text:
Sergey Zhukov - biography, personal life, news
Published At: 22 June 2020 , 09:53 AM
Career: producer, musician
Date of Birth: May 22, 1976
Place of Birth: Dimitrovgrad, Russia
Family status: Married to Regina Burd
To the songs of Sergey Zhukov and the group "Hands Up!" the whole generation of the 90s grew. Twenty years after its creation, Sergey's team is no longer so incredibly successful, but, no doubt, his work contributed to the development of Russian pop culture after the collapse of the Soviet Union. This singer managed to create the image of "his boyfriend", and such simplicity against the background of endless cloned sex symbols fell in love with millions of CIS citizens. Sergey Zhukov is a versatile person. In addition to creating music, he is engaged in business, produces young performers and even opened his confectionery. Also, he worked as a leading sports program.
Sergey was born on May 22, 1976, in a Russian outback, the town of Dimitrovgrad, in a mixed family. Father Evgeny Zhukov was Russian, and mother Lilia Khaibullina was a Tatar by nationality. After six years, the boy had a brother. The singer says that his childhood was happy and cloudless. Sergey's mother worked as a music teacher, she instilled in the child a love of art, and at primary school age, the boy began to study piano.
Young Zhukov was interested in many sports, ranging from football and hockey to martial arts, which gained popularity in the 80s. Later Sergey became interested in bodybuilding, and this pastime almost became fatal for a teenager. Contacting a lousy company, he began to use steroids to increase muscle, which led to poor health. Only thanks to the timely intervention of his mother, Sergei was able to refuse both the company and the use of such substances.
At the age of 17, Seryozha moved to Samara and got a job on Europa Plus radio, where he became the host of the Hit-Hour dance music news program. At this radio station, he met with Alexei Potekhin, who hosted the author's program "Poteshina Poteshina."
Young people quickly agreed on music and decided to create their project "Uncle Ray and Company." "Uncle" was Sergei, because he so named for imitating the style of the famous techno musician Ray Sleingard. After several months of rehearsal, Alexey and Sergey saved up a small amount of money and went to Togliatti to record the first songs. To earn a living, friends performed at various parties and quickly gained success in Togliatti and Samara. In 1995, they went to the capital.
During this period of his creative biography, Alexey and Sergey began to create those songs that later became the basis of the group "Hands Up!" and entered the first album. Young people decided on the name and style of the new project, but otherwise, they were disastrously unlucky. A crisis was raging in the country; producers did not risk investing in dubious schemes. After two years, Zhukov and Potekhin met with producer Andrei Malikov. In spring, the duet performed at the Non-Stop 97 festival and in the same year released their first album, "Breath Evenly". 2 songs from this disc firmly settled on the tops of Russian charts, and in the press, the group was called only the opening of the year.
In 1998, "Hands Up!" Three new albums were released right away. An unprecedented take-off marked by a surprisingly large number of awards, among which - a platinum disc for the number of copies sold and the Golden Gramophone for the song "My Baby". The next few years, the group's popularity only increased, concerts held with full houses. Together with her, the number of awards among Zhukov and Potekhin also grew. In 2000, the group broke up with producer Andrei Malikov. The reasons remained unknown, and information reached the press only that there were disagreements of a financial nature. In the spring of the same year, the next album, Hello, It's Me, was released. Critics praised the new compositions, and among the audience of the collective, the song "Alyoshka" and a clip for it instantly became a hit.
In support of the new disc "Hands Up!" conducted a large-scale tour, which included the cities of Russia, CIS countries and far abroad. It is noteworthy that this album released on the B-Funky label, which Zhukov and Potekhin created to help young musical talents. In particular, the singer Murphy promoted, and the year 2000 was marked by the release of a joint composition with just-beginning singer Diana Gurtskaya. In 2001, the team released two more albums, songs of which awarded with various awards. By the turn of the millennium, there was no more popular pop group than Hands Up!
The next year was no less fruitful in the life of the team. Listeners got the opportunity to enjoy the new album, in which the performers tried to move away from the usual genre of light pop music and create something more serious. However, judging by the reaction of critics, they were not able to significantly change the situation. But the video for the song "He Kisses You" instantly became famous thanks to the participation in the filming of the travesty artist Anatoly Evdokimov.
Sergey met his first wife Elena Dobyndo in his youth, in Tolyatti, but their romance began only after both moved to Moscow. These rapidly developing relationships led to the pregnancy of Lena, which did not please her influential father, who once headed AvtoVAZ and IzhAvto. Young people played a wedding, a daughter Sasha was born in marriage. Due to constant quarrels, the couple filed for divorce. Sergey tried to make peace with his ex-wife but to no avail.
Elena and her daughter moved to the USA. Alexandra turned out to be a musically gifted girl; she became the soloist of the Russian children's theatre Lyudmila Scheible. The artist continued to see her daughter in 2014; they first appeared together in front of photo lenses. Sergey visited Chicago with a concert, where he went on stage with Alexandra.
Now harmony reigns in the artist's personal life, Zhukov is married to singer Regina Burd. They consolidated their relationship unusually - on the island of Koh Samui. The newlyweds planted a tree of love, to which they come every year.


text:
After 23 years in public safety, West Jordan fire chief to retire
Posted: Dec 28, 2017 / 11:28 PM UTC / Updated: Dec 28, 2017 / 11:28 PM UTC
WEST JORDAN, Utah (News4Utah) – The West Jordan Fire Chief is retiring after more than two decades in public safety.
When Marc McElreath joined West Jordan's public safety team in 1994, there was no fire department and the city only had about 52,000 people. Now West Jordan boast a full-service fire department with 85 firefighters and four fire stations to serve 114,000 residents.
McElreath, the city's third fire chief, served from April 2010 through December 2017. He was also assistant chief from January 2008 to April 2010. McElreath was the last person from West Jordan who was cross trained as both a police officer and a firefighter before the Public Safety Department split into two departments in 2000.
Deputy Chief Clint C. Petersen will serve as the interim Fire Chief effective Jan. 1, 2018.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
import warnings
from typing import Any, Callable, Dict, List, Optional, Sequence, Union

from torch.utils.data import Dataset
from torch.utils.data.dataloader import DataLoader as TorchDataLoader

from monai.config import KeysCollection
from monai.data.dataloader import DataLoader
from monai.data.utils import decollate_batch, no_collation, pad_list_data_collate
from monai.transforms.croppad.batch import PadListDataCollate
from monai.transforms.inverse import InvertibleTransform
from monai.transforms.transform import MapTransform, Transform
from monai.utils import first

__all__ = ["BatchInverseTransform", "Decollated", "DecollateD", "DecollateDict"]

class _BatchInverseDataset(Dataset):
    def __init__(self, data: Sequence[Any], transform: InvertibleTransform, pad_collation_used: bool) -> None:
        self.data = data
        self.invertible_transform = transform
        self.pad_collation_used = pad_collation_used

    def __getitem__(self, index: int):
        data = dict(self.data[index])
        # If pad collation was used, then we need to undo this first
        if self.pad_collation_used:
            data = PadListDataCollate.inverse(data)

        if not isinstance(self.invertible_transform, InvertibleTransform):
            warnings.warn("transform is not invertible, can't invert transform for the input data.")
            return data
        return self.invertible_transform.inverse(data)

    def __len__(self) -> int:
        return len(self.data)

class BatchInverseTransform(Transform):
    """
    Perform inverse on a batch of data. This is useful if you have inferred a batch of images and want to invert
    them all.
    """

    def __init__(
        self,
        transform: InvertibleTransform,
        loader: TorchDataLoader,
        collate_fn: Optional[Callable] = no_collation,
        num_workers: Optional[int] = 0,
        detach: bool = True,
        pad_batch: bool = True,
        fill_value=None,
    ) -> None:
        """
        Args:
            transform: a callable data transform on input data.
            loader: data loader used to run `transforms` and generate the batch of data.
            collate_fn: how to collate data after inverse transformations.
                default won't do any collation, so the output will be a list of size batch size.
            num_workers: number of workers when run data loader for inverse transforms,
                default to 0 as only run 1 iteration and multi-processing may be even slower.
                if the transforms are really slow, set num_workers for multi-processing.
                if set to `None`, use the `num_workers` of the transform data loader.
            detach: whether to detach the tensors. Scalars tensors will be detached into number types
                instead of torch tensors.
            pad_batch: when the items in a batch indicate different batch size,
                whether to pad all the sequences to the longest.
                If False, the batch size will be the length of the shortest sequence.
            fill_value: the value to fill the padded sequences when `pad_batch=True`.

        """
        self.transform = transform
        self.batch_size = loader.batch_size
        self.num_workers = loader.num_workers if num_workers is None else num_workers
        self.collate_fn = collate_fn
        self.detach = detach
        self.pad_batch = pad_batch
        self.fill_value = fill_value
        self.pad_collation_used = loader.collate_fn.__doc__ == pad_list_data_collate.__doc__ or isinstance(
            loader.collate_fn, PadListDataCollate
        )

    def __call__(self, data: Dict[str, Any]) -> Any:
        decollated_data = decollate_batch(data, detach=self.detach, pad=self.pad_batch, fill_value=self.fill_value)
        inv_ds = _BatchInverseDataset(decollated_data, self.transform, self.pad_collation_used)
        inv_loader = DataLoader(
            inv_ds, batch_size=self.batch_size, num_workers=self.num_workers, collate_fn=self.collate_fn
        )
        try:
            return first(inv_loader)
        except RuntimeError as re:
            re_str = str(re)
            if "equal size" in re_str:
                re_str += "\nMONAI hint: try creating `BatchInverseTransform` with `collate_fn=lambda x: x`."
            raise RuntimeError(re_str) from re

class Decollated(MapTransform):
    """
    Decollate a batch of data. If input is a dictionary, it also supports to only decollate specified keys.
    Note that unlike most MapTransforms, it will delete the other keys that are not specified.
    if `keys=None`, it will decollate all the data in the input.
    It replicates the scalar values to every item of the decollated list.

