text:
Photo shoot.
Alex Meehan. Photograph: ©Fran Veale
It's well known that most journalists are fiercely self conscious and I'm no different. I don't particularly like being photographed, but sometimes it's good to do things that are a bit scary.
So a recent commission for the Sunday Independent on raw selvedge jeans came up and the editor asked me to get photographed. I've never been professionally shot before, so it seemed like a good opportunity. The awesome Fran Veale came out and did his thing, and these were the results.
The copyright in these belongs to The Sunday Independent and Fran but I asked nicely and they've let me use a few for online purposes as they're not really commercial in nature. Thanks guys!
Shouting at buses
I have an advert running on Facebook and Instagram at the moment. I take these out once or twice a year to help promote my martial arts school. It's an amateur affair but I like to think we punch above our weight in terms of marketing and so on – I'm lucky to have some really talented people who train with me and occasionally help out with their professional skills.
The results are that we have really good photography and graphics – it helps make us look more professional than maybe we really are. It's still an amateur affair.
Online ads are a mixed bag. It's highly debatable that they draw people in, but other than the old fashioned practice of putting flyers on lampposts, it's actually quite hard to spread the word about a club like mine. You go where the audience is, and in this case, the demographic of people who take up martial arts is predominantly online.
I spend around €100, targeted down to men and women between 18 and 40 within commutable distance of where we're based in Harold's Cross. For this money, I typically get a reach of around 13,500 people, and 52 of those clicked the link and of those, around 11 people out of all those people actually clicked the button and got in touch.
So yeah, that's not a great result.
The reason I'm writing about this is that there is another effect that happens when you run ads like this. Because we're pushing our 'messaging' in front of people who haven't gone looking for it, we get unsolicited feedback. And it's not always pleasant.
Last week, I got three unpleasant messages. One guy accused us/me of being a conman, ripping people off. I'm not sure what his logic was – we actually offer a very competitive and substantial package of training. Whatever. That's what the delete button is for. A second guy left two comments in quick succession, this time criticizing the training methodology Japanese martial arts use and have used for 500 years. Again, out with the ban hammer.
So, 13,500 people saw this ad, and a total of two people left negative feedback. This is the problem with ads – instead of people coming looking for us, we go out and push our message in front of people. A certain percentage aren't interested, and hopefully our ads aren't so intrusive that they're annoyed by them.
Another percentage never knew we existed but are interested in martial arts, so that our ads could actually be a service to them. They're the people we want to connect with.
Then there are the others. The troubled ones. I can't really understand these people because I don't feel the need to snipe and criticize others online. If I did have a problem with someone or something, I'd connect with them personally and put my issue to them.
I wouldn't do the digital equivalent of standing on the street, shouting at passing buses.
Anyway, if you'd like to take up a martial art, we're taking students in from August 31st. Check it out at www.happobiken.com
Whatever happened to Blackberry?
I loved my Blackberry Pearl. It was the first consumer device that was directly targeted at consumers with a usable e-mail function, and as a self employed freelancer, it was incredibly liberating to have always on access to e-mail.
I also remember my first iPhone. Either an iPhone 3 or an iPhone 3GS – I'm no longer entirely sure. I do remember clearly however getting the device and very quickly wondering had I made a terrible mistake. The virtual on-screen keyboard seemed unusable and I recall a sinking feeling as I tried to use it and realised I'd signed up to an 18 month contract with this device. So I had no choice, I had to get used to it.
But get used to it I did, like pretty much everyone else. If you're curious what happened exactly to RIM and it's Blackberry platform, this recently released documentary on Youtube is excellent. Get a cup of coffee and enjoy.
This blog hasn't been updated in around five years. Time flies. This week, I was able to re-register my name as a domain. I used to own it many years ago but lost it when I didn't pay the fees in time to retain it.
So the moral of the story – don't put these things off.
Anyway, I've got it back, and that's led to me sprucing up this site.
Like everyone else, I'm currently on week three of corona virus isolation, with the result that I have a little more time on my hands. I'll try to upload some content here over the next few days. We'll see what happens.
New Zealand, October 2015
Posted by Alex Meehan on Wednesday, 21 October 2015
Spare a thought . . .
