This is the tenth story in the 'Shifting Shadows' collection, and it's a ghost story – always my fave! It's also a Mercyverse story featuring Mercy herself, which marks it as a special occasion for any Briggs fan. Here, Mercy takes submissive pack wolf Zack along with her on a ghost-hunt, also a treat because Zack is a complete sweetie.
I'm up to page 395 of the paperback, having finished the story 'Redemption'. This primarily features Ben Shaw, a werewolf from Adam Hauptman's pack in the Mercyverse. Ben is a dominant wolf who is curiously low on the totem pole in the pack, an immigrant from England, and a troubled, disagreeable, tumultuous soul who is mostly tight-lipped about his woes.
But in this story he's undergoing 'a sea change, into something rich and strange'. Werewolves live long, long lives, long enough for therapy to be almost redundant. Live so long, and you almost can't help but change and grow – whether you like it or not.
Ben is changing, and he finds it deeply uncomfortable. He's learning how to change, and how to recognise that other people exist (as someone interviewing Camille LaPaglia once put it.) And that some of them have a claim on him, after he has, almost unknowingly, entered into the social compact, into relationship.
(He's learning how to care, and how to love. He would so hate to hear it put in such sentimental terms!) He's finding his place in the world.
There's a lot of biff!bang!pow! in Briggs' books. What else would you expect in urban fantasy, with violent scary mystical creatures on every page? But in this story, most of the monsters are internal, psychological. The quest is to overcome them and become stronger, more loving, braver. Certainly, more honest.
I will concede that the ending is a little vague and off, hits a bum note, and the story drifts and veers away at the end. But it's a very minor point. Briggs achieves something beautiful here, something subtle and fine. So, for that matter, does Ben.
Oh, wow. This is the eighth story in the 'Shifting Shadows' short story collection by Patricia Briggs. And this, this is my favourite, by far.
It was an unfair contest, really. This is the first story to give Mercyverse characters Warren, and his human mate Kyle, starring roles. Warren and Kyle. I know for sure that they're not just my favourites. They are swoony, ladies. And gentlemen. Swoony.
And it's not only that it features my special pets. This story, compared to the others thus far, is perfectly structured, the harmony of incident and character sings out, it's just so satisfying. It gives you everything you need to work with, warning rumblings of the storm ahead. And yet, they're backgrounded sufficiently for the ending to be a kick in the teeth from a mule.
Dammit. It's just too good. It's a taste that only makes the reader hungry for more: for a full-length novel, with Warren and Kyle front and centre. Come on? Surely there must be plans in the works? A novella, even? A little prequel covering how they met and got together would be amazing!
There's just something about a gay werewolf, folks. Furry, muscular, wild and free under the moon… And after this wonderful story, I'm just howlin' for more.


You are supposed to know that roofing should be handled carefully. One is supposed to know that roofs enable the family to be safe from adverse weather conditions and it also plays an important role in the appearance of the home. One may need to restore their roofs ones they are old. One is expected to understand that getting the job done with the right personnel is the way to go about this. It is important to understand that roof restoration require qualified skills in handling to avoid making mistakes and saving money as well. It is first recommended that you select materials that are of high quality when making the roofs. One is supposed to acknowledge the fact that the only way to have better results is by spending some good cash. When you rush into getting cheap materials, you will end up spending a whole lot of money at the end of the day. One is advised to make use of the contractors while making this decision.
The other thing that you are required to consider is the modern materials. It is essential to have in mind that materials that are modern are the best since they are affordable and durable. You would not want to go for the outdated materials that will not produce satisfactory results at the end. Therefore ensure that you walk to the shops and know the most current materials that are on the market. It is advisable that you contact the contractors to assist you in making this decision so that you avoid making mistakes. It is necessary to keep in mind that these materials are quite expensive and therefore it means that one has to save enough money before commencing the project. The other thing that you are required to be keen on is the installation method that will be employed in fixing the roofs. There are many methods being used in the roof restoration and that is why it is required that you pick the one that is most recommended.
The other thing that one is required to do is to select a paint that will be used on the roof. The most recommended is quality paint that will make the roof tough and durable. A good paint will protect the material used in making the roof and thus it will last longer. It is required that you use the individuals who have enough skills and experience when choosing the contractors. It is important to acknowledge the fact that most of these individuals will not handle the jobs as expected. It is therefore recommended that you take your time and find all the relevant information while choosing these people so that you avoid making mistakes.


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Hearing set ahead of Roof"s federal sentencing…
Hearing set ahead of Roof"s federal sentencing trial
PUBLISHED: December 19, 2016 at 12:00 am | UPDATED: September 6, 2018 at 12:00 am
CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — A judge has set a hearing ahead of sentencing proceedings for the man convicted of killing nine black worshippers at a South Carolina church.
U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel has scheduled a pre-trial hearing for Dylann Roof on Dec. 28.
A jury found Roof guilty last week of 33 federal charges including hate crimes in the June 2015 attack at Charleston"s Emanuel AME Church. The same jury on Jan. 3 will begin hearing evidence as to why prosecutors feel Roof should be executed for his crimes.
The 22-year-old Roof is acting as his own lawyer during the sentencing phase. He notified the court last week in a handwritten motion he didn"t intend to introduce any evidence pertaining to his mental health.
A state death penalty trial is expected next year.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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By Luke Sneyd Posted on March 13, 2014 March 13, 2014
Comedy of Eros: Verhoeven's Lurid Pair
The cultural excavations of the 80s have reached near the bottom of that embarrassing crevasse (parachute pants! purple reigns!). It's only logical then that our voracious fashion-media-money machine is spreading out to mine new (old) territory. Welcome to the 90s redux, ladies and gentles. To go along with your neo-grunge, what finer exemplars of 90s cinema can you have than two of director Paul Verhoeven's trash classics, Basic Instinct (1992) and Showgirls (1995)? As part of their retrospective Flesh + Blood: The Films of Paul Verhoeven, TIFF is showcasing both movies this week. And what a pair they are, chockablock with lurid dialogue, fevered plotting, twists and contortions and I'm not even talking about the sex. Join me for a peek on the seamy side of 90s life, after the jump.
Maybe it seems quaintly outré now, with the likes of Springbreakers (2013) getting all up in our theatrical grills, but at the time of its release Basic Instinct was divisive and controversial. And a smash hit, doing $352 million worldwide. Its cunning, exploitive take on the relations of men and women, and especially of women and women, caused protests, picketing and boycotts. Gay rights activists and feminists were furious with the way women in the film were portrayed largely as lesbian psychopaths. They weren't wrong, though one could argue that the men in the movie were just as horrific. Really, in keeping with the title, most of the characters' motives are base, with enough smutty language, casual drugs and exposed skin to back it up.
If you've somehow over the years missed the plot, Hollywood's foremost walking penis Michael Douglas is detective Nick Curran, investigating the murder of a one-time rock'n'roller stabbed to death with an ice pick during sex. The only suspect is the girlfriend Catherine Tramell, played with riveting star-making edge by Sharon Stone. Tramell is a crime novelist, and the twist is that her last novel details the circumstances of the crime exactly, but it was published months before the murder took place. Is someone trying to frame her for the murder by copying the book's details, or did she write the book as preventative protection? After all who would be crazy enough to act out all the specifics of a murder they'd themselves written? It's a pretty thin defence, but it hardly matters. Verhoeven and his screenwriter collaborator Joe Eszterhas yank on the right levers to keep this violent sex machine in motion. It's all here: Tramell's over-protective lesbian lover, Curran's escalating aggression in his own sex-games with his therapist-lover, and Stone's brilliant portrayal of the manipulative socialite author. The classic interrogation sequence between the police and suspect Tramell features the original upskirt shot, one of the most memorable sequences of all 90s cinema as she turns the tables on her leering would-be interrogators.
Sharon Stone flashes more than her wit as Catherine Tramell.
Eszterhas's dialogue is abrasively profane, and Verhoeven choreographs each spasmodic coupling with expert menace; it's like Hitchcock soft-core. Over it all plays Jerry Goldsmith's swooping score, its lush melodramatic strains thrusting with the frenetic action onscreen. It's almost impossible to take seriously, actually, though the whodunnit thriller elements are effective in their ludicrous twists and turns. By the time we hit the irresolution of the ambiguous ending, the whole enterprise goes up in a post-coital smoke; spent, with the ephemeral satisfaction of something that's really bad for you.
Showgirls one-ups (one-downs?) Basic Instinct on almost every level. Eszterhas again scripts for Verhoeven, this time repurposing All About Eve (1950) into a pulpy, prurient tale of getting ahead at all costs. Ironically, Elizabeth Berkley savages her real-life career in the role of Nomi, a young dancer who comes to Las Vegas to find fortune and fame. Soon she's working as a stripper at the Cheetah club, but fate brings her into the orbit of Cristal Connors (Gina Gershon), the diva star of the "classier" topless review Goddess at the Stardust Casino. Not long after she's making the move to dancing in the Goddess company, and swimming in the shark-infested waters of Vegas climbers and money. At least it looks sort of like swimming, whatever she's doing thrashing around in Kyle McClachlan's swimming pool as they get it on, really the high-water mark for Verhoeven's acrobatic sex-scenes.
As dancer Nomi, Elizabeth Berkley proves winter or no, pole-licking is a bad idea.
Nomi's indignant and mercurial, forever ducking the whore-label other characters keep lobbing her way. This in spite of the lap-dances and back-stabbing that set her on the path to ever greater success. Which is perhaps the best way to understand Showgirls, as a satire of the relentless assholery that a career in show business appears to demand. Only when her best friend is raped by visiting rockstar Andrew Carver does Nomi at last question the depravity and complicity of the Vegas fame complex. But even that's undercut as she heads out to try for better luck in Los Angeles.
Showgirls was a dismal failure in its first release, but found life as a cult-hit on DVD and second-run, ultimately earning over $100 million on home video and making MGM's top 20 all-time bestsellers. Both it and Basic Instinct have been reclamation projects of late, with critics piling on to paint the movies as works of subversive genius. Or maybe Verhoeven is simply a misanthrope who knows his audience likes their cake with a little venal frosting, and he's happy to lay it on thick. Basic Instinct is the better film (by, say, an ice-pick), while Showgirls is a neck-wrenching car wreck of a movie. However deliberate its construction, even as an intentional act of arch camp, Showgirls is fromage of the ripest bouquet. If you can leave your politics at the theatre door, they're hilarious. If you can't, you're welcome to your indignation. But rest assured, Verhoeven's laughing all the way to the bank.
Basic Instinct screens with a pristine archival print on Thursday, March 13th at 9:15 at the TIFF Bell Lightbox. Showgirls appears on Friday, March 14th at 10pm, introduced by Toronto film critic Adam Nayman, who will also be present beforehand to sign copies of his upcoming book It Doesn't Suck: Showgirls. For information and tickets on the whole Flesh + Blood: The Films of Paul Verhoeven retrospective, see here.
Categories: 2014, Film, moviesTags: 1990s, Basic Instinct, biff bam pop, biffbampop, Elizabeth Berkley, erotic, erotic thriller, film, Gina Gershon, Joe Eszterhas, Kyle McLachlan, Luke Sneyd, michael douglas, movies, paul verhoeven, sharon stone, Showgirls, thriller, thrillers, TIFF
Published by Luke Sneyd
Luke Sneyd is a writer and musician. When he isn't doing film reviews for BiffBamPop, you can bet he's gaming, or following one of his many tech obsessions. The guitarist for Toronto electro-rockers Mountain Mama in the early 2000s, Luke went solo releasing All of Us Cities (2007) and Salvo (2009). His song "The Prisoner" earned him a finalist in the Great Canadian Band Challenge in 2007. He founded Charge of the Light Brigade in 2010, releasing The Defiant Ones the following year. As a writer, he's penned and produced several short films, and with Paul Thompson wrote a zombie TV-series called Grave New World. The unproduced pilot for GNW won first place from the Page International Screenwriting awards, as well as prizes from Slamdance and the Cloud Creek People's Pilot Competition. Then this other zombie show came along. You can find links to all Luke's projects at http://about.me/lukesneyd.	View all posts by Luke Sneyd
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One Reply to "Comedy of Eros: Verhoeven's Lurid Pair"
TOGeek says: 7 years ago Reply
Geez. Nayman has a WHOLE book on Showgirls?


