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Married On and Off Stage | Q&A with Real-Life Acting Spouses in Nashville Rep's 'A Christmas Story'
Theatre, Things to Do |
Real-life married couple Megan Murphy Chambers and Jack Chambers share what it's like to share the stage in Nashville Repertory Theatre's A CHRISTMAS STORY.
BY Jessica Musman
Photo Courtesy of Nashville Repertory Theatre
Nashville Repertory Theatre's "A Christmas Story" is back for its ninth year of entertaining Nashville audiences during the holiday season! This is the second year that real-life married couple Megan Murphy Chambers and Jack Chambers will share the stage as Mother and The Old Man. We had a chance to ask Megan and Jack a few questions about what it's like to perform alongside their spouse in this holiday favorite.
Have you performed in a show together before 'A Christmas Story'?
MEGAN – "Yes! We've done several shows together over the last 15 years, including a two-person show that was super intimate and challenging. We've fought onstage, made out onstage, made out with OTHER people in front of each other onstage, learned accents together, and done shows where we don't interact at all. I love working with Jack – He's brilliant and generous and my favorite person to be around."
JACK – "Megan and I were in a three-person show ("Tape") together, and then did "Blackbird" [both with GroundWorks Theatre], which was a heavy-duty two-person drama. We've directed each other (her directing "The Pillowman" and me directing "Marry Me a Little" and co-produced shows together, and did other shows over the years in larger casts ("Epic Proportions," "And a Nightingale Sang 'Hamlet!' the Musical," "How to Succeed In Business Without Really Trying.")"
How has your shared passion for acting played into your relationship?
MEGAN – "Well, it's the main reason for us meeting and getting together at all – it's a long, lucky story – so I feel fortunate that we both fell into this field. It's wonderful to watch your partner excel at what they love, and it's wonderful to have a shared language. I believe we'd connect no matter what, but when we're talking, there's something pretty great about always being able to skip the explanations with each other and get right down to the juicy stuff."
JACK – "It's the source of how we got together. I saw her in a production where she was my favorite part and introduced myself. She forgot that and saw me in rehearsals a couple years later at the urging of a friend, and basically fell for me when she saw me playing with a friend's dog. But seriously, the love of the craft and the literature is a big part of our relationship —reading in general is a huge thing."
Do you ever bring characteristics from your own marriage on stage, or do you have to leave that behind when you get into character?
MEGAN – "For me, aside from starting at a place of real comfort and trust with Jack, our marriage doesn't factor into how I approach a character. Once we're working, we're colleagues rather than spouses. Just colleagues who like each other a whole whole lot."
JACK – "It depends on the show. The biggest thing is having total trust in each other, whether it's physical comedy like in "A Christmas Story" or end-times tragedy like in "Blackbird." There's certainly a crusty-yet-twinkly connection between The Old Man and Mother that Rene' [Nashville Rep Artistic Director Rene' Copeland] was looking for and encouraged in this process."
Do you ever find yourself quoting the show or getting into character at home?
MEGAN – "There's one line in the show that we both quote ALL THE TIME, but it's a [character] Flick line, not one of ours. We do occasionally pull out an Old Man swear a la 'Dogblammit,' but usually we just stick with our full-blown foul mouths and say the real thing."
JACK – "There are bits that we each have from our parts in the show that we hold on to. But I think the biggest takeaway for us has been a line of Flick's that we've appropriated for all sorts of situations: "That's dumb. Wouldn't. Happen."
What is your favorite thing about being in a show together?
MEGAN – "Actually getting to spend time with him. When we're working on separate projects, squeezing in time to hang out is challenging. I also love watching audiences eat him up – I feel really proud."
JACK – "In the most basic sense, it's the fact that we wouldn't be able to spend much time together at all in December if we weren't doing the show together. Between our work and show schedules, there's only a few extra hours in the day. But even better, it means getting to see her work every night. She's the best actress in town, as far as I'm concerned. And I'm a fan, so being in a show with her means getting to watch her work."
What is the greatest challenge you face when playing your character?
MEGAN – "Now that I'm three years in, Mother feels like my most comfortable pair of jeans. I love her, and she and I have a lot in common, mainly that we both like making people feel comfortable and happy. So maybe the most challenging part is not laughing on stage when I'm not supposed to – it's a good problem to have."
JACK – "For me, it was mostly a challenge just finding his voice and getting him started. I knew the Darren McGavin version so well after all these years, and with the crazy-abbreviated rehearsal schedule last year I was completely at sea trying to find my own take. Rene' and I worked through it, and now The Old Man feels like part of me. The physical aspect is tougher for sure, though."
What is your favorite scene in A Christmas Story?
MEGAN – "I love the whole tire-changing leading into soap-poisoning section, and I also love the final tableau. It's so genuinely sweet, and we all get to connect as ourselves rather than our characters at the very end. It's a wonderful, quiet way to wrap up a breakneck and hilarious performance."
JACK – "As far as my involvement, it's not even really a single scene, but in the first morning of the story, I get to perform the actual Old Man, Red Ryder and a Gabby Hayes-type old coot in a fantasy sequence, and Mrs. Shields — all within just a few pages. In the show in general, it's Ralph's beautiful narrations: Jean Shepherd's words with Derek Whittaker's lovely voice."
I know this is Megan's third year and Jack's second year performing in "A Christmas Story." How is this year different from previous years?
MEGAN – "We all feel super secure and confident this year, which has given us the time and brain space to polish things up and focus on some details. For me, that's the fun stuff, so I've loved dedicating some energy to sprucing up my portrayal of Mother."
JACK – "It's more comfortable for me, certainly — last year was a real diving-into-the-deep-end kind of experience for me, and this year things feel much looser."
Nashville Repertory Theatre's production of "A Christmas Story" is unique in that adult actors play children. How do you think that affects the dynamic of the show?
MEGAN – "I think it deepens the feelings of nostalgia that we all love to indulge in this time of year. And don't we all wish we could articulate our favorite memories as beautifully as Jean Shepherd (and Derek Whitaker!) does? There's something so poignant about watching a grownup let themselves be a kid again."
JACK – "I love it. I wouldn't do the show otherwise. For me, the original book and the story are very much a nostalgia experience — the middle-aged Ralph/Jean Shepherd looking back on his childhood. The movie was even very gauzy and grainy to make it more of a memory story. I love the adults-as-children dynamic to help recreate that, but also to allow a smaller, tighter ensemble feel. Plus, I'd just rather hang out with adults every night doing this show."
Nashville Repertory Theatre's 'A Christmas Story" has become Nashville tradition, with many people attending year after year. Do you notice a difference in the audience for this show compared to other shows you have performed in?
MEGAN – Sure. There's absolutely nothing we have to convince them of – these people come ready to love the show and the experience, and to get ushered into the holiday season in a really special way. It's lovely to go onstage every night knowing that everyone there has already bought in and can't wait to have a good time."
JACK – "There are some super-fans out there, which is kind of amazing. Not in the "I love a particular show and am happy that someone's producing it" way, but in the "We go to this company's production as a family event every year and know every line of the movie by heart" way. One such family was there this past weekend, and it's almost like having regulars at a bar — familiar faces, and picking up conversations, and getting to share in something really meaningful in their holiday."
Don't miss the chance to see Megan, Jack and the rest of the talented cast in "A Christmas Story". The show runs Wednesday-Sunday through December 22 at TPAC's Andrew Johnson Theatre.
Tags: A Christmas Story, jack chambers, megan murphy chambers, Nashville Rep, Nashville Repertory Theatre
MUSIC CITY SKINNY | JANUARY 27, 2023
By Tina Randolph
MUSIC CITY SKINNY | JANUARY 6, 2023
Les Misérables returns to TPAC in January
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You can turn any day into a special occasion with Capital Grille's Flourless Chocolate Espresso Cake.
Bob and I came across this chocolate-lover's dream when ringing in my 55th birthday at Capital Grille, Dallas (beside the Crescent Hotel). What an evening!
The wine (a nice Cabernet Sauvignon, of course), steak and seafood were superb. But the out-of-this-world-wonderful desserts really made the celebration. We're talking the best cheesecake, coconut cream pie and flourless chocolate cake, EVER.
Since chocolate is king in our house, we had to have the Flourless Chocolate Espresso Cake recipe. What's the secret to making this to-die-for, smooth chocolate creation with the rich, moist center? It involves premium chocolate (Guittard, the all-natural brand preferred by pastry chefs), fresh espresso, and loads of butter and eggs.
Whip up this gluten-free delight whenever you're craving a dark chocolate taste that literally melts in your mouth. Topped with tangy, raspberry sauce, caramel ice cream or both, this little masterpiece sings "today's special."
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line bottom of a 9-inch diameter cake pan with 2-inch high sides with parchment. Place all chocolate in large bowl.
Bring butter, espresso and sugar to boil in medium saucepan, stirring to dissolve sugar.
Add chocolate; whisk until smooth and cool slightly.
Whip eggs till blended. Stir eggs into chocolate mixture until blended. (Do not whip).
Pour batter into prepared pan. Place cake pan in roasting pan. Pour enough hot water into roasting pan to come halfway up sides of cake pan.
Bake until center of cake is set and tester inserted into center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, about 45 minutes.
Remove pan from water and chill cake overnight.
Cut around pan sides to loosen cake. Using oven mitts, hold pan bottom over low heat for 15 seconds, warming slightly to release cake. Place platter over pan. Hold pan and platter together tightly and invert. Lift off cake pan, peel off parchment and dust top of cake with cocoa powder.
