The purpose of mystery shopper is to help members understand customer expectations and to enhance employees' customer service awareness.
It is impossible for managers of a business to be available at all outlets in order to supervise the shop floor staff, to know customers' service expectations, which are so vital for the building of a brand. We provide owners, and managers the vital information required to help them see their business from the customers' viewpoint in order to design a memorable happy customer shopping experience, which in turn will impact the reputation of your business. DSES pays special attention to the quality of mystery shoppers' reports. All our reports have been individually designed to suit your business, however additional questions may be considered on request. Your membership will entitle you for 4 mystery shopper reports per annum. However, DSES members may choose to order additional mystery shopper visits per outlet per month/fortnight at a nominal additional cost. For details, refer to cost of membership section on this website.
The mystery shopping techniques and reporting structures have been developed to suit appropriate business categories. Many membership categories have been created to cover different aspects of service deliver in different businesses category based on different product or service.
DSES is using Mystery Shoppers from different Service providers.
We ensure that they fit in as normal customers.
Each shopper is recruited for their communication and observation skills, to ensure accuracy.
You may specify that shoppers meet certain demographics if desired.
HOW DOES MYSTERY SHOPPING WORKS?
DSES Mystery Shoppers are trained to meet the specifics of your business category.
DSES shoppers visit your locations as directed and conduct a normal customer inquiry and/or transaction under supervision.
The shoppers then complete a questionnaire custom-designed for your business category, which covers all aspects of their visit.


text:
Q: How to create a notification feature like facebook I'm trying to create a notification feature in my sharepoint 2013 site. I would like it working like the facebook's way (the global icon showing the new feeds of the logged user). I've created the global icon on the top sharepoint's ribbon but I don't know the best way to do the notification system itself.
One of my ideas:
Create a WebAPi Asp.Net application with a signalr hub, a event receiver to attach into the microfeed list and a client site html/js to be placed in the top ribbon.
It'd work this way:
When a new item was added to the microfeed list, the event receiver calls the WebAPI with the signalr hub, and the signalr sends a message to the client with the new feed data.
I've already checked this question out: Facebook-like notifications when new item is added to certain list/library?
I'd like to know if anyone knows one better way to do this process above.
Thanks.

A: The SignalR integration and event receiver are overkill. Just query the list every 10 seconds or so in JavaScript, and use SharePoint's built in SP.UI.Notify.addNotification function to surface the notification.
Your proposed solution would increase the level of effort by a factor of ten and provide no additional benefit.
Even better, just query the list on page load, and forget about all the real time stuff, unless you have super-time-sensitive data or users who spend long periods of time on the same page.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


After successfully saving at least 10 hostages, you'll get a radio call from Pastor Jerome tasking you with saving more across Holland Valley.
There's no real way of tracking this specific mission, it's something that you should naturally complete during your time in Holland Valley. The general rules you should follow is try not to use any explosives in or around where a hostage is and try to take out the cultists in as quiet a way as possible.
Upon completing the mission, you'll receive a large 600 RP boost along with the 50 you get for freeing every hostage.


text:
Store Mosse National Park
Restoration of Kävsjön and Häradsösjön
About Store Mosse National Park
This large mire is southern Sweden's most original biotope. The layer of peat in the raised bog itself has been built up over a period of at least 8,000 years and largely consists of plant remains from various sphagnum mosses. Forested sand dunes, called "rocknar", form a system of islands and ridges criss crossing the open mire.
Listen to a brief description about Store Mosse National Park (mp3)
Store Mosse National Park is located in Småland and is the most vast, largely untouched raised bog in Sweden, south of Lapland. There are two Nature reserves, Brokullen and Långö Mosse next to the National Park, which makes the protected area close to 8 000 hectares.
Road 151, between Värnamo and Gnosjö, cuts right through the National Park.
Most of Store Mosse consists of Sphagnum moss, but there are also pine forests as well as fens and in certain parts spruce forests.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Home / Interactive Pathways & Processes / T Cell Co-Signaling Pathway: Ligand-Receptor Interactions
Back to Pathways
Interactive Pathways & Processes
Cardiovascular Biology Pathways
Glycobiology Pathways
Adipokines & Insulin Signaling Pathways
Apoptosis Signaling Pathway
B Cell Development Pathways
Blood Coagulation Signaling Pathways
Cardiotrophin-1 Signaling Pathways
Cardiotrophin-like Cytokine (CLC) Signaling Pathways
Chemokine Signaling Pathways
Chemokine Superfamily Pathway: Human/Mouse Ligand-Receptor Interactions
CNTF Signaling Pathways
Common Cytokine Receptor Gamma-Chain Family Signaling Pathways
Dendritic Cell Lineage Development Pathways
FGF Family Signaling Pathways
IgA-Producing B Cells in the Intestine
IL-1 Family Signaling Pathways
IL-10 Cytokine Family Signaling Pathway
IL-11 Signaling Pathways
IL-12 Family Signaling Pathways
IL-15 Signaling Pathways and their Primary Biological Effects in Different Immune Cell Types
IL-2 Signaling Pathways
IL-2 Signaling Pathways and their Primary Biological Effects in Different Immune Cell Types
IL-27 p28/IL-30 Signaling Pathways
Inflammasome Activation Pathways
Innate Lymphoid Cell Differentiation Pathways
LIF Signaling Pathways
Mechanisms of Regulatory T Cell-Mediated Suppression
Natural Killer Cell Receptors: Human Target Cell – NK Cell Ligand-Receptor Interactions
Neuropoietin Signaling Pathways
NOD-like Receptor Signaling Pathways
Oncostatin M Signaling Pathways
Pathogen or Damage-activated C-Type Lectin Receptor Signaling Pathways
T Cell Co-Signaling Pathway: Ligand-Receptor Interactions
TGF-beta Signaling Pathways
Th1 Differentiation Pathway
Th17 Differentiation Pathway
TNF Superfamily Pathway: Human Ligand-Receptor Interactions & their Associated Functions
Toll-Like Receptor Signaling Pathways
Type I Interferon Signaling Pathways
Type II Interferon Signaling Pathways
Type III Interferon Signaling Pathways
VEGF - VEGF R2 Signaling Pathways
Virus Detection and Induction of Antiviral Signaling Pathways by RIG-I-like Receptors (RLR)
Neuroscience Pathways
Proteases & Other Enzymes Pathways
Stem Cell Pathways
Click on one of the subfamilies of IgSF or TNFRSF co-signaling receptors shown in the Explore Pathways box below to see how the different members of each family affect T cell activation.
Explore Pathways
IgSF:
B7/CD28
Butyrophilins
CD2/SLAM
Nectin and Nectin-like Binding Proteins
TNFRSF:
Type V
Get Print Copy
ProductsClose
We currently do not offer products for this molecule
Use our Product Suggestion form to enter a request.
You will be notified once it becomes available.
MHC class II (I-A/I-E)
HLA-DR
MHC II
CD3 epsilon
TCR-CD3 Complex
Co-stimulatory
Ig Superfamily
Co-inhibitory
B7-CD28 Families
B7-1
B7-1/CD80
B7-H2
B7-H2/ICOS L
B7-H1/PD-L1
2Ig B7-H3
(Mouse)
(Human)
CD28H
PD-L2
PD-L2/B7-DC
B7-H5/VISTA
CTLA-4
Unknown Receptors
Unknown Receptor
BTLA
BTNL8
BTN1A1
Unknown Ligand
BTN3A1/2
BTNL1 (Mouse)
CD48/SLAMF2
(Mouse
and Rat)
CD58/LFA-3
SLAM/CD150
SLAM/
2B4/CD244/
SLAMF4
TIM Family
TIM-4
Nectin and Nectin-like Binding Receptors
Nectin-2/CD112
Nectin-2/
CD155/PVR
DNAM-1/
Nectin-3
TIGIT
Collagen I
Collagen II
Collagen III alpha 1
Collagen IV
Collagen XXIII alpha 1
Collagen XXV alpha 1
LAIR1
LAIR-1
TNF Receptor Superfamily
TL1A
CD40 Ligand
CD40 L
4-1BB Ligand
4-1BB L
GITR Ligand
GITR L
4-1BB
Overview of T Cell Co-signaling Ligand-Receptor Interactions
T cell activation requires two signals: 1) recognition of the antigenic peptide/major histocompatibility complex (MHC) by the T cell receptor (TCR) and 2) antigen-independent co-stimulation induced by interactions between co-signaling molecules expressed on antigen-presenting cells (APCs) and their T cell-expressed receptors. Engagement of the TCR in the absence of this second co-stimulatory signal typically results in T cell anergy or apoptosis. In addition, T cell activation can be negatively regulated by co-inhibitory molecules present on APCs. Therefore, integration of the signals transduced by co-stimulatory and co-inhibitory molecules following TCR engagement directs the outcome and magnitude of a T cell response including the enhancement or suppression of T cell proliferation, differentiation, and/or cytokine secretion. Most co-stimulatory and co-inhibitory molecules belong to either the Immunoglobulin (Ig) superfamily or Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF) receptor superfamily and are further classified as members of the B7/CD28, butyrophilin, CD2/SLAM, TIM, or CD226 subfamilies of the Ig superfamily or as members of the type L or type V subfamilies of the TNF receptor superfamily. Many of these proteins are being investigated as potential targets for cancer immunotherapy as multiple studies have shown that the T cell co-stimulatory/co-inhibitory system can be exploited to improve anti-tumor immunity.
