text:
Doyce Testerman
Perpetual projects and daily obsessions.
Great. Again.
Nothing wakes you up from a dead sleep more effectively than the sound of a pet quietly retching on your new carpet at five in the morning.
"SON of a -" I stumbled toward the kitchen while my wife rolled out of her side of the bed and led the dog to the backyard. She was already dropping back onto her pillow by the time I'd got back with paper towels in hand.
"Ugh…" I wiped at the viscous puddle, giving thanks for the stain resistant carpet coating. Extra cost – SO worth it. "And what a surprise – a big clump of cloth."
"Wha…" my wife's voice crawled muzzily out of the comforter. "Where's he getting that stuff?"
"I'll give you one clue," I said, plucking the wad off the carpet. "Red felt."
She groaned. "Gnomes? Again?!"
"Looks like it." I peered at the fuzzy, soggy glob. "Maybe two or three."
"And just the hats?"
"Just the hats." I pushed myself to my feet. Maybe their clothes are some other … thing. Substance. Whatever."
"Digestible?"
"Maybe it's just… skin." I shrugged. "Explains why there's never any belt buckles."
No reply from the bed while I shuffled into the bathroom and dropped the wad of sogginess into the trash. She sat up as I turned around.
"Well, I'm not going back to sleep with that image in my head."
"Skin? Really?"
"Yeah. Sorry."
She stood, and we headed back toward the kitchen, breakfast, and an apologetic dog by the back door.
"Maybe he's making a political statement," I said.
"… what?"
"The red caps. Maybe…" I trailed off, staring down at the dog through the screen, trying to turn MAGA into Munch A Gnome… Something.
I shook my head and opened the door. "Nevermind. I need coffee."
Hobsmythe
"Officer Hobsmythe, in your report, you state you subdued the… irate hobgoblin with a binding spell."
"Yessir."
"… You reported your service wand damaged beyond use after the incident last weekend."
"… Yessir."
"So, if you don't mind my asking…"
"I improvised. Sir."
"You improvised. A wand."
"And that… Worked."
"Yessir. Fairly well, actually."
"Did the… Improvised device… Survive?"
"Yessir. I have it right…"
"Officer Hobsmythe."
"That's a pink, plastic…"
"Chopstick, sir."
"Chopstick. With some kind of toy -"
"Shopkin, sir. A cabbage, I think."
"- shopkin. Stuck to the end."
"For pity's sake WHY?"
"Needed a way to make the wand 'notable and unique', sir, per crafting guidelines, and it's what I had to hand."
"How -"
"My niece, sir. She's mad for the things. I still had one in my pocket from babysitting last week."
seven league
As they walked, the grass border along the pavement grew shaggy, then positively neglected. He commented on it, just to have something to say, but she only scowled harder at the ground in front of them.
It felt to him as if Wilderness and Times Before crept in wherever he wasn't looking, trying to act casual and "always been here" when he gave them a straight on glare.
It got worse.
Worse? Probably unfair. Say it progressed.
They'd lose sight of the path ahead, because of a curve or a rise or a particularly aggressive shrub, and as it came into view, there was both less and more to see.
Less path. More wild.
Pavement became paver stones, became gravel, became groomed dirt, became a thin line of flattened grass in a sea of whispers.
Mountains rose in the not-so-distance, which he felt sure he would have noticed earlier, had they BEEN there earlier. "Where are we going?" he asked, too late for it to matter very much.
She kept walking, leading the way along a single file barely-trail, her gaze still on the ground ahead of her, calling to the next change, just around the next turn.
"Away," she murmured. "You'll see."
Some Thoughts on Black Panther, from a White Dude
I love this movie. Love. I think it's probably the best overall film Marvel's come out with, viewed holistically. I might like a certain action scene or the humor in another movie more BUT, taken as a whole, Black Panther is STRONG. Top three, if not top of the list.
And, I have confirmed, very rewatchable.
I've been struggling with what else – if anything – to say about the movie, and honestly trying to decide if I should say anything about it. I love it, and I think it's great, and I think if you haven't seen it, and you're someone in my circles, you probably should, because you'll like it.
But what else?
I mean, the empowerment and representation in this movie is not mine, and that is an inarguable good, so maybe I should just shut the fuck up about it.
Maybe no one wants to hear that I think Blank Panther also has something important to say to me and other white guys. Maybe I don't even need to step into the "what Black Panther has to say" conversation at all.
And if you feel that way, I respect that, and you should definitely tune this next bit out.
Because… this movie is about Wakanda, right?
And what's Wakanda?
Wakanda is, by all accounts (including the exposition in the movie) a pretty blessed country. It has resources and advantages no one else in the world has. It has made advances no one else in the world has, and in fact enjoys benefits no one else in the world even imagines can be.
"You guys have hoverbikes?!?"
It has, in short, all the best stuff.
And, at the start of the movie (and throughout the fictional history of this country) what Wakanda does with these gifts is:
use them to protect itself
preserve its advantage
ensure that everyone else's problems do not become its problems.
So… basically… white men in the real world.
And without discussing spoilers, I will say this.
The movie demonstrates a healthy, helpful, I think necessary path forward for anyone with those kinds of advantages.
And it's not more guns.
It's not war and occupation in every country we don't agree with.
It's not continuing the same selfish, inward-focused, personal preservation that has been our go-to move throughout history.
In a time of conflict, fools builds a wall barriers, and the wise build bridges.
Without (I hope) taking anything away from everyone to whom this movie will speak much more fully, much more emotionally, and much more personally, I hope I can say that it also has something to tell a middle-aged white dude.
And I'm going to shut up and take notes, because it's got a hell of a good point.
The Internet is Too Big
I've spent the better part of two days worth of free time hunting for two posts on two unrelated subjects.
The first, older, was a really interesting discussion about how it would change werewolf stories if werewolves (and lycanthropes) weren't tied to the lunar cycle. The idea was proposed, and the following conversation broke out what that would look like. It was good. 80% sure it was on Tumbler.1
The second, far more recent1, probably also on Tumblr2, was a shorter thing about how, given what we know about loss and depression, Bruce Wayne, having lost his parents in an event guaranteed to saddle him with CPTSD, would far more likely become an unmotivated, antisocial shut-in, rather than hitting the gym and traveling the world to study dozens of schools of hand to hand violence.3
I still haven't found either post. It's driving me to serious distraction.
Update: The original Batman observation was from an article on Patton Oswalt, from Oswalt himself. Thanks to Christian Griffen for the quote:
He said he now saw the lie of so many of his favorite comic books that portray the impact of a death in the family. "If Bruce Wayne watched his parents murdered at 9, he wouldn't become this cut hero," he said, referring to the Batman origin story. "He would become Gotham's most annoying slam poet. How about someone dies, and they just get fat and angry and confused? But no, immediately, they're at the gym."
There's a better than 50% chance I dreamed one or both of these posts, and I'm searching for things that don't exist. In which case, I should probably write it all down in as much detail as I can 'remember'. ↩ ↩
Because Tumblr is where fan-theories go to get exposed to gamma-radiation and hulk-out into spectacular monsters. ↩
My own follow-up on that subject: it would be recluse-slob-billionaire's child who'd become both a philanthropist and secret crime-fighter while presenting a public face of youthful indiscretion, because parent-issues, but that's a whole different discussion. 4 ↩
Basically, a DC world where Bruce Wayne hits 70 with a personality somewhere between Trump and the WoW player from that one South Park episode, but his oldest child (estranged, from four marriages ago) is sort of Paris Hilton: early adult years involved a few leaked sex tapes, many tales of wild parties… yet a remarkably savvy business record since then… and maybe a few years of international travel and mystery, and now The Kid is funding urban renewal projects and job initiatives (like any billionaire who really wants to stop crime SHOULD do), and hey there's this ninja tactician mystery woman in the Justice League. ↩
Posted on August 27, 2015 January 26, 2017
DRM vs. the Tip Jar
I am a bit of a Stoic, in the classic sense of the word.
At the risk of oversimplifying a complex philosophy, what I mean when I say this is that, in order to get the most satisfaction out of my life, I devote a certain amount of time and mental energy toward envisioning how things (anything, most things, some things) might go wrong, and how I'll deal with it if it does.
This, I am told, is weird and counter intuitive and even sounds depressing to a non-trivial percentage of people (or at least a high percentage of vocal people), and I understand their reaction; I'll admit this approach to the life's daily events has a tendency to, let's say, flatten the peaks of whatever high points come along during the day.
The flip side is that it also softens the blow of the low points, because I've mentally prepped myself for unfortunate events – often something far worse than what actually happens. (I have a pretty good imagination, so when I tell you I envision things going wrong, understand that I take things quite a bit further than "what will I do if I get a flat tire during rush hour?"
It may not work for everyone, but it works for me – in short, I make plans to deal with the worst that might happen, and as a result I'm generally pretty pleased with an otherwise unremarkable day: the house didn't burn down, everyone's healthy, and my kids didn't run into traffic while I was getting the mail. Yay!
I will admit, there are downsides, the primary one being the fact I go through the day expecting people to, collectively, be kind of horrible.
But people aren't entirely horrible – it's possible they aren't even mostly horrible – and when you prepare for the worst (as I do) and instead encounter the best, it's worth talking about.
I want to tell you a story about people not being horrible, and how it's changed the way I approach making stuff and putting it out in the world.