Cut cake into 10 slices and garnish with fresh raspberries, raspberry sauce and a scoop of caramel ice cream (if desired).
In a medium mixing bowl, combine the raspberries, sugar and salt.
Cover and refrigerate overnight. Combine all ingredients in a blender, puree and pour through a strainer.


text:
Ping Bell
Half Mag / Half Zine
DJI is making a cinema camera with a built-in gimbal and LIDAR focusing
November 6, 2021 November 4, 2021 denbuzzecom
Drone-maker DJI has announced a cinema camera that comes with a built-in gimbal, can shoot at up to 8K resolution, and uses a LIDAR rangefinder that promises a "sharper, faster, and more reliable focusing experience," even in low light. It's called the Ronin 4D, and while it's aimed squarely at professionals, it's loaded with interesting features and shows that DJI is continuing to develop its camera tech outside of drones.
The Ronin 4D's camera is called the Zenmuse X9, and it's full-frame, has interchangeable lens mounts for DJI's DL and Leica's M systems, and includes nine (nine!) built-in ND filters for controlling your exposure in the sun. The 6K model can do 6K at 60fps and 4K120, and the 8K model can do 75fps at its max resolution. The X9 can shoot in RAW or 422HQ flavors of ProRes, or H.264 if you're trying to keep file sizes in check, or need a fast turnaround for your footage. Until this point, DJI's Zenmuse cameras have mostly been designed to fly on its drones, but (unfortunately for drone enthusiasts) the company tells me that the X9 is meant specifically for the Ronin 4D.
DJI says that the 6K version of the Ronin 4D will be available in December and that the 8K version will be available "at a later date." There's also a ton of accessories coming for it, including a wireless monitoring system (which will also allow for remote control of the camera's settings and gimbal movements, making the camera operator's job easier) and a focus motor that will even let you adapt manual-focus lenses to use the LIDAR system.
As for the built-in gimbal, DJI says it'll be able to stabilize along four axes (hence the 4D in the name), including up and down. According to the company, this should help further reduce bumps or camera shake from an operator walking or running, which would be impressive — you can get that done with other stabilization tech, but it requires a good deal of skill, as basically any of my Steadicam footage will attest to. DJI says the Ronin 4D is "lighter and smaller than most cinema cameras mounted on a professional three-axis stabilizer."
Unlike DJI's Osmo camera / gimbal systems, or even some of its lower-end Ronin gimbals, the Ronin 4D isn't aimed at consumers or prosumers. The 6K version costs $7,199, the 8K version is $11,499, and both come with a decent kit: the gimbal, camera, LIDAR range finder, a monitor and hand grips / top handle, a carrying case, and a battery (the 8K camera also comes with a 1TB SSD). In the realm of production cameras and stabilization systems, that's actually on the lower end (DJI's cinema-focused Ronin 2 stabilizer costs over $8,000 without any camera attached, and Sony's FX9 6K camera costs $11,000 for just the body), but if you were hoping to use the LIDAR focus system to absolutely nail focus in your vlogs, you may want to rethink that.
Despite the professional focus, the Ronin 4D still looks like a really desirable piece of tech. It also makes sense coming from DJI — the company has obviously been putting a lot of work into its drone cameras and gimbal systems, so it was only a matter of time before it put them together. Plus, it's always possible that a version of the LIDAR system will make its way to DJI's handheld Osmo cameras, which could make for a very interesting vlogging setup.
As for DJI's hopes of the Ronin 4D being a cinema camera, it'll be interesting to see what kind of productions pick it up. It definitely seems like it'll be worth considering for anyone shooting fast-paced footage, like documentary or commercial filmmakers. Whether Hollywood is looking for an all-in-one camera and gimbal versus a piecemeal system that gets you more control is hard to say — though DJI is working on getting Netflix classification, so the Ronin 4D should be an option for anyone looking to shoot an original for the streaming service.
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


James and Sarah Foreman married in 1891 and settled in Tinui. Their eldest child, Eric Lester (known as Lester) was born in 1891, with George born in 1893. Here were four other children, all attending Tinui School.
By 1914 Lester was a fencer and George a farmer. The brothers enlisted in April 1916, with consecutive service numbers (Lester 20320 and George 20321). They did not go to the same unit – Lester was in the N.Z. Rifle Brigade and George to the Auckland Infantry Regiment reinforcement.
They sailed from New Zealand in August 1916, for further training in England. Lester spent some time at the machine gun school at Grantham. It was September 1917 before he arrived in France. During the winter of 1917/1918 the New Zealand Division was allocated the Polygon Wood area near Ypres. Here, Lester was killed on 6 January 1918, probably by artillery fire.
George went to France in February 1917,part of the 2nd Auckland Battalion. He spent six months with the British Army Purchasing Board. George had several bouts of sickness but survived the war and returned to New Zealand in April 1919.
George resumed farming north of Tinui. He died in 1973.


Anderson County Senior Center will hold a Valentine's Day lunch and party beginning at 1 p.m. Feb. 14.
There will be prizes, games, singing and great fellowship.
Lunch for the day will be spaghetti, salad, rolls, desert, tea, coffee, and punch. Wear your favorite reds.
The Anderson County Library Board will meet on Thursday, February 21, 2019, at 4:00 p.m., at the Betty Anne Jolly Norris Community Library, 1 Library Square. All library board meetings are open to the public.


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Illinois Governor Ignores Rx Warnings
By Steve Stanek
Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich (D), with support from former Clinton administration political strategist and freshman U.S. Representative Rahm Emanuel (D-Illinois), hopes to make the Prairie State the first to receive permission to import drugs from Canada for use by state employees, their dependents, and retirees.
Over a span of barely three weeks in September, Blagojevich:
gave the Illinois Office of Special Advocate 90 days to prepare a report on drug importation from Canada for persons covered under state health insurance plans;
petitioned the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to waive rules barring drug importation;
sent letters to governors across the country encouraging them to lobby the federal government to allow states to pursue drug importation; and
flew to Washington, DC to press his case personally; and
sent a delegation to Canada to explore contract opportunities.
"If the federal government is not able to correct serious drug price disparities between the U.S. and the rest of the world, then it should give states the flexibility to pursue better prices on their own," Blagojevich said at a September news conference in Chicago.
Mixed Response
The response to the Blagojevich proposal has been mixed, with support and opposition coming from some unexpected quarters. Illinois State Senator Chris Lauzen, a Republican known for his conservative viewpoints, has come out in support of Blagojevich, a liberal Democrat. Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, a powerful Democrat known for his liberal politics, has come out against drug importation.
Blagojevich also has encountered opposition from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Illinois), whose congressional district includes a portion of suburban Chicago. Pharmaceutical companies, Illinois retail association members, and drugstore operators also oppose the move.
Blagojevich says he wants the state to be allowed to import drugs from Canada, where the government controls drug prices, as a way to save money. Illinois last year spent about $340 million on prescription drugs for its 230,000 state employees and retirees and $1.8 billion on prescription drugs for all the state's health programs combined, according to the governor's office. Blagojevich's staff estimates the state could cut those costs 30 to 50 percent by importing drugs from Canada.
The governor's office projects a budget deficit of $1.5 to $2 billion through the middle of 2005. Illinois' annual state budget has climbed from $35.8 billion in 1998 to almost $53 billion this year.
While the state Office of Management and Budget (OMB) blames "wasteful and unchecked spending" for much of Illinois' budget problem, it also cites a 41 percent increase in Medicaid payments for prescription drugs since fiscal year 1999. "These increases are attributable to expanding enrollments, skyrocketing drug costs, and natural increases in health care costs," according to the state OMB report.
Safety at Issue
For more than a decade, the directors of the federal Department of Health and Human Services–Donna Shalala during the Clinton administration, and Tommy Thompson under the current Bush administration–have repeatedly stated they cannot guarantee the safety or quality of imported drugs.
The FDA opposes drug importation, arguing there is no way to guarantee the quality or safety of imported drugs from across borders. "There are a lot of bad drugs out there," FDA Senior Associate Commissioner William Hubbard told the Washington Post in response to Blagojevich. "We fear a program like (Illinois') would put people at risk."
Merrill Matthews, Ph.D., director of the Council for Affordable Health Insurance and visiting scholar with the Institute of Policy Innovation, agrees drug importation is a risky scheme. Matthews told Health Care News, "The governor of Illinois apparently wants to flaunt U.S. law and the safety concerns of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in order to get access to cheaper drugs. If elected officials, sworn to uphold the law, not break it, spent as much time educating their constituents about the price variations among different local pharmacies and the availability of numerous programs for low-income households, they could help their constituents rather than putting their lives at risk."
There have been many, mostly under-reported, instances of tampering with prescription drugs. (See "Drug Importation Roulette.")
Earlier this year, for example, a counterfeit version of Pfizer's Lipitor, the world's top-selling cholesterol-lowering drug, was discovered in Nebraska after pharmacists and patients complained the medicine tasted unusually bitter and dissolved too quickly.
In Florida, prosecutors recently announced a grand jury had indicted 19 people on charges of watering down or selling fake drugs to storefront and Internet businesses fulfilling prescriptions for consumers.
Interpol, the international police agency, said it had identified a large factory in the Bekaa Valley of Lebanon that may be the world's largest producer of counterfeit medications being sold worldwide to wholesalers and distributors.
The FDA cites incidents such as these to bolster its position that imported drugs, even from neighboring Canada, could pose an unacceptable health risk to American consumers.