B7 proteins are a family of co-signaling molecules that primarily interact with T cell-expressed immune receptors belonging to the CD28 family (CD28, CTLA-4, PD-1, ICOS, and BTLA). Interactions between B7 and CD28 family members transduce both T cell co-stimulatory and co-inhibitory signals. Additionally, these interactions can have bidirectional effects (indicated by the two-headed arrows in the graphic). The B7 family consists of ten surface glycoproteins including B7-1/CD80, B7-2/CD86, B7-H1/PD-L1, B7-DC/PD-L2, B7-H2/ICOS L, B7-H3, B7-H4, B7-H5/VISTA, B7-H6, and B7-H7/HHLA2. Of these, B7-1/CD80 and B7-2/CD86 have been the most widely studied. Both B7-1/CD80 and B7-2/CD86 are expressed on APCs and can bind to T cell-expressed CD28 or CTLA-4. CD28 is constitutively expressed on naïve T cells and its interaction with B7-1/CD80 or B7-2/CD86 promotes T cell activation. In contrast, CTLA-4 expression is induced 24-48 hours following T cell activation. It binds to both B7-1/CD80 and B7-2/CD86 with higher affinity than CD28 and produces a co-inhibitory signal that down regulates the T cell response. B7-H1/PD-L1 and PD-L2/B7-DC also function as co-inhibitory molecules by signaling through the T cell-expressed PD-1 receptor. Significantly, blocking antibodies against CTLA-4, PD-1, or PD-L1 have been shown to improve the immune response in multiple different cancer models. Other B7 family proteins deliver co-stimulatory or co-inhibitory signals by binding to ICOS (B7-H2/ICOS L) or currently unidentified receptors (B7-H4, B7-H5/VISTA, B7-H7/HHLA2) as shown in the graphic. B7-H6 is an exception because unlike other B7 family proteins, it binds to the NKp30 activating receptor on natural killer cells (not shown). The BTLA protein is also distinct from other CD28 family receptors as it binds to the TNF receptor superfamily member, HVEM, to inhibit T cell activation.
Structurally, the butyrophilins are closely related to the B7 family proteins and appear to have similar immunomodulatory functions. To date, thirteen human butyrophilin proteins have been identified including BTN1A1, BTN2A1, BTN2A2, BTN2A3, BTN3A1, BTN3A2, BTN3A3, and the butyrophilin-like proteins, BTNL2, BTNL3, BTNL8, BTNL9, BTNL10, and SKINT-like (SKINTL). With the exception of BTNL2 and BTN3A2, butyrophilins are type I transmembrane proteins that contain one IgV-like and one IgC-like domain in their extracellular regions and a cytoplasmic B30.2 domain. The presence of this domain distinguishes the butyrophilins from the B7 family. Unlike other butyrophilins, BTNL2 has two extracellular IgV- and IgC-like domains and lacks the intracellular B30.2 domain, which is also absent in BTN3A2. Most butyrophilin proteins that have been characterized to date, including human BTN1A1, BTN2A2, BTN3A1, BTNL2, and mouse BTNL1, act through unidentified receptors to inhibit T cell proliferation and cytokine production. The exception is BTNL8 which enhances T cell proliferation and cytokine secretion. Further investigation is necessary to identify the butyrophilin receptors and determine the functions of the other butyrophilin family members.
Several members of the CD2/signaling lymphocyte activation molecule (SLAM) family of proteins have also been shown to regulate T cell co-signaling. The SLAM family currently consists of nine members, SLAM/CD150, CD48/SLAMF2, Ly9/SLAMF3, 2B4/SLAMF4, CD84/SLAMF5, NTB-A/SLAMF6/Ly108, CRACC/SLAMF7, BLAME, SLAMF8, and CD2F-10/SLAMF9. These proteins contain two or four extracellular Ig-like domains and most contain a cytoplasmic domain known as the immunoreceptor tyrosine-based switch motif (ITSM). SLAM family receptors are expressed on a variety of hematopoietic cell types including T cells, B cells, and dendritic cells and most are capable of homotypic interactions, allowing them to act as self-ligands. T cell activation is induced by homotypic interactions between APC- and T cell-expressed SLAM/CD150 and by binding of APC-expressed CD48/SLAMF2 (mice and rats) or CD58/LFA-3 (humans) to T cell-expressed CD2. Ly9/SLAMF3 and NTB-A/SLAMF6 also seem to function as T cell activating receptors. In contrast, CD48/SLAMF2 can inhibit T cell activation through an interaction with 2B4/SLAMF4. More research is needed to determine if other CD2/SLAM family proteins affect T cell co-signaling.
The T cell/transmembrane, immunoglobulin, and mucin (TIM) family and nectin- or nectin-like-binding receptors (CD226) are two additional subfamilies of IgSF molecules that regulate T cell activation. In humans, the TIM family consists of TIM-1, TIM-3, and TIM-4. TIM-4 is exclusively expressed on APCs and has both co-stimulatory and co-inhibitory effects on T cell activation. Binding of TIM-4 on APCs to TIM-1 on activated T cells promotes T cell proliferation and cytokine production. In contrast, TIM-4 has an inhibitory effect on naïve T cells, which do not express TIM-1, suggesting that TIM-4 can act through a currently unidentified receptor to prevent naïve T cell proliferation. The interaction between T cell-expressed TIM-3 and its ligand, Galectin-9, also inhibits T cell responses.
Nectin or nectin-like-binding receptors including DNAM-1/CD226, TIGIT, CRTAM, and CD96 are a new group of IgSF members that regulate the activities of CD8+ T cells and natural killer (NK) cells. DNAM-1/CD226 is expressed on several lymphoid and myeloid cell types and interacts with CD155/PVR or Nectin-2/CD112, which promotes the activation of CD8+ T cells and NK cells. TIGIT also binds Nectin-2/CD112 and CD155/PVR and can antagonize the effects of DNAM-1/CD226. TIGIT is primarily expressed on activated CD4+ and CD8+ T cells and ligation of TIGIT down regulates TCR-mediated activation and proliferation.
Several TNF receptor superfamily members have also been shown to affect T cell co-signaling. These proteins are characterized as type L or type V receptors based on their structures. A subset of members from the type L subfamily and all of the type V receptor subfamily have co-stimulatory activities. These include CD40/TNFRSF5, HVEM/TNFRSF14 (binding to Lymphotoxin alpha or LIGHT/TNFSF14), and DR3/TNFRSF25 from the type L subfamily, and 4-1BB/TNFRSF9, CD27/TNFRSF7, CD30/TNFRSF8, GITR/TNFRSF18, and OX40/TNFSF4 from the type V subfamily. HVEM/TNFRSF14 can also have co-inhibitory effects on T cell activation through its interactions with CD160 and BTLA.
To learn more, please visit our Co-stimulatory and Co-inhibitory Molecules Research Area.
Get Print Copy of this Pathway
- None -AlabamaAlaskaAmerican SamoaArizonaArkansasCaliforniaColoradoConnecticutDelawareDistrict of ColumbiaFloridaGeorgiaGuamHawaiiIdahoIllinoisIndianaIowaKansasKentuckyLouisianaMaineMarshall IslandsMarylandMassachusettsMichiganMinnesotaMississippiMissouriMontanaNebraskaNevadaNew HampshireNew JerseyNew MexicoNew YorkNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaNorthern Marianas IslandsOhioOklahomaOregonPalauPennsylvaniaPuerto RicoRhode IslandSouth CarolinaSouth DakotaTennesseeTexasUtahVermontVirgin IslandsVirginiaWashingtonWest VirginiaWisconsinWyoming
- None -AlbaniaAlgeriaAndorraAngolaAntigua and BarbudaArgentinaArmeniaArubaAustraliaAustriaAzerbaijanBahamasBahrainBangladeshBarbadosBelarusBelgiumBelizeBeninBermudaBoliviaBosnia and HerzegovinaBotswanaBrazilBruneiBulgariaBurkina FasoBurundiCambodiaCameroonCanadaCayman IslandsCentral African RepublicChadChileChinaColombiaCosta RicaCroatiaCyprusCzech RepublicDenmarkDjiboutiDominicaDominican RepublicEcuadorEgyptEl SalvadorEquatorial GuineaEritreaEstoniaEthiopiaFalkland IslandsFijiFinlandFranceFrench PolynesiaGabonGambiaGeorgiaGermanyGhanaGibraltarGreeceGrenadaGuadeloupeGuamGuatemalaGuineaGuinea-BissauGuyanaHaitiHondurasHong Kong S.A.R., ChinaHungaryIcelandIndiaIndonesiaIraqIrelandIsraelItalyIvory CoastJamaicaJapanJordanKazakhstanKenyaKuwaitKyrgyzstanLatviaLebanonLesothoLiberiaLiechtensteinLithuaniaLuxembourgMacedoniaMadagascarMalawiMalaysiaMaliMaltaMarshall IslandsMauritaniaMexicoMoldovaMonacoMongoliaMontenegroMoroccoMozambiqueMyanmarNamibiaNepalNetherlandsNetherlands AntillesNew CaledoniaNew ZealandNicaraguaNigerNigeriaNorthern Mariana IslandsNorwayOmanPakistanPalauPanamaPapua New GuineaParaguayPeruPhilippinesPolandPortugalPuerto RicoQatarRomaniaRussiaRwandaSaint Kitts and NevisSaint LuciaSaint Martin (French part)SamoaSaudi ArabiaSenegalSerbiaSierra LeoneSingaporeSlovakiaSloveniaSolomon IslandsSouth AfricaSouth KoreaSpainSri LankaSurinameSwazilandSwedenSwitzerlandTaiwanTanzaniaThailandTogoTrinidad and TobagoTunisiaTurkeyUgandaUkraineUnited Arab EmiratesUnited KingdomUnited StatesUruguayUzbekistanVaticanVenezuelaVietnamYemenZambiaZimbabwe
May we contact you?