When HarperCollins published Hidden Things, I didn't expect anyone to buy the audiobook rights – it rarely happens with first-time authors – and of course no one did.
But I still wanted an audiobook of Hidden Things to exist, so I asked the agent representing me for that book to ask HarperCollins for the audiobook rights back, once it was fairly clear nothing was going to happen on that front. They said yes, paperwork was signed, and it was done: I could do whatever I wanted with the rights, limited only by my finances and ability.
Now, I had the funds available to pay for the recording and production of an audiobook, but I didn't like that option for two main reasons:
I didn't want to get bound up in some kind of financial bottom line with the project, where I only judged it "good" once I'd (for example) made as much money as I'd spent on the thing.
It sounded boring.
So instead, I started up a Kickstarter to fund the audiobook development. (You can check out the video for the project over here.
The main reason I did this was because it meant I didn't have to worry about the financial bottom line, because the project would be in the black from day one, thanks to backers who essentially "preordered" the audiobook through the kickstarter.
This gave me a tremendous amount of freedom, and I wanted to use that freedom to explore ideas that I believed in very strongly in theory, but which I hadn't been able to test out where it really mattered.
Specifically, I wanted to release the audiobook in as many formats as a could, in ways that would make the story available to anyone, anywhere, without running into problems with Digital Rights Management and all that other "treat the customer like a criminal" bullshit the publishing industry does (because they didn't learn anything from the music industry failing at the same thing, ten years previous).
In this, I took my cues from Cory Doctorow, who is something of an evangelist of the anti-DRM movement, and who makes all his books freely available for download off his personal website and yet still manages to pay the bills.
"DRM does nothing but punish honest people," a paraphrased Doctorow might say, "so I'll make it easy to get my stuff, no matter what, and prove 'digital theft' is a silly bogeyman in publishing, compared to the very real problems of inaccessibility and obscurity."
Did I buy that? Here's bit of my narration from that kickstarter video:
I plan to make this audiobook project a demonstration of the futility of DRM in today's digital marketplace. I believe it is possible for a creator to ask a fair price for good work and receive that price from fans who believe in the work and want to support it.
I was pushing that line pretty hard, but you'll notice that I was basically setting up the kickstarter to help make that happen. I didn't say it in so many words, but the underlying message was something like this:
"Listen: if I have to pay for this myself, it's going to go out as an audiobook, and that's it. If the kickstarter funds it, and I know I'm not going to lose a bunch of money, then it's happy fun peace love time in here."
Yeah. That was me.
See, it all seemed to make sense to me, and as a reader/listener/consumer, I know first hand how much DRM infuriated and frustrated and insulted me.
But when you bring this argument up in publishing, there's a some nodding and agreeable murmurs and then a WHOLE LOT of what I'll call "expectation management," and mostly it boils down to this:
"That's a fine idea… if you're Cory Doctorow," they say. "Once you have a hundred thousand happy-mutant BoingBoing readers buying his stuff, even though he's giving it away for free on his website, just to prove him right, then of course he can say DRM is bad and trusting people works better."
And I understand that mindset – I really do. You can't come into the publishing world with a horror novel and expect your career to describe the same basic arc as Stephen King: that would be stupid and unrealistic, but people still do that, every day, so you have agents and editors and publicists trying to help a new author understand they aren't Stephen King. I get it.
But at the same time, this didn't feel like a "you're not Stephen King" situation. This wasn't about the writer as much as it was about the readers – it wasn't what a person could do, but what people would do.
In other words, I was pretty sure everyone who was telling me "that only works if you're Doctorow" were wrong.
So I put my hand out, asked for some help, got it, and made the audiobook the way I wanted. I "gave it away for free" via a podcast that anyone could listen to, then remastered it and released it on Audible for what I suppose are normal audiobook prices, while continuing to make the free podcast available.
And I did more than that. Once the podcast was done, I put the whole thing up on Podiobooks. If you don't know what Podiobooks is, it's kind of given away in the name: audiobooks, in podcast format, and the thing with Podiobooks is, everything is free: listen all you want, and it doesn't cost you a dime. More than that, the guys running the site even do the work of getting the stuff up on the iTunes as well, also for free.
Did you get that?
I had my book on Audible (US only, because of DRM), iTunes (ditto, I think), and Downpour (eventually) but I also had free podcast versions on my website and on Podiobooks AND AGAIN on iTunes (sitting there, free, right next to the pay remastered version).
Clearly, I'm not going to make a dime, right?
Sales through Audible have been steady. I don't get much of the proceeds, because everyone involved takes their cut first but, well… I don't care – the whole project is in the black: I'm enjoying the "long tail" of digital sales, from day one. Given the option to buy something or just take it and walk off, people have been pretty nice and bought it. Yay.
But that's not the thing I want to tell you about.
See, the people behind Podiobooks aren't a charity. You can listen to everything for free, yes, but they do ask listeners to pay for the stuff they like. I've listened to Hidden Things over there, and about halfway through there's a little reminder from the Podiobooks spokesperson saying:
"Hey guys, if you like this… you really ought to show that by giving the author something for all their work. We take a percentage, yeah, but most of it – a whopping eighty percent – goes to the author.
And then there's a similar reminder at the end.
In short, there's a tip jar. Just a tip jar and a reminder.
That tip jar and reminder has earned me more money than Audible by an order of magnitude – maybe several orders of magnitude; I'm kind of bad at math. It continues to earn me more, every month.
No DRM. No treating every customer like a potential criminal.
Expecting people to be awesome, and finding out that, by and large, they are.
I'm a believer.
In a few months, I'll be releasing the last of the things funded by the Hidden Things kickstarter – an ebook + audiobook collection of short stories set in the Hidden Things world. It's called Little Things. Again, released as a podcast, then put up everywhere, but still free if you want it that way, and available anywhere.
Because seriously: fuck DRM – I trust you guys.
You're awesome.
http://doycetesterman.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Tip-Jar.mp3
Whidbey Writers Workshop MFA Student Commencement Address
Earlier this August, I and thirteen other writers received our Masters in Fine Arts degree for Creative Writing, from the Whidbey Writers Workshop and the Northwest Institute of Literary Arts.
I was selected by my peers to be the student commencement speaker, and I wanted to share what I said, both for posterity and simply because I think I have have accidentally included some pretty good advice for writers in general.
So, below, the text of the speech, and an audio recording of me, reading it.
@: commencement speech
On June third of this year, I logged into the MFA's online campus and learned that my fellow graduates had chosen me to deliver our commencement address.
I'd like to share some of the comments that followed this announcement.
"I know he will do a fantastic job."
"Doyce, you will rock!"
"Thank you for representing the graduating class to our friends and family."
"No pressure, but I expect to be inspired."
I want to thank my fellow graduates for selecting me – it was surprising, humbling, and – I think – an excellent opportunity to talk about writing, and unrealistic expectations.
During my undergraduate studies, I had an English professor – one of my favorite instructors – who, upon hearing I wanted to be a writer, asked "Do you just feel like you… have to write, all the time?"
It was, I think, the question she thought she was supposed to ask, when confronted with someone who claimed to be a writer.
And, faced with that question, I grudgingly admitted that, yes, I needed to write, to the point where it interfered with every other part of my life… which is why my paper on Catcher in the Rye was late.
I was lying, of course. My Catcher in the Rye paper was late because my roommate had subjected me to a Monty Python movie marathon that weekend… and I certainly did not "have to write, all the time."
But just as surely as that professor thought that was the question she was supposed to ask, I thought that was what I was supposed to feel – a gravitic pull toward any keyboard or blank sheet of paper so strong it overwhelmed every other influence in my life.
That's what I thought being a writer meant.
But I didn't feel that pull, and it terrified me.
It took me a long time to realize being a writer is something quite a bit different, and quite a bit simpler, and not nearly as fun or as easy as a mysterious cosmic force that reaches out and grabs you and drops your butt into a chair and tunes out the world and makes you put words down on paper.
The truth goes something like this:
Writers write.
People love to label and categorize things, and it's no different in the world of writing and publishing.
Are you published? Then you're an author.
But, what kind of author are you? A novelist? A poet? A journalist? An essayist? A lyrical essayist?
The labels (and the qualifications) get more obscure the further down the rabbit hole you go, and in my opinion it's all a bit boring and pointless.
"Well, what are the qualifications for that?"
If so, you're a writer.
Now, some smart alec with impossibly white teeth and an MBA will smirk and tell you, by that simple criteria, almost everyone is a writer; lots of people have scribbled down an old family anecdote, or tapped out a poem that holds together as long as you sing it to the tune of Bohemian Rhapsody, or written an essay on The Catcher in the Rye.
But that's not how it works: Writers write.
It's not that they have written, at some point in the past.
It's not that they will write, at some point in the future.
It's certainly not that they intend to write, at some point in an alternate future, with jetpacks and flying cars.
This is not about the past, or the future. It's not even about the present – it's not a verb, it's a description: a statement of reality.
Writers write when it is sunny, and they'd rather be outside. Writers write when they are tired, and would rather watch television, or read, or go to the movies, or browse the internet, or play a game, or just nap.
Writers write when it's hard. Writers write when they don't wanna.
And it's never – almost never – because of some mystical pull toward the blank page — it is a conscious act. Call it whatever you want: Will. Determination. Desire. In my case: sheer cussedness.
