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Modi absence hangs over BJP meet as party president expected to get second term
By Poornima Joshi
Sanjay Joshi, Senior Bharatiya Janata Party Leader is a special invitee
At a meeting where BJP president Nitin Gadkari is expected to get an unprecedented second term as chief through an amendment of the party constitution, the absence of the party's strongman from Gujarat - Narendra Modi - has overshadowed all other discussions.
Modi has apparently refused to attend the meeting of the BJP's two-day national executive, scheduled to start from Thursday, unless his bête noire Sanjay Joshi is booted out.
The message is Modi will come only if there is not even a shadow of Joshi in Mumbai. Joshi is not a member of the national executive but he has received an invitation to attend the meeting.
'I am in Mumbai and I have heard nothing of the sort. I am here,' Joshi said, refusing to acknowledge the speculations about Modi not attending the meeting because of him.
However, it was said that the RSS stalwarts - Mohan Bhagwat, Suresh Joshi and Dattatreya Hosbole - were being pressed into service to convince Modi to attend the meeting.
Modi's condition - to throw out Joshi - is clearly cast in stone. There is a lot of debate among the delegates in Mumbai and the speculation is that the RSS is veering towards the idea that they may just have to swallow their pride and agree to Modi's demand.
The services of Modi's close friend Arun Jaitley, too, were being employed to placate him. Some said that the compromise struck by the RSS would be such that Modi will propose Gadkari's name as president for one more term.
RSS stalwarts have reportedly been pressed into service to change Narendra Modi's mind
'You just watch. Anything can happen,' a source said. However, if Joshi is indeed asked to stay away from the executive meeting to accommodate Modi, it will be a clear comedown for the Sangh that had forced Joshi back into the BJP with the help of their candidate in the president's post – Gadkari.
This was literally showing the red rag to Modi, who has a long-standing feud with Joshi. He became Gujarat organising secretary after Modi had been ousted by Keshubhai Patel.
Modi became a general secretary at the central BJP but never forgave Joshi for replacing him in Gujarat. Gadkari achieved the impossible by re-inducting Joshi, languishing in wilderness, for Uttar Pradesh assembly elections.
This annoyed the Gujarat CM so much that he did not put in an appearance in UP. Very few leaders in the BJP, with the exception of Sushma Swaraj, dare to cross Modi in such a blatant fashion.
The BJP president has never been apologetic about his decision, confirming as he did to this correspondent at a meeting in Delhi in the run-up to the UP elections.
'The idea is to resurrect the party, build the party, to persuade people who have left to come back…I am very positive about UP.
'This is especially true about Sanjay Joshi and Narendra Tomar. Uma Bharti too has played a crucial role. Let us hope for the best,' he had said.


If you weren't able to attend the workshop on the 15th, you missed a great event! I walked attendees through different options for addressing their walls and explained some tips and tricks that I use to hang items safely. Several brought pictures of their rooms which we scanned and added items in digitally. It was a John Madden moment for me.
In other news related to the "day job," I'll be transferring to the Long Island district in November so if you live in Stamford and have been considering CSD services, now is the time to make an appointment.
One of the highlights of my recent road trip was a stop at the Edward J. Kaufmann house, better known as Fallingwater. It's one of Frank Lloyd Wright's iconic designs and totally worth the trip--even if you're not a design geek like me. I visited Oak Park during my trip to Chicago a few years ago and knew that my visit to Western PA would not be complete without seeing Fallingwater in person.
While on my Midwest road trip, I got to visit a great vintage shop in Cleveland called Flower Child. I kept going from one great find to another exclaiming over the great deals. Perhaps my jaded New York City self is too use to the inflated prices because I found myself wishing I'd rented a Uhaul instead of a sedan. The fabulous Lucite dining set featured here? $600. And that wasn't even the best deal!
If you're 17-21 years old, there's a good chance you're making final arrangments to get everything ready for the next year at college. Ah to be young and carefree--those were good times. And while those of us a few (or maybe 10ish) years removed from college can't enjoy all the spoils of collegiate life, we can take advantage of some great deals. Stores like Target, Walmart and Bed, Bath and Beyond are all offering savings on small scale furniture, kitchen items and storage.
I grabbed several boxes of place settings of plain white dishes to use as display here at the day job for only $8 (for 4 settings). But for anyone who needs small kitchen appliances or some bed linens, now is a good time to pick them up.
Throughout the hotel in Detroit, I noticed a similar floral arrangement that caught my eye, by being both attractive and simple. Tall glass cylinders with cut orchids perched in little niches or placed on tables. If you look closely, you can see the bottom of this arrangment is wrapped with a leaf to cover the cut edge. Those of us who are not so great with flowers could easily handle this arrangment.
While in Detroit, I stayed at the Westin downtown, which is definitely one of the nicer hotels in the city. Let's just say the "Heavenly" moniker for the bed was certainly appropriate. The room features comfy beds, attractive lighting and a stylish bath. So why did it leave me feeling so cold?
I have recently returned from terrifically fun three city tour through the Mid West. Or the "rust belt", to be more exact. Just one adventure in my mission to get to every baseball stadium in the Major League. It gives me the opportunity to visit some places in America that I'd probably never get to any other way. Like Detroit, for instance, which was the first stop. And that also means finding some some surprising design inspiration along the way.
I wanted to share an update on the home staging project I worked on a few months ago. Now that it's officially sold, I can share the great news I heard from the broker who contracted me. After six months on the market with no offers and potential buyers saying the apartment was both too small and too expensive, it sold for full asking price within one week!
If you have a home you're trying to sell, get in touch with me today so we can work together and get it sold!
The real estate market is a lot like the dating scene. You only get one chance to make that all important first impression and you don't get a whole lot of time to do it. And, much like dating, a lot of the screening is done online. MLS, Century 21, and Remax are just a few of the realtors that feature listings online to generate interest. So if your home is on the market, it's critical that you take excellent pictures to show your home in the very best light. New York 1 has a video with some helpful information to help you do this. And, of course. CSD offers Home Staging services to help get your home ready for its closeup. .


Level 1, 720 New Canterbury Road, Canterbury NSW.
Sharon Brideson decorates cakes for special occasions, weddings, birthdays, engagements and more from her studio in Leichhardt, New South Wales. Contact Sharon today to order your cake.
"At Heidi's Dream Cakes we have a passion for all things cake and sweet. We are award winning, as we pride ourselves on the attention to detail and the finish of your cake. Our cakes range from modern to traditional and every cake dream is answered.