Risk Aside
Prescription drugs have been a major issue for Blagojevich and Emanuel, who succeeded Blagojevich in Congress after Blagojevich ran for Illinois governor in 2002. Emanuel made health care a central issue in his campaign for Congress, and he is one of the leading proponents of a bill allowing pharmacies and drug wholesalers to import drugs from Canada without FDA approval. The measure, which passed by a single vote in the U.S. House of Representatives, is being held up in a conference committee.
The states of Maine and Vermont and the city of Springfield, Massachusetts, are also considering ways to import drugs from Canada.
Steve Stanek is an Illinois-based freelance writer. His email address is [email protected].
Steve Stanek
Steve Stanek ([email protected]) is a research fellow at The Heartland Institute.
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Stress is a trigger for many conditions and fibromyalgia is one of them. Stress is a common trigger of flare ups, and driving is a stressor that can bring about fibromyalgia symptoms, especially if you get stuck in traffic that makes it difficult to get home or get to work on time. As well as being stressful, driving requires you to sit in a position and move in ways that may worsen your pain.
Trains, buses and taxis are options in many towns, but public transportation comes with its own stresses and is not available everywhere. Many people with fibromyalgia cannot walk or bike very far without pain and getting a ride is not always an easy task.
As a result of all this, you may not able to avoid driving, especially if you work. Fortunately there a few things you can do to better cope with stressful driving situations.
One of the biggest causes of driving concerns is cognitive dysfunction, aka brain fog or fibro fog. In addition, some people worry about panic attacks while some have problems with balance and dizziness.
Its fairly common to hear someone with these illnesses talking about somewhere they have been a hundred times, only to suddenly forget where they are, where they are going and why. Or, at times, we may forget a familiar route, get lost, and have no ability to orient ourselves.
It's also common to hear about suddenly blanking on smaller things as well, such as how to properly change lanes, how to navigate a difficult area, or even how to run on the windshield wipers.
These events may be common if you are distracted, thanks to the problems we can have multitasking. Passengers, the phone, or a favorite song on the radio may pull your focus away from driving, and leave you struggling to get your bearings.
Increased pain– sitting in the same position for prolonged periods of time can cause pain and discomfort. It doesn't allow for proper blood circulation, and sitting in one spot can pinch off nerves in the legs, causing more pain.
Overstimulation- Any type of overstimulation that comes about from speeding cars, the noise, heavy traffic, and other visual, and auditory sensory input can be added stress for the fibromyalgia patient.
Fibro fog– Fibro fog, or cognitive troubles associated with fibromyalgia, can make it difficult for you to pay attention to the road. This can make being behind the wheel dangerous not only for you, but other drivers.
Fibromyalgia patients are sensitive to noise and has a big impact on lot of patients. We experience high sensitivity to noise, light, touch, smell and temperature. All these factors play role in increasing our pain, nausea, dizziness, trembling, looming panic attack and cause headaches and make us feel exhausted.
In driving Distraction is a lethal weapon that can take your life and result in serious type of accident. Being Fibromyalgia patient I am not good at focusing, so smallest noise will divert my attentions and I lose my focus, that's may be because I am also suffering from anxiety and sudden noise like horns make me flinch. It became really frustrating in driving as you're trying to take control of your condition instead of focusing on road.
Brain fog, or cognitive troubles linked with fibromyalgia, can make it difficult for Fibro effected driver to pay attention to the road. Person goes into some abstract state. They lost their focus and goes into some other world. This can make situation worst and dangerous not only for yourself, but other drivers also.
Fibromyalgia affects the human nervous system and NS can affect one's vision too. In other words Eyes problem with fibro patients are linked to the nervous system. Person eyes may get blurred or experienced impaired vision. Mostly these problems triggers in night while driving in dark. Effected Person feel their eyes paining to see road signs,board or Cat-ions.
Sitting for extended periods in driving, travelling or like in cleaning activities can exacerbate and trigger Fibromyalgia Leg Pain. The interesting fact about fibro leg pain is that it doesn't matter that you sitting, lying down or standing at somewhere its still hurts your leg badly. So in driving or travelling leg pain are often reported by patient. Many time Pain is so swear that you can't move the leg. In Driving if you were not able to move your legs around the accelerator or gear or brakes, then you better knows what will be the consequences.
Dizziness and loss of balance are common problems in us, especially those who have chronic fatigue syndrome. Often, it tied to changing positions- such as from sitting or lying down to standing, that's a seldom problem while driving. Other people, though, have more regular dizzy spells.
As with cognitive dysfunction and panic attacks, a dizzy spell while driving can be scary and hamper your abilities. If you have a tendency to faint, it becomes more important to consider whether driving is a good idea for you.
It is imperative to sleep well the night before you are driving so you are not exhausted the next day. This will help prevent grogginess, which can cause a safety issue for you and others on the road.
If you find that you are extremely fatigued, see if you can get another person drive for you. Check with your doctor about getting medication to help you sleep or try the supplement melatonin for a better night's rest.
For those who are prone to panic attacks, a bad brain-fog episode while driving can certainly be enough to trigger one. However other factors can lead to anxiety as well, including running late, hitting heavy traffic, or the baby crying in the backseat.
When you are shaking, dizzy, feel out of control, and can catch your breath, you are hardly in a state to drive safely. People who have had panic attacks while driving can become afraid that it will happen again, leading to a fear response that makes the situation more likely.
If you are driving for an extended period of time, take regular breaks to get out and stretch and to rest your eyes and brain for a little while.
If you are finding that driving causes you too much pain, or you become too disoriented while behind the wheel, look for alternative transport options. You may want to organize the carpool to work, work out how often you can afford to taxi, or, if you don't have too far to go, consider a mobility scooter.
If you are not feeling up to driving, don't .your safety and that of everyone else on the road, is far more important than arriving at your destination.
1. Take rest and drive in intervals. If you were on long drive, take regular breaks to get out, do stretching and relax your body, eyes and brain for a while.
2. Before Drive, make Sure You're Comfortable with your seat.
3. Adjust your sitting posture correct (sit straight as you sit in front of desk).
4. Get some cushions or back support for adjustment.
5. I found meditation to be its solution as we learned to keep focus and block out the external noises.
6. Wear sunglasses while driving.
7. Ear plugs and listening music while driving helps in fights with noise.
8. Consistent Deep breathing during driving helps you to get through sensory overload caused by light and noise.
9. While straightening the leg, Pull your foots up toward your chest.
10. Walk on your heels until the cramp eases off.
11. Keep your eyes clean with water,don't let them dry.
12. Use drops for dry eyes.
Biking is one the many low-impact exercises that are better for those of us with fibromyalgia. It is something that I've enjoyed throughout my life, but has also become my main form of exercise, as an adult living with fibromyalgia. Of course, I have added many more aids to make biking more comfortable then when I was a kid.
One of the first changes I made was switching to Ergon GC2 Bike Grips. These are much more comfortable for my wrists because of the way the grips distribute pressure. The bar ends on the grips allow me to change my hand positions up while riding, which is also nice. I also always use gloves to ride, even on hot days. The ones I found to provide the most comfort for me are Women's BG Gel long Finger Gloves by Specialized. They fit well and have lots of gel foam padding that relieves pressure on the palm and ulnar nerve. In the few years since I've bought them, I haven't seen a women's biking glove that I'd rather have.
When I'm biking, I am sure to bring plenty of water, a snack, medicine, eye drops, sunglasses, sunscreen, Kleenex, my phone, some money, my OD and my health insurance card. These are the basic items I need to feel good during the ride and in the case that something should happen to me. It is quite a lot to carry through and that is where my Camelbak Women's L.U.X.E. Hydration Pack comes in. It can hold all that and much more and holds enough water I can be sure I won't run out. Other tools that make it easier, that I've mentioned before, are my Canari padded biking shorts and my Incredibell Jellibell.
Another thing to check is that you have your bike fitted properly to your body dimensions. Using a fit calculator assures that and many bike stores will check your measurements for you. What I thought was the right setup for me was nowhere close to what it actually was. The Arthritis website has an article about bike saddles that offers great suggestions of specific things to adjust if a certain body parts hurt while you ride. The tips are for more than just the saddle.
At my age I know I should be in a lot better shape than I am, and I've tried very hard to get in better shape. Over time, though from when I was 12 years old up, until now I've noticed an increase in the amount of pain I feel when exercising and even during daily life in general. Fibromyalgia is an excruciating painful condition, you need to sleep enough and keep yourself off stress completely, along with your medication.
Cycling could be daunting. You may walk slowly, stretch or do water aerobics. These are safe exercises. If you are too fond of cycling, you may consult your doctor once before taking to the sport. Exercise is important though for your condition and provides good relief. Keep off tomatoes, Aspartame, Monosodium Glutamate (MSG), and caffeine.
Begin by biking a short distance, remember the length is not important here, peace and enjoyment come first. Go to the end of your road for a few days and bike right back. When you feel light-hearted and energized after several spins, take a right and go just a few streets down and turn back. Keep doing this, adding to your route, as you feel stronger and more able. Don't forget a basket as you begin long travel for water and a snack. You'll want to stop off and enjoy a treat when viewing those beautiful scenes of nature.
Most readers balk biking saying it takes too much energy. I retort asking what types of bike they have and how long do they ride?? The idea is not to get on and pound those pedals to lose unwanted pounds that are piling up due to inactivity. The idea is to get on and enjoy the ride; the rest will fall into place. Some mentioned disdain of their single speed cruisers saying it becomes too difficult maneuvering uphill or unleveled roads. My reply is to sell your original and put the money towards a 3-speed cruiser instead. There is remarkable improvement in overall satisfaction if you can switch gears.