Sitting up here, looking a little nervous, a little nauseous, is the largest graduating class the Whidbey Writers Workshop has ever produced.
Fourteen graduates who know the writer's simple, painful requirement. Yes, they've studied their craft. Yes, they've put in the hours on workshops and thousands of pages of reading, but more than anything else, despite every imaginable personal conflict, and distraction, and loss, they write.
We are writers.
Those of you who smiled at that through are probably also writers.
Those of you who did not clap or smile… live with writers. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank you for your patience, and apologize on behalf of my fellow graduates and students.
You, our long-suffering, patient, loving family and friends have shooed the kids outside to play, or volunteered for another tedious school function, or brought in a cup of tea, or simply listened while we tried to sort out the lives of imaginary people you have never met.
More often, you've done the hardest thing: left us alone – in a quiet room, or our favorite chair, or a coffee shop, or a hospital bed, knowing, if not always entirely understanding, what we had to do.
Understand this: we made it here, because you were there.
On behalf of my fellow graduates, I also want to thank our our Faculty. You have the unenviable, it-would-seem impossible task of providing guidance and direction to a pack of wanderers who each see a different landscape.
You don't know – you can't know – what challenges any specific writer in the program might face, so you teach us the craft: you show us the tools of exploration and survival; the techniques for navigating by whatever strange stars we've put in our personal sky.
And, when we need it, you give us a little shove, just between the shoulder blades, to keep things moving.
That shove is, I think, the heart of this program, and it consists of two words; the same two words with which Wayne signs off every email he has ever sent, since I started this program.
"I'm not sure this story is working."
"I don't know if I really get this poetic form."
"I've graduated! It's over! Now what to do I do now?"
You are both our mentors and our friends; we are here, because you helped us find the way and never let us stop moving.
Finally, to my fellow students and graduates, I will share this thought.
You won't always know what you're doing. There will be days filled with joy, pride, excitement, and hope; and there will be days filled with panic, confusion, frustration, and disillusion. Sometimes, they will be the same days.
This is what you do.
You write.
If you can't figure out where to stand, write the ground in under your feet. If you feel like you can't breathe, write the air. If you can't see your next step, write the sky; write your horizon, and put it far, far in the distance.
If you don't know the rules about this thing you're doing, find some comfort in the fact that no one – no one – knows the rules, either.
Make amazing things.
http://doycetesterman.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Student-Commencement-Address.mp3
I've been thinking about this more and more as I consider the idea of friction — of resistance — in my life, and how to eliminate it.
To paraphrase and subvert the standard definition, technology is the collective term for techniques, methods, and/or processes that make an activity easier. Cooking has tech. Hunting has tech. Manufacturing, from machinery to millinery, has tech. Scientific investigation has tech.
Basically, if it's something humans do, we've come up with tech that makes it easier to do.
Sometimes, we iterate on that tech endlessly (see: ways to kill each other), sometimes, we figure out the best option right away and leave it (see: the wheel and/or lever).
Sometimes – the majority of the time, probably – an attempted improvement to existing tech fails to make The Thing easier (whatever The Thing is). In those instances, the iteration is discarded or is itself iterated on until is does improve The Thing.
This is so obvious it seems silly to say; if you do a thing that makes the existing tech worse, that is failed tech. (Maybe not a failed attempt, if it teaches us something, but it is failed tech.)
In short, good technology – functional technology – reduces friction: it makes the effort required for A Thing, less. If it doesn't do that, it is not technology.
By this definition, DRM – Digital Rights Management – as it is implemented today by various media industries, is not technology.
It's not a failed iteration of technology; if DRM were completely successful in its purpose (it isn't), it still fails to meet the one criterion for technology: it does not reduce friction for whatever Thing it affects. In a perfect world (which, again, this isn't) it might theoretically achieve a state of adding no additional friction, but it will never make friction less.
It is, in short, doing nothing but making things worse.
Today, it makes it harder to get to your stuff. Tomorrow, that difficulty increases, and as time goes on, so does that difficulty, until we reach a point where The Thing no longer works because of this anti-technology.
Until we reach a point where we've lost years or decades of our culture because we let our Things be locked in vaults we didn't control, to benefit people who only exist to sell keys.
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text:
Lansing is an unincorporated community in DeSoto County, Florida, United States, located approximately  northwest of Arcadia.

Geography
Lansing is located at , its elevation .

References

Unincorporated communities in DeSoto County, Florida
Unincorporated communities in Florida

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Home College NCAA
Knight Commission Urges Tough NCAA Reforms
From left: Phil Martelli, Jay Bilas, Jon Fetterolf, Michael Siegel, Kylia Carter at the May 7, 2018 meeting of Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics. Photo: Lisa Helfert/Knight Commission
Submitted |
The Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics today urged university presidents to seize a rare moment of opportunity to reform not only men's basketball but the NCAA organization itself to restore public faith in the governing body's ability to oversee major revenue-producing college sports.
"The Commission on College Basketball rightly emphasized that 'the NCAA administers what is effectively a public trust in the United States—athletic competition among college athletes,'" said Commission co-chair Arne Duncan, former U.S. Secretary of Education. "But it's an open question if the NCAA can restore public confidence in its ability to be stewards of big-money college sports. To do so, it will need to embrace far more sweeping and deep-seated reform than ever before."
The Knight Commission called on the NCAA to make additional far-ranging changes to its governance beyond those recommended by the Commission on College Basketball, and to enact a series of strict requirements on college basketball coaches and their schools to bolster financial transparency, particularly for income received from shoe and apparel companies.
The Knight Commission suggested the NCAA shift its model from a membership association, with inherent conflicts of interest, to being more of a leadership organization capable of propelling real change. That shift requires more independent leadership of the NCAA, including independent directors who can play an objective role in safeguarding college athletics, especially for revenue sports.
The Commission on College Basketball, led by Condoleezza Rice, adopted a longstanding recommendation of the Knight Commission to add independent directors to the NCAA Board of Governors, the organization's highest-ranking governing body. The Knight Commission also urged that the NCAA add at least six independent members to the Division I Board of Directors, because that board controls policies that shape the richest and most powerful college sports programs.
As a matter of principle, the Knight Commission recommended that independent directors should ultimately comprise majorities of both boards. Similarly, to underscore the importance of impartial oversight, the Commission expressed its support for Rice Commission recommendations to provide for an independent infractions and enforcement process in cases of serious violations.
At today's spring meeting, Commission members endorsed many of the recommendations made by the panel led the Rice Commission, which the NCAA Board of Governors and Division I Board of Directors accepted last week. Specifically, the Knight Commission expressed its support for changes that will create a healthier summer recruiting environment for youth basketball. It also supported the Rice Commission proposal to change the NBA draft eligibility rule, but cautioned that allowing students to turn pro without a high school diploma could have a corrosive effect on educational attainment.
"We urge university presidents to adopt the complementary reforms we are advancing as part of a more comprehensive package of measures," said Knight Commission co-chair Carol Cartwright, president emeritus at Kent State University and Bowling Green State University.
The Knight Commission is calling on the NCAA, under the leadership of its university presidents, to adopt measures in three areas:
Governance. As a first step, add at least six independent directors to the 24-member Division I Board of Directors, now comprised solely of institutional representatives, with an ultimate goal of a majority of independent directors.
Integrity and Financial Transparency. Adopt new and more stringent approvals, terms of conditions, and financial disclosures for income that NCAA institutions and their employees—particularly coaches—receive from shoe, equipment, and apparel companies.
Student-Athlete Education and Development. Develop minimal professional standards that NCAA coaches will be required to meet to ensure they are prepared for their roles as educators and leaders in the development of student-athletes.
The Rice Commission adopted a longstanding recommendation of the Knight Commission to add independent directors to the NCAA Board of Governors, the organization's highest-ranking governing body.
"Adding independent directors will improve governance for all of college sports, not just college basketball," said Knight Commission co-chair Carol Cartwright. "As we first suggested in 2013, we also want to see independent directors added to the NCAA Division I Board of Directors. In the long run, we'd like to see independent directors comprise a majority of both boards. Too often, board members are expected to represent their conferences' competitive and financial interests first, instead of what may be best for student-athletes and college sports as a whole."
Integrity and Financial Transparency
The recent college basketball scandal demonstrated that transparency and new restrictions are needed for income obtained from shoe, equipment, and apparel companies, which have close ties to non-scholastic basketball teams (club/travel teams), recruiting events, and NCAA institutions.
The Rice Commission report recommended new financial requirements for non-scholastic basketball events attended by NCAA coaches, and called on shoe and apparel companies to "implement financial transparency and accountability with respect to their own investments in non-scholastic basketball." The Knight Commission supports these measures but believes that standards must be set higher for NCAA schools and college coaches than for those not directly affiliated with the NCAA.
The Knight Commission urged the adoption of several measures to create more financial transparency, including:
No university can give the right to any employee to have a contract with shoe, equipment, and apparel companies that are expressly or indirectly contingent on players wearing or using the companies' equipment or products. Such contracts must be made only with the university.
Adopting new restrictions and imposing financial disclosures on athletically-related outside income received by employees, and making a failure to comply with these new requirements subject to significant infractions penalties. See fact sheet below for specific details about these new proposed requirements.