    Args:
        keys: keys of the corresponding items to decollate, note that it will delete other keys not specified.
            if None, will decollate all the keys. see also: :py:class:`monai.transforms.compose.MapTransform`.
        detach: whether to detach the tensors. Scalars tensors will be detached into number types
            instead of torch tensors.
        pad_batch: when the items in a batch indicate different batch size,
            whether to pad all the sequences to the longest.
            If False, the batch size will be the length of the shortest sequence.
        fill_value: the value to fill the padded sequences when `pad_batch=True`.
        allow_missing_keys: don't raise exception if key is missing.

    """

    def __init__(
        self,
        keys: Optional[KeysCollection] = None,
        detach: bool = True,
        pad_batch: bool = True,
        fill_value=None,
        allow_missing_keys: bool = False,
    ) -> None:
        super().__init__(keys, allow_missing_keys)
        self.detach = detach
        self.pad_batch = pad_batch
        self.fill_value = fill_value

    def __call__(self, data: Union[Dict, List]):
        d: Union[Dict, List]
        if len(self.keys) == 1 and self.keys[0] is None:
            # it doesn't support `None` as the key
            d = data
        else:
            if not isinstance(data, dict):
                raise TypeError("input data is not a dictionary, but specified keys to decollate.")
            d = {}
            for key in self.key_iterator(data):
                d[key] = data[key]

        return decollate_batch(d, detach=self.detach, pad=self.pad_batch, fill_value=self.fill_value)

DecollateD = DecollateDict = Decollated

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
5 Minutes With Rich Peters
The sub-4 miler is part of a British invasion in NCAA running
By John A. Kissane
Boston University junior Rich Peters, 22, hails from Bristol, England, and he's one of a handful of outstanding runners from the U.K. currently making waves in the Division I ranks. Peters joined the powerful Bristol & West Athletic Club as a young teen and had a breakthrough in 2006, at age 16, when he ran 3:53.60 for 1500m. That earned him a No. 3 U.K. ranking in the U-17 age group for that year. Peters arrived in the U.S. in August of 2010 to run for BU under coach Bruce Lehane. Though he had never raced on an indoor track before the 2011 season, Peters ran a 3:58.26 mile at BU's Valentine Invitational. It was only his second indoor race at any distance. Runner-up to Tulsa's Chris O'Hare at indoor nationals last March, Peters advanced to the outdoor 1500m final where he finished sixth. Last fall he qualified for the NCAA cross country championships by finishing ninth in the Northeast Regional.
On Jan. 26, Peters finished fifth in the invitational mile at Boston University's Terrier Invitational in 3:59.57. The race was won by Galen Rupp in 3:50.92.
Running Times: How did you feel about the race last Saturday?
Rich Peters: It was okay. I've had a little issue with my hamstring, so I'm not really sure where the season is going to go for me, to be honest. I'm not quite where I'd want to be in training. I'm looking to run Valentine [BU's Valentine Invitational Feb. 8-9] in two weeks, but I'm not really sure what my aims are this season.
RT: I'm curious whether it was in some ways a distraction, kind of a bother to you, to have so much attention on the race with Rupp in the field and on your home track?
RP: It was great, really. It's not often you get the opportunity to be in a race with someone of that caliber. But like I said, I was a little apprehensive because I didn't have much time to prepare. I knew realistically that I wasn't going to be able to follow it too well, even in the early stages. I ended up pace-making for [the college field] which was a little bit funny, but that does happen and I'm not too bothered. My time wasn't great but it was just an amazing experience to be in there and have that support, and it makes me want it more.
RT: I would imagine that for your first race of the season a 3:59 can't be too disappointing, even though you maybe didn't place where you wanted to. It indicates you're quite fit for January.
RP: Yeah, it definitely does. But it's kind of a strange situation where I can do that and be disappointed. Things have really changed in the last two years, because before I came here if I ran under four for a mile I'd be pretty pumped about it. Still, it was a solid opener. The way it played out I was the only one chasing Rupp to a point; obviously I wasn't with him, but I wanted to kind of have a middle ground where it was 3:54-3:55 pace. But I was the only one who apparently wanted that. Still it was a good start, and it makes me hungry so I'm happy with it.
RT: You raced unattached, I assume to preserve the option for red shirting?
RP: That's it, yeah. Even though I'm coming off a stronger background from the fall, because of the injury, I don't feel I'm where I want to be and don't know where the season's going to take me. I might end up sticking with the season or I might just stay unattached and red shirt so I can have a fifth year. But we really don't know what to do quite yet.
RT: I know you're from Bristol, which has produced quite a few outstanding runners. The very best has to be Nick Rose, who was a great collegiate runner at Western Kentucky in the early 1970s and a two-time Olympian. I see he still has a number of Bristol & West club records. Did the history of distance running in Bristol and that part of England influence you strongly?
RP: Nick Rose actually coaches in the same area that I train in back home, so I know Nick. My brother started running for Bristol & West but I was really against it at first, because I used to get seriously nervous before I would race, panic attacks. So I played soccer instead but eventually changed my mind and got over the nervousness. Bristol & West is a very good club and like you said it's got the history. And I trained with some of the guys who were kind of middle-aged but still very strong. It was very influential to be among those guys, and that's what made me want to pursue it more.
RT: At what point did you decide you wanted to pursue running as far as you could take it, and when did the idea of coming over to the United States come up?
RP: After I finished high school, I started working and didn't really know what I wanted to do. I was just running on the side. I didn't have my heart fully in it. It got to a point where I felt it wasn't going anywhere with work or with running and I wanted to switch that up and kind of re-focus on things.
Bruce got in contact with me and asked if I would be interested in coming over to BU, and I said that I would be, but I wasn't ready to move and my parents were apprehensive, because I'd be so far away. Over time I warmed up to the idea. I had a few friends who were over here and they told me how competitive it is. That was definitely a factor in my decision. I liked the idea of studying again and also the chance of progressing with my running. Those two combined were more than attractive to me. When I look back now, I love everything that's happened to me so far and obviously my running has progressed. I love Boston as a city and I love the program and what the NCAA offers, so it has been a great move. I'm not someone who can really be a hundred percent committed to just one thing, so I wanted to be sure I had a bit more of a balance, and I have that here.
RT: How does your training approach here at Boston University, working with Coach Lehane, differ from what you were doing with Mike Down, your coach at Bristol & West? What would say are the key aspects of your training now?
RP: I think the main difference since I've been here is not really a reflection of the coaching but more of myself. I do a lot more mileage now than I ever did before. When I was at home my mindset was purely middle distance. I didn't want to do the long runs, I just wanted to do the intense interval sessions. To me it's getting the mileage in, and some strength from tempo running, and then really trying to sharpen up when it's race time. I'm very big on tempos and always have been, and I think both coaches' style is to get the strong endurance work in before you try to do anything, which is kind of normal for a lot of coaches. I guess the main difference between the two is that Bruce encourages me to stay a little more relaxed in some workouts. I have a tendency to really go balls to the wall, a maximum effort almost, and finish the workout tied up. And Bruce encourages me to stay on pace and not so much kill it so I can recover and move forward, get a little bit of adaptation and then push.
RT: You qualified for cross country nationals this past fall, and even though you had food poisoning and couldn't complete the race, it was still an accomplishment getting into that race individually.
RP: Yeah, it was a big highlight of my whole time here to be honest, because I've not come from too much of a cross country background. I've always gotten away with my natural endurance, and I've always been able to do cross country, but I've never really developed it. So for me to get into nationals was kind of big because I worked hard for it and just to get there was great for me, a big step forward in terms of my own development.
RT: Do you prefer indoors over outdoors?
RP: The first indoor race I ran here was the very first one I did ever. I raced a 3K at Harvard for my first race indoors and then the next race was the Valentine Invitational here at BU where I ran 3:58. I love indoor now, and I've become obsessed with it in a way. I don't know whether I like it more than outdoor but there's something about it. Especially at BU's track, it feels like everyone is on top of you, screaming at you, so it's a good atmosphere for sure.
RT: Looking ahead, you seem well-suited to longer races as you demonstrated last spring with a 13:56 5,000m out at Stanford.
RP: Yeah, personally I would love to run 3K and 5K. There's definitely a future there if I start to feel that I've not quite got the gear for middle distance. Currently I think that I am better suited for the mile but in time I might move up. Perhaps in the future I might turn out to be a 5K runner and I wouldn't really complain about it. It's definitely fun, even though it doesn't seem it when you're running it.
RT: One of your primary opponents is Chris O'Hare from Scotland. Did you race against each other when you were younger and get to know each other at all?
RP: Yeah, we actually did. We raced in India together actually. But we didn't really see much of each other, because he's Scottish. He's obviously been a talent and now it's great that we're both here and I think we both appreciate the opportunities that the NCAA has given us. There's always a little bit of hate on blogs and things towards British people being in the States competing. But we all feel it's an honor to be here and we enrich the whole competitive scene in a way, and we don't take that for granted.
RT: Both you and Chris are on a level where you must hold higher aspirations.
RP: Yeah, I'll have to get my times down a little bit but that's what we're all shooting for at the end of the day. I would love to represent my country in the Olympics, it's always in the back of my mind. If I can represent Great Britain at the international level then I'll feel I've done what I want to do with athletics. It's obvious that not everyone's been given the same tools to do things and I want to make the most of what I have. And I don't take it for granted; I know that I have to work. But it would be great if I can. Who knows what the future holds?
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Pace Chart: 6:00 - 6:59 Pace per Kilometer
5 Minutes with Eric Houle
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I've installed SugarChimp and I get a Functional Error in the Sugar Log. Checked the ~/modules/SugarChimp Directory. Owner is apache/apache and permissions is 0644.
I've moved the case over to SugarChimp so that you can get the help that you need from SugarChimp support. Can you also post the complete error that is in your Sugar log? Can you also confirm that you have a cron set up and that your other Scheduler Jobs are running?
Hi there, would you be able to post the complete error from the logs? And can you confirm the cron is setup and your other Scheduler Jobs are running?
Also, I noticed in our license logs that your host was set as 'localhost'. If that's not correct, you may want to make sure your site_url and host_name are set properly in your config.php or config_override.php files.
host_name not present in config.php.
Hi again, I wanted to check-in on this. Were you able to get around the installation issues?
If you're still having issues and still interested in the integration, we may need to setup a screenshare to see what's going on here.
Just let me know how you'd like to proceed. Thanks!
Love to get it fixed, let me know when we can do a screen share.
I'm going to reach out via email to get more information and we can setup a time to screenshare. Thanks!
Closing this case. We were able to resolve the issue. For some reason on install the Scheduler Extension file was not rebuilt properly. After correcting this, everything started syncing.


text:
Q: If local rings $R\subset S$ have the same residue field, does $S$ dominate $R$? Is this correct?
If local rings $R\subset S$ have the same residue field, then $S$ dominate $R$.