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Google, LG to announce new Nexus phone
By Christina DesMarais
PCWorld	 Oct 6, 2012 8:14 am PDT
Google and LG are reportedly preparing to launch a Nexus smartphone modeled on the Optimus G.
Like the Optimus G, the still-to-be-named new Nexus handset will be one of the first quad-core smartphones on the U.S. market when it launches, reports say.
And LG may not be the only electronics manufacturer to unveil a Nexus phone, reports CNET, which says that several phone makers will get a turn at making a Nexus device. Consider this: Samsung manufactured the Nexus S and Galaxy Nexus, Asus made the Nexus 7 tablet and HTC built the original Nexus One.
While other phones have shipped with quad-core processors this year, they've all used Nvidia's Tegra 3 chip, which lacked an integrated modem for 4G LTE. That made it a non-starter for U.S. carriers, who instead opted for dual-core processors in phones such as the Samsung Galaxy S III, HTC One X and HTC Evo 4G LTE.
While the new LG Nexus phone will be based on the Optimus G, it will look different and be modified to fit into the Nexus program , which mandates that it ships with a stock version of Android, has the hardware power to run all "Nexus Games," and supports Google Wallet, meaning it's capable of near field communications (NFC).
LG's Optimus G uses a 1.5 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro, a quad-core processor with LTE support. The chip promises more responsive photo capture, faster loading of large files and speedier Web browsing. It also features a powerful Adreno 320 GPU for high-end gaming, and supports 5.1 surround-sound playback.
According to Modaco, LG's new Nexus phone will run Android 4.2 and offer wireless charging, 2 GB of RAM, a 1,280×768 True-HD IPS display, an 8-megapixel camera, and, unfortunately, a battery that can't be removed. It also won't have a microSD slot and will only come with 8GB to 16GB of internal storage.
If the rumored LG Nexus phone becomes a reality, it will be the first time the South Korean company participates in Google's Nexus program.
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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DoD drops plan to give exchange shopping benefits to more than a half million DoD civilians
Karen Jowers
DoD civilians won't be allowed to shop in exchanges in U.S., for now. (AAFES)
A proposal to give military exchange shopping privileges to more than a half million Department of Defense civilians is dead, according to defense officials.
"DoD is not pursuing military exchange access for DoD civilian employees at this time," said DoD spokeswoman Lisa Lawrence, in response to a question from Military Times. She had no comment about why the proposal has been dropped.
This is a reversal in direction for DoD since October, when an official said the proposal to give exchange shopping privileges to DoD civilians was working its way through the final stages of the approval process.
At that time, the official said it would probably be after Election Day before the initiative got final approval. It was expected to bring in about 575,000 new eligible customers into exchanges, said Berry Patrick, who works in the DoD Office of Morale, Welfare and Recreation and Nonappropriated Fund Policy, during an Oct. 20 virtual conference of the American Logistics Association.
There are about 796,000 DoD civilians in the U.S., but about 221,000 of those employees already have exchange benefits resulting from another beneficiary category such as retiree or military spouse, he said. The new benefit would have applied to both appropriated fund and nonappropriated fund employees, he said. The shopping benefit would have applied only for exchanges, not commissaries. DoD civilians stationed outside the U.S. have exchange shopping privileges.
Nicole Russell, government relations deputy director for the National Military Family Association, said the organization is aware of the differing opinions surrounding the proposal, while acknowledging that NMFA represents the interests of military families, not DoD civilians.
Some active duty members and family members contend that the benefit was not intended for DoD civilians, she noted. Commissaries and exchanges exist primarily for active duty service members and their families.
However, there's an argument that expanding the shopping base to include DoD civilians would also bring more sales revenue to the military exchanges, providing more money for morale, welfare and recreation programs on installations. Part of the profits from the military exchanges goes back to the service branches for MWR programs, and exchanges and MWR programs have been hit hard by the pandemic.
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"Any move or policy change that would increase revenue for exchanges, thereby increasing the funding available for MWR is positive for our military families," she said.
DoD civilians are on the base every day, DoD's Patrick noted in October. Based on projections of the civilians' buying patterns, he said, DoD estimated exchange sales could increase by about $287 million a year, with a potential increase of $48 million in profits going back to support the services' MWR programs. DoD has been deliberating the policy change for about three years.
The American Logistics Association will continue to pursue expanding shopping privileges to DoD civilians, said Steve Rossetti, president of the association, which represents businesses that sell to commissaries, exchanges and retail MWR activities. "The stores have sufficient capacity and would provide a great convenience and source of vital products for these DoD civilians, especially critical during the pandemic," he said.
"Civilians work side by side with their military counterparts, making huge contributions in service to the nation," he said. "For exchanges, civilian patronage would increase contributions to vital on-base MWR programs that have suffered huge financial losses due to the loss of traffic during the pandemic."
The American Federation of Government Employees had no comment on DoD's move to drop the proposal.
One indicator of the popularity of the benefit among DoD employees was the situation in March as the pandemic hit, when DoD gave base commanders temporary authority to give commissary and exchange privileges to DoD civilians and contractor employees considered mission critical. Many people misinterpreted that to mean that every DoD mission-critical civilian employee automatically got those privileges, and DoD officials were getting phone calls from those potential customers, Patrick said.
But it was up to each installation, and some commanders gave the privileges while others didn't, for various reasons such as concern about the strains on the supply chain's ability to provide enough products for the stores during the pandemic.
In May, 2019, officials in the Department of Homeland Security took a step for its civilian employees similar to the proposal that DoD has rejected, giving access to all Coast Guard exchanges to the more than 200,000 civilian employees in all DHS agencies.
About Karen Jowers
Karen has covered military families, quality of life and consumer issues for Military Times for more than 30 years, and is co-author of a chapter on media coverage of military families in the book "A Battle Plan for Supporting Military Families." She previously worked for newspapers in Guam, Norfolk, Jacksonville, Fla., and Athens, Ga.
More than a million military retirees, spouses now eligible for COVID vaccination
Jill Biden names director for military families program Joining Forces
Darlene Superville, The Associated Press
Spouses: Help researchers delve into long-term effects of military life
OPM places senior position applications on hold
Jessie Bur


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US Sanctions Libyan Militia Accused of Human Rights Abuses
The U.S. Treasury Department has imposed sanctions on Mohamed al-Kani and his Kaniyat militia in Libya for alleged human rights abuses.
The move came after Russia prevented the United Nations from sanctioning the group last week, Reuters said.
The Treasury Department said the Kaniyat militia killed civilians recently found in multiple mass graves in the western Libyan city of Tarhouna. Additionally, the group engaged in torture and forced disappearances, according to a statement Wednesday.
According to Treasury, the militia gained control in Tarhouna over several years while detaining, torturing and killing civilians. In 2019, it changed allegiance from Libya's internationally recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) to the Libyan National Army (LNA), giving that group a foothold near Tripoli during its offensive against the Libyan capital.
The statement said that in June 2019, after a de facto truce, GNA-aligned forces re-entered Tarhouna and discovered at least 11 mass graves containing the bodies of civilians previously detained by the Kaniyat militia, including women, children and elderly.
"Some of the deceased appeared to have been tortured, burned or buried alive," the statement said.
"Mohamed al-Kani and the Kaniyat militia have tortured and killed civilians during a cruel campaign of oppression in Libya," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in the statement. "The United States stands with the Libyan people and will use the tools and authorities at its disposal to target human rights abusers in Libya and across the world."
Those sanctioned will be blocked from accessing property interests in the U.S.
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What should property managers look for when they return to their buildings after a major storm? Find out in our latest article.
When Is The Best Time to do a Landscape Renovation on your Commercial Property?


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India mulls adopting international standards on drug inspections, manufacturing
India Prime Minister Narendra Modi
India's pharmaceutical regulators are considering whether to take the rigid steps necessary to join international drug inspection systems. The actions are considered necessary if India is to become more of an exporting nation, but some pharmas are cautious.
The Commerce Ministry invited stakeholders to discuss the idea of joining the Pharmaceutical Inspection Convention and Pharmaceutical Inspection Cooperation Scheme, together known as PIC/S with Switzerland headquarters. Forty-five nations are members of the organization.
India, particularly under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his "Make in India" program, has long contemplated encouraging the nation to become more of an exporting country and less of an importing one, including in pharmaceuticals.
To make that leap, however, the PIC/S members in particular are somewhat leery about India's drug production system and require it to comply with stronger regulations before allowing its wares on their local markets. Thus the Commerce Ministry's interest in meeting PIC/S standards and joining the group.
Although that might appear to be ideal for Indian drugmakers, the small and medium ones have raised concerns that adhering to the tough international standards would impose a hardship on them by increasing their costs of compliance. That, they fear, would rob them of the ability to keep their prices low, their main selling point abroad.
As those and even the large Indian pharmas have found, however, the mainly developed world is making it harder for them to sell those drugs on their markets. Many of the largest Indian drugmakers have shuttered production plants after they were caught short in complying with accepted standards.
Pharmexcil director general P.V. Appaji
Among the matters expected to be discussed as officials weigh the pros and cons are studies the government asked various groups to perform in advance. One was by the Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council on the impact of making a move toward PIC/S. Pharmexcil recently submitted a draft to Commerce.
The consideration has become particularly timely since PIC/S itself is considering an expansion of its rule beyond inspections of production to good clinical and good pharmacovigilance practices, broadening the number of standards India drug exporters would have to meet.
P.V. Appaji, Pharmexcil's director general, told the Economic Times the impact already was being felt as PIC/S members insist on compliance with their standards when placing government orders. He said even small countries without regulatory expertise are insisting on PIC/S compliance.
- here's the story from The Economic Times


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Q: .NET Core Web API Updating a model in the database context wont work I am coding a little Service called Cart.API that i supposed to handle all Add/Update/Delete Requests on my database (I am using docker, therefore i am hosting a MSSQL Database on a docker container). Right now, i am stuck at the method DeleteCatalogItemAsync.
This is the code of the CartController.cs:
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using Cart.API.Models;
using Cart.API.Services;
using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc;
using Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore;

namespace Cart.API.Controllers
{
    [ApiController]
    [Route("api/[controller]")]
    public class CartController : ControllerBase
    {
        private readonly CartContext _context;
        private readonly ICartService _cartService;
        private readonly ICatalogService _catalogService;

        public CartController(CartContext context, ICartService cartService, ICatalogService catalogService)
        {
            _context = context;
            _cartService = cartService;
            _catalogService = catalogService;
        }

        [HttpGet]
        [Route("cart/{id}")]
        public bool CartExists(int id)
        {
            return _context.UserCarts.Any(cart => cart.Id == id);
        }

        [HttpGet]
        [Route("entries")]
        public async Task<ActionResult<List<CartModel>>> GetAllCartAsync()
        {
            var cartList = await _context.UserCarts.Include(cart => cart.Items).ToListAsync(); //include needed to load Items List
            if (cartList == null)
            {
                return NoContent();
            }

            return cartList;
        }

        [HttpGet]
        [Route("entries/{id}")]
        public async Task<ActionResult<CartModel>> GetCartByIdAsync(int id)
        {
            var cart = await _context.UserCarts.Where(b => b.Id == id).Include(m => m.Items).SingleOrDefaultAsync();

            return cart ?? new CartModel(id);
        }

        [HttpPut]
        [Route("entries")]
        public async Task<ActionResult> AddCartItemAsync([FromBody] AddCartItemRequest requestItem)
        {
            if (requestItem == null || requestItem.Quantity == 0)
            {
                return BadRequest("Invalid payload");
            }

            //Check, if cart already exists or a new one has to be added
            var cartExists = await _cartService.CheckCartExistance(requestItem.CartId);

            //Get or create cart object by the requested Id
            var currentCart = await _cartService.GetCartByIdAsync(requestItem.CartId);

            //Get Catalog Item
            var catalogItem = await _catalogService.GetCatalogItemByIdAsync(requestItem.CatalogItemId);

            currentCart.Items.Add(new CartItem(catalogItem.Id, catalogItem.Name, catalogItem.Price, requestItem.Quantity));

            if (!cartExists)
            {
                _context.UserCarts.Add(currentCart);
            }
            else
            {
                _context.UserCarts.Update(currentCart);
            }

            await _context.SaveChangesAsync();

            return Ok(currentCart);
        }

        [HttpDelete]
        [Route("entries/remove")]
        public async Task<ActionResult> DeleteCatalogItemAsync([FromBody] DeleteCartItemRequest requestItem)
        {
            if (requestItem == null)
            {
                return BadRequest("Cannot perform action");
            }

