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New Year & New Celebrations
McKendree Walker Fashion January 1, 2021
Lawson's Virtual Wedding Guide
4Memphis Weddings Feature January 1, 2021
For the Love of Cheese
Sandi Butler Hughes Culinary, Feature January 1, 2021
Jim Walker From the Publisher January 1, 2021
Wedding Registry Guide
January/February 2021 Issue on Newstands Now!
Memphis Impact
Ken Hall Art Events
Where to Pick up a Copy of 4Memphis
Memphis Soulful Food Truck Festival
By: Christina Iovinelli
Photography by: Alan Bernal
Memphis Soulful Food Truck Festival is an annual festival held in Memphis, Tennessee, by Cynthia Daniels & Co., to celebrate Memphis Black Restaurant Week. On March 15th, the 4th annual festival took place from 12-6 pm on Tiger Lane. Roughly 3,000 patrons from not only Memphis but, Nashville, Chicago, St. Louis, North Carolina, and Mississippi traveled to experience the magic of Memphis food culture. The 2020 Memphis Soulful Food Truck Festival included twenty-seven food trucks parked outside the Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium. Inside, there were seventy-five local vendors with live music playing. Two of the food trucks included Smurfey's Smokehouse and Smurfey's Crepes and Waffles, founded and owned by a local Memphis family. The business has been serving its killer nachos for roughly ten years now. Last year, they created Smurfey's Crepes and Waffles, which was a popular spot at the festival. The family says that the best thing about owning a food truck is getting to meet others in the food truck business that lead to communal events like this one. They love being able to share a gift of food making with other Memphians.
At the festival, some Impact staff members and I had the privilege of interviewing two talented individuals who took part in the festival. Gerald Richardson kicked off the first hour of the event with his soulful and smooth voice. Gerald is a local singer, social worker, and small business owner in Memphis, and has performed at the festival each year since its founding. Gerald told us that his favorite thing about being a part of the festival is "the diversity it brings in with Memphis being so multicultural, everyone comes. The food is great! The music is even greater!" Gerald loves getting to work with some of the most talented people in the city each year because they learn from one another in terms of small business and branding.
We also interviewed C.M. Farris, a local artist, vendor, and art instructor. This was Farris' first year participating and showcasing his work at the festival. When asked what his favorite aspect about being a part of the Memphis Soulful Food Truck Festival was, he said, "the exposure and getting to meet new locals." Farris has been painting for over twenty years now, and his art is based on Memphis scenery, local residents, and the city's music. Farris hosts art classes for the community that can be found on Instagram and Facebook @CMFARRISFINEART. Overall, the Memphis Soulful Food Truck Festival shows the true culture of Memphis and allows us to build new experiences and eat good food together!
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As a recent addition to our "Markets Served" list, Medical Equipment is an emerging market for us, as we supply one of the largest producers of medical equipment in North America.
With ALG's ISO Certification and many printing processes that provide a wide range of products, the Medical Equipment industry has found us, a perfect fit for their needs.
Able to manufacture labels that perform to the highest standards this industry requires, ALG continues to deliver a wide range of decals for this market's many applications.


Headline® fungicide offers superior disease control. A fast-acting, broad-spectrum fungicide with a high-level of activity on major diseases that threaten yield and plant health, Headline®-treated corn is more tolerant to stress such as drought and heat stress.
Not only does Headline® provide excellent disease control and stress tolerance, it promotes growth efficiency through better use of nitrogen fertilizer. This means healthier plants and higher yield potential. And the benefits of Headline® are realized throughout the growing season in the form of optimized growth or plant health. Since plants aren't wasting energy fighting off disease, they have more energy to spend on growth and yield potential. Stronger stalks, healthier plants and higher yield potential are what you can expect from DEKALB® and Headline® products.
For corn growers who demand the best in disease protection, the standard has now been raised. Headline AMP® fungicide combines the active ingredient in Headline® with metconazole, a new triazole for use in corn. The result is the first combination fungicide that helps deliver maximum disease protection and plant health.
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"The most important thing in acting is honesty: if you can fake that, you've got it made."
For four flagrant flops in consecution, their famed but fading author (Caine) of thrillers is driven to dejection, desperation and distraction of a kind inspiring the murderous machination to invite a sometime student (Reeve) who's penned and posted him a first-rate foray in his manner to his home for collaborative colloquy, so to dispatch the gifted greenhorn with an article from his panoply of stage props and antique weaponry, and crib the thriller as his own to revive his career and finances. Attic dialogue, anfractuous artifices and artful auguries of Levin's hit stage play are preserved and magnified in this penultimate picture of Lumet's second winning streak, as sable in its hilarity as it's diegetically flexuous, defying and denying prevision for initial viewers first with a perverse masterstroke at midpoint, then a succession of vicissitudes as both the sinuous plot and that of its culprit's eponymous work unfold pari passu, complicated by the homicidal playwright's squirrelly, cardiopathic wife (Cannon) and a meddlesome, clairvoyant celebrity (Worth) of Netherlandish extraction. Caine was cast choicely in the seething, sulky, scheming, creepy lead opposite Reeve, whose typecast stature as cinema's charming, caped darling made selection of a wickedly rigorous role as impressive for his professional daring as his patently protean proficiency. "To show you any more would be a crime," proclaims this movie's trailer in sincerity; that first of several twists may not shock with the potency it had over three decades ago, but the cinematic dash with which Lumet and continually contemporaneous collaborator Allen adapted Levin's ingenious source elevates it in transition to the filmic medium. It's shot, played and cut with such irresistible, hysterical, cutthroat, playful panache, you almost can't envision its proscenium!
Recommended for a double feature paired with A Shock to the System.


text:
/*
	Builtin & custom types
	Author :  Dimitris Vlachos (DimitrisV22@gmail.com @ github.com/DimitrisVlachos)
*/

#ifndef __types__hpp__
#define __types__hpp__

#undef __USE_MAPPED_IO__
#include <stdint.h>
#include <stddef.h>
#include <iostream>
#include <string>
#include <cstdlib>
#include <cstring>
#include <cmath>
#include <vector>
#include <list>
#include <fstream>
#include <algorithm>
#include <cassert>
#include <sys/types.h>
#include <sys/stat.h>
#include <sys/mman.h>
#include <fcntl.h>
#include <unistd.h>

#ifndef __MIC__BUILD__
	#include <emmintrin.h>
	#include <xmmintrin.h>
#else
	#include <immintrin.h>
	#include <zmmintrin.h>
#endif

typedef float f32_t;
typedef double f64_t;
typedef uint32_t boolean_t;

struct parameters_t {
	uint32_t nb_threads,max_scale,max_rot;
	std::string main_image_name;
	std::list<std::string> template_names;
};

struct result_t {
	uint32_t pattern;
	uint32_t px;
	uint32_t py;
	uint32_t _align;
};

typedef struct __attribute__ ((__packed__)){
	//BMP header
	uint16_t magic_number;
	uint32_t size;
	uint32_t reserved;
	uint32_t offset;
	//DIB header
	uint32_t dibSize;
	uint32_t width;
	uint32_t height;
	uint16_t plane;
	uint16_t bit_per_pixel;
	uint32_t compression;
	uint32_t data_size;
	uint32_t hor_res;
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	uint32_t color_number;
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#endif