Biking offers a stable seat, and with a few quick spins of your legs can be home in no time. Most importantly if you purchase a cruiser with gears, you can adjust those gears, depending on the terrain, so that your inner core muscles won't become too taxed during your ride. Nothing breeds failure more than having to exert your body too much on a ride that I supposed to promote peace.


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Zoe Hart
'Hart of Dixie' season 2: Check out new promotional poster!
Hart of Dixie, The CW, Zoe Hart	 June 19, 2012
It's sad to think about, but we are still almost four months away from the return of "Hart of Dixie" to television. While we don't know whether or not Zoe chooses to be with George or Wade, we do have a new promotional image to share that was just uploaded to the internet via the […]
'Hart of Dixie' finale review: Zoe faces double trouble
George Tucker, Hart of Dixie, Wade, Wedding, Zoe Hart	 May 14, 2012
After nearly taking off and leaving Alabama for good, Zoe made the decision to stay on last week's episode of "Hart of Dixie" — and it ended up playing directly into what we saw on the show this time around. Let's just say that Rachel Bilson's doctor Zoe Hart was the center of attention for […]
'Hart of Dixie' recap: Scotty McCreery brings romance for Zoe and George
George Tucker, Hart of Dixie, Scotty McCreery, The Trouble With Girls, Zoe Hart	 April 23, 2012
On the last episode of 'Hart of Dixie' Lemon reveals to George that she and Lavon had an affair while he was in New York and although she is truly apologetic and assures George that it will never happen again, he calls off the wedding and breaks off their relationship. George is also upset that […]
'Hart of Dixie' preview: George focuses on himself – and Zoe
CW, George Tucker, Hart of Dixie, Zoe Hart	 April 23, 2012
When we last saw George on 'Hart of Dixie' he had learned that everyone he trusted had betrayed him. Lemon confessed to having an affair with Levon, and he found out that Zoe knew about the indiscretion and didn't tell him causing him to turn his back on everyone. Fans can't wait to find out […]
'Hart of Dixie' review: Lemon tells George about the affair with Lavon
George Tucker, Hart of Dixie, Lemon, Zoe Hart	 April 17, 2012
On the last episode of 'Hart of Dixie' Zoe calls her father, Ethan,to perform heart surgery on George's father, and after the successful surgery Ethan suggests that they forge a friendship, something that Zoe isn't happy with since she still wants a father. Lemon decides to become best friends with Zoe to keep an eye […]


This minor provides students the opportunity to supplement their major field of study with an exploration of the media, techniques, and concerns of contemporary painting and drawing. The wide array of courses allows students to follow individualized paths through the curriculum, whether their interests lay in working from live models, in the landscape, with non-objective imagery, or either alternative or traditional media in both painting and drawing. The breadth of the Painting and Drawing program comprises a rich and stimulating environment through which students are invited to express their ideas and stretch their creativity.
The Minor in Painting and Drawing requires 21 credits.


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Revealing Histories: North Staffordshire
Greatbear are delighted to be working with the Potteries Heritage Society to digitise a unique collection of tape recordings made in the 1970s and 80s by radio producer, jazz musician and canals enthusiast Arthur Wood, who died in 2005.
The project, funded by a £51,300 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), will digitise and make available hundreds of archive recordings that tell the people's history of the North Staffordshire area. There will be a series of events based on the recordings, culminating in an exhibition in 2018.
The recordings were originally made for broadcast on BBC Radio Stoke, where Arthur Wood was education producer in the 1970s and 80s. They feature local history, oral history, schools broadcasts, programmes on industrial heritage, canals, railways, dialect, and many other topics of local interest.
There are spontaneous memoirs and voxpop interviews as well as full-blown scripted programmes such as the 'Ranter Preachers of Biddulph Moor' and 'The "D"-Day of 3 Men of the Potteries' and 'Millicent: Lady of Compassion', a programme about 19th century social reformer Millicent, Duchess of Sutherland.
Arthur Wood: Educational Visionary
In an obituary published in The Guardian, David Harding described Wood as 'a visionary. He believed radio belonged to the audience, and that people could use it to find their own voice and record their history. He taught recording and editing to many of his contributors – miners, canal, steel and rail workers, potters, children, artists, historians and storytellers alike.'
The tapes Greatbear will be digitising reflect what Wood managed to retain from his career at the BBC.
Before BBC Radio Stoke moved premises in 2002, Wood picked up as many tapes as he could and stored them away. His plan was to transfer them to a more future proof format (which at the time was mini disc!) but was sadly unable to do this before he passed away.
'About 2 years ago' Arthur's daughter Jane explains, 'I thought I'd go and have a look at what we actually had. I was surprised there were quite so many tapes (about 700 in all), and that they weren't mainly schools programmes, as I had expected.
I listened to a few of them on our old Revox open reel tape machine, and soon realised that a lot of the material should be in the city (and possibly national) archives, where people could hear it, not in a private loft. The rest of the family agreed, so I set about researching how to find funding for it.'
50th anniversary of BBC Local Radio
The Revealing Voices project coincides with an important cultural milestone: the 50th anniversary of BBC local radio. Between 1967 and 1968 the BBC was granted license to set up a number of local radio stations in Durham, Sheffield, Brighton, Leicester, Merseyside, Nottingham, Leeds and Stoke-on-Trent.
Education was central to how the social role of local radio was imagined at the time:
'Education has been a major preoccupation of BBC Local Radio from the outset. Indeed, in one sense, the entire social purpose of local radio, as conceived by the BBC, may be described as educational. As it is a central concern of every civilised community, so too must any agency serving the aims of such a community treat it as an area of human activity demanding special regard and support. It has been so with us. Every one of our stations has an educationist on its production staff and allocates air-time for local educational purposes' (Education and BBC Local Radio: A Combined Operation by Hal Bethell, 1972, 3).
Within his role as education producer Wood had a remit to produce education programmes in the broadest sense – for local schools, and also for the general local audience. Arthur 'was essentially a teacher and an enthusiast, and he sought to share local knowledge and stimulate reflective interest in the local culture mainly by creating engaging programmes with carefully chosen contributors,' Jane reflected.
Revealing Voices and Connecting Histories
Listening to old recordings of speech, like gazing at old photograph, can be very arresting. Sound recordings often contain an 'element which rises from the scene, shoots out of it like an arrow, and pierces me', akin to Roland Barthes might have called a sonic punctum.
The potency of recorded speech, especially in analogue form, arises from its indexicality—or what we might call 'presence'. This 'presence' is accentuated by sound's relational qualities, the fact that the person speaking was undeniably there in time, but when played back is heard but also felt here.
When Jane dropped off the tapes in the Greatbear studio she talked of the immediate impact of listening again to her father's tape collection. The first tape she played back was a recording of a woman born in 1879, recalling, among other things, attending a bonfire to celebrate Queen Victoria's jubilee.
Hearing the voice gave her a distinct sense of being connected to a woman's life across three different centuries. This profound and unique experience was made possible by the recordings her father captured in the 1970s, unwinding slowly on magnetic tape.
The Revealing Voices project hope that other people, across north Staffordshire and beyond, will have a similar experiences of recognition and connection when they listen to the transferred tapes. It would be a fitting tribute to Arthur Wood's life-work, who, Jane reflects, would be 'glad that a solution has been found to preserve the tapes so that future generations can enjoy them.'
If you live in the North Staffordshire area and want to volunteer on the Revealing Voices project please contact Andy Perkin, Project Officer, on andy at revealing-voices dot org dot uk.
Many thanks to Jane Wood for her feedback and support during research for this article.
Posted by debra in audio / video heritage, audio tape, 1 comment
Save Our Sounds' £9.5 million boost
This article is a bit late to break this news, but it is worth highlighting again in case you missed it first time round.
In May 2015 the British Library were awarded over £9.5 million pounds by the Heritage Lottery Fund to help them deliver their hugely important Save Our Sounds project.
We told you about Save Our Sounds earlier in the year.
As stated in a press release, 'the funding will enable the British Library to digitise and make available 500,000 rare, unique and at-risk sound recordings from its own archive and other key collections around the country over 5 years (2017-2022).'
Funding will also help 'develop a national preservation network via ten regional centres of archival excellence which will digitise, preserve and share the unique audio heritage found in their local area.'
Living Knowledge
Also worth a read is the recently published Living Knowledge: The British Library 2015-2023, which sets out the strategic priorities of the organisation in its 50th anniversary year.
The short text outlines 'what it means to be a national library in a digital age and what the British Library's role is as one of the UK's great public assets.'
These are set out in 'a framework of six purposes which explain, as simply and clearly as we can, the enduring ways in which the public funding we receive helps to deliver tangible public value – in custodianship, research, business, culture, learning and international partnership.'
Within the strategy digitising 'the 42 different physical formats which hold our 6.5 million audio items' is highlighted as 'the next great preservation challenge' for the British Library.
As ever, we will keep you up to date with updates from the British Library's Save Our Sounds project as it evolves.
Posted by debra in audio / video heritage, audio tape, 0 comments
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Welcome to holiday apartment "Erika"
Buchen Sie jetzt! / Book now!
No matter if you are on a business trip or holidays, with us you will always have the impression of living at a friend's house rather than being in a hotel.