            //Check if Basket exists
            var basketExists = await _cartService.CheckCartExistance(requestItem.CartId);

            if (basketExists)
            {
                //var currentCart = await _context.UserCarts.Include(model => model.Items).SingleOrDefaultAsync(model => model.Id == requestItem.CartId);

                var currentCart = await _cartService.GetCartByIdAsync(requestItem.CartId);
                if(currentCart != null)
                {
                    var itemToDelete = currentCart.Items.Find(model => model.ProductId == requestItem.CatalogItemId);
                    currentCart.Items.Remove(itemToDelete);
                    //currentCart.RemoveCartItem(requestItem.CatalogItemId);
                    _context.UserCarts.Update(currentCart);
                    await _context.SaveChangesAsync();
                    return Ok();
                }

                return BadRequest("Das Item mit der ID " + requestItem.CatalogItemId + " konnte nicht gelöscht werden.");
            }
            return NotFound("Es existiert kein Warenkorb mit der ID " + requestItem.CartId);
        }

        [HttpGet]
        [Route("test")]
        public async Task<ActionResult> TestCall()
        {
            var test1 = await _catalogService.GetCatalogItemByIdAsync(1);
            return Ok(test1);
        }
    }
}

CartService.cs:
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Net.Http;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using Cart.API.Models;
using Newtonsoft.Json;

namespace Cart.API.Services
{
    public class CartService : ICartService
    {
        private readonly HttpClient _client;

        public CartService(HttpClient client)
        {
            _client = client;
        }

        public async Task<IEnumerable<CartModel>> GetAllCartsAsync()
        {
            var stringContent = await _client.GetStringAsync("http://cart.api/api/cart/entries");
            return JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<List<CartModel>>(stringContent);
        }

        public async Task<CartModel> GetCartByIdAsync(int id)
        {
            var stringContent = await _client.GetStringAsync("http://cart.api/api/cart/entries/" + id);
            var cart = !string.IsNullOrEmpty(stringContent) ? JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<CartModel>(stringContent) : null;
            return cart;
        }

        public async Task<bool> CheckCartExistance(int cartId)
        {
            var stringContent = await _client.GetStringAsync("http://cart.api/api/cart/cart/" + cartId);
            return JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<bool>(stringContent);
        }
    }
}

CartModel.cs
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.ComponentModel.DataAnnotations;
using System.ComponentModel.DataAnnotations.Schema;
using Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore;

namespace Cart.API.Models
{
    public class CartModel
    {
        [DatabaseGenerated(DatabaseGeneratedOption.None)]
        public int Id { get; set; }
        public List<CartItem> Items { get; set; }

        public CartModel(int id)
        {
            Id = id;
            Items = new List<CartItem>();
        }

        public bool RemoveCartItem(int id)
        {
            var itemToDelete = Items.Find(m => m.ProductId == id);
            return Items.Remove(itemToDelete);
        }

    }
}

CartItem.cs
using System.ComponentModel.DataAnnotations;
using System.ComponentModel.DataAnnotations.Schema;

namespace Cart.API.Models
{
    public class CartItem
    {
        [Key]
        [DatabaseGenerated(DatabaseGeneratedOption.Identity)]
        public long Id { get; set; }
        public long ProductId { get; set; }
        public string ProductName { get; set; }
        public double ProductPrice { get; set; }
        public int ProductQuantity { get; set; }
        public CartItem(long productId, string productName, double productPrice, int productQuantity)
        {
            ProductId = productId;
            ProductName = productName;
            ProductPrice = productPrice;
            ProductQuantity = productQuantity;
        }
    }
}

So, in the method DeleteCatalogItemAsync of the CartController.cs, i am trying to provide the functionality to be able to delete an existing CatalogItem. Therefore, i am calling the cartService to retrieve the basket where the item should be removed from, before i actually remove the CatalogItem out of the cart's list. My problem is, that with the provided code above, the CatalogItem isnt being deleted out of the database, because somehow the changes to the currentCart object arent saved to the database. As far as i know, the currentCart object is untracked, so before saving the object to the database, i am calling the .Update method to start tracking the item and mark all properties as modified.
var itemToDelete = currentCart.Items.Find(model => model.ProductId == requestItem.CatalogItemId);
currentCart.Items.Remove(itemToDelete);
_context.UserCarts.Update(currentCart);
await _context.SaveChangesAsync();

I played around with the order of the code from above, and somehow saving the changed object to the dababase works with this order of the code:
var itemToDelete = currentCart.Items.Find(model => model.ProductId == requestItem.CatalogItemId);
_context.UserCarts.Update(currentCart);
currentCart.Items.Remove(itemToDelete);
await _context.SaveChangesAsync();

Why is this solution working but not the first one?

A: This line of code below will attach the currentCart instance of entity to DBContext, start tracking of the entity, and set entity state to Modified
_context.UserCarts.Update(currentCart);

Next line of codet currentCart.Items.Remove(itemToDelete) will cause itemToDelete entity state to Deleted.
If you call
currentCart.Items.Remove(itemToDelete); before calling context.UserCarts.Update(currentCart); since currentCart object is not tracked by DbContext so itemToDelete entity will not be marked as Deleted.
As a result, there will not be any way for EntityFramework to know that this entity needs to be deleted on calling the Save method
Hope it helps

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Russia is the world's largest exporter and second largest producer of natural gas after the United States and receives more than 50% of its revenues from oil and gas. Russia has been diligently working to establish its credentials as a 'reliable' supplier of natural gas in the international markets. Recently having annexed Crimea from Ukraine, Russia has invited the wrath of the US and the European Union. Importance of Ukraine in Russian energy supply to Europe is highlighted by the fact that 40% of Russia's natural gas supplies to Europe pass through Ukraine and this fuel keeps the factories running and electricity flowing throughout Europe. Against this Russian bravado in Ukraine, the US and the EU have slapped sanctions on Russia and are threatening to raise the stakes. As a result EU has been looking for options other than Russia for its fuel as Russia is one of the leading fuel supplier to the European nations with 30% of their gas requirements being met by it. This certainly poses a threat to Russian economic interests and the same time gives an upper hand to the West in dealing with the Ukraine-Crimea crisis.
The complexities and the tensions have been further flared up the recent shooting down of the Malaysian passenger airliner over the Ukrainian territory for which the West and Ukraine have blamed Russia supported-rebels. Another incident which is adding fuel to this fire is that of Russian military test-firing Topol intercontinental ballistic missile from its northern test site in Plesetsk, as well as test-firing of several shorter-range missiles from its submarines in the Northern and Pacific Fleets. Russia has not just stopped at this but has accelerated other military manoeuvres. This involves the launch of air-to-surface rockets by Tu-95 strategic bombers that too from strategically sensitive Western Russia, and the very importantly entry of Northern Fleet armada led by the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov straight into the English Channel.


Travelers often overlook Washington's Grays Harbor. British captain George Vancouver did when he sailed north along the Pacific Coast in 1792. Northbound Oregonians and Californians often bypass it today for the more familiar Puget Sound. For those in the know, however, the area lures with seaside recreation, uncluttered beaches, and a lingering sense of history.
Two long spits of land, one from the north, the other from the south, embrace the harbor mouth and offer very different coastal experiences. Ocean Shores lies along the northern spit and Westport perches on the southern, with the twin cities of Aberdeen and Hoquiam between them where the highway divides. Homeported in Aberdeen, the Lady Washington, a 170-ton tall ship, is a full-size replica of another ship commanded by Robert Gray. She's a beauty painted in period colors of bright blue, yellow, and red.
Call it serviced apartments, furnished accommodations, interim housing, temporary suites, corporate housing, temporary furnished housing, furnished corporate housing, temporary furnished apartments, corporate accommodations, temporary accommodations, furnished corporate apartments, serviced accommodations, temporary housing, furnished short-term housing, temporary serviced apartments, furnished short-term housing, temporary corporate apartments or furnished temporary apartments chances are that SuiteNet members can accommodate you in Aberdeen, Washington.