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
WATCHES + JEWELLERY
Is Wearing Used Swimwear Gross?
Luyee Toh
Standing in Beacon's Closet, a New York-based resale shop, I sifted through racks of old, stained at the pits-Zara tops and vintage—read: flammable—polyester, aimlessly shopping for nothing in mind. I often prowl secondhand stores in hopes of scoring underpriced designer goods, with a strong success rate of about 65 percent (a percentage I completely made up, but I once found an authentic Prada bag for $25, just saying). I'm a used clothing veteran with a high-tolerance for sloppy seconds, so when I spotted a vintage Emilio Pucci swimsuit for $30 it was a no brainer. But to others, it was downright nasty.
For reference, a brand new Pucci suit typically retails over $500. According to the math, I'm getting a 94 percent discount just by purchasing a gently worn suit. The gross out-factor involved with wearing something that once touched another person's lady parts seems to disturbs many, but for me (and Kylie Jenner, who wore a vintage bathing suit that premiered on the Chanel runway—on Naomi Campbell, no less—over 25 years ago) it's all good. Curious as to whether these suits could actually cause me any harm, I reached out to Dr. Lauren Streicher, an OBGYN and clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern University.
A post shared by Kylie (@kyliejenner) on Jul 15, 2019 at 10:40am PDT
Chanel's SS94 collection, shown on October 14, 1993. (Photo credit: Getty Images)
"It's more of an ick factor than a true health factor," said the doctor. According to her, the chances of catching an STD or STI from a used bathing suit is unlikely. "When something is sexually transmitted it because it's transmitted directly from one person to another person, not because you got it from a toilet seat or from a sheet in a hotel. Otherwise everyone would have STIs." An obvious health class reminder—similar to the idea you can't get pregnant from sitting in a hot tub.
Why else should you consider shopping used swimwear? Well, it supports a zero-waste lifestyle. Sustainably speaking, eco-friendly swimwear is a complicated subject. Since no one wants to hit the pool in a cotton one-piece, swimsuits are typically made from synthetic textiles like polyester and nylon i.e. microplastics. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, a half-million metric tons of microplastics enter the ocean from the washing these fabrics. Brands like Reformation and Madewell are curbing their carbon footprint by producing suits made from recycled plastic, but you can double down with a vintage swimsuit (and by washing your clothes in a Guppyfriend bag that reduces the amount of microbeads that enter the water).
If you are still perturbed by the practice, shop at resale sites like The RealReal who uphold a higher standard of quality control. "We typically only accept swimwear that is in pristine condition, meaning it's new, with the tags still attached," said Sasha Skoda, head of womenswear at TRR. The rule, however, gets waived for really good designer items, like Jenner's Chanel suit. "We do make exceptions for one-of-a-kind collector's items, like vintage Dior or an amazing Gucci, as we see higher demand for really special pieces. These unique pieces still have to meet our general condition standards, but we do accept them at lower condition levels than pristine." That's better than buying a bikini from your local thrift store. But even if you were so brave (*raises hand*), a good wash should do the trick to keep you safe. It's mind over matter.
This article first appeared on ELLE.
Hanan Haddad January 20, 2020
BTS Set To Perform New Single 'Black Swan' At The Late Late Show With James Corden
Mark your calendars, ARMYs!
Natasha Bird January 20, 2020
The Queen Announces An 'Agreement' Has Been Reached For Prince Harry & Meghan Markle
Her Majesty wishes the Duke and Duchess of Sussex a 'peaceful' new life.
ELLE USA January 20, 2020
Jean Paul Gaultier's Upcoming Runway Show Will Be His Last
Your First Look At Kang Daniel's Collaboration With Puma Korea
He premieres the brand new collection and looks oh-so-good in them.
Ler Jun Sng January 17, 2020
The Binge List: Brand New TV Shows To Catch On Netflix This Fortnight (18 Jan – 31 Jan)
Here are three new shows to binge on during the CNY holidays.
Lauren Gui January 17, 2020
The Best Limited Edition Chinese New Year 2020 Fashion Pieces To Nab
Ring in the Year of the Rat with these brand spanking new and ultra chic pieces.
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Our educational and daytime activities are based on treating our customers as individuals. Their individual knowledge, skills, needs and experiences are taken into account. It's vital that they experience success and can fully participate in Finnish society. Our customer-orientated and motivational way to operate strives for the best psychological, physical and social wellbeing for our customers.
We encourage our service users to use all their abilities and to live as independent and happy lives as possible.
We have special education, daytime activity and work units at several locations in Finland.
Our daytime activities are for those needing special support, such as people with disability, mental health habilitees and those needing help with independent living.
Special education is goal-oriented training and teaching of cognitive skills.
Education is based on the skills and knowledge related to adulthood. Special education lasts from one to three years. Our special education is for teenagers and young adults, who have completed the nine-year basic education in a comprehensive school or are in need of a school-like education. A personal training plan is made for all students.
The education enables our service users to gain new skills, become more independent and cope better in everyday life. The education content is carefully chosen to cover different aspects of everyday life and is based on customer needs. We also try to organise parts of the training outside of our own premises. After the training, all participants receive a personal evaluation and feedback as well as a certificate.
Activities give our days at Eskoo a good rhythm. Goal-oriented and meaningful activities are individually planned and aim to give experiences of success. Social skills, daily chores and work are practiced during daytime activities, which also offer many learning possibilities for those needing plenty of support.
For those needing versatile support and guidance in their daily lives, we have a special daytime activity group. The activities encourage our service users to be more active, develop interpersonal skills and maintain their current level of skills. We also offer many ways to activate our customers' senses.
Housing training focuses on everyday skills that increase the level of self-help and independent initiative skills.
Aging training is meant for elderly people to prevent and slow down the changes caused by getting old.
Work training is goal-oriented and individually planned. It aims to develop and maintain our customers' knowledge and skills as well as support adulthood and independent living. Work training is meant for those not able to be employed normally. We undertake different kinds of subcontracting and assembly work as well as handicrafts, where habilitative factors are more important than production.
Open work and supported employment aim to get our customers employed in open work markets with the help of individual support. Open work is a part of social services, and therefore people do not have an employment contract. If a person is in a supported employment, he/she has an employment contract.


in GE's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. . Credit. Cards. Personal. Loans. Sales. Finance. Mortgages. Auto. Insurance. Broad Product Line .
You can choose the length of your car loan (maximum 7 years2) and payment . GE Automotive Financial Services ABN 80 004 187 419, trading as GE Money.
GE Money provides loans for personal needs, debt consolidation, cars, boats, . From credit cards and personal loans to insurance and retail finance, we can . offering a range of services: including personal loans, car loans, credit cards, .
GE Capital is the financial services unit of General Electric, one of five major units . . Major focus is in mortgages (homes and automobile) and personal loans.


contribute to our everyday lives.
medical imaging software, or fabric that protects against UV rays.
trophies, along with their commercial partners.
Sounds like they will be filming out here at the pad on Wed. Will be rolling the crawler up and down the slope, plus RSS should be at park for the payload cansiter.
MERRITT ISLAND, Fla., Oct. 1 (UPI) -- A NASA spokesman said about 600 people with security clearance at Florida's Kennedy Space Center showed up at a casting call for "Transformers 3" extras.
Hi guys, I'm working on this production. Yes, we will be filming scenes when the RSS is rotated back. Discovery and the autobots offer advise and assistance to each other in one scene.
Discovery and the autobots offer advise and assistance to each other in one scene.
So Discovery will be a hidden Transformer (a "seeker") like Jetfire was in the second movie?
I wonder how NASA was able to operate an orbiter for almost 30 years without knowing it was a giant alien robot..
Discovery's going to speak? Heh! I'd watch the movie for that alone!
Same here. And you can't beat publicity like that!
Guess we'll find out whether or to call Discovery a guy or a girl from now on.
Welcome aboard. You'll find this to be the best space site around - fewer trolls, more knowledge, opinions that are based in facts.
Anything you can contribute from your job to the discussion is appreciated.
"Human Spaceflight: While our path may not always be clear, our destiny is!"
Cool! You got most of that scene/preps for a scene. This is the latest view, nothing much.
Payload to the Pad and RSS retract delayed a day, so if that may hit filming if they need the RSS retracted.
I won't be happy until I see some autobots racing through the VAB with Endeavour making a surprise trip out of her OPF and riding on a turbo version of the OTS chasing after them.


Nice seller. Watch is in good condition.
物品:Casio G-Shock solar wave watch.
Good seller, smooth transaction, will buy again!
Very good seller,i hope i can fixed the chrono reset problem,Thanks a lot!
Very nice and very on time seller... Hightly recommended.