Student-Athlete Education and Development
The Commission on College Basketball concluded that "NCAA schools are not doing enough to develop the next generation of coaches." The Knight Commission agrees with that conclusion and recommends the development of minimal professional standards that NCAA coaches must meet to ensure they are prepared for their roles in the education and development of student-athletes. Such standards could require the completion of different levels of coaching licenses or professional certificates to redress the profession's lax—and in some cases non-existent—certification and licensure standards.
In a separate discussion related to NCAA transfer rules, the Knight Commission supported the NCAA's efforts to eliminate the requirement that student-athletes must seek permission to transfer from their institution to receive an athletics scholarship from their second institution. The change will allow student-athletes to notify their institutions of their intent to transfer so that their names can appear in a national database of transfer students eligible for recruitment.
Meeting discussion
Today's meeting included panelists ESPN college basketball analyst Jay Bilas and NCAA chief legal officer Donald Remy, who discussed the Rice Commission report and the way forward for college basketball. Remy said that the NCAA is moving quickly to implement the Rice Commission's recommendations, adding that his organization is committed to finding "the path to provide for independent directors as quickly as possible."
Bilas criticized the Rice Commission for what he called its failure to address money in college basketball and commercialization.
"Amateurism should have thoroughly examined, not just accepted," he said, adding that he didn't see anything wrong with student-athletes sharing in the money being generated.
Knight Commission member David Robinson, the former San Antonio Spurs star who served on the Rice Commission, defended the value of college for student-athletes.
"The universities do bring value to these kids," said Robinson, who also starred at the U.S. Naval Academy. "This should be a win-win situation for these kids," he added. "For the vast majority of athletes, I do think this system can be a good system."
About the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics
The Knight Commission was formed by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation in October 1989 to promote reforms that support and strengthen the educational mission of college sports. To preserve the Commission's independence, the foundation continues to be its sole supporter, but does not control, or attempt to control, the Commission's opinions or pronouncements. Over the years, the NCAA has adopted a number of the Commission's recommendations, including the rule that requires teams to be on track to graduate at least 50 percent of their players to be eligible for postseason competition. The Commission provides financial data about Division I college sports to enhance financial transparency.
The Knight Foundation supports transformational ideas that promote quality journalism, advance media innovation, engage communities, and foster the arts. We believe that democracy thrives when people and communities are informed and engaged. For more, visit www.knightfoundation.org.
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Beyoncé Online
beyonceonline.org
Welcome to Beyoncé Online - your #1 source for everything Beyoncé Knowles. You'll find here a lot of interesting information, one of the biggest photo galleries with over 100.000 pictures, downloads and more! Be sure to check out the latest news about Mrs. Carter and leave your comments. We hope you'll enjoy your stay and come back soon! Have fun!
"Mine" Dance Video (Sticky)
Guys! I recently made a dance video to Beyoncé & Drake's "Mine" to celebrate the 6th anniversary of the self-titled visual album. Hope you'll like it! Also available on YouTube.
Beyoncé Signs With Sony/ATV Music Publishing
Beyoncé has signed with Sony/ATV Music Publishing, Variety has learned.
Beyoncé and Jay-Z have worked closely for much of their careers with Jon Platt, who took the reins at the Sony Music company as chairman and CEO in 2019.
Platt already brought Rihanna over to his new home last fall, after moving to Sony/ATV from Warner/Chappell earlier in the year.
That the Carters would look to follow Platt at some point was close to a given, considering their mutual words of affection and high praise in the past.
Jay-Z called Platt his "brother" and said he was "the Obama of the music industry" when the publishing exec was the honoree at the annual City of Hope Spirit of Life dinner in October 2018. "This man has worked his way up from a Denver DJ to be the highest-ranking black executive," he said.
Beyoncé performed at that same event. "I'm so honored to celebrate you tonight," she said of Platt. "Most people in this industry lead with their ego, but you lead with your heart. You've touched so many lives, mine included."
Beyoncé Leads Music Nominees Slate for 2020 NAACP Image Awards
Beyoncé claims honor as the top music nominee for the 51st NAACP Image Awards with eight nominations. The two-hour ceremony will air live for the first time via BET Networks on Feb. 22 (8 pm. ET).
Beyoncé netted six music category nominations, including outstanding album (Homecoming: The Live Album), outstanding female artist, outstanding song-traditional ("Spirit"), outstanding song-contemporary ("Before I Let Go"), outstanding duo, group or collaboration ("Brown Skin Girl" featuring Blue Ivy, SAINt JHN & WizKid) and outstanding soundtrack/compilation album (The Lion King: The Gift). Her work also earned two additional nods for outstanding variety show-series or special and outstanding documentary-television (both for Homecoming: A Film by Beyoncé),
Beyoncé Is One Step Closer to Earning Her First Oscars Nomination
After accruing a whopping 23 Grammy Awards, Beyoncé is one step closer to adding an Oscar win to her list.
On Monday, Dec. 16, The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences announced shortlists in consideration for the 92nd Academy Awards in nine categories, including Music (Original Song). Queen Bey was nominated for her song "Spirit" from The Lion King.
According to a press release from The Academy, the 300-member music brand chose 15 songs from 75 entered. The list will be trimmed down to five when voting for the nominations begins Jan. 2. Nominees will be announced Jan. 13.
Beyonce Among 2020 Golden Globe Best Song Nominees
Beyoncé Knowles-Carter is ending the decade on a high note as best original song nominee for the 2020 Golden Globe Awards. She is nominated for the song "Spirit," from The Lion King, alongside Timothy McKenzie and Ilya Salmanzadeh. The Lion King is also nominated for best animated motion picture.
The 77th Golden Globe Awards will be held on Jan. 5, 2020, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles.
Best Original Song, Motion Picture
"Beautiful Ghosts," "Cats"
"Spirit," "The Lion King"
Best Motion Picture, Animated
"Spirit" Nominated at the 2020 Critics' Choice Awards
The Lion King has been nominated in two categories for the 2020 Critics' Choice Awards, including Best Song for Beyonce's "Spirit". The winners will be revealed at the gala, which will be broadcast live on The CW Television Network on Sunday, January 12 from 7:00 – 10:00 pm ET (delayed PT).
"Glasgow (No Place Like Home)" – Wild Rose
"(I'm Gonna) Love Me Again" – Rocketman
"I'm Standing With You" – Breakthrough
"Into the Unknown" – Frozen II
"Speechless" – Aladdin
"Spirit" – The Lion King
"Stand Up" – Harriet
"Destiny's Child: The Untold Story" Out Now
In October, Mathew Knowles announced the release of a compilation album featuring unreleased music of Destiny's Child's first incarnate, Girl's Tyme. The 15-track set was released today and accompanied by the book, 'Destiny's Child: The Untold Story.' Listen to the album below and order the book here!
Beyoncé Wins at the 2019 American Music Awards
The 2019 American Music Awards took place at the Microsoft Theatre in Los Angeles, Calif. Sunday night. Beyoncé won in the only category she was nominated in:
Favorite Female Artist - Soul/R&B
Beyoncé (WINNER)
Beyonce Nominated at the 2020 Grammy Awards
Nominations for the 2020 Grammy Awards were just announced and Beyonce is up for four awards! The winners will be revealed on Sunday, January 26, 2020.
"Spirit" — Beyoncé
"Bad Guy" — Billie Eilish
"7 Rings" — Ariana Grande
"Truth Hurts" — Lizzo
"You Need to Calm Down" — Taylor Swift
"The Lion King: The Gift" — Beyoncé
"When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?" — Billie Eilish
"Thank U, Next" — Ariana Grande
"No. 6 Collaborations Project" — Ed Sheeran
"Lover" — Taylor Swift
Beyonce Wins at the 2019 Soul Train Awards
The 2019 Soul Train Music Awards presented by BET were held Sunday evening at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Beyonce won the Ashford and Simpson Songwriter's Award for her songwriting and vocals on "Brown Skin Girl," a collaboration with Saint Jhn and WizKid, which also marks her daughter Blue Ivy Carter's first songwriting credit. Congrats!
Beyoncé Reportedly Shoots "Brown Skin Girl" Video in London
Beyoncé is set to revisit her The Lion King: The Gift album with a music video for "Brown Skin Girl," which is being filmed on various south London estates.
The album was released this past summer, but now the song will be treated as a single, according to the Daily Mail. Filming is taking place in both Catford and Thamesmead, along with members of the superstar's team being seen near the HM Prison Thameside on Thursday.
The LEMONADE singer's casting team is requesting "black and brown people of different cultures, nationalities, ethnicities, genders and ages" in London to come forward for the video.
A source also detailed to the Daily Mail Beyoncé's wish to have the video "truly represent the essence of the song" and to have "normal people step forward and tell their stories" despite having name-dropped iconic figures like Naomi Campbell and Lupita Nyong'o in the lyrics.
Additional requests for people include different family structures, citing a request for blended, single parent, queer and adopted families. The video will also have a focus on a variety of body shapes and ages. The age range is stated to be girls as young as six months all the way to elderly women.
The video is set to be directed by Jean Nkiru, who worked on The Carters "APESH**T" video. "Brown Skin Girl" features Saint Jhn, Wizkid and Beyoncé's own daughter Blue Ivy Carter.
I updated our photo gallery with some older photos.
Beyonce Nominated at the 2019 American Music Awards
The nominations for the 2019 American Music Awards were recently announced and Beyonce is up for one award! Make sure to vote both on Billboard and Google.
