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Did online delivery kill the vending machine?
January 22, 2021 | Interview
By Stephenson Cherng, Jan P. Hartmann, Naoyuki Iwatani, and Jason Li
Article (5 pages)
Not in Japan, says Costin Mandrea, the head of commercial at Coca-Cola Bottlers Japan Inc., who's making its vast network of unmanned retailers smarter and more integrated into people's daily lives.
Every so often, an innovation comes along and upends our way of life, rendering a whole category of existing technology obsolete: consider what personal computers did to typewriters, CDs did to cassette tapes, and MP3s did to CDs. Other times, though, existing technology proves surprisingly resilient—the failure of TV to kill radios is, of course, the classic case in point.
Costin Mandrea, the head of commercial at Coca-Cola Bottlers Japan Inc. (CCBJI), is betting that vending machines will be another example of enduring technology in the face of disruption—in this case, online delivery. Like people everywhere else in the world, the Japanese increasingly choose to order their meals through digital channels—revenues from online food deliveries in Japan are estimated to have soared by around 23 percent, to more than $3 billion, in 2020.
Guided by the conviction that vending machines can continue to play an integral role in the Japanese way of life, Mandrea set out to revamp CCBJI's network of nearly one million vending machines in 2019. He has not only launched a customer-loyalty program but also overhauled the entire end-to-end process of getting beverages from production plants to vending machines to customers' hands. His methods include using advanced analytics to optimize routes, streamline operations, and forecast inventory needs. As a result, CCBJI, already Japan's largest bottler—and one of Coca-Cola's top-three bottlers globally by revenue—has steadily expanded its market share in the country over the past 18 months.
Instead of slowing down when COVID-19 hit, Mandrea accelerated CCBJI's digitization efforts, condensing a yearslong process into mere months. Last November, he spoke with McKinsey's Stephenson Cherng, Jan P. Hartmann, Naoyuki Iwatani, and Jason Li, sharing his insights from CCBJI's ongoing digital transformation and providing a glimpse into the future of unmanned retailing.
McKinsey: First, why was the vending machine the starting point of CCBJI's digital transformation?
Costin Mandrea: Vending machines play a very important role for our business and for our consumers in Japan. They've been at the center of daily life since they were introduced in Japan around 40 years ago. And while Coca-Cola in Japan is a balanced business with vending as one of the channels, it's the channel from which everything started. Not only are there a lot of sentimental and emotional linkages with vending machines, but the channel has also been the most profitable system for us. Vending machines have traditionally generated constant, solid performance.
This is the channel through which we reach the actual consumer of the product directly. Usually, our retail customers serve the end consumer, but in the case of vending machines, Coca-Cola is the retailer. However, in recent years, we have seen significant headwinds because of shifts in consumer behavior and the lack of innovation—the way we operate our vending machines was basically the same as it was 40 years ago. This was affecting our top line and profitability.
So last year, we decided to step up our efforts to revamp vending machines and look deeper at the entire end-to-end process to reengineer them. How can we lower operational costs and expenses and make the machines simpler and better as a retail instrument?
McKinsey: Why not innovate in channels like online delivery, which accounts for a significant portion of the shifts in consumer behavior you alluded to?
Costin Mandrea: That's a good question, and the paradox is this: everyone in the industry is aspiring to an unmanned retail model. Amazon Go, 7-Eleven, and others are trying to reduce the friction shoppers face with technology like facial recognition, cashless payments, et cetera. But we already have the perfect unmanned retail model in our vending machines. No one else has the infrastructure we do. We're operating almost one million vending machines—that's roughly one for every 150 consumers. Add to that our network of 300 warehouses and 7,000 people making deliveries on 5,000 trucks. No one else has one million convenience stores or bars or even delivery agents.
The questions have therefore become these: How can we leverage this vast network? How do we adapt vending machines and make them more attractive? Is it possible to implement elements like dynamic pricing and dynamic promotions? Can we reimagine the relationship between the consumer and the vending machine? Perhaps the role of the vending machine could change throughout the day—it could be a virtual coffee shop in the morning, where you get a Coke with your meal for lunch, and a provider of your mixer for an evening cocktail.
McKinsey: To do that, you'll need to look beyond the physical box. Can you describe the scope of the digitization efforts?
Costin Mandrea: We're reengineering the end-to-end process, from deciding what we're putting in the vending machine to the design and frequency of delivery routes to all the other back-end processes, including loading, unloading, and so on. A vending machine is a retailer with limited space, and we needed to design the assortment of products for sale in a way that effectively addresses different occasions and different segments. We use a PEAK framework—premium, essentials, attractive, and key value items—and we developed an algorithm that tells us what to sell, how to sell, and at what price. We tested it successfully last year, and it's now rolled out everywhere. Everything depends on where the vending machine is, where the nearest competitor is, and so on.
The second piece is making sense of the data generated by the vending machines. Our machines make millions of transactions every month. That's a lot of valuable information. This led us to create a proprietary loyalty program called Coke ON, which is the start of an ecosystem we're cultivating. We integrated a cashless-payment system so customers can buy directly with their phones. Users get points each time they buy something, and they can redeem a free drink if they accumulate enough points. Coke ON is also a very good communication channel because it's a mobile app, and we can send customers a promotion or incentive based on their consumption habits.
We also built a prediction model that factors in the ambient temperature, the load of each machine, the time it takes to load a truck. We optimized the delivery routes, taking into account traffic and the distance from point A to point B. We created a new role called operations controllers; they use the prediction model to help the delivery team plot the most optimal routes. We realized that we didn't need to divide the country into seven regions—we could operate with three regions. And we don't need as many planners; technology can handle a lot of that work.
McKinsey: What about the organizational changes that you've had to implement?
Costin Mandrea: Previously, the process was a one-man show. The same person was the driver, loader, and route planner. We all believed that these frontline workers were in the best position to make decisions, that they knew exactly what to put into the vending machines. But the environment around vending machines has changed, and it put too much pressure on them. Now we've sliced up the process and specialized the components. We created positions in warehouses that did only loading and unloading. As mentioned, we have operations controllers now. So we have different roles that have very clear, disciplined scopes. We've created new jobs, and this gave us the opportunity to improve efficiency at every stage of the process.
Apart from very good analysis, my team engaged a lot with frontline management. We spent time with them, drove with them on their routes to understand exactly why things happened the way they did. We spent countless hours in weekly meetings and follow-ups, and explained every single step, to create commitment—from the top of the organization to everyone else below. We paid attention to every detail. This was our biggest success factor to manage the transformation and helped us break through the layers.
McKinsey: Has your engagement with third-party operators changed?
Costin Mandrea: Around 40 percent of our operations are done in-house, and the rest is done by third-party logistics operators. CCBJI is the result of a 2017 merger of 12 legacy bottlers, each with a different route to market and a different working philosophy. Some of them do everything in-house, some of them outsource part of their business. But this is not a world-class bottler approach; we needed to standardize our operations.
And when it comes to third-party operators or external partners, how do I take stock of their capabilities and the way I'm paying and measuring them? We needed them to follow the same system as Coca-Cola's. So we spent time to reengage with them, to help them and explain that they have to change the way they operate, even though they've been used to doing things the same way for the past 40 years. We sent our transformation teams in to work with our external partners on how to improve their operating models. We told them, "From now on, there's going to be more transparency, clear and simple targets, and we will move toward a pay-for-performance model." Of course, there was a bit of a gap. And some of them chose not to continue our partnerships and left. We have fewer partners today than before, but we have stronger partnerships and much better collaboration.
McKinsey: We've been hearing that COVID-19 has accelerated many digital initiatives. Is that true for CCBJI?
Costin Mandrea: Yes, but from a sales-force perspective, we had to address this as a healthcare crisis first of all. We immediately enhanced security protocols with masks, extra protection, and protective suits to make sure everyone stayed safe. We were also the first in the world to develop an antibacterial film to place on vending machines for added hygiene. Our customers also don't have to come into physical contact with money, because they can use the Coke ON app on their phones.
Another impact of COVID-19 was that we saw usage of high-volume vending machines in places like train stations plummet to, basically, zero, while more people used outdoor vending machines. So the COVID crisis created an incredible urgency to go even deeper in terms of cost savings, and we immediately had to redesign the way we were filling these machines.
When we started the transformation last year, we were expecting to roll out the new process over a period of 12 to 18 months, starting with a pilot in Osaka. Our plan was to go into a new region each quarter. With COVID-19 hitting, we were faced with two options: either put our plan on hold and wait until things recover or implement it fully. We decided it's now or never. I wanted to implement the new model across the entire country within the next few months. We went live on July 17.
McKinsey: What benefits did an accelerated timeline bring?
Costin Mandrea: Despite the challenges we faced in implementation, and the fact that a lot of the support functions were stretched, all our performance indicators showed that this was the right decision. Within four months of implementation, we've reduced our routes by 20 percent and disposed of 1,000 trucks. In past projects where we said that we were going to reduce the number of trucks, the trucks were sitting in the corner. We brought them back at the first sign of a hiccup, and with that the costs crept back in. This time, we've sold the trucks, so the efficiency is here to stay.
More important, our experiment opened our appetite for more digital transformation. We've become wiser, and we're looking at better ways to leverage technology to make our processes even smarter. We're entering into phase two, which will have additional savings across functions.
McKinsey: What's next in the pipeline of digital initiatives?
Costin Mandrea: If we look at our Coke ON app, we're just about there. One option is that by outfitting it with a bit of extra internal capabilities, we'll be able to run this app as a separate business unit that can be a new revenue channel by selling services to other departments and to external companies.