A: If I understand your question correctly, then the answer is no.
Until we know that $S$ dominates $R$, the only meaningful interpretation of "$R$ and $S$ have the same residue field," as far as I can tell, is that $R$ and $S$ have isomorphic residue fields.
Let $k$ be any field and $F = k(x_1, x_2, \ldots )$ the field generated by a countably infinite number of algebraically independent elements.  Let $R = F[x_0]_P$, where $P$ is the maximal ideal of $R$ generated by $x_0$.  Then the residue field of $R$ is simply $F$.  Meanwhile the fraction field of $R$ is $F(x_0)$.  Note that the map from $F$ to $F(x_0)$ which sends $x_{i+1} \to x_i$ for $i \geq 0$ is an isomorphism.  Set $S = F(x_0)$.  Then $R \subseteq S$ is an inclusion of a local domain into a field which is not dominant (because $S$ is the field of fractions of $R$) and such that the residue field of $R$ is isomorphic to $S$.
I learned about this example here.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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text:
Festivals Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival 2018 Reviews
gripes aside, another masterclass in how to put on a beautiful festival
Belladrum Tartan Heart 2018 review
published: Thu 9th Aug 2018
This Event
Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival 2018
Thursday 2nd to Saturday 4th August 2018
Belladrum Estate, Beauly, Inverness-shire, IV4 7BA, Scotland MAP
£146 for 3 days (SOLD UT)
daily capacity: 20000
last updated: Thu 9th Aug 2018
Twenty thousand people attended the Belladrum Tartan Heart festival at the weekend, making it Scotland's biggest three-day music event with camping. Despite the increase in the number of tickets available once again this year, Bella, which takes place on a beautiful Highland estate a few miles out of Inverness and which was crowned the UK's most popular summer festival in 2017 by TripAdvisor, sold out for the ninth year in a row, and a line-up boasting the likes of The Charlatans, Paloma Faith, Amy MacDonald and Primal Scream only confirmed Bella's new-found status as Scotland's biggest music festival following the demise of T in the Park a couple of years ago.
Although hit by wet weather last year along with pretty much every other event in Scotland in 2017, Bella is in the fortunate position of having a hugely loyal following that goes back year after year whatever the line-up and whatever the weather. It also manages to attract new fans every year as the increase in numbers testifies.
And the once wee festival, which started out in 2004 with just a couple of thousand folk, has now grown so much that earlier this year it was bought by international music promoter, the Kilimanjaro Group, which has been involved with the event for the last eight years. Festival founder Joe Gibbs remains heavily involved in Bella's organisation as director and insists that everyone is determined to ensure that it keeps its much-loved spirit. Tartan Heart has built its reputation on years of providing just what the majority of festival goers want, which, in the words of Saturday night headliners Primal Scream, is to have a good time.
Which is pretty much what everyone intended to do this weekend. The gates to the campsites opened at 8am on the Thursday and there were queues of folk lined up waiting to get in and get set up. Although entry to the caravan and campervan site was relatively stress free, entry to the camping sites was less so with bag searches creating long queues. There were also long queues and delays to get wristbands at most of the entry points, with some reportedly running out of Thursday night wristbands and folk missing bands that they had paid extra to see.
This year there were no separate zones in the caravan and campervan site for quiet or family camping, which although might have contributed to getting everyone on site relatively quickly did little to help foster a sense of campsite community as those who wanted to party - or even just sit outside their vans and chat - into the wee small hours were warned and in some cases even chucked off site by security after complaints.
Quiet or family zones, even in caravan and campervan sections, are so important for parents of young children and essential to ensuring Bella's family friendly vibe, and it is something organisers really need to look at re-introducing again for next year. It is also important for those without young children to be able to enjoy the campsite atmosphere in a space where they don't need to be quite so quiet after 11pm; many a friendship and musical collaboration have been forged late at night over a drink or two under the stars and are an integral part of the festival experience for a significant amount of the loyal Bella fans.
Just on the campsites, the clean fields site was a big success again this year, although many people were choosing it over the family and quiet sections of the campsites after noise levels were so high in those areas last year.
And just on security, the searches at the campsites getting in to the main arena were very full on too - it wasn't just bag searches, folk were getting patted down, one guy even went through my purse card by card; it was a bit much for what is after all a family festival and just created more delays and hold ups.
Also, the perennial problems of getting off the sites have still not been resolved, it took us two hours to get off the site and clear of Inverness on Sunday and obviously we weren't alone stuck in miles of queuing traffic as 20,000 festie-goers made their way home. Scotland's biggest festival really needs to get that sorted, it gets worse every year and will only continue to do so if Bella continues to get bigger.
Those gripes aside, Bella 2018 was another masterclass in how to put on a beautiful festival that entertains and delights 20,000 folk. It continues to innovate and adapt to accommodate the growing numbers of people who have discovered the Bella magic and make it a regular date in their diaries, and has a reputation for listening to its fans and acting on the feedback provided where it can.
As well as extending the caravan and campervan site once again this year, other developments saw the Grassroots stage and the Venus Fly Trap swap sites in an attempt to alleviate congestion around the Black Isle Brewery Bar. The Seedlings Stage also moved and was closer to the Hothouse Stage this year.
Also new for this year was the facility to pre-order merchandise. Pre-ordering beer tokens has been possible for a few years now and the merch stall is always busy on a Thursday as folk arrive and buy their t-shirts and hoodies in time for the weekend. Pre-ordering meant that people could browse the merch at their leisure at home - and spread the cost of the weekend a little bit further. It was a quick and easy process and the merchandise was of its usual high quality.
The VIP area for Club Clan Bella members was back after a wee break last year, although in a slightly different format to previous years. And at the other side of the site near the Hothouse Stage was the Gin Palace, an almost fairytale like creation resplendent in leopard print and pink and selling some of the finest gins produced in Scotland.
2018 has been designated as the year of young people in Scotland and in recognition of that, young people designed and curated the new Otherland area where the Seedlings Stage used to be near the Mother's Ruin DJ area.
The fun started earlier this year too, with a full day of entertainment lined up from noon on Thursday at the Potting Shed, including the Dougie Burns Cadillac Band, the Galipaygos and The Cowans.
First band for us was Ward Thomas on the Garden Stage. These 24-year-old twins from Hampshire sing country music with a distinctive British perspective. Comparisons with the Dixie Chicks are obvious, although that won't stop me making them as they are still appropriate.
In a slick and impressive set they introduced singles Lie Like Me and I Believe in You from their new album, scheduled for release later this year, as well as Carry You Home, Guilty Flowers and Cartwheels from their 2016 album. Always partial to a bit of country, and always supportive of sisters doing it for themselves - especially those with beautiful voices that sing in such gorgeous harmony - this was a great start to this year's Bella experience.
Next on the main stage was New York's very own Fun Lovin' Criminals, an iconic band headed up by Huey Morgan which first got together some 25 years ago - before Ward Thomas were even born. They came on stage to the strains of New York New York before launching into a blistering version of Fun Lovin' Criminal quickly followed by Loco, Back on the Block and Bombing the L.
As sharp-dressed as ever, the former marine introduced Smoke 'Em with Brian 'Fast' Leiser on the fugle horn, and a more mellow vibe to the set, before King of New York and their best known hit, Scooby Snacks, followed by their tribute to Barry White, Love Unlimited. They finished with Big Night Out, with Huey claiming "it isn't goodbye, it's see you later at the bar", as they left the stage to I've Had The Time Of My Life. And yes, some audience members did attempt the 'lift' from Dirty Dancing.
Scottish singer-songwriter, guitarist and musician Amy MacDonald was Thursday night's main stage headliner, returning to Bella some eight years after her last headline slot at the Tartan Heart Festival. Despite the rain, which was increasingly heavy, there was a good crowd in the Garden Stage for Amy's set, and she thanked everyone for their support over the last 10 years.
Singing into a sparkly saltire microphone, she rocked out Dream On and Automatic from her latest album Under Stars, Slow It Down, and Youth of Today, This is the Life and Mr Rock N Roll from her debut album, the crowd singing along to every word, although, it has to be said, not in quite as fine and distinctive a voice as Amy's. She also introduced Women of the World, which she wrote for a new film about a pug called Patrick, and seemed genuinely pleased with the reception she got from the near capacity crowd.
The crowd enjoyed the set too, with many singing away to themselves as they wandered back up the hill. The night was still young though and over in the packed out Grassroots tent Rhythm N Reel were rocking out their always popular and very energetic celtic rock and traditional tunes in a bombastic set that included covers of Mr Brightside, Uptown Funk, Bad Moon Rising, Galway Girl and AC/DC's Thunderstruck, You Shook Me All Night Long and Back in Black. And over at the Potting Shed, self-proclaimed Highland hillbillies The Federals headlined, bringing the first night of Bella 2018 to a close.
The rain lasted most of the night but the showers became increasingly fewer and far between and by lunchtime on Friday the site was bathed in glorious warm sunshine and was already filling up with excited festie goers. The mobile library was back, and youngsters also had a chance to try shinty, meet donkeys and play football in giant inflatable balls.
There were craft sessions, theatre, music and song, sand art, puppetry, knitting and crochet, circus workshops and a carousel to keep little ones entertained at the Tir nAn nOg children's area, while the wrestling and comedy acts in the Venus Fly trap tent proved to be a big draw with youngsters as well.
The Walled Garden, which is always a wee oasis of calm on the edge of the festival arena, was home to the Bollydrum stage this year, as well as a yoga tent, the Free Range stage, the Burke and Hair theatre and a range of stalls and other attractions - including a post apocalyptic world of decontamination zones and big red buttons that you really shouldn't press.
One of the most popular acts throughout the weekend was the return of local hero, internet sensation and Scotland's most famous trials bike rider, Danny MacAskill and his Drop N Roll show. Dedicated fans were queuing for the best vantage points from one show to the next, keen to see Danny, who hails from Skye, along with Ally Clarkson and Inverness's very own Duncan Shaw, entertain the crowds to the pulsating riffs of AC/DC and Iron Maiden. Despite recovering from a broken knee cap following an accident earlier this year, MacAskill was on good form for each of his six shows over the weekend, one of which might even have included an unofficial world record-breaking performance from Ally C.
Musically speaking, the first band of the day for us was Elgin-based five-piece Edgar Road. These guys - and gal - have grown in confidence a lot since I first caught them at the Bella Bar stage a couple of years ago. Two years of gigging - including shows in the world-renowned Cavern Bar in Liverpool and at Camden Rocks earlier this year - has really paid off and these talented musicians were totally at ease performing to a large and appreciative crowd in the Grassroots tent.
The melodic rockers opened with Friday Night, appropriately enough for a Friday, followed by Say It Another Way, Sun's in the Sky, Photograph, Everything Has Changed, Olivia - written for singer Mark Conti's young daughter - Looking Glass and finishing their accomplished set with Kollide.
It was the Grassroots again for our next band, Adam Holmes and the Embers, whose third album Midnight Milk has been nominated for Scottish Album of the Year 2018. I have seen Adam and the Embers play a few times now and am always moved by his amazing, deep, soft, soulful voice. People Come, People Go from the Brighter Still album was an early crowd pleaser, and Adam dedicated Mother Oak, complete with catchy chorus "Won't you come out drinking with me", to his five-month old daughter Rosa.
One Love, Alone We Stand, When Will I Be Free from Midnight Milk, Heirs and Graces and Nadine all had the afternoon Grassroots crowd singing along and it was another beautiful, nuanced performance from one of the rising stars of the Scottish folk scene.
From one powerful Scottish voice to another, and Tide Lines' Garden Stage set. The four-piece are also heavily influenced by the trad scene but have added a contemporary almost pop rock twist to their music - as well as their own material their set included a storming version of Shut Up and Dance, complete with bagpipes. This was their first time at Bella and their brand of heartfelt Scottish rock - following in the spiritual musical footsteps of Runrig - proved popular with the main stage audience. Another Day, Fortunes of the Few, Walking on the Waves, and Far Side of the World all got an airing and were well-received.
After two sets from up-and-coming Scottish talent it was time for a return to the 90s with Glasgow indie hitmakers, The Supernaturals, at the Hothouse Stage. It was classic hits all the way from the lads, who described themselves as "The Saturdays of the 90s with facial hair", kicking off with Submarine Song, I Wasn't Built To Get Up and Lazy Lover. Singer James McColl explained that the set list was influenced by his six-year-old daughter who had commented that "everyone loves the old shite". Self-deprecating humour was always a mainstay of their song-writing style - this is a band whose biggest hit over 20 years ago included the lines "You better smile, cos that's all that you've got left" - and it was fitting that they finished their nostalgic set with Smile.