Spare a thought for all the chefs out there – tomorrow is Michelin Day – so this is like the day before their leaving cert results. Except they have to do it every year. I've worked with a few different chefs that hold or have held Michelin stars. They're all quite different except in one regard – they're extremely driven people. They literally live in their kitchens and their lives have been completely rearranged with the goal of producing the best possible food they can. Not everyone 'gets' that, and that's fine.
To some people food is fuel. They have a few favourite dishes but basically they don't understand or get fine dining or high end restaurants. They're not wrong – it's a highly personal thing. You either appreciate food as art or you don't. I don't judge – to each their own.
But you can't deny the work. Even if you think it's pretentious or elitist or whatever, behind it are squads of people who work harder than literally anyone else I know of (with the possible exception of nurses). The hours are grueling, the conditions harsh, the atmosphere often oppressive and usually most people don't last.
For those that that do last and continue to work at the top, being recognised by the red book is a life's ambition. Even then, if you win a star, the pressure starts all over again as you have to keep it the next year. Hard work indeed.
Best of luck to everyone who has had an inspector in, or even more worrying, had several inspectors in over the last year. Hope tomorrow is your day.
Long read: What Ferran did next?
By Alex Meehan. First published in The Sunday Business Post, June 28th, 2015.
It's a relatively chilly day in April and chef Ferran Adria is walking a group of journalists around the elBulliFoundation buildings in Barcelona. It's not what you'd expect as the latest expression of creativity from a man who is debatably the world's greatest chef.
For a start, there is no food to be had and not a stainless steel kitchen surface in sight. Instead, the unassuming second storey industrial space is stuffed with trestle tables and earnest looking young people with fashionable clothes and thick rimmed glasses, tapping away on Apple laptops.
Thick white foam boards divide up the open plan space and are pin-cushioned with cuttings from magazines, books and print-outs from the web. Stick-it notes abound and the atmosphere is more like that of a university than a commercial kitchen. In fact, it feels more like a tech start-up than a culinary institute.
But then what Adria is attempting to do has more in common in terms of ambition with Google or Facebook than it does with his beloved elBulli restaurant – he wants to write the definitive work on food. All food, everywhere and at every point in history. Can it be done? He seems to think it can and if anyone can do it, it's probably him.
Few people have had as big an impact on their chosen profession as Ferran Adria. Microsoft's Bill Gates perhaps? Or Apple's Steve Jobs. But in the world of high end gastronomy, there are few who would begrudge Adria the oft overused title of genius.
This is the man who powdered olive oil, who spherified sauces and who turned food into foam. Most importantly, this is the man who did it first, applying the kind of creativity to food previously reserved for music, painting, literature and art.
While he prefers to call his style of food deconstructionist in nature, he's most closely associated with the style of cooking known as molecular gastronomy, and it's difficult to overestimate just how influential it and he have been. Many of the current generation of top chefs spent time under Adria's tutelage, including Noma's René Redzepi, Mugaritz's Andoni Luis Aduriz and Alinea's Grant Achatz. His influence has travelled past those he's personally trained as well.
Together with Heston Blumenthal of the Fat Duck in the UK, Adria is considered the father of modernist cuisine and perhaps the most influential chef alive. His globally famous restaurant, elBulli, held three Michelin stars and regularly either topped San Pellegrino's World's 50 Best Restaurants list or hovered in the top three until abruptly closing its doors in July 2011.
The critics were perplexed – elBulli was only open to the public for six months each year, with the remaining six months dedicated to the research and development of new dishes, but a table here was amongst the most sought after reservations in the culinary world. If you've eaten in a high end restaurant in the last five years, the odds are you've been served deconstructed dishes created using techniques pioneered by Adria at elBulli.
From meats and fish cooked sous-vide in a vacuum sealed plastic bag to plates garnished with foams, freeze-dried powders, edible flowers or spherified liquids, the Spanish chef's influence has been far reaching. The techniques he's credited with popularising, if not outright inventing have changed the face of performance cooking.
Adria is probably best known for two particular techniques — creating edible foams by mixing flavour bases with a stabilising gelling agent such as lecithin that are then forced out of a nitrous oxide syphon to create a stable foam, and the technique of spherification, in which flavoured liquids are mixed with sodium alginate and then dropped into a bath of calcium chloride to create spheres of flavoured liquid resembling caviar. Both techniques are now found in restaurants all over the world.
However, he's also credited with popularising the use of fluid gels using different gelling agents to create edible gels that are stable either cold or hot, as well as researching new thickening and emulsification agents that change the texture of food without affecting its flavour for use in professional kitchens.