Join us as we follow the path of San Pablo, Laguna to Tiaong, Quezon. Be captivated by the simple beauty of the south. Admire the tranquility of Sampaloc Lake. Visit the art studio of Ugu Bigyan's Potters Garden. Take a leisurely lunch with boat ride at Pandin Lake, see Nagcarlan Laguna's Underground Cemetery & buy pasalubong at the famous Tsinelas St. in Liliw, Laguna. Perfect for those who love to see the rustic beauty of Laguna to Quezon but only have a day to spare. So, bring your cameras and let us go and enjoy Kulinarya Laguna.
Day 1. Arrival in San Pablo. First stop at Cafe Lago for breakfast which offers an awesome view of Sampaloc Lake. Next would be at Ugu Bigyans Potters appreciation of artisan jars and pots. Group will head further and have a floating feast at Lake Pandin followed by a quick trek to Lake Yambo. We then travel to the Nagcarlan Underground Cemetery for a lesson on its history and later visit the Footwear capital of Laguna to find a good shoe bargain. The group will have an afternoon snack at Sulyap Gallery Cafe and have a visit at their heritage museum. Finally, before heading back home is a quick stop for Buko pie pasalubong shopping along Calamba.


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Jackson to Trump: 'Cough Up The Money Yourself, You Cheap Motherf**ker'
On Monday's edition of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, actor Samuel L. Jackson once again slammed President Trump and his agenda. In a segment called "Poetry Slam in the News" Jackson mocked the border wall.
First, the Star Wars actor began his poetry slam with the government shutdown: "Longest shut down in history," he began. "The record is beat, what a feat/People hitting the street while the elite compete/Resources deplete," he rhymed. "If only they could shut down the President's tweets."
"Wall, wall, wall, wall, wall, wall! Is that all, all, all you can say?" Jackson said during his next turn to poetry slam the news.
"I don't care if it's concrete, steel, or paper-mâché. Guess what, Donald? Mexico ain't going to pay," the Glass star continued.
"No way, Jose! So cut it out, 'cause we ain't no suckers. Cough up the money yourself, you cheap mother…," Samuel said, with Fallon cutting him off from continuing with the profanity.
Turn the page to hear the actor for yourself.
JOHN BRUNK
SAMMY JACKSON IS NO BETTER THAN THAT FOOL OBAMMY!


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Is Biko Dead?
Rofhiwa Maneta
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September has come to an end – and with it Heritage month: a time where we collectively celebrate and reflect on the rich diversity of cultures that shape our country's collective identity. It's also a time of dialogue; we discuss how to preserve our country's variety of cultures while examining which parts of certain cultures may be […]
Is Biko Dead" poster at Quest For True Humanity. Photo: Rofhiwa Maneta
September has come to an end – and with it Heritage month: a time where we collectively celebrate and reflect on the rich diversity of cultures that shape our country's collective identity. It's also a time of dialogue; we discuss how to preserve our country's variety of cultures while examining which parts of certain cultures may be harmful in modern day society. But this year's celebrations haven't been without controversy: just last week a media scramble ensued when two white students from the University of Stellenbosch dressed up in blackface (just a month after two students from the University of Pretoria drew widespread criticism for a similar offence). Only after sustained pressure did the students offer a (non) apology which downplayed the magnitude of the act; with the students claiming "there was absolutely no malicious or racial intent" and that it was all just "an error of judgement" from their side. Then there was also the matter of Braai Day – a guise of Heritage Day that some believe is a form of cultural erasure that undermines the true purpose of the national holiday. Amidst of all the media coverage and controversy, we seem to have forgotten that last month was also Biko month – a month where we remember a man largely regarded as the father of the Black Consciousness Movement.
Born on the 18th of September 1946, Stephen Bantu Biko's contribution to the anti-apartheid cannot be overstated. The former president of the South African Student Organisation (a black student organisation that fought against apartheid), Biko's writings and philosophy of black self-determination inspired the Soweto Uprising of 1976 while his teachings of black autonomy, self-determination and self-love (which can be surmised in his now famous line "black is beautiful") are also widely celebrated as key pillars of the Black Consciousness movement. When speaking of him, there really are no superlatives big enough to describe the magnitude of his philosophical impact on South African life. Such was his importance to the anti-apartheid movement that former president Nelson Mandela was once quoted saying "they (the apartheid government) had to kill him to prolong the life of apartheid". It's no wonder then that the Steve Biko Foundation, in partnership with the National Museum of Cultural History, recently launched an exhibition chronicling the rise of the Black Consciousness Movement during apartheid and the man who founded it. Titled "Biko: The Quest For True Humanity", the exhibition also offers insight into the man behind the myth. Director of the Steve Biko Foundation Obenewah Amponsah described the exhibition as an examination into Biko "not only in the context of his death… but his life as well".
Director of the Steve Biko Foundation Obenewah Amponsah with Arts and Culture MEC Molebatsi Bopape. Photo: Rofhiwa Maneta
The thinking behind the exhibition is that when people usually think about Biko, they think of him in the context of 12 September 1977, said Amponsah. "Steve Biko did not live to tell his story, so we thought we should tell it for him. Not just in the context of his death, but also in the context of his life. The exhibition is deliberately designed to talk about his life," concluded the director of the Steve Biko Foundation.
Amponsah was also at pains to stress the exhibition wasn't just a re-introduction of Biko – for some it would be an induction into Biko's life. She narrated an experience she had at a recent high school visit where she asked a couple of students who Steve Biko was. The answers ranged from "a soccer player" to "the man who killed Nelson Mandela". And even though the aforementioned are extreme examples, no one can deny that Biko isn't as celebrated as much as, say, Nelson Mandela or Chris Hani. Instead, his philosophy lies at the recesses of public attention and his teachings have been relegated to trite T-shirt slogans at poetry sessions. Which is nothing short of scandalous given that there are still very many salient truths this generation could learn from him.
Gauteng MEC for Sport, Arts and Culture Molebatsi Bopape officially opens the Biko exhibition. Photo: Rofhiwa Maneta
Take the issue of heritage, for example. In his seminal collection of essays "I Write What I Like", Biko commented that because the world consistently frames Africa in such a negative manner (with African culture often referred to as primal or barbaric), its children internalise this negativity and find comfort with white society. "The African child learns to hate his heritage in his days at school. So negative is the image of African society that he finds solace only in the close identification with white society," he wrote. And who can deny this? The very idea that we should section a time of the year off to celebrate our heritage (when we should be living and celebrating our differences everyday) is just one example of how Eurocentric culture has become our default standard of reality. Similarly, on the issue of privilege, Biko was unwavering: white South Africa had an unearned advantage over black South Africans by virtue of having a fairer hue. In his essay "Black Souls, White Skins", Biko called the white community "a community of people who sit to enjoy a privileged position they do not deserve, are aware of this, and therefore spend their time trying to justify why they are doing so". Today this manifests itself in the white community's insistence that affirmative action is some form of "reverse racism" (instead of the from of redress that it is).
Indeed, Biko's words still ring as true today as they did three decades ago. He is proof that when a man dies, his bones may decay but the power of his ideas transcend his very existence. Steve Biko is no longer with us, but the continued struggle for black self-identification makes his ideas more alive than ever.
Photography by: Rofhiwa Maneta
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Statement on Lewisham Council delaying decision on Millwall CPO
Labour Dominated Lewisham Council Stall on Decision on Millwall
Lewisham Conservatives Call on Secretary of State & Mayor of London to Decide on New Bermondsey Development
Local Conservatives Slam Plans That Could Spell End of Millwall F.C.
Lewisham Deptford Conservatives Call On MP To Be Firmer On Flawed Millwall CPO
Sunday, 8 January, 2017
Lewisham Deptford Conservatives have criticised the Labour Member of Parliament for Lewisham Deptford for what they call her 'listless' response to a controversial Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) which could force Millwall Football Club to leave Lewisham.
Labour Dominated Lewisham Council Could Destroy Millwall FC
Saturday, 7 January, 2017
Lewisham Deptford Conservatives slam plans for New Bermondsey Development.
On the 11th of January, Lewisham Council will hold a crucial meeting on the proposed New Bermondsey Development, that could spell the end of Millwall Football Club in the borough.
Khan Breaks Fares Promise
Conservatives in London have criticised the Labour Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, after breaking his central promise during last years campaign, just 9 months after coming to office.
Andy Hughes and James Clark selected for Council By-elections
Lewisham Deptford Conservatives have named Andy Hughes and James Clark as their candidates in the forthcoming Brockley and Evelyn ward by-elections. These by-elections are a chance to elect a strong opposition to the dominate Labour group on the council. Both by-elections take place on the 13th October 2016. Polls will be open between 7am and 10pm.
Lewisham Mayor failed to meet Boris once to discuss "vital" Bakerloo line extension
Thursday, 7 July, 2016
Local Conservatives have hit out at the Mayor of Lewisham, Sir Steve Bullock, after figures obtained through a Freedom of Information request revealed he failed to meet the former Mayor of London Boris Johnson to discussthe proposed extension of the Bakerloo line between its announcement in September 2014 and Boris Johnson's end of term in April 2016.
Local Conservatives pick Ross Archer for the Bellingham By-election
Saturday, 2 July, 2016
Following the resignation of a Labour Councillor a by-election has been in called in Bellingham ward for Thursday 21 July. Lewisham West & Penge Conservatives have selected Ross Archer to be their candidate.
Getting the Living Wage for Lewisham
Lewisham Council should introduce incentives for local employers to pay their staff at least the London Living Wage
Bim Afolami Selected for Lewisham Deptford
Friday, 11 July, 2014
Bim Afolami has been selected as the Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Lewisham Deptford Conservatives in the 2015 General Election.