By checking this box, I agree to receive relevant marketing communications regarding products, industry news, literature, and events from Bio-Techne and its brands: R&D Systems, Novus Biologicals, Tocris Bioscience, ProteinSimple and Advanced Cell Diagnostics. I understand that I can change my preferences at any time. I further understand that any data provided to Bio-Techne and its brands will be stored, used, and deleted consistent with Bio-Techne's Privacy Notice.
View T Cell Co-Signaling Pathway: Ligand-Receptor Interactions Image


Even the granite lapidus colorado surfaces is used for aiding the anglers or hunters to planning their activity schedules. It's going to enable them to decide the optimal/optimally time and energy to succeed with their search or fish. Although many facets have to be considered for finding the best timing, the granite may be used for contemplating the sun rise and sunset schedule. Now, it can be done by using application for instance but still, people may locate the granite falls colorado since it can benefit them understand in regards to the feeding time. Feeding timing is almost always a perfect time for you to be productive and successful with all the sports.
Rustic wooden granites have turned into a trend that's widely-followed not only by persons in your home but also from the furnishings market. Then do you want to learn how to create a granite lapidus colorado surfaces which looks unique yet fashionable? Utilizing wood to become a new furniture may, needless to say, lower your surplus budget. You can make use of the second-hand wood that's still nice and tough to become transformed into an assortment of imaginative and trendy household furniture, as by way of example, a chic and colorado river sand. Generating a granite from the used wood is obviously not just a difficult action todo. However, probably the most essential things that you want to possess can be your creativity and willingness.
Installing A-Wall granite can be the perfect way to continue to keep your belongings on your house neat while you do not need some extra chambers because of storage. A wall granite using a proper granite lapidus colorado surfaces may additionally include the aesthetic value for the home. If the partitions within your home are already full of wall decorations, then you may possess african ivory granite slabs in the residence. Corner wall granite will satisfy out the empty corner distances therefore that you are able to make the most of the use of spaces on the residence. A wall granite is suitable to be set in a family room, living room, and any other rooms.
Last however, if you have many children, it is possible to even use a granite lapidus colorado surfaces for these. Usually do not get worried about the size! Surprisingly you could install a colorado river sand for your kids. In the event you do have over three children in the home, it is very suggested to put in this significant dining table. Ordinarily, this granite will possess a curved shape, together with lots of spaces so your kids can sit professionally. There's also a reward for your own parent, so which is you may go end what it is you're doing though your young ones are still finishing their food. It's quite functional for both the parent and the kids.
This image gallery named as Granite Lapidus Colorado Surfaces might be ideal solution for your decoration. As the author has insert this image into The Best Ace Granite post section, would ease you to find the perfect match of you decor desire.


text:
1954 Mercedes-Benz 300 S Roadster
Sold for £330,400
150 bhp, 2,996 cc overhead-cam inline six-cylinder engine with triple downdraft Solex carburettors, four-speed column shift manual transmission, double wishbone coil-spring and torsion bar independent front suspension, coil-spring swing axle rear suspension, and four-wheel vacuum-assisted hydraulic drum brakes. Wheelbase: 2,900 mm
Bridging the gap between the Classic and Modern Eras, the Mercedes-Benz 300 was launched in 1952 with an unbeatable combination of modern engineering and performance and elegant Old World build quality. Built to uncompromising standards and employing the latest materials and technologies to achieve maximum power and minimum weight, each car was lavished with beautiful finishes and woodwork, and it could travel at triple digit speeds with a full load of cosseted occupants and their luggage.
The 300 S was built upon the already luxurious 300 series, with extra attention being given to the exterior appearance and build quality, which resulted in it being priced nearly 50 per cent higher than its counterparts. Equipped with triple Solex carburettors that are mounted to the 2,996-cubic centimetre engine, which can produce 150 horsepower, this automobile was arguably one of the best luxury touring cars available in the 1950s.
This gorgeous 300 S is one of only 141 roadsters built. It was delivered new in Frankfurt, Germany, on 1 June 1954, and it was originally painted silver grey, DB 125, and came with a blue leather interior, 1071, and a blue soft top. It displays in a fetching stone grey colour, which shows only light polishing marks. The elegant brightwork, which has been lovingly maintained, adorns the body without detracting from the refined statuesque styling. A desirable addition of dual fog lights and a hood-mounted spotlight contribute additional purpose and character. The corresponding black cloth top and Firestone Deluxe Champion whitewall tyres that adorn the grey-painted wheels complete the dashing exterior.
The underside of the car is finished in a presentable gloss black that has only minor soiling from use. In the engine compartment, the robust six-cylinder engine appears to have been treated to a respectable detailing, including newer hoses, wiring, paint detailing of many ancillary components, and polishing of the valve cover.
The interior is appointed in welcoming and inviting worn grey leather and complementary blue-grey carpeting. Highlighting the interior ensemble are a Becker Mexico radio and rakish-looking blue acrylic sun visors, which leave no room for interpretation that this is anything other than a luxury automobile. A beige headliner, which is fitted inside the top, presents no apparent flaws. The wood trim is stained to a dark colour, which makes it well suited to the rest of the car, it appears to demonstrate only light wear on the top of the doors and near the dash components. A full-size whitewall spare tyre and tool kit are fitted to the boot, which is also finished in blue-grey carpet, and which boasts generous luggage capacity. Beautifully outfitted and eminently usable, this 300 S would be well suited to weekend touring in style.


"Before and after drinking tea, one should use a cloth made of fine hemp or jute to wipe the cups. Other kinds of cloth are unsuitable because they are easily soiled."
Much has been said about the famous Canadian tea company Camellia Sinensis from other tea bloggers. Something Smuggled In has claimed that that their aged oolong selection is worth checking out while Marshal'N reeled about the exorbitant prices they charge for their puerh. So it was nice to receive a sample from a fellow tea friend in town, to see what their puerh is all about. This sample comes from a shang xiao bing and is one of their more pricey offerings.
The small dry leaves offers of a wonderful aroma of very sweet creamy apricot in a soft tobacco base. These leaves are rinsed in the very early hours of the morning and the tea session commences.
The first infusion contains juicy creamy slight tobacco that evolves into apricot and mushrooms in the mouth all over top a very malty sweet caramel base. The aftertaste produces a fruity sweetness.
The second infusion initially presents a cool menthol start that quickly transforms into juicy mushroom and creamy pasty sweetness. These flavours evolve into a creamy, slightly sour, mushroom taste. The mouthfeel is such that the whole mouth is a dry tart which plays more at the front but still hits the back and the upper throat nicely. The qi flows into the lower abdomen these first infusions.
In the third infusion sweet malty wood notes present up front before stretching into a slightly soapy floral taste. The aftertaste is dry and woody after a while it has a faint tobacco feel to it.
The fourth infusion has a lively spiciness in its profile of light malty apricot. That malty sweetness returns in the aftertaste.
The fifth infusion looses most of that lively spiciness but is still packed full of juicy malty sweetness. The chaqi of this tea is very energizing and shows little signs of any harshness. There is a slight warm feeling even in its youth.
In the sixth and seventh infusions a wood and peach flavour emerges and is quite noticeable and enjoyable. It presents upfront with the previous notes of malted sweetness. The aftertaste finishes with a fruity, woody, and almost tobacco taste on the breath. The chaqi is warming, friendly, and slightly drying.
In the eighth, infusion woody tastes now seem to overtake the fruity notes with the sweetness still quite apparent. In the ninth infusion wood predominates.