Situated in a stunning location, the comfortable and stylish furnished rooms provide a marvelous view over the black forest.
Our holiday home is a non-smoking area. Pets are allowed only on request. Flat screen TVs and high speed internet access (WLAN) are standard as well as a fully equipped bathroom with showers and faucets from Hansgrohe.
During the summer you can also use our new 30m" terrace (naturally equipped with a suite, 2 loungers and a barbecue grill) as well as the associated lawn for sunbathing.
For stays on cold days in fall and winter, you will have a fireplace in our homelike parlour for cuddly evenings at your disposal. Fire wood will be available as needed.
Our holiday apartment is located in Aichhalden,Germany in the county of Rottweil, right in the middle of the famous black forest.
For business visitors we offer THE alternative accomodation to a hotel.


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Home » News » For New Year's Resolutions, Ask Positive Questions
For New Year's Resolutions, Ask Positive Questions
A simple question such as "Are you going to be cigarette-free this year?" can be a game-changing technique for people who want to influence their own or others' behavior, according to new findings based on 40 years of research.
The findings show that asking direct, positive questions to oneself or others is more likely to result in positive results than asking negative questions, such as "Are you going to keep smoking this year?" or commands such as "Stop smoking."
Researchers from the University of California, Irvine, the University at Albany, State University of New York, the University of Idaho, and Washington State University worked together to examine more than 100 studies investigating the "question-behavior effect." This effect happens when asking people about performing a certain behavior influences whether they will actually do it in the future.
The effect has been shown to last for more than six months.
Writing in the Journal of Consumer Psychology, they examined why the effect occurs. Their findings offer guidance to social marketers, policy makers, and others seeking to impact human behavior.
"If you question a person about performing a future behavior, the likelihood of that behavior happening will change," said Dave Sprott, Ph.D., a co-author and senior associate dean of the Carson College of Business, Washington State University.
For example, when people are asked "Will you recycle?" it causes a psychological response that can influence their behavior when they have an opportunity to recycle. The question reminds them that recycling is good for the environment but may also make them feel uncomfortable if they do not recycle. Therefore, they become motivated to recycle to reduce their feelings of discomfort.
The findings suggest that questioning is a relatively simple yet effective technique to produce consistent, significant changes across a wide range of behaviors. In fact, the technique can result in quite a bit of good, such as swaying students toward cheating less in college, encouraging people to exercise more, recycle, or reduce gender stereotyping.
"We found the effect is strongest when questions are used to encourage behavior with personal and socially accepted norms, such as eating healthy foods or volunteering," said Eric R. Spangenberg, Ph.D., first author and dean of the Paul Merage School of Business, University of California, Irvine.
"But it can be used effectively to even influence consumer purchases, such as a new computer."
The researchers advise caution when asking about bad habits such as skipping class or drinking alcohol. In their review, they found a study showing that people asked about vices later did them more than a control group.
The question-behavior effect was also shown to be strongest when questions were administered via a computer or paper-and-pencil survey, and when people were asked to respond with a "yes" or "no." They also found that those using the technique are better off not providing a specific time frame for the target behavior.
Finally, the key to influencing someone's behavior is to ask a question rather than make a statement. For example, parents asking their high school-age children, "Will you be sure to drive sober tonight?" should be more effective than saying, "Don't drink and drive."
For people making New Year's resolutions, a question like, "Will I exercise — yes or no?" may be more effective than declaring, "I will exercise."
Source: Washington State University
Couple talking photo by shutterstock.
Pedersen, T. (2018). For New Year's Resolutions, Ask Positive Questions. Psych Central. Retrieved on January 20, 2020, from https://psychcentral.com/news/2015/12/29/for-new-years-resolutions-ask-positive-questions/96900.html
Last updated: 8 Aug 2018 (Originally: 29 Dec 2015)
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Industry Insider: The CE Yearbook Valedictorians
Hats off to those who have created milestones and transformed experiences
By Courtney Manlove
We live in a world of satellites and cell phones, 3D and HD, Hi-Fi and Wi-Fi, BBM Me or Text Me, I'm a Mac or I'm a PC, Tweet Me or Write on My Wall. What happened to 8-tracks and VCR's, the Motorola clamshell?
There is no question that the CE industry has introduced remarkable technologies, overcome difficult economic times and produced innovative retail formats.It's interesting to reflect on why things have changed and whether or not we could have done anything to adjust the outcomes.
While it's difficult to predict trends and consumer desires, it is easy to examine social media streams to understand why society tends to shift in the direction it does.One way to do that is to follow the progress of innovative retailers and manufacturers. Retailers, of course, hold an interesting position in our industry.They have a direct line of communication with customers who buy the latest products and technology.And there are a handful of manufacturer's who actively listen to consumers and tap into their imaginations to make the dreams of future technology possible. The smart manufacturers also work closely with retailers in making dreams a reality.
Courtney Manlove Author's page


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Kobe Bryant rips AAU basketball
By Scott PhillipsJan 3, 2015, 10:00 AM EST
Much has been made over the past few years about the American model of youth basketball, and specifically, AAU. We've already heard from retired NBA players like Charles Barkley and Robert Horry on the matter, but one of the game's greatest players spoke up against it on Friday night.
After a loss to the Memphis Grizzlies, Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard Kobe Bryant opened up about his disdain for the AAU model and how basketball players are developed in the United States. Bryant has an interesting background to speak on the subject since he was raised in Italy for part of his youth and honed some of his basketball skills overseas before becoming a high school prodigy and going straight to the NBA out of Lower Merion High School.
ESPN.com's Arash Markazi had plenty of Kobe's takes on how European players and American players are trained.
"I just think European players are just way more skillful," Bryant said Friday night. "They are just taught the game the right way at an early age. … They're more skillful. It's something we really have to fix. We really have to address that. We have to teach our kids to play the right way."
The main culprit, Bryant believes, is AAU basketball:
"AAU basketball," Bryant said. "Horrible, terrible AAU basketball. It's stupid. It doesn't teach our kids how to play the game at all so you wind up having players that are big and they bring it up and they do all this fancy crap and they don't know how to post. They don't know the fundamentals of the game. It's stupid."
But Bryant went even further. He knows that the American youth basketball model isn't going to change overnight, so he lamented on how the players are often treated as "cash cows" and how everyone is trying to profit off of them. He has some ideas on how to change the model:
"Teach players the game at an early age and stop treating them like cash cows for everyone to profit off of," Bryant said. "That's how you do that. You have to teach them the game. Give them instruction."
"That's a deep well because then you start cutting into people's pockets," Bryant continued. "People get really upset when you start cutting into their pockets because all they do is try to profit off these poor kids. There's no quick answer."
This is one of the more fascinating bits I've seen in regards to a NBA player speaking on the youth basketball model, mostly because Kobe Bryant is indirectly criticizing one of his employers: Nike.
Instead of playing AAU, top American basketball prospects often play in shoe company leagues like the Nike EYBL, the adidas Gauntlet and the Under Armour Association. The shoe companies are the ones who gobble up all of the elite talent at the high school level and put them in leagues and camps all spring and summer to cultivate a potential future client while also honing basketball skill development.
Nike, in particular, set the agenda for how the current American youth basketball dynamic works with the creation of its Elite Youth Basketball League in 2010. Under Armour and adidas have since followed suit with leagues of their own and it's where 95 percent of the high-major talent in America plays before they move on to play college basketball.
Bryant's take on the American basketball model isn't incorrect, though. Youth basketball players in the United States spend way too many weekends playing in meaningless weekend tournaments to showcase their abilities in front of national scouts and college coaches. Wins and losses don't matter as much when there is another game to play in a few hours. If a player gets disenfranchised with a coach or a lack of playing time, they can simply hop to another team or another league with no consequences. Instead, these players could be working on skill development and trying to focus on weaknesses in individual or group workouts.
But playing in games and playing on an elite travel team has plenty of perks, as well. Besides all of the cool shoe company gear that kids get if they play for one of those shoe company teams, they're playing in organized leagues that feature the best talent in the country. All three leagues are working to integrate a shot clock, something that many states still don't have in high school basketball.
In some shoe-company games it's not out of the realm of possibility that all 10 players on the floor are high-major talents, with even more high-major talent coming off of the bench. The overall talent on these teams often far exceeds what these players see game-in and game-out during the normal high school season. And there are plenty of really good grassroots coaches as well who focus on skill development and actually making players better.
While peers like LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Steph Curry specifically work with elite high school players every summer, Kobe has been absent from this scene for many years. Bryant still holds a youth camp every summer, but it's for kids ages 8-to-18 and you have to pay (or receive a scholarship from a charitable organization) to participate. I'm not blaming Kobe Bryant for not working with the elite high school basketball players in America. He's still chasing rings and Karl Malone and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on the all-time scoring list. But he's pointing fingers at a model he could help fix with more direct involvement.
If Kobe Bryant wants to help fix American youth basketball, he'd be best served talking to Nike and figuring out the most effective way for the organization as a whole to develop the skills of American basketball players. Bryant carries an incredible amount of clout because of his legendary credentials and jaw-dropping work ethic and he's seen how things work in both Europe and the United States. It would be really interesting to hear Kobe's ideas on how to change things and how he would implement those changes.
But until then, we just have another NBA player groaning about the youth while doing little to actually help out.
Follow @phillipshoops
Tags: aau, grassroots basketball, Kobe Bryant, Nike EYBL, recruiting
A college basketball fan's guide to the current grassroots basketball scene
By Scott PhillipsApr 25, 2014, 1:30 PM EDT
In the modern 24-hour sports news cycle, nearly every aspect of the four major sports of are covered. Extensively.