CAPE TOWN – Saait Magiet was a world-class cricketer in any era who would have been (if not denied by apartheid) a double Springbok – in cricket and rugby. These were some of the praises for Magiet during a tribute event hosted by the Western Province Cricket Association (WPCA) in the President's suite of PPC Newlands on Tuesday evening.
The tribute evening was organized after the passing of the legendary all-round sportsman Magiet last Tuesday while on holiday in Malaysia. He was 66.
Shafieka Waggie, daughter of Saait Magiet, Beresford Williams, president of the WPCA, Norman Arendse, former president of Cricket South Africa, Ebrahim Rasool, former premier of the Western Cape, Vincent Barnes, CSA's high performance manager and Riyaad Najaar, principal of the Spine Road High School, all paid tribute to Magiet.
Barnes, who opened the bowling in the Western Province team with Magiet, said he would have been a world-class cricketer in any era.
Mogamad Allie, editor of the book More Than a Game, said according to the SARU loose forward Edgar Siljeur, Magiet was surely the best and most versatile sportsman produced during the SACOS era.
Najaar said Magiet would have played for the Springbok rugby team (if not denied by apartheid).
As an opening bowler Magiet was devastating, often ripping through the opposition with a combination of pace and swing as manifested by his 171 first-class wickets claimed at a meagre average of 12.99.
Allie quoted Barnes who said that as long as Magiet played, the Western Province team did not have to worry. If they lost wickets up front, he would contribute with the bat. If they struggled for wickets, they just gave him the ball. He said Magiet was the ultimate safety net.
Barnes said Magiet was undoubtedly one of the best cricketers he played with or saw.
The cricket commentator Aslam Khota, a former Transvaal opening batsman, said Magiet possessed stamina, and combined speed with craft as a pace bowler. He was a devastating stroke-maker and often changed the game in favour of his team.
A classic all-rounder, he represented the Western Province Cricket Board and was chosen for the South African Cricket Board national teams, captaining them in 1987 and 1991 and for a SACOS XI in 1982. He played briefly after unity although he was almost 40 years old by then.
He was widely regarded as one of the finest loose forwards in the SARU ranks and there is consensus that had he moved to the Green Point Track-based WP union, he would have been a shoe-in for national colours. However, his loyalty to the Primrose rugby and cricket clubs precluded such a move from even being considered, wrote Allie.
The journalist Dougie Oakes wrote that Magiet was a flag bearer for the cause of non-racialism in sport. He refused to be bought by those punting the notion of mixed sport over a weekend and segregated facilities, group areas and pass laws during the week.
Magiet was a venomous quick bowler and a dashing middle-order batsman. Those who knew cricket were convinced that in another time and place he would have been playing at international level.
He and his brother, Rushdi, turned down a lucrative offer to play for a South African Invitation X1 against Greg Chappell's sanctions-busting International Wanderers side in 1976.
If he had the opportunity, Magiet would have been able to make his mark on the international scene just as players in the post-apartheid eras like Makhaya Ntini, Vernon Philander, Ashwell Prince, JP Duminy, Hashim Amla, Paul Adams, Kagiso Rabada and others have done, said Allie.
Rasool said apartheid was defeated by the ordinary things that people did that transformed their lives into extraordinary heroism, and that is the tribute one has to pay to Saait Magiet.
"We did not succumb to the idea of a white supremacy mindset. Here was someone (Magiet) who could bowl as fast if not faster than Garth le Roux, who could hit the ball further than Adrian Kuiper. That was important to kill the white supremacy mindset. That freed our minds so that we could free ourselves," said Rasool.


Microsoft is releasing a beta of Office 2010 for the web. I think this will open up some interesting collaboration on Excel and business intelligence. Jump over to the office web applications blog for more information.


Your tradeshow displays do a lot of heavy (marketing) lifting for your company, and you don't want to be without them for long. Even though they come with a manufacturer's warranty, pop up tents will often have replacement requests refused if damaged. Indeed, custom pop up tents warranty doesn't cover the costs of every type of harm, and the warranty document will detail the circumstances in which you can have your product refunded or repaired, as well as specify how long the agreement lasts. For example, damage caused by wind or fabric ripped in an accident aren't covered. Discover the true meaning of your manufacturer's warranty before you run into trouble.
Your tents go with you to many events, and while you can minimize the risk of accidents, you can't completely eliminate every possibility. Your manufacturer's warranty only covers defects acquired during production. Damage caused by weather, accidental or intentional actions are typically never covered under this warranty. For example, if the manufacturer included a too-short part on your canopy frame and it falls over during normal operation due to this problem, it's covered under your warranty. If your staff runs over your tent with a golf cart or someone defaced your tent while you were gone, you're on your own for the replacement costs.
Manufacturers expect their custom pop up tents to spend a lot of time outside. They tend not to cover weather-related problems, which include rust on your tent frame. Look through the small print on your warranty, and read each line carefully. Rust may not be specifically excluded from return eligibility, but Acts of God and a blanket disclaimer for weather conditions show up in the small print. If your tent is made out of steel, you have a powder coating, but it doesn't last forever. Eventually, the outdoor conditions win out and cause rust. If you're looking for a tent that avoids this problem, Air Craft aluminum is strong and will not rust.
Check your warranty for a part-by-part breakdown. Some businesses consider the entire pop up canopy tent one unit, while others create specific terms for each part. For example, fabric pieces such as your tent walls don't have coverage other than incorrect printing protection or a one-year anti-fade warranty. Reach out to the company if the warranty terms aren't clear; you don't want to get stuck with custom pop up tent repair costs because you have a part that fell out of warranty early on in its life.
You have a lot of situations in which you can't return your product and get a refund, so where does your warranty actually come in handy? Typically, the manufacturer replaces your goods or refunds your cost if the problem comes from defects caused when they created the item. For example, if your logo wasn't printed correctly when you first received the pop-up tents, the manufacturing company is the faulty party. Damage caused by faulty craftsmanship rather than mistreatment or the weather also falls under your coverage. Your warranty may cover parts but not shipping or labor, so you will pay that expense in the process.
Refunds have their own set of terms and conditions. You only have access to refunds if you haven't used the tent and if you're within a certain period following your purchase date. Some companies only honor refunds if you encounter a defect or malfunction; the warranty terms specify whether you're responsible for shipping and restocking costs when receiving a refund. If you ordered the wrong product, however, you can only exchange the product.
Don't add avoidable expenses to your plate. Spend some time reading the small print and talking to the manufacturer directly to understand what their warranty covers. That way, you will spend less time trying to figure out a tradeshow display replacement and more time making connections with the people who matter — your customers.


Blasting Nazis with a Super Soaker.
Spraying Nazis with Silly String.
Spitting on the street in front of Nazis.
Blowing hot air into the faces of Nazis with a cordless hair dryer.
Throwing cream pies at the heads of Nazis.
Pouring paint over the shoes of Nazis.
Throwing white sheets over the tops of Nazis, entangling and confusing them.
Tossing armfuls of feathers to obscure Nazis from nearby cameras.
Goose-stepping back and forth behind Nazis as they are interviewed.
Wearing an extremely distracting costume and dancing in the background behind Nazis as they are interviewed.
Lip-syncing behind Nazis as they are interviewed, making the impression bigger and sillier as you go along. Wearing a Hitler mustache might help.
Organizing a clown parade that follows Nazi parades wherever they g0.
Handing Nazis helium balloons and asking them to hold onto the balloons, just for a second. Walking away. Shouting at Nazis if they let go of your balloons, blaming them for the fact that the balloons are now lost forever. Demanding compensation.
Dressing up like Winston Churchill and threatening Nazis in a British accent.
Dressing up like Captain America and staring quietly at Nazis from close range.
Dressing up like Principal Sweeney and telling Nazis you'll need to see them in your office.
Telling Nazis, at an incredible volume, that their mothers must be very disappointed in them and that they should call their mothers straightaway to apologize.
* There are people who, according to certain pro-punching arguments, would have the right to punch Communists, Islamists, members of Congress, evangelical Ugandans, factory farm owners, drug dealers, gang members, abortion doctors… hence, the complexity of punching.
** I'm not a lawyer. From a practical standpoint, you shouldn't do some of these things unless you're willing to risk arrest and/or be punched by Nazis. From a moral standpoint… use your best judgment. Here's how I feel, more or less.
*** If you have other ideas, please share them in the comments! It seems as though Nazis aren't going away, so there's lots of room to experiment.
This entry was posted in Creative Writing, Ideas and tagged Humor, Politics, Thinking Outside the Box. Bookmark the permalink.