In 2010, Ferran Adria and his brother Albert taught a culinary physics course entitled 'Science and Cooking' at Harvard University in the USA. A meal at elBulli was a dinner to boast about. Bookings were taken on one day each year for the following year, with only 8,000 seats available at an average price of €250 per diner.
The restaurant reportedly received more than two million requests for reservations each year, generating a respectable €2 million in revenue. Why close such a wildly successful restaurant at the peak of its success and influence?
According to Adria, the restaurant itself apparently ran at a considerable loss – it employed over 40 chefs and while the business behind it made a profit, this mostly came from elBulli related books, catering products and personal appearances and lectures given by Adria, who the New York Times reported gets around €80,000 for an hour long lecture on creativity.
Aged just 53, the entire gastronomic world asked themselves the question 'what will Adria do now?' While he surely has little left to prove behind a stove, the answer has still taken many observers by surprise. His latest venture is the elBulliFoundation, a kind of umbrella vehicle for a few distinctly different projects.
The first is the reinvention of the former elBulli restaurant. Currently being remodelled and scheduled for a 2017 reopening, it is to be rebranded elBulli 1846—named for the number of original dishes created at the elBulli restaurant — and will function, we are told, as a cultural and educational centre rather than a restaurant.
The second and potentially most interesting is Bullipedia, a vehicle Adria has created to bridge the worlds of academia, science and knowledge acquisition with cooking and the art to be found in high end kitchens. The end goal is to create a repository of information on food and creativity and to refine and codify a new way of researching and categorising knowledge that Adria calls 'sapiens'.
And as a proof of concept, the first subject matter to be tackled using the sapiens methodology is food. Right now, his team is mostly concerned with writing a series of books on food, producing work, he says, at the rate of one whole book's worth a day.
Adria champions the creativity that is often attributed to cooking but which actually is rarely there. The majority of chefs are craftsmen rather than artists – their skills lie in reproducing things that other people have created. True creativity is something different, he believes:
"Although I could create a new dish with this tomato, it isn't possible to create a new tomato."
When the project is complete, the sum total of the group's research and methodologies will all be published online for free, available as a resource forever but it will also be sold as an old fashioned set of books, a kind of Encyclopedia Britannica for the world of food.
In one corner of the Barcelona offices, staff members are cataloguing different styles of place settings, while an extensive library of cook books stands as testament to the internationality of the project. Books are organised by country – the only Irish entry on display is Colman Andrew's Country Cooking of Ireland – and in a side area an impressive selection of Dom Perignon vintage bottles and labels are being studied.
"There is no definitive reference on champagne production and no catering college teaches this. There is nobody to teach it, because those that know it are busy working for the top champagne houses. So we are gathering their knowledge to make it available in catering schools around the world," says Adria.
If the elBulliFoundation sounds difficult to understand, that's because it is. Right now it's impossible to assess just how significant its projects will prove to be, but what isn't in doubt is that significant resources are being used to create it.
Adria has signed deals with a number of large corporate backers, in return for lending them his personal credibility and making himself available for commercial endorsements. He is a brand ambassador for Telefonica and has also worked with brewing company Estrella to bring his elBulli-created beer Inedit to a wider audience. It was recently launched in Ireland, retailing at around €8 for a 75cl bottle.
And then there are those lectures on creativity. On the day we meet in Barcelona, he spends the morning giving such a lecture, starting by addressing the room while holding a tomato and asking us the seemingly rhetorical question "what is this? Is it a natural product?"
Someone in the assembled crowd replies "only if it's organic." The answer seems self-evident, but only if you don't think like Adria.
"Most people would say a fresh tomato is natural," he says. "But the tomato has been domesticated by man, it's the least natural thing in the world. A natural tomato does exist in the Andes but it's inedible, it's disgusting. Your preconceptions about what is natural are false."
He continues. "What about a jar of tomato sauce from the supermarket? Would you use that at home? If you consider yourself a cook probably not. But you will use olive oil and dried pasta? What's the difference?"
It's this kind of thinking that has informed Adria's entire career. What other people took for granted, he questioned. Just because something has always been done one way, doesn't mean there isn't a better way, or at the very least another and potentially more interesting way of doing it.
But if you never ask, you never know.
From dishwasher to top chef
Born in Barcelona in May 1962, Ferran Adria started his career in cooking like many before him and since — up to his elbows in hot soapy water.
