time — artists I had interviewed and written stories about but never met or whose artwork I had not seen in person. While you can read all the books, magazines or surf the net from dawn to dusk — each helpful and invigorating in their own ways — to be face-to-face with the art and the artist is like drawing a Royal Flush in a Vegas poker game!
The exhibition itself was superb, presenting an amazing array of talent, subject matter, and style. At any other show, we might expect to see a handful of paintings that knock our socks off, blow our hair back or electrify our senses—but the exhibition at Insight Gallery this year hit all those categories and more. Painting after painting revealed craftsmanship any professional artist would be proud to call their own; paintings that exemplified what can be achieved with hard work and dedication. Underscoring the impression the show made on me were the many red dots that caught my eye and told me that art lovers felt the same.
Once the reception was over, the crowd gathered for another exciting awards ceremony—replete with surprises, awards and well-earned nods for the winners from their peers. It was time to celebrate and acknowledge the culmination of months of preparation by many of the finest artists in America. We wish every one of you who participated could have been there too.
By Sunday morning, Insight gallery owner Meredith Plesko told me that 40 paintings had already been sold. Checking in with her this past week, she informed me that the count is now well over 50 and has amassed nearly $200,000 in sales. Plesko was still awaiting several clients who had their sights on larger pieces, which leads her to believe that totals will undoubtedly rise even higher. The gallery loved hosting the OPA and, speaking on behalf of those who attended, all had a fantastic time!
Southwest Art magazine again put on their first-class opening event, the "Pampered Paint Out," this year and Kimberly Moore whipped up an unforgettable day, including a continental breakfast, lunch and a wine and cheese send-off to help revive tired artists who painted the hours away.
When Friday night rolled around, it was time to relax and enjoy a beautiful evening during American Art Collector magazine's "Party Under the Stars, Texas Style." Dining outside under a glorious old oak tree at the historic Pat's Dance Hall, guests spent the night sampling some of the best barbeque in Texas and listening to one of Austin's hottest up-and-coming country bands, "The Lonesome Heroes Band." It was a perfect end to a perfect day. Thanks to Joshua Rose, Amy Gause and Alex McKee for putting together such a memorable event for OPA members!
However, competing and sharing with colleagues, as well as the wonderful opportunity to network and party with vendors and new friends, is only a part of the convention's value. There were demos by such masters as Sherrie McGraw (this year's judge of awards), Kenn Backhaus, Scott Burdick, John Michael Carter, John Cosby, and Elizabeth Robbins. We all learn from watching those who wield a skillful brush and, this year more than ever, we came away inspired. I think what impressed me most about the demonstrations were how generous and kind each artist was as they shared their insights and answered questions. There were no showboats, no posturing—only stars within our tribe bent on helping us all move forward. They appeared so at ease. They were in their natural element and among friends.
Friday, Saturday and Sunday each brought presentations touching on various aspects of a professional artists' life. Each speaker contributed insights to our understanding of all that this crazy business requires.
Joe Paquet
Starting things off with a bang, Joe Paquet took the stage and hammered home the importance of being authentic in our work and in our lives. He described how to discover our unique, personal vision and develop it to its highest intent. His final point? EVERYTHING matters!
John Cosby
John Cosby shared his real world experiences with the business of art—what you do when you lay down the brush and interact with galleries, collectors, writers, museums and framers—and how to manage and build your pricing structure. Cosby was followed by Montana art law attorney Bill Frazier, who covered topics such as copyright, trademarks, Internet piracy and contract analysis. Professional artists today must develop a working knowledge of these topics and, perhaps most importantly, know where to turn when the waters get choppy.
Sherrie McGraw
All of this and it was only Friday! When Saturday rolled around, there were even more presentations to enjoy. Following an extraordinary demo by Sherrie McGraw, art publisher and entrepreneur Eric Rhoads took the stage to teach us how to build our "brand." If you know Eric, you know he can be persuasive! His talk was filled with helpful marketing advice, but the tip that stands out for me as a strong takeaway is "repetition, repetition, repetition"—that is, repeatedly using tried-and-true methods as well as fresh new ones to help us build name recognition over time. Whether through advertising, networking, exhibitions, social media or a combination of all of these, we must step out of our studios and mix-and-mingle!
Scott Burdick
Scott Burdick shared an ironic and entertaining survey of modernism and traditional art, one that has stirred a bit of controversy in some circles (visit his website at //www.scottburdick.com and click on his one-hour video titled "The Banishment of Beauty." We have only to look at Burdick's luminous paintings to be persuaded that beauty is best!