Back on the main stage excitement was building ahead of The La Fontaines appearance with the crowd belting out their customary chant "The La, The La, The La Fontaines". It was another typically energetic performance from the lads from Motherwell who just seem to have the best time at Bella. Singer Kerr Okan hyped up the crowd even more than they already were, bouncing about the stage and even into the crowd at one point, and urging two men dressed as kangaroos to lead the audience in more bouncing. The band seems to feed off the audience's reaction to their indie-tinged rap rock with sing-along choruses, belting out their new single Up as well as King, Under The Storm and Asleep, with drummer Jamie getting to fulfil his dream of singing at Bella on What Do I Know.
Indie legends The Charlatans were next up on the Garden Stage and were the highlight of the weekend for many a Bella punter of a certain age. Tim Burgess took to the stage with a beautiful and infectious smile and grooved away to Totally Eclipsing, North Country Boy, Just When, One to Another, Plastic Machinery and The Only One. And in what was a truly spine-tingling moment, about three-quarters of the way through their set, Tim introduced Grant Hutchison and Billy Kennedy from Frightened Rabbit on to the stage with them to sing an emotional rendition of Head Rolls Off.
Frightened Rabbit were due to headline the Hothouse stage on Friday night, and rather than try to replace them after singer Scott Hutchison's death earlier this year, Bella organisers instead held a number of touching tributes to him. Thousands of fans gathered in the Hothouse tent where their acclaimed 2008 album The Midnight Organ Fight was played in its entirety to a backdrop of a montage of footage of the band, promo shots and photos of their previous performances at Bella. Those that were there were encouraged to view the evening as a celebration of Scott's life, which they did, albeit tinged with more than just a hint of sadness.
The Charlatans' tribute was also very poignant, with Grant pounding the drums and belting out his brother's words - "When it's all gone, Something carries on, And it's not morbid at all" - with Tim. There were lumps in throats, tears in eyes and hearts going out throughout the arena and no one there could fail to be moved by what was a very special moment. Respect to Grant, Billy, Tim and the Charlatans, and the Bella organisers, for what couldn't have been an easy thing to do, but do it they did. To quote Scott: "While I'm alive, I'll make tiny changes to earth".
Paloma Faith was the big name main stage headliner on Friday night and the Garden Stage was packed with thousands of fans waiting for her set. Her band and backing singers and dancers were all ready and she made a spectacular entrance in a very striking sequined head piece and stunning chiffon dress and platform shoes.
Then it all started to go a bit wrong. What should have been a powerful and empowering start to her set with songs CryBaby, Kings and Queens and new single Warrior was marred by dodgy sound - those in the front of the crowd couldn't hear her even though they could see she was singing her heart out. With the audience shouting that they couldn't hear anything, she said that she had a lurgy and talked about kindness - despite no one being able to hear her. Her set was being broadcast live on BBC Alba and there was some confusion about whether the transmission was affected by the sound issues (apparently it wasn't) and it wasn't until she was joined on stage by BB Bones for duet I'll Be Gentle and she used his microphone that everyone could finally hear her amazing and instantly recognisable voice.
With a new mic, Make Your Own Kind of Music, Picking Up the Pieces, Guilty, Lullaby, The Architect, Til I'm Done, Only Love Can Hurt Like This made for a storming second part of the set, and Paloma joked that all she needed was for someone to hear her. From calling for someone to be fired to insisting on wanting to sing the first songs again for the people who had actually paid to see her, both her mood and that of the crowd lifted and suddenly the truth was something beautiful once again. As good as her word, and before the curfew, she sang a rousing version of Warrior - "Some days I'm sure to lose to fate, sometimes I cannot find my faith, but I just fight on". Bella goers were the lucky ones though, as the day after her gig in the Highlands she was forced to cancel her show in Glastonbury at the last minute after being diagnosed with acute laryngitis.
The Garden Stage may have closed for the evening but the party continued for many, at the bars, at Mother's Ruin, the Dirty Harry tribute band at the Grassroots tent, at Craig Charles' DJ set at the Hothouse Stage, the Potting Shed and the Free Range Stage. Just not in the campervan site.
Saturday was a wee bit cooler than Friday, but was still warm and more importantly, still dry. First band of the day for us was Americana rock 'n' rollers The Carloways from Perthshire on the Grassroots stage. It was another poignant return to Bella for these boys as well as it was their first time back at their favourite festival following the sad death of guitarist Chris Paterson age just 21 earlier this year just weeks before the launch of their debut EP. They have come along way since their Bella debut a few years ago at the Potting Shed, and attracted a good crowd to their early afternoon slot. The band were really tight and singer Mikey MacLennan's voice was sounding great, the harmonies were spot on and the honky tonk keyboard perfect for the setting. Hello Sunshine, Last Stop Blues, Crawlin' Back, One More Night, No Sympathy, Down to the River (To Pray), Lose My Mind, Worrying Kind - which was dedicated to Chris - and Long Hot Summer's Day all got an airing in their half-hour set.
We took a couple of hours to feed the kids and have a wander round the site, taking in the delights of the Ice House Jazz 'n' Blues stage, designed to look like a New Orleans street scene, the Temple of Dub, a beautiful secluded glade near the Hothouse tent which pumped out some banging tunes, thanks to the crew from Edinburgh-based bass music consortium Electrikal Sound System, and the Trailer Trash stage which featured a range of country and western bands all weekend and was very popular with music lovers.
All the usual food stall-holders were back, the ever popular Food from Argyll with salmon rolls, fish pie, piella and kedgeree, Churchill's Venison Burgers, the strawberry stall, the risotto stall, the wood-fired pizzas, Mutley's Crepes, the noodle bar, the curry stall, and although the food was as tasty as ever the queues at all of them were very long pretty much whatever time of day or night you went, another consequence of the increase in numbers at the festival. Queues at the toilets were also long and quite slow moving, with many folk commenting that they thought there were less toilets both in the arena area and the campsites than in previous years, and reports that some were even over-flowing.
We caught the Bella flash mob, choreographed by staff from Eden Court in Inverness and which this year seemlessly mixed Bollywood and Highland styles to impressive effect, and in such a way that pretty much anyone could get involved if they wanted - and plenty of enthusiastic people did.
And then it was the moment so many people had been waiting all year for - the return of Colonel Mustard and the Dijon 5. After last year's momentous appearance on the Garden Stage, it was difficult to know how the poster kids for the Yellow Movement could match it, but as soon as the Colonel took to the stage on a hover board it was clear to the 11,000 or so folk packed into the arena that it was going to be another belter of a gig. On stage with the band was a group of youngsters who opened the set with Limmy's Nursery Rhymes Techno Mega Mix. It was a great moment and perfectly illustrated the inclusive spirit of the Yellow Movement. The 6th Dijon, as their fans are known, were out in force and everywhere you looked there were swathes of yellow, sequins, glitter balls and Dijon 5 t-shirts.
The band launched into International Sex Hero and Bouncy Ball while the Dance Off featured a masterclass in moves - including flossing - from the Djuniors on stage as well as audience participation, and new song Seoul's Got Soul highlighted the band's mission to spread the message of peace and love across the globe following their tours in South Korea this year and last.
And then there was the moment that the audience had been waiting for. The Djancer donned his hi-vis vest and grabbed his lollipop stick and together with the Colonel, who was back on his hover board, led the near capacity crowd in a wee lesson on how to Cross the Road. What could have been a health and safety nightmare ("This gets bigger every year, if you're steamin' mebbe sit this one out") went without any mishaps as thousands of happy people danced and grooved their way back and forth across the Garden Stage lawn in almost perfect unison.
Every time I listen to this band I hear something new - at the moment I'm getting Bob Marley, Arcade Fire and Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine. And the musical influences go both ways - listen to Franz Ferdinand's Lazy Boy, released earlier this year, and tell me you don't hear hints of the Mustards in that intro. Another new song, Gonna Be Myself, proved that this band is no one trick pony, or more appropriately unicorn, and the anthemic These Are Not The Drugs (You Are Looking For) once again had everyone singing along with the catchy chorus, which at the same time reinforced important social messages around equal marriage, inclusivity and, well, drugs.
Dijon classic Peace, Love and Mustard closed a set which saw yet more converts to the ever-growing Yellow Movement and its hard-to-argue-with ethos of having fun, spreading happiness and working towards making the world a better, fairer place.
The crowds on Saturday were also growing, and were the biggest I have ever seen at Bella. There were certainly more teenagers wearing bandanas and hot pants charging around the site than ever before. Maybe it was due to the good weather, or the fact that Bella is the only large-scale festival left in Scotland now, or a combination of both.
And maybe Gerry Cinnamon had something to do with it. His main stage slot was probably the most packed I have ever seen the Garden Stage and to say the crowd was buzzing for his appearance would be the biggest understatement of the year. Someone commented this year that real music lovers are the ones that keep festivals alive and nowhere was this more obvious than at this set. The atmosphere was electric for what was essentially an acoustic gig by one man and his guitar.
This wee boy from Castlemilk with the heart and soul of a modern day poet had thousands of people of all ages singing along to his every word. His message to be who you want to be and believe in yourself clearly resonates with many young people and it is beautiful to see the power of decent music and how it can have such a positive impact on so many people.
He was the one act that everyone was talking about and songs such as Lullaby, Fickle McSelfish, Diamonds in the Mud and of course She's A Belter proved why his gigs are the hottest ticket going at the moment, selling out in minutes with next to no promotion. Singing his beautifully-crafted songs which are by turn funny and poignant, and always honest, sometimes brutally so, he was laughing and grinning the whole way through his set, almost as though he couldn't quite believe he was there. The audience's reaction, however, proves he really deserves his place on the line-up.
In a complete contrast of genre, pop-punk quartet from Surrey and a darling of the Kerrang crowd You Me at Six were up next on the main stage. They worked the crowd hard, kicking off with 2014 single Fresh Start Fever but sound issues affected their set too. They encouraged the audience to take off their shirts for Reckless, played 3am from their new album which is due out later this year, Loverboy and No One Does It Better from 2011's Sinners Never Sleep and were all screaming guitars and vocals and thumping drums.
Attempts at banter with the crowd nearly went horribly wrong when they asked who supported Croatia over England in the football world cup before reminding the Scottish crowd that Scotland hadn't even made it to the world cup - like anyone in Scotland needs to be reminded of that - and then quickly tried to redeem themselves by claiming to be a little bit from Kinross and a little bit from Dumfries. Hmmn.
Bobby Gillespie is not known for his attempts at banter. He is the epitome of cool and showed the expectant crowd why the mighty Primal Scream are the true musical legends they are after over 30 years on the scene. Their blend of psychedelic rock, acid house and trip hop blues was one of the mainstays of my soundtrack of the 90s and they hold a very special place in thousands of tartan hearts who have grown up with the band. Gillespie worked his magic on the crowd like he worked his tambourine and maraccas, taking us all on a beautiful trip back through time.
They opened their headline slot with the optimistic and almost gospel-style Movin' On Up, hurtling straight into Jailbird, Shoot Speed Kill Light, Kill All Hippies, Higher than the Sun, I'm Losing More than I Ever Had, Swastika Eyes and Loaded. It was heads down and hands in the air anthems all the way for a classic set from the Glasgow indie-dance outfit, complete with a crowd sing-along for Come Together.
Country Girl from 2006's Riot City Blues album and Rocks brought the much-anticipated set - and the Garden Stage line-up - to a close ahead of the famous fireworks which exploded over the site as the last chords faded.
As ever there were way too many bands that I wanted to see this weekend but didn't have time to catch, way too many - Professor Green, Broken Records, Roseanne Cash, Whisky Shivers, Siobhan Wilson, Hunter and the Bear, Beth Orton, Issac Gracie and The Van Ts to name just a few. And with the sun shining for most of the weekend it would have been nice to have a wee bit of time to sit and have a drink and take in the atmosphere, maybe catch some of the talks at the Verb Garden or try to impress my teenagers with my yoga skills.
But it is impossible to take in everything the Tartan Heart festival has to offer in the space of a few days and - despite the increase in numbers and crowds - Bella remains a vibrant, eclectic, crowd-pleasing event that really does have something for everyone and that makes everyone's world a better place for a few wonderful days at least.
The team behind Bella put in a power of work to make sure that it is the best it can be every year. They don't take anything for granted, and if anyone can ensure that the magic formula they have for putting on a beautiful, soul-restoring, entertaining, mind-broadening and fun-loving festival is maintained in the future it is them.
Research has shown recently that going to gigs and experiencing live music can increase your life expectancy, and after three days at Belladrum you can totally see how that works; I joked last year that folk should be able to get Bella on prescription but maybe that isn't such a laughable idea after all.
And on that note, the last words should go to one of Belladrum's biggest fans, Frightened Rabbit's Scott Hutchison, from I Feel Better: "The sun does shine in this place some days, and even when there's clouds, there isn't always rain."
review by: Clare Damodaran
photos by: Clare Damodaran
last updated: Thu 11th Jul 2019
Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival
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Home Festivals Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival 2018 Reviews