This tea is taken for a few very long steeps and somewhat flat fruity tastes are revealed. The mouthfeel still nicely stimulates the mouth and throat.
The dry powder presents unpretentious florals upfront with very ethereal bread notes. The odour is nice and smooth. This powder is mindfully whisked up into a froth.
The prepared matcha is then consumed. Tastes of creamy almond, sweet in the mouth, with a broad grassy start are noted. Bread, yeast, and nut flavours are discerned from its body before turning slightly bitter, sweet, and tangy. Somewhat disperse green notes barely make their way through these tastes. The mouthfeel that results is light and soft.
An aftertaste forms with these sensations, sopped from this mouthfeel light honey and soft florals are detected. Minutes later the aftertaste evolves into more cereal, doughy tastes.
The qi of this tea makes ones body feel light and free, the limbs feel like clouds, the head a floating balloon. Ones mind sharpens then gives in to the peace.
Drinking tea, taking in with it the land, nature, the people. So with them, one drinks their tea in solidarity.
"For tea cups, snow white is considered the best; pale celadon is next best because it does not harm the color of the tea."
Traditionally, spring water collected for tea always maintained a connection with the earth it was drawn from. The longer this connection with the earth is maintained, the more fresh the final tea. In the past, long, narrow, cylindrical earthenware containers were used to collect water from natural sources. These containers very much resemble antique milk cans in shape with small fluted openings on top and two eyelets on each side for which rope was strung to ease the sometimes long journey home with a heavy load of fresh water. These vessels were primarily unglazed or with just the outside glazed with full exposure of the clay to the water collected inside. This allowed for complete interaction between water and earth. This whole process brought the tea drinker closer to the earth, the water, and the nature world.
After making the trip home with this water, it was immediately emptied from its collecting jar and into a ceramic storage jar. To this day these collecting vessels are still used in Korea, sometimes if just to transport tap water to storage containers. Either way, the important connection between earth and tea is reestablished. The result is better tea.
The storage vessels they used were often glazed inside and out but were still quite breathable. Breathability is important when you are storing water. The water must be able to breathe else it will not maintain its vibrancy, and will be no good for tea. This is especially true if the water will sit for a long time. If it cannot breathe, the water will suffocate, its qi will be depleted. Water in nature breathes, and so it should in storage. Long ago they covered the opening of water storage containers with silk to maintain this connection with nature while keeping debris, dust, and sunlight from spoiling the water nurtured inside.
As water sits it becomes stagnant and its qi slowly scatters. So it is very important that the water you use for tea is either stored for a short while or stored properly. If stored properly the connection with the earth (the clay of the storage vessel) and nature (the breathability) will ensure that not only the qi of the water is maintained but that it is enhanced. This is due to the minerals in the clay of the vessel influencing the water. The older and more used the water storage vessel, the better the end results. Essentially the storage container pulls away any off tastes and odours in the water and imparts it with the elements of the clay- lightening and softening the water. Remember that clay is of the element Earth and that Earth has a moderating effect on that which it influences.
The most dramatic results are that of tap water- which is really stripped of its essence but is then nurtured back to health. It could be quite economical to simply use tap water and store it for tea in these storage jars. One teamaster in Korea did just that. The difference is astounding. Of course he used many other ways of influencing the qi of the water which will be discussed in the following parts of this series.
Because water is always interacting with the storage vessel, the raw material of the vessel is important in the maturation of the water. Glass vessels are rather neutral and don't enhance the character of the water inside. However, they also don't negatively impact the water. With that said, if water sits in a glass storage container for long enough, its qi will gradually deplete.
Nowadays almost all water containers are made of some sort of plastic. The materials for plastic will leach into the water, negatively impacting the final product. The idea of storing water is to maintain its connection with the earth and with nature. Plastics leach a range of very unnatural chemicals into water thereby degrading its qi.
The large blue 20 gallon refillable water cooler jugs are classified as #7 plastic containers. Some of these containers have been found to leach Bisphenol A into the water. Bisphenol A (BPA) is currently banned in all children's baby bottles in Canada and the EU and is increasingly being scrutinized by the government in other containers. These containers are inappropriate for storing water.
If you purchase mineral water in one of those clear plastic bottles, it may be BPA free but it will still interact with the plastics of the bottle. Checking the date the water was bottled will not only limit the exposure to the plastic but will also ensure that your water is fresh. Of course there is also the environmental consideration of the disposal of these plastic bottles.
If you do use the large blue 20 gallon jugs ensure that the water in them is fresh and consider using a old ceramic crock to dispense the water in them. This will at the very least start into motion the renaturing of the water, establishing its connection to the earth once more.
The best material for the storage container is of course, clay. Ideally the best clay would be that closest to the source of the water. This would ensure that the water's connection with the earth is maintained. If an earthenware water jar is from the same location as the water its effect is increased. If that water is used to brew local tea, its effect is once again compounded. However, most times the earth is simply not appropriate for making these vessels. If earthenware water jar is made of materials closest to where you live it also has benefits, because it will bring the imported water closer to harmony with that of the drinker- this should also be considered. If the vessel is older it will have a vibrant qi of its own, and will not only nurture the water faster but will do so more effectively.
Finally, the technique for drawing water from these water storage containers should be considered. How you draw the water will subtly impact the qi of the water. You should use gentle and graceful motions to draw the water from the storage vessel. This not only imparts the qualities of reverence for the water but also helps quite the mind for the tea session. Also it will not stir up the sediment which will settle at the bottom.
Water is usually skimmed from the top of the container. This water has had the most interaction with air and nature and because it floats on top it is imparted with the softest, lightest qi, the most yang. This water harmonizes best with lighter teas. If you wish to get a heavier water you should scoop deeper into the water storage jar, but not too deep as to stir up the sediment at the bottom. This heavier water will harmonize with the heavier teas. The tool you use to scoop the water should be bamboo such as a Japanese hishaku or a gourd such as a Korean pyo choo bak. These scoops ensure the connection with water is maintained, bamboo and gourds are also light in nature which harmonize with the water they scoop from the container. A wood scoop is also acceptable, metal should be avoided.
Most 20 gallon jugs drian (have a spout) from the bottom. To combat this place the kettle lower as to create a large stream, this adds movement and gives the water some lightness and vibrancy before boiling. Likewise, if water from the tap is used run the taps for a minute to encourage the elimination of stagnant flat water before filling up the kettle. This will ensure that the water at least has some vibrancy to it.
Most people don't consider the storage of water and how breathability and stagnancy impact the water used for tea. The breadth and quantity of the information above strikes at the importance of this often overlooked issue when preparing tea.
On a recommendation by Pedro of Dao Tea, one visited Libby of Tula Teas at this years Victoria Tea Festival. This exhibitor was actually here at the 2010 Victoria Tea Festival but one had overlooked them thinking that they sold herbal teas exclusively. As it turns out Libby, the owner of this few years old local company, has a passion for oolong. She even visited Taiwan this year to personally source some tea.
This year everyone was talking about her oolong. The fun-loving Libby was creating a lot of stir about an oolong she sells that is grown and produced in a very unconventional place, New Zealand.
Like most people, one was surprised at the quality and picked up a bag of each for fun.
"Sangzhu the Sage (a pseudonym for Lu Yu) used a silver cauldron for making tea. Finding that too luxurious, he later used a ceramic cauldron. Since this however was not durable, he finally reverted to using a silver cauldron."
When attempting to harmonize water with tea we should also consider the impact of seasonal trends (astrology) on the water we select. If we are getting the water from a natural source we should be cognizant of the season we retrieve the water. Modern conveniences have lead people to become out of touch with the rhythm of the seasons and how it energetically effects us and the world we interact with. Afterall, if we need water we just turn on the tap.
If water is to be retrieved for tea it should be done in the spring. The water that comes from the mountain spring or from the rain during this season is thought to be lighter and more abundant in qi. The water is abundant in qi because this same spring water nurtures the new spring growth, including that of tea. The water is thought to be light because the spring season imparts rising energy into it. This water harmonizes the best for tea because tea is green, contains rising energy, and is in the form of a leaf- it is tied to the element Wood. It is the same water that nurtures the budding tea leaf and so is energetically connected to it. This has been the recent topic of conversation of Section 17. Well Water Is Not Appropriate For Tea.
As Toki of The Mandarin's Tea commented in the past, painstaking efforts were taken to collect the dew from the leaves of willows and lotus during Pre-Ming to harmonize with Pre-Ming Long Jing green tea in Hangzhou. This water was seen to be the softest, it is light enough to float atop the leaves in the morning, and it is the same dew that nourishes the spring Long Jing buds. Traditional Chinese theories thought that dew was the result of the abundant pure yin energy of the moon dispersing over the night. This is why the energy of this dew was deemed the best water to harmonize with their tea.