Favorite Female Artist, Soul/R&B
The 2019 AMAs will take place at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on Nov. 24. The live show will air that day on ABC starting at 8:00 p.m. ET.
Beyoncé Earns 6 Nominations at the 2019 Soul Train Awards
Nominees for BET Presents: 2019 Soul Train Awards have been revealed. The annual celebration will air live on BET and BET HER for first time ever on November 17th at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas --8p (ET). This year Beyoncé is nominated in six categories:
Best R&B/Soul Female Artist
"Before I Let Go," Beyoncé
"No Guidance," Chris Brown feat. Drake
"Shot Clock," Ella Mai
"Talk," Khalid
"Juice," Lizzo
"Girls Need Love (Remix)," Summer Walker feat. Drake
Mathew Knowles Announces Unreleased Project From Girl's Tyme
Unreleased Girl's Tyme album coming soon on all streaming platforms!
Beyoncé Wins 2 BreakTudo Awards
The 2019 BreakTudo Awards were held on Sunday, October 20 in São Paulo, Brazil. Beyoncé was nominated in two categories and won both awards - Album of the Year for "Homecoming: The Live Album" and Best Soundtrack Song for "Spirit" from The Lion King. Congrats!
Parkwood Entertainment's COO Steve Pamon's Interview for Billboard
Parkwood Entertainment president/COO Steve Pamon and his boss, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, lead Billboard's annual list of the most influential executives and creatives in R&B and hip-hop.
Executives Of The Year
Chairman/CEO, Parkwood Entertainment
Steve Pamon
President/COO, Parkwood Entertainment
"Speaking of the Queen. She just called." The words, spoken by Parkwood Entertainment's head of public relations, Yvette Noel-Schure, stop Steve Pamon midsentence as he sits on a chair in the company's midtown Manhattan offices. "Does she need me?" he asks. "No, no. She's good. She's good," Noel-Schure replies. Pamon, who's wearing a white T-shirt beneath a navy blue suit offset by a red-white-and-blue stripe on the sleeves and pant legs, relaxes into the chair and resumes speaking about his boss and their company -- that would be Beyoncé, "B," as Pamon, 49, often calls her, and Parkwood Entertainment -- and the milestones of the 12 or so preceding months that have earned them Billboard's 2019 R&B/Hip-Hop Power Players Executives of the Year honors.
Shatta Wale Confirms "Already" Music Video
In a recent interview, Shatta Wale confirmed that he shot a music video for "Already" with Beyonce in the US. Can't wait!
Tony Duran Outtakes
Photographer Tony Duran shared lots of new unseen/high quality pictures of Beyonce!
Beyonce's submissions for the 2020 Grammy Awards
Beyonce's submissions for the 2020 Grammy Awards have been revealed! See below.
Homecoming: Album of the Year, Best Urban Contemporary Album, Best Music Film
Spirit: Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Pop Solo Performance, Best Song Written for Visual Media, Best Music Video
Mood 4 Eva: Best Rap/Sung Performance, Best Rap Song
Before I Let Go: Best R&B Performance
Brown Skin Girl: Best Pop Duo/Group Performance
News categories News & Rumors Photos Videos Interviews Music Movies Fragrances Fashion Tours Fashion Lines Awards Endorsements Philanthropy Social Media Performances Photoshoots Appearances Spotted Magazines Site Updates Personal Life Contests Celebrities Charts, Rankings & Ratings Audio TV Destiny's Child Merchandise Fitness & Health
DJ Khaled Drops New Single Feat. Beyonce & Jay
by Klaudia
News & Rumors, Music, Audio
DJ Khaled dropped a surprise song right after the 2017 Grammy Awards!
The artist premiered his new song "Shining" on TIDAL featuring Beyonce and Jay Z.
Beyonce sings for the majority of the song while Jay raps a few verses and references having twins with his wife.
You can download the song on iTunes or listen to it on TIDAL below!
Full lyrics available under the cut. Read more...
Beyonce Wins Big at NAACP Image Awards
News & Rumors, Music, Awards
Beyonce dominated the last night's NAACP Image Awards by winning a total of 5 awards in the music categories!
Outstanding Female Artist: Beyoncé (Columbia Records)
Outstanding Duo, Group or Collaboration: "Freedom" – Beyoncé feat. Kendrick Lamar (Columbia Records/Parkwood Entertainment)
Outstanding Music Video: "Formation" – Beyoncé (Columbia Records/ParkwoodEntertainment)
Outstanding Album: "Lemonade" – Beyoncé (Columbia Records/ParkwoodEntertainment)
Outstanding Song – Contemporary: "Freedom" – Beyoncé feat. Kendrick Lamar (Columbia Records/Parkwood Entertainment)
Beyoncé nominated at the 2017 Brit Awards
The nominations for the 2017 Brit Awards were announced Saturday. Beyoncé is up for International Female Solo Artist, while "Hymn for the Weekend" has a chance to win two awards! The 2017 Brit Awards goes live on Feb. 22 from the O2 Arena in London.
International Female Solo Artist
British Single
Alan Walker, "Faded"
Calum Scott, "Dancing On My Own"
Calvin Harris feat. Rihanna, "This Is What You Came For"
Clean Bandit feat. Sean Paula & Anne-Marie, "Rockabye"
Coldplay, "Hymn for the Weekend"
James Arthur, "Say You Won't Let Go"
Jonas Blue feat. Dakota, "Fast Car"
Little Mix, "Shout Out to My Ex"
Tinie Tempah feat. Zara Larsson, "Girls Like"
Zayn, "Pillowtalk"
Beyoncé leads nominations for the 2017 NME Awards
The shortlist for the VO5 NME Awards 2017 has been revealed and Beyoncé has scored the most nominations with a total of five.
All nominated acts will learn their fate on February 15, when the results will be announced at a ceremony at London's O2 Academy Brixton.
The winners are decided by you – the fans – and voting is open now. You can also be in attendance at the ceremony to see all the action as it happens – buy your tickets here now.
The full list of Beyoncé's nominations is available below.
Best International Female supported by VO5
Christine & The Queens
Beyonce nominated at the 2017 iHeartRadio Music Awards
The nominations for the 2017 iHeartRadio Music Awards were announced today. The awards are intended to celebrate the music heard across iHeartMedia radio stations over the past year. Beyonce is nominated in four categories.
Voting for socially voted categories is open now and runs through Feb. 24. Voting for the fan army award began Tuesday through iHeartRadio's social media accounts and its app, with the voting window extending to the night of the event on March 5. Fans can vote by visiting iHeartRadio.com/awards.
The 2017 iHeartRadio Music Awards will air live March 5 at 8 p.m. EST on TBS, TNT and truTV.
See the list of Beyonce's nominations below.
R&B Song of the Year:
- "Exchange" - Bryson Tiller
- "Needed Me" - Rihanna
- "No Limit" - Usher featuring Young Thug
- "Sorry" - Beyoncé
- "Work" - Rihanna featuring Drake Read more...
Melina Matsoukas Talks About "Formation" Video
We take music videos for granted. In about 35 years, they've gone from an alleged scourge on the musical imagination to a form of oxygen. Every so often, one comes along that touches a nerve or causes a scandal. Back in February, on the eve of the Super Bowl, "Formation" stopped the nation. It was another Beyoncé sneak attack, but also a statement piece and a work of art. And for a month, the intent of its imagery — Beyoncé atop a sinking New Orleans Police Department cruiser; the witchiness of her wide-brimmed hat and her seemingly spiritually possessed head bob on the porch of a manse; a young black boy dancing before a phalanx of militarized cops — was deconstructed, debated and defended.
This was Beyoncé, of course. But it was also Melina Matsoukas, who directed "Formation." These are edited excerpts from The New York Times' conversation with her.
At what point did you get involved with "Formation"?
Right after I came back from Cuba last year, after the family vacation. Beyoncé was performing at the Super Bowl, so she wanted this to come out right before that, obviously, to set up her performance. She wanted to shoot in two weeks. And because it was also my birthday, I probably didn't even really think about it for a week. Read more...
Formation (Instrumental)
Music, Audio
Mike WiLL Made-It shared the instrumental for Formation! Listen below.
Beyoncé's "I Sleigh" playlist
News & Rumors, Music
Listen to Beyoncé's "I Sleigh" playlist, now on TIDAL. tdl.sh/BeyonceISleigh
"Happy Holidays!"
Tony Bennett Teases Beyoncé Collaboration
"The Best Is Yet to Come" for Tony Bennett, who at 90 years old is showing no signs of slowing down.
"There's still a lot I'd like to do," the iconic crooner tells PEOPLE.
The past two years, Bennett has won the Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album trophy at the Grammys, this year for Cheek to Cheek, his collection of jazz duets with longtime pal Lady Gaga — and he insists there's more classics where that came from.
"I'd love to do a second album with Lady Gaga," he says. "She was performing at a benefit the first time I met her. I told her backstage, 'You were terrific! I'd love to do an album with you someday.' She said, 'Let's do it!' Boom! We get along great. We've been close ever since."
Indeed, Gaga — as well as A-listers including Elton John, Michael Bublé and Stevie Wonder — will honor the musician and painter during Tony Bennett Celebrates 90, a two-hour music and comedy special airing at 9 p.m. ET on NBC, Dec. 20.