What does it mean to be "counterfeited" in the game of poker? What is the definition of the term "counterfeited" in poker?
In poker, being "counterfeited" means that your hand has been made to be practically worthless thanks to two pairs appearing on the board.
For instance - let's say that you are holding 5-6 of hearts. The board brings 5-A-A, giving you Aces and Fives. If nobody else is holding an Ace, there is a chance that you are ahead in the hand.
Thanks to the two Kings that have been dealt, your pair of Fives has now been "counterfeited". The board now has two pair, Aces and Kings, counterfeiting your Aces and Fives.
So, if somebody else in the hand is holding something like Q-J, they would now be ahead of you in the hand (their Queen would play, giving them Aces and Kings with a Queen kicker).
Unless you can bet your opponents off of their hands, there is no chance that you will win the hand - not unless, of course, somebody is holding something like 2-4.


text:
Justia Patents Synchronous FiltersUS Patent for Apparatus for matching a variable load impedance with an RF power generator impedance Patent (Patent # 5,654,679)
Apparatus for matching a variable load impedance with an RF power generator impedance
An apparatus for matching the variable impedance of a load with the fixed impedance of a radio frequency (RF) power generator to provide maximum power transfer. The impedance matching network further allows an RF power generator to vary the frequency of the voltage applied to a load, e.g., a plasma chamber as may be utilized in semiconductor or flat panel plasma display manufacturing processes. The impedance matching network further utilizes fixed solid state components to adjust the impedance of the attached load to provide maximum power transfer between the generator and the load. A parallel switched capacitor network is controlled by an electrical switching means such as PIN diodes to turn fixed capacitors on or off. A means for varying the frequency of the applied voltage is used to match the impedance of the load with the impedance of the RF power generator within milliseconds.
The present invention relates to the field of impedance matching networks. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for matching the impedance of a load with the internal impedance of a radio frequency (RF) power generator to provide maximum power transfer, where the frequency of the applied voltage generated by the RF power generator and the impedance of the load may independently vary.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has designated Industrial, Scientific and Medical (ISM) frequencies at 13.56 MHz, 27.12 MHz and 40.68 MHz, respectively. ISM frequencies may be radiated by equipment into the atmosphere without concern for causing radio frequency disturbances to other equipment. Plasma etch and deposition equipment manufacturers have traditionally used the 13.56 MHz frequency to operate a plasma chamber for manufacturing integrated circuits and plasma displays. However, ISM frequencies do not always provide an optimum frequency at which to operate a plasma chamber to achieve critical process steps, especially in view of decreasing integrated circuit dimensions. As a result, equipment manufacturers have developed plasma chambers that are capable of operating over a range of frequencies.
ISM-based RF power generators, however, are commonly designed to assure minimum deviation from a set ISM frequency, e.g., 13.56 MHz. In contrast, a variable frequency RF power generator ("generator") may be coupled to a load, e.g., a plasma chamber, to manipulate the frequency of the voltage applied to the load so that the load may be operated over a range of voltage frequencies. However, in an alternating current (AC) circuit, impedance is affected by the frequency of the applied voltage, which impedance, in turn, affects the transfer of power between the generator and the load. Moreover, the impedance of a plasma chamber may vary independent of the frequency of the applied voltage depending on such variables as chamber pressure, gas composition, and plasma ignition. What is needed, therefore, is an impedance matching network that allows the frequency of the applied voltage to vary while maintaining the impedance of the load with respect to the generator, i.e., the input impedance to the generator.
As is well known to those of ordinary skill in the related art, impedance for a given circuit may be comprised of both a resistive component and a reactive component, the latter of which may be either inductive or capacitive. Maximum power transfer bet,ween a generator and an attached load is achieved when the resistance of the load is equal to the internal resistance of the generator and the net reactance between the load and generator is zero. Thus, it is advantageous to counterbalance the reactance between the generator and the load to achieve a net reactance of zero. A net reactance of zero between the generator and load occurs when the impedance of the load is the conjugate of the internal impedance of the generator. Thus, if the generator has an inductive reactance, then a load that has a capacitive reactance of equal magnitude and opposite phase will result in a net reactance of zero to the circuit comprising the generator and the load, and vice versa. An impedance matching network may be utilized to maintain an input impedance that is the conjugate of the internal impedance of the generator as the frequency of the voltage applied by the generator to the load varies, and/or as the impedance of the load varies, so that maximum power transfer occurs between the generator and the load.
With reference to FIG. 1, a prior art impedance matching network 100 is illustrated. An RF power generator can be coupled to RF input 120. A load such as a plasma chamber can be coupled to RF output 130. The impedance matching network 100 ("network") comprises a phase detector 101 that samples the transmission line 108 at a fixed impedance, e.g., 50 ohms, and generates a signal over line 112 to control board 110. Control board 110 then causes servo motor 107 to turn variable capacitor 106, depending on the polarity of the phase shift between the input RF voltage and current caused by a non-linear impedance in the load, e.g., as occurs under ignited plasma conditions in a plasma chamber.
Magnitude detector 109 also samples the deviation from an impedance of, e.g., 50 ohms, on transmission line 108, and generates a signal over line 111 to control board 110 based thereon. Control board 110 then causes servo motor 103 to turn variable capacitor 102. The capacitance provided by capacitor 102 is also dependent, to a lesser extent, on the polarity of the phase shift between the RF voltage and current. The magnitude detector 109 detects the deviation from a characteristic impedance of, for example, 50 ohms. If the impedance in line 108 is greater than 50 ohms, the signal transmitted over line 111 is positive, and if the impedance in line 108 is less than 50 ohms, the signal transmitted over line 111 is negative. As can be seen, the prior art impedance matching network 100 is relatively slow because of the time needed for servo motors 103 and 107 to turn capacitors 102 and 106, respectively, to match the impedance of the generator with the impedance of the load. Moreover, the network 100 does not allow the generator to change the frequency of the applied voltage as may be desired depending on the load.
Today, semiconductor and flat panel plasma display equipment manufacturing process times are decreasing, such that the amount of time required to establish matching impedance between an RF power generator and a plasma chamber (whose operating frequency and impedance varies) is a limiting factor affecting throughput on the manufacturing line. What is needed is an impedance matching network coupling a generator to a load, e.g., a plasma chamber, that allows the generator to vary the frequency of the voltage applied to the load and utilizes fixed solid state components to rapidly and accurately adjust the input impedance of the attached load to maintain maximum power transfer to the load.
SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE
The present invention is related to the field of impedance matching networks. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for matching the variable impedance of a load with the fixed internal impedance of a radio frequency (RF) power generator ("generator") to provide maximum power transfer to the load, where the frequency of the applied voltage generated by the RF power generator and the impedance of the load may independently vary. The impedance matching network allows a generator to vary the frequency of the voltage applied to a load, for example, a plasma chamber, as may be utilized in semiconductor or flat panel plasma display manufacturing processes. The impedance matching network further utilizes fixed solid state components to adjust, within milliseconds, the input impedance of the attached load to accomplish maximum power transfer to the load. A means for varying the frequency of the applied voltage and a parallel switched capacitor network for very quickly matching the input impedance of the load with the impedance of the generator is used.
It is an object of the impedance matching network as may be utilized by the present invention to improve the performance of prior art impedance matching networks by reducing impedance matching convergence times, decrease impedance matching network circuit size for easier chamber mounting, and provide impedance load independence.
It is a further object of the present invention to increase the reliability of an impedance matching network by eliminating mechanical moving parts such as variable, vacuum-type capacitors and servo motors in favor of an electronically controlled impedance matching network having solid state components, thereby eliminating the maintenance and calibration requirements associated with prior art impedance matching networks.
The present invention is illustrated by way of example and not limitation in the following figures. Like references indicate similar elements, in which:
FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of a prior art impedance matching network as may be utilized by an RF power generator to match the impedance of the generator and an attached load;