Free agency is broken down like crazy and draft coverage is at an all-time high, complete with a movie starring Kevin Costner and talk of potential one-and-done players dominating college basketball until February.
But one of the great unknowns left to the casual sports fan is grassroots basketball, which is often mistakenly referred to by people as AAU.
The Amateur Athletic Union is an organization within the current structure of spring and summer high school travel basketball for American players, but is hardly the only — or preferred — way that athletes play basketball.
Most elite players opt to play in shoe company leagues and never actually play in an AAU game. The term — AAU — has just overtaken the name of the scene — grassroots basketball — like Kleenex has for tissues.
Having covered grassroots basketball for the last seven years, I get asked a lot of questions about the overall scene and what it is. College basketball fans will commonly see people tweeting at events on most spring weekends, but they don't understand some of what is actually going on.
Here's a breakdown of some of the common questions and misconceptions I hear about the grassroots basketball scene from college basketball fans.
What is grassroots basketball?
Like almost every sport in America now, basketball is a year-round endeavor complete with spring and summer travel basketball and fall leagues and camps between high school seasons.
In the spring and summer, teams of high school players form with other players in their area — or sometimes from a state or two away for bigger and more prominent programs — and travel a schedule of weekend tournaments or play in a league.
Teams are broken down into three levels for high school:
17U – Seniors to be
16U – Juniors to be
15U – Sophomores to be
Many tournaments will also devote time for 14U and younger age divisions in off-site locations as well, but we're focusing on high school for now.
Why is grassroots basketball so popular among basketball's elite prospects?
Kids want to play basketball and grassroots basketball gives them the opportunity to play with and against the best players nearly every weekend. While high school basketball can have limitations in scheduling or playing time or style of play for certain players, players can often pick-and-choose what they're looking for in a grassroots program. Want to play in a shoe company league? Want to play for a coach that will play you extended minutes? Players can find any situation ideal if they look for the right fit.
How are grassroots teams formed?
Teams are often recruited together by programs that try to maintain strong play throughout multiple age groups. Many of these programs are usually apart of the three shoe company leagues that will be on display this spring. The adidas Gauntlet, the Under Armour Association and the current standard of the leagues, the Nike EYBL. These teams offer a lot of exclusive apparel and travel to places around the country to play in league games.
For teams that don't fall under these leagues, many will play an independent schedule or opt to play in AAU events.
AAU events are held at the state level and teams that win a local qualifier will advance to nationals in July. Many teams form for the sake of playing for some kind of overall title in a league or the AAU events.
Where are grassroots events held?
Events are held locally, regionally and nationally and tend to be held in bigger cities and places with multi-court facilities.
What is the basketball actually like?
The basketball is usually very up-and-down. There's a lot of fast tempo play and with some tournaments making kids play up to three games in a few hours time, they can get exhausted quickly and play can get very sloppy.
With the changes in structure to shoe company leagues, however, less stress is being put on kids on weekends by scheduling out full league schedules with adequate time off and a cap on games per weekend. The coaching is also much, much better than people think. I've seen players like Julius Randle and Jabari Parker have to adjust to multiple zone looks and double-teams on the offensive end while more teams are running complete sets thanks to the integration of a shot clock in the EYBL.
Are grassroots basketball events fan friendly?
Yes and no. Fans can sit very close to the action at a grassroots event and see a lot of basketball during a Saturday session, but there commonly aren't programs or scorecards and names aren't listed on jerseys so it can be hard to identify players for common fans. Some camps are also exclusive to media and family and don't allow fans to attend at all. But if the coaches are out in July and you can hit a big-time grassroots game attended by a lot of coaches, it can be fun to watch. Two highly-ranked kids battling on a national stage can be a great experience as a basketball fan.
Why is grassroots basketball so influential in modern basketball?
Since the talent comes together in the form of leagues and elite teams, it is much easier for scouts and media members to see a big collection of top players in just a single weekend. When you also include games being played for multiple sessions on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and there is a lot of time to get games in.
Grassroots basketball is the major influencer of national rankings because the top players have more of a chance to matchup throughout the course of the spring and summer. Camps in June and August also allow top players to come together nationally in exclusive events that put them all together for practices and games. This makes it even easier for people to make rankings because the best are playing each other. Kids want to be ranked and travel to big events, so they continue to play with or without coaches being allowed out.
When are college coaches allowed at grassroots events?
The open period for grassroots events is only one weekend in April from the 25th through the 27th and then 15 days in July:
The limited face time for college coaches — given how much the players play — is not good in helping them identify players outside of the high school season in which they're coaching themselves.
College coaches cannot have off campus in-person contact with players or their legal guardians during the evaluation period. Coaches can still make telephone calls to players or legal guardians, and players can still make campus visits.
Is grassroots basketball a necessity to be a big-time college basketball player?
It helps, but definitely not. And plenty of players play on great local teams that play local events and continue to work and get better as basketball players. Does it do you better to sit on the bench of a high exposure team in a shoe company league or does it pay to play for the smaller local team and gain more experience? That's the question some kids have to ask themselves.
Tags: aau, college basketball recruiting, grassroots basketball, recruiting
Report: D.C. Assault AAU to become D.C. Premier following Curtis Malone's arrest on federal drug charges
By Terrence PayneSep 9, 2013, 7:05 PM EDT
One month ago, D.C. Assault AAU co-founder Curtis Malone was indicted by a federal grand jury on drug trafficking charges.
Malone faces up to 40 years in prison after being arrested on Aug. 9. Days after the arrest, D.C. Assault announced that Malone is now longer associated with the team. On Monday, it appears that events of last month have ended D.C. Assault's run as one of the premier AAU teams in the country.
Next summer, Under Armour will unveil its new Washington-based AAU program called D.C. Premier, according to Jeff Ermann of Inside MD Sports. Ermann believes that most of the staff and players from D.C. Assault with make the move under the new name
D.C. Assault has been around since the early 1990s, and produced NBA players like Michael Beasley, Jeff Green, Keith Bogans and Nolan Smith. Jeff Borzello of CBS Sports complied some of the reactions from D.C. Assault's alumni.
Follow @terrence_payne
Tags: aau, Curtis Malone, D.C. Assault
D.C. Assault co-founder Curtis Malone facing up to 40 years on drug charges
By Raphielle JohnsonAug 14, 2013, 9:06 PM EDT
Two days after a yearlong federal investigation resulted in his arrest, D.C. Assault co-founder Curtis Malone was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of drug trafficking Wednesday.
Malone pleaded not guilty to the charges, and if convicted he faces anywhere from five to forty years behind bars as well as a fine ranging from $5 million to $25 million. Malone remains behind bars at present time, and the next hearing in the trial is scheduled for August 21.
The hope of Robert Bonsib, Malone's attorney, was to get him released on bond but the judge did not grant this at the conclusion of the hearing.
"Our first interest is trying to get Mr. Malone released so he can be back with his family," Malone's attorney, Robert Bonsib, said in a telephone interview. "The test is whether if released he would represent a risk of flight or a danger of being involved in ongoing criminal activity and I think the answer to both of those is, 'No.' Obviously we could not convince the judge of that today."
On Monday the D.C. Assault program announced that Malone would no longer be connected with the organization, also pointing out that he hadn't been involved with the day-to-day operations for quite some time.
D.C. Assault has produced many players who have gone on to excel at both the collegiate and professional levels of basketball since being founded by Malone and current Oklahoma City Thunder vice president and assistant GM Troy Weaver in 1993.
According to the Washington Post, Under Armour is still gathering facts as it determines whether or not to continue its sponsorship of D.C. Assault.
Tags: aau, grassroots basketball
'At All Costs' aims to provide inside look at grassroots basketball scene (VIDEO)
By Raphielle JohnsonJul 5, 2013, 2:15 PM EDT
Much has been made about the impact that the growth of grassroots basketball has had on the sport as a whole, with there being no shortage of opinions (both in favor of and against grassroots basketball) on the topic.
The makers of the documentary "At All Costs," which will be released next spring, take a look at the grassroots scene by following some of the nation's top prospects and grassroots programs.
One player featured is 2014 point guard Parker Jackson-Cartwright, one of the best players at his position and a verbal commit to Arizona. Below is the first trailer for the film, and it should be noted that there is some profanity at around the 3:20 mark.
Raphielle can be followed on Twitter at @raphiellej.
Report: AAU to implement mandatory screening for coaches, volunteers, staff
By Daniel MartinJun 10, 2012, 1:16 PM EDT
As a way to develop accountability and protect the safety of participants, the Amateur Athletic Union is expected to announce newly crafted mandatory screening procedures for all adult coaches, volunteers, and staff, the Associated Press is reporting.
The AAU had been conducting a six-month investigation into the matter, which produced a 30-page report with proposed changes to the system of checks and balances, in reference to screening of coaches and staff.
The Associated Press reports that a press conference is to be held Tuesday to publicly reveal the findings of the report and the recommendations made within it.
"The AAU is acting decisively because its first priority is not to protect the AAU brand, but to protect the thousands of youth athletes in our events," AAU president Louis Stout is quoted as saying.
Revisions to current policy would make random screenings of personnel into mandatory reviews.
The initial investigation was launched, following decades-old allegations surfaced in December against former AAU president Bobby Dodd. The organization has severed ties with Dodd and has not faced allegations from other accusers.