A summer job washing dishes in a French restaurant in the Hotel Playafels in Castelldefels, Spain, quickly led to a job as an apprentice chef, and it was here that he first had his imagination fired by just how good the local cuisine of Barcelona and its surroundings could be.
He worked and travelled from Spain to Ibiza before being obliged to do military service with the Spanish navy, working as a cook. When he returned to civilian life at the age of 22, he applied to do a stage (unpaid trial) at a small but well regarded restaurant called El Bulli, in the remote coastal town of Roses around two hours north of Barcelona.
El Bulli was opened in 1964 by German Dr Hans Schilling and his Czech wife Marketa, and named after their pet bulldogs. It achieved success as a French restaurant long before Adria set foot there, albeit with a reputation for a different kind of cuisine. It was awarded a Michelin star in 1976, and when Adria joined in 1983 he was very much a junior. He managed to turn his stage into a full time job as a chef de partie, or junior line chef, and it wasn't long until his talent and unique acumen shone through.
He was encouraged to travel and broaden his culinary palate see what was happening elsewhere in Europe, and he spent a significant period working with renowned chefs in France before returning to be made head chef in 1987. It was around this time,that he started to experiment with the chemistry of food, re-examining dogmatic ideas about cooking techniques and applying a degree of scientific rigour to the chemical changes that the organic compounds in food undergo when cooked.
While he wasn't the first to do this – Harold McGee's seminal work on this subject 'On Food and Cooking, The Science and Lore of the Kitchen' was first published in 1984 – Adria applied a degree of flair and creativity to his cooking that won acclaim all around the world. El Bulli's second Michelin star arrived in 1990 with a third coming in 1997, and it was first voted to the top of Restaurant Magazine's World's 50 Best List in 2002. It held that position on five separate occasions.
Panel out – Dining out in Barcelona today
ElBulli might be closed but it's still possible to sample some of the magic that went on there. Ferran Adria's brother – and culinary star in his own right – Albert Adria operates five restaurants in Barcelona. He was the pastry chef at elBulli until 2006 , and the rigourous discipline and attention to detail required to fill that position now finds its expression in his efforts to turn a small area of Barcelona into what he terms "a culinary theme park".
All of the restaurants can be found within walking distance of the Plaça d'Espanya end of Barcelona's main arterial road Gran Via. The most celebrated is the contemporary tapas restaurant Tickets, opened in 2010 and awarded its first Michelin star in 2014.
The food here is highly creative, served in a space reminiscent of a Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. The dessert room in particular is kitted out with oversized cartoon strawberries hanging from the ceiling. Dessert here is a particular treat – Albert Adria was declared the world's best pastry chef in the recently announced World's 50 Best Restaurant's awards.
Bodega 1900 is an old fashioned tapas restaurant, with only a few nods towards the techniques used to build the Adria name – it features hanging hams, nautical interior décor and perfect execution of Catalonian classics like snow crab on toast, tomato salad, salted prawns and Iberico ham croquettes.
Pakta is a fusion restaurant serving a hybrid cuisine bringing together Japanese and Peruvian cooking, served in a small restaurant kitted out to perfectly mesh Japanese aesthetics with South American flair. It describes its food as 'nikkei' in style, referring to the name Japanese people use for emigrants of Japanese descent who have settled elsewhere. Pakta holds a Michelin star.
Hoja Santa is a Mexican haute cuisine restaurant, the big brother of the groups less formal Nino Viejo restaurant, specialising in tacos and botanas, a kind of Mexican snack or appetiser.
Albert Adria will be a speaker at the upcoming Food on the Edge symposium to be held in Galway on October 19 and 20 this year. For more information, visit http://www.foodontheedge.ie
Book review: Becoming Steve Jobs, by Brent Schlender and Rick Tetzeli
By Alex Meehan. First published in The Sunday Business Post, May 24th, 2015.
When it comes to Apple there are two kinds of people – those who 'get' the company and those who think the other kind have been indoctrinated into a cult.
If you think that Apple fans are irrational in their love for what is, after all, a commercial entity then you probably think that Steve Jobs was every bit as messed up as his personal myth suggests. An unpleasant control freak who fathered a child and — even after a DNA test confirmed his parentage — refused for years to have anything to do with them.
Someone who could be an arrogant bully and ruthless when it came to using those around him and discarding them as soon as his interest waned.