And we're also looking at the obvious hardware. This box of a vending machine is still pretty much the same box as it was 40 years ago. Only 40 percent of my machines are smart; they can track what they're selling and can communicate remotely. But both the hardware and the software need to improve—I need to make them 100 percent smart, I need to be able to modify prices dynamically. If a product is running out of stock and the next restock is the next day, can I raise the price of the remaining bottles a bit? Or perhaps pause a promotion? Or if a product is not selling and is about to expire, can I run a price promotion? We need to explore partnerships to build on this capability and make our machines smarter.
Everybody is looking at unmanned retail. We have it; we know how to do it. And we're just starting to make it even more efficient. We are in the beginning stages of creating an ecosystem around the vending machine and integrating it more into daily life.
Everybody is looking at unmanned retail. We have it; we know how to do it. And we're just starting to make it even more efficient. We are in the beginning stages of creating an ecosystem around the vending machine and integrating it more into daily life. For example, it can be a solution for last-mile deliveries, to increase options and convenience for customers. We could partner with food-delivery services and use vending machines as a virtual warehouse. The courier could pick up food from the shop and a cold or hot beverage at a vending machine close to the delivery point.
I'm very proud that CCBJI is leading the way in vending-machine innovation in Japan. What we've accomplished so far is an amuse-bouche. I feel like it's super promising, and it's going to be a great meal.
Stephenson Cherng is a consultant in McKinsey's Tokyo office, where Jan P. Hartmann is a partner and Naoyuki Iwatani is a senior partner. Jason Li, based in the Shanghai office, is a senior editor at McKinsey Global Publishing.
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SCOTUS punted on the Notre Dame Obamacare contraception case. They sent it back to the lower court to re-litigate in light of Hobby Lobby. Makes sense I suppose.
WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court is ordering a federal appeals court to take another look at the University of Notre Dame's lawsuit over the health overhaul law's rules on paying for contraceptives.
Notre Dame is among dozens of religious organizations that have challenged a compromise in the Affordable Care Act offered by the Obama administration to faith-based groups. The compromise attempts to create a buffer for faith-based groups that oppose birth control, while ensuring that women still can obtain contraceptives free of charge.
The federal appeals court in Chicago ruled against Notre Dame, but that occurred before the Supreme Court decided the Hobby Lobby case in favor of corporations with similar objections.
Now the appellate panel must revisit its ruling in light of the Hobby Lobby decision.


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A HALF-BUILT GARDEN by Ruthanna Emrys
August 1, 2022 / Daniel Haeusser / Leave a comment
"…Using a first-contact plot and speculative themes of ecology, Ruthanna Emrys explores the politics of human interactions in A Half-Built Garden. The novel delves deeply into elements of gender, sexuality, and diplomacy, tackling the balances of discord and harmony, competition and cooperation, that go into the institution of government and family. Some readers may feel the novel lacks concrete details of its speculative world in terms of how humanity achieves an ecological turn for the better. However, Emrys does significantly develop speculative details of communication technology, and brings greatest focus to explorations of sociological possibilities Though pacing struggles in its middle, its captivating opening and its incisive conclusion make A Half-Built Garden a successful and significant novel in the first-contact sub-genre and speculative literature in general…"
Read my entire review of A Half-Built Garden HERE at Fantasy Book Critic.
Tordotcom Publishing – 26th July 2022 – Hardcover – 336 pp.
MYSTERY ROAD by Kevin Lucia
June 15, 2022 / Daniel Haeusser / Leave a comment
(with A Night at Old Webb)
By Kevin Lucia
Cemetery Dance Publications — May 2022
First released back in 2020, Kevin Lucia's novella Mystery Road now gets a paperback release paired with his 2015 novella A Night at Old Webb. Both stories feature the first-person point of view of Kevin Ellison, a teenage basketball player whose journey into adulthood becomes shaped by two separate ghostly encounters of discovery in the early 1990s.
Going into these stories with little foreknowledge, I had expected them to be horror. They are not. The ghosts here aren't malevolent, there is neither anything frightening nor suspenseful going on. In fact, were it not for identification of certain characters as literal ghosts, these novellas could be classified as conventional short fiction rather than fantasy.
Though most of Mystery Road is set in 1990, the story begins twenty years later, when the adult Kevin learns that his father has just passed away. The bad news coincides with Kevin's observation of a mailbox and a narrow drive cutting into the woods along a major hometown road. A memory is struck to those decades prior, when 15-year old Kevin first noticed this OOPart (out-of-place-artifact) while riding his bike to a best friend's house.
There shouldn't be a mailbox here, nor any visible pathway at this spot. Kevin never found it there outside that period in 1990, and then never again until here 20 years later. In the intervening years the eerie incident and the discoveries he made following the path into the woods had left his mind, only a dream-like haze of uncertain reality left behind.
The bulk of the novella then passes in flashback as Kevin recollects that period in 1990 when he first saw this mailbox and investigated the roadway into the woods. There he discovers a cabin and a woman in it, who welcomes him in for a visit. Their conversation slowly reveals that Kevin has somehow transported into a setting from the 1960s. And, this woman speaking to him in her kitchen knows his father, but as the high school boyfriend to her daughter.
In this, and subsequent follow-ups with his father, Kevin discovers parts of his father's past that he never knew, of his father's own passage from teenager into adulthood. These reveal secrets that are not illicit or shameful at all, just bits of information lost to time and circumstance. Through these discoveries Kevin becomes closer to his father and learns a bit about his own capacity for maturation.
With the shared name of author and protagonist, Mystery Road imparts that style of memoir verisimilitude. I don't know for certain, but I get the sense that Lucia also places the setting of the novella in what seems like his own North East US hometown. Clifton Heights of Webb County may not be the names of these actual places in the NE, but the environment of Mystery Road (and the novella that follows) both are like characters of their own in the stories. Details of the foliage, mountains, houses, and names that ring familiar give the stories a strong sense of nostalgia for anyone who grew up in the time period of the late '80's into the '90s.
Mystery Road is a novella that speaks poignantly to themes of friendship, love, and family. It's about the bittersweet nature of embracing the future and letting the past fade, whether cherished or peppered with regrets.
Though published five years prior, A Night at Old Webb is set approximately two years after the events of Mystery Road in Kevin Ellison's life. Now entering the end of his time in high school, Kevin joins friends for a warm summer's night party at the Old Webb, a decrepit, abandoned former grammar school in Clifton Heights. There he meets a girl, Michelle Titchner, and the two form a rapid, soulful connection. They converse amid the party at the school, and continue talking as they walk into the surrounding woods.
There is a simplicity to A Night at the Old Webb exceeding even that of Mystery Road. But that's not to say it's any less impactful. What looks from its set up would be a tale of raging teenage hormones instead becomes about deeper connection. Through that, Kevin again learns a bit about growing up, and some insights into the history of his town and its people.
Together, the two novellas tell symbolic stories about Kevin's genetic and social inheritances, and the possibilities these might impart for a life ahead on his own. The end of Mystery Road brings things chronologically to a close, coming back to older Kevin and reflections on the death of his father. His journey illustrates that ghosts don't always haunt, sometimes they reveal themselves at the right moment to help guide passages.
THE GODMOTHERS by Camille Aubray
April 19, 2022 April 19, 2022 / Daniel Haeusser / Leave a comment
The Godmothers
By Camille Aubray
HarperLuxe — June 2021
Greenwich Village, New York City, the 1930s. As war breaks out in distant Europe, a wealthy family of Italian Americans with business ties to the mafia works hard to ensure their continued success for themselves, and even more for their children. Gianni and Tessa have one daughter, Petrina, and three sons, Johnny, Frankie, and Mario; partnering them each with the right spouse becomes the immediate parental priority to facilitate their continued familial prosperity. However, the fashionable and intelligent Petrina has a marriage on the rocks, and she still hasn't fully recovered from a potential scandal in her past that threatened the family's stability.
Considerate and responsible eldest son Johnny has married naive Amie, a young French widow from upstate New York, who he helps after she has used a gun to end her abusive marriage to a bar owner. Fiery middle son Frankie marries the equally spirited Lucy, an Irish nurse who has prior experience standing up to members of organized crime. But for quiet and cerebral Mario, the doted-upon baby boy of the family, Tessa decides that he needs a good Italian woman from the old country, a woman who has not grown up with the influences of American culture. Tessa and Gianni arrange to bring a young woman named Filomena over for marriage to Mario. Outbreak of WWII in Italy and tragedy leads another girl to seize the opportunity to secretly come in her friend's place, adopting Filomena's name and identity.
The bulk of the novel deals with the history of this family from the 1930s through the 1950s. Chapters set in the 1980s frame each side of this story, featuring Nicole, who is learning all these hidden secrets of her family's past from one of the four Godmothers. Aubray follows the opening bookend with chapters that separately introduce the pasts of each of the four women, with particular focus on Filomena. By the point of Filomena's marriage to Mario, the singular path of the woman as part of the familial is followed. Their generation takes over more business operations with the death of Gianni and Tessa.
The gradual departure or loss of the men to illness or war gradually allow the women to take leadership more fully, making use of the survival skills they have each learned from their pasts, and their keen intellect. With strengths to complement one another, and ferociously protective of each other's secrets, these Godmothers work together to separate their lives from dependence on crime and keep their children safe.
The basic feminist story in The Godmothers is solid. It's a story of divestment from situations they have been born or married into while maintaining loyalty to 'blood'. Establishing social independence alongside separation from criminal business ties that leave them vulnerable and at the mercy to immoral powers that they've all had personal prior experience with in some way.
