We are very fortunate that Imperial College London has asked Dr Serena Brownlie, the breed's heart research specialist, to join forces and collaborate in a study that aims to identify the gene marker for atrial fibrillation (AF) in humans through identifying it in the Irish Wolfhound first. The breed's small gene pool, long-standing pedigree information and on-going heart testing and research programme makes it well placed to help with this research and may provide a quicker route to identifying the gene or genes that are associated with AF.
For this study, we need older dogs, (8+) that are heart testing free of AF and also those unfortunate cases of young dogs affected by AF. Dogs must have been screened through the IWHG recognised heart testing programme and super veterans, aged eight and over, are currently being subsidised by the IWHG and will be heart tested free, provided they provide cheek swab DNA samples for this and the AHT's osteosarcoma research programmes.
If your dog is a rescue hound that has been homed through the Irish Wolfhound Rescue Trust, please note this on the form and the trust will provide all the necessary pedigree paperwork for you.
Please don't worry about the paperwork, you will be asked to register through the IWHG and will have help with any paperwork required from the co-ordinator, Jean Timmins.
Please see the heart testing page for details of sessions and dates near you.
As with all our research programmes all results and information remain confidential.
Thank you for helping us with this very exciting research.


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Home/ Sci-Fi/ XERRA/Chapter 49
Other elite warriors who were not expecting it were caught by the smoke. They already coughed and groaned. Well, I could just imagine how they feel now, as I experienced it at the Banatan. I knew they felt like dying right now.
I transformed into my Arcturian self, using my black aura to cleanse the smoke. As soon as the air was cleared out, my fellow elite warriors that were affected got back their strength and were healed. Then they used their clear helmets as well.
They dashed toward the Black Forest where blazing arrows kept coming at us. It was like more than hundreds of them. However, the elite warriors easily managed to parry them now and those were rendered useless. I could now make out the people who were as black as the black trees of the Black Forest. No wonder why it was called Black Forest and why their hiding place couldn't be found even after numerous raids that the King had made all these years. Thus, only the innocents were killed. That was indeed a pity
XERRA Chapter 50
I was really astonished upon hearing that. Their leader was a female Aryan being? Well, that was interesting. Indeed!Wait, was it her that I saw in the mind of the Furezo who got imprisoned in Uzob?I signaled Kalith to come to us. He did so in an instant, leaving Bullox and the others to gather the captives, while some injured elite warriors did their best to revitalize their energy. They still had to hear what order I would give them after this. Belatedly, I decided to call on Jegosh as well."You deliver this message to the King. Tell him that I will meet the leader of the Furezos and I will negotiate for him," I spoke with the playful Jegosh. I believed that something would happen if I were to send him, judging by his personality. "If I cannot get back to the palace, I'll have Kalith deliver a message as soon as possible. For now, don't make the King do anything against the Furezo tribe for an entire day."Jegosh nodded although his forehead formed some
I thought it was me but Kaiyahv commanded her people who were about to attack me and Kalith. My troop, on the other hand, surrounded us even though we were literally outnumbered. But we had advantage of the technology of the Elite Aryan Army. If what we had would be used properly, combined with our own powers and skills, there was no way that we'd be defeated by the Furezos. The Elite Aryan Army was named as so."I just need your head to be delivered to the King," I said."But you heard what Harrupero said! We didn't and hadn't raided the Nazian tribe!" Kaiyahv insisted.I decided to probe into her thoughts to know if she was telling us the truth, if she hadn't ordered it so. But what I saw in her thoughts surprised me. I saw Miryeob's younger version, saw her talk to my mother before she became a Queen, and grieved when she heard about her brother's fake death as well as my mother's."What do you see in my mind, Xerra?" she demanded, haltingly as my hand was
The Furezos spread out quickly and with agility that I'd never witnessed before. I realized that they indeed worked hard to be able to defend themselves and to protect their land against the King, although it was unsuccessful until now. The King and General Isoog just got out from the flying capsules, which obviously warped from the palace to get here quietly and quickly.I ducked when a flying sword was aimed at my direction. I quickly ran to take cover behind a tree. The leipods or simply called as follow-the-enemy flying weapons were deployed all over us to automatically track and attack us. They were as big as an Aryan hand with a triangular shape and steel gray color. They flew without sound, hence perfect for surprise attacks as well. Once it sees and locks in on its target, it won't stop until the target is terminated."Execute all the rogue warriors and the rebels!" I heard the King's command.I swallowed and looked at my poniard that was in my hand.
"Or you're going to break my neck? Is that it?" I sarcastically told him but my hand was still tightly holding my weapon. I refused to be threatened by him despite of the current situation.Rugien suddenly made a more-than-a-superbeing move. He stood right in front of us in less than a split dot. His face was grim that I'd never seen before. His eyes burned with fire as he looked at the General of the Elite Aryan Army."Ah, my son!" The King followed as well after a dot passed by.I looked at his Creyer. With this distance, I could probe into the King's mind. However, it was blocked somehow. He looked at me with a mocking and evil grin. He shook his head unaffectedly."I know your ability, Xerra. However, you cannot use it against me." He paused. "Even you, Rugien. No matter how powerful you are." He turned to the Grand Crown Prince.Rugien reached out to my mind, I realized. I let him probe into mine. Now he knew what I discovered. His face went grimme
XERRA Chaper 54
As the General told me his real name, he attacked me with a whip that he manifested. I barely realized that the name of his brother's staff was Creyer, which was taken from his name after all. The impostor loved his brother dearly—it was crystal clear to see. It was quite admirable. I could understand since I had a precious sister that I loved so much.Anyway, it was good I was fast enough to dodge his attack. My poniard blocked it the second time, which was caught by it. In turn, I pulled it and slashed it. His hold was broken. I quickly bluffed a thrust but attempted to slash his leg. He was quick to dodge both times it was amazing. He was amazing. I gave him that. However, he just got motionless all of a sudden.I whipped around to look behind me to see who it was. Of course, it was Frith. He used his favorite weapon, the needle, which made the General paralyzed. I smiled, satisfied, at the unmoving Crey.I then paid attention to Rugien and the King who are stil
It was then that Rugien and I grabbed it at the same time that it was taken away from Isoog like his strength diminished. Together, we thrust the staff through his chest and to his heart. Blinding light erupted from within and it seemed that he just melted into a mist, into nothingness, only to appear the real King.I knew it the moment his green eyes were settled on Rugien. The Grand Crown Prince could tell it, too, that it was his real father."Father!" He embraced the older man.The two males looked happy with this reunion. Well, who wouldn't? I looked at the staff that was now solely in my hand. I couldn't feel its surging power now. But I didn't care. All is well now. My eyes met Zelian's who stepped closer to us. He bowed to the two royalties and so did the others, including the Furezos and the remaining elite warriors. It looked like there was less than half of their number that was still alive."Zelian! It's been a long time since I last saw you," the
"Free all the prisoners in Uzob. The only thing they did wrong was go against the impostor king. That means they're all innocents," Rugien said. He then informed them where Uzob was located.They nodded. They were about to go when Rugien halted them. "One other thing." He glanced at me first before he continued. "Frith's body.""We're going to take care of it," Bullox said. "Right now, he's going to be washed clean by a couple of our fellow warriors before he's going to be sent to his family. That's the least we can do for him at the moment."However, Rugien shook his head. "No. Frith can still be brought back to life. Will talk to Healer Ulf regarding this matter."I snorted. "Huh? Are you saying that he still has the chance to be alive even after his life source is sucked by the Creyer?" I asked Rugien about that unbelievable suggestion.He turned to me and all eyes were on him now. "The old palace healer has found something in their research, Xerra.
The celebration was held at the palace ground that very same night. Foods and drinks were served in a matter of less than thirty dots. It would last until midday. And before that was over, the prisoners of Uzob were all freed and joined this rare celebration. It must have been a very historic day for everyone in the Aryan world.But before that, Miryeob and my sister Shahrae, together with Kaiyahv, had a priceless reunion. It filled my heart with warmth and joy as they embraced each other. I smiled watching this happy moment for our family. I watched them with a smile on my face. They were talking animatedly like they really had a lot to talk about. Well, I thought that was true since it had been a long time since they had been separated from each other. Thinking that my sister's father was already dead, there was indeed a lot to catch up. The whole evening would not suffice it, I'm sure.Rugien embraced me from behind, watching the scene that I was focused on. The King