text:
Reading Recs for World Building
March 22, 2018 March 12, 2018 Kat Cho
In our "Reading Recs for…" series we'll recommend reads for certain topics that we run into often.
One of the most fun and also most painful parts of building an epic fantasy world is world-building. (To be fair, all genres should have good world-building).
THE BELLES by Dhonielle Clayton
why we rec: This world was created to make social commentary on ours while still being hugely fantastical. It's an accomplishment of Dhonielle's that she makes us think about some very complicated social constructs such as beauty, gender norms, and sexism in a way that allows us to reflect on our world while still being completely immersed in Orleans. A society that uses beauty as capital needs to be more than surface in order to have any power in the message. Beauty permeates not only the way people view each other in Orleans, but also how class constructs are built and how people interact with each other.
Camellia Beauregard is a Belle. In the opulent world of Orléans, Belles are revered, for they control Beauty, and Beauty is a commodity coveted above all else. In Orléans, the people are born gray, they are born damned, and only with the help of a Belle and her talents can they transform and be made beautiful.
But it's not enough for Camellia to be just a Belle. She wants to be the favorite—the Belle chosen by the Queen of Orléans to live in the royal palace, to tend to the royal family and their court, to be recognized as the most talented Belle in the land. But once Camellia and her Belle sisters arrive at court, it becomes clear that being the favorite is not everything she always dreamed it would be. Behind the gilded palace walls live dark secrets, and Camellia soon learns that the very essence of her existence is a lie—that her powers are far greater, and could be more dangerous, than she ever imagined. And when the queen asks Camellia to risk her own life and help the ailing princess by using Belle powers in unintended ways, Camellia now faces an impossible decision.
With the future of Orléans and its people at stake, Camellia must decide—save herself and her sisters and the way of the Belles—or resuscitate the princess, risk her own life, and change the ways of her world forever.
COURT OF FIVES by Kate Elliott
why we rec: A world that hugely influences all the characters and how they make their decisions. That's a very important thing in fantasy world-building. What Court of Fives does so well is create not only a cool world, but it thinks about religion, food, family, and societal relationships. The relationship of the main family is so intricately built and highly influenced by their station in society. It also talks about class and ethnic groups in a way that is realistic and seamless.
On the Fives court, everyone is equal.
And everyone is dangerous.
Jessamy's life is a balance between acting like an upper-class Patron and dreaming of the freedom of the Commoners. But away from her family, she can be whomever she wants when she sneaks out to train for the Fives, an intricate, multilevel athletic competition that offers a chance for glory to the kingdom's best competitors.
Then Jes meets Kalliarkos, and an improbable friendship between the two Fives competitors—one of mixed race and the other a Patron boy—causes heads to turn. When Kal's powerful, scheming uncle tears Jes's family apart, she'll have to test her new friend's loyalty and risk the vengeance of a royal clan to save her mother and sisters from certain death.
In this imaginative escape into an enthralling new world, World Fantasy Award finalist Kate Elliott's first young adult novel weaves an epic story of a girl struggling to do what she loves in a society suffocated by rules of class and privilege.
TRUTHWITCH by Susan Dennard
why we rec: Susan Dennard has often said she was raised on epic, high fantasy growing up. That is very apparent in the Witchland series. The world is sprawling and politically complicated. Warring worlds with dynamic characters caught in between. The issues that Safi, Iseul and Merik face are created because of world-wide conflicts and therefore, they are often powerless players in a game of political intrigue. This makes both the stakes and the solutions they come up with more intense.
In a continent on the edge of war, two witches hold its fate in their hands.
Young witches Safiya and Iseult have a habit of finding trouble. After clashing with a powerful Guildmaster and his ruthless Bloodwitch bodyguard, the friends are forced to flee their home.
Safi must avoid capture at all costs as she's a rare Truthwitch, able to discern truth from lies. Many would kill for her magic, so Safi must keep it hidden – lest she be used in the struggle between empires. And Iseult's true powers are hidden even from herself.
In a chance encounter at Court, Safi meets Prince Merik and makes him a reluctant ally. However, his help may not slow down the Bloodwitch now hot on the girls' heels. All Safi and Iseult want is their freedom, but danger lies ahead. With war coming, treaties breaking and a magical contagion sweeping the land, the friends will have to fight emperors and mercenaries alike. For some will stop at nothing to get their hands on a Truthwitch.
SIX OF CROWS by Leigh Bardugo
why we rec: Leigh Bardugo did an amazing job in her first trilogy of fleshing out Ravka, but Six of Crows takes her world to a whole new level. I once compared it to the way that the Legend of Korra builds of the phenomenal world-building of Avatar the Last Airbender–in many ways, Bardugo does something by showing us an even wider world beyond the borders of her first trilogy, and building on the amazing magic and technology. She uses each of her POV characters to show us different aspects, beliefs, and facets of the Grisha world. Part of what makes her world-building work so well is the way that the world affects the characters, and the way the characters in turn affect their world. Whenever I have to put on my heavy-duty world-building hat, I think about this series and the intricate, honest way Bardugo crafted this world.
Criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker has been offered wealth beyond his wildest dreams. But to claim it, he'll have to pull off a seemingly impossible heist:
Break into the notorious Ice Court
(a military stronghold that has never been breached)
Retrieve a hostage
(who could unleash magical havoc on the world)
Survive long enough to collect his reward
(and spend it)
Kaz needs a crew desperate enough to take on this suicide mission and dangerous enough to get the job done – and he knows exactly who: six of the deadliest outcasts the city has to offer. Together, they just might be unstoppable – if they don't kill each other first.
AN EMBER IN THE ASHES by Sabaa Tahir
why we rec: EMBER completely immerses the reader in the characters' lives—from Elias and Helene at Blackcliff to Laia's life as a Scholar. Many people have talked to me about the bleakness at the beginning of the novel; Tahir does not shy away from depictions of violence and grief, which is certainly a fair warning. The Roman-inspired world provides a backdrop of constant warring, which if history is any indication, realistic of the time period. The brutality and motivations of the Martial Empire are an important world building piece and without it, much of EMBER would not have the intense stakes that it does.
Laia is a slave. Elias is a soldier. Neither is free.
Under the Martial Empire, defiance is met with death. Those who do not vow their blood and bodies to the Emperor risk the execution of their loved ones and the destruction of all they hold dear.
It is in this brutal world, inspired by ancient Rome, that Laia lives with her grandparents and older brother. The family ekes out an existence in the Empire's impoverished backstreets. They do not challenge the Empire. They've seen what happens to those who do.
But when Laia's brother is arrested for treason, Laia is forced to make a decision. In exchange for help from rebels who promise to rescue her brother, she will risk her life to spy for them from within the Empire's greatest military academy.
There, Laia meets Elias, the school's finest soldier—and secretly, its most unwilling. Elias wants only to be free of the tyranny he's being trained to enforce. He and Laia will soon realize that their destinies are intertwined—and that their choices will change the fate of the Empire itself.
WINNER'S CURSE by Marie Rutkoski
Why we rec: Part of this recommendation comes from the knowledge that Marie Rutkoski based the world off of the conflict and interaction of the Ancient Greeks and Ancient Romans. It created a fascinating interaction of how the conquering people (Ancient Romans) adopted some of the gods and beliefs of the conquered (Ancient Greeks) while also subjecting them to becoming second-class citizens in a land that used to be their home. It makes the relationships very complicated and intricate and creates an amazing world background for the main two characters to develop their forbidden relationship.
Winning what you want may cost you everything you love…
As a general's daughter in a vast empire that revels in war and enslaves those it conquers, seventeen-year-old Kestrel has two choices: she can join the military or get married. But Kestrel has other intentions.
One day, she is startled to find a kindred spirit in a young slave up for auction. Arin's eyes seem to defy everything and everyone. Following her instinct, Kestrel buys him—with unexpected consequences. It's not long before she has to hide her growing love for Arin.
But he, too, has a secret, and Kestrel quickly learns that the price she paid for a fellow human is much higher than she ever could have imagined.
Set in a richly imagined new world, The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski is a story of deadly games where everything is at stake, and the gamble is whether you will keep your head or lose your heart.
Do you have any reading recommendations for great world building?
reading reading recommendations
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My personal forms of expression intend to convey my response to the essence of nature and consciousness in my paintings. There is a long tradition in Asia of this approach to art-making, both in India and China. This shows up in how I draw flowers, mountains, and other natural forms and in how my brush moves, including in my non-representational work. Energy, essence, emotion translate my inner experience.
When it comes to recognizable imagery, flowers and plants seem to be my thing. I'm painting them a lot, and their ideograms are my favorite Chinese calligraphy exercises. I love that in his book Hindu Iconography, sculptor/architect Ganapati Sthapati advocates not copying directly but capturing "their intangible qualities and significance…the essence of the forms rather than direct copies of their natural shapes…observed, understood, well-savoured, and the response of the artist." How very Taoist! And very Sherri!
My real artist statement is the artwork itself and my own life. More reveals itself to me daily in the studio as paintings in gouache, pastels, and mineral pigment; mixed media art; collage; photography, and whatever other artforms emerge, frequently as a surprise.
Art is a doorway, the freshness of the fountain within.
Rising 3 from the In the Pink series. Sherri Silverman. Gouache and pastel on Arches Cover paper. 2014. 24" x 15.5".
Subtle levels of the mechanics of creation and various forms of symbolism spontaneously dance across these pieces of paper. My art is an exploration of my inner images and the images I see in the world around me in nature, books, and art. My inspiration comes from quiet interior states, meditation experiences, and contemplative creative time. My artistic goals include creating work that expands and enlivens consciousness, that nourishes the soul, that heals and evokes happiness and wholeness in the world. I want to make a lasting contribution by delving into the mystery of creating something from nothing.


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Association of crossed renal ectopia and aortic aneurism. Case report.
Barba Abad JF, Romero Vargas L, Tolosa Eizaguirre E, Rincón Mayans A, Rosell Costa D, Robles García JE, Pascual Piedrola I.
Renal malformations are rare entities and rarely have clinical consequences. Crossed renal ectopia has an incidence of 1/2.000 autopsies. The association with aortic aneurysm is even more exceptional.
We present our case and perform a bibliographic review.
To date and in our knowledge, seven cases of crossed renal ectopia associated with aortic aneurysm were described on the literature. This malformation makes the treatment of the aneurysm more complex. The possibility of renal function decrease caused by injuries to the renal arteries during the surgical procedure is always present.
Because of this risk of injury of the kidney during surgery preoperative evaluation of the vascularization must include image technologies as the MRI, CT-angiography or conventional arteriography. During the aortic intervention vascular conservation must be performed and it is necessary to minimize the time of renal ischemia.
The association of crossed renal ectopia and aortic aneurysm is a rare event. The surgical intervention of the aorta does not have to necessarily originate a loss of renal function. Anyway the worsening of the renal clearance must be foreseen.


text:
layout: post
title: Tweets
date: 2021-11-30
summary: These are the tweets for November 30, 2021.
categories:
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Kitty cats, in the left corner we have Elizabeth and James' perfect Polished Knuckle Ring; in the right corner we have Urban Outfitters' sassy Smooth Knuckle Ring.
While the Urban Outfitters bauble is constructed out of mixed metal, in comparison to the 18K goldplated sterling silver which makes up the Elizabeth and James gem; for just $24.00, as opposed to the $225.00 required to make the enticing E&J piece yours, it is every bit as essential for the fashionista's jewelry drawer – at a price that is simply irresistible!
What's your bank account telling you to do, kittens? Will you be a big spender with Elizabeth and James, or play the role of the thrifty fashionista?
Thanks to Saks Fifth Avenue and Urban Outfitters for the pictures.
Wow..so pretty..just not sure I'd have to have one since I have short fingers. But really such an interesting ring. I have a friend who has her mother's gold plated fingernail for her pinkie that she wore in the 80's. I dunno why it made me think of that.
That is a very cool price for this item.
Cool! Never seen these before!
great find! i love the statement a knuckle ring makes!
I'm not a fan of these rings, and I'm a fan of almost everything Elizabeth and James. If I had to choose, it would be the E&J splurge. Hope you're having a good Sunday.
Such an interesting find. I do like the 24 bucks price.
I have never seen one of these until now. Interesting.
This is a great find Erika! Almost identical!
Love these types of rings! I will take either, they are both beautiful!
I'll definitely take the Urban Outfitters ring! Very cool!
Oooh, hard to argue with that price! And it does look just like the E&J one.
Ahh I thought that was some kind of weird shoe at first! Clearly need to clean my eyes out haha. I'm not the biggest ring-wearer so I'd go with the cheaper alternative :) Hope you've had an amazing weekend!
Love both rings... But I like one price more tha the other one ;) Great post. Thanks for your lovely comments.
Large rings are my favourite things right now. I'm definitely picking the Elizabeth & James one: it looks more polished.
Definitely the UO version! Unless it's something I"d wear every day (and in this case I wouldn't - I like switching my jewelry a lot), I'd probably save my pennies for something else :) Love both of these though!
I honestly can't decide. The E&J version feels more night-time so I'd want it because I think it'd add some interest to a really simple dinner look. The UO version is so everyday though. The sort of dull color means I'd feel ok wearing it everywhere, including to the pool.
UO has me smitten! plus there is such little difference between the two.
I've never seen anything quite like this. Very unique. And wow, what a great price at $24!
Oh~ Thanks for that! I've always wanted that EJ knuckle ring!
Perfect match -- what a stunning and luxurious-looking piece!
that is quite the ring!
Great "for less" post, Erika! The only thing I'm wondering is whether the UO version might leave one's finger slightly... green?
Gold is so divine. Gold is glamour. Less is often more. Gold remains. Point.
I love MK's and Ashley's brands, great to see an affordable alternative! Great find!
I'm loving the rings! Thanks for the info. Cute blog!
Oh my goodness, when I saw the pic of those the first time, I thought they were major wedge heels! Ha!
These are so close to each other that you'd be a fool to choose the more expensive version!
Very nice! I'd go with the UO ring. You do such an amazing job of finding these. Love it!
I've been wanting that ring from Elizabeth and James. Thanks for the cheap find!
I'll take the cheap one! That ring is too trendy for me to want to spend more than that anyway. So cute.
Definitely, thrifty fashionista:) Hope you had a great weekend!
I like jewels,but I'm only wearing a simple cross for protection. I was thinking of something to wear all the time and I just found the answer with this post.
I actually have this ring from Urban Outfitters.