Slow and steady progress across multiple major projects feels quite nice!
But before we get to our "tortoise and hare" style of renovating, we have a few fun things to update you on this week, including a live TV morning show debut!
First off, last Friday was National Dog Day, or #NationalDogDay if you were paying attention to the Internets. It's a day when you're supposed to celebrate your four legged canine's contribution to your life a little more than on other days. But in Old Town Alexandria pretty much every day is National Dog Day.
Our city is so incredibly dog friendly that many stores place water bowls and dog treat trays on the sidewalk near their door, shops advertise their dog friendly stance with "Pet Friendly" signs placed in their window, some restaurants have a "dog menu" for when you're sitting outside eating and your pup is under the table, there are several dog (and cat) specialty stores, there's a local weekly "Yappy Hour" in the courtyard of the Hotel Monaco, and we even have multiple parades where the highlights are either the dog show just before or the packs of dogs with their owners marching during the parade.
If you're a dog lover, you really can't beat Old Town Alexandria, and that was the focus of a live "Great Day Washington" segment for which Lulu was invited to be a model.
Overall we think Lulu is a natural. Perhaps a bit neurotic and at times a diva, but it's the eccentricities that make the best celebs, right?
Beyond Lulu's live television appearance Wendy and I were interviewed for a piece on CBSNews.com that focused on the pros and cons of purchasing old homes. The article was published earlier this week and includes perspectives on the topic from five other sets of old home owners, including us.
You can check out the full "Buying a historic home? 6 owners share the pros and cons" article. We love contributing on pieces like this one as it's one of our goals in life to recruit many more crazies to this wonderful hobby of old home renovation/restoration.
The article covers some valuable insight and information for those considering the purchase of an old homes, and especially those considering the purchase as their first home. And if you currently or have ever owned an old home, it's also a good read to nod along to as you read the likely similar experiences you had along the way.
Okay, that's enough of the other stuff, time to get into a little under stairs storage bench progress.
As of the last post on this subject, we left off with the beadboard largely installed and we showed vaguely how the secret panel would work. However, I didn't do a great job showing exactly what I meant with photos, so I can rectify that today while covering what we've accomplished.
Since the panelling we're using is salvaged from a large pile of wood that's been in the attic for who knows how long, the paint on it is flaking, dirty, and generally gross. Though the final coats of paint are still some ways off, we wanted to get a coat of primer on the whole thing since it's right in the middle of the living space.
This would also give us a pretty solid indication of how it will look when fully painted and no longer a mix of natural wood, dirty antique white, and faded green. I have to say, even with a coat of primer alone it's truly night and day difference.
With everything in place it looks like a single cohesive bench and wall. The air intake is fully integrated and the panel is hidden in a way that looks natural. We'll still need to build the flip up bench top so the lower section can be storage, but let's take a second to go over how the panel removal will work. Starting in the above photo we'll be able to remove a piece of the right trim as well as the bench top by pulling it forward slightly and lifting it out. Once it's out we'll remove the interior back of the storage panel.
Then we'll slip our fingers below the removable panel on the back section of the wall.
The final piece to remove is the 2x4 support pieces behind the panels. This is tight in place but can slide out to open the entire area.
All told it's a pretty decent setup that will allow occasional access to the crawlspace when needed, but will look like a normal bench storage area otherwise.
The next bit of work we did on this project was to finish the interior of the storage. While the outside will be painted white, we went a slightly more simple route for the interior. We decided to use the same Pallmann X-325 sealer and X-96 finish that was used on the floor.
Finally, while it's somewhat tough to see in the photos above, the wall and ceiling around this storage bench is in pretty tough shape (as is the rest of the room, but that's a different project down the road). Plaster on the underside of stairs often take a beating because of the vibration of people using the stairs on a daily basis. In our case the plaster near the bottom was almost completely detached and fully separating from the lath. Plaster Buttons to the rescue!
After applying a massive number of buttons to the small space, the plaster was once again secure and solid. No more sag or bounciness to worry about. Now all we had to do was re-plaster the two walls and slanted ceiling of the small space.
I decided to use the same three coat plaster approach we used in the restoration of our living room. It really worked great in there, so why not continue the tradition? We had just enough leftover Master of Plaster base and finish coat to make this a pretty easy task to accomplish, but we'll certainly need to buy more when it comes to doing the rest of the room.
We started by using the first coat of Structo-Lite with embedded fiberglass screen.
But as I was plastering and Wendy was holding the thermostat out of my way she commented on how the wall seemed "bouncy". While I had secured the underside of the stairs with the plaster buttons, but seemed some of the wall had also broken free but I didn't notice. At this point the problem was still very fixable, so I applied a few buttons right into the plaster.
I think it's hysterical when I put buttons in over a coat of plaster because it reminds me so much of the Play-Doh Fun Factory I had as a kid. The plaster oozes through the holes and looks like fake spaghetti.
Once the wall was back in good shape I moved onto the screen application. Now that we've done this a fair amount it's a very straight forward and simple process.
After allowing adequate cure time we moved onto the Master of Plaster base coat application.
I still can't get enough of working with this plaster. It goes on so nice and smooth compared to what I've done with joint compound. But I have to say, that curved section at the top of this photo was difficult regardless of the material we were using. I think about 50% of my entire time plastering was spent making that little curve look nice and smooth. Here's an in progress shot of that curve.
After the finish coat was applied we are left with a wonderfully smooth, crack free, and completely repaired wall and ceiling section.
And if you notice in the photo above, we also painted the interior of the air intake with a flat black paint so you won't be able to see the shiny silver through the antique cast iron grate we're going to mount in the opening.
So that's where we are today on the storage bench. It's really start to take shape and look good. We'll need to caulk around the whole thing once the plaster has cured, build and paint the flip-up bench top, install and hok up the light, and finish work on the cast iron grate. But it is really coming together and starting to look how we imagined it when we starting talking about it months ago.
We can't wait to share more as our work progresses. The more we look at this hallway space the more excited we become. Wendy can't wait to paint and decorate the space and I can't wait until all of the walls and moldings look as good as or better than the day the house was built! Despite a really rocky first year of owning this home, I think the more time we spend improving this house the more we're going to fall in love with it. I mean, what's not to love?
What do you think so far? Is it coming together nicely?
I have just finished a whole blog reread and inquiring minds want to know (for real, not to tweak you): what's the status of the storm windows for the Old Town home?
Haha! Status: high priority! The storm windows are a frequent (and frequently painful) topic of conversation, Harry! Window restoration and storms are next up on the project list in Old Town once the master bathroom is 100% complete. We're making good progress on the bathroom built ins and then only have the closet door to strip and hang, but the colder weather is already sneaking up on us. We hope to get a few of them knocked out before it gets too cold, but knowing our pace that's probably a pipe dream.
I love all these updates on the house. Amazing job you've done so far! I hope you hard working guys are still able to enjoy some time simply to relax and enjoy your beautiful house and its lovely surroundings.
Thanks, Tanja! I feel we've been better this summer about balancing work and play. Now that the house has plumbing again, we've been spending a lot of time here with friends and family. And with the exception of my parents who are amazingly helpful (with the yard in particular), we largely spend time with guests eating and relaxing.


