Q: Could you tell me a little bit about the history of your agency?
Facundo: I started working as a model for commercials and runway shows in '86, '87, and I spent many years doing campaigns for different big-name brands and fashion shows. Later I was asked to form part of an agency with Raquel Satragno and work with her as a booker. She had been a model, the first Argentinean model to work in Europe at that time; and so I worked with her as a booker for about six or seven years. In 2000, 2001 I was heading the agency and decided to start my own company and that was when I founded Monteverde Models. From there I started to grow the business and now we have been in the marketplace for nearly ten years.
Q: How many models do you have on your books at the moment?
Facundo: Our database is very broad. We are an agency that responds as much to the demands of fashion as to advertising and television, and as such our database is very wide, around 500 people. We have different ethnic groups, we have children, we have actors, and we have celebrities; we have 'real people', runway models, and models for publicity and advertising. It's an agency that is focused on providing a service to clients that need solutions for their advertising needs and for their campaigns in their entirety.
Facundo: I think that when I started the agency in 2000 there was no concept in Argentina of an agency dedicated to advertising. At that time there were fashion agencies and agencies with actors but they were very small, and it occurred to me that I should put together something that was truly integrated, a holistic solution for the client. And I think that this approach is what has proved successful, and successful internationally as well. Also when we started in 2000, 2001 there was a devaluation of the dollar and that was when we started to work externally and when the business started to grow as well.
Q: How important is it for you to have an international presence?
Facundo: In my opinion it is very important to have international recognition, as much for the models as for the agency. At the same time we are able to work internationally because we are well known around the world for having very good quality talent here in Argentina; and by being able to work internationally our models are able to get jobs that are much more interesting than local ones. And so really the industry can grow a lot more by working externally as well as with more prestigious companies.
Q: What is the local market like in Buenos Aires? Are there any trends?
Facundo: The market nationally is quite depressed; the global crisis has impacted very strongly in Argentina – just as much as it has internationally. We believe that at the moment in Buenos Aires and in Argentina work has decreased by 50%, and outside work as well has decreased by 50%. We are working at reduced levels but hope that it will improve. And we are still working providing production services to anyone that needs to advertise.
Q: What is the most in-demand 'look' in Argentina at the moment?
Facundo: It depends. Model selection depends on the type of campaign. Advertisers are often usually looking for 'real' people, they are looking for people that are not too removed from the ideal, which is something beautiful but not too unattainable, that reflects the current, everyday look. This is how it is for mass-produced products, which is to say telecommunications, internet services, soft drinks, chocolate etcetera. When we talk about fashion the ideal look is at a much higher level, and so you are starting to talk about a different type of model. But the type of talent that works for the most part are 'real' models and an international look called 'international Latino'. The international Latino look sells very well, what is pretty here is pretty in Mexico and is pretty in Europe. And this international Latino look is what people want when they are looking for talent for commercials and advertising campaigns.
Q: What do you think sets Monteverde Models apart from the competition?
Facundo: Probably our range of talent. We have international Latinos that clients use for their basic beauty product campaigns like hair care and creams; more campaigns for male beauty products than female – deodorants, shampoo, conditioning creams, shavers; they are looking for people who are beautiful but Latino.
Q: And why do you think people choose to work with your agency over the others?
Facundo: I believe we offer a very efficient service with a personalised touch, just as much for our models as for our clients. We understand that both the models and the clients are our customers. We are able to assure the client that our models will be on time, that they will be well presented and that they will do a good job; and so when someone wants to contract an agency I believe they choose Monteverde for our reliability, our efficiency, for our fast service. We are not just an agency that represents people, we also offer financing for our clients to assist them economically. And I think clients choose us for this as well.
Q: How much has the internet changed the way you do business?
Facundo: For me the internet is one of the most efficient tools that we have to work with our talent. If you think about how it was before, if a client wanted to see a photo of a model you had to send their book, you needed to call a courier, get a cadet, put it on the bike and send it. Today in whatever part of the world you are in you can send it with Quick Time or you can reserve a photo of a model and fill campaigns. Number one is that we have fast communication. Number two is that costs are greatly reduced. So in one way the internet has meant the industry has been able to become global, almost without costing anything. As an efficient working tool it helps us to sell our talent. On the other hand, the internet also provides a very powerful means of showing advertisements, commercials, and print campaigns, because young people are living almost 24 hours a day connected to their computers.
Q: How do you find models and new faces?
Facundo: We have two forms of searching. One is scouting, in the streets, handing out cards, in discos, in schools; really anywhere they may appear is where we are constantly searching. The other is very much by recommendation. We have lots of models because they come to us to work with Monteverde, it is an agency that they know has work, that is a good agency, that will pay them, that will treat them well and has cool bookers.
So we have two channels: one is the booker and the other is word of mouth. We also place ads on the radio and in magazines advertising that we need people, and we do publicity in relation to scouting and then also models come after hearing the ads.
Q: Has the internet changed this process?
Facundo: Yes, of course, the internet has sped up the process because we get photos from all over the world from people who want work. We are constantly being sent photos from all over Argentina to look at. And we can also make a selection online. This one we like, this one we don't like, and the ones we like we make an appointment with to meet them in person. The internet has increased the flow of contacts.


Density TrainingKDT Optometry – Excellence Is The Only Option! | KDT Optometry - Excellence Is The Only Option!
A few years ago I released a book whose title was more reminiscent of a line out of "There's Something About Mary" than a serious work on fitness. "7 Minute Muscle" — yep, it's getting more and more difficult to distinguish fact from parody.
Here's the real irony: Of the 127 testimonials I've received so far that I deem worthy of publishing on the web, over forty were from fitness professionals. I'm not talking about "doctors" with a gut as large as their paycheck. I'm speaking of men and women with both academic and real-world experience in the fitness and bodybuilding world.
There were exceptions of course. My friend John Berardi, while saying some nice things about the work, couldn't endorse it due to the emphasis on shorter training sessions. That's cool. Everyone has a different approach. But the overwhelming number of folks with consonants behind their names — those who read the book and applied the principles — had wonderful things to say.
There's a reason for that: The workout protocol is based on the science of hypertrophy as well as psychophysiology, the study of the mind/body connection.
I will delve into the mental aspects of the protocols in a later article. For now, since most of you are experienced, educated and (dare I say it) hard-core, let's delve into the meat.
A layman's take on one of the basic laws of physics states that time and energy are interrelated. Doing the same amount of work in less time demands more energy, which translates into more power. While power is a factor in training, our interest is focused on forcing muscle growth and adaptation. This is also an element of time and energy. More energy expended in less time = more power.
If you break down the typical 3-4 set bench press routine, with reps starting at 12 and ending in the 4-6 range, with longer rest intervals between heavier sets, you'll find that the aggregate weight lifted is "less" than a protocol like 7 Minute Muscle, which uses 'less' weight (easier on the joints) but demands more work in less time. In other words, X amount of repetitions done with Y amount of weight in just 5 minutes (phase 1 of our two-phase protocol) ends up being greater than your typical 3-4 set protocol, despite the fact that more weight is used in the latter.
Other routines, of course, utilize this factor of density. Vince Gironda's infamous 8 sets of 8, EDT and so-forth. 7 Minute Muscle goes a bit further by varying rest, load factors and repetition range. Reps will vary from as low as one rep to as much as ten, and all of this is at the trainee's discretion.
They have only one real objective: Increase the aggregate repetition count from one training session to the next. Since time is limited (broken down into two phases: A Power Phase of no more than 5 repetitions and a Mass Phase of no more than 10 repetitions) the trainee is given a system that more accurately measure the seventh and most crucial factor of hypertrophy: Progression.
More work in less time. Variable repetition ranges. Variable rest intervals. And all in seven minutes (for beginners.) Intermediate and advanced-level trainees are given 14 and 21-minute protocols if they wish to implement them. I myself rarely go beyond 14 minutes, as that is all that's required to stimulate muscle growth.
I will cover health factors, cardiovascular work, ab training, and the science of mind and body in future articles. For now, give 7 Minute Muscle a shot. There's nothing funny about it, except for the fact that you'll be laughing all the way home from the gym as you finished your killer workout while your buddies were still warming up.
And, for this week only, you can get it at a 61% discount. You'll get everything: 7 Minute Muscle (the gym-based workout) and 7 Minute Body (the in-home workout) plus the six training videos today for less than the cost of a cheap dinner.
It's a system and a price that's impossible to beat.
P.S. You'll thank me later for the months of time I've given back to your life… not to mention that new body in the mirror.


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Mesa/Boogie (also known as Mesa Engineering) is an American company in Petaluma, California, that manufactures amplifiers and other accessories for guitars and basses. It has been in operation since 1969.

Mesa was started by Randall Smith as a small repair shop which modified Fender amplifiers, particularly the diminutive Fender Princeton. Smith's modifications gave the small amps much more input gain, making them much louder as well as creating a high-gain, distorted guitar tone. Prominent early customers included Carlos Santana and Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones. Exposure from these top players helped to establish Mesa/Boogie's position on the market, and it is frequently referred to as the first manufacturer of boutique amplifiers.