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Archive for the 'detective fiction' Category
Susanna Clarke: Piranesi
Well, in all honesty I should go back and amend this post – or not write about a year until it's properly over, because this novel deserves an accolade. Read it in a day, and it stunned me, so utterly weird it was. Initially it reminded me of some of the drug-crazed ramblings I read during my hippy days, then reminded me of the utter weirdness of Ben Marcus' The Age of Wire and String, finally reminded me of some of the best detective stories I've ever read.
Weird beyond belief, the tale of someone trapped or marooned in what seems at first a strange parallel universe modelled on the bizarre drawings of the eponymous Italian artist: at first I found myself wondering whether there was some complex allegory developing. A world with only two people in it. And the behaviour of the other (or the Other) was quite quickly not exactly what it seemed to be. A story that defied attempts to parse it from the outset.
Do the two characters have anything in common, do they share a goal? Is one misleading the other? Do they understand each other, have they a rapport or were they just thrown together? And why is the Other so much better equipped than the narrator?
Another weirdness: although the narrator/writer of the journals is named as a male character, I cannot fathom why I never shook off the very strong impression that the story was being told by a female.
What triggered the comparison with Ben Marcus was the initial impression that there was just enough commonality between my world and my language and those of the narrator for me to be able to make some vague sense of what was going on. Gradually, as the plot develops and ideas suggest themselves, the story begins to mutate into detective fiction, although that term fails to do justice to the tour-de-force of motivations, clues and evidence that Susanna Clarke weaves to deceive and delude. It turns in on itself, there are wheels within wheels, and then there are doors between universes à la Philip Pullman in His Dark Materials.
Incomprehensible things have been happening, and rightly do we wonder, along with the narrator, where our and her (!) sanity lies; the mind plays tricks – has mountains, as Gerard Manley Hopkins once said – and the gradual and painful unpicking by the narrator of what actually happened to him, aided by his meticulous and obsessively-indexed journals, and his coming finally to entertain the possibility of being rescued from the bizarre world which he has grown to know and love unfold beautifully, sweeps you along.
It's a truly mind-blowing tale as it plays with your head all the while you are reading. It's really a stunner. Unputdownable.
Posted in detective fiction, fiction | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Ben Marcus, His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman, Piranesi, The Age of Wire and String
The phenomenon of Sherlock Holmes
Having been under the weather recently (nothing sinister!) I returned, as I frequently do in such circumstances, to Sherlock Holmes, but this time not to the stories themselves, but to the small collection of books about Holmes that I've acquired over the years, and they got me thinking. Is Holmes the only invented, fictional character who has gradually, over the years, built up such a 'real' existence? By real existence, I'm referring to the fact that people actually write to him with their problems, asking for help, despite the fact that, even fictionally, he 'died' a century ago. And that tourist seek out the mythical 221b Baker Street address, which apparently never existed. Enormous amounts of 'research' has been done, attempting to establish when and where each of the cases took place, to iron out supposed discrepancies which are due to Conan Doyle's carelessness, and so on… even the belief in Santa Claus doesn't go quite this far! And I have to confess to having been marked for life when at the age of seven I first heard Carleton Hobbs as Holmes on the BBC Home Service, and bought my first collection of stories with a Christmas book token (remember those?).
There are a lot of cracking good yarns in the canon of four novels and fifty-six short stories, and Conan Doyle was careful to weave the cases into the Victorian and Edwardian England setting; novelists have been attempting to convince us of the veracity of their fictions ever since Defoe's A Journal of the Plague Year, which I wrote about quite recently.
E J Wagner's The Science of Sherlock Holmes is a very interesting and quite detailed account of the history and development of forensic science and medicine in the nineteenth century, closely linked to the stories; there are fascinating chapters on insects, decay of corpses, poisons, fingerprints and disguise, among other topics, and it's certainly a useful book to have along side the complete works.
Probably the most useful of books is Christopher Redmond's Sherlock Holmes Handbook: its very name implies utility. There are brief summaries of all the novels and stories, with links and connections between them, and some analysis, all very helpful reference if, like me, no matter how often you've read the stories, small details elude you. There's an extremely helpful collation of all the 'biographical' details about Holmes and Watson which are dotted throughout the canon. There's also a biography of Conan Doyle if you need one, and a useful chapter on the publishing history.
Most useful are the excellent sections on Victorian context and background, again collating all sorts of useful stuff from throughout the canon, as well as material on crime and punishment and the legal system in England in the nineteenth century. Likewise, the analysis of the history of the detective story genre, its conventions and structure are very good. It's an American production, so there is the occasional solecism about a detail of life in England, but I'll excuse those. One thing I took away from re-reading this book was the possibly even greater popularity of the stories in the USA, given the nature of the links and connections between the two nations when the stories were first published.
Somewhere I acquired a copy of Michael Hardwick's The Complete Guide to Sherlock Holmes. It's a curious book: he provides a 'summary' of all the stories, with often very lengthy extracts, interspersed with commentary and biographical details about Conan Doyle. He is deliberately careful not to give away story endings… this struck me as weird, given that presumably only an enthusiast would want this book, and they would have read the stories anyway… The biographical information about Conn Doyle was interesting, but it's not an essential book by any means.
A Sherlock Holmes Compendium, edited by Peter Haining, is another curiosity, definitely not essential to my library. The most interesting thing in it is an often referred-to essay by Ronald Knox on the stories, where he light-heartedly analyses and mocks all sorts of discrepancies between the stories and theories about them.
The Sherlock Holmes Handbook, by Ransom Riggs, is a lightweight and superficial book that looks nice. It purports to offer explanations of various of Holmes' detective skills but is vague and random (!) with material not always linked to Holmes or particular tales. It's also stylistically annoying, full of American contractions and solecisms. Can be avoided.
The final book on my list was compiled by Alex Werner for the Museum of London: Sherlock Holmes – The Man Who Never Lived and Will Never Die. It's really good and detailed and sumptuously illustrated, too. The complexities of Conan Doyle and his creation are both explored: London is portrayed in detail, both the place and how people lived, with many links to real people from the Holmes era. There's a wonderful selection of photos from those times, too, as well as illustrations from artists who painted the city. I learned that Conan Doyle was never a Londoner, and that a third of the stories are not set there but in the outer suburbs, so that the picture of London is actually quite an idiosyncratic one.
It's an excellent contextual companion to the stories, a very full, detailed and atmospheric portrait of a place and an era supported by an impressive amount of research. It's an early 21st-century vision of Holmes, Conan Doyle and Victorian/Edwardian London, which demonstrates that each generation re-views, re-writes and re-creates the past in a slightly different guise, for its own particular purposes.
I have two editions of the canon, both of which I would recommend to any serious enthusiast: now only available second hand are the two volumes published by John Murray many years ago, the Complete Long Stories and Complete Short Stories. They are nice hardbacks, and manageable. The other is the sumptuous and weighty Norton edition on some fifteen years ago in three volumes, edited by Leslie S Klinger, The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes, which, as the title suggests, supports the canon with all the extra information and detail a person might want while they are reading, and like all good quality American books, they are beautifully produced. I cannot end this lengthy post without also recommending very highly indeed the audio recordings on the Naxos label of the entire canon by David Timpson: they are superb for listening to in the car.
Tags: A Journal of the Plague Year, A Sherlock Holmes Compendium, Alex Warner, Christopher Redmond, Complete Guide to Sherlock Holmes, Complete Sherlock Holmes Long Stories, Complete Sherlock Holmes Short Stories, Daniel Defoe, David Timpson, E J Wagner, Leslie s Klinger, Michael Hardwick, Naxos Sherlock Holmes, New Annotated Sherlock Holmes, Peter Haining, Sherlock Holmes, Sherlock Holmes contextual background, Sherlock Holmes Handbook, Sherlock Holmes stories, Sherlock Holmes the Man Who Never Lived and Will Never Die, The Science of Sherlock Holmes
The Name of the Rose – TV series
Well, I finally watched the last episode of the internationally-produced series of The Name of the Rose. I'm glad I made the effort to stick with it – I nearly gave up after two episodes – and yet it was a very flawed production.
What worked? We did get a very detailed picture of the awfulness of the Inquisition and how it worked, and the casting and acting of Bernardo Gui the Inquisitor was superb. I was chilled a couple of years ago when I toured the Palais des Papes in Avignon, and there high up on the wall in one of the huge rooms was inscribed 'the Inquisitor Bernardo Gui used to sit here'. Generally the casting and acting was good: I wasn't too enamoured of the young Adso of Melk, but William of Baskerville excellently played, far surpassing Sean Connery's effort in the earlier film of the novel.
More attention was paid to the scope of the original novel, which of course is rather more easily done in an eight-part series than in a feature-length film.
And yet… The set of the abbey itself I found rather cheap and tacky. Much of the earlier film was shot in an around a well-known, real abbey (Kloster Eberbach) in Germany; this studio set failed to convince, and the library was particularly poor, I felt.
The screenplay was a very unbalanced version of the novel. And for such an intricate and carefully composed text as The Name of the Rose, I think that really matters. What spoiled things most for me was the way that, gratuitously, the Adso story was expanded, and the 'romance' with the heretic girl was developed in completely unconvincing ways, with the novice heading out into the countryside for secret assignments with her. Eco's version in the novel is much briefer, and far more convincing as an integral part of the story and of Adso's life: it's a brief, one-off sexual encounter where he is seduced and experiences the pleasures of the flesh as a youth. That experience clearly marks his life; the girl is burnt as a witch and there is also a cruel message in that for him. The earlier film remains true to the novel; in the TV series there is a very long rigmarole involving another woman stalking the Inquisitor, and rescuing the seductress, and yet Adso just leaves her then… what? I'm afraid the producers just wanted there to be more female interest that Eco had not provided, so they invented it – badly.
Similarly, the labyrinth that is the library in the novel is an integral part of the plot and the detective work, as well as a metaphor; this was very much sidelined and then rushed through in the final hectic episode. And the whole matter of the nature of the mysterious book that monks would kill for is also sidelined, whereas it's at the core of some of the key theological arguments that run through the book: did Christ ever laugh? Is laughter a necessary part of human existence? Again, a rushed and nodding gesture in the final episode only. I also felt that the detective work by William and Adso was rather underplayed, only allowed to intrude occasionally rather than developing in any connected way. Why did the producers think Eco named his protagonist William of Baskerville, for goodness' sake?
Even the title of the novel itself, which Eco links into the scholasticism of the mediaeval era in which he sets the novel, is glossed over almost incomprehensibly in the final seconds of the series: you'd miss the allusion were you not familiar with the novel. And finally, the framing of the entire novel by the aged Adso as he nears the end of his earthly life is lost, given up, when that shift in the closing pages of the novel is so powerful in drawing all the strands of such a complex story together.
It's a little trite to say that perhaps some stories cannot successfully be filmed, but, after two very different and imperfect versions, perhaps this has to be the verdict on Eco's finest novel, and for me, one of the best ones of the last century.
Posted in detective fiction, fiction, religion, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Tags: Avignon Popes, Bernardo Gui, mediaeval scholasticism, Palais des Papes Avignon, Sean Connery, television adaptations, Umberto Eco
Corn in Egypt…
For some unfathomable reason, you wait ages for something decent to watch on TV – no, I'm not a streamer, except for catch-up TV – and then two all-time favourites come along at once. For me this has happened recently with the arrival on the BBC of The Name of the Rose and His Dark Materials. Neither has finished yet, so immediate reactions only for the moment, and more detail later.
The European co-production of Umberto Eco's best-selling novel The Name of the Rose is definitely over-the-top. It's one of my top novels of all time for its combination of detective story with astonishing erudition and philosophy, and so I have very high expectations. I was initially shocked when the film of the book, with Sean Connery in the lead role, first came out, but grew to like it, in spite of its limitations: Connery was extremely effective as William of Baskerville, the settings were stunning and the basic detective plot was well-presented, though obviously in a two-hour film all the philosophical and religious subtlety largely went by the board.