Aubray's construction of the novel is less perfect. The bookends to the story set in the 1980s are unnecessary, and even detrimental. The opening sets up expectations of really dark secrets and mystery that will have big implications for Nicole. There are some dark secrets and mysteries revealed in those days of the 1930s – 1950s. But from the point of view of decades later, they are all pretty unsurprising, and hardly scandalous to warrant panic for Nicole. If framed solely as learning more about her family it may have worked better at least (even if not needed). Instead it sets the novel up to be far more of a thriller and mystery than it ever is.
The other major issue with The Godmothers is that it becomes progressively less compelling as the read continues. The first half or so was engaging, but the plot soon settles into a lull of predictability, and the character developments among the women and their relationship stagnates into repetition of themes. Coupled with an anticlimactic end to the 1950s era story of the Godmothers gaining criminal independence, the fizzling of any story on the 1980s side of the history makes the final chapters of the novel more skippable than engaging.
Though Aubray writes well – if a bit melodramatically – and crafts interesting characters with a meaningful history, the structure of the novel and a second half of smooth-sailing against any remotely rough waters ends up dampening the initial joys of reading The Godmothers. Given the numerous mentions of the novel on "Best of the year/summer" lists and many enthusiastic reader responses, there are certainly readers out there who will enjoy this and not mind structural elements I found to not work.
For those who are interested in looking into The Godmothers further, there is currently a new Goodreads Giveaway running until April 26, 2022 to win a copy of the novel.
THE GRACEKEEPERS by Kirsty Logan
July 12, 2016 January 18, 2021 / Daniel Haeusser / Leave a comment
Yesterday, my latest review for Strange Horizons was published as part of their 'Our Queer Planet' summer special, highlighting international, queer, and fantastic writing. The novel I reviewed: The Gracekeepers by Kirsty Logan from Crown Publishers.
"…Expanded from a component in Logan's collection The Rental Heart and Other Fairytales (2014), her debut novel contains a minimal, slow-building plot. But it is full of sensual prose that overlays a core of rich characters, a corporeal yet deeply intellectual feminism, and an overarching theme of transcendence…." Read the entire review on Skiffy & Fanty here.
Disclaimer: I received a free advanced reading copy of this novel from the publisher through the Crown Blogging for Books program in exchange for an honest review.
THE INSECT FARM, by Stuart Prebble
July 8, 2015 January 18, 2021 / Daniel Haeusser / Leave a comment
The Insect Farm
By Stuart Prebble
Mulholland Books – 7th July 2015
ISBN 9780316337366 – 320 Pages – Hardcover
Source: Goodreads' First-Reads
A foul odor is noticeably growing, emanating from a shed and attracting the attention and concern of neighbors. The police are called in. Within they discover an elaborate insect farm and the remains of two people, picked to the bones.
So begins Stuart Prebble's The Insect Farm, the English author's first novel published in the US. After the grisly discoveries of the novel's prologue, the story begins from the point of view of elderly Jonathan Maguire: an everyday, normal kind of fellow who is writing down past recollections of his family and life. Jonathan hints at some significant event compelling him to relate this past, an event – figures the reader – related to the mysterious bodies discovered in the prologue.
For all his his life, Jonathan has been close to his older brother Roger. Loving and protective of one another, the Maguire brothers have a normal childhood. But as Jonathan begins to grow into young adulthood, he begins to notice that Roger's mind has remained in adolescence. Roger's mental disabilities and related social insufficiencies leave him in a relatively simple, but happy, life of reliance on his brother and their parents. While Jonathan starts to get an interest in girls, Roger develops an interest in insects, starting an insect farm in the yard shed as a hobby.
As Jonathan begins to focus more on his studies and a relationship with his attractive girlfriend Harriet, circumstances force him into greater responsibility for caring for Roger, whose insect farm has grown into a beloved obsession. But Jonathan's commitment to caring for Roger limits the time he has with his now-wife Harriet, the only woman in a small musical ensemble that works long-distance. Only seeing Harriet during the weekends, Jonathan lives in constant jealousy that his stunning bride is away with a bunch of other men, one of whom makes no secret of his desires for Harriet.
Two brothers with different sorts of obsessions and dependencies: one with mental/social defects and eccentricities the other with near-stifling responsibility and pangs of resentment. A wife away with a man who fancies her. One can imagine that things can go wrong with such tension. But what will happen exactly? And which of these characters correspond to the two skeletons that end up with the insects in the shed?
There lies the mystery and suspense of The Insect Farm. It's important to stress to potential readers that these genre tensions do not form the bulk of the story. Prebble's novel is somewhat hard to characterize and it is easy to go into this expecting one type of story only to be disappointed that you're getting something else. This isn't a thriller with some cat-and-mouse chase toward discovery of identities. It isn't about fulfillment of justice for a crime. The resolution to the prologue of The Insect Farm will not be revealed until the reader completes the last page, and there will be some surprise twists right before the final, appropriately subtle, one.
But it takes a lot of text to get to this point of revelation. The majority of that text (3/4 of the novel roughly) is taken up with the rather everyday family drama of the characters. It thus more closely resembles a contemporary 'literary' piece of fiction than something from the mystery or thriller genre. At it's heart, it may be more aptly described as psychological suspense, heavy on the psychology. The psychology of the Maguire brothers is the meat of The Insect Farm, most particularly that of the point-of-view narrator Jonathan. And Jonathan is not a particularly likable person. I have no issues with needing characters in fiction to be likable, but I know some readers do. For me, this is what makes The Insect Farm an actually interesting piece of fiction. To what degree is Jonathan selfish? How honest is his devotion to his brother? How alike are these two brothers? Does Roger have greater understanding and capability than one might at first think? What moral culpability does Roger have for social transgressions given his mental development?
The characters here – including Harriet – may not be likable, but they are interesting. They are people whose motivations aren't always clear-cut, but they do have them. These complex motivations, and the psychology of characters' decisions are the elements a reader can focus on here, forming questions and opinions that can be debated with other readers. People who appreciate this type of thing will find a lot to love in Prebble's novel. But if you don't want to get into the character's minds – or don't care to – then you will likely get rapidly bored as a seemingly normal mix of human dysfunction 'drags on' until finally turning to crisis and fall-out management in the last quarter of the book. For me, the character details that lead up to that end point were largely worth reading.
Disclaimer: I received a free advanced reading copy of this from the publisher via Goodreads' First-Reads giveaway program in exchange for an honest review.
THE NAKEDS, by Lisa Glatt
The Nakeds
By Lisa Glatt
Regan Arts – 2nd June 2015
Overwhelmed for a moment by the protracted implosion of her parent's marriage, young Hannah Teller decides to avoid their bickering and walk to school herself. Conscientiously avoiding intruding on her neighbors lawn, Hannah veers her path into the street only to be violently met by the fender of drunk driver's car. Martin, the distracted young man behind the wheel drives away from the scene in a panic, leaving Hannah's twisted, injured body behind.
Ripples of effect spread through the 1970s lives of those caught in this brutal chance encounter. Hannah faces an adolescence with a fragmented body, a wrecked leg encased in a toe-to-groin cast that will remain on her for the next decade of treatment. Her parents, Nina and Asher, use the turmoil of the tragedy to abandon all façades in their marriage: the Jewish Asher moves in with the Christian mistress he has been seeing and Nina abandons herself into a fling with Hannah's doctor. Meanwhile, Martin finds himself debilitated with self-destructive remorse as his drinking becomes exclusively solitary and secretive. He begins to lurk around the hospital, guiltily monitoring Hannah's initial convalescence and bringing her anonymous gifts, but remains incapable of stepping forward and accepting responsibility.
As Hannah learns to live with frustration of her disability and mature into her teenage years, her father grows increasingly distant with his new family and religion, and her mother finds a new husband, Azeem. Azeem is a student of psychology and sexuality who is eager to introduce his new wife to nudism and other elements of the American sexual revolution.
Glatt manages to effectively navigate the changing perspectives of these characters, uniting them all with a delicate tone that conveys dysfunction and a raw vulnerability, yet maintains ample lightheartedness. With all its darkness of betrayal, alcoholism, and general selfishness the novel is suffused with humor. There is a constant sense of hope, and moments of love shine through even amid the human missteps.
The title refers to Azeem's repeated mistake of confusing the English word 'nudists' with 'nakeds'. Nude and naked may be synonyms, but the words are each shaded with unique undertones, degrees of vulnerability. And this is ultimately what Glatt's novel comes down to in its exploration of the characters: a conflict between proudly exposing or recognizing things honestly for what they are, good or bad, and cloaking vulnerabilities behind layers of deception, avoidance, or denial. In many cases the characters voice a commitment to complete openness, being naked both physically and emotionally before the others who they love. But their actions end up showing the lies behind the words, the aspirations. Yet one gets the sense that these characters are not maliciously lying to the people in their lives. Rather, first and foremost, they are lying to, hiding from, themselves.
Hannah is the sole exception to this behavior, and for that reason she comes across as the most fascinating perspective, the most endearing character. Trapped in the confinement of her cast, Hannah cannot ever be physically naked, even if she so desired. Yet, she is the one most capable of facing her raw emotions, the naked truth of her predicament in life. She has a bright and investigative mind, but most powerful of all she has exceptional self-realization and self-acceptance. She realizes the limits that her disability place both on herself and her friends when they go to hang out like normal teenagers. But she doesn't dwell on this; she pursues a normal life and demonstrates immense capability in matters physical and emotional. Unlike her parents, she is able to cope with the turmoils of their families without falling to some cliché of 'blaming' herself', or subverting relationship with them to find solace elsewhere.
The Nakeds is indeed an "absorbing" (as described in its blurb) story because of its fascinating characters and the balance of its tone. Glatt's use of changing perspectives falters some in the latter half of the novel as development turns primarily towards Hannah-Nina-Azeem while Asher in particular is mostly dropped. Nonetheless it is an effective novel that would fit well as an engaging summer read or as a conversation-stimulating book-club selection. For those interested, The Nakeds was also featured in a recent episode of Book Riots' new All the Books! podcast, and is worth a listen.