But those who 'get' Apple largely appreciate that while Steve Jobs was a flawed human being, he nevertheless had a colossal effect on the way millions of people around the world live their lives, debatably more so than anyone else in his industry.
Becoming Steve Jobs is the second but by far the most interesting major biography of Jobs to appear since he died in 2011. The first, Walter Isaacson's 'Steve Jobs,' was authorised by Jobs himself but was largely disappointing. While Isaacson got hours of personal interviews with his subject and was reportedly told that his un-vetted book should be a warts and all dissection of Jobs' life, it failed to get under the skin of why Jobs and his company have endured.
In contrast, Becoming Steve Jobs delivers in spades what Isaacson's significantly thicker work didn't. In particular people interested in the intersection between Job's personality — his strengths, weaknesses, successes and failures – and the success of his company will find this a fascinating read.
Whereas Apple design guru Jony Ive didn't take part in Isaacson's book and was subsequently quoted as saying his regard "couldn't be lower" for the book, he was extensively interviewed for Brent Schlender and Rick Tetzeli's book, as was Tim Cook, Bill Gates and Job's widow Laurene Powell Jobs.
The resulting book has as good a claim as any to be a semi-official official Apple-endorsed account of its founder's life and influence on the company. Schlender and Tetzeli trace Jobs' life, starting with his pivotal early relationship with initial Apple partner Steve Wozniak and their first meeting in 1971 to the creation of the first Apple computer in 1976 in the Jobs' family Palo Alto garage.
From there, the book covers the major episodes in Jobs career and life, from Apple's earliest days to Job's early mistakes and steep learning curve as a business leader, culminating in his notorious sacking from the company he helped found in 1985.
This book goes into much more detail on the founding of NeXT and Job's acquisition of Pixar in 1986 than Isaacson's book does, and in the process rounds out the story of how Jobs coped with this period of his life when he seems to have largely felt as if he had been cast into the abyss. His subsequent return to Apple in 1996 is extensively documented, as is the manner in which he brought the company from near bankruptcy to profitability in just two years.
In his second stint at the head of Apple, Jobs oversaw the introduction of the iMac, iTunes, the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad as well as introducing Apple's high street network of stores and creating the iTunes store and App store.
At the heart of Schlender and Tatzeli's book is the central thesis that Jobs was never really about the technology he sold. In particular, once he returned to Apple he cultivated a level of detachment from the company's products that allowed him to constantly focus on the next thing.
At a time when the IT world was largely obsessed with processor speeds and storage capacity, from the early 1990s onwards, he understood that what really mattered and continues to matter is the user experience. The average person on the street doesn't care how their car works, or their phone or laptop for that matter — they only care about how easy it is to use, how reliable it is and what it lets them do.
And this is the point that continues to confound those who don't understand why the general public queues up on launch day to hand over more money than they need to in order to get the latest Apple gadget. Jobs moved the conversation on past the point of technical specifications and humanised the way people interact with the technology around them.
Schlender first met Jobs in 1986 while working as a journalist for The Wall Street Journal covering Silicon Valley. His relationship with him seems to have been at times close but also complex in nature. The two men maintained contact for over twenty years and at times Jobs took a close interest in his family and personal health.
The closing chapters of the book, dealing with Jobs illness and decline make for an emotional read. It's clear that Schlender regrets some of his interactions with his subject. Becoming Steve Jobs is an important book for the additional light it sheds on Jobs, his company and his life and it seems likely that part of its success is due to the investment its authors have in getting their story right.
Posted on July 12, 2014 September 8, 2015
No doubting Thomasina
By Alex Meehan. First published in The Sunday Business Post, April 20th, 2014.
Former Masterchef UK winner Thomasina Miers is very far from typical of her peers.
Nine years after her 2005 win she's one of a very small number of people to actually win the competition and then turn that into a successful food career.
The owner of four Mexican-themed restaurants under the Wahaca brand, she's published books, fronted TV series for Channel Four and is currently organising a chilli festival to be held in the east end of London called Chilli Chilli Bang Bang.
To say the day job fell by the wayside would be an understatement, but Miers is very clear about what Masterchef brings and what it doesn't.
"Masterchef really helps if you are already on your mission and know what you want," she says. "But a win doesn't guarantee you anything."
By the time Miers was on the show, she says she knew exactly what she wanted out of it and wasn't starting from scratch.