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Nicaragua Tours
See All Nicaragua Tours
From hiking in dense rainforests to visiting a lake in a crater, Nicaragua is a land of great natural beauty and a fascinating history!
Art Galleries & Museums (2)
Boat/Cruise Excursion (1)
Horse Riding Excursion (2)
Wildlife Tours (12)
Central American Highlights
Small Group, Wildlife Tours, White water rafting, Adventure Tours, Cultural, Shopping,
Visiting: Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Central America, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Antigua ....more Visiting: Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Central America, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Antigua Guatemala, León, Masaya Volcano National Park, San José Province, Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui, Sololá, Suchitoto, Granada, Copan Ruinas, San Juan del Sur, Chichicastenango, Guatemala City ....less View Tour
Guatemala & Beyond
Family-Kids, Hiking, Small Group, Youth, Active Adventures, Shopping, Singles, Walking, Adventure Tours, Walking, Hiking and Trekking, Beach Tours, Cultural, Ruins-Archaeology,
Visiting: Honduras, Nicaragua, Central America, El Salvador, Guatemala, Copan, León, Granada, ....more Visiting: Honduras, Nicaragua, Central America, El Salvador, Guatemala, Copan, León, Granada, Antigua Guatemala, El Cuco, Suchitoto, San Miguel ....less View Tour
Central American Journey
History, Small Group, Walking, Beach Tours, Cultural, Active Adventures, Canoeing-Kayaking, Scenic, Wildlife Tours, Sightseeing, Adventure Tours, Singles, Walking, Hiking and Trekking,
Visiting: Central America, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Honduras, Guatemala, La ....more Visiting: Central America, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Honduras, Guatemala, La Fortuna, El Cuco, San Miguel, Antigua Guatemala, Copan Ruinas, Guasaule, San José Province, Suchitoto, El Amatillo, Monteverde, Ometepe, León, Granada ....less View Tour
Cycle Nicaragua, Costa Rica & Panama
Adventure Tours, Cultural, Singles, Scenic, Sightseeing, Cycling, Active Adventures, Beach Tours, Wildlife Tours,
Moderate / Challenging
Visiting: Costa Rica, Adventure Holidays in Central America, Central America, Nicaragua, ....more Visiting: Costa Rica, Adventure Holidays in Central America, Central America, Nicaragua, Panama, Lake Nicaragua, Limón Province, Pan-American Highway, Arenal Volcano, Granada, Panama Canal, La Fortuna, San Juan del Sur, Panama Border Crossing, Tenorio River, Bocas del Toro Province, Lake Arenal, Masaya Volcano National Park, San Jorge, Panama City ....less View Tour
Amazing Central America
Fishing, Active Adventures, Gardens & Nature Tours, Ruins-Archaeology, Walking, Wildlife Tours, Snorkeling, Singles, Scenic, Adventure Tours, Foodie and Wine Tours, Sightseeing, Walking, Hiking and Trekking, Small Group,
Visiting: Honduras, Guatemala, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Panama, Central America, Nicaragua, ....more Visiting: Honduras, Guatemala, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Panama, Central America, Nicaragua, Copan Ruinas, Ometepe Island, Panama City, Santa Catalina, Suchitoto, Boquete, Granada, Monteverde, Bocas del Toro Province, San José, San Miguel, Antigua Guatemala, Colón Island, La Fortuna, León, Puerto Viejo de Talamanca, El Cuco ....less View Tour
Real Guatemala to Costa Rica
Adventure Tours, Cultural, Walking, Walking, Hiking and Trekking, Beach Tours, 18-30 somethings,
Antigua Guatemala, Guatemala
San José Province, San José, Costa Rica
Visiting: El Salvador, Nicaragua, Central America, Costa Rica, Guatemala, San José, ....more Visiting: El Salvador, Nicaragua, Central America, Costa Rica, Guatemala, San José, San Juan del Sur, Antigua Guatemala, Cerro Verde National Park, León, Granada, La Fortuna, Ometepe, San Miguel, Monteverde ....less View Tour
Central America Explorer
Canoeing-Kayaking, Foodie and Wine Tours, Scenic, Snorkeling, Small Group, Sightseeing, Walking, Wildlife Tours, Ruins-Archaeology, Walking, Hiking and Trekking, Active Adventures, Adventure Tours, Singles, Beach Tours,
Visiting: Belize, Honduras, Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Central America, El Salvador, Costa ....more Visiting: Belize, Honduras, Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Central America, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Chichén-Itzá, Palenque, Iglesia de San Jorge La Laguna, Lake Atitlán, Suchitoto, León, Mérida, Monteverde, Ometepe, Chichicastenango, La Fortuna, Mexico City, Panajachel, San Miguel, Tulum, Antigua Guatemala, Caye Caulker, Playa del Carmen, Rio Dulce, San Ignacio, El Cuco, Oaxaca, Copan Ruinas, Puebla, Granada, San Cristobal de las Casas, San José, Tikal ....less View Tour
Epic Mexico to Costa Rica
Active Adventures, Beach Tours, Ruins-Archaeology, Hiking, Small Group, Cycling, 18-30 somethings, Walking, Hiking and Trekking, Adventure Tours, Cultural, Trekking,
Visiting: Costa Rica, Central America, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Mexico, El Salvador, Belize, ....more Visiting: Costa Rica, Central America, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Mexico, El Salvador, Belize, Leon, Monteverde, Cerro Verde, Lake Atitlan, Lake Atitlán, Ometepe Island, Caye Caulker, Rio Dulce, San Jose, La Fortuna, San Juan del Sur, Tikal National Park, Tulum, Antigua, Granada, Playa del Carmen, Chichicastenango, San Ignacio, San Miguel ....less View Tour
Nicaragua - Land of Lakes and Volcanoes
Adventure Tours, Birdwatching, Foodie and Wine Tours, Shopping, Small Group, Active Adventures, Couples, Cultural, Singles, 50 plus, Scenic, Sightseeing, Beach Tours, Jet Boat Rides, Wildlife Tours, 18-30 somethings,
Visiting: Central America, Nicaragua, Managua ....more Visiting: Central America, Nicaragua, Managua ....less View Tour
Ultimate Central America
Active Adventures, Walking, Walking, Hiking and Trekking, Adventure Tours, Boat/Cruise Excursion, Cultural, Ruins-Archaeology, Wildlife Tours, Art Galleries & Museums, Small Group, History, Singles, Snorkeling,
Mexico City, CDMX, Mexico
Panama City, Panama
Visiting: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Central America, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, ....more Visiting: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Central America, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Belize, Mérida, Tikal, Boquete, Colón Island, Palenque, Rio Dulce, San José, Santa Catalina, El Cuco, Oaxaca, San Cristobal de las Casas, Chichén-Itzá, León, Mexico City, Monteverde, Palenque-Ruinas, Panajachel, Antigua Guatemala, Copan Ruinas, La Fortuna, Lake Atitlán, Puerto Viejo de Talamanca, Tulum, Bocas del Toro Province, Caye Caulker, Chichicastenango, Iglesia de San Jorge La Laguna, Panama City, San Ignacio, San Miguel, Suchitoto, Granada, Playa del Carmen, Puebla, Ometepe Island ....less View Tour
Central American Adventure
Active Adventures, Beach Tours, Ruins-Archaeology, Wildlife Tours, Walking, Walking, Hiking and Trekking, Canoeing-Kayaking, Sightseeing, Small Group, Foodie and Wine Tours, Scenic, Singles, Snorkeling, Adventure Tours,
Visiting: Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Central America, El Salvador, Belize, ....more Visiting: Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Central America, El Salvador, Belize, Nicaragua, Ometepe, Caye Caulker, El Cuco, Rio Dulce, San José, León, Monteverde, Panajachel, Tikal, Chichicastenango, Iglesia de San Jorge La Laguna, Lake Atitlán, San Ignacio, San Miguel, Suchitoto, Antigua Guatemala, Granada, Playa del Carmen, Copan Ruinas, La Fortuna, Tulum ....less View Tour
Central American Journey: Rainforests & Ruins
Adventure Tours, Horse Riding Excursion, Snorkeling, Small Group, Cultural, Beach Tours, 18-30 somethings, Canoeing-Kayaking, Fishing, Wildlife Tours, Ruins-Archaeology,
Visiting: Mexico, Central America, Nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Belize, Costa ....more Visiting: Mexico, Central America, Nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Belize, Costa Rica, Isla de Ometepe, San José, Suchitoto, Panajachel, La Fortuna, Flores, Granada, Antigua Guatemala, Copán, Copan Ruinas, Playa del Carmen, Playa El Tunco, Caye Caulker, Ometepe, Rio Dulce, San Ignacio, León, Monteverde, San Juan La Laguna ....less View Tour


ADDISON, IL, October 14, 2009 — Pres-On, a leading supplier and innovator in adhesive products, has expanded its in-house die-cutting capabilities of gaskets and tapes used in the assembly of furniture, vehicles, consumer electronics and countless other products.
Designed to speed up assembly time and provide significant cost savings for OEMs, Pres-On tapes and gaskets can be die cut in intricate, custom patterns with exceptional edge quality to fit any specified size application or opening. Virtually any non-metallic material can be cut, including foam, felt, rubber, cork, silicone sponge and vinyl. Pressure-sensitive high-tack or low-tack adhesive is coated directly on the gaskets or tapes using the company's unique "wet coating" process for superior adhesive anchorage resistant to temperature extremes, aging and UV degradation.
Common uses of Pres-On adhesive products include bonding and joining, thermal insulation, vibration dampening, noise reduction, waterproof sealing and insulation. The benefit of using adhesive tapes to bond rather than rivets or screws is that the tension is dispersed along the length of the bond rather than at one or two places. It also gives a product a cleaner, more sleek appearance.


Anyone conversant in future home has come throughout Dombresky sooner or later or one other. From his career-defining observe "Utopia" to his newest endeavors like "Futurmastic" and "Rave Alarm" with Noizu, the Parisian producer has a behavior of regularly releasing fascinating home music. He does simply that along with his first tune of 2019 "Soul Sacrifice," a home fever value sweating for.
In his new single, Dombresky offers us an upbeat rhythm that turns into fused with a saxophone's single-note catchiness. "Soul Sacrifice" reveals a brand new aspect of enlivening sound design to Dombresky's discography that we haven't seen in his prior releases. The newly added jazziness on this observe is harking back to what one would hear at an Ibiza pool get together.
Dombresky was initially found by A-Trak again in 2015. Since then, his development as a producer and artist has result in key releases on labels equivalent to Confession, Mad Decent, and Insomniac Records. He has additionally collaborated with a wide range of home producers equivalent to Tchami, Malaa, Habstrakt, Tony Romera, and extra.
If you might be in search of a contented home tune that you could shuffle to on the seashore, then be sure to test "Soul Sacrifice" by Dombresky out.