The Big Difference Between Passion and Emotion can mislead you into thinking you might be making a wrong decision, when you could actually be on the right track.
Passion can have a "feel" to it, but it encompasses more than just that emotional feeling…including a direction, a drive, a commitment to a purpose or a cause.
Passion is a slow fire that consistently burns inside of you verses an emotion, which it temporary…a "reaction" to an external stimulus that is temporary.
The big problem is that people confuse passion with that strong emotion and once the emotion fades away, they start to lose interest or question themselves if it really was a passion that was worth following in the first place.
In this week's show, Lexi shares her current experience about her passion and the issue of getting constructive criticism from people without getting discouraged by other's opinions that don't match her own.
Tony goes over the best way to use constructive criticism so it supports your passion.
And…How to stop the fear of failure that keeps you from following your passion.
1. What do you want to be a part of?
2. What are the things you do naturally good…what qualities do you nail?
3. Where can you take your next baby step into discovering more about it?


text:
#include "tensorflow/lite/c/common.h"
#include "tensorflow/lite/micro/debug_log.h"
#include "tensorflow/lite/micro/kernels/all_ops_resolver.h"
#include "tensorflow/lite/micro/testing/micro_test.h"
#include "tensorflow/lite/micro/testing/test_utils.h"

namespace tflite {
namespace testing {

void TestElementwiseFloat(tflite::BuiltinOperator op,
                          std::initializer_list<int> input_dims_data,
                          std::initializer_list<float> input_data,
                          std::initializer_list<int> output_dims_data,
                          std::initializer_list<float> expected_output_data,
                          float* output_data) {
  TfLiteIntArray* input_dims = IntArrayFromInitializer(input_dims_data);
  TfLiteIntArray* output_dims = IntArrayFromInitializer(output_dims_data);
  const int output_dims_count = ElementCount(*output_dims);

  constexpr int input_size = 1;
  constexpr int output_size = 1;
  constexpr int tensors_size = input_size + output_size;
  TfLiteTensor tensors[tensors_size] = {
      CreateFloatTensor(input_data, input_dims, "input_tensor"),
      CreateFloatTensor(output_data, output_dims, "output_tensor")};

  // Place a unique value in the uninitialized output buffer.
  for (int i = 0; i < output_dims_count; ++i) {
    output_data[i] = 23;
  }

  TfLiteContext context;
  PopulateContext(tensors, tensors_size, micro_test::reporter, &context);
  tflite::ops::micro::AllOpsResolver resolver;
  const TfLiteRegistration* registration =
      resolver.FindOp(op, /* version= */ 1);
  TF_LITE_MICRO_EXPECT_NE(nullptr, registration);

  void* user_data = nullptr;
  if (registration->init) {
    user_data = registration->init(&context, nullptr, 0);
  }
  auto inputs_array_data = {1, 0};
  TfLiteIntArray* inputs_array = IntArrayFromInitializer(inputs_array_data);
  auto outputs_array_data = {1, 1};
  TfLiteIntArray* outputs_array = IntArrayFromInitializer(outputs_array_data);
  auto temporaries_array_data = {0};
  TfLiteIntArray* temporaries_array =
      IntArrayFromInitializer(temporaries_array_data);

  TfLiteNode node;
  node.inputs = inputs_array;
  node.outputs = outputs_array;
  node.temporaries = temporaries_array;
  node.user_data = user_data;
  node.builtin_data = nullptr;
  node.custom_initial_data = nullptr;
  node.custom_initial_data_size = 0;
  node.delegate = nullptr;

  if (registration->prepare) {
    TF_LITE_MICRO_EXPECT_EQ(kTfLiteOk, registration->prepare(&context, &node));
  }
  TF_LITE_MICRO_EXPECT_NE(nullptr, registration->invoke);

  TF_LITE_MICRO_EXPECT_EQ(kTfLiteOk, registration->invoke(&context, &node));
  if (registration->free) {
    registration->free(&context, user_data);
  }
  for (int i = 0; i < output_dims_count; ++i) {
    TF_LITE_MICRO_EXPECT_NEAR(expected_output_data.begin()[i], output_data[i],
                              1e-5f);
  }
}

void TestElementwiseBool(tflite::BuiltinOperator op,
                         std::initializer_list<int> input_dims_data,
                         std::initializer_list<bool> input_data,
                         std::initializer_list<int> output_dims_data,
                         std::initializer_list<bool> expected_output_data,
                         bool* output_data) {
  TfLiteIntArray* input_dims = IntArrayFromInitializer(input_dims_data);
  TfLiteIntArray* output_dims = IntArrayFromInitializer(output_dims_data);
  const int output_dims_count = ElementCount(*output_dims);

  constexpr int input_size = 1;
  constexpr int output_size = 1;
  constexpr int tensors_size = input_size + output_size;
  TfLiteTensor tensors[tensors_size] = {
      CreateBoolTensor(input_data, input_dims, "input_tensor"),
      CreateBoolTensor(output_data, output_dims, "output_tensor")};

  // Place false in the uninitialized output buffer.
  for (int i = 0; i < output_dims_count; ++i) {
    output_data[i] = false;
  }

  TfLiteContext context;
  PopulateContext(tensors, tensors_size, micro_test::reporter, &context);
  tflite::ops::micro::AllOpsResolver resolver;
  const TfLiteRegistration* registration =
      resolver.FindOp(op, /* version= */ 1);
  TF_LITE_MICRO_EXPECT_NE(nullptr, registration);

  void* user_data = nullptr;
  if (registration->init) {
    user_data = registration->init(&context, nullptr, 0);
  }
  TfLiteIntArray* inputs_array = IntArrayFromInitializer({1, 0});
  TfLiteIntArray* outputs_array = IntArrayFromInitializer({1, 1});
  TfLiteIntArray* temporaries_array = IntArrayFromInitializer({0});

  TfLiteNode node;
  node.inputs = inputs_array;
  node.outputs = outputs_array;
  node.temporaries = temporaries_array;
  node.user_data = user_data;
  node.builtin_data = nullptr;
  node.custom_initial_data = nullptr;
  node.custom_initial_data_size = 0;
  node.delegate = nullptr;

  if (registration->prepare) {
    TF_LITE_MICRO_EXPECT_EQ(kTfLiteOk, registration->prepare(&context, &node));
  }
  TF_LITE_MICRO_EXPECT_NE(nullptr, registration->invoke);

  TF_LITE_MICRO_EXPECT_EQ(kTfLiteOk, registration->invoke(&context, &node));
  if (registration->free) {
    registration->free(&context, user_data);
  }
  for (int i = 0; i < output_dims_count; ++i) {
    TF_LITE_MICRO_EXPECT_EQ(expected_output_data.begin()[i], output_data[i]);
  }
}

}  // namespace testing
}  // namespace tflite

TF_LITE_MICRO_TESTS_BEGIN

TF_LITE_MICRO_TEST(Abs) {
  constexpr int output_dims_count = 4;
  float output_data[output_dims_count];
  tflite::testing::TestElementwiseFloat(
      tflite::BuiltinOperator_ABS,  // ABS operator
      {2, 2, 2},                    // Input shape
      {0.01, -0.01, 10, -10},       // Input values
      {2, 2, 2},                    // Output shape
      {0.01, 0.01, 10, 10},         // Output values
      output_data);
}