We now get an eight-part series, some six and a half hours. The set of the monastery I'm afraid I find tacky: the appearance from the exterior is of a cheap polystyrene model. The casting is superb, especially of the monks and inquisitors, a combination of unworldly weirdness and the sinister. William of Baskerville is again supremely effective, as he needs to be. More of the complexity of the novel's plot is retained, there is more of the religious debate of mediaeval times, and the library is particularly well-created, and although I'd have liked less gloom and half-light throughout the production, I can see that this reflects those times well.
My main gripe is with the changes: a whole new plot-stand developed to incorporate romantic and sexual interest, with two comely females roaming the landscape and one of then entwining Adso, William's novice, at far too great a length. Partly this is also to develop the background of the heretical uprisings of those times and add a bit more blood and guts, but the producers have taken liberties with Eco's briefer, more subtle and more sordid presentation of the temptations of the flesh. Equally, I have no recollection of a dubious past for Adso and his potential to be a spy from the original novel. I had been tempted to give up after the first couple of episodes but didn't, after it seemed to be getting into its stride, and will see it through to the end.
The long-awaited series of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials has begun very well for me, apart from the surfeit of generic sludgy mood-music, which seems to be the current fashion with TV producers. The original film of the first novel, with its clunky American title, was reasonable but eminently forgettable (I've actually managed to lose my copy of the DVD). Here we are instantly transported into the parallel universe, and rapidly encounter the several strands of the plot, although the fiendish Mrs Coulter is saved for the second half of the first episode. The setting is utterly convincing and the daemons are really done very well. I admired the way, too, that the multiracial and multicultural casting seemed so natural, and was momentarily taken aback not to have realised this potential when reading and listening to the original novels.
Lyra is really good: there's the naturalness of a child on the verge of adolescence that I imagined might be very hard for an actor to capture. Lord Asriel was much more swashbuckling than the novel had suggested to me, and that also worked very well.
I'm not yet sure about the pace of the production, having only seen the first episode, which was very hectic, fast-moving, action-packed as a way to get the series off to a good start; my recollection of the novel was of a rather slower world than our own, but I recognise that all sorts of things shape our initial impressions of texts, which, once grounded, are hard to shake off. I'm certainly looking forward to the rest. One doubt I have, and which I can't pronounce on, not being a child, is how accessible this production will be to children or adolescents: I think one of Pullman's greatest achievements with the novels was his appeal to both younger and older readers…
Posted in detective fiction, drama, fiction, philosophy, religion, television | Leave a Comment »
Tags: film and TV, His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman, Sean Connery, television adaptations of novels, The Golden Compass, The Name of the Rose, Umberto Eco
Gilbert Sinoué: Le Livre de Saphir
This is quite a fascinating and gripping mystery, set in Spain in the final years of the Reconquista, shortly before the fall of the last Moorish stronghold of Granada. It's set around the search for the Sapphire Book, hidden somewhere by one of its last guardians; it purportedly contains proof of the existence of God. There is a whole set of cryptic clues which send the searchers on journeys all across the country. The searchers are three, one from each of the faiths of the book: an ageing rabbi, a middle-aged sheikh and a young monk, who each have been entrusted with a partial version of the clues: Sinoué is setting up his trio for dialogues about God, faith, religion and their three differing interpretations.
So, at one level it feels like a Dan Brown kind of thriller, but there's rather more to this Egyptian-born writer's novel than that. The focus is on the similarities and connections between the religions, which even the three adepts are not always aware of. Their quest is complicated when they are joined by a female who is a plant from the Inquisition who have gained knowledge of the quest and through subterfuge have obtained some of the clues: she is a clever and learned woman, confidant of the Queen, but is playing a dangerous game: as well as being in constant danger of giving herself away or being uncovered, she is tailed by the Inquisition and also a rival group linked to the Queen…
An atmosphere of sadness permeates the story as we know the Moors are about to be driven from Spain, and the Reconquista will shortly mean the expulsion or enforced conversion of Jews and Muslims. I was saddened by the suspicions between the three seekers, as well as the way trust gradually grew as they advanced in their journey, and came to realise how much more similar than different their faiths were; all of this makes the story so much more tragic, of course. At times the book felt worthy of a writer like Umberto Eco, and I did find echoes of his Baudalino occasionally.
The female agent improves the story as a foil to the men, and provides romantic interest as it is she and the monk who find their lives and fates entangled further than they expected. All are changed by their shared adventures: the monk becomes a killer and a lover, the treacherous woman comes to understand a purpose to her life and is disabused of her fanatical Christian opinions, and the Sheikh learns what forgiveness means.
I enjoyed the book for its atmosphere, for making me think, and for exploring the nature of faith. I was annoyed by one gross error which someone ought to have picked up: a reference to the work of Copernicus and his dangerous astronomical discoveries, when that learned monk would actually only have been 14 years old at the time the story takes place… and if I've whetted your interest, I'm sorry that the novel has not been translated into English.
Posted in detective fiction, fiction, religion | 2 Comments »
Tags: Baudolino, fall of Granada, Moorish Spain, Nicolaus Copernicus, People of the book, Spanish Inquisition, the Reconquista, Umberto Eco
Raymond Chandler: The Big Sleep
I'm a little under the weather at the moment and when I'm poorly, I crave 'easy' reading, so I've revisited an old favourite. Some of my readers will be aware of my penchant for detective fiction, particularly Sherlock Holmes; as I re-read The Big Sleep, one of the things I was trying to do was work out how Philip Marlowe is different.
He's very observant, which comes across in the little details in his descriptions of people and places; he's very laconic, and his humour reminds me a little of Mark Twain. The plot develops – or unravels – slowly, jigsaw-style; nothing is clear from the start either to us or to Marlowe. The story is effortlessly readable, casual, atmospheric: the 1920s/30s California setting permeates Chandler's stories as completely and easily as Victorian London does those of Conan Doyle. The reader has the feeling of detecting along with Marlowe, unlike the way we feel excluded from Holmes' thoughts and deductions and are eventually presented with a solution.
Like the Sherlock Holmes stories, the Philip Marlowe ones are full of stereotypes: the women, the hoods, the cops: can the genre do without these? The story which gradually develops in the novel is far better presented than in the famous film: here, there is room for the detail, atmosphere and leisurely pace whereas for me the film showcases the actors and not a lot else.
So, what is the difference? Marlowe is a loner, whereas Holmes has Watson as his narrator, his sidekick and his foil. This does make a major difference: Watson can and does choose what to tell us and what to leave out, and of course – in Conan Doyle's fictional invention – he is not party to Holmes' thoughts and reasonings and can therefore only share with the reader what Holmes deigns to tell him; the entire plot structure and narrative method is different. Marlowe is a loner, narrating in the first person, obviously, so along with the immediacy of this narrative style, we are automatically as in the dark as Marlowe is (or as enlightened). We have to share his reasonings and his hunches, the red herrings and the mistakes, or there is obviously no story.
Holmes does go out looking for clues and examining crime scenes; he's not averse to getting his hands dirty, or to danger, though we don't always know a lot about this unless he takes Watson along with him. Marlowe is constantly out there, on the ground: we perhaps have the impression that Holmes' approach is more cerebral, as he sits for days smoking and thinking. Holmes interacts with others, but comes across as rather remote, distant; again, Marlowe has to appear more engaged with others because of the first-person narrative.
Violence and menace never seems very far away in immediately post-Prohibition California; in Victorian London it is always presented as something rather surprising or shocking – Conan Doyle is thinking of his genteel Victorian readership and how not to shock them too much. Both authors operate under the restraints of their times: thus, there can be no sexual crime in the Sherlock Holmes stories, other than blackmail linked to a 'past' or attempts to coerce marriage, and while sexual misdeeds and even homosexuality are rife in Chandler's stories, presentation is always sufficiently vague so as not to shock or offend too much, disapproval often hinted at.
I'm at a disadvantage here – and perhaps my readers may help me out – in that I'm not au fait with the latest wave of crime and detective fiction, so cannot make any more recent comparisons. From what I do know, Chandler seems rather out on a limb with his solitary shamus, and yet he has made the style work, completely differently but no less effectively, according to this reader at least…
Posted in detective fiction, rambling about reading | 1 Comment »
Tags: Chandler and Conan Doyle compared, Mark Twain, Sherlock Holmes, Sherlock Holmes stories, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
A fellow blogger posted a list of books she intends to read in 2019: I was both impressed and challenged. Why could I not plan my reading like this? I have had epic fails in the past. Upon retiring, I though to myself right, let's have a serious year reading Shakespeare, another studying history, another on science fiction… none of which have come to pass so far.
A little more thinking had me realising that at this stage in my life I'm more of a re-reader than a reader, with the proportion of new books gradually shrinking. And yet, my plans to re-read many old favourites have also come to naught: I would pile up the books I was itching to revisit, maybe tackle a couple of them and then six months later put the pile away back on the shelves, having been side-tracked by something else and the moment having passed.
So, either I lack discipline, or else (I say, to console myself) I follow my instincts and my nose, one thing leading on to another, a bit like the word association exercise allegedly beloved of psychoanalysts. Occasionally one of these strands works itself out completely and I find myself utterly at a loss for what to turn to next, as often the unread pile does not tempt me. At such moments I turn briefly to magazines.
Having said all that, I do have some good intentions for the coming year. I want to re-read all of Ursula Le Guin's Hainish novels and stories, I want to re-read Philip Reeve's Mortal Engines series, my collection of Raymond Chandler novels and stories… all of that after I've finished re-reading Philip K Dick. And to be fair to myself, I have stuck to that one pretty well so far. Also on the list is to revisit Harper Lee's Go Set A Watchman, for a more considered take on it after a second read.
If I have time, I will also revisit some of Norman Davies' history books. I also intend to pursue a relatively new interest, reading up on art history: I will try and finish E H Gombrich's The Story of Art which I began several months ago when I was poorly, and I shall also look out something on the history of church architecture, which has always interested me.
Then there is always the pending pile, by the bed. At the end of this year, should I remember, I will update you on how badly I did….
Posted in detective fiction, fiction, history, rambling about reading | 1 Comment »
Tags: E H Gombrich, Go Set A Watchman, Harper Lee, Mortal Engines, Norman Davies, Philip K Dick, Philip Reeve, Raymond Chandler, the Hainish stories, The Story of Art, Ursula Le Guin
August favourites #8: Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes has become a legend over the years; I think Conan Doyle was sharp enough to realise in his own real, and Holmes' imaginary lifetime. Obviously we know that the great popularity of the stories in Victorian and Edwardian England was sufficient for the writer to bring his hero back from his supposed watery grave in the Reichenbach falls, but I think the friendship, companionship and partnership between Holmes and Watson goes even deeper than the sleuthing. In his imaginary retirement bee-keeping on the Sussex Downs, Holmes' reputation endures, and he goes on to serve his country in the immediate run-up to the Great War, in the very last story (chronologically speaking), which has a far chillier atmosphere than crime-laden Victorian London. Holmes' final patriotic act as the shadows darken over Europe is the outwitting of the German master-spy Von Bork in the story His Last Bow, which I think is a real masterpiece.
Posted in detective fiction, First World War, rambling about reading | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Doctor Watson, His Last Bow, Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
August favourites #7: detective fiction
I'll come to my hero Sherlock Holmes in a few days' time: he's in a class of his own. And although I have a soft spot for the melancholy Czech detective Lieutenant Boruvka, created by one of my favourite writers, Josef Skvorecky, my award has to go to a writer who paid the greatest tribute possible to Holmes in his creation of the monk William of Baskerville, who puts his observational powers to work, assisted by his young novice Adso of Melk, against a background of monastical murder and the inquisition in the early fourteenth century. I'm referring to Umberto Eco's masterpiece, The Name of the Rose, which, as well as being a marvellous detective story, is also full of history and philosophy and relgion, as well as a poignant consideration of the nature of human love. In a way, the plot centres around a curious question: did Jesus ever laugh? It's one of my top three novels of the twentieth century.
Posted in detective fiction, fiction, philosophy, religion | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Also of Melk, detective fiction, Josef Skvorecky, Lieutenant Boruvka, Sherlock Holmes, The Name of the Rose, Umberto Eco, William of Baskerville