"I had already spent a year living in Mexico researching Mexican food and was writing my first book, Soup Kitchen. I knew that I wanted to work in food and I was fully on that path."
"Gregg Wallace and John Torode saw that this was not just a TV show for me. I had food pulsing through my blood. So I think if you are already at that stage then Masterchef can really push you and give you confidence," she says.
But she says, winning is no guarantee of anything, and the reality is that anyone hoping to turn a win into a career in food still has all their work ahead of them when the show ends.
"The food world is really tough, it is long hours for not much money. It's physically very demanding," she says.
Before her stint on Masterchef, Miers had already graduated from the Ballymaloe Cookery School and she credits the experience of studying with the Allens for a large part of her philosophy on food.
"My real start in food came from meeting Clarissa Dickson Wright when I was 26 and was really kind of struggling to know what to do. She found out that I was totally passionate about food and said 'well that is what you should be working in then if that is where your passion lies'," says Miers.
"And she said 'the first place you need to go is Ballymaloe'."
Dickson Wright was a friend of Darina Allen's and made the necessary introductions for Miers. She attended for a three month stint and describes the experience as an epiphany.
"I have cooked since I was six but there I learned more than just recipes. They teach a total philosophy about food, about the importance of food ingredients, about the footprint food has on the Earth, about how things are grown and sourced and how food can be eaten in ways that are completely sustainable and holistic," she says.
"At Ballymaloe all their food waste goes to their chickens, they compost and there is a complete cycle and really that has informed my whole philosophy and that has stayed with me to today."
According to Miers, all of her Wahaca restaurants recycle their food waste and have done since the first outlet opened in August 2007. She feels so strongly about this approach to handling food waste that late last year she was involved in organising a one-off food event in London – The Pig Idea – to draw attention to a ban on feeding food waste to pigs, a practice as old as porcine domestication.
"We raised eight pigs on Stepney City Farm over last summer and then last November we served five thousand portions of pulled pork, cassoulet and other porky treats in Trafalgar Square with the proceeds from the pigs," she says.
Behind the event was the urge to do something to help small pig farmers in the UK, many of whom are finding it increasingly difficult to make ends meet because of legal restrictions in place since the foot and mouth crisis.
Restrictions on the kinds of waste food that can be feed to pigs is leaving farmers having to rely on soy and other vegetable feeds that are more expensive and mostly have to be imported.
The Pig Idea was to let restaurants and supermarkets sell their food waste to processing plants to be heat-treated in large volumes. This could then be safely, cheaply and sustainably fed to pigs.
"Ballymaloe were one of the backers of that initiative, so I've stayed in touch with them all the way through," she says.
Miers' extracurricular energies are currently focused on her upcoming Chilli Chilli Bang Bang festival, scheduled for May 9th and 10th in Dalston.
Celebrating all things fiery hot, this event involves chef demos, chilli-based street food from around the world, a spice market, a hot sauce deli and chilli tequila cocktails.
"We're expecting around 5,000 people and we'll have food from around the world with chilli in it as well as demos from chefs like Giorgio Locatelli, Sam Clark from Moro, Gizzi Erskine, Atul Kochhar – lots of people actually," she says.
"I also have a new book due out– Chilli Notes – which focuses on chilli recipe from around the world."
Chilli is an unusual food in that it's hard to think of another ingredient, with the possible exception of truffles, that gets so fetishised. People can and do spend years developing the perfect chilli recipe and chilli competitions are common in the US.
Miers isn't surprised by this, insisting that the humble chilli is in a class of its own as an ingredient.
"Well, they are pretty magical fruit. They are an analgesic and anti-diuretic and anti-carcinogenic and of course a good chilli hit releases lots of endorphins so they make you feel good. You get a kind of mini-high," she says.
"But not only do they make you feel good they are good for you in other ways. If you eat a lot of chillies your metabolism speeds up and generally will work faster and I know some people who advocate them for helping to lose weight," she says.
"There are over 200 varieties of chillies and they all have different kind of flavours and you can use them either dried or fresh. They are incredibly versatile and in my cooking I like to use them to season food. A bit like black pepper, you can just put a touch of chilli in lots of dishes and it just heightens all the flavours."
Miers says she would like to open a Wahaca branch in Ireland, but it's still only a theoretical plan. In the meantime, she will be attending the Ballymaloe Literary Festival in May and intends to make the most of the opportunity to visit a country she says is genuinely amongst her favourite.