Subsequent design revisions to Mesa's early amps lead to the Mark Series, which popularized modern, high-gain circuits, while the 1990s saw the introduction of Mesa's flagship Rectifier amps, the success of which made the brand a staple of modern rock tone.  In 2021, Mesa/Boogie was acquired by Gibson.

Randall Smith
Randall Smith was born into a musical family in Berkeley, California in 1946. His mother and sister played piano and his father was the first-chair clarinet with the Oakland Symphony Orchestra, played tenor sax, had a radio show and led a hotel dance band. Smith believes all of his early musical experiences taught him how to hear tone.

As a Boy Scout, Smith became friends with his troop leader's son and they built ham radios together. Smith's father had a friend, Ernie, who built hi-fi turntables and gave him a couple to experiment on until he was 11 or 12.

Smith attended Miramonte High School in Orinda, California, and graduated in 1964. During his freshman year he attended distant University of California, Santa Barbara, as his parents wanted him removed from the counterculture influences of local University of California, Berkeley. However, he would hop freight trains nearly every weekend from Santa Barbara back to the Bay Area to see friends and return to the Beat coffee houses and bookstores of Berkeley. During the next four years he attended UC Berkeley, studying humanities, English Literature and creative writing courses, but never graduated.

Smith wanted to participate in the burgeoning San Francisco music scene, having been taught clarinet and a little sax by his father, but he took up drums, as it was the easiest to learn quickly.  He played with a local blues and jam band and co-founded the band Martha's Laundry.  While playing a gig, keyboardist Dave Kessner's amp failed, and after Smith successfully repaired it, an impressed Kessner proposed opening a music store together with Smith as the repairman.  They opened Prune Music in 1967, inside a building that had been a Chinese grocery store.  Smith's clientele included area bands like the Steve Miller Band, the Grateful Dead, and Jefferson Airplane.

Offshoots of Prune Music continue in Berkeley to this day with Subway Guitars, Sam Cohen (aka Fat Dog) and Guitar Resurrection in Austin, TX with former Martha's Laundry guitarist, Jim Lehman (aka Lizard Slim). They were partners until 1975.

History of Mesa/Boogie

Name

Mesa/Boogie began with a practical joke when Smith was commissioned to secretly convert the 20-watt Fender Princeton of a local guitarist into a significantly louder 100-watt amp without altering its appearance.  He accomplished this by replacing the amplifier section with that of a Fender Bassman and replacing the 10-inch speaker with a 12-inch speaker.  To ensure the joke would work, Smith asked Carlos Santana, a customer at Prune Music, to demo the amp.  Despite initial skepticism at the sight of the seemingly stock amplifier, Santana played it and was impressed, exclaiming, "Man, that amp really boogies!"

The "Mesa" name came about through Smith's other job, rebuilding Mercedes engines. Smith decided to set up Mesa Engineering so he could purchase wholesale parts for amps and engines. He needed an official sounding name through which to buy Mercedes parts and building supplies, and chose Mesa Engineering.

The 1970s and the Princeton Boogie
If hot-rodding Fenders was the first breakthrough, the second was developing an extra gain stage for the guitar input. Smith was building a preamplifier for Lee Michaels, who needed a pre-amp to drive his new Crown DC-300 power amplifiers. Smith added an extra tube gain stage to the preamp, with three variable gain controls at different points in the circuit, in what is now called a "cascaded" design.  The amount of gain produced surprised both men, and Smith combined the cascaded design with the small form factor of the Fender Princeton, creating the first high-gain amp, the "Princeton Boogie."  Released in 1972, the Boogies solved the issue of amps not having enough gain to sustain notes at volumes suitable for smaller venues.  An early customer, Santana took a snakeskin-covered model to a jam session with Bob Dylan and The Rolling Stones at Madison Square Garden.  Joining the Stones onstage for an encore of "Sympathy for the Devil," Santana's guitar tone turned the band into fans of the brand, and the Stones' next tour exclusively featured Boogie amps.  As the demand for his amps grew, Smith decided to move his workshop out of the Prune Music storefront to get away from the distractions of the store having become a busy local hangout. He relocated to what was formerly a plywood dog kennel, then, eventually, to his home.

Smith produced a number of custom variations of the Boogie through the late 1970s, with options including reverb, a five-band graphic EQ, various speakers (most often Altec or Electro-Voice), koa wood jointed cabinets, and wicker grills. Upon the 1978 release of the Boogie's successor - the "Mark II" - the Boogie was renamed the Mark I. Smith ultimately produced over 3000 amps out of his home workshop in the 1970s.

The 1980s and the Mark IIC+

As Mesa continued to grow, Smith moved the company to Petaluma in 1980 and continued to improve his amp designs to meet players' requests.  Revisions to the Mark II resulted in amplifier milestones such as channel switching (Mark IIA) and the first effects loop (Mark IIB).  Notably, the Mark IIC was voiced to "sound heavier and more menacing," and the IIC+ variant became popular with early heavy metal guitarists like Metallica's Kirk Hammett and James Hetfield, who was dissatisfied with Marshall amps at the time and wanted something "percussive tight and in your face."  Guitar World cited the IIC+'s use on Master of Puppets as the primary reason for its "holy grail" status in the rock and metal genres, while noting the amp was also a favorite of top session musicians at the time like Steve Lukather.  As the Mark III was already deep in development, fewer then 3,000 IIC+ amps were made during its short production run between January 1984 and March 1985.  Additionally, some players had earlier Mark II models modified to IIC+ specs.  The IIC+ is Mesa/Boogie's most valuable amp on the secondary market, with models often selling for over $15,000, as of 2023.

Throughout the decade, Mesa continued to produce combo and head amplifiers, and began production of rack power and pre-amps, developing power amplifiers such as the M180/190 and Strategy series, as well as pre-amps such as the Quad and Studio.  Other models developed in the 1980s included the Mark III, Mark IV, the Son of Boogie, and the Studio .22.

The 1990s and the Rectifiers
As the 1980s came to a close, the complicated features and boutique styling of the Mark series began losing popularity in favor of simpler designs by Marshall, Bogner, and Soldano.  Particularly inspired by Soldano's SLO 100 - itself derived from the Mark series circuits - Mesa introduced the Dual Rectifier in 1991.  With a "raw, aggressive bass-heavy sound" and sporting a characteristic steel, diamond faceplate, the Rectifier was Mesa's take on a "big, monster-metal head" and intended to look threatening compared to the Mark amps.

The Rectifier became immensely popular among heavier styles of rock music in the wake of grunge, most notably nu metal, as well as hard rock, post-grunge, and punk.  While an array of bands have used Rectifiers - including Korn, Tool, Soundgarden, Foo Fighters, and Blink 182 - Smith has said the overwhelming success of the amp with its distinctive sound and styling has led many people to associate the entire Mesa brand exclusively with metal, despite the company's roots in the "Fender legacy" and its initial reputation as a "hippie outfit" aimed at blues players.

Mesa continued to revise the design of the Rectifiers as the decade went on, with "Revisions" F and G having a darker, looser sound that extended the model's popularity into the 2000s.

Mesa followed up the success of the Rectifiers with the short-lived Maverick and Blue Angel models, as well as the Nomads.

The 2000s to present day
Mesa has continued to introduce new models in the 2000s and 2010s, with models such as the Road King II, the Lone Star and Lone Star Special, the Stiletto and Express lines along with lower watt versions of its large amps, such as the mini Rectifier, and the Mark V:25 and Mark V:35.

On January 6, 2021, it was announced that Gibson had acquired Mesa/Boogie. As a result of the acquisition, then-75-year-old Smith joined Gibson as "Master Designer and Pioneer of Mesa/Boogie and beyond."

Notable users

References

External links

Guitar amplifier manufacturers
Petaluma, California
Companies based in Sonoma County, California
Audio equipment manufacturers of the United States
Gibson Brands
Mesa/Boogie

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Base Cabinet, Drawer Base, Base Blind, Base End Shelf, Base Lazy Susan, Oven Cabinets, Pantry Cabinets, Sink Base, Wall Cabinets, Wall Blind Corner, Wall Diagonal, Wall End Shelf, Wall Microwave, Wall Dish Rack, Wall Wine Rack, Accessories.
*Pictures may vary from actual product. Please visit our showroom to see the actual color.


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Q: How to do looping inside widget in flutter I am trying to use for looping inside my widget... here is my simple code
Widget cek() {
  for (int i = 0; i <= 2; i++) {
    return Center(child: Text("check"));
  }
}

but I always get one of Text("check") that show on my screen... is there a way to use for loop inside my widget?