TF_LITE_MICRO_TEST(Sin) {
  constexpr int output_dims_count = 4;
  float output_data[output_dims_count];
  tflite::testing::TestElementwiseFloat(
      tflite::BuiltinOperator_SIN,    // SIN operator
      {2, 2, 2},                      // Input shape
      {0, 3.1415926, -3.1415926, 1},  // Input values
      {2, 2, 2},                      // Output shape
      {0, 0, 0, 0.84147},             // Output values
      output_data);
}

TF_LITE_MICRO_TEST(Cos) {
  constexpr int output_dims_count = 4;
  float output_data[output_dims_count];
  tflite::testing::TestElementwiseFloat(
      tflite::BuiltinOperator_COS,    // COS operator
      {2, 2, 2},                      // Input shape
      {0, 3.1415926, -3.1415926, 1},  // Input values
      {2, 2, 2},                      // Output shape
      {1, -1, -1, 0.54030},           // Output values
      output_data);
}

TF_LITE_MICRO_TEST(Log) {
  constexpr int output_dims_count = 4;
  float output_data[output_dims_count];
  tflite::testing::TestElementwiseFloat(
      tflite::BuiltinOperator_LOG,    // LOG operator
      {2, 2, 2},                      // Input shape
      {1, 2.7182818, 0.5, 2},         // Input values
      {2, 2, 2},                      // Output shape
      {0, 1, -0.6931472, 0.6931472},  // Output values
      output_data);
}

TF_LITE_MICRO_TEST(Sqrt) {
  constexpr int output_dims_count = 4;
  float output_data[output_dims_count];
  tflite::testing::TestElementwiseFloat(
      tflite::BuiltinOperator_SQRT,  // SQRT operator
      {2, 2, 2},                     // Input shape
      {0, 1, 2, 4},                  // Input values
      {2, 2, 2},                     // Output shape
      {0, 1, 1.41421, 2},            // Output values
      output_data);
}

TF_LITE_MICRO_TEST(Rsqrt) {
  constexpr int output_dims_count = 4;
  float output_data[output_dims_count];
  tflite::testing::TestElementwiseFloat(
      tflite::BuiltinOperator_RSQRT,  // RSQRT operator
      {2, 2, 2},                      // Input shape
      {1, 2, 4, 9},                   // Input values
      {2, 2, 2},                      // Output shape
      {1, 0.7071, 0.5, 0.33333},      // Output values
      output_data);
}

TF_LITE_MICRO_TEST(Square) {
  constexpr int output_dims_count = 4;
  float output_data[output_dims_count];
  tflite::testing::TestElementwiseFloat(
      tflite::BuiltinOperator_SQUARE,  // SQARE operator
      {2, 2, 2},                       // Input shape
      {1, 2, 0.5, -3.0},               // Input values
      {2, 2, 2},                       // Output shape
      {1, 4.0, 0.25, 9.0},             // Output values
      output_data);
}

TF_LITE_MICRO_TEST(LogicalNot) {
  constexpr int output_dims_count = 4;
  bool output_data[output_dims_count];
  tflite::testing::TestElementwiseBool(
      tflite::BuiltinOperator_LOGICAL_NOT,  // Logical NOT operator
      {2, 2, 2},                            // Input shape
      {true, false, false, true},           // Input values
      {2, 2, 2},                            // Output shape
      {false, true, true, false},           // Output values
      output_data);
}

TF_LITE_MICRO_TESTS_END


Many have insisted on promoting the idea that the recovery of the United States economy is gathering strength for some time. Even high level functionaries of international financial organisms have declared that the North American economy has managed to escape the tendency of low growth that prevails in the rest of industrialized countries. Nevertheless, this unlimited optimism contrasts with the reality: inflation has not increased in any significant way and unemployment has been chronic in more than 30 states of the American Union, with this, the dangers of deflation persist and with this a new recession.
The North American economy has increased the risks of becoming the epicentre of the next global recession. In spite of the fact that the federal funds interest rate is maintained at a historically low level, between 0.25 and 0.50%, the banks continued denying credit to business. The bankers had no confidence that their loans would be paid, simply they did not find confident signs of recovery in production.
In these moments the magnates of finances of the United States found it more profitable to engage in mergers and acquisitions among corporations, acquire their own actions, or buy goods rooted in emerging countries. The increase in productivity is not sufficient, business investment is too weak and wages are stuck. In consequence, inflation remains below the objective of 2%. This situation was desperate for the Chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (FED), Janet Yellen, who found no way to stimulate the economy.
The process of recovery is fragile to the point that in mid-March the Federal Open Market Committee (FMOC) of the FED left intact the federal funds interest rate. We recall that in last December, when we saw the first increase in the interest rate in nearly a decade, Dean Turner, an analyst with the financial services firm UBS, prognosticated that members of the FMOC would raise the interest rates four times in 2016.
Nevertheless, today the most optimistic stock market investors believe that there will be at most two increases: always and when the labour market improves and inflation increases, this will be during the second half of the year when the FED again raises the reference interest rate at least one-fourth of a percentage point. The panorama today is more sober. Every time that confidence in the global recovery of the economy under the leadership of the North American locomotive has faded, there are even some who think that the United States will again fall into a recession.
In accord with the calculations of the team of advisors of Citigroup under Willem Buiter, the world economy expanded 2% during the final quarter of 2015, the lowest figure since the Euro Zone suffered the most serious ravages of the sovereign debt crisis during the years 2012 and 2013. The economists of Citigroup are surprised that the industrialized countries, those that have enjoyed a more solid growth of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in recent months are now decelerating dramatically, especially the United States.
For the famous North American businessman, Jim Rogers, the scenario is even more pessimistic. In his judgement, there is a 100% probability that the economy of the United States will fall into recession during the present year. "One should not pay attention to the figures of the government, we must pay attention to the real numbers", he said in an interview.
It happens that during the first months of the year the United States economy showed new signs of vulnerability. The evolution of the labour market is not as buoyant as everyone believes. According to data published by the US Department of Labor. The non agricultural payroll added a record of 242 000 jobs in February, with which the rate of official unemployment was maintained for the second consecutive month at 4.9%, the lowest for the past eight years. In addition, according to data from previous months, in January hirings increased to 172 000, while in December of 2015 they rose to 271 000, a revision to the rise of 30 000 employees in both cases.
Apparently, everything was performing favourably for the North American economy. The increase in the non agricultural payroll in the past month showed increases to 230 000 jobs, the monthly average obtained over 2015. Nevertheless, according to the figures of the US Department of Labor, 80% of the new jobs in February corresponded to sectors with poorly paid wages: health care, social assistance, retail trade, food services and private educational services. On the other hand, if one counts those persons who have abandoned the search for employment (1.8 millions), as well as those in part time jobs (6 millions), underemployment reaches a rate of 9.7%.
It is obvious that the United States does not enjoy "full employment". At the present time 36 states of the American Union suffer chronic unemployment, since their average rate of unemployment (in annual terms) was higher in 2015 than in 2007. In fact, in a research produced by Danny Yagan and published by the University of California (Berkeley) some days ago, under the present rhythm of recovery, it will not be until 2020 when the labour market in the more depressed regions will return to normal: more than a decade after the Great Recession, the same that threatens to return stronger than ever….
Ariel Noyola Rodriguez is an economist who graduated from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). Twitter: @noyola_ariel.
Notes:«Deflation is the worst nightmare for the United States», by Ariel Noyola Rodríguez, Translation Jordan Bishop, Russia Today (Russia), Voltaire Network, 20 September 2015.
«Federal Reserve hikes interest rates seven years after financial crisis – as it happened», Alan Yuhas, Graeme Wearden and Sam Thielman, The Guardian, December 16, 2016.
«Citi: Here Comes a Global Recession», Julie Verhage, Bloomberg, February 25, 2016.
«Jim Rogers: There's a 100% Probability of a U.S. Recession Within a Year», Luke Kawa, Bloomberg, March 4, 2016.
«Employment growth is submerged in stagnation», by Ariel Noyola Rodríguez, Translation Jordan Bishop, Russia Today (Russia), Voltaire Network, 14 October 2015.
«The employment situation: February 2016», US Bureau of Labor Statistics, March 4, 2016.
«Table A-15: Alternative measures of labor underutilization», US Bureau of Labor Statistics.
«The Enduring Employment Impact of Your Great Recession Location», Danny Yagan, UC Berkeley, March 2016.