One of my favorite presentation events was Southwest Art's editor-in-chief Kristin Hoerth's interview with Sherrie McGraw on Sunday morning. Hoerth delved into McGraw's life and influences, and the artist responded with warmth and wit and practical advice. To achieve what McGraw has achieved and to see the quality of her craftsmanship reminds us all that hard work and determination pay off. Now and then we see an artist attain a flash of popularity only to fade from view shortly thereafter. But the real masters lay down a solid foundation and then add to it brick by brick, year by year, challenging themselves, extending a hand to others, and remaining open to life and art. Sherrie is truly one of those.
Kenn Backhaus
The last day of the convention was wrapped up beautifully by Kenn Backhaus's discussion of conceptual thinking and how to find your own unique place in the art world. Being "literal" may not be enough. Literalism means adhering to a strict representation of "what is there." That in itself takes skill, but to rise above that level means mastering a new language, seeing more in the scene before you—extracting patterns, designs, physical elements, and atmosphere, and manipulating them in a way that is all your own.
As we prepared to say our goodbyes, we had a last reminder of the practical side of art as a profession. Bill Bush, owner of Frederickburg Artists' School and a certified public accountant, shared his thirty years of experience dealing with such issues as taxes, insurance, agent relationships, gallery representation, and the finer points of "doing business." We left fully charged!
This was a long post, but for those who couldn't be with us in Fredericksburg, I wanted to share how rich the national exhibition and convention experience can be. I wanted to urge you now to begin planning for next year's so you can take it all in for yourself. You won't be sorry.
For those who were there, you each did your part. You painted Fred RED—and they won't soon forget you!
Filed Under: Events Tagged With: Demos, Interview, National Show, Self Improvement, Style, Technique
Rosemary Carstens
Rosemary Carstens is a freelance writer and author who writes for several national arts magazines. She is the publisher of the online magazine FEAST at www.FEASTofBooks, about books, art, food, film, and travel and her website can be viewed at CarstensCommunications.com.


Machu Picchu, the Intihuatana stone and Golden Rectangles.
Machu Picchu, Putucusi and Golden Rectangles.
Machu Picchu, interactive panorama view from San Miguel Mountains.
Machu Picchu and Sierpinski Triangle.


I have both an ONLINE STORE (access code DG416) and a real person at my office, ready to help you. In both places you have access to supplements not easily found and all of the highest quality. The online store offers a wide variety of excellent brands, with discounts and shipping directly to your home; I carry a few key brands in my office (Dr. Ron's preparations, Standard Process and others) that are not available online.
**My online store also has a GREAT auto-ship plan: AFTER the first purchase you get a 5% discount and FREE SHIPPING, making it the most economical way to buy supplements.
Easier for everyone! For simplicity and for the best pricing, however, please visit our online store . Shop around a little and you will find: access to an excellent selection of manufacturers, as well as problem specific recommendations. For instance, if you have been told you have gall bladder problems, and I haven't written about my recommendations (yet!) you can follow the link to "Biliary Support" and browse the products. If you have specific questions, please write to me through the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of each page.
The store is not open to the general public, so on your first visit, you will need to register (just name and email, no credit card information until and unless you make a purchase – and they do nothing with the information except register you as one of my "patients", allowing you to shop) and remember the registration code: DG416 . Once you're inside the store you are welcome to browse around the large selection of products. Once you register, you just log-in each time you return.
Please enter the store by clicking on this link , or any of the places you see "online store" on this page.
Large purchase discount, use code HCPC416OVER200 for 10% off!
I am very excited to be using a new online store , staffed by a friendly and efficient staff.
Please let me know if you have any questions regarding your shopping experience.


In the early stages of the One Year War of 0079, the Zeon forces quite clearly had something of an advantage in units, despite smaller fleets and overall fighting strength, down to the capabilities of the MS-06 Zaku Mobile Suit.
This engineering unit which had evolved into a truly awesome fighting machine was, however, capable of so much more, a fact which was proved very capably by Char Aznable, whose stripped down MS-06S boasted massively improved speed and maneuverability, whilst the similarly adapted Zakus of the infamous Black Tristars gained the design fame in their destruction of the battleship Ananka, as well as the capture of Federation General Revill.
Yet, even before the Federation could answer back with their own mobile suits for use in space, all discovered that the powerful Zaku, which was primarily designed with operations in space/low gravity in mind, did not always cope too well when Zeon Forces began landing Earthside. Well enough, to be sure, but they suffered from generator overheating, owing to the higher output needed and stress on a frame which was said to be barely able to support its own weight in a 1G environment.