text:
Q: mapping from S to T and T to U such that S to U is injective. Let S, T, U be three non-void sets and $f : S \rightarrow T, g : T \rightarrow U$ be so that $g o f : S \rightarrow U$ is injective. Then should $g$ and $f$ both be injective?
I think that $g$ should be injective but I'm not sure about $f$

A: It's the other way around: $g\circ f$ being injective implies that $f$ is injective. Since if $f(x)=f(y),$ then $g(f(x))=g(f(y)),$ which, by assumption, implies $x=y$.
To see that $g$ need not be injective, consider $f:[0,1]\to [-1,1]$ given by $x\mapsto x$ and $g:[-1,1]\to [0,1]$ given by $x\mapsto |x|$, then $g\circ f(x)=x$, which is clearly injective, but $g$ is not injective since $g(-1)=g(1)$.

A: No, $g$ need not be injective, but $f$ does.
Indeed, if $f(a)=f(b)$, then $g(f(a))=g(f(b))$; because $g\circ f$ is injective, we conclude that $a=b$.
For a counterexample, consider $S=\{0\}$, $T=\{1,2\}$ and $U=\{3\}$. Define $f(0)=1$ and let $g$ be the unique map $g\colon T\to U$. Then $g\circ f$ is injective (because the domain has a single element), but $g$ isn't.

The same example shows that if $g\circ f$ is surjective, then $f$ need not be surjective.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
import click
import json
import os

from cloudify_agent.api import defaults
from cloudify_agent.api import utils as api_utils
from cloudify_agent.api.factory import DaemonFactory
from cloudify_agent.shell import env
from cloudify_agent.shell.decorators import handle_failures

@click.command(context_settings=dict(ignore_unknown_options=True))
@click.option('--process-management',
              help='The process management system to use '
                   'when creating the daemon. [env {0}]'
              .format(env.CLOUDIFY_DAEMON_PROCESS_MANAGEMENT),
              type=click.Choice(['init.d', 'nssm', 'detach']),
              required=True,
              envvar=env.CLOUDIFY_DAEMON_PROCESS_MANAGEMENT)
@click.option('--file-server-host',
              help='The IP or host name of the file server [env {0}]'
              .format(env.CLOUDIFY_FILE_SERVER_HOST),
              required=True,
              envvar=env.CLOUDIFY_FILE_SERVER_HOST)
@click.option('--file-server-port',
              help='The port of the file server [env {0}]'
              .format(env.CLOUDIFY_FILE_SERVER_PORT),
              required=True,
              envvar=env.CLOUDIFY_FILE_SERVER_PORT)
@click.option('--file-server-protocol',
              help='The protocol of the file server [env {0}]'
              .format(env.CLOUDIFY_FILE_SERVER_PROTOCOL),
              required=True,
              envvar=env.CLOUDIFY_FILE_SERVER_PROTOCOL)
@click.option('--rest-host',
              help='The IP or host name of the REST service [env {0}]'
              .format(env.CLOUDIFY_REST_HOST),
              required=True,
              envvar=env.CLOUDIFY_REST_HOST)
@click.option('--rest-port',
              help='The manager REST port to connect to. [env {0}]'
              .format(env.CLOUDIFY_REST_PORT),
              envvar=env.CLOUDIFY_REST_PORT)
@click.option('--rest-username',
              help='The username to use when sending REST calls. [env {0}]'
              .format(env.CLOUDIFY_REST_USERNAME),
              envvar=env.CLOUDIFY_REST_USERNAME)
@click.option('--rest-password',
              help='The password to use when sending REST calls. [env {0}]'
              .format(env.CLOUDIFY_REST_PASSWORD),
              envvar=env.CLOUDIFY_REST_PASSWORD)
@click.option('--rest-token',
              help='The token to use when sending REST calls. Takes '
                   'precedence over username/password. [env {0}]'
              .format(env.CLOUDIFY_REST_TOKEN),
              envvar=env.CLOUDIFY_REST_TOKEN)
@click.option('--rest-protocol',
              help='The protocol to use when sending REST calls to the '
                   'manager. [env {0}]'.format(env.CLOUDIFY_REST_PROTOCOL),
              envvar=env.CLOUDIFY_REST_PROTOCOL)
@click.option('--security-enabled',
              help='True if REST service security is enabled, False otherwise.'
                   ' [env {0}]'.format(env.CLOUDIFY_SECURITY_ENABLED),
              envvar=env.CLOUDIFY_SECURITY_ENABLED)
@click.option('--verify-rest-certificate',
              help='True to verify the REST server\' SSl certificate, False '
                   'otherwise. [env {0}]'
              .format(env.CLOUDIFY_VERIFY_REST_CERTIFICATE),
              envvar=env.CLOUDIFY_VERIFY_REST_CERTIFICATE)
@click.option('--local-rest-cert-file',
              help='The path to a local copy of the REST public cert, used for'
                   ' cert verification, if required [env {0}]'
              .format(env.CLOUDIFY_AGENT_REST_CERT_PATH),
              type=click.Path(exists=False, readable=False, file_okay=True),
              envvar=env.CLOUDIFY_AGENT_REST_CERT_PATH)
@click.option('--rest-cert-content',
              help='The string content of the REST SSL certificate [env {0}]'
              .format(env.CLOUDIFY_REST_CERT_CONTENT),
              envvar=env.CLOUDIFY_REST_CERT_CONTENT)
@click.option('--name',
              help='The name of the daemon. [env {0}]'
              .format(env.CLOUDIFY_DAEMON_NAME),
              envvar=env.CLOUDIFY_DAEMON_NAME)
@click.option('--queue',
              help='The name of the queue to register the daemon to. [env {0}]'
                   .format(env.CLOUDIFY_DAEMON_QUEUE),
              envvar=env.CLOUDIFY_DAEMON_QUEUE)
@click.option('--host',
              help='The ip address of the current host. [env {0}]'
              .format(env.CLOUDIFY_DAEMON_HOST),
              envvar=env.CLOUDIFY_DAEMON_HOST)
@click.option('--deployment-id',
              help='The deployment id this daemon will belong to. [env {0}]'
              .format(env.CLOUDIFY_DAEMON_DEPLOYMENT_ID),
              envvar=env.CLOUDIFY_DAEMON_DEPLOYMENT_ID)
@click.option('--user',
              help='The user to create this daemon under. [env {0}]'
                   .format(env.CLOUDIFY_DAEMON_USER),
              envvar=env.CLOUDIFY_DAEMON_USER)
@click.option('--workdir',
              help='Working directory for runtime files (pid, log). '
                   'Defaults to current working directory. [env {0}]'
                   .format(env.CLOUDIFY_DAEMON_WORKDIR),
              envvar=env.CLOUDIFY_DAEMON_WORKDIR)
@click.option('--broker-ip',
              help='The broker host name or ip to connect to. [env {0}]'
                   .format(env.CLOUDIFY_BROKER_IP),
              envvar=env.CLOUDIFY_BROKER_IP)
@click.option('--broker-port',
              help='The broker port to connect to. If not set, this will be '
                   'determined based on whether SSL is enabled. It will be '
                   'set to 5671 with SSL, or 5672 without. [env {0}]'
                   .format(env.CLOUDIFY_BROKER_PORT),
              envvar=env.CLOUDIFY_BROKER_PORT)
@click.option('--broker-user',
              help='The broker username to use. [env {0}]'
                   .format(env.CLOUDIFY_BROKER_USER),
              default='guest',
              envvar=env.CLOUDIFY_BROKER_USER)
@click.option('--broker-pass',
              help='The broker password to use. [env {0}]'
                   .format(env.CLOUDIFY_BROKER_PASS),
              default='guest',
              envvar=env.CLOUDIFY_BROKER_PASS)
@click.option('--broker-ssl-enabled/--broker-ssl-disabled',
              help='Set to "true" to enabled SSL for the broker, or "false" '
                   'to disable SSL for the broker. If this is set, '
                   'broker-ssl-cert-path must also be set. [env {0}]'
                   .format(env.CLOUDIFY_BROKER_SSL_ENABLED),
              default=False,
              envvar=env.CLOUDIFY_BROKER_SSL_ENABLED)
@click.option('--broker-ssl-cert',
              help='The path to the SSL cert for the broker to use.'
                   'Only used when broker-ssl-enable is "true" [env {0}]'
                   .format(env.CLOUDIFY_BROKER_SSL_CERT),
              default=None,
              type=click.Path(exists=True, readable=True, file_okay=True),
              envvar=env.CLOUDIFY_BROKER_SSL_CERT)
@click.option('--broker-ssl-cert-path',
              help='The path to a local copy of the Broker public cert, '
                   'used for cert verification, if required [env {0}]'
              .format(env.CLOUDIFY_BROKER_SSL_CERT_PATH),
              type=click.Path(exists=False, readable=False, file_okay=True),
              envvar=env.CLOUDIFY_BROKER_SSL_CERT_PATH
              )
@click.option('--broker-get-settings-from-manager/'
              '--broker-do-not-get-settings-from-manager',
              default=False,
              help='Whether to retrieve the broker settings from the '
                   'manager. If this is true, broker_user, broker_pass, '
                   'broker_ssl_enabled, and broker_ssl_cert arguments will '
                   'be ignored as these will be obtained from the manager. '
                   '[env {0}]'
                   .format(env.CLOUDIFY_BROKER_GET_SETTINGS_FROM_MANAGER),
              envvar=env.CLOUDIFY_BROKER_GET_SETTINGS_FROM_MANAGER)
@click.option('--min-workers',
              help='Minimum number of workers for '
                   'the autoscale configuration. [env {0}]'
              .format(env.CLOUDIFY_DAEMON_MIN_WORKERS),
              envvar=env.CLOUDIFY_DAEMON_MIN_WORKERS)
@click.option('--max-workers',
              help='Maximum number of workers for '
                   'the autoscale configuration. [env {0}]'
              .format(env.CLOUDIFY_DAEMON_MAX_WORKERS),
              envvar=env.CLOUDIFY_DAEMON_MAX_WORKERS)
@click.option('--log-level',
              help='Log level of the daemon. [env {0}]'
              .format(env.CLOUDIFY_DAEMON_LOG_LEVEL),
              envvar=env.CLOUDIFY_DAEMON_LOG_LEVEL)
@click.option('--pid-file',
              help='Path to a location where the daemon pid file will be '
                   'stored. [env {0}]'
              .format(env.CLOUDIFY_DAEMON_PID_FILE),
              envvar=env.CLOUDIFY_DAEMON_PID_FILE)
@click.option('--log-file',
              help='Path to a location where the daemon log file will be '
                   'stored. [env {0}]'
              .format(env.CLOUDIFY_DAEMON_LOG_FILE),
              envvar=env.CLOUDIFY_DAEMON_LOG_FILE)
@click.option('--extra-env-path',
              help='Path to an environment file to be added to the daemon. ['
                   'env {0}]'
                   .format(env.CLOUDIFY_DAEMON_EXTRA_ENV),
              envvar=env.CLOUDIFY_DAEMON_EXTRA_ENV)
@click.option('--bypass-maintenance-mode',
              help='bypass maintenance mode on rest requests. [env {0}]'
                   .format(env.CLOUDIFY_BYPASS_MAINTENANCE_MODE),
              envvar=env.CLOUDIFY_BYPASS_MAINTENANCE_MODE)
# this is defined in order to allow passing any kind of option to the
# command line. in order to support creating daemons of different kind via
# the same command line. this argument is parsed as keyword arguments which
# are later passed to the daemon constructor.
@click.argument('custom-options', nargs=-1, type=click.UNPROCESSED)
@handle_failures
def create(**params):