So Much a Part of You, by Polly Dugan
Publisher: Little, Brown & Co.
Expected Publication: 10th June 2014
Sources: Goodreads
Are you still friends with the people you grew up with? Those whom you were inseparable through elementary school? High school? Is your current life where you planned for it to be when you entered into college? Or graduated? Is it even heading in the direction you originally planned?
Is your life what your ancestors imagined would come from their struggles and success? Are you building a life and family, looking at your own children or grandchildren and hoping for what type of future life they will have?
Despite all we put of ourselves into relationships, could everything turn out terribly different from what we desire?
These are the types of questions explored by Dugan in the short collection of chronological stories. Connected one-to-the-next with shared characters, the collection as a whole spans across a few generations and families to reveal the broad effects of the passage of time and changing circumstances on individuals and relationships.
So Much a Part of You is not a reading experience where you follow a protagonist through an exciting plot and get to live vicariously through the adventures and how much you 'like' the character. This is a literary collection, about matters more general, and deeper. The situations in the stories of this collection may include tragedies or condition you've never experienced, from physical accidents, to alcoholism, to one-night-stands, or an abortion. The characters may make choices that you have never faced, or think you would never make.
What is relatable, what is emotionally resonant and evokes reflection is the general effect these situations and choices have on the characters in the stories and that the reader can then apply to their own personal life. For we have all faced rough situations and tragedy. We have all made choices, good and bad.
So too with the characters in So Much a Part of You. None of them end up where they may have expected. In some cases this is unfortunate, and in others it becomes clear that a new and better relationship has opened up in their life, that they would never have foreseen, but which for that particular time and place is exactly what they need, and dearly precious.
With the connected format of the collection, readers are able to see some characters from different perspectives and periods, creating a complexity that would be harder to obtain from a single short story. Dugan's writing is fluid and conversational, making this a relatively quick read. The overall emotional reflection it could engender will last longer.
Four Stars out of Five
I received a free advanced reading copy of this from the publisher through the Goodreads' First-reads giveaway program.
Em and The Big Hoom, by Jerry Pinto
Publisher: Viking (Penguin UK)
Expected Publication (US): 24th June 2014
Sources: Goodreads & NetGalley
So often, literature focuses solely on conflicts, the inability of people to reconcile with others, themselves, or their environment. Like any story, Em and The Big Hoom, by Jerry Pinto contains conflict, adversity that its characters must face. The appeal of the novel is that despite the darkness it is suffused with humor and joy and is focused on how a family successfully holds together despite their hardship. In Em and The Big Hoom, communication abides even amid the unpredictability of madness.
Told from the perspective of a boy living with his family is small Mumbai flat, Em and The Big Hoom is a series of chapters that are each almost short stories themselves. Em, or Imelda, is the mother who is plagued with mental disease (bipolar disorder) that creates a paradoxical closeness to and distance from her husband (Austine or 'The Big Hoom'), daughter (Susan), and son (the unnamed point-of-view character).
The son relates the emotional roller-coaster of life with a woman that everyone knows is 'mad', but whom they all love and try to support even through the darkest moments of attempted suicide. The son thinks constantly about both of his parents, their past and how they came together, the present, and the uncertain future that shows both promise of hope and the threat of instant disaster. Looking at his parents, the son is also forced to consider what genetic aspects he may have inherited from each: an admirable devotion of sacrifice and love displayed by his kind father, the sweet uncompromising honesty and playfulness of his mother, or her 'madness'.
Both parents are well written, but Em is fabulously so, a woman who faces the weighty realization of her mental illness with a brutal honesty, yet simultaneously tries to lighten it with humor and memories of past joys. As the point-of-view character, the son is likewise complex, but the sister Susan seems present only to have another child in the story.
The beauty of the novel lies in Pinto's writing, which mirrors the frank honesty of the characters. Though not flowery or decorated with an advanced vocabulary, Pinto's writing is poetic. It flows gracefully and naturally with simple, but precise, words that convey deep emotion and thought, making the unnamed son who serves as the narrator familiar and relatable. The novel is highly quotable and many of the son's thoughts or pondered questions would be excellent fodder for student or book group discussion.
A simple plot saturated with the dark undertones of mental illness, Em and The Big Hoom joyfully depicts a realistic optimism and hope that will be inspiring and enriching for readers of all kind.
Five Stars out of Five
I received a free copy of this from the publisher both electronically via NetGalley and through the Goodreads' First-reads giveaway program.
(In a rare case of timing I was granted NetGalley access and then won a physical copy moments after getting that notice, before I was able to withdraw from the Goodreads giveaway contest. The physical copy will go to a friend and reviewer I hope will enjoy it as much as I have.)
Half a King, by Joe Abercrombie
June 19, 2014 January 18, 2021 / Daniel Haeusser / 1 Comment
Shattered Sea Book 1
ASIN: B00HBQWGYO
288 pages, Kindle Edition
Expected Publication: 8th July 2014
I've been fortunate to have a recent run of phenomenal books. Like several of the novels I last read, Half a King took me a moment to get into. With a new fantasy story there is always a period of getting used to the universe and its style within the spectrum of the genre. This was also my introduction to Abercrombie and his style, so I had no expectations or baseline measurement entering in. For the first chapters the tone set in and I worried a bit. Half a King is a high fantasy, told in a universe of Western Medievalesque culture/political systems that are the traditional standard of the field. Though elves and magic are mentioned, these amount to legends of the distant past (with hints that this may in fact be technology – perhaps of our civilization). The story at this point is set realistically, and is set up in a straight-forward manner.
Prince Yarvi is studying to be a minister, a career of academics and serving as advisor to those who rule. With a nod to some classic fantasy series, Yarvi is a cripple, born with a half-hand. Physically deformed and weak, intellectually-inclined, and lacking a personality of confidence or leadership, Yarvi has no ambitions or plans to ever rule. However, the sudden death of his elder brother and their father the king suddenly forces the ill-prepared Yarvi into the role of ruling.
This set up had me fearing that the novel would proceed rather predictably, down a simple path of Yarvi gaining confidence in ruling, and showing how his shrewd mind was more important than battle prowess and physical intimidation. The relatively short length of the book also left me wondering just how much could be accomplished on any epic scale.
After these first chapters, however, a curve is thrown to Yarvi and the plot, sending our protagonist down a different path. Still one of personal growth, of finding his confidence and an ability to lead, the story quickly became far more captivating than I first expected. I fell in love with this world and with the character of Yarvi, despite the familiarity of his situation.
Abercrombie succeeds in making Yarvi's story compelling through a couple of aspects. The first is by making this feel like an epic fantasy despite being short. (Originally thought to be a stand-alone novel, it is now clearly to be expanded into a series.) The plot is focused on Yarvi and the friends and adversaries he meets directly. But Yarvi's personal and political struggles are set within a richly formed universe. Abercrombie puts in many details of the world-at-large and its culture, including religion and the afore-mentioned elven relics of a previous age. At first the many details inserted into the narrative seemed to be a way of making Half a King 'sound' like a fantasy, akin to inserting lots of foreign-sounding technical words into a SF novel. Abercrombie's skill quickly became clear though, that this is setting up a sense of epic within the confines of this single small story. The history and characters of the offscreen larger world become clearer as the novel draws to a close and ties into what has occurred to Yarvi, giving the reader the sense of something epic and well constructed. Along these same lines, Yarvi's story extends through a significant period of time and drastically-changing circumstances, but Abercrombie makes this flow realistically and naturally across the pages.
The second aspect to Half a King's success is Abercrombie's tone. The book is written with a voice that fits Yarvi to a tee, with shades of being archaic and Medievalesque fitting to the universe, but not overtly or comically so as some genre books can get. There is a lyrical quality to the writing, helping this story to go by with fantastic pacing and being engrossing all the way. The novel is marketed under the Young Adult umbrella. As is often the case, this is largely due to the protagonist being a young adult. However, it is also the tone and content. Though featuring violence and talks of a sex, they are treated quite tamely, making this a PG sort of adventure story. The work is also pervaded with a sense of optimism, a resilience to survive, and a joy for the beautiful moments in life. This makes it a fine counter to the more pessimistic fantasy of something like A Song of Ice and Fire. Yet, despite the optimism, the novel continues to be believable and relatable, peppered with loss, disaster, and cruelty. With themes such as honor, promises, confidence, and loss, Half a King is ideal for a young fantasy reader, but shouldn't be limited to that audience.
Half a King has been featured on "Best of" lists for summer reading and garnered significant advance praise. Whether fantasy is your thing or not, the novel stands well as a coming-of-age story that should captivate you and whet your appetite to learn more about this world in which Yarvi lives.
The Hundred-Year House, by Rebecca Makkai
June 10, 2014 January 18, 2021 / Daniel Haeusser / 2 Comments
The Hundred-Year House,
by Rebecca Makkai
Publisher: Viking (Penguin Books)
ASIN: B00G3L163K
Expected Publication: 10th July 2014
Somewhere in the first part of Makkai's impressive The Hundred-Year House there is a line or two referencing classic ghost stories of history that were not really about anything supernatural, but were rather psychological, about the descent of a character's mind and the loss of their grip on reality or self. And in this first part, set in the late 1990s, it seems as if Makkai is doing something similar here with her characters.