And Gaga isn't the only diva Bennett has plans to collaborate with — he and Queen Bey may have something in the works.
"Beyoncé. She's thinking of something to do with me," the singer adds with a laugh. "We met at a benefit, and she said, 'I've got an idea that we should do something together.' She didn't tell me what it was yet, so we'll see what happens!"
Beyonce tops NAACP Image Award nominations
News & Rumors, Music, Movies, Awards
The nominees for the 2017 NAACP Image Awards were announced today. Beyonce led all nominees with eight nominations!
Entertainer of the Year
Outstanding Female Artist
Alicia Keys (RCA Records)
Beyoncé (Columbia Record/Parkwood Entertainment)
Fantasia (RCA Records/19 Recordings Limited)
K. Michelle (Atlantic Records)
Solange (Columbia Records)
Mike WiLL Made-It Talks About "Formation"
Videos, Music
Listen to Mike WiLL Made-It talk about the making of "Formation"! (1:32:02 mark)
"Formation" on VEVO
The music video for "Formation" is finally available on VEVO! Watch below.
Beyoncé Leads With 9 Grammy Nominations
The nominees for the 59th Grammy Awards were announced this morning (Dec. 6), with last year's Best New Artist winner Meghan Trainor unveiling the contestants for the marquee categories live on CBS. The field is led by Beyoncé with 9 nominations, followed by similarly huge stars Drake, Rihanna and Kanye West (8 each). The awards show will air live from Los Angeles' Staples Center on February 12th. Check all of Beyonce's nominations below!
25 — Adele
Lemonade — Beyoncé
Purpose — Justin Bieber
Views — Drake
A Sailor's Guide To Earth — Sturgill Simpson
"Hello" — Adele
"Formation" — Beyoncé
"7 Years" — Lukas Graham
"Work" — Rihanna Featuring Drake
"Stressed Out" — Twenty One Pilots
"All Night" on VEVO
The music video for Beyonce's new single "All Night" is now available on VEVO!
Museum hosting 'Beyonce's Lemonade: Music with a Message'
Join others on Tuesday for a viewing of Beyoncé's "Lemonade" video, followed by an audience discussion of the issues this unique video album addresses.
The screening and conversation are presented in conjunction with Global Voices for Social Justice: Art as Activism, a current exhibition at New Bedford Art Museum/ArtWorks! curated by the New Bedford Historical Society, the event is free and open to the public and slated to run from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
New Bedford Art Museum / ArtWorks! is located at 608 Pleasant Street, New Bedford, MA 02740. Winter hours are noon to 5 p.m. Wednesday and Friday-Sunday and noon to 9 p.m. Thursdays.
For further information, visit www.newbedfordart.org.
Beyoncé Dominates Soul Train Awards
It is no surprise that Beyoncé was the big winner at the 2016 Soul Train Awards.
The awards were handed out Nov. 6 in a recorded show that was broadcast last night on BET and Centric.
Queen Bey took home four awards: album of the year for "Lemonade;" best R&B soul/female artist; and song and video of the year, both for "Formation."
Beyoncé Selects "All Night" As Next Single
It looks like Beyonce is rolling out "All Night" as the fourth US single from Lemonade. The cover art surfaced online today (here) and the Diplo-produced ballad is being added to rhythmic radio on December 6 according to All Access.
Somewhat amusingly, "All Night" is already a top 40 hit. The song debuted at number 38 on the Billboard Hot 100 after the release of Lemonade and has charted in Canada, France, UK and Australia among other countries. It could soar even higher if it gets a little love from pop radio — something "Formation," "Sorry" and "Hold Up" failed to achieve.
Beyonce nominated at the 2017 People's Choice Awards
It's time to choose the best of the best in entertainment.
Whether you're a movie buff, social media star in the making, or a music fanatic, whoever wins the People's Choice Awards is up to the fans.
Voting is now officially open, so go to People's Choice Awards' Facebook page and peopleschoice.com to make your voice heard. Then, watch live on Jan. 18 on CBS to find out the winners.
Beyonce is nominated in three categories:
"Lemonade" to be screened at CAMERIMAGE Festival!
This year CAMERIMAGE Festival, The International Film Festival of the Art of Cinematography which takes place in Bydgoszcz, Poland, will present two remarkable films connected with the music video creativity.
The first is Beyoncé's "LEMONADE", the visual accompaniment to her 12-track sixth studio album and a portrayal of every woman's journey of self-knowledge and healing.
The screening will tak place on November 13 at 12:15 p.m. an will be followed by a Q&A meeting with DPs Chayse Irvin and Malik Sayeed.
BeyonceOnline.org will be in attendance so you can expect a coverage of the event!
Additionally, Beyonce's "Formation" is nominated for Best Music Video and Best Cinematography in a Music Video. The winners will be announced during the Festival's Closing Ceremony on Saturday, November 21.
Beyoncé's Submissions for the 2017 Grammy Awards
Beyonce has made a total of 13 submission for the 2017 Grammy Awards! The final nominees will be announced on December 6.
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Cardiff, Wales – Principality Stadium
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Manchester, England – Etihad Stadium
London, England – London Stadium
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Copenhagen, Denmark – Telia Parken
Stockholm, Sweden – Friends Arena
Berlin, Germany – Olympiastadion
Warsaw, Poland – PGE Narodowy
Cologne, Germany – RheinEnergieStadion
Milan, Italy – San Siro
Rome, Italy – Stadio Olimpico
Barcelona, Spain – Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys
Paris, France – Stade de France
Nice, France – Allianz Riviera
Cleveland, OH – FirstEnergy Stadium
Washington, DC – FedExField
Philadelphia, PA – Lincoln Financial Field
East Rutherford, NJ – MetLife Stadium
Boston, MA – Gillette Stadium
Minneapolis, MN – U.S. Bank Stadium
Chicago, IL – Soldier Field
Detroit, MI – Ford Field
Columbus, OH – Ohio Stadium
Buffalo, NY – New Era Field
Columbia, SC – Williams-Brice Stadium
Nashville, TN – Vanderbilt Stadium
Atlanta, GA – Mercedes-Benz Stadium
Orlando, FL – Camping World Stadium
Miami, FL – Hard Rock Stadium
Arlington, TX – AT&T Stadium
New Orleans, LA – Mercedes-Benz Superdome
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Phoenix, AZ – University of Phoenix Stadium
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Do you see the photo up above?
It is one of my 'war rooms' (https://stephanieamalcolm.com/war-room-where-do-you-pray/ in my home.
This is where you can often find me with my children reading a story, reading the Bible, or watching funny YouTube videos in the evening.
I have to admit that at times my Bible time can lag.
Often it seems that I put my time and effort into other areas.
It takes a concious effort to read the Bible and meditate on it.
Sometimes I don't feel like it. And those are the days that I can tell something is missing.
Reading the Bible is not always an easy task, especially if you have other things on your or on your agenda.
But on the days I don't read it, I feel 'off' on everything.
Then these become the days that I tend to be more snappy toward my children.
Or feel depressed, sad, jealous, or tempted.
The very first thing to sneak into my heart is discontent when I find myself not reading my Bible regularly.
If you find yourself struggling with discontentment, here are a few posts that you may find helpful.
Learn how to be content in six steps.
Are you an unhappy wife? Unhappy Mother? Learning to become content, no matter what!
Discontentment is a state of the soul, not a product of your circumstances.
Let us turn to the Bible and see what Deuteronomy tells us.
"You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, 9and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates " (6:5-9).
Ladies, may I encourage you to make the time to read His word and make time for His precious voice to be heard in your life.
AMen ! I am 57 yr old & still struggle to keep up with my reading.
I know I am so blessed on the days & weeks I do read & study.. but then I let it lag . Thank you for the reminder.
It does take a certain amount of self discipline and self control for sure. But the benefits alone are so worth it.