This consideration is of course for a light bodied tea that will be consumed in the Spring/ Summer. Light water from a high mountain spring also would have similar qualities. The season that you are actually preparing the tea has a different optimal water. In the Winter when the bodies yang energy descends deeply a more heavy, more yin, heavier type water is appropriate that may not necessary come from the higher altitude mountain springs. This is especially true if you are also harmonizing your tea, a darker tea, with the season.
One wanted to note here that the water with the most yin characteristics is not the best water for tea even though water is the truest manifestation of yin in the nature world. Water that is collected in winter, is heavy, dark (black, dark blue), stagnant, has no mineral content, and is collected deep within the earth would be the most yin manifestation of Water, the truest form of water.
This water is not suitable for tea for two reasons. Firstly, It is an extreme manifestation of yin (yin within yin, or over exuberant yin). It has no balance, a therefore cannot harmonize with nature. This water has departed from being open to harmony to perhaps a state of being pathological in nature because it has a tendency to overwhelm. On the other hand water that has some yang characteristics is more balanced, more in harmony with that which it interacts in nature. Qualities such as lightness, softness, rising, and active (yang qualities) give water balance. It can be referred to as Yang within Yin. Water is yin but within it is yang.
Secondly, water that shares these yang qualites is much more in harmony with tea. All tea is a leaf picked in spring, is light, has rising nature, and is green so water with some yang qualities quite naturely harmonize well with all tea which is generally yang in nature. Water is said to be the mother of Wood. All tea is said to be energetically attached to the element Wood. If the mother cannot be flexable to the needs of its son/daughter then how can it nuture its growth?
The source of water (feng shui) is an important consideration when selecting water for tea. The source of water dictates its content because content reflects its source. Remember that water isn't man made, all water comes from nature, carrying with it natures signal. Therefore the source of water can tell us a lot about the content, properties, and qi of that water.
Water can either come from a natural or artificial source. Depending on where the water comes from certain things have to be considered. If the water comes from an artificial source you will want to consider how it is treated, how it is delivered to your house, and if it is filtered. Once water is treated its essence changes. If treated with chlorine it is imparted with an odour and taste. This water is not suitable for tea. Conversely, if the water is treated with ozone the essence of the tea isn't degraded. Tap water is water that is active because of its movement through pipes to your kitchen. The movement is good and stirs and activates the qi of the water but most cases this is overshadowed by taste and smell and the removal of important minerals from the water. Many people filter the tap water before they use it for tea. The problem with this is that other important things besides taste and smell are also removed from the water.
Water from natural sources have not been degraded or stripped of its qi and therefore is optimal for tea. What natural source we chose can be a difficult decision. We should first consider the waters proximity to where we live. Ideally the water should either harmonize with the tea or harmonize with the drinker. It will harmonize with the tea if the water is from the same geographical location as the tea. It will harmonize with the drinker if the water is from the same geographical location as the drinker. Unless you are living close to the actual area where your tea is grown, economically it makes no sense to acquire water from this source. It makes much more sense to acquire water from a local source. The closer the source is to where you live the closer it will harmonize with you. This also can be very practical as the closer the source the cheaper and less time consuming it will be to acquire.
"Water from a mountain-peak spring is pure and light" - The higher up or higher the mountain the spring is found the more yang or energy is contained in this water. It is though to be very active (yang) water because it has come from a source so low to a place so high. It is thought of as pure because it is closer to heaven, also because it has not been contaminated by anything by flowing downstream. It is considered light because it has the ability to climb, or float up to such great heights, also maybe water that comes from the high mountain is less likely to be as hard. This type of water has strong pure yang energy.
"water from a spring at the foot of a hill is pure but heavy"- It is still pure because it came from the mountain, a symbol of purity, and divinity. Also as stated above it has not been contaminated by anything flowing down stream. It is considered heavy because it doesn't have the ability to climb, it is weighed down and flows from the mountain at a low altitude, also maybe water that comes from the foot of the mountain is more likely to contain more mineral deposits and salts (it is heavier). This type of water has strong pure yin energy.
"water emerging amidst the rocks is pure and sweet"- It is pure because spring water from rocks is closest to its source, it is sweet because rocks are considered the truest Earth. Earth's taste is sweet. This type of water is more yang in nature, but it most in harmony with Earth.
"water emerging from sand is pure and cold"- It still remains pure because sand acts as a filter, also because sand sinks to the bottom and doesn't contaminate the water which is drawn from the top. The water is considered cold because sand sinks and is small and course it is therefore considered to be yin in nature. This type of water is more yin in nature.
"water emerging from soil is bland and plain"- It is bland and plain because soil leaches out the waters minerals. It also has the potentiality to be impure. This type of water contains no essence.
"water flowing from yellow rocks is good"- Yellow is the colour of Earth. Yellow rocks indicate water that is most in harmony with Earth.
"water draining from dark rocks cannot be used"- Dark (Black, or even deep blue) is the considered the most yin colour. Dark colour rocks indicate that water contains too much yin energy and not enough yang and therefore will not be active enough to bring out the essence of the tea.
"flowing water is better than still water"- Flowing water is active, yang, while still water is inactive, resting, yin. Active yang type water is best to bring out the essence of tea. Still water has not the energy to do so as effectively.
"water emerging from a shady place is better than a sunny place" - Shady places are more yin, sunny places are more yang. Sun causes the water to accumulate algae, therefore water should never be exposed to light.
"Mountain water is superior, river water is less good, and well water is the worst" - Mountain springs have more potential energy, and yang, as they are located high above. Streams have less potential energy, but still flow pretty strongly, and have a current. Well water contains the least qi, vitality, or yang as it contains no potential energy, is still, and lies low. Well water contains the most yin energy.
"if no river water is nearby and no mountain with a spring of water, one should use only water stored from the plum (monsoon) rains of that spring season since its flavor is sweet and harmonious; it is the water that makes everything grow" - if you are going to use rain water, the rainwater that harmonizes the closest to the energetics of tea is spring rainfall that occurs just as the first blossoms of spring are emerging(or the first tea buds). This water is thought to have abundant qi because it nourishes the abundant spring growth. From a astrological perspective, it shares the same energy of the tea that is also fed by these same rains as they sprout from the tree in early spring.
"Water from melted snow is clear but feels heavy and dark." - the qi of water from pure melted snow (collected in the winter) is "heavy and dark". This is due to this water harmonizing with the energy of winter which is the most yin time of year. It has the least daylight hours, so is dark. The water is considered heavy because it comes from the snow which is dense and heavy and cold in nature.
Overall these passages speak to tea in general but are more specific to green tea or other light teas. If you are trying to harmonize the water to a heavier, darker tea. Water from a spring at the foot the mountain or from an artesian well is also appropriate. If you are trying to harmonize the water to a medium, neutralizing, or regulating tea, water from the middle of the mountain is also appropriate.
It is also very important to consider the environmental cost of the water you use for tea. If the source is far away and you must ship the water long distances the environmental impact is enormous. This completely contradicts the reason we chose that water in the first place, harmony.
"The jar for storing water must be put in a shady room, it should be covered by silk gauze, so that it absorbs the essence of the stars and dew then its divine quality will not be lost, its spirit will always remain."


trigger_waterydeath is a brush entity available in the Half-Life 2 series.
The fry of leeches that is spawned inside a trigger_waterydeath.
A brush entity trigger that spawns a fry of leeches around entities inside its volume. The leeches do damage to the target until they die.
Used to discourage and prevent players from straying too far into deep water.
In code, it is represented by class CTriggerWateryDeath, defined in hl2_dll\hl2_triggers.cpp.
This page was last modified on 5 February 2012, at 18:05.


text:
What abolition of Rule 21 meant to cricket
admin on July 7, 2005, 12:00 am | Readers 2
A few years back in Belfast taxi, myself and the driver got talking about sport. He'd returned to Belfast seven years earlier after years living in southern England, where he'd picked up a passion for playing cricket. I asked him whether he'd continued playing when he returned. "No" he said, "I live in a nationalist area. I wouldn't dream of mentioning my love of the game to a soul, never mind playing it". This piece looks at how the now abolished rule 21 affected people keen on playing games outside the Gaelic code. Thanks to reader 6countyprod for the heads up.
28 thoughts on "What abolition of Rule 21 meant to cricket"
7 July 2005 at 10:33 am
As a youngster I used to play both cricket and GAA and I never felt burdened by any prejudice from my Gealic collegues. I did however feel a lot of animosity from my cricket playing collegues so I feel that this discrimination and prejudice cuts both ways
Baluba
After living in Australia for 2 years I despise cricket with the most burning of burning passions. It's not a sport. It's nonsense. I say this not out of bigotry (because it's an English sport/Protestant sport blah, blah, blah), but because it's on every bloody channel in the place for months and is as exciting as watching paint dry (whilst getting a sunburn).
Sorry cricket lovers! Your sport sucks!
Rick's inability to distinguish between religious and political beliefs explains the confused ramblings of his article which adds nothing to the reader's knowledge of Irish history or sport.
The real reason for cricket's weakness in Ireland and most of Britain is perfectly obvious to anyone who has seen it – the game is stunningly boring.