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram providing an electrical representation of an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 4 provides a graphical analysis of the simulation of input impedance versus varying load impedance for the circuit in FIG. 3;
FIG. 5 graphically illustrates varying the frequency of voltage applied to a load; and
FIG. 6 illustrates a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a circuit diagram of the PIN diodes driver in FIG. 6.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION
Described herein is a method and apparatus for matching the variable impedance of a load with the fixed impedance of a radio frequency (RF) power generator ("generator") to provide maximum power transfer from the generator to the load, where the generator varies the frequency of the voltage applied to the load. In the following description, numerous specific details and examples are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. It will be apparent, however, to one of ordinary skill in the art that the present invention may be practiced in this or related fields without this specific information. In other instances, well-known circuits, components, and techniques have not been shown in order not to unnecessarily obscure the present invention.
OVERVIEW OF AN EMBODIMENT OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
The increasing complexity of present and future generation plasma processing requirements significantly impacts the performance requirements of radio frequency (RF) power generators and related impedance matching networks used in this field. Plasma processing equipment manufacturers continue to reduce process times, modify plasma chamber pressures and gas compositions, and decrease plasma chamber cleaning cycle times in order to increase throughput, provide consistent production and reliable performance. To that end, prior art motor driven impedance matching networks are being replaced by faster, electronically controlled impedance matching networks. As the block diagram in FIG. 2 illustrates, an embodiment of the present invention provides a solid state impedance matching network 220 ("network 220") that employs no moving electrical or mechanical parts to maintain an input impedance of, for example, 50 ohms, and allow an RF power generator 210 ("generator 210") to vary the frequency of the applied voltage around a base frequency to achieve, among other things, plasma ignition in the plasma process chamber 230 ("plasma chamber").
FIG. 3 is an electrical schematic representing the RF power generator 210, impedance matching network 220, connector 215 connecting generator 210 to network 220, and plasma processing chamber 230 coupled to network 220. The generator 210 is comprised of an alternating current power supply 301 and an internal impedance 302. The power provided by the generator 210 may be variable from 0 watts to 5 kilowatts. The generator base frequency is arbitrary. However, it is common practice in the semiconductor industry to use the ISM frequency of 13.56 MHz. The generator's internal impedance 302 is generally 50 ohms, but the impedance could be any value, as long as the cable 303 delivering power to the network 220 has the same characteristic impedance.
Within the impedance matching network 220, RF transformer 305 may or may not be utilized. The purpose of transformer 305 is to further transform the input impedance from 50 ohms to some lower value, e.g., 12.5 ohms, so that the portion of the impedance matching network to the right of the transformer 305 will operate at a lower impedance level.
A capacitance 306 is comprised of at least one fixed-value capacitor 312. In one embodiment, an additional number of capacitors may be coupled in parallel to capacitor 312, as is illustrated by capacitor 313. Sufficient capacitors may be coupled in parallel to capacitor 312 to provide, for example, 8, 16, or more discrete values. The capacitors are electrically and individually switched by respective switches in switch circuit 304. In one embodiment, diodes with a large intrinsic region between p- and n-doped semiconducting regions, hereafter referred to as PIN diodes, may be utilized to provide the switching function. In a second embodiment, switch circuit 304 is comprised of RF relays.
Inductance 307 is a fixed value as well. The value of resistance 309 is selected to maintain the capacitance 306 discharged under no plasma ignition conditions. The portion of network 220 comprised of capacitance 306, induction 307, and capacitance 308 is a typical L-type impedance matching network configuration. With respect to the plasma chamber 230, capacitive component 310 and resistive component 311 are the equivalent capacitance and resistance representing a plasma chamber when ignited.
FIG. 4 provides a graphical analysis of a simulation of input impedance versus varying load impedance for the circuit in FIG. 3, in which it is demonstrated that a constant input impedance, i.e., the impedance seen by the generator 210 from the load, is maintained by network 220 over a load impedance range of 1 to 100 ohms (typical resistive loads for ignited plasma conditions in a plasma chamber are from 1 to 100 ohms). The vertical axis 401 represents the input impedance while the horizontal axis represents the frequency of the applied voltage. In the simulation, both the frequency of the applied voltage and the resistive load component 311 are varied. The capacitive load component 310 is maintained as a constant.
Regardless of the value of the resistive load, all the curves in FIG. 4 go through point 403 where input impedance is 50 ohms and the frequency of the applied voltage is 13.56 MHz. In the case where the load is a plasma chamber, it is advantageous to select values of capacitance 306, inductance 307, and capacitance 308 in the impedance matching network 220 such that those impedance and frequency conditions are satisfied. However, it is well understood by those of ordinary skill in the related art that other values of inductance and capacitance may be chosen, depending on the type of load coupled to the impedance matching network 220.
FIG. 5 graphically illustrates a simulation of plasma ignition in a plasma chamber coupled to the impedance matching network 220 of FIG. 3, where the frequency of the applied voltage increases to slightly above 13.56 MHz, then returns to 13.56 MHz during the processing cycle within a period of milliseconds. The vertical axis 501 represents the applied voltage on capacitive and resistive load components 310 and 311 in FIG. 3, while the horizontal axis 502 represents the frequency of the applied voltage.
The analysis illustrates that the applied voltage peaks slightly above 13.56MHz at levels high enough to strike the plasma, as desired. As can be seen, the frequency of the applied voltage is swept above 13.56 MHz to the voltage peak, at which point the plasma is struck before the frequency of the applied voltage automatically returns to 13.56 MHz.
This graph illustrates a series of curves for various plasma chamber impedances. The resistive load component 311 in FIG. 3 is the characteristic impedance of the plasma chamber chemistry. While it is not necessary for purposes of understanding the present invention to fully describe the various plasma chambers, in general, this method of varying the frequency of the applied voltage is valid for all plasma chambers. It should be noted that the impedance matching network 220 develops a high voltage at the beginning of the plasma processing cycle. The high voltage is needed to start ionization and, hence, plasma ignition, as the voltage peaking in FIG. 5 illustrates. The plasma processing cycle is the elapsed time that the plasma is ignited. A typical time is a few seconds, however, in some cases, it may be longer. As will be discussed in greater detail, the impedance matching capability of the network 220 in FIG. 3 is accomplished by changing the frequency of the applied voltage and changing, via solid state components, the capacitance of the impedance matching network 220 in response thereto.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF AN EMBODIMENT OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
An impedance matching network as may be embodied by the present invention provides maximum power transfer between an RF power generator and a load, e.g., a plasma chamber. The impedance matching network provides an input impedance that matches the internal impedance of the RF power generator, typically 50 ohms, while providing an impedance to the plasma chamber that matches the varying impedance of the plasma chamber.
The impedance of the plasma chamber varies according to the stage at which it is operating. For example, before plasma ignition, the impedance of the plasma chamber is as high as 10 megaohms, while after ignition the impedance is approximately 2 ohms. When the plasma is not yet ignited, the plasma chamber is essentially a vacuum chamber and high voltages are required to ignite the plasma, hence, the high impedance. The impedance may further vary during operation, depending on a number of factors, including the size of the plasma chamber, gas chemistry, and gas pressure. At some point in the process cycle, a chemical mixture of gases is pushed into the plasma chamber. The gases may be used for etching, deposition, or cleaning target material in the plasma chamber. The ionized gases inside the plasma chamber present low impedance to the impedance matching network 220 that is supplying RF power to the plasma chamber. To maximize power transfer between the generator and the plasma chamber, the impedance matching network needs to respond to impedance changes in the plasma chamber in the shortest time reasonably possible, e.g., within 100 milliseconds or less.
The output of the impedance matching network 220 is a series resonant circuit that presents the conjugate impedance to the load for impedance matching. The present invention utilizes an L-type impedance matching network in a low pass configuration. With reference to FIG. 6, the network comprises a shunt capacitance 306 and a series inductance 307. The capacitance 306 reduces any inductive impedance in the load 230, while the inductance 307 resonates with, i.e., cancels, any capacitive reactive component present in the Load. In one embodiment, the capacitance 306 (also referred to as load capacitance) is electronically variable by way of PIN diode-controlled switch circuit 304 whenever the magnitude of the input impedance deviates from the internal impedance of the power generator 210, e.g., 50 ohms. In a second embodiment, switch circuit 304 may be controlled by RF relays (not shown).