With 124 years of history, the AAU is the longest-standing organization for youth athletics in the country, featuring 30 sports programs, ranging from basketball and football to bocce ball and competitive jump rope.
Over time, AAU basketball has played a more integral part in college recruiting, and, today, has arguably overtaken high school basketball as the No. 1 determinant of college exposure and evaluation.
Daniel Martin is a writer and editor at JohnnyJungle.com, covering St. John's. You can find him on Twitter:@DanielJMartin_
Tags: aau, Coaches, recruiting, screening
Kobe Bryant rips AAU basketball January 3, 2015 10:00 am A college basketball fan's guide to the current grassroots basketball scene April 25, 2014 1:30 pm Report: D.C. Assault AAU to become D.C. Premier following Curtis Malone's arrest on federal drug charges September 9, 2013 7:05 pm D.C. Assault co-founder Curtis Malone facing up to 40 years on drug charges August 14, 2013 9:06 pm 'At All Costs' aims to provide inside look at grassroots basketball scene (VIDEO) July 5, 2013 2:15 pm Report: AAU to implement mandatory screening for coaches, volunteers, staff June 10, 2012 1:16 pm


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PHOTOS: Snow disrupts transport and temperatures plunge as 'Zenobia' system grips Greece
The arrival of the 'Zenobia' weather system, which has been holding Greece firmly in its grip since the early hours of Sunday, is expected to "correct" the unseasonally low snow coverage seen prior to December 27. Snow coverage in Greece stood at just 3 pct before Zenobia's arrival, when the 15-year average for the same period is 8 pct.
This is likely to increase significantly over the next few days, according to the National Observatory of Athens (NOA) weather service meteo, as there has already been a sizeable increase of snow in the last days of December.
The descent of Zenobia from the Arctic has sent temperatures plunging to below -10C in parts of northern Greece and snow has disrupted road transport in areas of Attica and other parts of Greece, while storms and strong winds have disrupted ferry connections.
Temperatures are expected to drop further on Sunday, while areas in the east and south, especially, will see rain, sleet and snow. Bitter northerly winds reaching up to gale force will blow in the Aegean. The Sporades islands and possibly the islands of the northern Aegean may have snow at even low altitudes, while intermittent snowfall may also be seen in Halkidiki, Thrace and possibly Western Macedonia.
The weather phenomena are expected to intensify in the east and south after nightfall and spread to areas of central Greece and Thessaly.
The forecast range of temperatures for Sunday is -7C to 2C in Western Macedonia, -5C to 7C for other parts of northern Greece, -2C to 9C in Epirus, -4C to 7C in Central Greece, 2C to 10C in west and southern Greece, -2C to 8C on the rest of the mainland. Temperatures will range from 1C to 10C on the Ionian islands, 1C to 7C on the islands of the north Aegean and between 5C and 12C on other islands in the Aegean and Crete.
Attica is forecast to have cloudy weather with rain and sleet on Sunday, with some snow at higher altitudes and possibly in low-lying areas of the north and west. The weather is expected to worsen overnight, with snow affecting more areas on Monday, especially in the north and west and near mountain ranges. Temperatures will range between 5C and 7C, but up to 2-3 degrees lower in the north and west. Northerly winds up to 6 Beaufort, rising to 7 or 8 Beaufort at sea.
Cloudy weather with light snow in the mountains and eastern parts of the prefecture are forecast for Thessaloniki, with temperatures from 1C to 5C and northwesterly winds of up to 6 Beaufort.
Photos from Omalos, Palia Roumata and Lefka Ori
Photos from the Venetian Harbour of Chania, by Pavlos Bouzakis
ΑΜΝΑ
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HomeEducationWhen a school hides the identity cards of its students!
When a school hides the identity cards of its students!
November 4, 2014 Devishobha Chandramouli
Here is the story of a frog: A scientist decided to test the resilience of a frog. He placed the frog in cold water and gradually increased the temperature of the water. Surprisingly, the frog just lay there, completely oblivious to its changing surroundings—till it was boiled to death!
A spate of incidents in Bangalore schools
Bangalore witnessed a brutal rape of a two-year-old by a bus-driver a few months back. A furore arose; a few activists wrote about it and protested. And then Bangalore was once again riddled with shock in July 2014, when a 6-year-old was raped in broad daylight in a "well-endowed" school. Note the word "well-endowed"; parents were paying tens of thousands of rupees for a pre-nursery school education. The city cried hoarse and protests racked the streets. Schools were closed down and "security measures" were upped.
About 12 weeks later, there was yet another case of child sexual abuse reported from another upscale school—a 3-year-old child was raped within the school premises by an attendant. This time it was even scarier. The police investigation confirmed that the school had 80% of all recommended security measures in place. Yet, the child was raped in broad daylight within the school premises.
A few questions here:
What security measures were in place and what procedures were circumvented by the attendant?
How could stringent enforcement of such measures let this happen? Does this mean that enforcement is only on paper?
If 80% of security measures were in place, does it mean that the security measures are plain insufficient and inefficient?
How did the child happen to be alone in such a touted school? How long was she alone for?
The child parents were brave to report the incident. How many such cases go unreported?
While we search for answers, we uncover the deep filth that lays not only in providing security measures in the school, but also in providing education itself.
The school had the permissions to run classes only up to Grade 6. Amid protests and concerns from worried parents, the Education Department has agreed to let the school run till the end of this academic year.
What followed is utterly disheartening, distasteful and has the potential to give us an idea of the true extent of the rut. It also has the potential to leave us hanging by the tether.
6th graders asked to say that they belong to 5th grade
Citizen Matters reached out to the school in question to confirm the series of events with respect to the 6th grade students. The school stated that the Principal was busy at a Teachers Training at the time and would call back once she was available.
Here is an account of the events that happened in chronological order. These events are particularly true for the branch of the school in BTM Layout, which runs classes up to 6th grade.
Tuesday October 21st: The child is raped in the Jalahalli branch of the school.
Wednesday October 22nd through Sunday Oct 26th: Schools remain closed on account of Deepavali.
Wednesday October 22nd: The offender, an attendant is detained and school is pulled up for running classes without due permits.
Sunday October 26th: The school sends an email to parents of its students in other branches that all is well and they should have their wards resume school as usual on Monday.
Monday October 27th: Exam day in school (2nd language as per the original timetable).
On the same day, children witness the following:
Teachers taking the Identity cards of all 6th graders and hiding them in lockers (behind a pile of books, to be precise).
The door title reading 6th grade being replaced by a board reading '5th grade, Section B'.
All 6th graders instructed to affirm that they belong to Grade 5 in case of enquiries.
6th graders given the exam sheets of 4th graders and asked to act as if they are writing an exam.
The above set of lies was reinforced by three different teachers, including the Vice-Principal of the school, over and over again, through the day.
The school also saw the Principal for only for a week after classes resumed. After that, the lady in question seems to have disappeared.
Tuesday October 28th: To test the 'security' measures, I entered the school in the morning while many kids were being dropped off. I went in till up to the girls' restroom. Though I passed several teachers, attendants, students and office-bearers on my way inside, I was not stopped and questioned by anyone. This is really not that surprising given that their CCTV monitors were placed beneath a flight of stairs and were being monitored only by a few excited kids testing themselves on 'TV'.
Tuesday October 28th: Parents receive another email informing them that the school has a new Principal.
Should schools be made more answerable?
This brings forth some more questions:
How did the school manage to resume classes without the required permissions?
Why is it an accepted norm that schools can start, apply for permissions, run classes and eventually get those permissions in a time-span of three to four years?
Why does it take so long to get the required permissions? In this time, what exactly does the School Inspector inspect every year? What does the Block Education Officer sign off on?
Why does the State Government insist on giving licenses only for Kannada medium instruction, knowing full-well the rising demand for English-medium education, thereby providing a perfect breeding ground for corruption?
How is the parent enabled to know about the school's status of sanctions, that is, apart from hearing it from the school? Is there a reliable government portal that is kept updated on the status of school permissions?
Why are the parents kept in the dark about the qualifications, and histories of the staff the school hires? Many schools boast of a portal for parents and sophisticated software to maintain data about the children. How difficult is it to share staff profiles with parents?
The schools are allowed to partner with another school for board exams and carry their names on their certificates. Why is this so rampant, as opposed to being an exception?
In all this, one thing is clear. The purpose of education has long lost its noble cause. It has instead been replaced by double-dealings, lies and cover-ups on the part of institutions, even when children are at a very tender and impressionable age.
If you are wondering why I told you the story about the frog in the beginning, it is only to ask ourselves, "Are we the frogs in the story? How long before we are destroyed ourselves?"
The opinions and the event explained here are the author's own. Citizen Matters or Oorvani Foundation do not take ownership of the views or facts in the article.
About Devishobha Chandramouli	2 Articles
The author has not yet added any personal or biographical info to her or his author profile.
Shree D N says:
not invalid – the link given wasn't proper. Has been corrected now with proper URL.
Sachin Iyyani says:
Try this http://www.schooleducation.kar.nic.in/
Animesh Das says:
And now the link becomes invalid!