Another piece of slipshod revisionism.
The Beach Tree
As I stated in an earlier unrelated thread, I've played both Gaelic Football and Cricket at club level (and soccer, table tennis and volleyball for that matter). Not only was my open and noisy love of cricket tolerated in my neighbourhood, I as a youngster got several neighbours both young and old playing it with me.
My local GAA coach was somewhat worried it would distract from duties at left full back – but to be honest he wasn't at all fussed on even hurlers playing for him – in other words, not bigotry, but pure myopic over-competitiveness.
My cricket club were originally a little reticent (more out of fear or apprehension through ignorance than through any person animosity or genuine bigotry) but I was soon very welcome as a decent No. 3. My very poor right arm finger spin was less welcome!
The article is well raised by 6countyprod, but I fear somwhat inaccurate in parts. Notably in attempting to link GAA to the Catholic church. No doubt there was huge overlap given the obvious demographics of the south, but I can't honestly say that the church had much influence beyond providing perhaps a higher than average number of volunteer coaches, as did the teaching profession for that matter.
The GAA is (rabidly) pro irish and (rabidly) pro gaelic, quite obviously so. Indeed, the promotion of gaelic-irish culture is its entire raison d'etre. And I understand that there are those who find gaelic-irish culture distasteful. I don't accept however the link with the Church, and for every example of church influence, there is another of non church influence – for every archbishop croke, a sam maguire you might say.
I like curries, vindaloos, naan bread, watching kibaddi, and certain bollywood films. All these are indian culture. In the case of the sport and bollywood, very openly and deliberately so. I'm not indian, but I still enjoy their culture for what it is. And I don't have to accept their political stance on Kashmir to do so.
I fear the Article is a little too focused on 'themuns' again. A little too worked up about the evil of an association of people doing what they enjoy, on their own property, without any meaningful public disorder, to which any paying customer can gain entry. I'm glad the rule on foreign sports is gone – I understand the paranoia that drove it, rather than bigotry, but I'm very glad its gone. I'm glad that Rule 21 is gone – not because it was anti-protestant (I don't remember Brian McCargo getting dispensation as a catholic ruc man!) but because it was a stick to beat the general playing membership of the association with, a stick sometimes employed by genuinely concerned people who wanted reconciliation, but unfortunately much more often employed by people who despised the very existance of the organisation, rule 21 or no, simply because it was identifiably irish, gaelic and unapologetic. I'm glad to take that stick from them.
If you are interested in GAA but are worried about the irish dimension, try shinty, a good scottish, british, presbyterian, gaelic sport instead! The choices are there, you know.
But if you simply dislike the existance of the GAA and gaelic sport, perhaps its your on heart you need to look into.
slug9987
It doesn't require you to be too fit. Its quite a social game in the sense that you can take your hand to it. Even to middle age.
Nice and relaxing, and can be exciting when you get into it.
7 July 2005 at 12:16 pm
The GAA ceased to exist the day rule 21 was scraped
reality check.
A fairly ludicrous statement. About a 9.2 on the Sphincter Scale.
A quick check of the GAA.ie website should disabuse you of the notion that the organisation has vanished. RTE any given summer sunday will also help your re-education.
7 July 2005 at 1:19 pm
Yes it has.By allowing british soldiers with connections to loyalists who murdered those who play in the GAA.Does the case of Sean Brown showcase my point you twat
dear oh dear. "you twat". Yes, an impressive insult, and an impressive insulter.
The case of Sean Brown showcases absolutely nothing except the case of Sean Brown.
His murder was barbaric, disgusting, sectarian, cowardly, and absolutely irrelevant as to whether the organisation known as the GAA exists or not. It plainly does. You might not like that but, so what. what you like is irrelevant.
You clearly put your dislike of security forces and loyalists above the good of the sport, the organisation known as the GAA or its members. Frankly you appear to put it ahead of sanity and facing reality.
That's your right. I think it's pathetic in the extreme to allow your fealings about sports you support to be influenced by people you hate.
But if the nurture of your own hatred and bile is so important to you, then I'll leave you to wallow in it.
But none of this changes the clear fact that the organisation known as the GAA clearly still exists and operates very successfully despite the abolition of rule 21 of its constitution.
That you wish otherwise is, frankly, of neither relevance, interest nor concern.
To be frank, the GAA is much the poorer for losing the likes of Sean Brown. it would be much the richer for losing the likes of you.
Let me guess, you've no problem with republican terrorists, or people with connections to republican terrorists playing?
Ricardo-Can you prove that accusation?I doubt you can.
Beach tree-What i say is irrelevant?It appears you and ricardo are both intolerant of others opinions
I'm not the least 'intolerant' of your opinions. I'm quite content to tolerate them. I even respect your right to make them, and would argue for that to continue.
It does not change the fact that your opinions are ridiculous bias and bile, and that the few points you make are illogical and, yes, irrelevant.
I think your mistaking tolerating your opinions with having any respect for them. Two different thinks, unshine.
Still – Fire away!
Reality check – catch yourself on. No members of the IRA have ever been members of the GAA?? They have clubs and competitions named after them FFS.
Seeing your so big on proof, which british soldiers with connections to loyalists play GAA?
I think the reason cricket never took off in predominantly catholic areas of Ireland is because compared to the hurly burly of gaelic games it must have appeared very dull, after all everyone follows english football in Ireland and that's as english as it gets. As for cricket being regarded as a 'protestant' sport that's just ridiculous.
8 July 2005 at 7:53 am
Ricardo-Can you name any instances when IRA members played in the GAA?Back your insane claim up.Beach Tree-your thoughts on this are what?
if i were to be facetious I might say Sam Maguire himself was a fairly famous member of both the GAA and the IRA.
But presuming you mean the provisional movement…
Well, how about Martin Ferris and Ian Milne for starters. I name them not to endanger them in any way, but simply because they were both convicted of membership of the IRA and were openly members of GAA clubs. Their membership of both organisations is a matter of public record.
Now Mr. check, do you want to continue making a fool of yourself like this?
You're living in some sort of fantasy.The GAA promotes irish culture.The security forces suppress it.Loyalists regulary attack GAA clubs.they killed prominent members like Sean Brown but you try to ridicule this.You accuse me of being biased,for f*** sake the security forces covered up his murder!What do you want next,the soldiers song scraped while god save the queen plays and the union jack flutters over croke park.I refuse to have my identity erased by unionist sympathisers like you.EIREANN GO BRAE
Yokel
Reality Check, you are the future of Ireland….well done.
You tell them like it is…..
Whatever happened to Ian Milne, has he 'retired' or is he in any way involved in politics these days ?
willowfield
21 July 2005 at 8:56 am
I think the reason cricket never took off in predominantly catholic areas of Ireland is because compared to the hurly burly of gaelic games it must have appeared very dull
How do you explain it taking off in predominantly Protestant areas, then, when compared to the hurly burly of football, rugby, hockey, etc., it must have appeared very dull?
(PS. Cricket pre-dates Gaelic sports and all of these other sports.)
The GAA promotes irish culture.The security forces suppress it.
It only promotes a particular, exclusive strand of Irish culture.
I refuse to have my identity erased by unionist sympathisers like you.EIREANN GO BRAE
You should seek help about your self-confidence issues.
The thing about cricket is that the skills involved are not immediately apparent to the outsider. In particular the skills of bowling. Many years ago in a pub I had an interesting conversation with a cricket player from the south who explained some of it to me.
I have forgotten most of it (there was drink taken) but if any of you fans would like to tell us a bit about the game I, for one, would be quite interested.
Well, here's a few tasters from a proudly irish cricket fan.
1. Cricket was the de facto national game of Ireland before the existance of the GAA (although both cricket and gaelic games have much longer histories), and more popular in large parts of the country than any of the footballing codes. It was in fact the most dangerous 'foreign sport' as far as Cusack was concerned.
2. The key to bowling is accuracy and intelligence. Ron Atkinson famously said of Teddy Sheringham that he was 'lightning slow'. Watch any cricket for a few days and you'll usually hear how X or Y was caught out by the 'slower ball'. If you can get the ball in the right area repeatedly, then it essentially becomes a rather compelling game of bluff with the batsman – with attempts to outwit him with speed, or swing, or length or a combination.
Much of cricket is in fact tactical rather than basically physical, and that, for its fans, is the joy of it.
CavanMan
22 July 2005 at 6:25 pm
GAA did not die once Rule 21 was removed…tell me how many PSNI and british soldiers have started playing GAA? and getting involved in GAA activities….Removing Rule 21 got rid of a branch which Unionists could beat the GAA with.Therefore a great day for the GAA, and the organisation has not lost one aspect of its greatness over removing it.
Reality Check,
Refresh my memory.
Provo "soldiers" who murdered and maimed all and sundry (including fellow GAA members) were not covered by the Rule 21 ban were they?