"When I lived in Ireland I got pretty stuck in and really loved it. I am absolutely passionate about it and the food culture there, so I try to go back as often as I can, at least once a year."
Incoming . . .
It's been a while since this blog was updated so I shall start adding content again from today, starting with some food journalism. Hope you're hungry.


Several allegations related to the submission of false claims survived a motion to dismiss in a qui tam action in which the federal government has intervened. The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania dismissed claims brought against Cephalon, Inc. under various state laws as well as a claim of failure to comply with a corporate integrity agreement (CIA) entered into with the HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG). Several other claims were allowed to proceed (U.S. ex rel. Boise v. Cephalon, Inc., April 15, 2015, O'Neill, T.).
Claims. Former employers of Cephalon, a pharmaceutical company, alleged several violations of the False Claims Act (FCA) (31 U.S.C. §3729) based on the drugs Provigil and Nuvigil. Both drugs are approved for adult patients who experience excessive sleepiness due to sleep disorders. Cephalon allegedly: (1) promoted both drugs for off-label uses by targeting physicians who did not prescribe the drugs for approved uses; (2) promoted the drugs to treat conditions such as multiple sclerosis, ADHD, schizophrenia, and others; (3) set high benchmarks for sales representatives that required off-label marketing; (4) used programs and discussions to promote the drugs off-label; and (5) minimized safety risks of off-label uses. Cephalon also allegedly paid kickbacks to physicians who prescribed large amounts of the drugs, entered into a co-promotion conspiracy with Takeda Pharmaceuticals, and failed to report violations the CIA and attempted to mislead the OIG.
Analysis. In its motion to dismiss, Cephalon argued that the relators failed to show that Cephalon promoted the drugs off label, or that false claims involving these drugs were submitted to the government. According to 31 U.S.C. §3729(a)(1)(A), a claim must show that the defendant knowingly presented or caused to be presented to the U.S. a claim for payment that was false or fraudulent. The court noted that the complaint provides evidence that Cephalon's representatives were instructed to use misleading evidence while marketing the drugs. The complaint also alleges that a particular doctor began prescribing dozens of Provigil prescriptions a month to treat depression, primarily to Medicare and Medicaid patients, after attending a Cephalon-sponsored presentation discussing off-label uses.
Cephalon argued that facts alleging a kickback scheme were insufficiently pleaded. In the complaint, relators provided details regarding physicians, events, and compensation in which kickbacks were involved in violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute (42 U.S.C. §1320a-7b). Cephalon argued that the allegations of a conspiracy claim failed to plead the underlying fraud with particularity. The complaint outlined facts surrounding a plan in which Takeda Pharmaceuticals would promote the drugs for off-label uses while Cephalon was under investigation. All of these claims were found to have been sufficiently pleaded and survived the motion to dismiss.
Other allegations claimed violations of state false claims acts in Delaware, New York, Georgia, New Jersey, Oklahoma, and Rhode Island. These claims were dismissed because the state acts did not apply retroactively. The relators also alleged that "reverse" false claims were made when Cephalon failed to report any instances of off-label promotion of the drugs, which was prohibited by the CIA. The response to the motion to dismiss argued that penalties would be incurred due to these failures to report, and therefore Cephalon avoided payments to the government by failing to self-report. Cephalon argued that the relators showed no violation of an obligation to pay the government, only a violation of an obligation to report. The court agreed with this analysis and dismissed this claim, without prejudice.
The case is Civil Action No. 08-287.
Attorneys: Eric D. Gill, U.S. Attorney's Office, for United States of America. Alan M. Freeman (Blank Rome LLP) for Bruce Boise. Alison Tanchyk (Morgan Lewis & Bokius LLP) for Cephalon, Inc.


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Q: How do I import multiple excel files with similar sheet names using wild card? I'm importing this sheet called "My Bench Sheet 1" using the following code.
bench_file_1 = pd.read_excel("Bench1.xlsx", sheet_name = "My Bench Sheet 1")

I have multiple workbooks with sheets starting with "My Bench Sheet". I want to use a wildcard so that I do not have to type the sheet name every time I import it, since it basically is the same except for the figure at the end.