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Biopharmaceuticals Regulatory
PTC Announces Translarna(TM) Approval in Russia for the Treatment of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy
SOUTH PLAINFIELD, N.J., Dec. 4, 2020 -- (Healthcare Sales & Marketing Network) -- PTC Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: PTCT) today announced that Translarna™ (ataluren) has been granted marketing approval in the Russian Federation for nonsense mutation Duchenne muscular dystrophy (nmDMD). It is estimated that 13% of DMD patients have a nonsense mutation. In countries where it is approved, Translarna is currently the only medicine that targets the underlying cause of nmDMD.1
"Translarna was the first therapeutic ever approved for nonsense mutation Duchenne muscular dystrophy patients and we are excited to expand approval of Translarna into Russia," stated Stuart W. Peltz, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of PTC Therapeutics, Inc. "There has been great interest from Russian physicians to be able to access a treatment that targets the underlying cause of the disease, and a number of nmDMD patients have already been identified who can potentially benefit from Translarna. Our goal is to bring this product to nmDMD patients globally and this approval marks another important milestone."
Translarna marketing approval has been granted by the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation for the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) caused by a nonsense mutation in patients 2 years and older. Primarily affecting males, DMD is a rare, irreversible, and fatal genetic disorder that results in progressive muscle weakness from early childhood and leads to premature death in the mid-twenties due to heart and respiratory failure.2 It is caused by the lack of functional dystrophin protein.2
About Translarna
Translarna (ataluren), discovered and developed by PTC Therapeutics, Inc., is a protein restoration therapy designed to enable the formation of a functioning protein in patients with genetic disorders caused by a nonsense mutation. A nonsense mutation is an alteration in the genetic code that prematurely halts the synthesis of an essential protein. The resulting disorder is determined by which protein cannot be expressed in its entirety and is no longer functional, such as dystrophin in Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Translarna is licensed in the European Economic Area for the treatment of nonsense mutation Duchenne muscular dystrophy in ambulatory patients aged two years and older. Translarna is being distributed in over 50 countries. Ataluren is an investigational new drug in the United States.
About PTC Therapeutics, Inc.
PTC is a science-driven, global biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of clinically differentiated medicines that provide benefits to patients with rare disorders. PTC's ability to globally commercialize products is the foundation that drives investment in a robust and diversified pipeline of transformative medicines and our mission to provide access to best-in-class treatments for patients who have an unmet medical need. To learn more about PTC, please visit us at www.ptcbio.com and follow us on Facebook, on Twitter at @PTCBio, and on LinkedIn.
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements contained in this release, other than statements of historic fact, are forward-looking statements, including statements regarding: the future expectations, plans and prospects for PTC, including with respect to the commercialization of its products and product candidates; PTC's strategy, future operations, future financial position, future revenues, projected costs; and the objectives of management. Other forward-looking statements may be identified by the words "guidance", "plan," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "target," "potential," "will," "would," "could," "should," "continue," and similar expressions.
PTC's actual results, performance or achievements could differ materially from those expressed or implied by forward-looking statements it makes as a result of a variety of risks and uncertainties, including those related to: the outcome of pricing, coverage and reimbursement negotiations with third party payors for PTC's products or product candidates that PTC commercializes or may commercialize in the future; PTC's ability to complete a dystrophin study necessary to support a re-submission of its Translarna NDA for the treatment of nonsense mutation Duchenne muscular dystrophy (nmDMD) to the FDA, and PTC's ability to perform any necessary additional clinical trials, non-clinical studies, and CMC assessments or analyses at significant cost; PTC's ability to maintain its marketing authorization of Translarna for the treatment of nmDMD in the European Economic Area (EEA), including whether the European Medicines Agency (EMA) determines in future annual renewal cycles that the benefit-risk balance of Translarna authorization supports renewal of such authorization; PTC's ability to enroll, fund, complete and timely submit to the EMA the results of Study 041, a randomized, 18-month, placebo-controlled clinical trial of Translarna for the treatment of nmDMD followed by an 18-month open-label extension, which is a specific obligation to continued marketing authorization in the EEA; significant business effects, including the effects of industry, market, economic, political or regulatory conditions; changes in tax and other laws, regulations, rates and policies; the eligible patient base and commercial potential of PTC's products and product candidates; PTC's scientific approach and general development progress; and the factors discussed in the "Risk Factors" section of PTC's most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and Annual Report on Form 10-K, as well as any updates to these risk factors filed from time to time in PTC's other filings with the SEC. You are urged to carefully consider all such factors.
As with any pharmaceutical under development, there are significant risks in the development, regulatory approval and commercialization of new products. There are no guarantees that any product will receive or maintain regulatory approval in any territory, or prove to be commercially successful, including Translarna.
The forward-looking statements contained herein represent PTC's views only as of the date of this press release and PTC does not undertake or plan to update or revise any such forward-looking statements to reflect actual results or changes in plans, prospects, assumptions, estimates or projections, or other circumstances occurring after the date of this press release except as required by law.
1 Birnkrant DJ, et al. Lancet Neurol. 2018;17:251–267. Kalman L, et al. J Mol Diagn. 2011;13:167–174. Bladen CL, et al. Hum Mutat. 2015;36:395–402. Pichavant C, et al. Mol Ther. 2011;19:830–840. Prior, et al. American Journal of Human Genetics 1995.
2 About Duchenne. (n.d.). Retrieved November 30, 2020, from https://takeonduchenne.co.uk/about-duchenne/
Source: PTC Therapeutics
Search: PTC Therapeutics
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Search: Duchenne muscular dystrophy
PTC Therapeutics Announces Initiation of Global Phase 3 Clinical Trial to Evaluate Vatiquinone in Friedreich Ataxia


Innovative and progressive website design professional with a strong ability to conceptualize, develop and implement cutting-edge interactive website designs. Incorporates and maximizes the benefits of the newest technologies for optimal end results. Experienced in project management, Web design, e-commerce, systems analysis, troubleshooting, and quality control. Proven success motivating, coaching and leading technical design teams to achieve results. Consistently recognized for completing projects on time and within budget.
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Oversaw online marketing program from development through implementation and conducted primary market research using trends from direct-mail campaigns and CRM systems.
Enhanced response rate by improving corporate website, enhancing marketing materials, implementing a new search engine strategy, and researching new channels to communicate with prospective clients.


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TRA Receives WSIS Champion Award
Mobilk - The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) was awarded Champion of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Forum for the Innovation Camp project. This was achieved as part of the tenth session of the Forum held recently in Geneva, Switzerland, in the presence of delegates from participating countries and ICT experts. The TRA headed the UAE delegation involved in the summit agenda, which included the, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratization, Zayed Higher Organization for People of Determination, Smart Dubai Office, Digital Ajman, UAE Space Agency, the Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation and AQDAR program.
The TRAs Innovation Camp have been recognized for its mission to orient the younger generation towards future technology prospects, and to support exploration, innovation, future shaping and youths technical skills development in line with UAEs ICT trends.
During the Forum, the TRA presented a workshop on best practices in the implementation of smart government, which included introducing the Start your Business in 15 Minutes project as one of the leading projects was launched in 2018 aimed at encouraging all members of society to turn their ideas into projects based on the ground. The Forum also witnessed the certification of TRAs Innovation Camp as a WSIS champion.
Commenting on TRAs participation in this major global forum,H.E Eng. Majed Al Mesmar, TRA Deputy Director General of the Telecommunications Sector, head of the UAE delegation, said: "Since its inception ten years ago, the WSIS Forum has played an influential role in the global landscape. The UAE has had its own visible marks throughout the Forums march, in accordance with our wise leaderships directions to open up to future-shaping global events that help promote sustainable development and the application of advanced technologies to serve humanity. Through its participation in the WSIS Forum, the TRA highlighted its successful experiences in the field of Information Technology, where the UAE community has become an ideal model for the Information Society. The UAE has endeavored to employ ICT in all social, political, economic and cultural activities. To that end, it harnessed its own Big Data towards development and enabling every member of society to benefit from such information and to use it in a safe and sound manner, ensuring a better quality of life and the attainment of the agreed goals and objectives of sustainable development.
H.E. Majid Al Mesmar, accompanied by the ITU Secretary-General H.E Houlin Zhao, inaugurated the exhibition coinciding with WSIS. The exhibition included pavilions of participating countries in which they showcased their projects and achievements in fields of information and digital technologies. H.E. Houlin Zhao visited the UAE pavilion and was briefed on the projects presented by the UAE. The pavilion also included a number of TRA projects,. Furthermore, Mr. Zhao was briefed on booklets designated for the visually impaired, provided by the Ministry of the Interior. These booklets are intended to educate the visually impaired about the safe and best way of using the Internet.
Eng. Mohammed Al Khamis Program Director – UAE Smart Government stressed that the TRA, through its participation in this Forum, presented to the participating countries of the world many of its successful experiences and projects with a view to generalize these success stories for the good and happiness of all nations of the world, adding: "What the TRA has achieved in this participation by winning the WSIS champion prize for the Innovation Camp and receiving of four more of its projects of such prize, confirms that the UAE is on the right track towards leadership in all humanitarian fields and it is only a few years before the UAE achieves this goal. Today we are picking up the pace and working hard to achieve UAE Vision 2021 and the objectives of the National Agenda."
It is noteworthy that the WSIS is dedicated to assessing and honoring individuals, governments, civil society organizations, local, regional and international agencies, research institutions and private sector companies that have been successful in harnessing the potential of ICT in sustainable development strategies. The Forum aims to coordinate efforts of various countries in all aspects of ICT and digital content.
 About the General Authority for Regulating the Telecommunications Sector
The General Authority for Regulating the Telecommunications Sector was established in the United Arab Emirates pursuant to Federal Law No. 3 of 2003, with its role structured around two key areas, namely: Organizing the telecommunications sector, empowering government entities in m-Transformation, and enhancing cybersecurity to safeguard society and contribute to promoting happiness and quality of life.
In the area of regulation, the role of the TRA is to ensure the provision of excellent telecommunications services, develop the sector, protect the interests of parties, implement relevant policy and regulatory frameworks, develop human resources, promote R&D, ensuring the UAE has a leading regional and global position in the telecommunications sector.
In the area of empowerment, the TRA is responsible for overseeing the UAE Federal e-Government under Law No. 3 of 2011. Since then, the TRA has been responsible for the digital transformation of the federal government through two strategic objectives: enhancing the smart lifestyle and leadership in the smart technological infrastructure in the UAE.
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Residents are hereby urged to updated their account details and to check their post office boxes for mailed statement of accounts. The Rustenburg Local Municipality has engaged the services of the South African Post Office (SAPO), to mail statements to residents. We also encourage residents to be in constant liaison with their respective Ward Councillors, on the receipt of statements for updates.
Residents are further encouraged to update their contact details and preferred mail address, which is either post office box or residential address at the enquiries desk on the ground floor of Missionary Mpheni house, where statements are usually collected from. Residents are required to produce certified copy of the ID as well as account number for the property/s to which the change of details relates.
Residents who may not have receive their statement of accounts, may call statement enquiry desk at 014 590 3382/3766 between 07:30 and 16:00 to verify their addresses as well as updated account information.