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Home News Music News Women of Country at the CMT Awards 2020
Women of Country at the CMT Awards 2020
As with all awards shows during the pandemic, the CMT Awards held its virtual awards show last night, filming from various Nashville locations. Some lucky fans were able to see live performances at the Ram Truck Stage in Cumberland Park, social distancing, of course! Co-hosts for the evening were Kane Brown, Sara Hyland, and Ashley McBryde.
Several standout performances of the night for Guitar Girl Magazine included Maren Morris ("To Hell And Back"), Ashley McBryde ("Martha Divine"), Caylee Hammack ("Just Friends"), Kelsea Ballerini and Halsey ("The Other Girl"), Mickey Guyton ("Heaven Down Here"), and Shania Town ("Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under?"
Female Video of the Year and Video of the Year awards went to Carrie Underwood for "Drinking Alone," which made her 21st CMT Music Award. In her acceptance speech, she thanked her fans, saying, "Um, oh, my gosh. Thank you so much. Thank you, CMT. Thank you, fans, so much for voting. It means so much to me and just lets me know that you're still doing what you do, which is giving the love." She followed it up with, "Thank you, fans. Just thank you, I don't deserve you."
As female country artists have been fighting for equal airplay, Jennifer Nettles has made it her passion to advocate for female country musicians. At the 2019 CMT Awards, she wore a Christian Siriano pantsuit look with the words "Equal Play" written on the cape. As a result, she took home the inaugural CMT Equal Play Award. "Thank you to all the fans. And especially to my artists, my sisters out there who continue to burn the holy fire," she said. "I am so proud to be a part of this legacy of women in country music with you, and I am so proud of the stories we tell. We have more to do as soon as we can, and I can't wait to do it all alongside you, holding your hands."
Nominees and Winners for 2020
VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Carrie Underwood – "Drinking Alone" – WINNER
Keith Urban – "Polaroid"
Kelsea Ballerini – "homecoming queen?"
Miranda Lambert – "Bluebird"
Tanya Tucker – "Bring My Flowers Now"
Luke Combs – "Beer Never Broke My Heart"
FEMALE VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Ashley McBryde – "One Night Standards"
Gabby Barrett – "I Hope"
Maren Morris – "The Bones"
MALE VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Jason Aldean – "Got What I Got"
Luke Bryan – "One Margarita" — WINNER
Luke Combs – "Even Though I'm Leaving"
Morgan Wallen – "Chasin' You (Dream Video)"
Sam Hunt – "Hard To Forget"
Thomas Rhett – "Remember You Young"
GROUP VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Lady A – "Champagne Night"
Little Big Town – "Wine, Beer, Whiskey" (Live Cut)
Midland – "Cheatin' Songs (Live From the Palomino)"
Old Dominion – "One Man Band" — WINNER
The Chicks – "Gaslighter"
The Highwomen – "Crowded Table"
DUO VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Brothers Osborne – "All Night (Studio Performance)"
Dan + Shay – "I Should Probably Go To Bed" — WINNER
Florida Georgia Line – "Blessings"
LOCASH – "One Big Country Song"
Maddie & Tae – "Die From A Broken Heart"
BREAKTHROUGH VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Blanco Brown – "The Git Up"
Caylee Hammack – "Family Tree"
Gabby Barrett – "I Hope" — WINNER
Ingrid Andress – "More Hearts Than Mine"
Riley Green – "I Wish Grandpas Never Died"
Travis Denning – "After a Few"
COLLABORATIVE VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Blake Shelton with Gwen Stefani – "Nobody But You" — WINNER
Carly Pearce and Lee Brice – "I Hope You're Happy Now"
Dan + Shay and Justin Bieber – "10,000 Hours"
Kane Brown featuring Nelly – "Cool Again"
Marshmello and Kane Brown – "One Thing Right"
Thomas Rhett featuring Jon Pardi – "Beer Can't Fix"
CMT PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR
From CMT Artists of the Year: Ashley McBryde – "One Night Standards"
From CMT Crossroads: Brooks & Dunn and Luke Combs – "Brand New Man"
From CMT Artists of the Year: Chris Young – "Drowning" — WINNER
From CMT Crossroads: Halsey and Kelsea Ballerini – "Graveyard"
From CMT Artists of the Year: Sam Hunt – "Fancy"
From CMT Crossroads: Sheryl Crow and Chris Stapleton – "Tell Me When It's Over"
Carrie Underwood Female Video of the Year
CMT Awards 2020
Mickey Guyton at CMT Awards
Standout Moments of CMT Awards 2020
women of country music
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Graphic Design | Illustration | UI/UX
Zine Project: Back to the Future in Chinatown!
ZINE: LOCALE PROJECT
– RESEARCH –
|| For my Zine: Locale project, I decided to pick the area of Chinatown since I've never really thoroughly explored the area before despite having been there on a few occasions during Chinese New Year. So I thought that this would be the perfect chance to get to have a nice adventure around the area on my own!
The slides below are a compilation of the primary and secondary research that I have done at the site:
Chinatown was made into a social enclave for the ethnic Chinese immigrants in 1822 when Sir Stamford Raffles first founded Singapore.
The general Chinatown area is actually split into 4 major areas, Kreta Ayer, Telok Ayer, Bukit Pasoh and Tanjong Pagar. The sites with more tourists and things to see are the Kreta Ayer and Telok Ayer region, where you can find all the souvenir stores and temples!
Kreta Ayer is named after the water carts that were pulled around in the past because accessible water was usually far from homes. This gives us insight into how Singapore used to be a not-so-well off place, compared to now.
It would literally be impossible to miss these shophouse style architecture around Chinatown. There are different styles, as one can tell from the window decoration. They could be first, second or late transitional, or art deco style shop houses from the colonial times that are really iconic to the venue.
There are bronze sculptures littered around Chinatown of its inhabitants in the past such as Rickshaw Pullers, Samsui Women and Coolies that came from China to Singapore in hopes of better job opportunities. Many immigrants that came here toiled hard and worked tough jobs.
After reading a book called Kreta Ayer I borrowed from the library, I learned a lot more about the lifestyle back then. Samsui women, for example, "could be found in construction sites, digging ditches, scooping sand and cement, and carrying stones and bricks." They also had a hair combing ritual called the Golden Orchid Pledge which they swore celibacy by. Areas used to have a more morbid past such as Sago Lane having death houses and opium dens while Keong Saik road was basically a red-light district with many brothels where pipa women would work to entertain men.
This giant mural near Maxwell Food Center was made by ACS students and is one of the most popular murals at Chinatown!
One of the iconic temples there was the Thian Hock Keng temple – Temple of Heavenly Happiness, which I happened to step into randomly (had no idea about it before reading Kreta Ayer). It is the oldest Chinese temple in Singapore and is dedicated to Mazu, the Goddess of the Sea that people would pray to before leaving for voyages at sea. When the 2nd World War came to Singapore in 1942, Chinatown suffered the brunt of Japan's frequent air raids. There were no air shelters and with Chinatown being so crowded, casualties reached as many as 2,000 a day. During the Japanese Occupation, the loss of jobs caused thousands to turn to hawking on the streets.
Here is an audio recording I took while inside the temple:
https://soundcloud.com/l-ryuugahideki/chinatown-temple
You can hear the sound of a bell which I rung, out of multiple bells there that catered to different wishes!
Of course, we really can't miss the most iconic temple in Chinatown: the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple! It is said to contain the real Buddha's tooth (which….I actually highly doubt so because my sister once told me she saw the relic on a tour and it was like… some sort of jewel?)
The prayer hall is really massive and sparkling golden and the moment I saw it I had already decided that it was a contender to be in my middle spread.
Here's the Chinatown Food Complex! I've been here with my family once, the food is so expensive TvT As expected of tourist sites…
The complex is meant to revive the idea of al-fresco dining in a street setting. It re-opened in 2014 with an internal cooling system and high-ceiling glass shelter. The street hawkers, operating out of nostalgic mobile carts, recreate the good old days of open-air eating.
The area of Telok Ayer and Club Street is well-adorned with an abundance of pubs and bars.
Now, I don't drink, so I can only imagine what kind of heaven this area of Chinatown is for alcoholics.
Here are where many of the shophouse architectures are as well, and is one of those spots artists like to go to to sketch.
Club Street is named after the Chinese Weekly Entertainment Club, and exclusive social club founded in 1891 for the English-Speaking Straits Chinese elites.
Needless to say, there are a ton of shops, especially along Pagoda Street, selling souvenirs ranging from hip shirts, to paintbrushes, to just… really weird stuff.
I found this quote in Urban Sketchers' Chinatown book, and really relate with:
"Chinatown offers me neither a sense of identity nor belonging. Yet I take great pleasure in walking its streets, secretly revelling in its contrived nature, while seeking out the genuine connections people may have to the place." Nursil
a, social worker.
Here is a video made up of a bunch of smaller clips of the things I saw and heard walking around Chinatown:
There are multiple juxtapositions of pop culture and old architecture.
– IDEA DEVELOPMENT –
Initially, I was looking through a few styles to come up with a style for my zine because I felted kind of daunted by the task of filling up 8 pages of a zine on my own.
How about an Alice in Wonderland style illustration book with me meeting mythical creatures in Chinatown?
Perhaps I could do it like Dr Seuss books; spaced out compositions with some fun text?
All this history talk also reminds me of Night at the Museum, perhaps I could bring historical figures alive?
The possibilities were endless with a zine.
It wasn't until I was chatting with a senior until I realised that Chinatown and the world of Ghibli's Spirited Away had uncanny similarities, especially with the lanterns and all. I mean, this:
versus this?
At this point, I'm practically Chihiiro (the protagonist).
So I drew myself as her.
It gave me the idea of a tour.
And then it struck me: if it was so hard trying to imagine myself back in old Chinatown, why not bring people in the past back to modern Chinatown?
We could bring people like the rickshaw puller, coolie and samsui woman to present day Chinatown to witness the fruits of their labour and have fun while at it!
And so begin my humble project:
I spent a good hour learning how to make this font on Illustrator by following this tutorial:
Yay! Now I know how to install new fonts, control gradients and distort my text!
I thought hmm… I literally have over 260+ photographs. It would be a huge pity not to use any of it.
It would also be a huge pity to make them black and white (I toyed with the idea of viewing Chinatown in monochrome but someone did it already, plus Chinatown is so vibrant, that it would just be a waste.)
So I decided to make a photo compilation infused with digital illustrations that I really enjoy doing!
Below are some of the individual drawings I did on FireAlpaca programme:
I grew attached to the characters and decided to call them
Coolie (short for… uhh Coolie)
2. Rickie (short for Rickshaw puller)
3. and Sammie (short for Samsui woman)
I was thinking about my back cover where I had to include my contacts and there was no way I was going to miss the chance to but my name on a sign :)))
(Something like this)
I also forgot to mention earlier that around the same time of doing the actual graphics, I did a sketch of the entire zine.
To plan the content of the zine, I listed out several ideas on Notepad first to filter out which photos mattered the most or told the most stories.
Then I proceeded to create a rough sketch by placing elements around the pages to see how they work out. There's no other way than to just do it and trust your eyes.
After intense drawing and vector graphic making, here are the final pages!
– FINAL ZINE-
FC:
The title of the zine and illustration would be smack in the middle to focus all attention in the middle. The diagonal arrangement of the lanterns in the background and the logo makes the composition a lot more dynamic.
IFC:
I drew the three musketeers (Coolie, Rickie and Sammie) hanging around Chinatown Food Complex ordering food and included the description on Al-fresco dining at the bottom! Shirley helped me to create the PERFECT header and I was honestly so amazed by how adding a simple rectangle with complementary colours in the title would work so well!!!! I have learned something new again. I placed myself in the middle of the two pages so that they would be seen as a group instead of being two separate pages.
Pg 1:
Here are the three musketeers again, having fun around the various kinds of shops in Chinatown. (Coolie in the clothing shop, Sammie in the medicinal hall, and Rickie having his fun jab at an Ofo-bike). I tried to mask the images into more dynamic shapes that also helped to create visual hierarchy.
Pg 4 & 5 spread: As promised, here is the majestic landscape spread of the interior of the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and I think it looks as awesome as I had imagined.
Pg 6 & IBC: On the left page, I added content about Club Street and booze. The colourful vomit in the middle (which is a warped watercolour mark with a gradient colour overlay) joins the 2/3 area to the 1/3 area of Chinatown Bingo! I decided to add in bingo since it was a really popular trend that was going on during this period and I figured it would be a fun way to make the zine interactive, as well as give suggestions for more areas of Chinatown to visit since I can't fit all of its greatness into 8 pages only.
Back cover: Here I overlayed a continuation of the photo from the front cover on top of a photo of a couple strolling with shadows of lanterns on the floor.
I added an engraved effect to an illustration of a map I did for the presentation slides. And there it is! My name on a sign!
I also did some cool vector illustrations of the 3 musketeers.
– PHYSICAL ZINE –
I spent soooooo long trying to get the PDF exportation right because I didn't have Acrobat 🙁 But using the school computer, I managed to do it by expanding my text and packaging the entire zine!
Here is my physical baby!
Class zine cover page grid!
– Reflections –
Some difficulties I faced and things I learned:
Facing the epic task of creating a layout for 8 pages of zine out of pure content researched by ourselves was pretty daunting. I was trying really hard to think of a style to follow, and I think it helps to talk to people about your idea, you never know what fresh ideas they have!
Creating hierarchy for the header. I was having a hard time thinking of a way to make it stand out more until Shirley just smacks on a blue box with yellow font and all of a sudden it gives my zine 20 times the amount of life it had compared to before. I think this taught me to be more daring with using elements such as shapes and colours in my design. Just because there are photos doesn't mean your font has to hide!
How can I miss out learning how to use InDesign? At first, I was extremely not pleased with how confusing the blue and brown boxes were, but I gradually managed to get a hang of it after placing 1304910294 photos into InDesign for this project. I thought that InDesign was quite useful when it comes to layouts, and I also learned about how designers would use placeholder texts to gauge word limits. I thought that was pretty amusing since I always thought the number of words dictated the design, but I guess designers have the power too!!!