A magnitude detector 602 samples impedance on the transmission line 603 at e.g., 50 ohms, and generates a signal 604 that switches on a bank of one or more shunt capacitors comprising capacitance 306 via their respective PIN diodes, depending on the magnitude of the input impedance which varies according to the load. The polarity of the signal governs whether there is an increase or decrease in shunt capacitance 306. In either case, the inductance provided by series inductance 307 remains unchanged.
While capacitance 306 is illustrated as having two fixed shunt capacitors C1 and C2, any number of capacitors in parallel may be utilized. The greater the number of capacitors, the more accurate the adjustment possible in matching the input impedance to the load impedance. However, from a practical point of view, there is no reason to increase the number of capacitors beyond a certain number, e.g., 8 or 16, to obtain a full range of discrete values. The capacitors being switched, e.g., C1 and C2, each have a value that is one half the value of the previous capacitor. For example, if C1=400 pF, then C2=200 pF, and capacitor C(n) is one half the capacitance of capacitor C(n-1), etc.
The phase and magnitude detectors are coupled to a directional coupler 607. The directional coupler 607 outputs two signals, 609 and 610, which represent both incident and reflective power. These signals are coupled to a controller 608. The controller 608 contains well known devices such as a multiplier/divider chip, a comparator, an analog to digital converter, and a buffer. The controller 608 evaluates the signals thus input, compares them with a reference signal, and generates control voltages to drive a PIN diode driver circuit 611. The PIN diode driver circuit 611 enables the switching devices, i.e., PIN diodes, in switch circuit 304 via lines 612 and 613. The PIN diodes are switched on according to the signals received from the PIN diode driver circuit 611, which in turn is controlled by controller 608. If the PIN diodes receive no signal, they are biased into a cutoff state, i.e., no conduction. The combination of capacitors switched on is selected for the best impedance match between the RF generator 210 and the load 230.
In FIG. 7, the PIN diodes driver is illustrated, where, for example, PIN diode 623 is turned on and capacitor 624 is thus connected to ground via a low resistance PIN diode. To turn on PIN diode 623, a control line 620 driven by controller 608, transmits zero volts, or a logical zero, turning transistor 621 on and forward biasing PIN diode 623 with current (0.5 amps of direct current in the preferred embodiment). Resistor 622 controls the DC bias current. At that high DC current in the forward direction, PIN diode 623 exhibits very low dynamic resistance (about 0.1 ohm in the preferred embodiment), thereby shorting capacitor 624 to ground. When control line 20 is driven high, e.g., 5 volts, by controller 608, the transistor 621 is in an off state--no DC current flows in the forward direction. At the same time, negative voltages (-500 volts in the preferred embodiment) appear on the p- side of the PIN diode 623, forcing the PIN diode to an off state. The LC networks 625 and 626 operate as filters resonating at the RF frequency, e.g., 13.56 MHz and not allowing RF signals to reach the power supply 614.
FIG. 6 futher illustrates phase detector 601. Whereas in the prior art illustrated in FIG. 1, the phase detector was used to control capacitance, the preferred embodiment of the present invention utilizes the phase detector only to control the frequency of the applied voltage. The phase detector 601 samples the impedance on the transmission line 603 at 50 ohms and generates a signal 605 that controls a frequency synthesizer circuit 606. To match the impedance of the load, the frequency synthesizer circuit 606 adjusts, via line 630, the frequency of the applied voltage provided by the RF generator 210 according to the phase detector signal 605. Frequency changes in the applied voltage during normal plasma chamber operation are typically less than 1 MHz. Thus, the frequency changes of the RF power generator can be limited to a commensurate upper and lower limit. It is desirable to so limit the frequency because filters and other circuits in the impedance matching network are optimized for this particular frequency range. Moreover, it is possible to stay within the 1 MHz limit and have a full range of acceptable impedance load variations.
There are, of course, alternatives to the described embodiment which are within the understanding of one of ordinary skill in the relevant art. The present invention is intended to be limited only by the claims presented below.
1. An impedance matching network coupling a radio frequency power generator (RFPG) to a load, comprising:
a phase detector coupled to said RFPG, said phase detector detecting a phase shift in a voltage and a current provided by said RFPG;
a magnitude detector coupled to said RFPG, said magnitude detector detecting a magnitude of an impedance of said load;
a first capacitance coupled in parallel to said load;
an inductance coupled in series with said load;
a second capacitance coupled in series with said load;
a switching circuit coupled to said magnitude detector for coupling and decoupling said first capacitance to ground depending on said magnitude of said impedance of said load detected by said magnitude detector.
2. The impedance matching network of claim 1 wherein said first capacitance is further comprised of a plurality of capacitors coupled in parallel to said load.
3. The impedance matching network of claim 2 wherein said plurality of capacitors equals at least 8 capacitors.
4. The impedance matching network of claim 2 wherein said plurality of capacitors equals at least 16 capacitors.
5. The impedance matching network of claim 2 wherein each one of said plurality of capacitors has a fixed value of capacitance.
6. The impedance matching network of claim 5 wherein each one of said plurality of capacitors has a value of capacitance generally one-half the value of capacitance as a previous capacitor in said plurality of capacitors.
7. The impedance matching network of claim 2 wherein said switching circuit is comprised of a plurality of diodes each coupled to one of said plurality of capacitors for coupling and decoupling said one of said plurality of capacitors to ground.
8. The impedance matching network of claim 7 wherein each one of said plurality of diodes has a large intrinsic region between a p-doped semiconducting region and an n-doped semiconducting region.
9. The impedance matching network of claim 2 wherein said switching circuit is comprised of a plurality of radio frequency relays, each coupled to one of said plurality of capacitors for coupling and decoupling one of said plurality of capacitors to ground.
10. An impedance matching network coupled to a transmission line, said transmission line coupling a radio frequency power generator to a load, said impedance matching network comprising:
a phase detector coupled to said transmission line, said phase detector detecting a phase shift in a voltage and a current on said transmission line;
a frequency synthesizer circuit coupled to said phase detector, said frequency synthesizer circuit changing the frequency of said voltage depending on said phase shift in said voltage and said current on said transmission line detected by said phase detector;
a magnitude detector coupled to said transmission line, said magnitude detector detecting an impedance on said transmission line;
a plurality of capacitors coupled to said transmission line parallel to said load;
an inductance coupled to said transmission line in series with said load;
a capacitance coupled to said transmission line in series with said load, said capacitance, said plurality of capacitors, and said inductance forming an L-type impedance matching network;
a plurality of switches, each coupled to one of said plurality of capacitors, said plurality of switches coupling and decoupling said plurality of capacitors to a ground depending on said impedance of said transmission line detected by said magnitude detector; and,
a controller coupled to said magnitude detector and said plurality of switches for controlling said plurality of switches depending on said magnitude of said impedance on said transmission line.
11. The impedance matching network of claim 10 further comprising a resistance coupled to said transmission line parallel to said load, said resistance maintaining said plurality of capacitors in a discharged state depending on said magnitude of said impedance of said transmission line.
12. The impedance matching network of claim 10 wherein said plurality of capacitors equals 8 capacitors.
13. The impedance matching network of claim 10 wherein said plurality of capacitors equals 16 capacitors.
14. The impedance matching network of claim 10 wherein each one of said plurality of capacitors has a fixed value of capacitance.
15. The impedance matching network of claim 10 wherein said plurality of switches is comprised of a plurality of diodes each coupled to one of said plurality of capacitors for coupling and decoupling said one of said plurality of capacitors to said ground.
16. The impedance matching network of claim 15 wherein each one of said plurality of diodes is a PIN diode.
17. The impedance matching network of claim 10 wherein said plurality of switches is comprised of a plurality of radio frequency relays each coupled to one of said capacitors for coupling and decoupling said one of said plurality of capacitors to said ground.
2981902 April 1961 Familier
5424691 June 13, 1995 Sadinsky
Filed: Jun 13, 1996
Assignee: RF Power Products, Inc. (Voorhees, NJ)
Inventors: Anton Mavretic (Marlton, NJ), Andrew Ciszek (Maple Shade, NJ), Joseph Stach (Medford, NJ)
Primary Examiner: Paul Gensler
Law Firm: Blakely, Sokoloff, Taylor & Zafman LLP
Current U.S. Class: Synchronous Filters (333/173); With Impedance Matching (333/32)
International Classification: H03H 740;