When the entrance is open, and Coila Creek (only substantial creek feeding the lake) is not in flood, water salinities similar to the ocean extend over the entire lake. Coila (NSW) is a suburb of South Coast, New South Wales and is about 260 kms south- southwest of NSW's capital city of Sydney. Coila Lake is located east of the Princes Highway and north of the town of Tuross Head. The entrance is located at the southern end of Bingie Beach. The lake bed comprises mostly mud, with marine sand confined to the entrance.


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/ Markets
/ Emerging Markets
China Watch: No Speed Bumps in Infrastructure Race
The ongoing construction push puts a solid support under the world's No. 2 economy.
Ralph Jennings
TAIPEI -- Almost anywhere you go in China, drills buzz, hammers thump walls and scaffolding towers into the sky while hundreds of migrants from the countryside cluster around the dusty gates of work sites slurping down noodle bowls to be on time for the next shift.
Much of that gritty, noisy construction gets plowed into private projects. But a whole lot is also building airports. Low-cost housing has sprouted as a state priority since 2010 to ease impacts from a surge in commercial property prices. Highways and railways are growing in length, width and number, as any tourist can see.
Overseas equity investors, get on board.
Wait, haven't Chinese officials said they want to ramp down their economy's attention-grabbing economic growth to rely less on investment, and isn't public works construction a major source? The state-driven shift from China's reliance on exports and investment to an economy led by consumers will supposedly slow GDP growth to 7.5% this year from 9.2% last year.
But high on a list of reasons to be skeptical of the slowdown rests the steely fact is that China does not want to stop building. Government agencies can use new infrastructure to build empires and prove their might before an easily awed public. State-invested, herculean-scale builders such as China State Construction Engineering (601668.SS) and railway contractor China Railway Construction (1186.HKG) make money at the same time.
Throughout history, the Chinese have seldom hesitated to tear down and rebuild stuff, often on the personal whims of new leaders. Nothing has changed.
But more importantly, China can't stop building without dropping some of its socio-economic goals that are more sacred than fine-tuning economic growth formulas. It wants the historically poor western regions to advance, explaining the push to open airports and railways lines in places as far off as Tibet.
Beijing hopes the low-cost housing starts to ease a gnawing wealth gap. Railway and telecom projects help ship goods from coal to Web conference signals around the country, all ideal for long-term economic development.
Expressways are already on the road to reaching 100,000 kilometers by 2020, up from 60,000 in 2008.
Infrastructure in China stands at an unusually high 9% of the GDP. As it's pretty hard to hide behind the in-your-face mega-projects, Chinese officials have reformulated their formula: "At a time when external demand shows no signs of improving and domestic consuming habits need time to adjust, well-planned infrastructure investment seems essential, if not the only option for China to boost its sagging economy," the official Xinhua News Agency said last month.
No wonder China got its most-ambitious-ever high-speed railway plan rolling over the past five years and last month announced that it would build 70 new airports plus expand another 100 by 2015. China will speed spending on roads, utilities and more railways to boost growth, the official China Securities Journal adds.
Get ready for an infrastructure boom by year's end, warns Barclays Capital Asia regional economist Wai Ho Leong.
"There is a growing acceptance that after the leadership transition in September, the new administration would unveil more ambitious spending plans," he says. "Corporate planners are now preparing for the resurgence."
So new infrastructure will keep trucking along. But in case something like the debts owed by state-owned developers or unforeseen macroeconomic snags force China to hit the brakes at home, consider Beijing's boom frontier in Africa.
A "concentration of projects" are going up in Angola, Nigeria and Sudan, to name three of 35 African countries invested by China, says the Japan External Trade Organization, a market research agency backed by the government Tokyo. Japan has historically led Asia in largess for the developing world, hence its interest. China sights Africa mainly for power generation and transport.
But despite the speed and scope of new Chinese infrastructure, it's not easy to build a portfolio of related stocks.
China State Construction Engineering share prices have slipped 17% over the past year, modest given market trends worldwide, but it's listed in Shanghai, where foreign investors often feel uncomfortable because of transparency problems.
However, shares of China Railway Construction are traded in less opaque Hong Kong, likewise transport infrastructure builder China Communications Construction Co. (1800.HK). Share prices of both are tacking neither up nor down.
Relatively few overseas firms have helped China build infrastructure because the government distrusts foreign interests in top-priority state projects, hiring them only when local talent is found unqualified.
But those who look at the fine print on infrastructure projects in China will eventually see the name ThuyssenKrupp (TKA.DE). The German metal worker opened its Asia headquarters in Shanghai in 2003. In just its first few years it was selling 60,000 elevators annually to China and had sold technology for the Shanghai airport maglev airport train. Its share prices have fallen a steep 62% since July 2011 but mostly in tandem with the global market slump in August.
Another one to follow, Thales SA (HO.PA), once won a $21.6 million contract for equipment and service at an airport in southwestern China.
China's infrastructure momentum puts a solid support beam under the entire world's No. 2 economy, not just individual companies. When China booms, emerging markets elsewhere tend to tag along and investors in other countries feel warm and safe about risky assets -- meaning stocks as a whole won't fall through the floor.
This article is commentary by an independent contributor, separate from TheStreet's regular news coverage.
Emerging MarketsInvestingStocksMarketsIndustrial GoodsWorldChina
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Are you prepared for a natural or man-made disaster?
Click here to go to Sachse CERT Photo Gallery!
Sachse CERT program educates the public about disaster preparedness for hazards that may impact their area and trains them in basic disaster response skills, such as light search & rescue, disaster medical operations, team organization and fire safety. Using the training learned in the classroom and during exercises, CERT trained individuals learn to assist their family, neighbors and co-workers following an event when professional responders are not immediately available to help.
Training is conducted by FEMA certified staff and First Responders using a nationally recognized curriculum. This course gives students training in disaster psychology, first aid, triage, search & rescue, fire suppression, hazard recognition, disaster types and more!
The course concludes with a Capstone Drill where students work together as a team through a simulated disaster scene, using the hands-on skills learned. The drill is a continuation of the learning process and instructors are embedded with the teams to provide guidance.
Minimum Age: 18 years of age, as of the first day of class, or 16 with parental consent and parental participation.
The course is open to adjacent cities, but Sachse residents will have first priority as the class fills.
Active participation with a CERT group is NOT a requirement upon completion, but MANY rewarding opportunities to give back to your community are available once you are trained. The G-317 certificate is recognized in every state and municipality.
CERT Class Fee $25 - this fee pays for disposable supplies, lunch both days and other costs for conducting the CERT G-317 class. The fee is refundable in case of cancelation up to 48-hours prior to the start of the class. No refunds for cancelations within 48-hours of the class or no shows.
We will be able to notarize the form when you check in. Please come a few minutes early to complete the notary process and be sure to bring your driver's license or other form of identification.
Sachse CERT encourages citizens to take preparedness seriously in order to minimize loss of life and property in a disaster. If you have any questions please email info@sachsecert.org. The class is taught using the FEMA curriculum, but does not automatically make you part of an active response team. Graduates who live or work in Sachse, or surrounding communities are welcome to join a SCC sponsored team after completing an additional orientation session and background check.
Fire Rehab Training for the Sachse CERT Team. This is only one aspect of what this volunteer organization does for our community. If you're interested in becoming a trained volunteer, visit our Facebook page & contact us.
Rooms in Northplace Church in Sachse were dark last weekend and screams and pleas from "victims" were heard as members of the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) scrambled through the building to save lives wherever they could.
Thankfully this wasn't a real emergency. It was the 2016 CERT class completing their final scenario – the Capstone Drill.
Sachse Citizens, are you a CERT member?
Do you know what is meant by "72-hours"?
If not, ask a Sachse CERT member.
Sachse Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) is a group of citizens, organized as a neighborhood-based team that receives special training to enhance their ability to recognize, respond to, and recover from a major emergency or disaster situation. Teams are trained by professional responders in areas that will help take care of themselves and others before, during and after a major emergency.


The kit allows existing floors to be retrofitted for wiring connectivity. The flange and a recessed wiring device are designed to reduce tripping hazards that could otherwise be caused by protruding plugs.
The product can reportedly be installed with a 5-in. hole saw.


SOULLAND is a danish brand created in 2002 by Silas Adler. What started out as a DIY printed T-shirt label has quickly developed in to an award winning full scale mens wear brand known through out the world. Soullands design aesthetic blends streetwear and skateboad culture with traditional Scandinavian craftmanship with great attention to detail.