    """
    Creates and stores the daemon parameters.

    """
    attributes = dict(**params)
    attributes.update(_parse_security_settings(attributes))
    custom_arg = attributes.pop('custom_options', ())
    attributes.update(_parse_custom_options(custom_arg))

    click.echo('Creating...')

    _create_rest_ssl_cert(attributes)
    # _create_rest_ssl_cert called before get_broker_configuration because it
    # might be required for the rest call to succeed
    if attributes['broker_get_settings_from_manager']:
        broker = api_utils.internal.get_broker_configuration(attributes)
        attributes.update(broker)
    # _create_broker_ssl_cert called after get_broker_configuration because the
    # cert might be retrieved there
    _create_broker_ssl_cert(attributes)

    from cloudify_agent.shell.main import get_logger
    daemon = DaemonFactory().new(
        logger=get_logger(),
        **attributes
    )

    daemon.create()
    _save_daemon(daemon)
    click.echo('Successfully created daemon: {0}'
               .format(daemon.name))

@click.command()
@click.option('--name',
              help='The name of the daemon. [env {0}]'
              .format(env.CLOUDIFY_DAEMON_NAME),
              required=True,
              envvar=env.CLOUDIFY_DAEMON_NAME)
@click.option('--user',
              help='The user to load the configuration from. Defaults to '
                   'current user. [env {0}]'
              .format(env.CLOUDIFY_DAEMON_USER),
              envvar=env.CLOUDIFY_DAEMON_USER)
@handle_failures
def configure(name, user=None):

    """
    Configures the daemon scripts and configuration files.

    """

    click.echo('Configuring...')
    daemon = _load_daemon(name, user=user)
    daemon.configure()
    _save_daemon(daemon)
    click.echo('Successfully configured daemon: {0}'
               .format(daemon.name))

@click.command()
@click.option('--name',
              help='The name of the daemon. [env {0}]'
              .format(env.CLOUDIFY_DAEMON_NAME),
              required=True,
              envvar=env.CLOUDIFY_DAEMON_NAME)
@click.option('--user',
              help='The user to load the configuration from. Defaults to '
                   'current user. [env {0}]'
              .format(env.CLOUDIFY_DAEMON_USER),
              envvar=env.CLOUDIFY_DAEMON_USER)
@click.option('--interval',
              help='The interval in seconds to sleep when waiting '
                   'for the daemon to be ready.',
              default=defaults.START_INTERVAL)
@click.option('--timeout',
              help='The timeout in seconds to wait '
                   'for the daemon to be ready.',
              default=defaults.START_TIMEOUT)
@click.option('--no-delete-amqp-queue',
              help='Option to prevent deletion of a pre-existing '
                   'queue that this daemon is listening to before the agent.',
              is_flag=True,
              default=not defaults.DELETE_AMQP_QUEUE_BEFORE_START)
@handle_failures
def start(name, interval, timeout, no_delete_amqp_queue, user=None):

    """
    Starts the daemon.

    """

    click.echo('Starting...')
    daemon = _load_daemon(name, user=user)
    daemon.start(
        interval=interval,
        timeout=timeout,
        delete_amqp_queue=not no_delete_amqp_queue
    )
    click.echo('Successfully started daemon: {0}'.format(name))

@click.command()
@click.option('--name',
              help='The name of the daemon. [env {0}]'
              .format(env.CLOUDIFY_DAEMON_NAME),
              required=True,
              envvar=env.CLOUDIFY_DAEMON_NAME)
@click.option('--interval',
              help='The interval in seconds to sleep when waiting '
                   'for the daemon to stop.',
              default=defaults.STOP_INTERVAL)
@click.option('--timeout',
              help='The timeout in seconds to wait '
                   'for the daemon to stop.',
              default=defaults.STOP_TIMEOUT)
@handle_failures
def stop(name, interval, timeout):

    """
    Stops the daemon.

    """

    click.echo('Stopping...')
    daemon = _load_daemon(name)
    daemon.stop(
        interval=interval,
        timeout=timeout
    )
    click.secho('Successfully stopped daemon: {0}'.format(name))

@click.command()
@click.option('--name',
              help='The name of the daemon. [env {0}]'
              .format(env.CLOUDIFY_DAEMON_NAME),
              required=True,
              envvar=env.CLOUDIFY_DAEMON_NAME)
@handle_failures
def restart(name):

    """
    Restarts the daemon.

    """

    click.echo('Restarting...')
    daemon = _load_daemon(name)
    daemon.restart()
    click.echo('Successfully restarted daemon: {0}'.format(name))

@click.command()
@click.option('--name',
              help='The name of the daemon. [env {0}]'
              .format(env.CLOUDIFY_DAEMON_NAME),
              required=True,
              envvar=env.CLOUDIFY_DAEMON_NAME)
@handle_failures
def delete(name):

    """
    Deletes the daemon.

    """

    click.echo('Deleting...')
    daemon = _load_daemon(name)
    daemon.delete()
    DaemonFactory().delete(name)
    click.echo('Successfully deleted daemon: {0}'.format(name))

@click.command()
@click.option('--name',
              help='The name of the daemon. [env {0}]'
              .format(env.CLOUDIFY_DAEMON_NAME),
              required=True,
              envvar=env.CLOUDIFY_DAEMON_NAME)
@handle_failures
def inspect(name):

    """
    Inspect daemon properties.

    """

    daemon = _load_daemon(name)
    click.echo(json.dumps(api_utils.internal.daemon_to_dict(daemon), indent=2))

@click.command('list')
@handle_failures
def ls():

    """
    List all existing daemons.