The protagonist of this first part is Doug, a failing academic who (seeking to find a university position) should be working on a paper about a relatively unknown poet, but instead has become involved in writing formulaic children's books. To aid his chosen (or forced) research and get back on track, Doug takes advantage of his connections through marriage. Zee, his wife and an established professor, who is heir to an estate which once served as an artist's colony where the poet had stayed. Zee and Doug go to stay in the old house on the grounds, where they are joined by Zee's mother, step-father, and her step-brother and his wife.
While Doug finds writing about the poet difficult, he becomes increasingly pulled into the mystery of what occurred at the artist's colony in the past and why Zee's mother-in-law seems so averse to letting him access any records or memorabilia from the time stored in the attic under lock. As Zee sets in motion a devious plan to create an open position for Doug at her university, Doug enters deeper into guarding his secret investigations into the house's past and his clandestine children's book writing from Zee. And unexpectedly, he finds himself drawing closer to his sister-in-law.
This first section is thus filled with secrets and intrigue, deep mysteries, catastrophic assumptions, and lies. Set against the backdrop of an old house where odd things occur and rumors of ghosts abound, all seems poised for the novel to continue down a course where Doug, Zee, and the others fall apart (individually in the psychological sense; and quite literally in their union as family). But rather than continue down this path and allow the characters to fully uncover one another's secrets and the complete history of the house and estate, Makkai leaves these people and takes the reader back into the past with a step to the mid 1950's, and in the parts that follow additional steps back, ultimately to the very foundations of the house.
For The Hundred-Year House isn't just a ghost story with emphasis on the people, it is a story about place, as the title betrays. The novel later contains a comment by a character that living in this house in the presence of ghosts doesn't feel to them as they would expect or understand. We normally view 'haunting' as the past coming to intrude and influence our present, to the point that the phrase "haunted by the past" appears redundant. In this house, the character explains, it is more as if its future is reaching back to form the history. And this is indeed the precise experience the reader is having, most obviously from this backward stepping through time as we learn some of the truth of events or unexpected relations between people we met through stories earlier in the novel, in the future.
This makes it necessary, and rewarding, to pay careful attention while reading Makkai's novel. It is beautifully crafted, a complex weave of characters that makes the tapestry of this house, this estate, which becomes almost a life in itself for the reader and for those people in the story who feel manipulated by what is to come. Quite ingeniously this playing with time and cause-and-effect is more literally born-out in the sub-plot of the first section when Zee manipulates and creates a false story to try and destroy the reputation of a professor. Though based on lies, the charges end up becoming accepted true by all (even the falsely accused) as if history were rewritten by the future (paralleling the rewriting Zee does of the other professor's Internet browsing history).
The Hundred-Year House is quite good, and rich. It is a novel that invites rereading to capture all the details – I can only guess the many things I missed through the nature of its construction and my spotty memory. Although I read it on a Kindle due to the format of NetGalley advanced reading copies, I'd recommend buying or checking out a physical copy of this, it is the type of work where you'll appreciate the physical text and scents of reading in front of you, permitting you to flip back and forth between sections and time periods when those 'aha' moments hit. This is a haunting book, in no way supernatural, but surely powerful.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Nearly two years ago, Misha and Scott stumbled upon an online listing for a 50s ranch-style home in the heart of an upcoming area in Phoenix. As Misha explains, "when we saw this place online, we knew we had to see it!" As the Co-Owner of pith+marrow, a local creative teaching platform that brings people together to collaborate and learn skills in various crafts, being central to the Phoenix community was important to Misha — and this house checked off all of the boxes. Before they knew it, this 1,500-square-foot rancher became home to Phoenix-native and corporate attorney, Scott, Misha, and Luna, their feline and the mascot of #houseofgarbs.
In addition to running pith+marrow, Misha works as an event coordinator and prop stylist, so her love for all things interior and organization spills into her own home decor and design. But the process of making their updated house feel personal has admittedly been a marathon rather than a sprint. First and foremost came the inevitability of purchasing all of the un-glamorous but necessary things — a washer and dryer, mattress, window coverings et al — and since, it's been a gradual process to transform the home into a clean, inviting space with nods to mid-century modern style.
The view as you enter the front door. The bench was a collaborative DIY project between Misha and Scott.
Like any home on the smaller side, taking advantage of wall space is crucial, especially in the entryway. Misha and Scott picked up this neat wall-hook/mirror unit from CB2 and sanded and stained it to match the handmade bench.
Scott and Misha sitting in their living room.
Much like the house itself, the story behind this couch has a lot to do with internet coincidence: When Misha was planning the design and layout of this room, she randomly pulled a photo of this couch online and threw it into a mock-up. Months later, Scott and Misha were in Crate & Barrel and were immediately drawn to this couch. Only after buying it did Misha realize it was the exact couch she had randomly pulled from online!
One of Scott and Misha's favorite pieces are the locker bays that live behind the couch. They purchased them from a Tae Kwon Do dojo down the street (which they found on Craigslist!) and are perfect storage for all of their outdoor and active accessories; one locker holds their camping equipment, one holds yoga gear, one holds rock climbing accessories and the others cycle through golf, backpacking and the like.
"We spent months searching for the perfect chairs for the living room," explains Misha. "We ended up finding these on eBay from a mid-century modern boutique in Chicago. They are the most comfortable place to sit in the house," right next to Luna's bed underneath the coffee table.
In front of the couch sits the TV against a gallery wall backdrop. The trunk under the console table is for the telescope.
A close-up of their gallery wall. The telescope was Scott's father's. It was sitting in his parent's garage for years, so Scott and Misha decided to make use of it, doubling not only as decor, but a fun showpiece that they often stargaze with on quiet nights.
The open-concept living and dining room, courtesy of the hard work of the previous owners. "The person who flipped the house before we moved in knocked down some walls [which made] a world of a difference," says Misha, "you'd never guess the house is under 1,500 square feet!"
Opening the sliding glass doors in the morning for breakfast is one of Misha and Scott's most prized moments of the day, and also keeps their tree, adoringly named Janet, happy and healthy. Their dining room table is from Pottery Barn and the chairs, from All Modern.
This is the view of the kitchen from the dining area. "The kitchen maintains this light throughout the day," which is one of Misha's favorite features of their home.
A view of the hallway from outside of the bedrooms. The framed photo was taken by Scott's mother, which matches their neutral decor brilliantly.
Their guest bathroom features marble counters and a unique off-center, raised sink bowl which allows for ample countertop space for all of Misha and Scott's favorite Aesop products.
The guest bathroom is also home to Luna's food bowls from Doca Pet, and her scratch pad made from a denim rug sample.
The guest room is full of nostalgia; the bench was made by Misha's late grandfather, and the portrait on the easel was painted by Scott's father when he was a teenager.
"We always want people to feel comfortable when they stay in the guest room," says Misha. The vintage lamp and soft linens do the trick, along with the personal touch of the ranunculus painting which was passed down to Misha from her late grandmother. "And nothing makes a room complete like a Le Labo candle!"
The view of the room from the guest bed. The concrete planter was a housewarming gift and the photos are a mixture of found photos and those taken by Scott.
Their moody master bedroom. Scott's friend took the picture above the bed of Shibuya Crossing which serves as a reminder to Scott of the first time he traveled to Japan.
On the nightstand from Urban Outfitters lives a lamp from IKEA, a wash chain plant inside a corrugated metal planter, a leather catchall, and a date-night coin jar.
Misha and Scott's spare bedroom which they use as an office. The futon offers a cozy space to relax mid-day. The photo of Camelback Mountain from the 1930s was a local antique store find.
Across from the futon is the office desk, a calendar of the moon phases, and a massive cork board that holds mementos and seasonal inspiration.
Luna basking in the sunlight their home boasts.
Love everything! Where is the futon from? It's the most attractive and appealing futon I've ever seen.
Sophie: The desk is from Ikea!
Laurel: Thank you! The futon was a gift but from Ligne Roset.
I thought it looked familiar! Thank you!
Can I know where is floor from? Is it hard wood or engineered wood?
Jina- The floors are engineered wood floors. I'll have to do some digging to tell you where they're from!
Love the counter. quartz or marble?
that dining table is gorgeous. where from? thats exactly what i am looking for!!
Lovely! May I ask where the round black mirror in the guest bathroom is from? Many thanks!
Your home is lovely! Thank you for sharing it. May I ask where you found your dining room pendant light? I love the shape!
What brand & color is on the wall of the master bedroom? It is amazing!
The kitchen is BEAUTIFUL! White counters + white cabinetry make such a bright, clean space. Paired with a rich wood floor creates the perfect look without feeling like you're being sterilized. It is an art to make white-heavy rooms still feel warm and inviting, and this is a well-executed example.
Melissa- The pendant light is from Barnlight Electric.
Wondering what brand your guest bathroom sink is? And the size of it- I am assuming the vanity is 24″. Thank you, your house is beautiful!


Presently represents Government of India as its Standing Counsel in Delhi High Court. She represents Army,navy,air force,BSF,CRPF,CISF and other paramilitary forces.
What is Nationalism? राष्ट्र क्या है?
© Monika Arora. All Rights Reserved.


text:
Government National Politics
Top Interior Lawyer Ducks Questions on Oversight Requests
September 26, 2019 September 27, 2019 MEGAN MINEIRO
Attorneys, Democrats, hearings, Interior Department, Trump administration, U.S. House of Representatives
WASHINGTON (CN) — The top lawyer for the Interior Department dodged questions from House Democrats on congressional oversight Thursday, just two days after he was narrowly confirmed by the Senate amid accusations he lied to Congress.
(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
In the lead-up to his confirmation by a 51-43 vote, Democrats said Daniel Jorjani was not forthcoming about his role in crafting a new Freedom of Information Act policy that allows political appointees to review records requests and block documents from public release.