text:
Bar-
Goers
For Patrons
Find a Safe Bar
Safe Bars
Take the Happy
Hour Pledge
Training bar staff to stand up against sexual violence
"The cost of stepping in, and checking if something's okay, is close to zero. The cost of not checking, when you think something might not be okay, can be incredibly high." Lauren R. Taylor, co-director, Safe Bars. "Bartenders in D.C. are learning how to stop sexual assault, and so far, it's working, Upworthy, 9/16
Hear Safe Bars director Lauren R. Taylor, then co-director Jessica Raven, and Angie Salame Fetherston (owner at Eat the Rich, Columbia Room, and more) talk alcohol, sexual harassment, and bystander intervention with WAMU's Kojo Nnamdi. Click here to listen
"There was a huge surge [in interest] after the election," says Lauren Taylor, director of Safe Bars. "Women felt unsafe and upset. It was a breaking point." "Can the Cocktail Industry Fix Its Sexual-Assault Problem?," Grub Street
"This training reinforces that you play a vital role in the things that occur in your establishment, and that you are an important piece of the puzzle," said bartender Lauren Paylor. "It helps you see what steps you can take when you encounter these very uncomfortable situations." "Enlisting employees to help prevent sexual harassment," Restaurant Hospitality
Safe Bars Philly launched after Leah Dirkse, from Women Organized Against Rape, came across Safe Bars. "Women Organized Against Rape wants to make Philly bars, clubs and restaurants safer," BillyPen
Safe Bars director Lauren Taylor "noted that servers are already good at reading whether people are enjoying themselves or not, so 'we're building on their existing skills and expertise.'" "When Harassment Is the Price of a Job," The Nation
"Alcohol doesn't cause sexual assault. It's the weapon. It incapacitates the targets or camouflages the [attacker], like 'I didn't know what I was doing. I was drunk,'" says Safe Bars director Lauren Taylor. "When Dates go Wrong: Bartenders as Guardian Angels," Cherry Bombe
"'Tipping creates a subservient relationship with patrons,' Safe Bars director Lauren Taylor notes, adding that some may exploit that. Having tended bars both in cocktail bars and restaurants in Texas, I [the writer] can attest to this personally." "Behind Bars: Bartenders Raise Harassment Issues," Wine & Spirits
"It could be staff on staff, staff on patron, patron on patron, or patron on staff. The techniques and skills that we teach apply no matter which direction—the important thing is that you are in a position to witness it and step up and do something," says Lauren Taylor, director of Safe Bars. "The hospitality industry looks inward to address sexual assault," Imbibe
"To me, no job is worth keeping if it means I'm going to be uncomfortable or disrespected or unhappy," says bartender Katelyn Goodwin. "But that's something I had to learn over time. When I was younger, I put up with a lot more than I should have." "How bartenders fight harassment and workplace violence," CNN Money
"There was no training on sexual harassment for bars, which is kind of absurd because we know there's a strong connection between alcohol and sexual assault; alcohol does not cause sexual assault, but it's used as a weapon…." Safe Bars former co-director Jessica Raven. "Bars Are Learning How To Stop Sexual Assault, And The NFL Is Helping," Huffington Post
"We teach specific skills to safely and effectively intervene to stop sexual harassment, and then we work with the bar staff to practice," Safe Bars former co-director Jessica Raven. "Bars Are Trying Something New To Help Stop Sexual Assault, And It's Actually Pretty Simple," APlus
"My dream for Safe Bars is that it becomes ubiquitous in D.C. I hope that one day it will be a prerequisite for operating an establishment that serves alcohol." Sam Nellis, bar manager. "Bartenders in D.C. are learning how to stop sexual assault, and so far, it's working," Upworthy
"These bartenders are fighting sexual harassment with a program called 'Safe Bars.' ".Mic
"It's amazing how much more aware I am now," Dante Datta, bartender. "DC Bartenders Train to Spot and Prevent Sexual Assault." NBC4 Washington
"What they're doing is specific skills. That's why that training is so important. It's not just like: 'this is sexual assault. Here's a cheesy 70s video.' It's like: 'let's role-play. If this happens, you do this. These are your strategies.' It's recipes, not philosophy." Angie Salame Fetherston, CEO, Drinks Co. "These Bars Are Training Their Staffs to Step In and Stop Hate Crimes," Tales of the Cocktail
"It's just an amazing step in the right direction towards completely transforming bar culture in D.C." Jessica Raven, former co-director, Safe Bars. Safe Bars Meets Goal of Training 20 Bars in 2016, DCist
"In the long term, the Safe Bars program will transform local bar culture so that sexual aggression is no longer tolerated," Safe Bars former co-director Jessica Raven, "Safe Bars brings sexual harassment intervention training to D.C. nightlife," GW Hatchet
The concept is so simple and powerful that it's hard to believe that a program like this wasn't put into place years ago. "This Brilliant New Program Helps Bartenders Put A Stop to Sexual Assault," Self
Lauren R. Taylor, Founder and Director of Defend Yourself, and Jessica Raven, Executive Director of Collective Action for Safe Spaces, got a grant from Raliance for Safe Bars, where they train bar staff on how to intervene to stop sexual harassment. "Bars Are Learning How to Stop Sexual Assault, and the NFL Is Helping," Huffington Post
"Bar, club and restaurant staff are perfectly positioned to intervene in unwanted sexual aggression. Studies have shown that the environment and the culture around an aggressor can make a difference in their behavior." Lauren R. Taylor, co-director, Safe Bars. "These Bars Are Training Their Staffs to Step in and Stop Hate Crimes," Tales of the Cocktail
"The one thing that's stayed the same is the amount of harassment in bars. As bartenders, we see and hear a lot of shit." Ally Farouidi, cofounder, Sudhouse. "Sexual Harassment in Bars Is Pervasive, But a New Project Offers Help," DCist
Jessica Raven of Collective Action for Safe Spaces (left) and Lauren R. Taylor of Defend Yourself, directors of Safe Bars.
"This is our house. People are guests in our house, but there are rules here." JP Fetherston, head bartender, Columbia Room. "Behind the Bar, In Front Of the Curve: Safe Bars Trains To Stop Sexual Harassment," DCist
Bystander intervention is one of the most effective ways to stop someone from becoming a victim. "Bars Are Trying Something New To Help Stop Sexual Assault, And It's Actually Pretty Simple," APlus
"It's just hard to do, for a lot of people, but what you actually need to say or do is not rocket science," Lauren Taylor, co-director of Safe Bars, said. "Step Up in the Club," Slate
"What we're talking about is changing rape culture," Lauren Taylor, co-director of Safe Bars. "Seeking Solutions for Sexual Aggression Against Women in Bars," NPR
Find out how Safe Bars started—and what we've done since then. "Training the Folks on the Front Lines of Nightlife Safety—Bartenders." The Renewal Project, 12/19
For May Day 2019, WPFW-FM asked Safe Bars director Lauren Taylor to host a show on harassment in the restaurant industry. She was joined by bartender Lauren Paylor, Ramya Sekaran of the National Women's Law Center, LaNysha Adams, a Safe Bars board member, and Eliza Loehr of the Food Education Fund. "Sexual Harassment in the Bar and Restaurant Industries." WPFW-FM, 5/19
Safe Bars director Lauren Taylor chats with MEL's Haley Hamilton about how you can easily intervene—quickly and with little drama—when you see something that doesn't look right. "I Train Bartenders to Prevent Sexual Assault." MEL, 2/19
"The training includes information about the whole spectrum of sexual violence, from … unwanted staring, to sexual assault and everything in between. We talk about how it happens, introduce a framework for intervention with either the person who's being targeted or the person who's doing the aggression." —Lauren Taylor. "Five Ways Bartenders Are Changing the World." Spirits Business, 11/18
Safe Bars provides skills for interrupting "sexual harassment no matter which direction it's going. It could be staff on staff, staff on patron, patron on patron, or patron on staff …. the important thing is that you are in a position to witness it and step up and do something." —Lauren Taylor. "The Hospitality Industry Looks Inward to Address Sexual Assault." Imbibe Magazine, 10/18
Safe Bars training emphasizes the "importance of dealing with things when they're on the lower end, before they escalate." —Lauren Taylor. "When Dates go Wrong: Bartenders as Guardian Angels." Cherry Bombe, 5/18
"There aren't many industries that require working long shifts in cramped, dark quarters doling out alcohol to people; a female bartender in the corner well may be left attending to a patron who's behaving inappropriately, leading to physical and emotional unease." "Behind Bars: Bartenders Raise Harassment Issues." Wine and Spirits Magazine, 3/18
Servers are already good at reading whether people are enjoying themselves, so Safe Bars builds on their existing skills and expertise. "When Harassment Is the Price of a Job." The Nation, 2/18
"It's very interesting that alcohol indicts women and lets men off the hook. For men it's, 'I didn't know what I was doing, I was drunk.'" —Lauren Taylor. "How Bartenders Fight Harassment and Workplace Violence." CNN, 1/18
Gazing around the bar looking for help after Mr. Uninvited awkwardly inserts himself in a conversation between you and a friend, a Safe Bars-trained bartender recognizes your plea for help and steps in. "Safe Bars Program Teaches Bartenders Sexual Harassment Intervention." Find Your Moxie, 3/17
"What they're doing is specific skills. That's why that training is so important. It's not just like: 'this is sexual assault. Here's a cheesy 70s video.' It's like: 'let's role-play. If this happens, you do this. These are your strategies.' It's recipes, not philosophy," —Angie Salame Fetherston, CEO, Drinks Co. "These Bars Are Training Their Staffs to Step in and Stop Hate Crimes." Tales of the Cocktail, 11/16
The only thing necessary for a rape to happen is the presence of a rapist. Lauren Taylor and Jessica Raven speak out on alcohol and sexual assault. "Without alcohol, we'd still have rape." The Washington Post, 6/16
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Probation department seeking low sentence for Gearhart
Kelly Gearhart
By KAREN VELIE
With just two weeks until Kelly Gearhart's sentencing hearing, his probation officer and federal prosecutors are disagreeing over the number of the defendant's victims, a fact that partially determines sentencing guidelines.
While both sides agree on most information in the presentencing investigation report, prosecutors contend Gearhart had over 250 victims while the probation department says there were only 17 victims. The probation department considered only investors Gearhart spoke directly with as victims.
Gearhart concedes he should spend 57 months in prison, the probation officer is seeking an 87 month imprisonment and prosecutors are asking the court to sentence Gearhart to 135 months in federal prison.
Gearhart and James Miller, the former president of Hurst Financial, defrauded more than 1,200 investors of more than $100 million in an alleged Ponzi scheme. Gearhart bilked investors who put money into Central Coast real estate projects and then siphoned off the monies for other purposes.
Even though Gearhart defrauded hundreds of victims , the government based its case on several frauds including Gearhart's largest, his Vista Del Hombre project in Paso Robles.
"The bulk of the government's case focuses on Vista Del Hombre because there is the strongest evidence of fraud," prosecutors said in court documents. "There are, however, other projects and victims at issue in this case."
The probation officer composed the presentencing investigation report that finds that Gearhart had direct contact with 15 investors and two banks in the projects federal prosecutors focused on while making their fraud case.
"The presentencing investigation report finds that there were 10 victims (of Vista Del Hombre) who communicated directly with defendant and invested based upon his false promises," the government's sentencing position says. "For purposes of sentencing, the losses for these victims are $2,370,000."
Gearhart got his first loan for Vista del Hombre's purchase and initial infrastructure construction in May 2006 from Miller in the amount of $15 million. Miller in turn had secured that money from private investors lured by promises of high interest returns. That initial loan was slated to mature in late 2006, but Hurst did not reimbursed investors and in late 2007 Miller ceased providing interest payments.
But by then, Hurst had already lent Gearhart another $11,850,000 for the Vista del Hombre development. These investors received interest payments for only six months before the payments abruptly ceased.
Miller's QuickBook records seized by federal agents show that of the $17,995,302 Miller doled out to Gearhart for Vista Del Hombre, Gearhart only spent $2,659,302 on developing the project with the remainder ending up in Gearhart and his wife's bank accounts.
Kelly Gearhart and James Miller
"Regardless of how he spent the money, defendant still 'stole' the lots securing the victims' investments, sold them to different people, and then used them to obtain bank loans that he could not pay back," according to the government's sentencing position. "So, even if defendant spent every penny of the VDH money lawfully, there would still be fraud upon the over 250 VDH investors.
In an April 1, 2008 letter to investors, Gearhart admitted to some investors that he was financially strapped and unable to pay interest on many of his Hurst loans and detailed his plan for financial recovery:
"Obviously, I have formulated a detailed strategy to work my way through liquidating my large portfolios," Gearhart wrote. "Several of my properties are in escrow at this time, and the sales of these properties will enhance my ability to move forward. I realistically see only these options at this time: 1. Elimination of interest payments, while I work to liquidate properties as fast as possible. 2. As offers are made on properties, I will notify you and we will make a joint decision as to whether we should accept the offers presented. 3. Foreclosure."
According to prosecutors, the letter was an attempt by Gearhart to lull his victims and as such he should be found guilty of defrauding more than 250 investors.
"Defendant victimized all of the VDH investors because he 'lulled' them into maintaining their investments," the government's sentencing position says. "For example, defendant sent out a 'lulling' letter near the end of the fraud. Lulling conduct is part of the scheme charged in the indictment."
In May 2014, Gearhart agreed to plead guilty to three charges in connection with the Vista Del Hombre project.
Gearhart's sentencing hearing is scheduled for June 1 at 11 a.m. in Los Angeles.
Don't miss links to breaking news stories, like CCN on Facebook.
Kelly Gearhart Court Documents by CalCoastNews
Subjects: Federal Court federal prison Hard Money Lenders Kelly Gearhart Real Estate
SLO County Supervisors should vote based on facts, not politics
Salinas mothers found guilty of torturing girl
mustangglp
I can't really say I feel to sorry for the people that invested money in this rat anyone with common sense could tell he was a snake oil salesman. I bet he doesn't serve 6 months .