Businesses that physically handle dangerous goods which fall fully within the scope of ADR regulations must have an appointed Dangerous Goods Safety Adviser (DGSA). This not only involves vehicle operators, but can also affect any logistics operations, for example, freight forwarders, consolidators, warehouses and manufacturers. Novadata provides a DGSA consultancy service, including certified compliance documents, for any business for whom it is not practical to have permanent members of staff with this qualification.
Assist in the production of the obligatory Anti-Terrorism Security Risk Assessment, and a formal Security Plan where required.
Each organisation's needs will be different, so please call us on 01376 552999 or email enquiries@novadata.co.uk to discuss your exact requirements.


text:
Category Archives: WC75 – Bears
Reviews, WC75 - Bears
WC75 – Review of Kitt Cherry's Art That Dares
Art That Dares: Gay Jesus, Woman Christ, and More
By Kittredge Cherry
AndroGyne Press,
Paperback, 96 pages, $38.95
Reviewed by Toby Johnson
Editor's Note: Regular readers of White Crane will recall this book from our Friends issue, in which, in addition to the beautiful cover image, several images from the book were published in connection with a show at JHS Gallery
in Taos, NM (www.jhsgallery.com)
Kitt Cherry's newest creation is wonderful, mind-blowing, and beautiful. White Crane readers will recognize her name from previous mentions of her equally mind-blowing novel, Jesus in Love, which presents an autobiography (i.e., told in the first-person) of Jesus Christ as a modern psychologically sophisticated and sexually aware ego-person. Cherry is a lesbian former MCC minister, now in semi-retirement, and author of a book for young people on coming out and a guide to lesbian and Gay worship and ceremonies. She is also an art historian. And it is in this last identity that she has collected paintings, photographs and graphics that depict what might be called "alternative" versions of Christian imagery.
This book is effectively a "catalogue" of an exhibition she mounted at the JHS Gallery in Taos, New Mexico, as part of the National Festival of Progressive Spiritual Art, in May 2007. It includes beautifully reproduced images of some eleven artists, along with in-depth articles about each artist and explanations of the themes in the selected examples. The subtitle reveals just why "explanations" are in order: "Gay Jesus, Woman Christ, and More." The introduction contains an account of Cherry's motivation in searching out this truly "visionary" style of artistic expression and an intelligent discussion of the meaning of the oh-so-religious-sounding term "blasphemy."
You can imagine she's had that epithet hurled at her!
Her "blasphemy" is so honest, so respectful, visionary, and inspiring that it becomes a kind of new religion, a Christianity not stuck in literal old stories, but alive with imagery meaningful to us today — not the Jesus of history 2000 years old, but the mystical Jesus of the present NOW, alive in human beings today, suffering and resurrecting through the struggles of modern life and of sexual and gender liberation.
Cherry explains that blasphemy refers to speech intended to transgress or express contempt for central religious beliefs, in that sense, the idea is to protect the status quo religion and culture. But in effect, blasphemy is what wakes people up and forces them to rethink their unquestioned cultural beliefs and myths. In that sense, blasphemy is the truly spiritual tool for transforming consciousness. Jesus Christ, after all, was put to death for blasphemy.
I suppose not all blasphemous speech or art wakes people to the true meaning of religion, but the very fact that a believer would feel so threatened that he or she would hurl accusations at another of this sin ought to tell them something about their own precarious hold on truth. It's like the Jungian notion of "the shadow" that what upsets you the most — and the most compulsively in other people — is a reflection of traits in yourself you are trying to protect yourself from recognizing and admitting. Being upset by somebody else's beliefs one disagrees with is some sort of sign of one's own skepticism. And so the more the beliefs seem meaningless, the more fiercely they have to defended.
The sinfulness of blasphemy is based on the first of the Ten Commandments: Thou shalt make no graven images. Jesus, of course, transformed those commandments, reducing them to two: love God and love your neighbor. And as Christianity moved into Europe in its early missionary days, it dropped the objection to graphic images altogether. That was a desert thing! Nomads — Jews and later Muslims — objected to depictions of God. Greek, Roman and European cultures exulted in creating representations of God. Indeed, during the Middle Ages, the stained glass windows of the great cathedrals were the catechisms by which the religious stories were portrayed and promulgated. The imagery made the stories more real — and memorable — and provided insight into their meaning.
That's exactly what the image, say, of a female Christ — like that of acrylic artist Jill Ansell — does: causes the viewer to think through the contradiction and to understand "Christ" as a mystical reality which necessarily includes both male and female since humankind includes both male and female. The image of a woman rising from the tomb triumphant reminds us vividly that the Christian message about resurrection includes the feminine principle as well as the masculine.
Depictions of Jesus are often "homoerotic" in that he is prototypically shown near naked and suffering the afflictions of the flesh. Oil painter F. Douglas Blanchard portrays Jesus as a modern Gay man in modern clothing being brutalized by police and by fag-baiting protestors. The disturbing, but ultimately glorious, series of twenty-four painting, of which five are included in the book, force the viewer to consider that anti-Gay violence in the name of religion is an exact parallel to the violence done against Jesus and which Christians believe was salvific for us all.
With paint on plexiglass Alex Donis produced faux stained glass windows showing improbable combinations in an intimate kiss — John Kennedy and Fidel Castro, the Pope and Gandhi, Adolf Hitler and a Holocaust survivor—to call into question conventional dualistic categories. Reproduced in the book are the kisses of Jesus and the Hindu god Rama and Mary Magdalene and the Virgen de Guadalupe. Several of Donis' creations were destroyed by vandals in protest against the exhibit in San Francisco in 1997.
Perhaps the most familiar artwork in the book is that of Franciscan brother Robert Lentz. His modern day Greek Orthodox-styled icons — of both traditional holy figures and modern political and cultural characters — have been distributed through progressive and GLBTI bookstores and card shops for years. The icon of Harvey Milk, Martyr is a national Gay treasure. (Since Lentz returned to the Order later in his life, he's been forbidden for marketing the more controversial of his icons, but they are still available through his previous distributor.) And the icons of Jesus as AIDS sufferer by openly Gay ex-Jesuit priest William Hart McNichols will also be familiar. They've appeared in the Gay press.
That's to point out only five of the eleven artists. All the images in Art That Dares are equally striking and transforming of ideas about the meaning of religious iconography.
The book is liable to be dismissed and deprecated by the Religious Right. Some of the people who really need to see this material will never lay eyes on it. But now it's out there. Kitt Cherry's work has already been noticed and that condemnation, ironically, has brought needed attention.
This is a lovely book. And a very neat idea! I urge readers to seek it out. Selections from Art That Dares are highlighted on Cherry's internet page www.jesusinlove.org
Toby Johnson is the author and editor of countless fine books like Gay Spirituality, and Charmed Lives. He is also former publisher of White Crane Journal and currently Reviews editor. Visit him at www.tobyjohnson.com
WC75 – Review of The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved
The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved:
Inside America's Underground Food Movements
by Sandor Ellix Katz, Chelsea Green
Paperback, 400 pages, $20.00
Reviewed by Jason Mayernick
The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved revolves around two realities. First, everyone needs to eat. Control what a person needs and that person is control. Author Sandor Katz chronicles the dozen of ways every bite of food we eat is controlled by corporations and government agencies to the detriment of our societies our society's health and survival. Realities number two; you don't have to passively live with the stranglehold of corporate greed that has come to characterize food production in the "modern" world. There is a Revolution under way to put food back in the hands of the individual and the Revolution is Recruiting.
Liberation is achieved through awareness of oppression and a struggle against that oppression. In no uncertain terms The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved touches on the oppressive nature of government regulations and market practices leaving their mark on everything from the seeds farmers plant to the way meat is slaughtered and shipped. With each reality mentioned Katz offers examples of how that oppression is being challenged and offers ways for the reader to join the struggle.
Across the pages of this amazingly well researched book march a host of individuals resisting and undermining the soulless food industry. Guerrilla gardeners in urban centers, raw milk dairy farmers, illegal floating food markets, and other examples highlight the work of food activists across the world. Each chapter ends with an extensive bibliography and resource list making this volume an exceptional starting point for anyone interested in food activism. Taken as a whole The Revolution Will Not be Microwaved is a call to action, a wonderful piece of accessible research, a thought provoking work chronicling the struggles of food activists across the globe, and definitely worth the read.
Jason Mayernick is a polyglot scholar, teacher and pirohi.maker living in Minnesota. Visit his blog "With Pirohi & Love."
WC75 – Review of That Undeniable Longing
December 21, 2007 Editors 1 Comment
That Undeniable Longing:
My Road To and From the Priesthood
By Mark Tedesco
Academy Chicago Publishers
Hardback, 197 pages, $23.95
Mark Tedesco's interesting, chatty and entertaining account of his experience as a Catholic seminarian begins with an epigraph from St. John of the Cross: "In the end we shall be judged by how much we have loved."