text:
Սրբոց Նահատակաց ՀՕՄ.ի Աշխէն Փիլաւճեան Մանկամսուր Holy Martyrs A.R.S. Ashkhen Pilavjian Preschool
Operational Details
Communication and Assessment
Campus Health and Safety
Elementary and High Schools
Parent and Child Orientation
Downloadable Complete Handbook
Correspondence with Parents
Extended Programs
After School Art Classes
Team of Educators
Support Committees
School Board Committee
Parent-Family Participation
Our Sister School
Campus » Campus Health and Safety
Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Plan
Earthquake/disaster preparedness is an important aspect of the Holy Martyrs ARS Ashkhen Pilavjian Preschool program operation. To save lives and minimize disruption, all School staff and students must be prepared to respond quickly and responsibly to emergencies and disasters, such as earthquakes and fires. The entire school campus is equipped with emergency disaster provisions. The school has an emergency plan and the procedures are to be followed at the time of an earthquake or other emergency. Written emergency procedures are posted in each classroom and the School's parent board. Fire and earthquake drills are practiced on an ongoing basis so that in the event of an emergency, students, faculty and staff will be prepared to react promptly and correctly to ensure everyone's safety.
All of our teachers are trained in CPR, First Aid, and Disaster Preparedness Procedures by the Glendale Fire Department (CERT). We are prepared to care for our students for up to 72 hours after an earthquake.
To further assure the safety of our students, we would like to ask the cooperation and assistance of our parents in the following areas:
Please do not call the school. We must have the phone lines open to communicate with the fire department, police, and other governmental or emergency agencies.
Anticipate delays on your way to School due to cluttered streets or traffic.
Turn your radio to the local AM dial. Information and directions will be given over the radio.
Please do not block our driveways.
The school will follow these procedures at the time of student release:
All school entries will be closed immediately after an earthquake or emergency.
Two temporary Student Release stations will be set up #1at Hayvenhurst parking entrance gate and #2 at Hayvenhurst exit gate.
Children will be released only to a parent or an individual designated by a parent, whose name is listed on the Child's Emergency Release Information Form. With this in mind, please make sure your child's emergency form is always up to date.
Parents or their designated parties, who come for children, should approach Child Release Station #1 by the School's Hayvenhurst parking lot entrance gate for verification of their Identification. (Picture I.D. will be requested).
Upon verification of the Identification parents or their designated parties will be given a Release Form and will be directed to Child Release Station #2 at the School's Hayvenhurst parking lot exit gate where they will sign the children out.
If evacuating the School becomes necessary, signs will be posted on the main gates advising parents of the children's new location.
Security Attendant
To maximize campus safety and security and to guide the traffic, the school has a security attendant on duty during the school hours.
All visitors and guests are required to sign in at the main office at the beginning of their visit. Any visitor or guest will be asked to provide his or her name, address, and the purpose of his/her visit. The School reserves the right to request proof of identity.
The School Director or his/her designee in his or her discretion may refuse access to School grounds to any visitor or guest.
Any visitor or guest who fails to sign in at the main office shall be considered an unauthorized person. "Unauthorized person" shall also include any student who is currently dis-enrolled from the School or otherwise not permitted to be on School grounds.
Loading, Parking, and Safety
Parents should enter the School from the School's main entrances/gates. We ask that parents consider our neighbors and honor the City of Los Angeles traffic rules by not blocking or turning in to any of the driveways or making unlawful U-Turns in front of the School.
Park your SUV or Van in the Hayvenhurst parking lot.
When parking in the parking lot, please do not park in the Faculty designated parking spaces and, most importantly, please keep your children next to you at all times.
Also, to assure parent and child safety on campus grounds and to avoid unnecessary traffic problems, we request immediate departure after signing your child out.
Hayvenhurst parking lot gate will be closed after 9:30 AM.
The school is not responsible for any kind of damage caused to a vehicle while on school grounds, including but not limited to collision, theft, burglary and other damages.
Video Surveillance: To secure the health and safety of children and adults, video surveillance is installed throughout School premises. (See Video Surveillance Policy below.) All activities are monitored and recorded.
Glass door entrance on Parthenia Street will be locked from 9:00 AM to
2:30 PM. To enter the school, please ring the bell and a staff member will open the door.
Persons unknown to the staff will be asked to enter from the office entrance and will be required to show a picture ID.
Video Surveillance and Intercom
To secure the health and safety of children and adults, video surveillance is installed throughout School premises. (See Video Surveillance Policy below.) The School's main gate entrance door is operated through the intercom system and all activities are monitored and recorded. Parthenia school entry is 9:00 A.M. to 2:30 P.M.
To enter the school, please ring the bell and the gate/door will be opened by a staff member using the intercom system.
To exit the school, please use the Green Exit Button located next to the gate/door.
Persons unknown to the staff will be asked to enter from the office entrance and will be required to show a picture I.D..
Video surveillance may occur on School property. Video surveillance shall be limited to preschool classrooms, hallways, stairwells, entrances, school grounds and other areas deemed appropriate by the School Director. The School reserves the right to place cameras in a location known to require a greater need for surveillance. Video surveillance shall not occur in areas where there is a reasonable expectation of privacy, such as locker rooms, restrooms, counseling and nursing offices.
Under no circumstances shall the School's video surveillance cameras be equipped to record audio or other sound(s). Any audio capability shall be permanently deactivated prior to use by the School. Audio shall not be part of the video recordings made, reviewed or stored buy the School.
The video surveillance system and all resulting recordings shall be located in a secure area and access to the system and recordings shall be strictly limited by the Director or designee. Video images obtained by the School shall be viewed by authorized School personnel as necessary. The School may rely on the images obtained by the video surveillance cameras in connection with the enforcement of School policy and other applicable law, including, but not limited to, student and staff discipline proceedings and matters referred to local law enforcement agencies in accordance with applicable law.
Video images may become part of a student's educational record in accordance with applicable law. Video images or recordings may become subject to disclosure in response to a lawfully issued subpoena or court order. In the case video surveillance is used for discipline proceedings or becomes a part of your child's educational record, you, the parent, may request to view the video subject t laws and regulations governing privacy of student records if implicated for students other than your own child. The video recordings may be erased as necessary or recorded over at the discretion of the School.
For complete information regarding school safety procedures, please see the school's Safety Handbook below.
SAFETY GUIDELINES HANDBOOK updated May 2018
16617 Parthenia Street North Hills, CA 91343
Phone: 818.892.9540 Fax: 818.892.5044 Email: [email protected]
Copyright © 2019 Holy Martyrs A.R.S. Ashken Pilavjian Preschool. All Rights Reserved .


text:
Almine Rech
Semyon Faibisovich
© Semyon Faibisovich
A Lad with Glowing Eyes from the cycle MOSCOW SUBWAY REVISITED, 2010
Mixed media, oil on canvas
Moscow & Muscovites
12 January – 2 February 2013
Semyon Faibisovich's breakthrough came in 1980s with a series of paintings that collectively constituted a portrait of the Soviet era. Unlike the artists associated with Sots Art and Moscow conceptual art, who sought to portray the system using the very same symbols and signs that it itself employed (banners, slogans, leaders' portraits, typical bits of text), Faibisovich was interested in the visual aspects of the system, the aspects that had not been properly reflected on and articulated. The things that are looked at by everybody yet seen by very few: the commonplace, even banal episodes of everyday life, faces gloomy as if bearing an invisible and identical stamp, the thick air of oppression — all of which, in his opinion, was as revealing about the life in USSR as its official symbols. And also light, the sunlight that helps to overcome the grey and listless stuff of reality.
The artist continued to stare attentively at the reality around him and producing works in the style which could be called 'hypnorealism' until the beginning of the 1990s, when the Soviet reality went away. And so the artist switched from the object that he sees to the process of seeing itself. His 'Evidence' project explores the optics of seeing with its effects and defects which together alter the way we see the world (even if we usually don't notice these alterations): blind spots in the eye, the morning- or alcohol-induced double vision, the 'residual vision' — when we close our eyes and the capillary-laced eyelids act as screens, showing what we've just seen, only in the negative. The artist is observing and showing us how these negatives form, blurring the line between the real and the abstract.
In 1995 Faibisovich quits painting and devotes several years to writing. Towards the end of the decade he comes back to being an artist proper, this time engaging in photography, installations and video art. The full-fledged comeback to painting had to wait until 2007, when he felt that the new era had firmly established itself and it was time to paint its portrait — using tools that were up to date and up to the task. The new technology is essentially tripartite, involving low-resolution mobile camera shots, a digital painting game of augmenting the shots with computer photo editors and printing the result on canvas — and, finally, the traditional oil painting. Mixing the three technologies, merging the three processes into one, the artist produces a kind of a new breed of visual art — a new language to use when confronting the reality around him.
www.galeriealminerech.com
Tags: Semyon Faibisovich
Edit Almine Rech


text:
Cusseta
Cusseta distance to Minnesota
How far is Cusseta from Minnesota?
Distance by Flight
Shortest distance between Cusseta and Minnesota is 85.31 miles (137.29 km).
Flight distance from Cusseta, GA to Minnesota, GA is 85.31 miles. Estimated flight time is 00 hours 11 minutes.
It takes 00 hours 10 minutes to travel from Cusseta to Minnesota with an airplane (average speed of 550 miles).
Driving distance
The driving distance from Cusseta, Georgia to Minnesota, Georgia is: 94.55 miles (152.17 km) by car.
Driving from Cusseta to Minnesota will take approximately 01 hours 38 minutes.
#1 Cusseta
Consolidated city-county in and county seat of Chattahoochee County, Georgia, United States
32°18'20"N 84°46'22"W
#2 Minnesota
Starting point in Cusseta: McNaughton Street (-84.772994,32.305503)
Ending point in Minnesota: South Fain Street (-83.910149,31.311878)
Estimated Travel Time Between Cusseta and Minnesota
The distance between Cusseta and Minnesota is 152 km if you choose to drive by road. You can go 01 hours 41 minutes if you drive your car at an average speed of 90 kilometers / hour. For different choices, please review the avg. speed travel time table on the below.
There is no time difference between Cusseta and Minnesota. The current time is 09:19:58.
30 mph (48.3 km/h) 03 hours 09 minutes
40 mph (64.37 km/h) 02 hours 21 minutes
70 mph (112.65 km/h) 01 hours 21 minutes
75 mph (120.7 km/h) 01 hours 15 minutes
A car with a fuel efficiency of 8.3 l/100 km will need 12.63 liters (3.34 gallon) of gas to cover the route between Cusseta and Minnesota.
The estimated cost of gas to go from Cusseta to Minnesota is $13.69 (diesel $16.18).
Take a look at our Gas Cost Calculator feature. It will figure out how much it will cost to drive this particular distance.
The average gas price per gallon of daily gas for calculations is $4.102 (Diesel $4.849) /gallon. Last changed prices on January 27, 2023.
How did we calculate the distance?
The place names are translated into coordinates to approximate the distance between Cusseta and Minnesota (latitude and longitude). Cities, states, and countries each have their own regional center. The Haversine formula is used to measure the radius.
Distance to Other Cities
Smyrna, GA
Driving distance from Smyrna, GA to Cusseta 155.55 miles (250 km)
02 hours 35 minutes.
Driving distance from Albany, GA to Cusseta 68.86 miles (111 km)
Driving distance from Alpharetta, GA to Cusseta 149.75 miles (241 km)
Driving distance from Atlanta, GA to Cusseta 122.14 miles (197 km)
Driving distance from Augusta, GA to Cusseta 213.02 miles (343 km)
Brookhaven, GA
Driving distance from Brookhaven, GA to Cusseta 132.94 miles (214 km)
California, GA
Driving distance from California, GA to Cusseta 141.66 miles (228 km)
Driving distance from Columbus, GA to Cusseta 17.77 miles (29 km)
Driving distance from Gainesville, GA to Cusseta 179.21 miles (288 km)
Driving distance from Macon, GA to Cusseta 89.07 miles (143 km)
Driving distance from Marietta, GA to Cusseta 137.93 miles (222 km)
Ohio, GA
Driving distance from Ohio, GA to Cusseta 67.99 miles (109 km)
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