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You are here: Home » Shabbat Rosh Hodesh 5766
Shabbat Rosh Hodesh 5766
Shabbat Rosh Hodesh Iyar
(Isaiah 66:1-24)
The last chapter of the book of Isaiah, which we read when Shabbat and Rosh Hodesh coincide, ends on an eschatological note, with a vision of the end of time. Isaiah\'s prophecy has both violent and idyllic elements. After recounting the miraculous restoration of the nation, likening it to a woman giving birth to a child without birth pains (Verses 7-9), God enjoins those who maintained their loyalty to Jerusalem to share in rejoicing over her restoration: \"Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad for her, all you who love her! Join in her jubilation, all you who mourned over her – that you may suck from her breast consolation to the full, that you may draw from her bosom glory to your delight\" (Verses 10-11)
The Talmud records the following account of the behavior of some Jews after the destruction of the Second Temple: Our rabbis taught: \"When the Temple was destroyed for the second time, large numbers in Israel became ascetics, refraining from eating meat and drinking wine. Rabbi Joshua felt compelled to deal with them: \'My children, why do you refrain from eating meat and drinking wine?\' They said: \'How can we eat meat, when it can no longer be offered on the altar? Drink wine, when libations cannot be offered? He said to them: \'If so, how can you eat bread, when it cannot be offered on the altar?\' [They replied agreeing with him:] \'So we\'ll eat fruit.\' He said: \'Maybe we should not eat fruit, since the first fruits cannot be offered.\' \'We\'ll eat other fruits.\' [He said:] \'So how can we drink water, since water libations can no longer be offered on the altar?\' They were silent [since he proved to them that their behavior was problematic.] Rabbi Joshua said to them: \'My children, come\' and he said to them: \'Not to mourn at all is not possible for the Temple has been destroyed, but to mourn too much is also not possible, since we cannot make a law that people are incapable of fulfilling\'… so what did the sages suggest: \'When one paints his house, he should leave a bit unpainted… when a person makes a banquet, he should leave it a bit incomplete… Rabbi Isaac said: \'This refers to the ashes placed on the head of the groom at his wedding. Rav Pappa asked Abaye: \'Where are these ashes placed?\' [He answered:] \'In the place where the tefillin rest.\'… All who mourn for Jerusalem – merit and see it in its rejoicing, as it is written: \"Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad for her… all you who mourned over her.\' (adapted and abridged from Bava Bathra 60b)
This passage is striking. It is not surprising that people who immediately experienced the loss of the Temple should be so dramatically affected by the event, but even a generation or two later people still felt its loss so acutely that they had to be convinced not to mourn too much. Human behavior is usually the opposite. The further away from an event, the less it impacts on people. This is why people have to be reminded that they will only share in the joy of rebuilding if they are aware and pained by what was lost. This may be true of the significance of State of Israel as well. Only those who are aware of the impoverished sense of Jewish identity, the meekness of Jews in the world and the second class status of Jews even in places like America before Israel\'s appearance on the map, can be aware of the blessing of having a Jewish state. Only those who do not take it for granted and acknowledge its Jewish value, will ultimately share in its blessings. This is an important lesson as we approach Israel Independence Day next week.


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There are many factors behind the popularity of Providence. Located at the Northwest corner of Centennial Hills, it is convenient to the 215 Beltway and the 95 Freeway. Getting to the Strip from Providence is only a 20 minute drive. It's 10 minutes to the heart of Summerlin. Providence is convenient to both Creech and Nellis air bases. Get exclusive information about Providence neighborhood properties, or schedule a home showing today - contact your Las Vegas real estate specialists now!
The community features tree-lined streets. Many of the homes are built with front porches where owners can sit and chat with neighbors who walk by. Homes range from small, entry level to larger upscale homes by Toll Brothers and Woodside.
With three parks, there's space for recreation as well. The Promenade Park meanders from the West side of the village to the East side. Along the walking paths, one finds benches to sit and relax. Knickerbocker Park opened in 2011 and boasts 15 acres. It has separate play areas for 2-5 year olds and 5-12 year olds. There are sports fields for all ages. Picnic tables, jogging paths and exercise stations complete the human amenities. A large dog park with separate areas for large dogs and small dogs makes it a great place for dog lovers.
In addition to the day to day use of Knickerbocker Park, the Homeowner's Associaition uses the park for events. The Mad Mud Run attracts the fitness buffs. An old fashioned Fourth of July party, complete with a band and fireworks attracts visitors from all over town. Construction has started on Huckleberry Park. It will be even larger than Knickerbocker.
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Personal statements are texts in which a student explains why they want to enter a certain program at a particular university. It is an essential part of the whole university application process, and no wonder students often feel stressed out when reminded of this deadline approaching.
Schools put much pressure on the applicants meaning that their expectations and requirements are very high. However, composing a good personal statement is entirely possible. So, do not give up and read on: we will show you how it can be done in less than no time.
Teachers typically leave precise instructions on what they expect to see in the text. Thus, they specify the word count, style, and the topic of the text they expect to see in the end. Therefore, you should study these instructions first in order to see the goal clearly. The fact that you followed all the instructions will demonstrate the board members that you respect their rules and stick to them whenever needed. So, begin with this point.
You do not want to rush into anything or craft a piece of horrible quality. Therefore, to avoid such mistakes, start early and leave time to think your every word over. This piece might define whether or not you will get into the university, so you should take the time to think everything through.
Depending on what topic you were suggested for the text, consider what style you will write in. It can be a description of your personal strengths or a description of why you think that you are a perfect candidate to study this program. These two texts will differ, so take your time to realize what style you are supposed to write in.
4. Craft a good opening.
An opening paragraph is one of the most important sections of this text. The thing is that the admissions board has a lot of students applying, and thus, they only have a couple of minutes for each essay. So, if you do not grab their attention with the first sentence, you will lose a chance to impress them after all. They will simply drop your essay and move on to the next one. So, think of the introduction very well, and do not rush into anything here.
Do not write about any abstract ideas, but write about particular things which make you special and perfect for the position. Do not create a fake image of who you really are. The board should choose you because they like your personality, not the fake personality you set up with the "right" words. Be real and make this text center around you. Alternatively, describe why you chose this university. Teachers hate it when students pick their colleges just because they are close to their home or other silly reasons. And even if it is the case for you, think of some other things which make this school so special to you. Maybe you like the famous alumni from this college, or you know about the social life on campus and you love it. Think of some deeper reasons and tell the admissions board about them. It will make your application differ from a number of others.
When talking about your strengths, there is always a temptation to say more than there really is. For instance, you can state that you speak four languages, while in reality you only speak English and know a few phrases in French, Italian, and German. Do not do this, as once the truth becomes known, you will regret lying. Instead, focus on your real strengths like love for arts, writing talent, etc. Be honest under all circumstances and never lie!
7. Describe your extra-curricular activities.
Being a real person when expressing yourself in this paper means showing that you had a social life outside the classroom. Avoid talking too much about your academic performance and show them what you did outside the classroom. Did you help your community in some way? Did you go on mission trips? Do you enjoy acting at a local theater? Include these details, as they will help the board see the real you. However, do not talk too much. Even though we have mentioned a lot of things you can talk about in this piece, you do not have to talk about all of them together. Only select the best parts and include them in your application. Remember that "brevity is the sister of talent." Keep the word count in mind. Most schools establish the maximum, so, bear it in mind.
When working on a paper, you might make some mistakes just because you think faster than you write. That is why using technological solutions like Grammarly to help you out here is a very good idea. Meanwhile, you can also seek professional assistance with the revision. Ask your friends, parents, or teachers to read what you composed and tell you what to change. It is essential to the quality of your piece.
The personal statement can get you into the college of your dream. However, to make it all happen, you should try your best when working on the personal statement writing. With our tips, you can absolutely do it right!
Richard Nolan is author at LeraBlog. The author's views are entirely his/her own and may not reflect the views and opinions of LeraBlog staff.


text:
Shadow country »
Shadow country: a new rendering of the Watson legend
Matthiessen, Peter
FICTION Matthiessen, P.
c2008 Modern Library ed Modern Library xvi, 892 p. : map ; 21 cm.
NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER • "Altogether gripping, shocking, and brilliantly told, not just a tour de force in its stylistic range, but a great American novel, as powerful a reading experience as nearly any in our literature."—Michael Dirda, The New York Review of Books
Killing Mister Watson, Lost Man's River, and Bone by Bone—Peter Matthiessen's great American epic about Everglades sugar planter and notorious outlaw E. J. Watson on the wild Florida frontier at the turn of the twentieth century—were originally conceived as one vast, mysterious novel. Now, in this bold new rendering, Matthiessen has marvelously distilled a monumental work while deepening the insights and motivations of his characters with brilliant rewriting throughout.
Praise for Shadow Country
"Magnificent . . . breathtaking . . . Finally now we have [this three-part saga] welded like a bell, and with Watson's song the last sound, all the elements fuse and resonate."—Los Angeles Times
"Peter Matthiessen has done great things with the Watson trilogy. It's the story of our continent, both land and people, and his writing does every justice to the blood fury of his themes."—Don DeLillo
"The fiction of Peter Matthiessen is the reason a lot of people in my generation decided to be writers. No doubt about it. Shadow Country lives up to anyone's highest expectations for great writing." —Richard Ford
"Shadow Country, Matthiessen's distillation of the earlier Watson saga, represents his original vision. It is the quintessence of his lifelong concerns, and a great legacy."—W. S. Merwin
"[An] epic masterpiece . . . a great American novel."—The Miami Herald
Everglades (Fla.) -- Fiction
Frontier and pioneer life -- Fiction
Murderers
Murderers -- Fiction
Watson, Edgar J
Watson, Edgar J., -- 1855-1910 -- Fiction
028eb913-1ab4-a1cb-2ad4-d3307991a662
shadow country a new rendering of the watson legend
Shadow country : a new rendering of the Watson legend
Shadow country : a new rendering of the Watson legend / Peter Matthiessen
Shadow country
a new rendering of the Watson legend
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overdrive:4e5676e8-694c-4eef-bc1c-5655309e3031 eBook eBook English Random House Publishing Group 2008
ils:.b19127042 Book Books Modern Library ed English Modern Library c2008 xvi, 892 p. : map ; 21 cm.
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Not all good offers has a catch. To grab a chance, sometimes you just have to step ahead with a leap of faith. This simple story tells about it. Read on..
A wealthy businessman in a mid-western town had signs printed and placed all over the town.
They stated that if any man in the town, who owed debts, would come to his office on a certain day between nine and twelve in the morning, he would pay the debts.
Naturally, that promise was the talk of the town. Very few believed it. They thought there was a catch somewhere.
The day came, the businessman sat in his office at nine.
By ten, no one had come.
At eleven a man was seen walking up and down outside, glancing occasionally at the office door.