A: Once your for loop reaches the return statement it just returns Center(child: Text("check")); and cancels the loop.
If you want to return multiple widgets then you need to return a List<Widget>, if you want to return multiple widgets distributed vertically, than you need to return them on a Column (horizontally would be a Row).
It would be something like this:
Widget cek(){
  return Column(
    children: List.generate(3, (_) =>  Center(child: Text("check")));
  );
}

If you want to return a list of widgets to use later inside another widget, than it would be:
List<Widget> cek(){
  List.generate(3, (_) =>  Center(child: Text("check")));
}

A: You can do it like this..
List<Widget> cek(){
  return List.generate(3, (i) =>  Center(child: Text("check")) );
}

Hope it solves your issue..

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Contact D&K'S Moonwalk Adventures on (734) 586-0372, dnkmoonwalkadventures.com. We provide, moonwalks, slip 'n slides, cotton candy, snow cone, popcorn, hot dog machines, tables and chairs. We even can get tents for your event. Our moonwalks start at $100.00, our units are very clean. We are licensed and insured. Give us a call.


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Q: Styling Custom Dialogs Is there any way, specifically in android studio, to see what one's custom dialog would look like without actually running the application? It seems that the Design view of layouts account only for entire-screen designs. It also seems that sometimes the way the "dialog" looks in the design view is wildly different than the way they look live.
I would share some of my code, I know you guys love that, but this isn't exactly a coding question, is it?

A: You can use third party tools and mirrors. I think the closest you can get is by checking this out.
This is hot swapping in general and you get interactive previews but like I said it is the closest you can get. I haven't worked thoroughly with it but I think this should be what you are looking for.


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News Roundup for November 7, 2018
Democrats Capture Control of House; G.O.P. Holds Senate, The New York Times
"Democrats harnessed voter fury toward President Trump to win control of the House and capture pivotal governorships Tuesday night as liberals and moderates banded together to deliver a forceful rebuke of Mr. Trump, even as Republicans added to their Senate majority by claiming a handful of conservative-leaning seats….Propelled by an unusually high turnout that illustrated the intensity of the backlash against Mr. Trump, Democrats claimed at least 26 House seats on the strength of their support in suburban and metropolitan districts that were once bulwarks of Republican power but where voters have recoiled from the president's demagoguery on race. Early Wednesday morning Democrats clinched the 218 House seats needed to take control. There were at least 15 additional tossup seats that had yet to be called."
A great day for democracy, Washington Post
The Washington Post editorial board writes, "The Democrats' return to control over the House of Representatives is much more than a victory for one party. It is a sign of health for American democracy. Distrustful of untrammeled majorities, the authors of the Constitution favored checks and balances, including, crucially, the check that the legislative branch might place upon the executive. Over the past two years, the Republican majorities in the House and Senate have failed to exercise reasonable oversight. Now the constitutional system has a fresh chance to work as intended. The Democratic victory is also a sign of political health, to the extent it is a form of pushback against the excesses, rhetorical and in terms of policy, committed by the Trump administration and propounded by President Trump during this fall's campaign. Turning against the dominant party in Washington even in a moment of economic prosperity, voters from Key West to Kansas refused to accept the continued degradation of their nation's political culture. Republicans retained control of the Senate, where the map this year favored their defense. But voters nationwide refused Mr. Trump's invitation to vote on the basis of fear of immigrants; they did not respond to his depiction of his opposition as dangerous enemies."
Democrats won the House — and Trump's foreign policy may be in trouble, Vox
Now that Democrats control of the House of Representatives after the 2018 midterm elections, one of their biggest priorities will be majorly challenging the Trump administration's national security and foreign policy….Democrats in the House generally disagree with how the Trump administration is steering the ship. Controlling the House allows them to actually do something about it.
Democrats pick up Senate seat in Nevada with Rosen win, CNN
Rep. Jacky Rosen will win her bid to unseat Republican Sen. Dean Heller in Nevada, CNN can project, delivering a key Senate pick up for Democrats.
Democrat Abigail Spanberger Ousts Trump Ally Dave Brat in Virginia, Daily Beast
Democratic newcomer Abigail Spanberger ousted incumbent Republican Rep. Dave Brat in Virginia's 7th congressional district election on Tuesday night despite Brat's last-minute endorsement from President Trump. Spanberger, a former CIA operative, claimed 50 percent of the vote to Brat's 49 percent, dealing a major blow to the rising conservative star just four years after he dethroned Eric Cantor in the GOP primary and took a foothold in the Trump-friendly House Freedom Caucus.
Races for California House seats that Democrats hoped to flip are still too close to call, Los Angeles Times
A prominent Republican congressman in California appeared to have lost his seat early Wednesday but election returns showed some of the hardest-fought House races in the state remained too close to call as votes still came in. With 100% of precincts reporting, Democrat Harley Rouda held a lead over longtime Republican incumbent Dana Rohrabacher of Costa Mesa, although the race had not been officially called. Rohrabacher was first elected to Congress in 1988.
Edward Snowden: Israeli Software Tracked Khashoggi, Jerusalem Post
Technology made by an Israeli company was used to target groups of journalists in Mexico and other problematic areas, including slain journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Edward Snowden, the infamous "whistle-blower" who leaked classified NSA information, told a conference in Israel on Tuesday. Snowden spoke via video-conference from an undisclosed location in Russia to the closed audience.
Trump Has Bitterly Divided Us — And Election Offers No Easy Answers, Forward
Jane Eisner writes, "The Democratic ripple that wasn't quite a wave on Tuesday restored some balance to America's dangerously lopsided political system. It ensures that at least one chamber of the Congress will fulfill its constitutional duties and serve as a genuine check on the executive branch. It broke some of the racial barriers and glass ceilings that have prevented more good people from taking their rightful place in government. It repudiated (though only partially) the racist, mendacious campaign led by President Trump and enabled by too many in the Republican Party he now controls….Democrats took control of the House — and really, how could they not? — and made history in other notable ways. A massive margin in the popular vote. A record hundred women elected to Congress, including the first two Muslim women and the first two Native American women. Lots of Jews will join them, including a few surprising victories. Minority candidates won in several white swing districts. The first openly gay governor was elected. And yet. The Republican Congressman in Florida who peddled a malicious conspiracy theory that George Soros was funding the infamous 'caravan' to Mexico won re-election. A neo-Nazi Holocaust denier lost in Illinois — but still, an estimated 45,000 people voted for him. The ugly underbelly in the American character still maintains a hold on power."
Trump First, Jews Later, Foreign Policy
Mairav Zonszein writes, "The 11 people murdered in Pittsburgh were not targeted just for being Jewish, but also for being identified with a pro-immigration, pro-refugee, liberal worldview that is anathema to Trump's nativism, which peddles in classic anti-Semitic tropes. As the philosopher Slavoj Zizek argued last year, "In the anti-Semitic imagination, the 'Jew' is the invisible master who secretly pulls the strings, which is why Muslim immigrants are not today's Jews … nobody claims they secretly pull the strings—if one sees in their 'invasion of Europe' a secret plot, then Jews have to be behind it. The toxic combination of Israel's alliance with the Christian right and Trump's racist and xenophobic rhetoric has led to a reality in which, just 70 years after the Holocaust, Israel is excusing and normalizing the sort of violent anti-Semitism that it so often reminds the world is the reason why a Jewish state exists."