While he is now the principal deputy solicitor, Jorjani is still under investigation by the department's inspector general. In his testimony Thursday before the House Natural Resources Committee, he repeatedly promised to look into Interior's responses to congressional oversight requests that both Democrats and Republicans protested are too slow.
The inquiries touch on a range of issues from plans to relocate the Bureau of Land Management headquarters to Colorado, to oil and gas lease programs and national monument designations.
Chairman Raúl Grijalva, D-Ariz., said the Trump administration has declared "open war" on congressional oversight.
"They're padding the numbers," Grijalva said, exhibiting a 12,000 page printout of blank Excel tables the Interior submitted to the committee.
"I commit to doing better and whether it's the saving of trees or the wasted time of the committee, I agree that is probably not the best practice," Jorjani said.
The political appointee testified that the Interior Department — responsible for safeguarding America's landscapes and natural resources — has resolved six of the 27 oversight requests from the committee since Democrats took control of the House of Representatives in January.
But Grijalva offered a different breakdown, saying the Interior has resolved only three inquires from the committee and provided "no substantive response" to over half its requests.
Still, Republicans congratulated Jorjani on his Tuesday confirmation and said the Interior was performing better under President Donald Trump than it had under the Obama administration.
"You have performed extremely well, producing a whole lot more information in a shorter period of time than what was good in those good ole days," said Ranking Member Rob Bishop, R-Utah.
Reading from prepared remarks, Jorjani said during the first nine months of 2011, when Republicans controlled the House, the Interior received 21 oversight requests and provided 38 letters and productions of documents and information.
"The Department's commitment to accommodating Congress's legitimate oversight functions and, at the same time, protecting important Executive Branch functions, is robust, and we have dedicated significant taxpayer resources to complying with these requests," Jorjani said.
Democrats on multiple occasions accused the Trump appointee of offering canned responses to their detailed questions during the hearing.
Jorjani testified that the Interior is responding to requests with an administrative process inherited from the previous administration.
But Republicans accused the Obama administration of having stonewalled congressional oversight, claiming it submitted only 5,000 documents to the House Natural Resources Committee.
"You want to do a whole lot better than the Obama administration … because that was an abysmal record they set," said Representative Louie Gohmert, R-Texas.
Responding to Republican members, Jorjani also testified the Interior was in no way trying to illegally withhold information from Congress.
But he struggled to explain to Democrats why responses sent to the committee this year included full redacted pages, pages sextupled and 100 pages with only symbols — including a Twitter logo blown up to fill an entire page.
"Regarding that specific document, I'm not sure," Jorjani said. He committed to work on sending more responsive materials.
Closing the hearing that Grijalva described as an "airing of grievances" for both Democrats and Republicans, the chair said he is considering requiring the Interior to submit weekly reports to the committee with meticulous updates on the progress of department responses to oversight requests.
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text:
Statement from Committee of 100 on the Declassified Report on the Origins of COVID-19
New York, NY (August 27, 2021) — The following statement was issued today by Zheng Yu Huang, President of Committee of 100, in regards to the U.S. Intelligence Community's declassified report on the origins of COVID-19:
"Chinese Americans are just as much victim of the COVID-19 pandemic as all other Americans. We urge our fellow citizens to remember that whatever the origins of the COVID-19, hatred against Chinese Americans is categorically wrong and has led to violence and death. Committee of 100 has spoken out against discrimination and racism for more than 30 years, and we will continue to urge our fellow citizens to put these horrific incidents in the past and move forward together as one nation."
About Committee of 100
Committee of 100 is a non-profit U.S. leadership organization of prominent Chinese Americans in business, government, academia, healthcare, and the arts focused on public policy engagement, civic engagement, and philanthropy. For over 30 years, Committee of 100 has served as a preeminent organization committed to the dual missions of promoting the full participation of Chinese Americans in all aspects of American life and constructive relations between the United States and Greater China. Visit https://www.committee100.org/ or follow Committee of 100 on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook for more information.
Charles Zinkowski
czinkowski@committee100.org
Other - U.S.
«Statement from Committee of 100 on the Bombing Attacks in Afghanistan and the Deaths of U.S. Serv...
Statement from Committee of 100 on the Acquittal of Dr. Anming Hu»
2019 Greater China Conference and Gala
2019 Science & Technology Conference
C100 NextGen Leaders Enjoy Lunch with Wellington Chen and Henry Tang in New York


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There have been lots of new features that help seniors date online more successfully, all of which demonstrate that senior online dating websites, match.com in particular, seem to "get it" regarding what single senior want today. The ability for two seniors to chat on the phone without anyone having to give his or her phone number, instant text chatting, and helpful safety features that protect daters are ubiquitous.
But the single greatest advance that senior online dating sites have made lately is the app for mobile dating. Whether or not you like it or admit it, single seniors are just as likely to spend their spare time staring at their smartphones as their younger counterparts. Texting, emailing, checking the weather forecast, downloading music, driving directions, stock market trends, and even health features like how many steps you took today, are all available on a senior's smartphone.
So the advent of a mobile dating app isn't surprising since online dating sites know how important smartphones are to men and women of all ages. Mobile dating was inevitable, and it's been a huge success. Statistics indicate that 50% of single seniors are using a mobile app to date.
I've noticed seniors in cafes with their smartphones scrolling through emails and profiles from potential dates from online dating sites, as well as updating their own online profiles. I have to admit that while reading emails on my smartphone is simple enough, and that I don't even have to don my reading glasses, I find that reading someone's profile and looking at their photos a bit more challenging, albeit not overly difficult.
The mobile dating app is an amazing feature that allows seniors to keep current regarding their status in the online dating world. No one wants to miss out on meeting someone special because they were away from their computer for a few days, and mobile dating, while perhaps not as easy as looking at your computer screen, works well enough to make intelligent decisions and choices.
Consider for instance that match.com's mobile app allows senior daters to check out other senior's profiles and make choices regarding whom to connect with or pass. And sending an email to a man or woman you find appealing is as simple as using your home computer.
A senior dater could potentially have a friend take a photo of them and then post it on their online dating profile in minutes, which means your dating profile will always be current. And if a senior is emailing another senior on his or her mobile app and there's some chemistry but both daters would like to see a current photo, it's a done deal. Knowing instantly who's looking at your profile allows a senior to reply quickly enough to demonstrate his or her seriousness about dating.
And if a senior is sitting in a café having coffee with no one to talk with and nothing to do, he or she can scroll through the online profiles of other seniors and send them emails in an instant. Match.com's app even sends daily matches out to seniors' mobile phones, so a senior doesn't even have to wait until he or she gets home to make choices. The daily matches use Match.com's algorithms, which can make picking dates easier and more successful.
The fact is that one in four senior relationships begin online today, and a mobile app simply keeps seniors closer to the action by keeping them in the online dating loop. If you're a senior online dater you'll want to download a mobile dating app. And since they're free, there's no downside.
Mobile Dating Apps are a great way to stay connected on-the-go and almost all Senior Online Dating Sites offer apps in addition to their regular websites.


Actor Parineeti Chopra has shared more pictures from the wedding of sister Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas. See them here.
Priyanka Chopra's wedding was attended by all her close friends and family.
Actor Parineeti Chopra has shared two new and unseen pictures from the recent wedding of her cousin and actor Priyanka Chopra and her American singer husband Nick Jonas. The pictures are from the mehendi and haldi functions.
In one of the pictures, Priyanka is seen surrounded by her girl squad during the mehendi ceremony. She is wearing a yellow and pink lehenga while Parineeti is also wearing a yellow outfit. "The girls," she captioned the picture. In the second picture, Parineeti is seen applying turmeric paste to Nick's face while Priyanka and other family members look at them. Nick is seen in a white Kurta pyjama and Priyanka is also in a white outfit. Parineeti is seen in a white and red outfit as well.
She also recently shared a few more pics from the wedding. In one, she is seen posing in a white and golden lehenga and in another, she is seen posing with Priyanka in a red outfit while the bride wore her blush pink dress.
Priyanka tied the knot with Nick on December 1 and 2 in Jodhpur's Umaid Bhawan Palace. They were wedded according to Christian and Hindu wedding ceremonies. Priyanka and Nick then hosted wedding receptions in Delhi and Mumbai which were attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other Bollywood celebrities.
Parineeti also said that she received quite a big amount from Nick as her fee for the 'shoe-stealing' ceremony. She has previously called Nick the perfect man for her cousin. "I am promoting my film at the wrong time as I am being constantly asked about them (laughs). But, I am very excited. Just day before yesterday I was sitting with Nick when he was here. We were sitting at home and chilling and I was just telling him how eight months ago, his life was totally different. No one would've thought that they were going to be engaged to be married. And he was also like this was totally bizarre and unreal. But, I always wondered who Mimi didi (Priyanka) was going to marry. I always thought who that guy would be. And when you meet Nick, it is kind of reassuring that she has found her one, the man who is right for her. He is funny, calm, normal, simple and he loves her. She adores him and they're very much in love. They look wonderful together. I don't think there could have been a better person for her," she had said in an interview.
Parineeti will now be seen with Akshay Kumar in Kesari and with Siddharth Malhotra in Jabariya Jodi. She also has Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar with Arjun Kapoor. Her last film, Namastey England flopped at the box office.


text:
The Arms were granted to the Company in 1999 and the Supporters in 2004.
The blue of the shield symbolises the River Thames, the heart of the City of London. The cross represents the Roman X or ten, indicating the tithe or tenth paid in ancient times, chequered to reflect the Court of Exchequer that used counters on a squared tablecloth. The chain symbolises the links of fellowship between the Company's liverymen. Above the helm, the owl, as in the Arms of the Chartered Institute of Taxation to which many of the liverymen belong, represents wisdom, and extends the purse of charitable provision.