Celebrate an endless summer and the secret battle of good vs. evil with our Phineas and Ferb wall stickers.
The fun never ends when you decorate your room with Phineas, Ferb, Agent P, and the rest of the crew. Pick from action-packed colourful wall stickers of Phineas, Ferb and Agent Perry.


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TRNC Assembly delegation visits EU Parliament
A TRNC Assmbly delegation has been in Strasbourg holding contacts with members of the EU Parliament.
The delegation included CTP representative Armagan Candan, National Unity Party (UBP) representative Hamza Ersan Saner, MP for the Democrat Party/National Forces (DP/UG) Hasan Tacoy and MP for the Social Democratic Party (TDP) Zeki Celer.
During its contacts at the European Parliament, the delegation discussed the report on Turkey's EU accession, which will be voted on at the European Parliament, the Cyprus problem and the issue of the Turkish language becoming an official EU language.
Candan said that they held meetings with MPs from different political groups at the European Parliament and added that they conveyed the demands of the Turkish Cypriots from the EU and the European Parliament.
Reminding that the final discussions on Turkey's report were being held, Candan said paragraphs in the report, relating to Cyprus, were more comprehensive than before.
Saner on his part criticised the European Parliament for linking the Cyprus negotiations with the report on Turkey. He also pointed out that no progress had been made on the Free Trade Regulation had been promised by the EU to the Turkish Cypriots before the Annan Plan referendum.
Tacoy said it was important to enable Turkish Cypriot representation at the European Parliament and expressed his views on the issue of the Turkish language becoming an EU language.


Toyin Subair, the Chairman of defunt pay TV, HITV has remarried.
Emerging details have it that Subair tied the marital knot with his long-term Indian lover Anita Gupta today.
The wedding ceremony was held to India.
Gupta and Subair have been engulfed in a romantic relationship for as long as many can remember societynow.ng learned.
Subair is trying his luck in matrimony for the second time with this development information available revealed.
The entertainment lawyer divorced his first wife years back due to "irreconcilable" differences.


Chongqing University is a nationally famed comprehensive key university in China, directly under the State Ministry of Education, also a university listed among the first group of "211 Project" universities. Founded in 1929, Chongqing University had become a national comprehensive university consisting of six colleges in 1940s, thus earned a prestige both domestic and abroad then for its outstanding performance in schooling.
At present, Chongqing University runs 24 colleges or faculties, as well as the Graduate school, the City College, the College of Continuing Education, the College of Networking Education. The University now has a total enrollment of 57, 472 students, of which 12,000 are master's and doctoral students. It owns 15 mobile workstations for postdoctoral study, 16 preliminary-level programs and 60 secondary-level programs for doctoral study, 182 programs for master's degree study as well as 4 specialized master's degree programs, 75 bachelor's degree programs and 7 associate degree programs.
Currently, the university has a total number of 5,834 faculty and staff members, among which 2,623 are full-time teachers, 10 members of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and of the Chinese Academy of Science (including academicians engaged from other institutions), 5 members of the Subject Appraisal Team of the Degree Committee under the State Council, 15 titled the state-level middle-aged or young experts with distinguished contribution, 171 doctoral tutors, 301 experts awarded the governmental allowance, 1,519 full professors and associate professors.
It has established 2 national teaching bases for fundamental courses and a national quality education base for college students, 5 national key labs and ministerial key labs, 17 provincial key labs, and 93 labs of different specialties. Moreover, Chongqing University has constructed the distance education center, multi-media classrooms of large scale and interactive audio-visual classrooms, labs or training centers in cooperation with world famous enterprises.
Chongqing University attaches importance to international academic exchange and cooperation. It has established inter-school exchange links with 32 institutions of higher education in 13 countries such as the USA, England, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, Australia, Holland, Japan, South Korea, Russia, etc. Since the implementation of the reform and opening-up policy, Chongqing University has sent nearly 3000 teachers abroad for further study, attending international academic conference, or for academic visit or inspection; and received over 7200 overseas scholars including some world famous scholars, the university has forged cooperative relations with about 20 prestigious international corporations or institutions such as Siemens, Rockwell Automation, IBM, Microsoft, Lipo Group, New York Life Insurance, Omron, FUNUC and etc.
Chongqing University is a university specified by the Ministry of Education to receive overseas students who are granted the Chinese Government Scholarship. Up to now, overseas students from over 20 countries have come to Chongqing University for study. In 2003, there were 110 international students enrolled to Chongqing University, studying for PhD degrees, Master's degrees, bachelor's degrees, or just studying Chinese language.
Looking into the future, catching the historical opportunity of the West Development and of the joint financial support from the state Ministry of Education and Chongqing Municipal government, Chongqing University is fully committed to implementing the strategy of "prospering the country and Chongqing city with science-and-technology and education", sticking to its education philosophy of "taking root in Chongqing, finding a foothold in the Southwest, facing the West, Serving the whole nation, stepping towards the world", carrying forward its excellent schooling tradition, striving for the realization of its goal of developing Chongqing University into a first-class comprehensive research university in China, with unique characteristics and international fame.


Question: Our users are finding themselves clicking the same filters when they log onto dashboards they have access to. They are curious if there is a way for us to isolate the data for them only. How can we accomplish this without changing our data model extensively?
Upon first reading, this issue could quickly have diverted into a row-level security discussion, a user-filter effort in Tableau or other changes to the dashboard build to accomplish what their users were asking. After a quick 15-minute conversation, we determined that Tableau Server has the built-in functionality that will give this client's users the desired outcome without any changes to the dashboards or data. Let's talk through this and highlight a great feature that is often overlooked in Tableau Server: custom views by user.
On the far left, you'll notice the View: Original Button. This is the view that was originally published by the dashboard author. As you change and edit filters on the dashboard, you can now save custom views that hold onto your filter selections.
Is this what I want to see as my default when I log in to this dashboard? If so, select the Make it my default check box.
Is this only for me or can it be public? If public, then check the box to Make it public so others can see this view when they click the View menu.
All views will be saved under My Views and be listed on this Custom Views pop-up for easy navigation.
My favorite functionality that custom views bring to the table is their subscription ability. I can now set filters for each view I need of a single dashboard and subscribe to each custom view.