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
EXPLOREMY LIBRARYWHY ZINIO?
Home/Home & Garden/BBC Gardeners' World
BBC Gardeners' World February 2021
Gardeners' World Magazine is the authoritative voice in gardening, the clear market-leader since it launched in 1991. The award-winning editorial includes topical, practical advice in the readers' favourite 'what to do now' section, and regular contributions and features from the top names in BBC gardening. Packed with fresh ideas and clear advice - the innovative approach offers creative, practical and problem-solving solutions to all keen gardeners.
More from Gardeners' Word magazine
Join us… Explore the gardens of Somerset on a bespoke GW reader holiday this September. Led by local resident and magazine regular Sally Nex, you'll enjoy the county's best gardens and food: see p50. Grow… Kickstart your veg year with our 132-page Grow Your Own special edition. With 60 crops featured, plus five packets of veg seed, pay just £9.99 incl. p&p – at gardenersworld. com/gw-special-editions Listen… Get your headphones and a cuppa – and relax with the free BBC Gardeners' World Magazine Podcast, including Alan and Monty. Find all episodes at gardenersworld.com/podcast Save… Our award-winning mobile app lets you read GW on the go. Save 50% at bit.ly/GW-digital. And you'll find us in the Readly app for Apple or Google, or with a monthly subscription to Apple News+ Save even more... Subscribe in print today and receive…
With an open mind and positive thinking, good things so often come from bad – it's nature's way to renew and restore balance. This year we need to rediscover positive thinking and balance as never before – and life in our gardens points the way. A ball of feathers and high-pitched chatter on the feeders in my garden tells me the long-tailed tits are back to forage – and, like so many other birds, to build nests, mate, defend territory. Our lives may be on hold but theirs press on, energetically. Garden wildlife has been a beacon for so many of us during the pandemic – a subject that Monty and I explored in a recent magazine podcast. We know from our annual reader review of UK garden wildlife that more of…
We love February
"The February sunshine steeps your boughs and tints the buds and swells the leaves within"William Cullen Bryant STAR OF THE MONTH Cornus mas This is a very good tree for a middle-sized garden: ace fruit and interesting leaves in the autumn, but it is for its winter flowers that we really love this plant. Imagine, if you would, waking up on a cold February morning, flinging open your bedroom curtains to be confronted by this cornus. It looks as if its leafless branches have been miraculously invaded by a profusion of one-day-old chicks. A great luxuriance of fluffy, yellow flowers that cannot help but bring cheer to the world – and this month we deserve every bit of cheer we can get. Can be grown as a shrub or tree. Best in sun or…
Expert's choice Hellebores
When this magazine launched thirty years ago, the best hellebores were rare and expensive. Propagated mainly by painstaking division, they were only available from one or two specialist nurseries and varieties seen in garden centres were unpredictable in colour and poor in quality. How things have changed. Inspired hybridisation, supported by new propagation techniques and refinements to traditional procedures, have led to the easy and widespread availability of beautifully coloured and prettily patterned varieties of the highest quality. True, they're still not the cheapest of perennials, but a long-flowering season – many new varieties start to flower before Christmas – and attractive foliage add value that justifies the price. A striking development is the arrival of new hybrids between unrelated species. People said some hellebore species couldn't be crossed with each other. But,…
I have been asked to be an ambassador for the International Year of Plant Health, an initiative organised by the United Nations' Food & Agriculture Organisation (FAO). I was, of course, flattered and duly accepted but, although International Year of Plant Health sounds good, what does it actually mean? Does it refer to healthy plants or the health that plants can create? As this is under the auspices of the FAO, whose primary concern is sustainably feeding the world, does it refer to the maximum efficacy of food in providing nutrients and calories to people? And, if so, is this supportive of vast agribusinesses and how would this conflict with my own long-standing organic principles? Whether it is the pursuit of peace or an end to hunger, the United Nations has…
Slug pancake In response to your article on the slug pellet ban (Clippings, Nov issue), I accidentally found a great way to get rid of slugs. I feed ground-feeding birds on an old pancake griddle that I bring in at dusk in case it attracts rats. I went out late one evening and the pan was covered in slugs having a late snack. So I tipped them all into the garden bin. Sandra Killey, by email To prevent slugs and snails reaching your plants, use trays filled with water. Station bricks or large stones at intervals, to rest your plants on. Alternatively, put large stones in drip trays. Make sure the leaves aren't touching anything to form a bridge. You have to keep the water topped up; and after a while it might…
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Posted inCity of Ithaca, Development in Ithaca, Latest News, News
Visum plans "Neighborhood of the Arts" for waterfront industrial site
by Brian Crandall March 11, 2021 March 12, 2021
ITHACA, N.Y. –– There are small projects, and there are big projects. Once in a great while, there are transformational projects, developments that intended to take a neighborhood in a new direction. Visum Development Group of Ithaca has decided to pitch such a transformational project, with the primary location being for a large industrial site along Ithaca's waterfront.
The properties Visum intends to involve in the project encompass 11.3 acres along Cherry Street, Taber Street, and Cecil A. Malone Drive. Two are properties along Cherry Street (110 Cherry and 132 Cherry) for which Visum has already pitched a multi-story apartment building with ground-level commercial space. The centerpiece is the Ben Weitsman scrap yard, which Visum purchased back in May 2018 and which Weitsman announced plans to vacate last June.
The "Neighborhood of the Arts" as Visum is calling their plan, would be a large-scale mixed-use proposal. Five major program components are stated in a press release announcing the development of the project: Food-based retail and service, open spaces and recreational facilities, a professional center and business hub, event center facilities, and a variety of housing across a range of prices from affordable low-moderate incomes to premium properties. Ithaca's Whitham Planning and Design and Rochester's CJS Architects are also involved in the project, and Visum would be working with Cleveland-based NRP Group, one of the largest affordable housing developers in the country, to deliver the affordable housing component.
"We've owned the Weitsman site for several years now, so it was natural to try to pick up all the remaining parcels," said Visum CEO Todd Fox. "The goal is to create a neighborhood. This isn't just building a building, it's creating a neighborhood from the ground up. We really wanted to create something that was transformational for Ithaca, we view this as almost like a second Downtown, a second Commons if you will. It's right on the water, with great proximity to jobs. There aren't many opportunities like this, whether in Ithaca or even across the country. This is a legacy project, an opportunity."
"It's four or five city blocks equivalent," says Visum Vice-President Patrick Braga. "We envision this as a continuation of the fabric of Ithaca, a site that will be permeated with tight, beautifully-landscaped walkways and a place to sit and be. That will require a lot of planning and may change with time as each part builds out."
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Included in the plans is an adaptive reuse of the Paolangeli Contractors warehouse on the northeast corner of Cherry Street and Cecil A Malone Drive, which they plan to rebrand as "The Warehouse". Plans are still vague at this early stage, but "The Warehouse and its adjacent structures will become home to a dynamic mix of businesses and activities", according to the announcement. By Visum's estimate, the reuse of the Paolangeli building and adjacent structures would create 85-100 permanent jobs, not counting hiring by startups, event center staff or construction jobs.
"The Warehouse renovation will make it a really incredible space for Ithaca. It's just super-unique that could turn into a huge draw for the region if you do it right," said Fox.
"This is an iconic, monumental pitched roof structure with steel arms that extend forward. It defines space super-beautifully, it's memorable, it helps to anchor that place as a destination," added Braga. "We're excited to fill that with a mix of activities…Ithaca has winter, right? It's not something that's necessarily scary, Canadian and Northern European cities have set precedent on how to enliven the outdoors in winter and create this gradation between indoors and outdoors; warmth, semi-warmth and cold. It gives a place to go to and a place to spend time in for all ages."
Also in the plan is a food and wine hall focusing on locally-produced goods and farm-to-table dining. The food hall is also intended to support light manufacturing by providing facilities for on-site commercial-scale food production and spaces such as shared test kitchens.
Visum further sees the properties being utilized for art festivals with interactive art and outdoor playscapes scattered throughout the site and states the intent to engage with local artists to come up with ideas and art projects that would meet these goals. Recreational facilities pitched as part of the plans include both indoor and outdoor components, such as a rock-climbing wall, bocce ball and shuffleboard courts, a bounce house, and a youth center for children to play in a safe, monitored environment. The property will have a cohesive landscape with public greenways connecting different portions.
The concept plan being pitched envisions co-working offices, live/work residential units, and flexible container park spaces – repurposed steel shipping containers like those seen in cargo boats, placed in a park-like setting and outfitted for dining, entertainment and other social activities. A boutique hotel is also in the works. Housing would take the form of townhomes, loft-style units, and multi-story buildings. Condominiums and supportive housing are being explored, but are not firm commitments at this time. At completion, Visum estimates about 1,500 people would live in the development.
The project proposal has one explicit recommendation for the city; a staircase connecting the large-scale development to West Village, helping to integrate it into the project (and utilizing the planned Black Diamond Trail pedestrian bridge). "We also envision the new neighborhood as an important node along an emerging West Hill – Southside corridor. The City has already expressed interest in building a footbridge from Cecil Malone over the Inlet Canal. As shown in the map above, we propose going a step further: the City should build a staircase on publicly-owned land to connect West Village directly to Floral Ave. This staircase will reduce a twenty-minute walk down to the waterfront into just five minutes, and West Hill will have more direct access to shopping along Route 13," says the press release.
"Part of how we're envisioning this emerging node is as a (one-)'third-of-the-way' point between West Village and Southside, creating this new east-west corridor in Ithaca that's anchored with all this activity, like the youth center, which is like GIAC but for Southwestern Ithaca. The Neighborhood of the Arts is going to be inclusive for everyone, all backgrounds and all ages," said Braga.
Reasonably, a project of this scale and magnitude is not going to happen overnight, nor is it going to be approved without a number of meetings, including public hearings. No formal plans have been submitted to the city of Ithaca yet; to be candid, the sending of the press announcement is arguably intended to set the narrative before plans are submitted and begin review. It's a smart tactic when you're proposing a large project that's bound to ruffle a few feathers.
Fox and Braga say that the project will be multi-phased and a likely full build-out would take eight years under good circumstances, meaning that residences fill up at a good pace and commercial space is readily rented out. The first phase will include commercial space in "The Warehouse" renovation, two market-rate apartment buildings (110 Cherry Street and 132 Cherry Street) and a third apartment building for affordable housing. The project as planned largely complies with existing zoning and, in their description, complies with the goals with the city's Waterfront Plan, and will meet or exceed the outlines of the Ithaca Energy Code Supplement, a.k.a. the "Green Building Policy".
In the short-term, the plan is to move forward with site plans for phase one, 110 Cherry and 132 Cherry, as well as finalizing the plans for the affordable housing with NRP Group. Environmental remediation will be starting on the Weitsman site and Paolangeli Building, and Visum hopes to get the site enrolled in the EPA's Brownfield Program. Federal and state grants will be needed to make certain project components economically viable.
Also on the to-do list are community meetings as the plans are further developed. As stated in the press release, "(a)s we move forward with the project, we will be soliciting feedback from area residents to understand how we can improve our designs and make Ithaca's Neighborhood of the Arts truly welcoming for all. We look forward to sharing more with the community as this project moves forward."
"Ithaca is a magnificent little city," said Braga, who is returning to Ithaca after graduate school in Boston and working in Detroit. "The quality of life for a city of its scale is just a tremendous draw. The easy access to nature. The walkable and distinct neighborhoods. The creative culture; people doing interesting things, cooking interesting things, building beautiful things with art, the performing arts in Ithaca…It's a city where it's easy to be active and enjoy where you are. We hope a project like this can accentuate those qualities, a place for people to create, to really take in the environment and make that amazing connection."
Tagged: city of ithaca, mixed-use, neighborhood of the arts, patrick braga, todd fox, visum development group, waterfront development
Brian Crandall
Brian Crandall reports on housing and development for the Ithaca Voice. He can be reached at bcrandall@ithacavoice.com.	More by Brian Crandall