Exporting InDesign files as .pdfs for printing! Oh boy did this process take a long time for me, but now I know the importance of Adobe Acrobat!
I think another important takeaway is how to translate research findings into material for a zine. By going down to the sites to experience them first-hand, it really gives us the genuine motivation to want to create content about something and share it with others, as compared to if we were just to simply do some Googling online.
Author Tan Yue LingPosted on March 21, 2018 April 17, 2018 Categories Proj2 Locale Process, Proj2 Locale ResearchTags 2d, chinatown, form, graphic, indesign, layout, locale, magazine, primary, project, research, secondary, singapore, zineLeave a comment on Zine Project: Back to the Future in Chinatown!
@youthfulyue
For my 1 minute video selfie, I decided to do one of those Take On Me video memes with the icon head turn at the start. The original music video by a-ha depicted two settings, one being real life and one being an sketchy, illustrated fictional setting. By applying this outline filter, I wanted to show that I like to be projected as an imaginary goofy persona online which I may not reflect upon first impression in real life.
Original video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djV11Xbc914
I compounded another meme on top of it by intentionally playing the recorder horribly.
By using memes as a theme of popular culture, I am able to portray my own sense of humour that shapes my art style through this video, in the sense that I do not really adopt a neat, stylistic style of design, but rather one that is just ever so slightly self-derogatory and relatable to other people.
Also, I filmed this video right in front of the lift of my floor, the space right outside my house which is my space of comfort but yet not in a public space. This shows how I'm not really comfortable with completely exposing my weird side publicly, but I like to slightly step out of my comfort zone and take things slowly.
P.S.: I was intending to do some sort of a dance cover but then I realised I have no dancing skills… I guess I'm still not too ready to embrace my 'sloppy' side on the internet………….
Author Tan Yue LingPosted on March 21, 2018 March 21, 2018 Categories Micro-Project, My WorkTags digital, embarrassing, experimental, flute, identity, interaction, meme, microproject, recorder, selfie, take on me, video1 Comment on @youthfulyue
Hell Hath No Fury Like a Woman Scorned
[ On S O C I A L B R O A D C A S T I N G ]
|| In Angry Women (2013) by Annie Abrahams, female participants had their webcam screens lined up in a 4×3 grid and vocalised their anger in front of the camera. This entire project involved 24 participants, and none of them knew each other.
Having previously done a research critique on The Big Kiss by Annie Abrahams, I was really interested to see what Angry Women was all about.
Watching this video was pretty unsettling for me, and probably to others too and there's a reason why.
When on social media, we send messages out to our friends, coupled with emotions embedded in our messages. Sometimes, it is also broadcasted to the public, not just our friends. Either way, we are likely to curate an image of ourselves online via these multimodal messages, and more often than not, create an idealised version of ourselves.
The emotion of anger is seen as a rather negative emotion since it implies conflict between two or more parties. Following this understanding, it is only logical to conceal our angry sides online. Now this may seem a bit contradictory to the proliferation of rants in online posts, but is definitely different in the sense that we are still somewhat hiding behind anonymity and not showing our faces, which also partially equate to our real identity.
In Angry Women, these participants were strangers but had to reveal their faces to each other, leading to them being a little cautious at the start.
" It was tough and courageous, but we are moving on 🙂 – very interesting and tumultuous.
We are still struggling to express our anger and we also still have difficulties to co-construct in this situation of lonely togetherness. It's exciting and sometimes overwhelming to try to transgress one's limits."
– from http://bram.org/angry/women/
In fact, research has shown that people regularly suppress anger in order to maintain healthy and successful social relationships. [1] Only by being in this space curated by Annie Abrahams under a 'No Exit' situation could they take some time to fully unleash their fury (much like She Hulk transformations, which is terrifying to watch).
[She Hulk] https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ2Ts4BGs6efsafq1h7yVsVXw6n5HFV1aIcdOCD4jMOVuRmwr4Abw
Exploring anger as an unglamorous side being exposed also parallels how Annie Abrahams works her way around and embraces glitches on the more technical side of this medium, as seen from how she turns a malfunctioning webcam into an artistic expression. [2]
" So instead of dwelling on the frustrations of the network connection, she finds inspiration, and perhaps more importantly, she sets up compelling situations that allow her and others to make critical observations about connection and disconnection. "
– Randall Packer
Since Annie Abrahams has a background in biology, she uses social broadcasting as a tool for investigating and testing out hypotheses that she forms about human behaviour. In Angry Women, the 4×3 grid is a curated 'Alone Together' [3] setting whereby participants are able to see each other all at once over the 'Third Space' (as coined by Randall Packer), and since it is a continuous take, they have to deal with the situation of "No Exit", where they are forced to reveal unglamorous sides of themselves that they would normally unconsciously avoid doing so to others. [4] This social situation would not be possible without the aid of technology and social broadcasting capabilities.
Perhaps by learning how to embrace our 'sloppy' sides online, this could transform parasocial relationships into much more genuine ones in the future.
[1] Riet, Jonathan Van'T, Gabi Schaap, and Mariska Kleemans. "Fret Not Thyself: The Persuasive Effect of Anger Expression and the Role of Perceived Appropriateness." Motivation and Emotion42, no. 1 (2017): 103-17. doi:10.1007/s11031-017-9661-3.
[2] Randall Packer, Disentangling the Entanglements, Art of the Networked Practice Online Symposium Website
[3] Turkle, Sherry. Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other. New York: Basic Books, 2017.
[4] Annie Abrahams website: http://bram.org/angry/women/
Author Tan Yue LingPosted on March 20, 2018 March 21, 2018 Categories ResearchTags angry women, annie abrahams, digital, emotion, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, mediated, randall packer, screen, social broadcasting, third space, webcam1 Comment on Hell Hath No Fury Like a Woman Scorned
Welcome to my Digital Crib!
My desktop is as cluttered as my brain is. (so is my room)
I have a lot of junk files and applications that I don't even frequently use stored on the left of my screen. It's like an organised mess, you know?
My to-do list are always open in my notes.
Youtube is ALWAYS on for music.
Facebook is always there for distraction and there are various tabs open for school.
The background is from one of the only few computer games I own called Life is Strange and I really love the game :DDD
Author Tan Yue LingPosted on March 15, 2018 Categories Micro-ProjectTags desktop, digital, experimental, foundation, identity, interaction, online, selfLeave a comment on Welcome to my Digital Crib!
When will my online biography show who I am inside?
|| The term Digital Identity refers to the way that an individual chooses to present and depict themselves in online and digital communities (the Third Space). An individual's digital identity is largely curated by themselves in order to portray themselves in a favourable manner.
In Eric Erikson's fifth stage of psychosocial development individuals start to question their identity and personal values starting from adolescence, and henceforth embark on a life-long journey to resolve their 'identity crisis'. The Internet allows individuals to experiment with self-identification in a virtual space, serving as a tool or platform for individuals to satisfy their innate curiosity. [1]
In his article in "Facebook and Philosophy", Wittkower suggests similarly that:
"Facebook gives us the same richness of interaction because it, too, fails to determine the meaning of our relationships and communications."
In other words, the customisability of online social media platforms gives people space for creativity to invent new meanings out of any content posted, thus creating new content identifiable with the self. All the seemingly meaningless things that we post onto our profiles contribute to our digital identity and shape this indefinitely aberrating form in different ways. [2] We are able to put up whatever we want to define ourselves, even if it is an idealised image.
Facebook offers users the opportunity to curate their digital identity by providing information about themselves, and using multimodality to accessorise their pages.
The absence of a social context also liberates us from shaping our output such that it conforms to a particular social situation; this gives us freedom to post whatever we want, whenever we want online.
In Carla Gannis' solo exhibition "Until the End of the World", she explores technology as a medium to depict herself in a virtual context as a character model. [3]
"Gannis's process the work should be understood as a conscious interplay between portraitist, portrait and the camera itself. "
With the use of augmented reality in a virtual space, the possibilities for depicting the self visually are endless. This contrasts the mundanity of the image of self in real life in the sense that we are not able to portray what goes on in our minds, as part of our identity in totality. Others are only able to perceive what they see of you.
The idea of using the Internet as a tool to better express ourselves is also evident in the gaming realm, where the virtual re-embodiment of players through self-extension and self-aggregation allow them to build a whole new identity that is idealised, yet closely related to who they are in real life. [4]
Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs) like World of Warcraft (WOW) have character customisation screens that allow players to edit the features of their characters to their liking.
In conclusion, we utilise the Internet as a platform to explore the idea of self. Even though our potrayal of self online may be idealised, there is, to a certain extent, an inherent undeniable truth about who we are in real life, echoing the idea of how technology is an extension of ourselves in an online "global village" (McLuhan).
[1] Images, Self-Images, and Idealized Identities in the Digital Networked World: Reconfigurations of Family Photography in a Web-Based Mode by Luc Pauwels (Universiteit Antwerpen, Belgium).
Pauwels, Luc. "Images, Self-Images, and Idealized Identities in the Digital Networked World: Reconfigurations of Family Photography in a Web-Based Mode." In Digital Identity and Social Media, ed. Steven Warburton and Stylianos Hatzipanagos, 133-147 (2013), accessed March 04, 2018. doi:10.4018/978-1-4666-1915-9.ch010
[2] Wittkower, D. E. (2010). "Facebook and Philosophy: What's on your Mind? A Reply to Facebook Critics," Popular Culture & Philosophy
[3] Until the End of the World, Carla Gannis. http://carlagannis.com/blog/prints/until-the-end-of-the-world/
[4] Online identity construction: How gamers redefine their identity in experiential communities.
PINTO, DIEGO COSTA, et al. "Online identity construction: How gamers redefine their identity in experiential communities." Journal Of Consumer Behaviour 14, no. 6 (November 2015): 399-409. Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed March 4, 2018).
[5] McLuhan, Marshall. Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1964.
Author Tan Yue LingPosted on March 4, 2018 Categories My Work, ResearchTags curated, digital, games, identity, online, persona, self, social media, third space1 Comment on When will my online biography show who I am inside?
https://oss.adm.ntu.edu.sg/ytan147/wp-content/uploads/sites/1785/2020/09/OnHoldLoop.mp3
IDS: Professional Creative Portfolio
Creative Industry Report: Hello Monday
Faith and Art: Japanese and Aboriginal Genesis presentation
Typo 1 Assignment 2: Bedazzling Bodoni (Posters)
Typo 1 Assignment 1: VAG Rounded – Germany Motor Show
Ash on American and European Design in the 40s-50s
Joseph Tan on b a u h a u s
Felicia on b a u h a u s
Celine Low on n a m e r e b u s . p n g
Celine Low on b a u h a u s
20s1-dd4006-lec-le
AY1718 S1 FDN2D G3
Proj 1 Final
Proj 1 Process
Proj 1 Research
AY1718 S2 Graphic Form G3
Proj1 Image Making through Type Gallery
Proj1 Image Making through Type Process
Proj1 Image Making through Type Research
Proj2 Locale Gallery
Proj2 Locale Process
Proj2 Locale Research
DD4006-INTERDISCIPLINARY SEMINAR (DA)
Experimental Interaction – G5
Micro-Project
Foundation 4D 1 – G3
Foundation Drawing 1 – G3
History of Design – G3
Creative Response – VC
Hyperessay – IM
Post Presentation Essay – PD
Process – IM
annie abrahams
co-broadcasting
DIWO
experimental interaction
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randall packer
social broadcasting
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Closely monitor your SAP® order to cash process, from sales order to payment.
Are you delivering goods to customers with credit questions? Reviewing all changes to customer credit limits? Missing unusual or excessive returns, credits or payment terms? Overlooking orders or deliveries that spend undue time on hold? The Process Analyzer for SAP Order to Cash (OTC) module helps you tackle these issues and more. It provides Continuous Controls Monitoring (CCM) of your SAP order to cash process—from sales order entry through shipping, invoicing and payment.
Risk management. By identifying and remediating exceptions to business rules, you can improve cash flow and customer satisfaction while guarding against financial risks caused by fraud and human error.
Monitoring of order to cash business rules. Don't miss an issue because you rely on manual sampling of a small subset of transactions.This module automatically checks every interaction for exceptions to established policies, procedures and best practices.
Real-time notification of issues. When an exception is uncovered, an automated notification is immediately sent to key business process owners. The system provides notification of process breakdowns such as blocked orders, unusual credit limits or payment terms, duplicate shipments, sales orders or shipments not subjected to credit checks etc. for investigation and quick resolution.
Analysis and remediation. User-friendly reports provide simple overviews of exceptions. They also let you drill down to relevant documents and transactions, so you can remedy the issue quickly and easily. Details are then are stored for review by auditors.
Improve business processes. Discover breakdowns in business policies and procedures in your order to cash process. Then make improvements that enhance customer satisfaction and repeat orders and reduce days sales outstanding (DSO), freeing up millions in working capital.
Automatically identify human error and fraud. Pinpoint high-risk areas for deliberate fraud and manipulation of the sales process (e.g., raising credit limits, changing payment terms, creating fictitious sales orders).
Improve audit efficiency. Remove the need for costly manual sample testing, and attain an Always Audit Ready™ state. Auditors can quickly and easily review every control, transaction, exception and action taken to resolve issues.