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Thu, Jan 07 9:00 AM
The Future of UK-EU Trade Relations
9:00 – 10:30 am EST 2:00 – 3:30 pm London On the 30 December 2020 at the end of the EU Transition Period, the UK and EU signed a crucial Trade and Cooperation Agreement. This interactive and engaging webinar will explore what has been agreed, to what...
Hosting Chapter:
TAG Masterclass Roundtable with Diageo and National Grid
Tuesday January 12, 2021 9:00 – 10:00 am EST / 2:00 – 3:00 PM GMT At this roundtable we welcome Wilson Del Socorro, Global Director of Government Affairs for Diageo and Margaret (Peggy) Smyth, Chief Financial Officer of National Grid to discuss their...
Tue, Jan 12 12:00 PM
Britain and Biden's Shared Goals
Tuesday, January 12, 2021 12:00 pm EST Ambassador Karen Pierce will discuss the US-UK agenda for the next four years under Biden's administration. This is a timely discussion as it will take place a week before President-elect Biden is sworn into office....
Hosting Chapter: Atlanta
Benefits of Hypnosis
January 13, 2021 12:00 -1:00 pm EST
Global Economic Outlook for 2021 and Beyond
Thursday, January 14, 2021 8:30 –10:30 a.m. EST
Hosting Chapter: Detroit
Thu, Jan 14 12:00 PM
Women in Leadership: Life Skills
Thursday, January 14, 2021 12:00 – 1:00 pm EST
Anticipating Policy and Regulatory Changes in the Biden-Harris Era
Thursday, January 14, 2021 12:00 – 1:15pm EST Organized by Platinum Member, Womble Bond Dickinson With the anticipated policy changes in a Biden administration, our panel of experts will explore how these could impact their businesses and the industries in which they...
Hosting Chapter: Washington DC
Pivot to Defense
(cost to attend) Host: BABC Partner, Pacific Northwest Defense Coalition Thursday, January 14 2:00 – 4:00 pm PST / 5:00 - 7:00 pm EST Find out how to become a supplier to the defense community including steps to enter the defense marketplace,...
Hosting Chapter: Seattle
BABC Young Professionals - The 2nd Great British-American Virtual Pub Quiz 2021...
January 14, 2021 6:00 - 7:30 PM PST / 9:00 - 10:30 pm EST
Wed, Jan 20 11:00 AM
KPMG – The Rising Popularity of Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs)
January 20, 2021 11:00 am – 12:00 pm EST
Thu, Jan 21 11:00 AM
Accelerate with Jason Paez, Founder & CEO, HVN Travel Group
January 21, 2021 11:00 am – 12:15 pm EST Jason Paez, Founder and CEO, HVN Travel Group will share the remarkable story behind his success in building the new category of stay with private havens bringing together the best of hospitality and home.
Global Trade Outlook 2021: the Biden Agenda
January 21, 2021 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. CST / 1:00 - 2:00 pm EST
Hosting Chapter: Chicago
US - UK Geopolitical & Economic Outlook 2021
January 27, 2021 10:00 am – 11:00 am EST BAB and EY partner to bring you expert insights on major, evolving geopolitical developments in 2021 facing the US and the UK.
RSM Business Leaders' Summit
January 28, 2021 2:00 - 5:00 pm EST BABC Miami trustee member RSM presents an inaugural Business Leaders' Summit on 28 January 2021 at 2pm on our virtual platform.
Fri, Jan 29 11:00 AM
The Everything from Everywhere Complimentary Summit
Friday, January 29, 2021 11:00am – 2:00pm EST Organized by Platinum Member, Womble Bond Dickinson What are the risks and opportunities in a marketplace where everything can be done from everywhere? Taxes, leasing arrangements, cybersecurity, logistics, employment, land...


We continued with our tradition of a homemade and decorated birthday cake that represents an interest of the birthday girl/boy – Alia's lifelong love of bunny rabbits remains strong, so I've come up with many versions of a bunny cake over the years!
Exterior and interior fabrics – 3 1/3 yards each – for both the outside and the inside, cut the fabric in half lengthwise (so you have two pieces that are 60″ long), then cut each piece to 36″ wide. Sew these two pieces together, so you have one piece that is 72″ wide x 60″ long.
To sew the ties, cut 18 pieces 3″ x 12.5″ (you'll have enough fabric left over to do this), fold lengthwise, sew one short edge and one long edge, leaving one short edge open. Then turn right side out and press.
Next, create a "quilt sandwich" by laying the exterior fabric right side up, then the interior fabric on top of it (right side down), and then the batting on top of both (I bought the highest loft batting I could find, and then used a double layer). Cut around all sides to get all of the fabrics and battings the same dimensions, then pin together along the edges, tucking the ties inside (unfinished edge lining up with the edge of the fabrics/batting, and the length of the tie tucked in between the two fabrics).
Sew along all four edges with a 6/8″ seam, leaving an 18″ wide hole in the middle of the top edge. Clip the corners and turn right side out through the top edge hole. Then, stay stitch around all four sides again (this will help to give the bag a defined edge, and will close up the top side hole, as well). Finally, I used a bar tack stitch approx every 10″ to give the bag "puffiness" and to hold the batting in place and keep it from shifting around.
My ties along the bottom didn't line up as nicely as I had hoped – I'm not sure what went wrong, I measured (but apparently not accurately enough!), but my side ties line up nicely. The ties are a nice alternative to having to sew in a zipper, and they allow you to open up the bag and lay it flat, if you choose to do so.
This was a rush job and I could have done it more neatly – it was a little difficult stitching through so many layers, especially two layers of thick batting, and my sewing machine wasn't thrilled to do it, but it came out all right in the end.


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CW SPECIAL [PROGRAM CHANGE]
Air Date: Sunday, August 30, 2009
Time Slot: 6:30 PM-7:00 PM EST on The CW
Episode Title: "THE CW FALL 2009 PREVIEW SPECIAL"
VIEW ALL LISTINGS FOR CW SPECIAL
REVISED CW PRIMETIME LISTINGS FOR AUGUST 30, 2009 (ALL TIMES ET)
The half-hour special, "The CW Fall 2009 Preview Special," will air in place of the episode of "The Drew Carey Show" titled "Drugco" (6:30-7:00 p.m.).
HALF-HOUR SPECIAL
"THE CW FALL 2009 PREVIEW SPECIAL" -
(6:30-7:00 p.m. ET) (Content Rating TBD)
LAURA LEIGHTON AND THOMAS CALABRO HOST - From the set of The CW's new drama, "MELROSE PLACE," returning stars Laura Leighton (Sydney Andrews in the original series) and Thomas Calabro (Dr. Michael Mancini in the original series) gives viewers a sneak peek into the world of vixens, vampires, models and more. New series featured include "Melrose Place," "The Vampire Diaries," "The Beautiful Life" and the midseason drama, "Life UneXpected."