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Irish need all the heroes they can get as greedy developers get away with crash cash
Posted by Niall O'Dowd at 8/1/2009 9:31 AM EDT There's a T-shirt you see a lot in Ireland this summer. It says "Is feidir linn," Gaelic for "Yes we can," the Barack Obama theme during his election campaign. It says something about where the Irish are looking for their heroes these days --not their own country but America. They need all the heroes they can get. The newspaper headlines this Friday morning are truly stunning. The Irish Government is about to get into the property business; to the tune of $150 billion dollars. Yes you read right. That is the amount of bad loans that the property speculators have saddled the IrIsh banking system with - a banking system that was more than greedy enough to make those loans at the height of what is now looking like a psychotic episode of boom and borrow. The government will takeover the repayments on 1,400 loans worth $150 billion at the top of the market. What they are worth now is anyone's guess but it is probably less than half that. The government will wait for the porperties to go back up in value before seliong themon-- that may take alifetime. It was the government which allowed the boom and bloom to turn to gloom and doom with their refusal to rein in the property bubble makers years before the crash. Now they are reaping the benfits. They had no choice. The developers could not pay and the banks would have gone bust. The Irish taxpayer is left to pick up the pieces. The financial system will be solvent as a result, the developers whose crazy greed launched the worst recession since the great depression are likely to walk away unscathed. The ordinary Irish taxpayer will be the person footing the bill. The greedy and arrogant banks will also be able to wrote down the property bust in an orderly fashion and thus recommence their lack of lending to the ordinary public. Already, two banks have announced a hike in mortgage rates adding insult to injury for taxpayers caught in the worst downturn of their lives. It is extraordinary stuff and has greatly affected the Irish body politic. The Irish people are down and out this summer of 2009. Is Feidir linn indeed.
Niall O'Dowd
Posted by Niall O'Dowd at 8/1/2009 9:31 AM EDT
There's a T-shirt you see a lot in Ireland this summer. It says "Is feidir linn," Gaelic for "Yes we can," the Barack Obama theme during his election campaign.
It says something about where the Irish are looking for their heroes these days --not their own country but America.
They need all the heroes they can get. The newspaper headlines this Friday morning are truly stunning.
The Irish Government is about to get into the property business; to the tune of $150 billion dollars.
Yes you read right.
That is the amount of bad loans that the property speculators have saddled the IrIsh banking system with - a banking system that was more than greedy enough to make those loans at the height of what is now looking like a psychotic episode of boom and borrow.
The government will takeover the repayments on 1,400 loans worth $150 billion at the top of the market.
What they are worth now is anyone's guess but it is probably less than half that.
The government will wait for the porperties to go back up in value before seliong themon-- that may take alifetime.
It was the government which allowed the boom and bloom to turn to gloom and doom with their refusal to rein in the property bubble makers years before the crash.
Now they are reaping the benfits.
They had no choice. The developers could not pay and the banks would have gone bust. The Irish taxpayer is left to pick up the pieces.
The financial system will be solvent as a result, the developers whose crazy greed launched the worst recession since the great depression are likely to walk away unscathed.
The ordinary Irish taxpayer will be the person footing the bill.
The greedy and arrogant banks will also be able to wrote down the property bust in an orderly fashion and thus recommence their lack of lending to the ordinary public.
Already, two banks have announced a hike in mortgage rates adding insult to injury for taxpayers caught in the worst downturn of their lives.
It is extraordinary stuff and has greatly affected the Irish body politic.
The Irish people are down and out this summer of 2009.
Is Feidir linn indeed.


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5 A woman migrant holds her baby in a makeshift camp set up outside the Paris town hall. More than 300 migrants set up some 200 tents outside the town hall to draw attention to their living conditions and to demand accommodation.
6 Ambulance staff rest on a bench after their COVID-19 duty at a crematorium ground in Guwahati, India.
7 People are seen through a damaged window in the aftermath of a rare tornado that destroyed parts of some towns, in Mikulcice village, Czech Republic.
8 Palestinians carry a boy away from the gas tear canisters fired by Israeli soldiers during a protest against the West Bank Jewish settlement outpost of Eviatar that was rapidly established last month, near the West Bank city of Nablus.


International Prosecution of Crimes Against Culture, Environment, & Animals?
By, Ambassador Muhamed Sacirbey via DiplomatArtist.com The International Criminal Court has taken the first steps toward prosecuting those who not only commit serious crimes against cultural, religious and historical heritage but also against our environment and animals.
More commitment to prevention & early detection is desperately needed to complement improved cancer treatments & address alarming rise in new cases -14 million to 22 million worldwide. But for children, best therapy & bedside manner may come from furry, empathetic friend.
P.S. We're sending Tatou that attractive feline.