Both supporters are mythical creatures. The Griffin combines the attributes of the king of the beasts and the king of the birds, with the body and ears of the lion and the head, wings and talons of the eagle. Associated with the gods of Minos and Greece, it was an animal of the sun and of justice and was guardian of treasure.
The Pegasus was the winged steed of Apollo, so it is largely connected with intellectual arts. Used by the Knights Templar, it became the symbol of fame, eloquence and contemplation. The plants, thrift and London pride, grow from the bank on which the Supporters stand.
The motto Veritas, Comitas, Caritas (Truth, Charity, Fellowship) reflects the Company's three basic aims: to represent a profession that stands for truth in its dealings, to distribute charity, and to provide fellowship for all tax advisers.


In a place called Hazzard County, which existed 'somewhere in the South,' lived the Duke family. Jesse Duke (Denver Pyle) with his two nephews, Bo (John Schneider) and Luke (Tom Wopat) and his niece Daisy (Catherine Bach) worked hard to run a farm, run moonshine (if they really had to. Bo and Luke were on probation after getting caught running shine) and out run the local Sheriff. And they looked pretty good doing it too.
The boys drove a souped up 1969 Dodge Charger that was painted orange, with an 01 on the doors (which were welded shut) and a Confederate flag on the roof. The car was known as "General Lee," and every week, the boys drove fast and jumped long and far to get out of trouble ("Trouble" usually being getting out from under some trumped up charge or bad rap put on by the County Commissioner, "Boss" Jefferson Davis Hogg (Sorrell Booke) and his right hand man, Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane (James Best).) The trumped up charges were usually done in an effort to keep the Dukes out of the way while Boss tried to turn a dishonest buck or two. The charges probably would have stuck, if Bo and Luke weren't so persistent in not wanting to be framed and if Rosco wasn't such a bumbling idiot sometimes.
However, Boss and Rosco were helped (if that's the word) by 'dipstick' deputies Enos Strate (Sonny Shroyer) and Cletus Hogg (Rick Hurst). Cletus actually replaced Enos for about a season or so but both were cut pretty much from the same cloth. They were only a smidgin bit smarter than Rosco and more often then not their loyalties usually ended up being placed with the Dukes.
All in all, a one hour episode basically consisted of a car chase, Rosco giggling "Khee, khee I love it, I love it!" Daisy smiling pretty and wearing her short-shorts while slinging brew at the Boar's Nest (the local watering hole), Enos, Cletus or Rosco wrecking their patrol cars (usually in very creative ways too), General Lee flying high or driving fast, a fist fight or two and everything being resolved in the end with Boss usually making a hefty donation to the orphanage when the Dukes found out of his illegal activites.
Really, only one word would best describe the show. FUN. No one ever got seriously hurt, there was no swearing (although the first few episodes had a couple of 'hells' and 'damns') and Daisy's skimpy clothes seem pretty darn conservative compared to today! (Although they weren't at the time!) Plus the messages of good triumphing over evil (not that Boss and Rosco were necessarily evil or 'bad' people. They just got too greedy sometimes), and family values as taught by wise ol' Uncle Jesse, are something that seems to be sorely missed on television today.


text:
Interview with Melina Mercouri
February 2, 1971 |
"Oh, what a funny thing happened this afternoon," Melina Mercouri said, curling her feet beneath her and her voice around me. "A man came to interview me from the newspaper and I said, let me make you feel at home. What can 1 do for you? And he said, Peel me a grape. I peeled a grape and I fed it to him." She smiled wickedly. "A little bit at a time. Now I ask what can I do for you?"
Well, you can pour me some of that J & B, I said.
She took the bottle and held it by the neck and poured me half a tumbler-full, to match her own. "You are a wise boy," she said. "You make the right choice."
We drank, clinking glasses all around, and I proposed the Irish toast that the wind be always at her back, the road rise up to meet her feet, and the Lord hold her in the palm of his hand, a possibility which seemed to intrigue her.
"Ah! But I must get ready for dinner!" she said. "You will see a woman who can be dressed for dinner in five minutes." She swept into the bedroom of her hotel suite, followed by Anna, her traveling companion, and in four minutes we were on our way to Athens on Rush. She wanted to go there because Harry Lemonopoulos was playing there. "He is the best bazouki player in the world," she said. "I brought him over from Athens for 'Ilya, Darling,' and now he is my brother."
Harry was waiting for her on the sidewalk, and he bowed solemnly and then allowed himself to smile when she swept him into her arms. "My brother!" she said. "How I miss you!"
And then we were inside and - my notes have a little Roditis wine slopped over them - the Athens Quartet was playing "Never on Sunday" and she was smiling at them and humming along. And then they were playing another Greek song, and she was explaining:
"This is the song about the poor people. We are poor, they say, but we are under the sun, and we are proud. And now they are playing the song that says, make the bed for two...
Make the bed for two,
For me and you,
And there will be a -
And now they sing, when we are in each other's arms, everything will be resurrected." She smiled. "It is a song about - oh, you know. It is a song about resurrection. Greek songs are so wise sometimes."
Then we were eating shish kabob and stuffed grape leaves, feta cheese and cucumbers, anchovies and tomatoes and octopus and...
"Opa!" shouted the master of ceremonies. "Everybody shout with me. Opa! That's a Greek word, ladies and gentlemen, it means, sock it to me.
"Bull-! " Melina said beneath her breath. "It does not mean sock it to me. It means, up! Up! It means, how can I say it, it means everything is up." She threw her arm into the air to illustrate. Everybody in the audience was shouting together, "Opal" And a Greek belly dancer appeared on stage.
"You know why we have Greek belly dancers?" Melina asked. "That's what comes of being screwed by the Turks for 400 years." Her chin on her hand, she watched the girl. "You know," she said finally, "she's good. I like her. The belly dance done correctly is one of the most sensual dances in the world."
She let her head sway back and forth on her hand. "The belly dance," she said, "is infinitely more intelligent than the strip tease. It is a very wise dance. The belly dance says less about what is going to be revealed, and more about what is going to be done with what has been revealed, after it has been revealed."
She applauded as the belly dancer left the stage. "'I remember once in Belgium," she said, "I was sitting next to my husband, Julie. And there was a belly dancer that was wise, wise, so wise...and Julie was aroused, and I didn't care. I was aroused also. We were all aroused, she was so wise, so infinitely wise...."
And now the room grew quiet, and Harry Lemonopoulos walked quietly to the front of the stage and bowed to her, and began to play. After he had played for a while, Melina said softly, "The words to this song say, I am like a little dolphin. I wanted to forget you, little dolphin, but I need you so much. I have become nostalgic for you, my little dolphin, oh, my little dolphin. I want to see your curly eyelashes again."
Her voice grew sad. "To see again. Let's go, the song says. I don't care where I go. I have a wound in my heart. The wound is big like the sea, my dolphin, my little dolphin. Let's go back because I am dying to see your curly eyelashes...."
She sighed. She braced her knees against the table, her arms wrapped around them, and placed her chin between her knees. "For me," she said, "that's Greece. Until the colonels are gone, I will never go back. But I miss her. I want to see her curly eyelashes, oh, my little dolphin."
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The Amusement Park


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I had six weeks to prepare for a race that was 4 of 5 stars in difficulty, 5/5 for technical terrain, and 5/5 for elevation change. (The race started at 6900 feet and went up to 8300.) I live at sea level.
And have I mentioned I don't run?
Them: Are you taking any leave after deployment?
Me: I'm going hiking in Utah with some friends. And apparently I'm running a half marathon!
Them: Are you gonna train for it?
Me: Nah. I'm just gonna show up.
September came, and we all flew to Utah for the race. Most of the girls I was with ran longer races on Saturday. My event was scheduled for Sunday morning. It rained and snowed Friday night into Saturday and was still pretty messy outside on Saturday evening, so I planned my outfit around the weather. I opted for my UnderArmour Tactical combat boots instead of my trail shoes, due to my hatred of wet feet. I layered up on top, and donned my Ranger Up women's American flag pants because, like me, THESE COLORS DON'T RUN.
The race started, and we were off! I promptly dumped a few of my snacks out of my pack. I rescued a couple fruit strips from the ground and kept running. The run quickly turned into a walk. The race was mostly single track trail, and the first 6.5 miles were uphill; there would be plenty of time for running later.
The first 2 miles were a nice jaunt through the woods. I chatted with a guy from Louisiana; we commiserated about the lack of oxygen at elevation. I started sweating profusely, and mentally planned to shed a layer at the aid station at mile 4.2. I told myself no stopping other than designated aid stations. This plan was rudely interrupted by a momma moose and her baby, which had decided to lie down right in the middle of the trail around mile 3. The wildlife created a bottleneck for about 30 runners. I stripped off a layer while we figured out what to do. Eventually, we started bush-whacking it, climbing up the hill through brush and downed trees till we had passed the moose. Fun little adventure!
I kept trudging uphill, my gaze fixed downward so I didn't trip on the roots and rocks. My left hip began to hurt. Aid Station 1 at mile 4.2 came and went. I took electrolytes and a paper towel so I could blow my nose. Mile 5, I channeled my inner Dory fish and told myself to "just keep swimming, swimming, swimming." Mile 6 greeted me with a painfully long, slow grade uphill. But at least the view was beautiful!
At some point on the trail, I came up behind Pumpkin Socks and matched her pace for a while. I walked when she walked, and ran when she ran. Then AC/DC Thunderstruck came on the iPod and I made my move to pass her. I hit Aid Station 2 (at nearly 8300 feet) right at the 2 hour mark. This had me mildly concerned, because there was a 4 hour time cap for the race.