Four years ago, tomorrow, I began my brave new adventure; arriving at 9.30a.m. at Ninoy Aquino International Airport, in Manila on March 29th 2011. I left behind all the things that were comfortable and familiar to me back in New Zealand, to embark on a journey halfway around the world to a new land and a new life.
In the four years since, I can honestly say I haven't regretted, for a single second, the decision I made back then.
That's not to suggest that everything has been all "sweetness and light" since I arrived; in fact far from it. It has been a massive learning curve for myself, my new wife and my second family; but we have faced the hurdles and difficulties head on and now are much the stronger for having done so. My motivation for making the break and coming here to the Philippines is perhaps no longer relevant, but at 51 (a little bit late perhaps for a mid-life crisis it's true) I felt a need to experience and try something new - to try to figure out just exactly what was my purpose on this green and blue planet we call Earth.
In many ways I struck it lucky. I met, fell in love and married the most amazing woman in the world. A woman that fills me with joy, happiness and purpose with just a lift of her eyebrow or a shy smile in my direction. Without having her support and love none of this would have been possible, or even more importantly; none of this would have been worthwhile.
Certainly, I spent a large part of the first two years here just trying to find my place in my new home. Without the benefit of knowing the local language, most conversations would just go right over my head and at times I did find that terribly isolating and lonely - however as time went on, more and more of the important conversations were conducted in English, which gave me the warmth of inclusion. Getting to know and more importantly becoming a part of my two teen-aged step-daughter's lives was also a big part of those first two years.
It was only after those first two years of being a full-time "house husband" that I actually began to question what I was going to do with the rest of my life. I was clearly too young to retire and I felt that I was a bit too old to be my wife's "toy-boy" or a "kept-man"; so the problem was, what to do. I looked at various options that might be available to me, but without the language, getting a "normal" job over here was always going to be a bit tricky. I looked at teaching as an option, but the country had tightened up significantly over the past years on who could teach here; so that didn't leave a lot of other choices.
It was only when I was "accidentally" exposed to the film "The Secret", that I actually began to realize there might be a different way of approaching my life - a better way.
From that point forward I threw myself into a frenzy of reading, watching and listening to some of the works of the most inspirational, forward thinking, transformational leaders on the planet today, and throughout history. The one shining lesson that came through all of their works was that in order to achieve my potential in life; in order to reach the heights I was born to reach, I only had to do one thing - "To Follow my Bliss".
Now "bliss" was a concept that I was not overly familiar with. I decided I could count on the fingers of one hand the times in my life when I could have described myself as being truly blissful. The underlying construct that came through to me was that the most blissful times of my life were when I was involved in a job (or study) that involved writing. Almost like an epiphany I realized that the one thing that truly made me happy was when I was being creative and writing.
With that realization came the sure certainty that my future involved writing of some sort. I set about to write my first novel - something I'd had a half-hearted crack at several times in the past, but never got past the first chapter. Mind you; I always thought that first chapter was something pretty special. In the eighteen months since I've embarked on my new "career", I've completed two full novels; one of which will be published within the month, and I'm now working on my third.
To edit and paraphrase a certain quotation: "There are three things in this life that are certain; death, taxes, and that as long as my fingers still work, I will write." I now wake every morning excited for the new day and what I will write; the ideas are literally coming to me in my dreams and every day is a new adventure. I can honestly say I have never been happier.
Of course that is not to say that I don't have the odd bad day, the odd time when I revert to my old self and become grumpy or annoyed over minor, petty issues, but thankfully those occasions are now few and far between.
What I'd like to share with you today are some techniques that I use to ensure that even when the "bad moment" comes along, I am able to remain as much as possible in the right frame of mind and in the right "vibration" to ensure that good things happen to me.
I do understand that we are all at different points in our lives and your circumstances might be totally different to mine. A few years ago I might have agreed that sometimes it is simply impossible to be happy, but now I know better. It is always possible; you just need to use some simple techniques to change your mind-set.
So, I'd like to share with you just three simple techniques that I've learnt, to put yourself in a happier state. Now, these might initially seem just too simple, but that's the point – they are VERY simple and require little or no effort, but have wonderful outcomes. If you try them, I can guarantee you will raise the level of your emotional happiness and you will raise your "vibration". Whenever I feel the fingers of doubt clutching at my mind, trying to get me down or I feel the beginning of those all too familiar feeling of frustration or boredom, I use these techniques to lift my spirits and put me back in the positive frame of mind that I want to be.
1. Number one is simple, easy and VERY effective: TELL YOURSELF HOW GREAT YOU ARE!
You are a unique human being, a wonder of creation. You have talents that nobody else that has ever lived, or will ever live has. Sometime we just need to remind ourselves of that simple fact.
A great example of how we constantly downplay ourselves and mentally put ourselves down is when someone asks us, as they often do; "How are you?" When someone asks you that question, what is your usual response? Do you ever say; "I'm great thanks" or is it more likely that you'll say something like; "Oh, I'm okay" or "Ah, not so bad". Your response to this question often comes from the area of the mind that I would call "autopilot". It is a conditioned response. You have been conditioned to believe that the person asking the question actually doesn't really care that much about how you "really" are, so your programmed response is your "autopilot" response; "I'm okay".
The point here is that the more you tell yourself how great you are; the more YOU will believe it and the sooner you will start feeling great in all areas of your life. The person's intention in asking is irrelevant to you. Tell them and, more importantly, tell yourself; "I'm great"; I'm fantastic" or I'm wonderful". All these responses are guaranteed to lift your feeling frequency and to make you feel better than you were before. This is something you should be doing at every opportunity during your day.
When you first wake in the morning; greet the new day enthusiastically and remind yourself just how great you are. Whenever you pass a mirror, or a shop window with your reflection, look not at the physical apparition that stares back at you, but look instead at the wonderful, amazing you that you know yourself to be and just say; "I am great". You'll be surprised just how quickly this affirmation becomes an ingrained part of your subconscious and how quickly you will begin to BELIEVE it.
You will be genuinely surprised at how effective this minor adjustment to your day can be to totally uplift you and raise your overall feeling of well-being.
Even if it's just for one day, take a break from work, cancel your usual plans, do something unexpected and spontaneous. It is very easy for us to become so totally buried in our daily routine that we end up feeling like we are in a rut. Just making a change as simple as taking a different route to work or changing the way you get to work – taking the bus, or train, instead of your car, can refresh you immensely.
Doing things over and over again that are unpleasant or uninspiring is one of the main reasons why people become depressed. To spice up your life, try something new that you've never done before, and make it interesting and challenging! Think of just one thing you've always said to yourself; "I wish I could try that" – and TRY it. If you have a "bucket list" then choose one item from that list and get it done. There is a reason that people say "variety is the spice of life" – That's because it is; so change it up guys.
"Close your eyes and take a deep breath. As you inhale focus on breathing in uplifting feelings of peace and happiness and with each exhale, release any tension or stress.
Another excellent method and one that I personally use extensively is the simple practice of laughter. In this case; "laughter really is the best medicine". Whatever you need to do to get yourself laughing, then do it. For me it is quite easy. All I do is get on YouTube and search up "Top Gear", "7 Days", any "Blackadder" episode or perhaps still the best one to have me in stitches; "Open All Hours". Just a few minutes of watching any of these shows will have the tears rolling down my cheeks and enormous "belly" laughs exploding from me. Now, just try and tell me that you don't feel better after that much laughter. It is absolutely guaranteed to lift my spirits and set me back on the right road of happiness.
So there you have it, my three simple exercises guaranteed to lift your spirits, your vibration and your general sense of well-being. Give them a try and you will be more than pleasantly surprised.
Have an awesome day, an awesome week, an awesome year and an awesome life and never forget you are fantastic! You are a wonder of creation!
"Changing the world - one reader at a time!"
that is really a great piece!!!