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On January 8, I took the opportunity to follow CN No 518 as it switched Kingston's Invista plant via the CN Cataraqui Spur. While at the VIA station, an eastbound VIA arrived at 1053, as No 518 hove into view at the west end of Queens south service track, with leased power 'Bluebirds' GMTX 2323-2289 - the same Belleville road/yard power since at least Oct.30 of the last decade! (This changed a week later, finally, when it was GMTX 2323-CN 7081.) The local passed on the south track, heading for Invista after the VIA train cleared the block, at 1105:
I like these GATX (GMTX) Geeps that replace CN GP9's and GP38's on various system locals. Speaking of locals, photographer Paul Wash was photographing from the Princess Street overpass and took this fine overhead photo:
By 1124, 518 had backed off the Kingston Subdivision and into the Cataraqui Spur and made its way east to the Armstrong Road crossing:
The trainman has to ride the first car of the movement, radioing crossing status information to the engineer by radio:
The power eases over the trestle across the Cataraqui Creek...
...before crossing Bath Road a few seconds later:
Unusually, I found four loaded covered hoppers (top photo) spotted on the Cataraqui Spur north of Front Road. I believe this was due to excavation work being carried out by Shea Construction adjacent to the Cataraqui Spur lead. The crew was digging soil out from the north side of the lead, dropping it on the south side, then a Bobcat was carrying it to the main plant entrance for removal. The covered hoppers at the plant were clear of their normal storage location on the lead, down near the plant east entrance road, plus the four cars spotted up the spur! Seemed unusual and the plant must not have been switched on its normal Monday run. At 1139, they'd coupled to the four cars on the Spur and pushed across Front Road:
Now a long delay. Coupling onto the covered hoppers at the plant, stopping and pumping air, an unfortunate Kingston Express bus eastbound on Front Road, plus a school bus westbound had to wait and dared not cross while the crossing signals were flashing as the movement stopped south of the crossing was still activating them.
At 1152, the units resumed entering the plant property and cleared Front Road with the entire assemblage of 20 cars they'd accumulated. This allowed the buses and traffic to move on Front Road, as well as vehicles entering and leaving the east plant entrance. Here's the total consist at this point from the tail-end. All cars are covered hoppers except tankcar TILX 294146. Those with (*) were already at the Invista plant lead. Those with (**) were sitting on the Cataraqui Spur. (L)oads and (E)mpties were on No 518 as I observed it at the station.
MGRX 50094*
KLRX 525048*
TCMX 703424*
INVX 38744*
MGRX 50272**
KLRX 525080**
MGRX 50247 L
KLRX 525058 L
SRLX 45062 E
INVX 38611 E
TILX 294146 L
GMTX 2289
While the buses and I had waited for the train to move, it gave me an opportunity for some photography of the motive power on the trestle, with Lake Ontario beyond:
Backing back into the plant after Front Road traffic has cleared. Evidence of a recent snow-squall on the traffic sign:
On the plant lead parallel to Front Road:
Duct tape ain't working to hold the number board in place:
Returning to the station, I caught the following VIA trains:
1225 WB: 910L-3474-3308-4117-4122
1307 EB: 908L-5 LRC cars-6416L
1329 WB: 6418-3353F-3331R-3323R-3365F-3469-917
Being loaded at KIMCO Steel off Lappan's Lane: BISX 30938 grey - BISX 30919 yellow and two gons. BISX = Brandenburg Industrial Service, a company known for remediating soil and contaminants.
Interestingly, while Paul Wash was on the overpass, in a photo of the distant 518 and an eastbound VIA train that just preceded it, he captured your humble blogger on the platform, digitally!
The consist of the eastbound train I'm photographing:
VIA 920L-3468-3335-3370-6410-3458-3366F-3369-3316F-4111(D&H)
It's not Shark Week, it seems like X2F week! Sunday - a message from Out West kindly offering me some X2F couplers. Tuesday - an envelope of X2F's arrives in my inbox, also from Out West. Tuesday night, a fellow Associated Railroaders of Kingston club member gave me a pair of couplers to say 'thanks' for my presentation that night.
Like he said... fellow Prince Street Terminal blogger's quotable-quote Chris Mears (above). Also, watch for a special blog partner event coming in February.
Some potent-potable TV-watching over the last two weeks - the Greatest of All Time Jeopardy tournament featuring James Holzhauer, Brad Rutter and the eventual winner Ken Jennings. Just the write wrecipe of wry writ wrought by Alex Trebek and the contestants. I really thought Alex might announce his retirement on the final night. What is...This didn't happen?
Posted by Eric at 1/17/2020 09:06:00 AM No comments: Links to this post
Turbo Crash at Kingston, December 1968
On December 10, 1968 the first press run of CN Turbo P-201 eastbound at Kingston struck a transport trailer at a signalled, but not gated, crossing at Division Street. This was two days before the inauguration of regular Turbo service, and the incident garnered front-page publicity for CN across Canada. Reporters + photographers + crash = coverage! Maybe it's true that there is no such thing as bad publicity. London Free Press photographer Ernie Lee was aboard the train and snapped the photo of the year. Adrian Lunny of the Montreal Star took this photo from westbound P-204:
It's interesting that Elliott Avenue had crossing gate protection, while Division Street, a main artery to and from Kingston's north end and Highway 401, did not.
Online views of the two Turbos. From trackside (below) and from onboard (above):
The eastbound Turbo was pulled up to the Elliott Avenue crossing where it met its westbound counterpart on its way to Toronto. The above view shows the two halves of the refrigerated transport trailer, clearly showing Windsor Packing lettering on the truck cab door. The driver's name was Don McLean and he walked away, shaken but uninjured! Windsor Packing listing in a 1967 Windsor City Directory (below). The name and phone number are those painted on the door of the truck cab.
Turbo's 3:59 Montreal-Toronto trip time and higher speeds had reduced the time between tripping crossing circuit and reaching the crossing. At the time of the accident, there was a 25 m.p.h. slow order at Division Street due to an earlier accident - a Rapido had struck a cement truck at the same crossing, just one day earlier. Overpasses were planned here and just over two miles to the west at Princess Street.
Photographer George E.O. Lilley photographed the aftermath of the scene, and his photos are preserved in the George Lilley fonds, Queen's University Archives. Here are photos I took of the negatives, then formatted to a positive, cropped and adjusted slightly. Any imperfections in these images are a result of my efforts, as the negatives are fresh and well-kept in the intervening 50+ years thanks to the efforts of the archives staff. Looking west toward the crossing, we see the rear portion of the destroyed meat trailer:
Stacked boxes of meat on the east side of Division Street. This crossing is signalled, though the CP Kingston Subdivision, which also crossed Division Street just to the north, has only crossbucks (and a wig-wag!). Highway 401, where the truck likely came from, is in the distance.
Front part of the destroyed trailer pending removal:
Views of the Turbo at the Elliott Ave. crossing, signal- and gate-protected, with one side of the nose having been removed (below). This Turbo was back in service within 36 hours!
Opposite side, with CP Kingston Subdivision embankment crossing over the CN in the distance.
On January 13, George Lilley returned to document the site further. Remnants of the trailer at its new resting place:
Recreating the scene - shots of eastbound Rapido and Turbo (below) as the truck driver would have seen the crossing:
The photographer also walked west nearly a mile along the CN Kingston Subdivision, photographing the track view the engineer might have seen. Just to the left is CP's Kingston Subdivision which approaches, then curves away from the CN as it enters a wide curve and grade to surmount the CN and enter Kingston, between Division and Elliott:
Getting closer...CP in the distance, no traffic on Division Street but nothing to stop someone from just driving across willy-nilly!
In January, 1969, another view of the crossing and CP in the distance. Footings for the re-aligned Division Street are in place, as are gates now protecting the crossing!
The number of level crossings in Kingston continues to shrink - John Counter Boulevard is under construction and will be the next to open. Lots o' links:
CRHA Canadian Rail special issue No 207 on the Turbo.
Turbo's Unique Technology from Rolly Martin Country - part of an excellent Turbo series on my brother's blog
Turbo's Central Station Turbo Maintenance Area and Turbo press clippings also from Rolly Martin Country
Running extra:
Watch for an upcoming blog blast all about favourite photographs taken trackside in the last five years, debuting February 5. (If it debuted just three days sooner, Groundhog Day, would the photos look the same day after day?)
This dropped recently - Episode 4 of the Platforum. Even though it's not Comedians Going for Coffee in Cars, it could be called Railfans Relaxing Railside over Eggnog.
Looking forward to Paul Hunter's presentation on the Turbo at our February Associated Railroaders of Kingston meeting. This Tuesday, it's your humble blogger presenting Go Slightly West, Young Man - Trackside in the West End of Kingston.
Winter is meme season. In my last post, I highlighted the modelling of Justin Kafal (above). Since he features woods and water in his scenery, the above moniker seemed to fit. Meanwhile, Jason Shron's KingstonSub continues to take shape, and sockets holding down gluing track make more than a few appearances:
Speaking of the Canadian, there are those who are counting the days until it returns to CP rails:
Posted by Eric at 1/10/2020 02:04:00 PM No comments: Links to this post
Freedom Thoughts on Model Railroading in 2020
FREEDOM!
Freedom from the tyranny of model railroading convention.
Freedom from the dissatisfaction of not being happy with your efforts.
A GOLDEN AGE?
I enjoy keeping one foot in the prototype world and one foot in the model railway world; reading about both worlds and inter-relating them. Reading online descriptions of model railway layout work, I'm struck by the contrast between a few excellent operating layouts, and many who are steadily but frustratingly slowly striving to reach that point. If we are indeed living in a Golden Age in terms of products available to model railroaders, I wonder if we're taking full advantage of those in order to reach a new nirvana of operating enjoyment?
THE GMR OMG MOMENT!
Reading Kalmbach's Great Model Railroads (GMR) 2020, I was struck by a few candid lines in the description of the layouts profiled therein:
The admission of a very large layout's owner that he had never held an operating session! The layout was 48x72 feet.
Another big layout was built by a professional layout builder, though the modeller did add junk in some of the ditches and super-detailed his telegraph poles!
One layout employed a nolix. That's a multi-level layout that uses a constant grade throughout the mainline run to achieve the required elevations. The whole layout is on a 2% grade!
Meanwhile, in Canada, a respected modeller used an 8-foot straight edge to get his passenger platforms perfectly straight! That's another trend I notice - long, straight, parallel reaches of tracks in layouts under construction. Lots of track!
There are major exceptional standouts; those who are getting it done. I recently had the opportunity to meet Bob Fallowfield. For quite awhile, I've enjoyed his Galt Sub. Bob and I chatted on a chilly station platform along the Kingston Sub. Listen here: The Platforum Episode 4 - especially if you're having trouble sleeping because my voice is as monotonous as a burbling MLW. Two other Canadian modellers, Justin Kafal (above) and Jason Baxter (below) are doing great work with CN equipment, trackside scenery and backdrops. (Find them on Facebook - where these photos were shared)
Check out the backdrops and progess on the BArailsystem:
Nick EH's Algoma Central - that road repair car! (above and below - video captures)
FREE AT LAST!
When I read the current MR press and read social media posts, I feel my own exhilarating rush of counter-cultural freedom. I have declared my Exhilarating Eric Emancipation Proclamation from the following tyrannical concerns:
a helix. I'm just not a believer in the sacrifice of much layout room for multi-levels.
layout analysis paralysis. Creative tendencies stunted by everlasting construction
technology tangles. DCC, switch machines, decoder problems, endless wiring.
having to conform. To industry standards. Steel wheelsets, certain couplers.
fear of operations. Much is said about the technical. Little about the operational.
not enjoying entering the layout room. Should be a 'happy place'.
an unclear layout purpose. I've really enjoyed learning about and representing in scale a specific prototype.
stops and starts. I've tried to schedule operating time regularly - most weeknights for 30-60 minutes.
clutter. After each construction bee, I clear away as many tools and materials as possible, then operate. Tracks are always kept clear!
And it's been that way for the last few incarnations of my HO scale layout, be it Winnipeg, Vancouver, Vermont or Kingston as modelled locale.
CALL TO ACTION?
Every good opinion piece should end with a call to action! Otherwise it's just words. If you're a fellow modeller and reading this, you may come back with one of the following responses:
my layout, my rules - though this is sometimes a way to avoid facing the situation!
you're right - I'll consider your thoughts on Freedom!
you're wrong - I'm proceeding on a progressive track and I'm enjoying the journey!
What is holding you back, if anything? Is it something you can let go, work around and forge your own path to freedom? Break free! Think about it and then highball on to modelling enjoyment this coming year!
I will be here if you need me for anything:
UPDATE! On a New Year's Whim, I asked about modellers' #1 modelling resolution for 2020. Social media responses came in fast and furious: 20 in the first 20 minutes! 100 in the first two hours! 225 in 24 hours and counting! And they say 'the hobby is dying'...NOT. I was able to group the responses under several headings. The results, tabulated rather unscientifically:
53 Start a new layout - find space
47 Complete existing projects - enlarge, more equipment, more track
41 Specific new projects - bridges, scenery, workbench, weathering, wiring, details, more books, structures, trackwork
38 Spend more time on the layout - get it out of storage, finish, keep working
11 Operate - prototypically, get trains running
11 Enjoy freedom - existing layout, involve family and friends, simplify
6 Spend less (+2 spend more!)
3 Improve realism
Biggest take-home from the above is the huge number of responses dealing with actually starting a layout!
I will be checking back with all these people throughout the year....also NOT. Like any resolution, expressing them aloud theoretically helps us to realize our goals. Note that not all the responses equate with spending more money or acquiring more, as few responses even mentioned any new equipment. Very few specific manufacturers or brands were mentioned. I get the sense that most of us already have lots on hand, and it's just a matter of feeling positive about the hobby we've chosen and being able to allot some time to it. And that is all about FREEDOM (back to top!)
After christening previous years as The Year of Photographing the Blisteringly Mundane (2015) and The Year of Revenue-Neutral Modelling (2018), I'm christening 2020 The Year of Model & Railfan Local. I don't mean you can never leave home - instead I'm suggesting you do 'a moustache' and look at what's right under your nose{
Railfan what's nearby, hiding in plain sight, instead of thinking you have to go all the way to Tehachapi or the Spiral Tunnels.
Model what you know, whether it's your town or local railway, instead of thinking you have to model Horseshoe Curve or Bayview Junction. Unless you really want to.
The latter is something I've experienced on my own layout - after changing my modelled locales from Manitoba to British Columbia to Vermont, I'm back to Kingston surrounded by the most available information and the most 'comfort' with what I'm representing in scale.
When I railfanned Portage la Prairie (definitely not local!) my aunt and uncle would troll the local yards to see what was moving or sitting. My uncle Wilf recently did the same, catching VIA 6445-6425 at Portage, rerailed and coupled to the five cars of VIA No 692 which derailed near Katrime last year - December 31, 2019.
Labels: model railroad
Ye Olde History of Rapido Trains Inc.
Rapido Trains Inc.'s Newsletter issue 119, in addition to the latest product announcements, production schedule, questionable puns and kooky graphics, contained a section entitled 'Looking Back on 15 years of Rapido". I am no fan of staid or stodgy corporate histories, but I found this capsule history interesting because it is a rags-to-bellbottoms story of what it's like to grow in the Golden Age of Canadian Model Railroading. While I was otherwised engaged hoisting another fruitcake and toasting with another Railway City Brewing Co. beverage, I simply copied and pasted this engaging account into this post then appended my own encounters with Jason over the years. Enjoy:
Last month marked 15 years since Rapido Trains Inc. was incorporated. In that time we've grown from a one-man-show with one resin kit and some decals to one of the larger model train manufacturers in North America.
In 2000 I was about to get married and someone asked me what I was going to do with my life. I remember my answer clearly: "I'm going to go to England, get a degree, and teach art history. But what I really want to do is make model trains all day."
Sidura and I left for Birmingham, England, the next year. I was very unhappy with my career choice. What gave me joy were the stolen moments when I could escape to the sun room to work on my model trains. At one point I told Sidura that model railroading could be a very expensive hobby. She replied, "As long as it pays for itself, it's fine." She meant that I should sell my old stuff on eBay. Instead, I decided to start Rapido. My model railroad in England was on a 7.5" wide shelf in our living room. The two locomotives were old Atlas/Roco FP7s heavily modified into VIA FP9As.
In 2004 I was 29 years old. We were back in Canada and I had no degree, no job and no money. Sidura and I realized that we had nothing to lose, so we tried to make the model train business work as a proper company. I spent the winter measuring and drawing an ex-VIA coach and sleeping car. In the snow. In -12C weather.
After two trips to China on borrowed money, I had found a factory to work with. It took until late 2006 - and a lot more debt - for our first models to finally arrive. I packaged up a CN "E" series sleeper and mailed it to my PhD supervisor in England. "Here's my thesis," the accompanying letter said. "I'm officially withdrawing from the program."
A number of key milestones allowed Rapido to grow to the successful company it is today. The first was hiring Dan Garcia. With Dan on board I could focus on marketing and product design, because he was handling all of the customer service.
In 2009, Bill Schneider and Janet Golfman joined the team. Janet has since grown in her position to be a first class CFO - a long way from her original role as a part-time bookkeeper. With Bill I had found a guy who really understood how the model train business worked. Bill also introduced Rapido to the American market. I remember one fateful conversation with him, before he even joined the team: "You know, the New Haven has a lot of really devoted fans. I think you might want to think about making some New Haven models."
For several years, Rapido was just Dan, Bill, Janet and me. The company struggled to grow. We had great ideas but we were always short of cash and our factory was very busy with a growing client list so they could not deliver all the models we needed.
In 2013, Bill and I flew to China and convinced our engineer, Huang, to start a new Rapido factory that would just make our stuff. In 2016 our partner, Colin, threw his hat in the ring and started the LRC factory. This solved our supply issues.
Back at home, we surrounded ourselves with some really talented people who have helped Rapido grow into the success it is today. A lot of people still think Rapido is just me in a garage somewhere designing and shipping out model trains. Far from it. Rapido is a team of amazing people, almost all model railroaders. They are lucky enough to have found careers in their hobby, and they love coming to work every day.
Rapido has had its fair share of headaches. The first shipment of passenger cars had wobbly floors. We fixed it pretty quickly, but I bet there are still a few guys out there who swore in 2006 that they would never buy another Rapido passenger car and have remained true to their word. Since then every year has brought new challenges.
The HO scale TurboTrain looked amazing, but ran like a pregnant hippo on crutches. Our Algoma Central coaches somehow migrated from silver to beige. The first run of N scale 1600-series GMD-1s ran THE WRONG WAY on DC track. The first run of mill gondolas had amazing Z channel ribs... which could be found floating around the bottom of the packaging. The list goes on. Today we've got a warranty department staring down an entire bookcase of RS-18 locomotives awaiting motor replacements.
But still, we soldier on. With each new challenge we get stronger. Mohan is in China right now, working with the factories to implement better quality control practices and improve communication with the assembly team there so they don't make production changes - like changing the colours of rooftop beacons - without checking with us first.
I will ask anyone who says our hobby is dying to take a look at Rapido as proof that it isn't. Our sales in 2019 were four times our sales in 2013. This shows that there are a lot of railroad modellers (and bus modellers) out there who are eager to upgrade their fleets. Talking with people at shows, it's clear Rapido has also brought some new people into our hobby - especially Canadian modellers who were never inspired to join the hobby because the selection of Canadian prototypes was too narrow before Rapido arrived on the scene. It's nice to see so many new customers at every show.
Everything I have talked about so far is really just the background to the most important aspect of our 15th anniversary. Rapido's success comes down to one thing: YOU. You, our customers, have shown faith in us and continue to support us. We love that you love our trains, and without you all of this would have just been a pipe dream.
So thank you to everyone who has bought a Rapido model, given us advice and suggestions, contributed research material, kitbashed our models, photographed and videoed our models, hung out with us at shows, and supported our restoration efforts.
You guys - our model railroad community - are what it's all about. Thank you so much. We look forward to a great 2020 and another great 15 years!
Your humble blogger has had the pleasure of meeting Jason on a few occasions. The first quite by chance - on June 19, 2008 as we headed east to Montreal in VIA1 on VIA train No 52/40. Hearing a conversation ahead of us, a passenger with book in hand was chatting amicably with on-board staff. I put two plus Turbo together and realized it was none other than a certain model train manufacturer doing the kibbitzing. On his way back to his seat up the aisle, it was, "Excuse me, are you Jason Shron?" Surprise! When they were returning from a proto-photo trip to Brockville that November, I met Jason and Dan downtown to talk Kingston Sub modelling.
Three years later, upon the publication of my first book on VIA Rail, Jason was on a barnstorming tour to the Maritimes. Having been kind enough to pen the foreword, I met him at Kingston on his way west aboard VIA No 61 Eng 6437 (above). Also at Kingston, the Rapido Icons of Canadian Steam launch excursion passed through in October, 2015:
It would be another eight years until our paths would cross again, on the Platforum podcast. Jason remarked upon my CN 3120 being the only Rapido RS-18 equipped with X2F couplers, possibly in the entire world! In the post welcoming this plucky pollution-plumed performer, I editorialized about the impact of Rapido on the modelling scene in the Running Extra section. I won't further editorialize here, suffice it to say that where two or three Canadian railway modellers are gathered, Rapido will be part of the discussion.
AVE, VIA!
Sometimes, Rapido is meme-worthy. I find such memes ably encapsulate a long-winded, somewhat-productive back-and-forth social media debate about some recent Rapido-based issue:
Or when there's discussion about who's no longer a 'member of the band', who's president of the company now, or just who is the craziest, nerdiest modeller out there.
Happy New Year! Speaking of memes, whatever arrived under your tree this Christmas, may you spend several moments, minutes or hours of enjoyment 'getting away from it' all in your layout room, workbench or motel room while laying-over between runs:
People say I use 'air quotes' a lot. What do they mean by 'a lot'?
Speaking of bad jokes, it's time for one more. What did the clock do when he was hungry after his Christmas turkey dinner? He went back four seconds!