"I certainly am," the caller answered.
The visitor produced the documents and the businessman wrote out a cheque covering all of them.
Before twelve o'clock two other men came, and also had their debts paid.
People outside could not believe it…. But there was no time left for them to have their bills paid.
If people don't believe the goodness of man; how can they believe in the goodness of God?
More motivational stories for reflections.


The American County Platform is NACo's permanent policy document. When necessary, it is amended at the annual meeting. Divided into substantive policy areas covered by ten policy steering committees, the platform reflects the philosophy and broad objectives of NACo's membership.
NACo works to preserve local decision making, to protect counties from unfunded mandates and local preemption and to strengthen the federal-state-local partnership.


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19 Australian Slang Terms From "The Land Down Under"
By Matthew Jones
Australia is known as "The Land Down Under" due to its location in the Southern Hemisphere. Its relative isolation from other English-speaking countries (excluding New Zealand) has given rise to a fascinating accent and plenty of uniquely Australian slang terms.
While learning how to speak with an Australian accent is no easy task, it's a bit easier to learn their slang.
Whether you want to study abroad in Australia or you're simply curious about the culture, learning the slang is a good way to figure out how Australians speak in casual conversations. So, what are some Australian slang terms you should know?
19 Australian Slang Terms to Know
There are plenty of terms that you'll need to know if you want to sound like a real Aussie (Australian). Let's take a look at 20 great Australian slang terms that you can hear "The Land Down Under"!
1. Bogan
Depending on the context, Bogan can be a harsh insult or a compliment. In essence, "bogan" is the Australian term for "redneck." It refers to any uncultured person, especially those who engage in behaviors associated with low social status.
2. Sickie
"Sickie" is an example of an Australian's ability to add an "ee" to the end of just about any word. This term is a short way of saying "sick day." It is used when someone needs to stay home from school or work due to illness.
3. Sweet as
Australians frequently put the word "as" after adjectives to give them greater emphasis, though the most common example is "sweet as." This term is used to replace exclamations like "great" or "awesome." It's similar to sayings in American English like "easy as pie" or "sweet as honey."
4. Ta
While the correct spelling remains a mystery, "ta" is a shortened version of "thank you." You will probably hear this in casual conservation between friends or acquaintances, though you could even hear it from complete strangers!
5. Arvo
In addition to adding "ee" sounds at the end of words, Australians also like to shorten long words whenever possible. "Arvo" is just an abbreviation of "afternoon." However, don't get it confused with "avo," which is the Australian slang for avocado!
6. Cheers
"Cheers" has a wide range of uses in both Australian and British English. Generally, "cheers" is the Australian slang for goodbye, salutations, and even thank you's. If you're speaking with an Australian, you can almost certainly find a way to work "cheers" into the conversation!
7. Faffing around
"Faffing around" is the Australian version of "messing around." You might hear a mother scold her children by saying: "Stop faffing around!" In essence, "faffing around" means wasting time or doing something unproductive.
8. Sheila
Though it is not as common as it once was, "sheila" is the Australian slang for girl or woman. It originally came from the Irish name Síle, which was exclusively used with women. Nowadays, "sheila" is considered one of the milder Australian slang insults, so it's best not to use it.
9. Brekky
Here we go again! Yet another shortened word with an "ee" sound! "Brekky" is the Australian abbreviation for "breakfast." You can hear this phrase in restaurants, cafes, and homes throughout Australia.
10. Rack off
This is one of many not-so-nice Australian slang insults. "Rack off" is very similar to "get lost." It essentially means that the person speaking wants someone to go away, though it can also just be a general show of displeasure with another person. Saying this to an Australian could quickly get you into trouble, so be careful!
11. Bush
The "bush" is another term for "the countryside." It generally refers to a place that is far away from cities or towns. However, it can also refer more specifically to wooded areas. The bush is where people might go to surround themselves with nature and escape from modern life for a while. But if you find yourself wandering around the bush, careful not to get lost out there!
12. Coldie
Beer is one of the most popular alcoholic beverages in Australia, so it stands to reason that Aussies would have a special name for it. If you want a beer in Australia, you can simply ask for a "coldie." However, don't drink too many coldies or you might get "munted" (that's a bonus Australian slang term for "drunk")!
13. Flat out
While "flat out" is also used in American English, it typically has a different meaning than its Australian counterpart. In Australia, "flat out" is another way to say "very busy." If someone has too much work to take on any new tasks, you might hear them say, "I'm flat out at the moment."
14. Heaps
"Heaps" is a common way to say "many" or "a lot" in Australia. It can be combined with pretty much any countable or non-countable noun to express a large quantity of something. Similarly, a heap generally refers to a large pile of objects in American English.
15. Derro
This term is an insult in Australia. "Derro" is an abbreviation of "derelict," though it is often used as a way to criticize someone who is homeless or otherwise lacking in wealth. It is generally seen as a rude term used by those who look down on people with low status or income.
16. Bathers
Australia is home to some of the most beautiful beaches in the world. If you get the chance to visit the Land Down Under, chances are you'll need some bathers. This term is just the Australian way to say "swimsuit" or "bathing suit."
17. Bludger
A "bludger" is another word for a lazy person. The severity of the term will depend on the context. Sometimes bludger is used in a fun way, while other times it is meant as an insult.
18. Bottle-O
If you've just gotten back from the bush, you might want more than a coldie. If so, you'll have to head to your nearest Bottle-O, or "liquor store." A Bottle-O can also refer to any shop that sells alcoholic beverages.
19. Straya
To end our list, we must address how Australians refer to their own country. The Australian accent is unique in that long vowels are also accompanied by shortened words. "Straya" is just a quick way to say "Australia." Rather than saying all 4 syllables, many Australians shorten it to 2 syllables and get rid of the "L" sound entirely!
We hope you found this list of 19 great Australian slang terms useful. Every English dialect has its quirks, and Australian English is no different. The key is to accustom yourself to the Australian way of speaking so that you can sound like a native Aussie in no time!
If you'd like to learn more about Australian slang terms, visit Magoosh Speaking today!
Matthew Jones is a freelance writer with a B.A. in Film and Philosophy from the University of Georgia. It was during his time in school that he published his first written work. After serving as a casting director in the Atlanta film industry for two years, Matthew acquired TEFL certification and began teaching English abroad. In 2017, Matthew started writing for dozens of different brands across various industries. During this time, Matthew also built an online following through his film blog. If you'd like to learn more about Matthew, you can connect with him on Twitter and LinkedIn!


Sounds like a good move - I assume this is the new console that was rumoured last year...and this fit's Nintendo's MO perfectly in terms of releasing v1 hardware and then a v2 which is smaller/less featured to cut the cost a little. A bit like the 3Ds and then 2DS, or DS and DSLite.
Not something that will likely interest me directly, as I find the switch portable enough as is, but as I very rarely actually play with my Switch in docked mode...I can certainly see how an even more portable, non dockable version would be appealing. Particularly if its some £100 or so cheaper.
7nm could make this a pretty good product. I won't be too impressed by the same crap in a different box. If it has 7nm soc and plays tegrazone games/googleplay android stuff, I might buy this. These are not negotiable however. It should be a bare minimum with an NV soc inside it. So many more games you can get cheaply on android, if you don't have these, forget it. Now that 7nm is basically on top of us, I can't buy anything else. PERIOD. 8700k/1070ti last things I buy that are not 7nm (or better...LOL) in chips. There will be massive watts/heat drops on 7nm vs. either things mentioned. Can't wait for 7nm AMD apus (2-3 htpc's to fill), AMD cpu (12-16 core 7nm I hope), and a 7nm vid card from the winner this xmas (whoever is watt/heat winner, perf 2nd for this card, hot room so...all about the heat on this one).


As predicted if the weather was horrible then there was a good chance of wind, and yes the weather was horrible.
Still the wind was there and 6.0 were about the right size sail for the day, although Adrian was doing very well on a 5.3. It seems strange to sail at Lee on the Solent on port tack, but that is what we had. Still the ramps were there and it was even possible to get the odd top turn in.
Adrian was nursing a shoulder injury, so only sailed from 10.00 till mid afternoon. the rest of the gang launched from between 12 and 2 and were off the water by 4. I guess we had just had enough of the rain. although John G was slightly less flattering with his description of us all.
Due to the northerly and heavy rain forecast most people headed home rather than stay for a pint. The remaining few being just ourselves opted for takeway at home instead of the original plan of visiting the Golden Bowler.
Sunday was pretty much non-existent due to the rotten forecast and we disappeared to some were warm and wet, the local pool. Apologies if any one turned up when were not there.
brrrrrr! Is it really late August? Fine on the water but it was certainly a mistake to hang around on the beach in a summer suit!
Onshore and grey - even the locals were giving it a miss today - but at least there was some wind. Wished I had used a smaller board as it was pretty lumpy.
Nice to get out in a decent bit of wind with everyone, even if it was raining all day. Dunno why everyone was complaining of the cold I was warm as toast in my winter suit (thanks for the tip off Helen).
Thanks also to Nick & Sarah for their hospitality and a great curry at "The Swordfish".
A light Northerly semed to be all that was on offer for Sunday, so we stayed nearer to home and went for an afternoon sail in Christchurch Harbour. It was warmer and drier than Saturday, although the direction and light wind meant it was basically rubbish.


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