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text:
Jane Freebury
writer, journalist and author
The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart
Festivals in Canberra
Tag: Bad Boy Bubby
Bad Boy Bubby re-visited
© Jane Freebury
Text of a talk introducing Rolf de Heer's Bad Boy Bubby when it screened in the Banned + Beautiful season at the National Film and Sound Archive, Canberra, in 2017
The first time I saw Bad Boy Bubby was in Indonesia in 1993. It was on laser disk, pirated copy of course. I'm afraid that was the only way there to keep up with new Australian film while overseas.
To say that it was a shock to the system would be an understatement. Also, away from Australia I had missed out on a lot of the fun. Missed out on David Stratton's astonishing 5 stars—something, as he said, to offend just about everyone—and the controversy it generated.
I had really liked de Heer's Incident at Raven's Gate, a science fiction genre film set in the outback that was released in 1988, though was subsequently a bit disappointed by a languid Dingo, featuring jazz trumpeter Miles Davis, a few years later.
Bad Boy Bubby was de Heer's fourth film, and he threw everything at it.
His first film had been in 1984, a sweet children's film, Tail of a Tiger, about a boy dazzled by an old Tiger Moth airplane.
Each of these films had achieved respectable critical notices, if they had not done so well at the box office, nor marked the filmmaker out with the critics.
Bad Boy Bubby was a huge calculated risk. Either de Heer was going to make his name with this one, or give the game away.
At same time, risk became integral to his praxis. For a film to work had to be 'out there'. From Bad Boy Bubby on, he built risk into each film he made.
He has since said that as a filmmaker you are doomed to fail unless you go absolutely 'all out'. It was his will to be 'extreme'.
To quote the filmmaker: 'If I was just going to do with ordinary thing then that's the most risky thing you can do, because just by simple statistical analysis you can work out that only one film in seven even breaks even. And so the chances are that unless you take profound risk, you are going to fail.'
Rolf is very talented, but this is also the view of an artist who is a pragmatist.
When Rolf made Bad Boy Bubby, he had reached his early 40s, and was already ten years in the industry. There is, I think a hint of 'do or die' about this film.
The Bubby idea had been brewing for a long time – a 'no budget' film, with a two-year shoot.
Originally, it was going to be about child abuse, but de Heer decided to make the protagonist an adult and ditched altogether the idea of using a child actor.
Bad Boy Bubby took around 10 years to gestate, and de Heer returned to it from time to time to add some new outrageous idea—like that of the wheelchair bandit of Adelaide. De Heer, who grew up in Sydney and studied at the Australian Film Television and Radio School, moved to South Australia in 1989.
Rolf had in mind to persuade his friend Ritchie Singer to take the lead role, but Singer politely declined when he read the script, so the filmmaker turned to Nicholas Hope, an English-born theatre actor, resident of Adelaide, who had appeared in one other film. Confessor Caressor, a faux documentary about a psychopath who conducts tours of the lair where he disembowels his victims.
Half of the $800,000 plus budget was put up by Fandango, a production house based in Rome that would become of pivotal importance providing finance for de Heer's films for years to come. The other half was put up by the Film Finance Corporation. It meant the budget was covered, and the shoot completed within a couple of months.
De Heer has noted that he declined a $3 million budget to make the film. He refused it on the grounds that it would not make the film three of four times better and that a low-budget aesthetic worked best with the subject.
It was also his determination to allow himself the freedom that low budget can afford, that he had not enjoyed during his work on French-Australian coproduction Dingo, despite its $5.6 million budget and big international crew.
After Dingo, de Heer was determined to go small, small as could be.
It is a point of honour for Rolf to work within budget.
The majority of his films have been made for under $2.5 million (well under the low budget ceiling), and most came in well under $2 million.
The Quiet Room, released in 1997, was made for under $600,000. The Old Man Who Read Love Stories (2001), shot in the jungles of South America, was a striking exception with its budget of $14 million.
In its original conception, Bad Boy Bubby would be made on weekends over a couple of years, shot by anyone free to do it. Hence, the credits for more than 30 cinematographers.
Bad Boy Bubby was to be made on a shoestring, with whoever was available to crew at the time. Cinematographers eventually did include famous names today—Geoff Simpson and Steve Arnold who both contributed scenes.
The logic for Bad Boy Bubby was that the protagonist character was a blank page. For de Heer, it meant a stylistic freedom because everything was new. Everything Bubby encountered was something he witnessed for the first time.
Ian Jones, de Heer's usual cinematographer since Bad Boy Bubby, shot the opening and closing scenes, so you could argue there was a bit of continuity. Though de Heer recalls that all camera operators were encouraged to do whatever they saw fit.
And, the film does hang together. This has a lot to do with Hope's performance. He is in almost every single frame. Bad Boy Bubby became a big hit in Norway, second only to Forrest Gump, and Hope an actor in demand there.
Source: Google Images
From the first scenes of mise-en-abyme of neglect, abuse and sexual exploitation, Hope's performance and that of Claire Benito, as his mother, still stand as very brave, 24 years later.
And the cockroach scene … It's real. According to Hope, de Heer showed him how to swallow a cockroach by coating it in chocolate sauce. The filmmaker never refuted this.
It was in Italy that Rolf first had impact internationally. Bad Boy Bubby shared the FIPRESCI critics' prize with Robert Altman's Short Cuts at the Venice Film Festival.
It is intriguing that more of de Heer's films have screened in Italy than in any other country, including the Netherlands.
Britain liked it too.
The Economist described BBB as the real triumph of the Venice festival. The esteemed critic at The Guardian, Derek Malcolm, described it as 'the biggest surprise…astonishingly audacious and original', while France – Le Soir reported that many considered it a 'revelation'.
Around this point, as a result of the critical acclaim, de Heer allowed himself and his team to believe that they actually 'had something'.
Although he took out best director and best original screenplay—and the late Suresh Ayyar won best editor and Nicholas Hope won best actor—Bad Boy Bubby missed out on best film to Muriel's Wedding at the Australian Film Institute awards back home.
Nonetheless, the film was the game changer for de Heer. It began the career-long pattern of refusing to accept the limits imposed by a low budget. Going 'all out' every time.
Consider the bold and innovative concepts he has pursued to develop his films:
An in-country shoot for Ten Canoes. Actors not learning their lines, the main actor going walkabout, crocodiles in the swamp.
Using child actors too shy to act in The Quiet Room.
Using new motion control technology in Epsilon.
Interpellating paintings of atrocities against indigenous people—moments of still contemplation—into the live action of in The Tracker. Using buried history of the frontier wars.
Bringing Dr Plonk, a black and white silent comedy, into being.
Assigning the lead role in Dance Me to My Song to a non-actor, a woman with cerebral palsy confined to a wheelchair
Collaborating inside prison while Charlie's Country was in development.
The challenges that de Heer has taken on as a filmmaker since Bad Boy Bubby would sink the less determined, less skilful, less creative director.
It was with this film that de Heer began the praxis that makes his work distinctive.
It is as though he has forced himself each time to weave a new and different challenge into every new film. De Heer, the filmmaker, has never been one to make life easy for himself: the pattern that began with Bad Boy Bubby is what has defined him throughout his career.
His editor, the late Suresh Ayyar, called it an additional challenge, something 'extra-textual', in addition to the creative challenge of the film in development.
The innovative, creative solutions that de Heer has eventually found in his work, the way they work seamlessly within the film text, have become defining features, integral to the films themselves.
And he is living proof for the view that constraint works in the interests of creativity. Tell that to Hollywood.
Despite the controversy it generated, it is my understanding that Bad Boy Bubby was never censored in Australia.
One of the surprises of my research, however, was that the film was cut in Britain. Not for scenes of incest or matricide and patricide, but for the scenes that appeared to show animal cruelty.
Most at issue was the scene of the tabby cat tied to a chair with string, and clearly distressed. Excision of the scene even removed crucial dialogue confirming that there was an 'outside' where life could exist.
Animal welfare activists in Italy were also outraged and even campaigned for a ban on Australian products at the time of the film's release.
When the DVD version of Bad Boy Bubby was released in Britain around ten years ago it was advertised as 'completely uncut'. In other words, the bit with the cat was back in. Nothing more: a clever bit of marketing.
Over the course of time, Bad Boy Bubby and Rolf de Heer's other early films revealed traits that have become familiar throughout all his work:
Lean, unambiguous, direct visual language
Highly subjective soundtrack (established in Bad Boy Bubby with binaural microphones hidden in Bubby's wig)
Narrative resolution that establishes a new order
Outsider or marginalised individuals in an intense personal or interpersonal struggle
Often a child or child-like protagonist, with a life lesson to learn
Quest for mastery over language (including female protagonists in Dance Me to My Song, and Alexandra's Project) that leads to giving voice to the voiceless.
Deep concern for the planet, the environment.
These have marked his work from the beginning.
Curiously, there has been nothing about the migrant experience. Not as yet, anyway.
So Bad Boy Bubby is strong stuff, even today. It is de Heer's riposte to the sweet Australian coming-of-age film.
I mean, there had been a lot of Australian films in the 1970s-1980s about coming of age that Rolf would have been very familiar with: think My Brilliant Career, The Year My Voice Broke, Puberty Blues…and we're still making them.
And yet Bad Boy Bubby is not solely aimed at the Australian coming-of-age drama.
Those scenes in which Bubby learns how to become a successful Aussie male, are some of the funniest in the film.
As one of the most effective satires of Australian society ever made, Bad Boy Bubby makes a very rude finger at us all.
Posted on December 1, 2017 May 25, 2018 Categories News, TalksTags Bad Boy Bubby, Rolf de Heer, The Banned + The Beautiful
Interview With Writer/Director Rolf de Heer
Credits include Charlie's Country; Ten Canoes; The Tracker; and Bad Boy Bubby
It is a surprise, and no less so for Rolf de Heer himself, that he has made another film with David Gulpilil. The filmmaker and the Indigenous performer have now collaborated for a third time, which naturally leads to talk of a trilogy. An 'accidental trilogy' at best, if it is one at all, observes de Heer whose restless creative energies have led to his reputation in the media as a bit of a maverick, an esteemed but elusive auteur with a body of work that is tricky to define.
The three films that carry Indigenous stories have each emerged from a different time and space. The Tracker (2002) came into being after de Heer read about the brutal hidden history of the Australian frontier. Ten Canoes (2006) came about when he saw the possibilities of making a film in-language in and in-country with the Ramingining community in Arnhem Land. Charlie's Country has come about 'because David was in gaol'.
The news that Gulpilil had been sent to prison for a drunken episode of domestic violence was distressing yet also something of a relief: 'Towards the end of 2011 I learnt that David was in gaol. My first thought was tragedy averted. Whatever the rights or wrongs of his imprisonment, whatever the reason, I was grateful for it because it probably saved David's life.'
The circumstances of each film is vastly different and it can be argued that there isn't a clear connection between the films, were it not for the towering presence of David Gulpilil. Even though he did not appear as planned in Ten Canoes, the unmistakable voice of his mischievous narrator guides us through in voiceover.
It was one of those intense bright Canberra winter mornings when I met de Heer for our interview. It is at least the 30th occasion that we have talked, mostly over the phone, about his work. He had been in Canberra to introduce Charlie's Country at a screening at Parliament House. It was very well received.
So why had he made this new film with Gulpilil? 'The exercise was to make a film that helps him find his way but that also gives him a chance to get on with what he wants to do. And a film that would really celebrate, probably for the first time, his extraordinary talent because it's not yet been seen to best effect, not even in The Tracker.'
Gulpilil did not to wish to accompany de Heer to the Cannes film festival for the screening of Charlie's Country in official selection in May. Where is the actor now? Back in his traditional lands and so far away from the red carpet that it took five days for de Heer to reach him by phone to tell him he'd won Best Actor in Un Certain Regard.
Charlie's Country is the fourth film of de Heer's to screen in the official selection at Cannes. The Quiet Room (1996) and Dance Me to My Song (1998) were screened in competition, while Ten Canoes won the special jury prize in Un Certain Regard in 2006.
The internationally-recognised Indigenous actor has long been held in great affection with the Australian public. He first appeared in a haunting role in Nicolas Roeg's Walkabout at the dawn of the revival of the local film industry, has received many accolades particularly in recent times, and was the subject of a prize winning portrait. Yet Gulpilil has long had trouble with substance abuse and alcohol, to which he had been introduced by certain hell-raiser actors from day one. De Heer has for some years been concerned for his friend, and written articles about how he perceives his predicament, caught between cultures and comfortable in neither.
Gulpilil was instrumental in persuading de Heer to at least consider making a film in his homelands, it was not possible to follow through. 'David had left his community of Ramingining in 2004, because of a tribal dispute I was never quite allowed to know the details of. From that time on, David lived largely in the long grass in Darwin'. They saw less and less of each other. From time to time there was news of his friend: 'None of it sounded very good'.
For Charlie's Country, de Heer determined that Gulpilil had to be front and centre, and dominate the screen. He would anyway: 'It was something I was sort of aware from the beginning: just put the camera on David, and it works'. The strength of Gulpilil's presence was the starting point, 'a long, unwavering close-up' of the actor, taking in the dignity and grace of his bearing and close-ups of the face that conveys so much, wordlessly. Even after the prison barber has had his way with Gulpilil, shaving off his wild greying locks and beard, transforming him into a prison inmate, the well-loved face radiates presence.
When de Heer first met Gulpilil he recalls that his reaction was 'F**k, I have to direct this bloke!' He didn't know quite what to say to him, and felt there was nothing he could say. But that was 14 years ago, when Gulpilil was cast to appear in The Tracker.
So, does the fact that you continue to work together mean that you get on very well? Something I have discovered over the years while researching my book on de Heer's work is that he remains unpredictable: 'No, we don't get on very well,' he returns. 'It's hard work being with David. I love him, he loves me, but it's hard work being with him. It's the cultural gulf, it's David's mercurial character…' Of course there are things they share. 'No doubt about that'.
Prior to the shoot for The Tracker, the two went bush together in Gulpilil's homelands, and spent a few days camping out, hunting, fishing and talking. In very different circumstances, they went bush again before Charlie's Country, visits that proved 'powerfully restorative' for Gulpilil.
Charlie's Country was shot by Ian Jones, the cinematographer who worked with de Heer on both The Tracker and Ten Canoes, and the rest of the crew is largely the regular group of compatible co-creatives. Peter Djiggir, who co-directed Ten Canoes, co-produces and performs again and some members of the Ramingining community are also represented.
The cast has a teasing hint of familiarity about it, with many actors returning from past de Heer films, even in bit parts. There is an appearance by Gary Sweet the infamous 'fanatic' character in The Tracker, selling alcohol—over the counter, one should quickly add, Damon Gameau who was the 'follower' in the same film is seen side-on as a hospital nurse. Jamie Gulpilil who was the lead in Ten Canoes appears briefly as a trainee constable. Like many auteurs, de Heer has built a singular cinema that maps a country all its own.
It is a guessing game wondering with de Heer. What will he do next? Ten Canoes was preceded by a drama about marriage breakdown, followed by a black and white silent comedy, which was followed by a surprising comedic foray into feuding neighbours. Is there something down the track for de Heer and Gulpilil? 'In the phone calls we have, once every two days or so, he still talks about other projects. He's got a number of them.' Time will tell, and all bets are off.
Format ChatPosted on July 10, 2014 April 9, 2015 Categories InterviewsTags Interview, Charlie's Country, Ten Canoes, The Tracker, Bad Boy Bubby, Directors, Rolf de HeerLeave a comment on Interview With Writer/Director Rolf de Heer