Thankfully, sweet glorious Gravity was on my side, as most of the rest of the race was downhill. I started running, and actually ran like 2 whole miles. In a row. (Pretty sure this is like a lifetime PR for distance.) It was amazing how decadently oxygen-rich the air felt at 7500 feet.
Around mile 10, I came to a fork in the road. I could see the yellow trail markers going in both directions. A friendly race worker pointed me up and to the right. "Oh goody, another hill," I said. He replied, "it's just a small one." (He lied.) Running stopped and trudging resumed.
At this point, my calf started to spasm. It never locked up completely, but it left me with flashbacks of those leg cramps I used to have in the night as a kid. Sadly, my parents weren't on the mountain with a tube of BenGay; I was going to have to work through it.
Aid Station 3 was at the top of that hill. Only 2.6 miles to go! More electrolytes and peanut M&Ms. I started running again. I looped back around to the friendly race worker, and this time he pointed me downhill. My spirits lifted. The end was near!
Not as near as I wanted. The last 2 miles were a series of switchbacks, where you did a lot of lateral running but not a whole lot of actual getting down the mountain. Grumble.
In mile 12, I tripped on a root but caught myself in time. The guy in front of me turned around to see if I was ok. "Too close to the end to fall down now," I said. I passed him and kept on running. Not 50 yards later, I was messing around with the iPod so I could skip a song. Caught my foot on a root and immediately face planted. There was no chance to save myself and I stabbed my quad with a rock. Instant bruise. Awesome.
The evil switchbacks carried me back into the woods. I stopped briefly to stretch my calves on a tree trunk. Too close to the end to cramp up now, right? With less than a quarter mile left, the woods ended and it was a straight shot to the finish line. I could see my friends at the finish line cheering me on. By some miracle, I picked up the pace and stretched out my legs to the finish. I raised my hands triumphantly, not because I won (not even close), but because IT WAS OVER!
There were hugs. And a medal. And a really salty jerky bar. I told my friend, "I have cramps in all the places." One of the race workers laughed.
This was probably one of the dumber things I've done in my life, and I don't plan to repeat it anytime soon, certainly not without training.
It took me 3 hours and 26 minutes, but I met my goal: I didn't quit, and I didn't die. Not too bad for just showing up!
Your story reminded me of a friend of a friend who happened to notice a marathon when he was on his honeymoon overseas. He decided to run it because he had a few hours to kill that afternoon. Unlike your story, he had absolutely no running training. Despite that he finished under the minimum time which is to say before the race organizers closed the race.


text:
Bochum Barflies vs Herne Lizards
3. Juli 2016 15:00 Landesliga 2016
Bochum Barflies 0 0 1 1 1 3 0 2 0 8 9 4 Loss
Herne Lizards 1 0 1 4 0 0 0 1 2 9 13 1 Win
Barflies Drops Heartbreaker To Herne Lizards, 9-8
A ninth-inning Herne Lizards single spelled defeat for Barflies, falling 9-8 in walk-off fashion at Bochum on Sunday.
With the score tied at eight in the ninth inning, Martin Müller came to the plate and singled, plating Arne Ulrich.
Christian Theis had two extra-base hits for Barflies. He doubled in the fifth and sixth innings and singled in the eighth inning.
Theis worked out of 22 difficult moments for Barflies. He pitched 8 2/3 innings and allowed six earned runs on 13 hits. Theis faced his most difficult moment in the ninth inning.
Martin Müller recorded the win for Herne Lizards. He allowed three runs over four innings. He struck out one, walked one and surrendered four hits.
Herne Lizards' Ulrich, Cedric Weidner, M Jarocki and Kühne combined for nine hits and three RBIs.
Theis took the loss for Barflies.
The bottom of the first saw Herne Lizards take an early lead, 1-0. The Herne Lizards attack began with a single from Martin Müller.
Herne Lizards quickly matched Barflies' strong inning with a one-run inning of its own in the third. Herne Lizards scored on an RBI double by Nils Schlemminger.
Herne Lizards survived Barflies' surge and put up four runs of its own in the fourth. Herne Lizards scored on an RBI single by F Dudel, an RBI single by Jarocki, an error, and an error.
14 Tobias Froning 2 0 2 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0
22 Ilia Sinev 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 3 1 1
53 Hendrik Gerhardt 99 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
61 Christian Theis 0 4 3 3 2 2 0 0 1 0 0 0
63 Raul Barroso Mayeta 0 3 2 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 2 2
99 Fabio Novali 53 0 3 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 2
Gesamt 0 33 8 9 8 2 0 0 14 8 7 16
Sang-Hyun Cho 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Tobias Froning 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Ilia Sinev 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Peter Beargie 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Hendrik Gerhardt 99 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Aladin Laudien 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Christian Theis 0 8.6 13 9 6 3 2 0
Raul Barroso Mayeta 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Patrick Schulz 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Fabio Novali 53 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Gesamt 0 8.6 13 9 6 3 2 0
Herne Lizards
00 Privat: Marvin Rathmann 84 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
9 Privat: Kühne 0 4 1 2 1 0 0 0 2 0 1 0
21 Arne Ulrich 0 5 1 2 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 2
22 Fabian Dudel 0 3 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1
32 Martin Müller 0 5 0 2 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 2
33 Nils Rinke 0 5 0 1 2 1 0 0 2 0 0 3
47 Dirk Engel 0 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0
50 Privat: Cedric Weidner 0 4 2 2 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 1
84 Lars Kahre 00 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
85 Marvin Jarocki 0 4 4 3 1 0 0 0 5 1 0 0
Gesamt 0 37 9 13 7 3 0 0 13 3 2 11
Martin Müller 0 4 4 3 3 1 1 0
Marvin Jarocki 0 5 5 5 5 7 6 0
Gesamt 0 9 9 8 8 8 7 0
Herne Lizards Baseballfeld
Forellstraße 107, 44629 Herne, Germany
Herne Lizards vs Bochum Barflies


text:
St. Giles' C.E. Primary School, Shrewsbury
Inspire, Believe, Achieve
Achievements & Data
Safer School
Values – Christian
Values – British
Curriculum Letters
Topics and Theme
External Resouces
Articulation of Phonemes
ActiveLearn – BugClub
NumberGym
Spelling Shed
Topmarks Education
SATs Sample Papers
Home / Clubs & Sports
Our Breakfast club runs from 7.30a.m. until the opening of the school at 8.45a.m, in the school dining hall. Children will be fully supervised for the duration of this period.
Breakfast will be served to all children who arrive at the club before 8.20 a.m. each day. This will consist of:
A choice of cereals & Toast with jam, honey or chocolate spread & Fruit juice or cold milk & Fresh Fruit
Suitable activities will also be provided for the children to do until the start of the school day at 8.45a.m. If you wish your child to attend breakfast club, please complete the booking form below and return to the school office. We would respectfully request that 1 weeks' notice be given prior to the dates required for the breakfast club so as to ensure we have the correct number of staff in place although we often can fit in children last minute; please phone school to check. Bookings for Breakfast Club can be made using our online sQuid booking and payment system.
Breakfast club will cost £3.50 per session for a first child. The price for a second child is £3.00 per session. All costs are payable at the time of booking.
Our After School Care provision runs from 3.15pm until 5.45pm in the school hall. Children are fully supervised for the duration of our after school care provision.
Bookings for After School Care can be made using our online sQuid booking and payment system.
There is also an external company, Treetops Kids Club, who offer an after school care facility for children attending school here. Treetops are based at Mereside.
Please visit their website for further information http://www.treetopskidsclub.co.uk/
A wide variety of extra-curricular clubs are offered at a cost of £3 per session. These include sporting, arts and other activities.
We offer an inclusive approach to sports clubs which are run separately to school teams and enable all children to take part, enjoy and improve in their ability, attitude and stamina.
Other clubs are also offered and often change termly. There are opportunities throughout the school year for children to attend a variety of clubs including: Cooking, Football, French, Choir, Multi Skills, Art & Craft, LegoWeDo, Netball, Yoga, Summer Sports.
Download the booking form for after school clubs by clicking the button below:
After School Club Spring Term 2020
To find out more about our clubs, please contact us
Shropshire Music Service provide lessons in a wide range of instruments including:
Guitar/Ukele, Keyboard, Violin/Cello, Flute/Clarinet/Saxophone, Drums, Trumpet/Cornet
These are paid for by parents and will take place during the school day, depending upon the availability of the particular teacher.
We are delighted to announce that we have achieved the School Games GOLD Award for the 2018/19 academic year.
The School Games Mark is a Government led award scheme launched in 2012, facilitated by the Youth Sport Trust to reward schools for their commitment to the development of competition across their school and into the community, and we are delighted to have been recognised for our success.
We had a number of children competing in local inter-school competitions this year and we are extremely proud of our pupils for their dedication to all aspects of school sport, including those young volunteers, leaders and officials who made our competitions possible.
As part of our application, we were asked to fulfil criteria in the areas of participation, competition, workforce and clubs, and we are pleased that the hard work of everyone at our school has been rewarded this year.
LKS2 Visit to Shrewsbury Library
Reluctant Dragon – Image Theatre Group
KS1 Visit to Shrewsbury Library and Castle
2020 © St. Giles' C.E. Primary School, Shrewsbury. Theme by MyThemeShop


Includes B & B in Knock, plus a Mini Retreat together….
Places are limited – sign up before the end of June…..
£30 includes Bus, B & B in Knock & Retreat.
Transport: Bus will leave from Hilltown, at 8.30 am pick up points, Mayobridge, Newry, Banbridge and Lurgan.
Click here to download the REGISTRATION FORM. Please complete and return to the address provided.