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Fast Company releases first-ever "Most Innovative Companies of Middle East" list
Think Marketing Follow on Twitter February 24, 2019
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Fast Company, an American leading business media brand and publication, has released its first ever list of the most innovative companies of the Middle East as part of their annual selection of the World's Most Innovative Companies.
The international list ranks "the businesses making the most profound impact on both industry and culture." The main list includes notable names such as Asian ride-hailing app Grab, The Walt Disney Company, Shopify, and Dominos Pizza.
This is the first time that the publication has ever released a Middle East section for their annual listing, showing that perhaps it is a visible tell that the Middle East's growth continues to attract global interest.
The list includes
Qatar Airways is the oldest on the list, ranked at number 3, and seems to have been placed for their newest addition to their business class areas, named QSuite.
According to the note by Fast Company, "Qatar Airways is now bringing a private jet experience to their business-class passengers. The 'Qsuite' experience provides restaurant-style food ordering and lets passengers create a cabin-within-a-cabin for extra privacy."
Private closed off "rooms," over 4000 menu options, and the ability to create co-working or leisure spaces for groups who are traveling together makes the experience something new and fresh in the airline industry.
The Dubai-based ride-hailing company has been getting a lot of good luck lately. Not only has it placed 5th on the list, the top administrative court lifted the ban against ride-hailing operators on Saturday.
Fast Company's notes stated that "The company became the region's first ever unicorn by treating ride hailing as a highly local enterprise, adding features like extra security measures for women and a different compensation system for women drivers as well as giving customers the option of paying in cash to accommodate the fact that the Middle East is one of the least banked regions in the world…"
Careem has also recently launched their Careem Bus in Cairo and wheelchair accessible rides in Alexandria.
The Modist
Modesty and high-end fashion aren't always put together but this Dubai-based luxury modest fashion ecommerce platform is making sure to change that.
Fast Company writes "[The Modist] reflects the concerns of a growing group of women who, for reasons both cultural and personal, want full-coverage clothing that doesn't forgo style."
She's a lady (in *that* @ladoublej bouncy brocade coat) visit #TheMOD and discover @mademoisellememe's picture perfect #FashionWeek guide, #ModistStyle. 📸 @moeez
A post shared by The Modist (@themodist) on Feb 19, 2019 at 12:00am PST
The Modist calls itself "a first of its kind, luxury style destination dedicated to dressing modestly…channeling a confident new voice which showcases a fresh take on contemporary fashion…"
Jamalon states that it is "the largest online bookstore in the Middle East, offering more than 9.5 million titles…" The company, founded by Jordanian entrepreneur Ala Alsallal and his siblings, are headquartered in Dubai and placed 8th.
According to Fast Company, "Readers in the region often find it difficult to obtain books, and many are forced to wait for yearly book fairs to purchase them directly from publishers. In addition to making it easier for Middle Easterners to find Arab books they want to read, the company introduced a print-on-demand service for Arabic authors who cannot find a publisher."
The region's first music streaming service comes out in 9th place, the Beirut-based company won its place for "providing a digital music community for people who can't access concert venues."
Fast Company states that "Its catalog comprises more than 30 million songs available for over 70 million users. The company also serves as a social network in a region where few concerts are held, experimenting with ways for fans to share music with each other and discover artists as a community."
Anghami is still coming down from a year of highs, including its first localized campaign for Egypt and winning 6 awards at the MENA 2018 MMA Smarties Awards.
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Solar Celebrity Profile – Ed Begley Jr.
Ed Begley Jr. is a well-known actor turned environmentalist who looks to be having a lot of fun turning his living space into a sustainable, eco-friendly oasis.
However, his love affair with green living was not developed overnight. Ed has lived an eco-friendly lifestyle even before it became popular in mainstream society. In fact, some may say that it was his celebrity and passion for the cause that helped push eco-friendly living into the view of mainstream society. From his vegan diet to his trademark hybrid electric vehicles, Ed Begley Jr. is undoubtedly a pioneer of modern green living so it was no surprise to see this attitude spill over into his home's design. The show Living with Ed documents his and Rachelle's home renovations and their humorous interactions with their neighbor Bill Nye. Here are a few of the eco-friendly features that Ed and Rachelle incorporated into their home.
Although Ed has recently experimented with wind powered electric systems, he has used photovoltaic electric systems for years to power his famously green home in Studio City, California. Ed's single story home was not in an ideal location to fully take advantage of solar power because it was overshadowed by a neighbor's two-story dwelling. Ed used an innovative system design which mounted atop his garage and angled to follow the sun and capture its energy as it crossed his dwelling. When questioned about solar electric power systems' viability, he proved an enthusiastic fan of the alternative energy solution. However, he advocates conducting an energy audit of one's home and making it energy-efficient before investing in any alternative energy solution.
Not satisfied with simply collecting rain water in the convenient barrels placed underneath the drains of his home, Ed opts for a 10,000 gallon water capture tank. Now he and Rachelle use a LifeSource system to filter and purify the water they collect. Ed uses the unfiltered variety to water his backyard garden and fruit trees.
The Ed Begley Jr. solar home is completed with a productive vegetable garden enhanced by fruit trees that thrive in the California sun. His obsession with composting to naturally build up the nutrients in the soil is legendary on the Living with Ed reality television series. The garden saves him and his family money on their food bill.
Some may look upon the Ed Begley Jr. solar home as just an amazing tribute to an incredibly cheap man. However, his energy-saving tips are just what is needed in most homes and communities.