Orlando Criminal Defense Lawyer. I provide criminal defense, arrest record expungements, and criminal and civil traffic case defense for people in Central Florida.
☛ Over 100 jury trials.
☛ Practice in courtrooms throughout Florida.
I have been expunging and sealing records for over 20 years. I have and continue to represent people, just like you, across the entire State of Florida. Florida has one of the most robust expungement and sealing statutes in the nation. Find out if you qualify, how much it costs, how long it takes to complete, and the benefits you can have by expunging or sealing your criminal record. Click or touch the photo for more information about this critical service.
We have and continue to represent people for civil and criminal traffic tickets. Since 2002, people have relied on our representation when they have received traffic tickets. These include Speeding, Careless Driving, DUI, Racing, Suspended License, and more. Protect your driving privilege in and outside the State of Florida. Click or touch the photo for more information on our representation in this area.
Since 1995, we have practiced criminal defense in the Central Florida area. During this time, we have helped people get their charges dismissed, obtained reduced penalties, and/or avoid jail. Every criminal charge is serious. Assert your Rights and protect your prosperity whenever accused of a criminal act. Click of touch the photo for more information on these services.
For more information about my representation and services, please submit your information below and I will contact you with more info and ways to get started.
Criminal record expungement and criminal defense go hand in hand. Knowing what qualifies to be sealed or expunged is vital in carving out an appropriate resolution to a criminal case.
Traffic tickets can lead to higher insurance rates, suspensions, and criminal charges if not handled properly. We can help you navigate these dangerous waters, protecting your driver's license and keeping you on the road.
Anyone and everyone can be charged with a crime. We deal with criminal charges every day. Don't try and resolve your case without the advice of counsel. Often it is what you don't know that eventually causes you the most harm.
Since 2002, We have assisted people who have been charged with criminal acts, traffic infractions, and helped people expunge those criminal records. We provide expungement and sealing information throughout my website to help you get this done. Eric J Dirga is a Florida Expungement Attorney with statewide experience and statewide representation.
We focus on helping you clear your criminal record either by expunging it or sealing it. This allows you to obtain better employment, housing, and remove the embarrassment of a youthful mistake.
For traffic tickets, our goal is to always seek dismissal first, no points, no school, and minimize the fine. The main objective is to make sure your Driver's License remains in good order.
I also provide Information on Record Searches, Certified Record Retrieval and Notary Services, and post Blogs regarding the areas of the law that I practice in.
For the best methods of contacting Attorney Eric J. Dirga, please go to my Contact Us page or fill in the form above.