    """

    from cloudify_agent.shell.main import get_logger
    daemons = DaemonFactory().load_all(logger=get_logger())
    for daemon in daemons:
        click.echo(daemon.name)

@click.command()
@click.option('--name',
              help='The name of the daemon. [env {0}]'
              .format(env.CLOUDIFY_DAEMON_NAME),
              required=True,
              envvar=env.CLOUDIFY_DAEMON_NAME)
@handle_failures
def status(name):
    _load_daemon(name).status()

def _load_daemon(name, user=None):
    from cloudify_agent.shell.main import get_logger
    return DaemonFactory(username=user).load(name, logger=get_logger())

def _save_daemon(daemon):
    DaemonFactory(username=daemon.user).save(daemon)

def _parse_custom_options(options):

    parsed = {}
    for option_string in options:
        parts = option_string.split('=')
        key = parts[0][2:].replace('-', '_')  # options start with '--'
        if len(parts) == 1:
            # flag given
            value = True
        else:
            value = parts[1]
        parsed[key] = value

    return parsed

def _parse_security_settings(attributes):
    updated_values = {}

    attributes['security_enabled'] = api_utils.get_bool_or_default(
        attributes.get('security_enabled'), defaults.SECURITY_ENABLED)

    attributes['verify_rest_certificate'] = api_utils.get_bool_or_default(
        attributes.get('verify_rest_certificate'),
        defaults.VERIFY_REST_CERTIFICATE
    )

    raw_rest_cert_content = attributes.get('rest_cert_content') or ''
    updated_values['rest_cert_content'] = \
        raw_rest_cert_content.replace("\\n", "\n")

    return updated_values

def _create_rest_ssl_cert(agent):
    """
    put the REST SSL cert into a file for clients to use,
    if rest_cert_content is set.
    """
    click.echo('Deploying REST SSL certificate (if defined).')
    rest_cert_content = agent['rest_cert_content']
    if rest_cert_content and agent['verify_rest_certificate']:
        local_rest_cert_file = \
            os.path.expanduser(agent['local_rest_cert_file'])
        agent['local_rest_cert_file'] = local_rest_cert_file
        api_utils.safe_create_dir(os.path.dirname(local_rest_cert_file))
        with open(local_rest_cert_file, 'w') as rest_cert_file:
            rest_cert_file.write(rest_cert_content)

def _create_broker_ssl_cert(agent):
    """
    Put the broker SSL cert into a file for AMQP clients to use,
    if broker_ssl_cert is set.
    """
    click.echo('Deploying broker SSL certificate (if defined).')
    broker_ssl_cert_content = agent['broker_ssl_cert']
    if broker_ssl_cert_content:
        broker_ssl_cert_path = \
            os.path.expanduser(agent['broker_ssl_cert_path'])
        agent['broker_ssl_cert_path'] = broker_ssl_cert_path
        api_utils.safe_create_dir(os.path.dirname(broker_ssl_cert_path))
        with open(broker_ssl_cert_path, 'w') as broker_cert_file:
            broker_cert_file.write(broker_ssl_cert_content)


How to Inhabit a Transitory Space is a project by visual artist Egle Oddo and her students. It investigates space, seen as a communal process: an art gallery initially used as such is progressively filled by the daily activities of transitory inhabitants, until it may loose contact with the original purpose and may acquire a new connotation along with a new narrative.
The project opens the doors on Wednesday 23rd at 18:00, and it is available to the participation of the public throughout the whole festival. If you wish to participate actively in our transitory activities just pop in or check out our diary.
The intensive monopoly and mono-use of public space in urban areas does not allow collective imagination to re-think and shift its use, or to dream and conceive space as a dimension for collaborative actions. Via chaos and organization, the students will modify the space by inviting visitors to become active part of the process, and to modify the space with their presence and activity.
MaaTila will be open 24 hours per day for the entire duration of the festival.
How to Inhabit a Transitory Space has been started by visual artist Egle Oddo since 2008. The project is realized in collaboration with art school Maa.


text:
P2 Gold Initiates Metallurgical Program at Gabbs Project; Phase One Drilling Planned for Third Quarter
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, June 08, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- P2 Gold Inc. ("P2" or the "Company") (TSX-V:PGLD) reports it has initiated a metallurgical program for its gold-copper Gabbs Project, located on the Walker-Lane Trend in Nevada, and plans to undertake a drill program at Gabbs in the third quarter.
Sullivan Zone Metallurgical Program
Two 36-kilogram metallurgical samples have been collected from surface locations within the Sullivan Zone. Assay results from the two metallurgical samples have returned gold and copper values consistent with historic drilling by prior operators in this location. See Table 1 below for assay results.
Table 1: Sullivan Zone Composite Sample Results, June 2021 (1)
Sample Gold Grade
(gpt) Copper Grade
Met - 1 0.88 0.50
(1) Samples were submitted for preparation and analysis by Base Metallurgical Laboratories in Kamloops, BC. All samples were analyzed using multi-acid digestion with ICP finish for copper and fire assay with AA finish for gold.
For plan views of the 2021 metallurgical sampling locations please see Sullivan metallurgical sampling locations.
P2's initial metallurgical program will evaluate the recovery of copper and gold from oxide mineralization by (a) sequential leach using heap leach technology and (b) conventional milling using a combination of flotation and leaching.
Prior metallurgical test work at Gabbs focused on the recovery of oxide mineralization by both heap leaching and conventional milling. Depending on the method, historical metallurgical recoveries were reported to range from 70% to 85% for copper and 85% to 95% for gold. (For a summary of the work by prior operators, see P2's National Instrument 43-101 Technical Report Updated Mineral Resource Estimate of the Gabbs Gold-Copper Property dated January 13, 2021 and filed on www.sedar.com on March 11, 2021.) P2's metallurgical tests of the metallurgical samples will also evaluate the potential process options defined by previous operators.
P2's initial metallurgical program is focused on the oxide mineralization as the Inferred Mineral Resource for Gabbs assumes zero recovery of oxide copper mineralization. By confirming a viable option for recovery of copper from the oxide mineralization, the Company believes that oxide copper can be included in future estimates of the Mineral Resource. P2's initial metallurgical program is expected to be completed in the coming months and results will be reported when the program is completed.
Phase One Drilling
Historical drilling at Gabbs was generally less than 100 meters deep, penetrating only the upper half of the interpreted mineralization as the drilling was concentrated on the oxide mineralization. Also, depending on the historical operator and the metal of focus at the time, a significant percentage of drill hole samples were assayed for either copper or gold but not both metals. At the Sullivan Zone, historical drilling identified a near-surface, higher grade gold-copper layer measuring 30 meters to 50 meters in thickness, and 200 meters long on section. This higher grade layer was not domained for the 2021 Inferred Mineral Resource. As a result, P2 is planning an infill drill program to test the full thickness and lateral extent of the mineralization and determine geologic constraints, in order to redefine the existing Gabbs Project Mineral Resource.
The first phase of the infill drill program, which is planned to commence in the third quarter, will comprise approximately 8,000 meters of reverse circulation drilling focused mainly on the Sullivan Zone, the largest of the four zones identified to date on the Gabbs property. Gold-copper mineralization in the Sullivan Zone is hosted within what are interpreted to be sills associated with an alkaline gold/copper porphyry. Additionally, a drill program is being evaluated for the Car Body Zone, the smallest tonnage, highest-grading gold zone on the property where gold mineralization is interpreted to be low-sulphidation epithermal mineralization.
For select section views of the 2021 phase one drill program, please see Gabbs 2021 phase one drill program .
The Gabbs Project is comprised of 355 unpatented lode mining claims and one patented lode mining claim covering four known zones of mineralization and comprising approximately 2,800 hectares. Nevada Highway 361, Gabbs Pole Line Road and a powerline cross the Gabbs Project.
The Gabbs Project has an Inferred Mineral Resource of 1.84 million ounces of gold equivalent or 1.26 million ounces of gold and 422.3 million pounds of copper (73.1 million tonnes grading 0.54 g/t gold and 0.26% copper). The Gabbs Project oxide Inferred Mineral Resource Estimate is 610,000 ounces of gold (26.2 million tonnes grading 0.72 g/t gold and assumes zero recovery for copper).
For further details on the Gabbs Project please see www.p2gold.com/projects/nevada/gabbs.
Qualified Persons
The Mineral Resource Estimate was prepared by Eugene Puritch, P.Eng. and F.H. Brown, P.Geo. of P&E Mining Consultants Inc. of Brampton, Ontario, Independent Qualified Persons ("QP"), as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Ken McNaughton, M.A.Sc., P.Eng., Chief Exploration Officer, P2 Gold, is the QP responsible for the Gabbs Project exploration program.
Required Early Warning Report Disclosure
Under the Gabbs private placement that closed on May 14, 2021 and the flow-through private placement that closed on June 4, 2021, Ken McNaughton acquired five million units of the Company and 200,000 flow-through units of the company, respectively. Prior to the closing of the two private placements, Mr. McNaughton owned 4,100,000 common shares of the Company representing approximately 9.89% of the issued and outstanding voting securities of the Company on a non-diluted basis as at such time. Following the closing of the two private placements, Mr. McNaughton owns 9.3 million common shares of the Company representing approximately 15.7% of the issued and outstanding voting securities of the Company on a non-diluted basis. Mr. McNaughton acquired the common shares for investment purposes only and intends to review his holdings on a continuing basis and such holdings may be increased or decreased in the future.
A copy of the Early Warning Report may be found on www.SEDAR.com.
About P2 Gold Inc.
P2 is a mineral exploration and development company focused on advancing precious metals discoveries and acquisitions in the western United States and British Columbia.
Suite 1100, 355 Burrard Street
(SEDAR filings: P2 Gold Inc.) Michelle Romero
Neither the Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
This press release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws that is intended to be covered by the safe harbours created by those laws. "Forward-looking information" includes statements that use forward-looking terminology such as "may", "will", "expect", "anticipate", "believe", "continue", "potential" or the negative thereof or other variations thereof or comparable terminology. Such forward-looking information includes, without limitation, information with respect to the Company's expectations, strategies and plans for the Gabbs Project including the Company's planned expenditures and exploration activities.
Forward-looking information is not a guarantee of future performance and is based upon a number of estimates and assumptions of management at the date the statements are made. Furthermore, such forward-looking information involves a variety of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual plans, intentions, activities, results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future plans, intentions, activities, results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. See "Risk Factors" in the Company's annual information form dated October 21, 2020 filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com for a discussion of these risks.