In the given link – schools like "Gopalan National school" does not even exist and schools like Oakridge International, Chrysalis is shown as Kannada medium approval but are known English medium schools with multiple outlets. In case Orchids case, the earlier BEO who moved on to a better post approved it with all know violations. Indus is an IB board and is shown on the list but where is Stonehill international. Do we find neev on this list? This entire incident of child abuse has opened up another set of can of worms and only alert parents who do checks on schools approval before admission can ensure schools also comply. http://www.schooleducation.kar.nic.in/pdffiles/USL_BloreSouth.pdf


Going back to May 1940, what was left of the British Expeditionary Force was rescued from Dunkirk. Over 330,000 men were brought back to England by the Royal Navy and a hotchpotch fleet of vessels of all sizes – the famous "Little Ships". It was on this tired and ill-equipped rump of professional Regulars that Britain built its new Army.
As invasion of Britain was fought off during the Battle of Britain in the summer of 1940, recruiting and training commenced with a new vigour. After the fall of France, Great Britain was alone in the fight against Nazi Germany. The threat of invasion was very real. Had the British Isles fallen to Hitler's forces, there would have been a European Union much sooner, but of a different sort.
"...I have, myself, full confidence that if all do their duty, if nothing is neglected, and if the best arrangements are made, as they are being made, we shall prove ourselves once again able to defend our Island home, to ride out the storm of war, and to outlive the menace of tyranny, if necessary for years, if necessary alone. At any rate, that is what we are going to try to do. That is the resolve of His Majesty's Government - every man of them. That is the will of Parliament, and the Nation. Even though large tracts of Europe and many old and famous States have fallen or may fall into the grip of the Gestapo and all the odious apparatus of Nazi rule, we shall not flag or fail.
To avoid helpful directions to an invading force, all road signs were removed across Britain. The King was advised by Parliament to escape to Canada with his young family; although he refused. Britain's gold reserves and art treasures were moved north, and secret resistance forces were established whilst the Army had a chance to recover and re-equip. After the Battle of Britain, the enemy turned to heavy bombing to subdue the civilian population and force surrender. The 'Blitz' came to the country's major cities, bringing the Home Front into the front line.
For nearly two years Britain stood alone, all the time recovering, growing and building. The civilian population joined in with their valiant contributions. In order to free men for military combat duty, women took on traditional men's roles, becoming welders and technicians in munitions factories all around the Kingdom. Land Army girls worked on farms helping to overcome shortage of agricultural workers, and the Merchant Navy ran the U-Boat gauntlet to bring vital provisions into the island fortress.
With the sudden and treacherous attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, an extended European War became a World War. Troops were sent from Britain to India to resist the Japanese advance through Malaysia and Burma. The British 14th Army fought a very distant war which, to the home population, was seemingly disconnected.
These men, fighting a different enemy, so far from the European theatre better understood, became the 'Forgotten Army' and experienced disease and unthinkable deprivation. General Wingate's 'Chindit' force was another new and innovative military idea – to develop new skills in jungle warfare in order to confront the Japanese Army on its own terms. This was a new 'Special Force' whose ideas and skills contributed to the training of Commandos in the highlands of Scotland.
The British Army's fight back in Europe came with the invasion of North Africa. Operation Torch, launched mainly from Liverpool, Glasgow & Gibraltar, the British 8th Army went up against Field Marshall Erwin Rommel's highly trained, well equipped and comitted Afrika Corps.
A number of British Commanders tried and failed until Lieutenant General Montgomery took over in August 1942. With dependence upon long range supplies, it is fair to claim that a combination of Home Front Industry, Military Intelligence, Royal Navy, Royal Air Force and Army drove the Afrika Corps out of North Africa. The Enemy's supplies of fuel and munitions had to be cut, and Intelligence played a key role in guiding Monty's tactics.
A new kind of warfare was developing. The Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) and David Stirling's Special Air Service (SAS) were innovative projects tried and tested in the desert of North Africa. Such ideas were seen by traditionalists as unorthodox, yet they took their place in contributing to the successful outcome of the campaign and were used more and more in planning for the eventual Normandy Landings.
As valuable lessons were learned, the training continued in Britain. With American troops arriving by sea into Liverpool and ports along the Clyde, the British Isles became a massive army camp as the build-up for D-Day steadily grew.
With North Africa secured, a joint invasion of Sicily was carried out in July 1943. The US Army under General George Patton landed in the West at Palermo, whilst Montgomery's 8th Army (supported by 1st Canadian Infantry Division) landed at Gela in the South. The invasion of Europe had begun. This First Front saw tough fighting as the occupying German Forces put up stiff and organised resistance. With Sicily taken, the Allies advanced across the Messina Straits. Further landings at Salerno and Anzio provided more experience of seaborne landings in force against a heavily defended coast.
Back home training continued extensively, with mock landings carried out in Scotland and the West Country. Decoy bases and depots were constructed in the South East of England to indicate preparations taking place at Dover.
Before detailed planning could begin, two main conditions needed to be met. Firstly, enough men would need to be trained and equipped for the task and sufficient shipping would need to be available to supply to Britain from where the invasion would be launched and sustained.
The success of the forthcoming invasion of Northern Europe hinged on eliminating the German U-boat threat in the North Atlantic; achieving air superiority over enemy-controlled Europe; destroying or disrupting the German economy and war industries; degrading the German military machine on other fronts; and establishing harbours and military bases in Britain.
Looking at the catastrophic low starting point of the evacuation from Dunkirk, initial planning for future invasion across the English Channel was an almost impossibly tall order, especially given the fact that the United States at that time was still a third-rate military power with a small army and obsolete equipment.
"You are to prepare for the invasion of Europe. You must devise and design the appliances, the landing craft and the technique. The whole of the South Coast of England is a bastion of defence against the invasion of Hitler; you've got to turn it into the springboard for our attack."
Aware that harbours were essential to the success of such an invasion, work began on two huge floating sectional harbours which could be towed to France and put into use on the northern coastline after the invasion had succeeded.
Intelligence gathering made it well known that Field Marshall Rommel had been appointed to take control of defences against the anticipated allied landings. To secure 'Fortress Europe', the Germans had built fortifications all along the Channel coast. Known as the "Atlantic Wall", the 'Todt' forced & slave labour organisation had built steel, concrete and wire obstacles along beaches, extending underwater. Artillery and machine gun emplacements were establish periodically all along the coastline.
To overcome some of these beach defences, Winston Churchill brought Major General Hobart back from retirement to design a new armoured division composed of 'funnies', specialist vehicles which would help attackers get ashore and overcome beach defences.
Allied Planners believed the enemy would be able to commit up to 18 Divisions within one week of the Landings; 6 of these would be armoured. The real difficulty would be to hold off armoured counter attacks whilst the beachhead was at its weakest; trying to land supplies and reinforcements ashore knowing that a single Division in the battle line needed at least 600 tons of supplies every day.
A summer time landing presented the obvious advantage of more daylight hours in order to be able to break out before Winter set in.
A new imperative was the growing fear of secret rocket weapons which were expected to be targeted on London from enemy launch bases in Northern France and the Netherlands.
During the Spring of 1944 the encampments from all over Britain were moved to the south coast. From Kent across to Cornwall, from the Thames Estuary right through to Falmouth, towns and villages were taken over by the Military and residents moved away to be billeted inland and to the North.
The Portsmouth/Southampton area particularly became a huge fenced-in military encampment. Once there, troops were kept out of all communication with home.
Looking at preparations for the D-Day landings in terms of equipment resources, this was inevitably an accumulation of many years output from factories across the United Kingdom, the USA and Canada. Shortage of landing craft had been overcome and all machinery, vehicles, tanks and heavy weapons were gathered into this small geographical area in readiness for the biggest seaborne invasion which had ever been contemplated.
Only 3 days in each lunar month offered the desired combination of moon and tide. The first of these was 5th to 7th June. The month of May had seen fine weather throughout, continuous sunshine and calm seas. The date was set and allied troops embarked on 3rd & 4th of June, before the storm demanded a 24 hour delay.


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With 600 more stores than Starbucks, Luckin becomes the largest coffee chain in China by storefronts
Written by Sun Henan Published on 25 Dec 2019
Luckin has opened 4,910 stores in China, surpassing Starbucks by more than 600 stores.
China's on-demand beverage chain Luckin Coffee has finally completed its quest to outnumber Starbucks storefronts in China, local media Jiemian reported citing research firm Thinknum Alternative Data.
Founded in 2017, the coffee startup took three years to set up 4,910 brick-and-mortar stores in China as of December 16, 2019, surpassing its US rival by more than 600 stores. In comparison, Starbucks took 20 years to reach 4,300 locations as of December. Luckin's original plan was to open 4,500 stores by the end of this year.
Data from Thinknum shows that the two massive coffee chains have tied in storefront numbers in China in early November when they both had about 4,200 locations. Since then, Luckin has opened about 700 more stores nationwide while its US archrival set up around 100.
Luckin located its latest stores in China's less developed areas where Starbucks has not expanded to. This is slightly different from the startup's early expansion strategy that focuses on larger cities in the country, Thinknum said.
More than 90% of Luckin's stores are pick-up stores according to the company's Q3 earnings result, which tends to be smaller with limited seating. The Chinese coffee startup mainly focuses on in-store pick-ups and delivery services, whereas Starbucks stores are more spacious for sit-down customers.
Even though Luckin now has outnumbered Starbucks' store tally, it commands a mere 2.1% market share as of 2018, trailing behind McDonald's 5% and Starbucks' whopping 58.6% per a Forbes report citing market consultancy Euromonitor.
Luckin reported a total net revenue of RMB 1,541.6 million (USD 215.7 million) in the third quarter of this year, up 540.2% from last year. However, the company still booked RMB 531.9 million (USD 74.4 million) in net losses, widening by 18% from RMB 484.9 million in the third quarter of 2018.


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