Still, the Federation at the outset could not answer back with vehicles which were any better, and often much worse, so in the initial stages of the war the Zeon Principality still advanced swiftly, despite the first gen. Zaku IIs operating on the very edge of their ground-fighting capabilities.
Once the nature of the issue was recognized though, Zeon MS designers wasted no time in going to work on a variety of different solutions.
Some streamlined the Zaku itself, stripping out anything that might be needed for space operations and using the saved space/weight in improving the durability of the Zaku's frame.
In the immediate aftermath of the European, Baltic, and African landings, the Zeon high command issued orders to address the weakness of the Zaku when operating in a heavy gravity well.
Whilst the original Zaku team worked on adjusting what they had, and other – far sighted folks – went looking for brand new technology, one group recognized that the basic Zaku itself was actually rather sound, but that it needed major overhauls to every subsystem including the weapons. This was if it was to fulfil a useful role in the Earthside battlefield – in which it would be not required to bear the massive anti shipping weapons it tended to in space combat (such as the 120mm cannon or the 240mm bazooka).
Thus the requirements for a lighter, faster 'Nu Zaku' of sorts were laid out, much in line with Char Aznable's MS-06S, which could act as fast Mobile suit hunter and ground unit killer both.
The result was the MS-07 Gouf.
Designed with rapid ground mobility in mind, the prototype was conceived as a suit which could sweep the field of all but the heaviest conventional forces, whilst disabling the powerful but cumbersome Gun Tanks with both its agility and electrified heat whip. This, before finishing them off with either a barrage from its 75mm machine cannons (which replaced its left hand) or a strike from an upgraded heat sword.
In early trials, the suit did remarkably well even against the White Base, and the RX-78-2 Gundam and thus, even though Ranba Ral's team was destroyed in the encounter, the suit was produced as a front line unit until the high command diverted resources into the more generalised, and therefore more cost effective, DOM program.
The major shortcoming of the suit came into view once the Federation began deploying GMs in greater numbers to the battlefield. With the Gouf's close range weapons, light armor, and emphasis on melee, a good GM pilot might easily keep a Gouf at bay, unless piloted by a real ace. As such, the Goufs which did survive the closure of the program fell into the hands of ace pilots, who each were granted free reign to to modify and augment as they saw fit.
This was the case with the MS-07B3 custom Gouf, which features a variety of uprated ranged weapons, whilst still being considered a high speed, close combat suit.
Perhaps a failed experiment, perhaps a step in the wrong direction, strategically speaking, the Gouf was still an excellent suit for its time, especially given the constraints of the technology and the limited knowledge that Zeon tech had on ground fighting at the beginning of the war. It might not have survived long in official production, with the Zaku being cheaper and the DOM being more versatile, but whilst the battlefield included the Earth, every Zeon force would have a few of these fast, idiosyncratic killing machines on call, for some close in, dirty knife work.
I wanted to try some textured paint on this year's contest build, as I had done in my first. However, then I had neither an airbrush nor an idea of what I was doing, so the result is best left unseen (I promise a case of Ramune to the person who tracks down the one photo of that abomination on the net).
In addition, I always liked the episodes set around Ranba Ral in the TV series, and began to wonder how a suit assigned to the Dakkar front might look after months exposed to the harsh dust storms and extreme weather of the region.
Undercoating in a nice Tamiya sand and sealing over with matte coat, I was then able to apply a layer Citadel Armageddon Dust to the parts, to mask the cut marks and give the overall surface a blistered scoured feel.
Still going for that Ace look with crimson pauldrons and a flashy heat sword.
You can see the texturing more clearly here. When hit with a wash the particles become even more apparent, and then after dry brushing, the whole looks very worn indeed.
The lighting on the leg is an unusual little tech I nicked from one of the juniors at the model shop (though I expect you already know it).
A little dab of acrylic into two part epoxy makes for an excellent gloss effect, for things like lights.
Even, as in this case, an eye piece.
The beauty of the beast: a gatling gun on a shield on a gun! Who designed this? XYZbit?
Going for a variation on old British desert cam here, with a bit of a twist.
However, just as a mech this really does look the part: battle worn and still not down for the count.
I'm very fond of dirty mechs, this all of you know, but even more than my recent Ma.K. builds, I have enjoyed this build, not least because the MG kits (mid box ones anyway) are so inexpensive for what one gets.
They are flexible, packed with detail and one can really do a number on them.
Well, wish me luck… I'll need it.
Unbelievable this is only build in one day!