« EVENT: Friday the 13th Horror-a-thon!!
The GeekERIE and The Erie County Public Library are partnering to bring the role-playing goodness of Dungeons & Dragons to teens who have never played and want to learn or who are new to the game and looking for players.
The first meeting on October 28 will be character creation. We'll provide all the materials (dice included!), so all you have to do is show up with your imagination. Subsequent meetings will be an introductory campaign suitable for new players. We'll have volunteers of experienced players on-hand to help newbies make decisions, learn what their characters are capable of, and get into the role-playing experience.
NOTE: The library is closed November 11, so there will be no session that day.
Limited to 12- to 17-years-olds. No registration necessary. If you're not 12 to 17, perhaps you know someone who is or know someone who has a teen. Pass this along to them, please!


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title: Merchandise and Donations
layout: default
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text:
season 1, episode 6: mac barnett
Conversation started 17 April 2014, 12:05 p.m.
PHIL: Hey Mac, glad to have you aboard the Bus—no doubt hurtling toward the edge of a cliff. First, some awkward and forced exposition for the audience. Last week we were all in San Antonio together for TLA (Texas Library Association Annual Conference). The three of us along with Chris Van Dusen were on a panel together. I think it's pretty safe to say that all four of us were pretty unprepared. With a few hundred people in the crowd all waiting for us to say Something Important it really could have gone pretty terribly. We had a random assortment of slides at our disposal and you did as well. This is what I found fascinating and weirdly satisfying: Without any prior discussion, so many of our slides matched up. We called up a few pages from Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, and then you called up a few more. I read the first couple spreads of Leo Lionni's, Swimmy, and then you read from Fish is Fish. This weird parallelism was interesting to me because I don't really think the books we make are all that similar. And yet we seem to start from the same reference points.
Now, just to prove to you that I have no business running a interview, I yield the floor to you, having not asked a single question.
MAC: All right! I am going to proffer three possible explanations for these coincidences.
1. Our work is different, but I feel pretty good saying we're all three of us deeply interested in the history and form of the picture book. Lionni and Steig are both masters, particularly formally, and the tools and methods they perfected are ones we employ in our books, although often to different ends. But I admire their work, and I admire your work, and I feel a real affinity for it too, despite the fact that many readers probably have different experiences when they read our respective books.
2. I think that we bristle similarly at stupid orthodoxies. Sylvester and the Magic Pebble—and really most of Steig—is way too long by today's publishing standards. And Sylvester is almost unbearably sad. It's in large part a meditation on adult grief, and the grief at losing a child, no less. Both Lionni fish books have unconventional narrative structures and present moments of dread and tremendous peril (especially Swimmy). At a time when it sometimes seems there's widespread tacit agreement on what makes an Ideal Picture Book—sunny, epiphanic, plotwise hewing pretty tightly to Freytag's triangle—and when many picture books feel pretty tightly arrayed around this bullseye, Steig and Lionni are a couple of beloved titans proving a picture book can do pretty much anything.
3. I'm fairly certain that any writers worth reading love to read books very different from the ones they write.
So it looks like 2/3 of my answers blunder into speaking for all of us. Does any of this feel rightish to you?
ERIN: Hello. My job in these discussions is to mostly just interject now and again. This time, I thought I'd throw in my two cents about Sylvester. You're right—it is in large part a meditation on adult grief, but I think that's exactly one of the reasons it strikes kids. As a kid you are often reminded of a time before you were around. Everyone bigger than you has this knowledge and prehistory that you weren't there for. I think, when a moment of insecurity comes around, kids want to know that they'll be missed (when I say "kids" here I suppose I mean "all people everywhere"). They've only been here so briefly. And everyone was walking around okay without them before. So what would happen if they disappeared? It plays a part in the running-away fantasy, too. You want to run away because a.) you want to gain some control over a situation while fleeing and b.) you want to be missed.
Anyhow, that doesn't really move this conversation forward at all. But I do agree with what you're saying.
Phil, want to pick a fight here?
EDITOR'S NOTE: THE NEXT 3000 WORDS HAVE BEEN REDACTED DUE TO PHIL'S INABILITY TO NOT PICK A FIGHT.
PHIL: Nope, I think I can live with all that. I'm wondering now if Mac's ever seen Steig's Solomon the Rusty Nail. It was unknown to me until just a few days ago when I found it in a used book store here in Ann Arbor. It's even darker and stranger than Sylvester, which reads like an episode of Care Bears® by comparison.
MAC: I grew up with that book. When I was a kid I was terrified of being kidnapped, and so I loved abduction stories. Steig is such a psychological writer. A one-eyed cat, a rusty nail in a locked cage, deliverance by fire—his characters and images and plots all feel laden with millennia-worth of associations, their symbols irreducible to simple referents—the stuff of daydreams and nightmares and myth. Plus he's so good at digressions, especially when he's following his characters minds. Like when Solomon, transformed into a nail and hammered into a board, wonders whether nails die. Or this bit, when Solomon first discovers his magic talent: "His first idea was to show his family what prize pazoozle of a rabbit he was. But then he decided to keep his secret secret." It's a great little hiccup, and a lesser writer might have eliminated it in the name of picture-book economy. But it's that little darting thought that first makes us love Solomon (and later magnifies his tragedy).
PHIL: I don't know how this book flew under my radar for so long. I've talked to a few people now about it and everyone seems know it well.
I'm right with you on the "hiccups" in Steig's writing. In general it's the hiccups that can make the writing of a picture book text exciting and worthwhile. They can be just as surprising to the writer as to the reader. They can function simply as an opportunity for absurdity or as a way to suddenly make an entire universe seem real. The hiccups can also be terrifying. Because as excited as I get when they happen naturally in the writing process, I also know that I may end up having to defend their existence at some point later en route to publication.
What's your experience been here? Do you find yourself playing defense much? Or is it mostly smooth sailing?
MAC: Oh, I've definitely had to throw my body in front of the manuscript to keep the best bits from being sanded off. It's actually pretty easy to construct conventional, smooth, efficient plots, but those give me no pleasure as a reader or a writer. I like ambiguities, digressions, and surprises. Formally, because the page turn is its basic building block, the picture book is beautifully suited to surprise (and not just narrative surprise [and the surprises don't have to come at page turns]).
ERIN: Phil and I have discussed (well, pretty much every time we turn in a book and get stubborn about something or another) that when you throw your body in front of the manuscript, or illustration in my case, those battles aren't actually fun to win. I'm happy-ish to get my way, because I want the mistakes in my books (and there are mistakes) to be mine. In the end though, no one is actually happy in our experience. But the book stays true to what we thought it was, I suppose. Sorry, editors and friends.
Anyway, hi again. I am on the train to New York trying to turn in a book so I feel a little neck deep in the possibility of conflict. Just the possibility. Not the reality.
Back to your writing. Whatcha into lately? Since I am not a writer (or, "ain't no writer" would probably better demonstrate my skill level), I admire how you seem to try on all kinds of storytelling. What's your favorite? Does it just depend on what you are working on?
Also! Does anything worry you about your own writing? Anything you are tempted by but shy away from?
Okay, back to the train ride. Hi Phil.
MAC: For the past month or so I've been traveling, visiting schools, talking to kids, reading books out loud, and so I haven't been feeling particularly worried about work. I tend to be most bullish about writing during the times I'm not writing. But now that I'm home and have some time to work on stuff, I'm sure the anxiety will start creeping in. For me the toughest part is dealing with the gulf between the perfect thing in my head and the flawed thing that ends up on the page. It's a tiny tragedy every time you set something down. And sometimes the tragedy doesn't feel that tiny. And so it becomes easier to not write, and just spend my days pacing, snacking, and watching my dog watch me.
But you're right—I do like to live in different storytelling modes, project to project. Part of this, I think, is that the picture book is such a new form. Really, it's less than 100 years ago that something I can recognize as contemporary picture book writing emerges. And so there's some of the thrill of running around in terra incognita, of filling in the edges of the map. I hate repeating myself, and partly because it seems like such a waste.
But I also think working with different illustrators almost demands working in different styles. Adam Rex draws the world differently than Jon Klassen—really, they draw two completely different kinds of worlds, with different kinds of characters and social mores and physical laws. Writing for different illustrators can be like writing in different dimensions. And I think I'm probably constitutionally predisposed to like that kind of stretching. I think there's a consistent spirit that animates my stuff. But I have a philosophy, not a style.
Also, sorry I was so sluggish in my replies this last month. I sort of go into safe mode when I'm visiting schools. Email suffers. Friendships buckle. But now I'm back home and, like I said, looking for excuses not to write. How was New York?
PHIL: Oh, New York. I don't know. That city makes me very tired. I really can't explain why, but whenever we attend BookExpo I leave with a palpable feeling that my career is over. I hate to even admit that, because I know it might sound ungrateful. We had two very nice book signings. We gave a talk to a big group of librarians that I felt went pretty well. We got to catch up with some bookstore folks that we really love (Hey, Politics and Prose!). The highlight of the trip was actually a late-night hangout with our mutual friend, Jon Klassen. We were staying at a hotel across the street from Madison Square Garden, and with the whole area crawling with rabid Rangers fans, we decided to just hang out and talk till 2 a.m. in our room. So really, there was a lot to like about the trip. Maybe it's the noise, I don't know, but New York really wears on me spiritually even when everything is coming up aces.
I've learned from experience to schedule a vacation immediately following any trip to New York or else my gloom will persist. Usually we head to Northern Michigan and disappear into Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.
Sleeping Bear is the most beautiful place I know. And whenever either of us needs to get right again we just drive north. A lot of people outside the Midwest don't realize that Michigan is really a beach state. This is a-okay with me because it means the beaches are often empty. Not a lot of riffraff. A few hours on a Lake Michigan beach and I feel healthy again. It's funny, but I don't get this feeling when I visit the ocean. It's gotta be freshwater.
Have you got a place to go when things get noisy?
MAC: I'm pretty housebound. Lately I've been traveling so much that its a great luxury just to be home. But every day my dog and I go walk in the Oakland Hills in this area where a volcano fell over millions of years ago. There are newts and cows and golden eagles and I think a lot of people would be surprised that it's in Oakland. Henry (my dog) loves it up there. He runs around and flushes birds and jumps up on rocks. I get a real sense of calm when I watch Henry do what he's supposed to be doing—the things he loves most, the things he's best at.
But my main respite is reading. You read anything good lately? And how warm is the water of the edge of that dock?
PHIL: Well, that dock was at Big Glen Lake, which probably has a surface temp of about 50 Fahrenheit right now. Up there Lake Michigan is probably closer 40 degrees. So not exactly swimming temperatures yet. That's pretty unusual though. This crazy winter kept the lakes frozen way past normal. Lake Superior still has ice (it's June 9th right now, just to provide context for anyone reading this). The cold is fine by me though. I like a Lake Michigan beach as much in a blizzard as I do in the heat.
Right now I'm reading Gilead, by Marilynne Robinson. The writing is so impressive that I can't seem to read more than 4 or 5 pages at a time without overloading. So it's taking me a while. I didn't even bother bringing that book to the beach because who the hell wants to be that smart on a beach. Instead I went to one of my favorite places, The Cottage Bookstore, and picked up a page-turny bestseller that is better left nameless.It was terrible, but I liked it anyway. Erin was especially proud of her selection for the beach, but I'll let her talk about that…
ERIN: I read The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert (JK) Galbraith (Rowling) on the beach with my dog digging holes but minding the plovers. It was exactly as page-turny and easy as I wanted it to be. When I was in New York I turned in a book that I am uneasy about, but needed to finish, so it was good to have a quiet brain that was busy solving a mystery.
I really like what you said about being with your dog. I can relate.
It's one of the reasons why I desperately want to live in the country, but I know it's not always good for me. I should probably be forced to be around people every once in a while. We'll see. I still want a place with a horse and a sheep and a cow and a pig. All rescues. All misfits. We'd belong together.
How much traveling are you up to this summer? What comes out next for you?