Take the strain out of growing your own strain.
There you are in the city, with not so much space and even less talent when it comes to gardening. Yet you're really interested in rising to the horticultural challenge to raise your own tomatoes, kale, basil, strawberries or, say, Blue Dream cannabis strain.
Enter Grobo. Just plant whatever seeds you've legally obtained with the best intentions, tell the app what you're aiming to cultivate and it optimizes the water, nutrients, temperature and light, using a proprietary 50 LED system controllable across eight wavelengths.
The app lets you check in, see how little Seymour (or whatever you name you plant) is doing and share recipes with other users.
Along the way, its special glass front panel transitions from transparent to opaque, both to mimic the progression of natural sunlight throughout the day and so you can inspect your plants without disturbing their delicate ecosystem.
Although naturally results vary, harvesting two ounces every three months represents a typical yield. In other words, a decent amount for your personal medicinal use.
Smaller, more affordable and diverse than other home growing appliances, Grobo is available to pre-order starting today. A $199 deposit locks in your $899 price, a 30% discount off the retail pricing that'll kick in the first week in September, with an estimated delivery timeframe of April 2017.


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Boris Johnson Sets Out Vision To Make London 'Greatest City On Earth'
11/06/2013 10:02am BST | Updated June 11, 2013
Boris Johnson today warned No 10 it must plough cash into London to secure Britain's recovery as he set out his vision to make it the "greatest city on earth".
The English capital is the "supercharged motor" of the UK economy and major infrastructure projects - such as a new hub airport - and housing is needed to keep it "firing on all cylinders", the Mayor of London said.
London's population is set to soar to ten million by 2030 and government must allocate "stable and continuous" funding to development in the city to meet expansion demands.
In a blueprint billed as a "wake up call" for government, Johnson said London needs 400,000 new homes in the next ten years alone.
The 2020 Vision - The Greatest City on Earth; Ambitions for London report, sets out how the capital contributes 22% of UK national output, more than at any time in history.
Indicating he is ready to battle with government for cash, Johnson called the document a "route map and a manifesto for Westminster and Whitehall" that gives government a "clear idea" of how investment in London can drive the rest of the UK economy.
He said: "Post-Olympic London has an amazing story to tell of a city that is leading the UK out of recession as the best place to work, live, play, study, invest and do business, and my goal is to lengthen London's lead as the greatest city on earth.
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"In the summer of 2012 this city put on a triumphant performance, showing us exactly what we can do if we focus and plan, and agree on the challenges facing our city, and today is my personal view of how we can work together to meet those challenges.
"To succeed we must recognise the test of our mettle that lies ahead, not least a million more people in the next decade and a vast shortage of homes in an uncompromising global economy.
"This shows us why the Government must invest in London's future for the good of the whole of the UK and exactly why we must continue to attract international investment. I want this vision to be one which sparks the imagination of every Londoner as well as business leaders and government officials. This is everyone's city and all of our futures."
The blueprint focuses a raft of transport reforms, including a "new four runway airport" and calls on the government to immediately rule out a third runway for London.
It plans for automated trains on three quarters of the Tube network by 2020, the expansion of Barclay's Cycle Hire, more commonly known as Boris bikes, and increasing the number of trains on key lines, such at the Victoria and Jubilee, to 40 an hour.
It sets out plans to start construction of Crossrail 2 in 2019 and investigate new road tunnels such as replacing the Hammersmith flyover.
Aides said the document was a "vision" and more detailed plans would be developed over the coming years.
uk newsOlympicslondonuk politicsuk economy


Melksham Choral Society – We are Melksham Choral Society – a non-auditioned choir enjoying ourselves singing choral and lighter music throughout the year.
Join us this term to sing light-hearted songs by The Beatles, and other summer-fun items. We'll give an informal concert for friends and family at the end of the term.
Rehearsals every Thursday at 7:30pm in the Rachel Fowler Centre, Melksham.
Join us to sing the Requiem Mass by Malcolm Archer, plus other items, on Saturday April 6th.
Half term: February 21st (no rehearsal).
NB: our rehearsal on February 14th will be held in the United Church.
The venue for the concert is Melksham Baptist Church, The City, Old Broughton Road, Melksham. This is on the main one-way system road into Melksham just opposite the back of Lidl, before Coopers Tyres and the bridge.
NB. This is NOT the United Church where we usually perform.
Parking: singers and audience have permission from Coopers Tyres and from Lidl to use their carparks free of charge on Saturday 8th.
Here's a link to a poster with details. Feel free to print out copies and distribute them.
Join us to sing The Messiah (Part 1) and Vaughn Williams Fantasia on Christmas Carols on December 8th.
We hope everyone has a great summer. Carry on singing in the shower!
And join us in September, Thursday evenings 7:30-9:15, to start rehearsing for our December concert.
First rehearsal: Thursday September 13th.
We've added this rehearsal (7:30pm, Rachel Fowler Centre as usual) to make up for the one we had to cancel due to bad weather.
There will be NO REHEARSAL this evening due to the severe wintry conditions.


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Designers Jam Together To Create Beautiful Websites – Forbes
Website design is more of an art than a science. Through countless iterations, web designers work to craft the ideal landing page. A great landing page can be the difference between landing a new customer or user. However, it's challenging to provide feedback directly on the page being edited. Dani Grant and Mohd Irtefa created Jam to solve this overlooked problem. Jam allows users to edit their websites collaboratively. The San Francisco-based startup has raised $3.5M in venture capital funding from Union Square Ventures, Version One Ventures, BoxGroup, Village Global, and angel investors such as GitHub CTO Jason Warner, Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince, Gumroad CEO Sahil Lavingia, former PagerDuty CTO Andrew Miklas, former Kickstarter CPO Jamie Wilkinson, former Robinhood VP Product Josh Elman, Cloudflare SVP Emerging Technology and Incubation Dane Knecht and Cloudflare Head of Innovation James Allworth.
Prince says, "I'm a big fan of the Jam team. Both Dani and Irtefa were terrific members of Cloudflare's team. I got to know them both well. When they asked me to invest it was a no brainer. One of the things that has been surprisingly fun for me running the company has been seeing the Cloudflare Diaspora (which I think is a more appropriate term than "Mafia") go and start new ventures. I've been honored how many of them have reached out and allowed me to help support them. And I'm really excited to see the company that Dani and Irtefa build Jam into."
Jam cofounders Mohd Irtefa (left) and Dani Grant (right).
The main challenges surrounding website design reviews are coordination and collaboration. Coordination during a design review can be complex because different parties are involved with competing and clashing interests. Beyond the design team itself, sales, marketing, engineering, and executive leadership teams all may have feedback to provide in the design process. Such feedback is traditionally collected over email and word documents, which can be difficult to keep track of in real-time as changes are made simultaneously to the website design. Collaboration is its own separate issue. There is a lack of viable software or design review standards where teams and individuals can work together in a central place. Usually, collaboration consists of sharing screenshots or specific design software files with others over email. These necessary steps involve a lot of friction regarding how fast a design team can work to complete a project in a timely fashion. As the massive design software market grows, collaboration and coordination are valuable problems in themselves to be addressed.
Warner states, "Investing in Jam was easy. They were building something that would have made my life easier and better at every place I worked in the past. Jam was simple, intuitive, useful, elegant and fun, while solving a real pain point. Simply put, I wish I had this product multiple times, and know I would need it in the future."
The global knowledge worker market is estimated to be $126 billion according to Atlassian. Diving in deeper, the non-technical knowledge work market, which would include designers, sales and marketing teams, is worth $74 billion. While it's difficult to assess the size of the design collaboration software market directly, the valuations of several late-stage design product companies serve as a relevant benchmark. Canvas recently appreciated to a $40 billion valuation after its latest fundraising round of $200M. Figma raised $200M at a $10B valuation. InVision is valued at $1.9 billion after raising a $115M Series F. These three companies show that the design space is ripe with innovation. Further value will be generated for designers with a collaboration tool crafted for their specific needs.
Jam's logo.
Grant and Irtefa created Jam as a centralized review tool for design teams to collaborate and efficiently create websites. Jam operates in the browser (and recently also as a Chrome extension). A Jam user first types in their website to collaboratively edit into the tool's prompt. From there, the website is displayed in the browser. To activate Jam, a user types 'jam.dev/' before the normal website URL. By making this change, the website is now converted into a collaborative document, similar to Google Docs; multiple people can now edit that simultaneously. There is a change tracker dialog box on the right-hand side of the screen that records all of the edits made in the website-turned-collaborative document. Jam leverages Slack's API to connect a team's Slack channel to the collaborative doc. Anyone can be tagged on certain specific changes and be notified in the Slack channel instantly. Team members can also respond to comments via Slack. Jam also has integrations with Figma, Loom, Linear, Jira and other common design, video or productivity software to interface well with a design team's existing workflows and external tools.
Jam screenshot of their product in action.
Jam is the hub that either subsumes the functions of Google Docs and annotation and design editing software and connects other software apps useful for collaboration and coordination that function as spokes. Jam effectively becomes a centralized source of truth for various teams responsible for a particular webpage design. Coordination and collaboration are orchestrated and executed all in one single medium. The startup has recently released three new features to further cement its software as the centralized design review tool: Jam Wand, Jam Browser, Bug Jam and Jam on Chrome.
Grant says, "Jam Wand is a no-code tool that allows users to make copy changes from their websites to the source code. Jam Browser is one seamless workspace where teams can browse and annotate the web together, and Bug Jam captures debug logs and a screenshot in one click. Jam on Chrome gives designers the ability to leave feedback for developers directly on any webpage."
Jam's team.
Grant, Irtefa and the Jam team have diverse backgrounds to iterate and ship new features fast. Grant graduated from NYU with a degree in human computer interaction. She spent time as a product manager at Cloudflare and an analyst at Union Square Ventures before starting Jam. Irtefa obtained his bachelor's in computer science from the University of Urbana-Champaign. He worked at RetailMeNot as a software engineer and as a product manager at Cloudflare, where he met Grant and started Jam with her afterward. The two have assembled a remote team from seven hailing from the U.S., Poland, Bangladesh, Serbia and Turkey. These seven are creating the new standard of website design with Jam.
Disney+ Woes Overblown; Shares Oversold – Nasdaq
Become a Google Analytics Pro for Only $20 – PCMag.com


The state attorney general's office has issued subpoenas to the Long Island Rail Road seeking personnel records as part of an investigation into whether employees filed questionable disability claims and manipulated work rules so they could retire early and collect generous benefits.
Starting as soon as Tuesday, investigators from the attorney general's office will meet with officials from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the railroad to begin sorting out how so many employees apparently took advantage of the system.
In addition, state parks officials have begun a review of the requirements and distribution of Access Passes, which give the disabled — including the railroad's retirees who receive disability payments — free use of sports facilities in state parks, said Erin Duggan, a spokeswoman for Gov. David A. Paterson.
The subpoenas to the L.I.R.R. went out one day after Mr. Paterson granted Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo broad powers to investigate the matter.
"This begins what will be an aggressive and expeditious investigation into troubling allegations of wrongdoing," Mr. Cuomo said in a written statement.
Helena E. Williams, president of the railroad, has said it planned to hand over whatever was requested of it.


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Jason Momoa's plane makes emergency landing
Published Thursday, March 07, 2019
A private plane carrying Jason Momoa and some of his pals had to make an emergency landing in Palm Springs on Wednesday (06.03.19) due to a suspected fire.
The former 'Game of Thrones' star praised the "good old fire department" who came to the star and his pals' rescue when the jet landed at Palm Springs International Airport after the issue occurred 30 minutes into their flight from Los Angeles to Phoenix.
Speaking on his Instagram Stories, he told fans: "Well, we got ourselves a slight delay. Half-hour out, in Palm Springs, and the plane wanted to start a fire.
"Good old fire department, gotta love 'em."
Jason then joked he might have to drive the 269-mile journey instead.
He quipped: "It looks like we're driving."
The Palm Springs Firefighters Association later revealed the suspected blaze was a false alarm, but they were glad to meet the 'Aquaman' star.
A message on their official Instagram account read: "Had an Aircraft emergency today. Reported engine fire with @prideofgypsies on board. ARFF Engineer Andy Meza told his crew, "Not on my watch boys...not on my watch". Turned out to be a false alarm but the ARFF Lads were on the ready. It's always nice to meet cool people. (sic)"
Fortunately, Jason and his crew managed to get another private plane and eventually made it to Phoenix "safe and happy", where he set about building his "dream" Harley Davidson motorbike.
He wrote on Instagram: "So the world knows we are safe and happy The plane failed not to self dirtbags and savages shouldn't ride private planes. but the Harley runs perfect. Building my dream bike with @love_cycles 37 knuckle @harleydavidson Always wanted to build my own. It's a slow process but my lil brother is patient. Mahalo Jermiah Always wanted to learn and teach with my babies. Aloha j. (sic)"