When I was a young seminarian myself, the Novicemaster gave me a holy card as a Christmas present with that same quote from John of the Cross. So I started this book identifying with the author. My experience was also similar to his in being in two different seminaries. I moved from one religious order to another after the first told me to leave on account of my homosexuality (though, fortunately or unfortunately, didn't explain that in a way that made any sense to me). I experienced it all as a series of "divine interventions" that got me from a fairly conservative order to a liberal progressive one and from that order which had a student residence in San Francisco to liberated life as a gay man in the nation's gay mecca.
Mark Tedesco's journey was similar, but actually more exotic than mine. Though he was an American and lived in Modesto, California, he joined an order of priests called Oblates of the Virgin Mary which had its seminary in the Italian city of San Vittorino outside Rome. So he really got the full experience of Roman Catholicism. He was with this group for a couple of years and then was told not to return from a summer leave back in California. He was emotionally lost and confused for a while, but then got assistance from a priest he knew outside the Oblates to get into the North American College in Rome (a seminary not associated with a specific religious Order). So he returned to Italy and continued his training and was eventually ordained. He returned to the U.S. and worked in a parish in Washington, D.C. while he continued his education at Catholic University. In Rome he'd become involved with a Catholic lay group which he calls Communion and Freedom (C.F.) C.F. was paradoxically both progressive and intensely conservative. (C.F. sounds very similar to the lay Catholic organization Opus Dei which received a lot of attention during the heyday of the DaVinci Code movie.)
Throughout his seventeen some years as a seminarian and then a priest, Tedesco was emotionally wracked with fears of his gradually emerging homosexuality. And the emotional stress manifested as digestive problems and general unhappiness. To deal with these issues he saw a counselor in D.C. who innocently asked him if he'd considered leaving the priesthood. Well, long before, back with the Oblates he'd been told by a "living saint" in residence at the seminary that God wanted him to be a priest. How could he leave?
By the time of the counselor's question, however, the "living saint" had been exposed as phony (his stigmata was apparently self-imposed and his "odor of sanctity" really just a cloud of perfume he secretly doused himself with). Maybe Il Santo's advice wasn't so pertinent after all and that the longing for happiness was a better sign of what God wanted for him than the self-serving admonitions of Church authorities. The counselor's question opened the possibility of change. And soon he was out of the priesthood and back in California starting a career as a high school teacher.
That Undeniable Longing is very personal, though for all that he writes about his confusion and emotional suffering the book reads more like a travelogue through Italy and the Catholic Church than a tale of psychological abuse by religious authorities. Indeed, it is quite readable and hard to put down. I devoured it in three sittings over two days, thoroughly enjoying the experience.
I'd have liked a little more explanation of how he finally reconciled his homosexuality and his religiousness. The discovery is that the "undeniable longing" that draws people to God is also what draws them to sexual love. But this seems only acknowledged tangentially. He doesn't seem to have developed a positive "gay spirituality" or spiritual vision of sexuality as much as seen through the oppression of the traditional Catholic culture.
And he never mentions masturbation. I would affirm his right to privacy and personal respectability, of course. This book isn't meant to be a confession. But all the way through I kept wondering if he were strictly "chaste" by Catholic standards and, if so, how he'd managed this feat. As a young Catholic seminarian myself, I'd managed to suppress sexuality for a period of three years. And am amazed—and in a curious way a little proud—of myself for the discipline. But Mark Tedesco apparently endured this for 17 years.
Tedesco relates some of his deep emotional/homosexual attachments to fellow seminarians. I really could identify with those stories; I had similar experiences in my own religious life days. But I was in the Church in the 1960s. Tedesco's story starts in 1978. How could he have been so unaware of homosexuality?
The fact that all this happened decades after Stonewall seems a reminder to us in the gay movement that our message about the real nature of homosexuality—and especially the spiritual side of gay consciousness—isn't reaching the youth who need to hear it. As a devout teenager longing for God, Tedesco should have been told that acknowledging his gayness would have been a faster path to the divine that going off to Rome.
All former seminarians will enjoy this book. The stories about the "living saint" and the traditional life at the seminary at San Vittorino are just precious. There's a pedestrian honesty and simplicity about the way Tedesco relates the life of a young priest that all readers can find appealing. I enjoyed this book.


MB was pretty chuffed when she stumbled upon a stall at the Cairns' Rusty's Markets selling locally grown organic vanilla. She had quite a chinwag with the grower, Russell Spanton, who with his wife, Mary, grows the vanilla in Port Douglas and are the first commercial vanilla growers in Australia.
Russell has had the vanilla tested by the CSIRO and was told it has 4 times more vanilla content than any other beans tested, including beans from Tonga, Tahiti, PNG and Madagascar.
Russell also shared some of his colourful experiences with other local vanilla growers, lots of argy bargy going on. Up until encountering Vanilla Australia (vanillaaustralia@bigpond.com) at Rustys Markets MB had no idea any vanilla beans for commercial sale were even being grown in FNQ.
MB did of course purchase some beans but as yet hasn't used them. She's planning to make some crème brûlée soon and will report back.


text:
Weston Words, with Kamal Al-Solaylee
Submitted by Grace on November 6, 2012 - 10:46am
Today's edition of our Weston Words series features nominee Kamal Al-Solaylee. Kamal is the author of Intolerable: A Memoir of Extremes (HarperCollins Canada).
The Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction is the country's newest and biggest non-fiction prize. To be awarded on November 12, 2012, the prize honours the country's finest work of non-fiction with a $60,000 prize purse. Now in its second year, the prize has emerged as a tastemaker for readers and a career highlight for its winners and nominees.
Kamal talks to Open Book about screening calls, multiple versions of the truth and the non-fiction book that changed his life.
Join us throughout the week as we speak with all five finalists for the Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction!
Kamal Al-Solaylee:
Intolerable: A Memoir of Extremes is a personal memoir set against the last five decades in the life of the Middle East, using my family's experience (and my own) as a thread. My main goal was to trace the shift in the region from the secular world and the promise of the postcolonial era (the 1950s and '60s) to the current confrontations of political Islam and the Arab Spring. It's also a coming-out narrative and a love letter to Canada and Toronto where I found my home and place in the world.
Where were you when you received news of your nomination? Did you celebrate your nomination in any way?
I was home getting ready to go to work when I got the call. I'm a compulsive call screener and rarely pick up the phone. When I saw the "Writers' Trust" on the call display I thought someone there was trying to get me into jury duty and was about to let the call go into voicemail when, on a whim, I picked up the call. (This is all on my landline, which, I realize, makes me look like such a relic. So many of my friends and almost all of my students don't have landlines anymore.) I didn't even know that my book would be eligible for, or was submitted to, any award. So when I say it was a surprise, I really, really mean it.
I didn't celebrate until after the news was officially announced on Sept. 25. I didn't want to jinx it. My colleagues at Ryerson's School of Journalism took me out for drinks at the Queen and Beaver pub on Elm Street. The faux-colonial setting seemed just right.
While I believe that a good novel tells us more about life than life itself, I've become quite enamored with nonfiction's disciplined approach while writing this book. Readers have some kind of guarantee that, despite the fictional techniques, the writing is anchored in the historical or personal truths of the moments being recalled or reconstructed. I say truths because, of course, common sense dictates that there are several versions of the truth in any given situation. Still, the adherence to truth telling, verification and attribution in nonfiction — qualities that I describe as journalistic — invites readers not to suspend their disbelief and share the author's journey, warts and all. Part of me thinks suspension of disbelief is highly overrated anyway.
I have to go with a former finalist (2010) for this very same prize, The Dog in the Cradle, the Serpent Beneath: Some Paradoxes of Human-Animal Relationships by Erika Ritter, because it's a book that changed my life. I converted to vegetarianism after reading it, but that's just the lightest of its impacts. The book came into my life at a moment when I was struggling with the weight of family and romantic issues. It helped me find a release for my emotions in the world of animal rights. I have a dog that I absolutely adore. His unconditional love never fails to astound me. If only we can learn from our pets. I know this makes me sound naïve and wide-eyed but it'll be a better world when we actually discover that all that matters in life is this: love, food, a roof over your head and a daily walk in the park. All else is gravy.
Not much, I'm afraid. It's still in the early-development stage. But it's a book that looks at race in an entirely different light from the traditional black-versus-white dichotomy.
Kamal Al-Solaylee
has a Ph.D. from the University of Nottingham and is an associate professor at Ryerson University's School of Journalism. Previously, he was the national theatre critic for the Globe and Mail. He lives in Toronto.
For more information about Intolerable: A Memoir of Extremes, please visit the HarperCollins Canada website.
For more information about the Writers' Trust of Canada, please visit their website.
Tue February 4, 2014
Book Lovers Ball Interview Series, with Steven Galloway
Submitted by Grace on February 4, 2014 - 3:04pm
It's almost time for the Book Lover's Ball! In just two days, more than 50 of Canada's best-loved writers will gather at the Royal York Hotel as part of a fundraiser for the Toronto Public Library.
As the gala approaches, we're talking to several guest authors to get the inside scoop on the books, the readers and the black tie looks.