MAC: I'm not traveling much this summer. Las Vegas for ALA in June, and then in July Jon Klassen and I are presenting at an illustration conference up in Portland. We've got a book coming out in October called Sam & Dave Dig a Hole. And in September Jen Corace and I are putting out a picture book called Telephone. And then in January I have a novel coming out that I wrote with a friend of mine. So September is sort of the event horizon.
I should be using this time to work on a novel I've had in my head for six or seven years now, but I keep just reading for it instead. "Researching," I'm calling it, but partly just putting it off, delaying that tragedy of the realized object. Here are my stacks of relevant reading. Philip, I saw from Episode 1 you're a cowboy-art buff. I don't know if your enthusiasm extends to novels, but a lot of those are westerns.
PHIL: First of all, I am going to name my next heavy metal band "The Tragedy of the Realized Object". Secondly, I love all things Western—art, movies (even the bad ones), books. The prospect of a Mac Barnett Western is very exciting.
I'm really curious now about the novel you say you're working on with a friend. Collaboration is dicey when it comes to picture book making, and picture books are inherently collaborative. Are you willing to talk about the process of collaborative novel-writing? I'm pretty sure I'm too pigheaded to co-write much of anything. Are you guys still friends?
MAC: I like collaboration, although it's important to have some things just my own, too. But working on a novel with someone else is a lot different from collaborating on a picture book. My friend Jory and I had to figure out how to write this thing together, but that's not so different from a solo project. You always have to find the way forward. And that way often changes book to book. Some of The Terrible Two was written while we sat across from each other with two laptops, sort of simultaneously composing on the same google doc. Some of it was written by just one person alone in a room, the way most books, or at least most of my books, are written. But even then, I think you're influenced by the other person you're writing with.
I actually don't find collaborating on picture books dicey at all. Or at least it rarely gets dicey. Mostly it's one of the job's great joys. Again, every book is different. Sometimes I follow all the rules and communicate only through an editor. But often, especially when I'm working with a friend, the illustrator and I are communicating through the process. Adam Rex, e.g., will send on some sketches, and mostly I'll just get very excited, but maybe we'll have a conversation that ends up being helpful to him.
The book I just did with Jon, Sam and Dave Dig a Hole—well, I've never worked like that before. Jon and I would just open an audio connection on our computers, and we'd talk while he drew. Sometimes we were talking about our book. Sometimes we were talking about books we liked. A lot of the time we were talking about lunch. The collaboration was really close, and it was good for the book. But I think we each had a lot of impact on what would normal be considered the other's domain.
This is one of my favorite spreads, and it wasn't in the original manuscript. I had to write it to set up an illustration that Jon created—the illustration that comes next—that had the two boys digging in different directions. It was a big deal to have the boys split up—even though Jon liked the drawing, and so did I, we had to talk for a long time about we could use it. Would these boys ever go in different directions? The joke was good, but that wasn't enough to justify their separation. Ultimately, though, I wrote this bit of text, and Jon, who's so good at posing and, of course, expression, drew this delicate moment. I think it reveals a lot about their relationship. It's an important moment, an emotional moment, and it ends up being a real hinge in the book.
PHIL: It occurs to me that of the people I've worked with I've actually been my own most difficult collaborator. Phil-the-author can be a real jerk to Phil-the-illustrator (it's always the illustrators getting bossed around).
GOOOOOOAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!
Sorry. The Netherlands just went up 3-2 over Australia. Where was I?
I'm constantly writing myself into situations that I can't draw my way out of. When I write for other people I really consider their strengths and try to play into them. Amos McGee was basically a list of illustrations I thought Erin could illustrate well—an old man playing chess with an elephant, an old man racing a tortoise, et cetera, et cetera.
I was the writer and the illustrator for my upcoming book, Sebastian and the Balloon.
There were a few moments in this book that really made me tear my hair out. Usually when I hit a brick wall I go ask Erin what I should do. Honestly, I don't know how people do this job without someone in-house to lean on. My favorite example of this kind of interaction came from this image:
It's a complicated moment of storytelling in the book and I just couldn't figure it out, either in composition or in tone. Literally for months I worked on this. Finally, in a moment of despair Erin doodled this for me on the back of a credit card bill:
This little ten second drawing unlocked everything and now it's my favorite spread in the book.
Sometimes it's just more fun to have others realize my stories. Partly because I can write things I wouldn't necessarily write for myself, and partly because of the possibility of surprise. I just finished a book with Matt Cordell called Special Delivery.
The book is full of imagery I never even imagined when I was writing, and the book is so much richer because of it. One of my favorite miss-it-if-you're-not-paying-attention moments is here:
On this spread my main character, Sadie, joins a group of bandits and embarks on a manic bean-eating adventure (it makes sense in the context of the book, I promise). Matt snuck in this little vignette, an homage to Apocalypse Now:
You've worked with quite a few illustrators now. Are there any more artists out there you'd really like to collaborate with? By the way, the pairing of Chris Van Dusen with President Taft is Stuck in the Bath was genius. His polished gouache style is perfect for the slick, shiny setting of a presidential bathroom. It's a book I never even would've attempted as an illustrator. Do you have a couple images from Taft that we could show?
MAC: I think the picture-book author must keep the illustrator in mind while writing. That doesn't mean you have to know who's illustrating your book when you write it (although sometimes I do) or that you have to imagine all the illustrations (in fact you shouldn't). But you must write with a consciousness that when you're finished, someone else will be taking over the story—and that the story belongs to that other person too. The good picture-book writers I know operate from this place of humility, aware they're working in a primarily visual medium. One of the writer's most important jobs is creating opportunities for the illustrator to look good. I'd imagine that this could even be true for author illustrators—that you could be setting up the other half of yourself for success. Phil, at what point, when you're working on a story, do you know whether you'll be illustrating it? And how do you know it?
PHIL: For the most part I've known what artist I'm writing for before I've set pen to paper. I am a control-freak above all else and the prospect of sending a story out into the world and letting someone else decide the artist, well that's just horrifying enough never to try it all. My controlling nature is only augmented by the fact that my formal training is not as a writer or as an illustrator—my college degree is in graphic design. I like to keep projects close so I can watch over the design. This is probably annoying to more than a few people. But design is the third layer of communication in a picture book, and bad design makes me nutty.
You may have ignored me on purpose, but in case not I'm going to re-ask the same question from my last email: Are there any more artists out there you'd really like to collaborate with?
I'm asking because I've been thinking about this question a lot myself lately. There are dozens and dozens of artists that I really admire, but only a few that I can really see myself writing for. A good artist and a good writer can be paired up and the result is not always equal to or greater than the sum of its parts. Twice in the last couple years I've had the bizarre experience of having one of my illustration heroes ask if I'd be willing to write them story. I have not acted on either offer. (See again: The Tragedy of the Realized Object).
MAC: I think I ignored most of your last set of questions. First, yes! Here's some Taft art.
And here's my favorite piece from the book. Chris sent me the original.
As for artists I'd like to work with, sure, yes, lots. Isabelle Arsenault. Sophie Blackall. Erin Stead. Tomi Ungerer, although lately I've seen him aspersing author-illustrator collaboration. Still, he was great illustrating other peoples work. Frances Face-Maker, for instance, is terrific. I'd always wanted to work with Marc Simont, and I'm sad I'll never have a chance to. Carson Ellis and I are doing a book together in the far future, which is very exciting. I feel a very deep affinity with pretty much everything she draws, and always have. I feel like her art's rhythms and my brain's are the same. Does that make sense? I can stare at her work for very long intervals.
Christian Robinson is someone I'd been wanting to work with since before he was making books, and we have something coming out next year. He texts me photos of his desk sometimes, and I get giddy.
This stage, when illustrations are just starting to come in, is probably my favorite part of making a book. It's thrilling, watching a talented artist continue telling a story I started with words.
ERIN: Come on! Ugh. I quit illustration. Why go on drawing when that is currently sitting on someone's desk somewhere? That's a neat lookin' book you've got there, Mac (by way of Mr. Robinson).
Erin Stead looks forward to working with you.
Phil, is there anything you'd like to add?
ERIN: Oh, I actually have one thing to ask you about before we all go our separate ways…
The last I spoke to you about Sam and Dave Dig a Hole you were going to try to go on tour with Jon and do events at night, geared more towards adults who love picture books. Phil and I have often found these types of events to be some of the most fun and interesting. This spring we did one in Ann Arbor where we just blathered on about some of our favorite, lesser-known picture books, and people ended up coming! It was actually a pretty fun night. Are you guys still going to do something like that in September?
I'm happy Sam and Dave are going to meet everyone soon. It's a good book.
MAC: Yeah, we're going to try that a couple of nights this tour. When I'm signing at a bookstore, adults will often hand a book over and sheepishly say, "This one's for me." But there shouldn't be any shame in liking good picture books. A good picture book may have a floor, an age below which a reader probably won't enjoy it, but it doesn't have a ceiling. Still, I can understand why an adult may feel weird being the only person in a signing line not wearing a Minecraft t-shirt. So Jon and I are going to do a couple events where we talk about the form and history of the picture book. If there's one thing I'd like to do careerwise, besides write books till I'm an old graybeard, it would be to play some part in elevating the cultural status of the picture book, which, for a lot of complicated reasons, has been unfairly diminished in the last few decades. I love picture books. They're a peculiar and wonderful art form—and I think it's largely up to the people who make them to show the world why that's true.
PHIL: Amen to that.
Well, the clock is ticking, and I've gotta get this episode posted. So how about we sign off with two easy questions?:
1. What's your favorite book out this year so far? (The why is optional.)
2. And what's your favorite Sam and Dave song?
MAC: My favorite book so far this year? Greg Pizzoli's newest, Number One Sam. I love Greg's work, and I love this book's structure—it's genuinely surprising, because the plot is driven by its main character, who is a nuanced and flawed and genuinely likable guy, and not by any received notions of how a story should unfold. And I love those little bespectacled chicks.
I'm glad you asked about the Sam & Dave song. That's easy: Hold On, I'm Coming. And the single has what I think is my all-time favorite album cover.
I'd love to hear your answers to both those questions, too.
PHIL: Well, if we had to pick just one book then I think we'd go with Lois Ehlert's The Scraps Book. It's so simple, unpretentious, and honest. The book has been helpful to me specifically because I'm currently working on a longer form picture book that is sort of diary-like. Lois's book is special but not precious, which is a bullseye I'd really like to hit as well.
We couldn't possibly name a better Sam and Dave song than that so we won't even try. And WOW that is an amazing album cover! Instead I'll sign us off with my favorite non-Sam-and-Dave Sam, Sam Cooke. My favorite Sam Cooke song is Nobody Knows the Trouble That I've Seen. This song makes me a better person. The album Night Beat gets totally worn out by both Erin and I in the studio, especially after hours.
And just for fun I'll add my all-time favorite funk-soul rarity, Swamp Dogg's Total Destruction To Your Mind. You're welcome!
Thanks a lot, Mac. We love everything you make. Your work makes our work better. I hope we all get to make books together for a long, long time.
Conversation ended 6 July 2014, 11:20 p.m.
Thanks for reading. We leave you today with Sam and Dave, bringing down the house in Norway, 1967, with the one and only Booker T and the MG's playing backup. We're gonna go out on a limb and say that this was probably most exciting thing to happen in Norway since, well, ever. Until next time…
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New James Blake & Bon Iver - "Fall Creek Boys Choir"
A little while ago we received some extremely exciting and wonderfully surprising news, that newly crowned indie king Bon Iver and British post-dubstep wunderkind James Blake were working on a collaboration together after a chance meeting at SXSW this March.
Both artists have been having an awesome year in 2011 – their respective records are most likely appear on top ten lists come December – and now, after the premier of "Fall Creek Boys Choir" on BBC Radio 1, rumours of a collaborative EP have become all the rage.
The new song features production from Blake and an auto-tuned Justin Vernon singing over a beautifully arranged electronic backdrop. Can't expect anything less from these two. Hear it below.
Bon Iver & James Blake - "Fall Creek Boys Choir"
New: James Blake + Big Boi, RZA - "Every Day I Ran" / "Take A Fall For Me"
James Blake - "You Know Your Youth"
James Blake - "What Was It You Said About Luck"