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Hologram World
2008 single by Tiny Masters of Today
"Hologram World"
Single by Tiny Masters of Today
Rock / Indie / Punk rock
"Hologram World" is a song by the Tiny Masters of Today. The single features the song "Hologram World", the XFM version of "Hologram World" and the music video for "Radio Riot" directed by Nick Chatfield-Taylor. It was released in the United Kingdom on February 25, 2008. Alternate versions of the single feature the XFM version of "Hey, Mr. DJ".
1 Music video
Music video[edit]
Under the moniker Kids With Canes, Karen O and her boyfriend Barney Clay directed the music video for the song "Hologram World" which was released on February 8, 2008. Karen also served as choreographer and appears in the video along with Yeah Yeah Yeahs bandmates Nick Zinner and Brian Chase as well as Mike D from the Beastie Boys, Gibby Haynes from the Butthole Surfers, Russell Simins from the Blues Explosion and Sam James from The Mooney Suzuki.[1]
"Hologram World" (XFM Version)
"Radio Riot" (video)
Personnel[edit]
Ivan: vocals, Guitar
Ada: vocals, Bass Guitar, keyboards and percussion
Russell Simins: drums
Karen O: vocals
Nick Zinner: Guitar
^ David Knight (2008-03-06). "Tiny Masters of Today's Hologram World by Kids With Canes Inc". PromoNews. Archived from the original on 2009-01-03. Retrieved 2008-08-26.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hologram_World&oldid=936025920"
Mute Records singles
Tiny Masters of Today songs
Song articles with missing songwriters


- Yet and still have many closely related senses, and, with verbs of past time, are often interchangeable; we may say " while he was yet a child," or " while he was still a child." Yet, like still, often applies to past action or state extending to and including the present time, especially when joined with as; we can say " he is feeble as yet," or " he is still feeble," with scarcely appreciable difference of meaning, except that the former statement implies somewhat more of expectation than the latter. Yet with a negative applies to completed action, often replacing a positive statement with still; " he is not gone yet" is nearly the same as " he is here still." Yet has a reference to the future which still does not share; " we may be successful yet" implies that success may begin at some future time; " we may be successful still" implies that we may continue to enjoy in the future such success as we are winning now.