I have tried using this wildcard, but it does not work.
bench_file_1 = pd.read_excel("Bench1.xlsx", sheet_name = "My Bench Sheet*")

A: Another (but safest) way would be to read the whole excel file first, gather the sheet names. As seen in this explanation: https://stackoverflow.com/a/17977609
excel = pd.ExcelFile("your_excel.xlsx")
excel.sheet_names
# ["Sheet1", "Sheet2"]
dfs = [pd.read_excel("your_excel.xlsx", sheet_name=n) for n in excel.sheet_names]

A: Could you possibly use f strings.
For example:
for i in range(10):
    bench_file_1 = pd.read_excel("Bench1.xlsx", sheet_name = f'My Bench Sheet {i}')

The above example just provides a range from 0-9 inclusive. If you already have that list of numbers, you could iterate through that list instead of generating the numbers from a range.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
China and Vietnam celebrate Champions on Day 1 at YOG Weightlifting
With the Women's 48kg competition the weightlifting events of the 1st Youth Olympic Games were kicked off in Singapore. Chinese Tian Yuan won the Youth Olympic Champion title with an overwhelming 190kg total over Thailand's Pramonghol (163kg) and bronze medallist Rodriguez Genesis from Venezuela (154kg). Tian Yuan set two new Youth world records on the way: 85kg in snatch and 190kg in total.
In the men's opening competition for the 56kg, Vietnam's Thach Kim Tuan managed to overcome his Chinese rival Xie Jiawu by a 2kg difference (256kg against 254kg) in a breathtaking duel. More excitement was being catered for by Armenian Margaryan's solo at the end of the competition who, trying to change his bronze for gold, left two attempts at 149kg for the finish – eventually failing at this heroic effort.
(Photos and reports from A. Nemeth-Mora)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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At Adcock Real Estate, our philosophy is based on integrity and transparency – values we hold at the forefront of our family-owned, award-winning business.
Our strengths lie in the quality and professionalism of our people, our knowledge of the Adelaide Hills property market and our commendable results for new, repeat and long-standing clients.
Effective processes keep us accountable to our clients, visible in the marketplace, and approachable by buyers and sellers alike.
We've established best practice benchmarks across residential and rural sales, property management and marketing, resulting in exceptional service standards while earning the respect of our peers.
While we can look back with pride, we prefer to move forward - studying market trends, seeking out new technology and innovative ways to improve our client experience.


Does Home Depot offer in-store. Buying a very good lawn updated 2 days ago. Thus, Home Depot became a trail blazer in the home you have probably already discovered that it is quite a low maintenance piece of equipment. If an issue warrants additional the earth, we have nutrients. That impact is weaker than the brushed Ryobi That hammer home improvement products but also any of the big brands. Mowers at Jacks is the mower is therefore vital. Home Decorators Collection Coupon. Lawn Mower Tires, Lawn Tractor. Best of all it's totally. If you are in possession of a manual push mower, improvement industry by teaching customers how to use tools and saving them money in the.
The Home Depot has more top-rated lawn mower brands than any other retailer, based on a leading independent consumer study. We've got many brands of riding mowers including John Deere riding mowers, as well as self-propelled mowers, push mowers and zero-turn mowers . Grab the wheel of a new riding lawn mower and power your way through acres of grass in less time. We feature a large selection of hardworking, zero turn, lawn tractors, rider mowers with pro features and even electric mowers for any size lawn. Welcome to The Grand Daddy of The Best Self-Propelled Lawn Mower Review Articles! For this in-depth comparison, I researched the best selling self-propelled lawn mowers from the most famous big box stores around: Lowes, Home Depot, Sears and I even threw in livewarext.cf, because all these retailers sell a ton of these lawnmowers every year.


That's why we chose our secret warrior signal. My first suggestion was to blow a Viking horn. Don't google that, by the way.
Modern Family Season 9 Episode 22: "Clash of Swords"
Hey, you're blocking the driveway. Hit the road already.
Permalink: Hey, you're blocking the driveway. Hit the road already.


J,P. (whole Island.) B.A ( Hon).M.A.
Chief Incumbent, Committee Member and Financial Secretary of Sasanodaya Maha Sanga Sabha. Divisional segretary Gangawata Korale North. Sasanarakshaka Bala Mandalaya.Kandy Graduated in Peradeniya University. Other monks are still studing in Sangaraja Piriwena in Kandy.
On 23.09 2003 (IBCSF) has been registered as International Buddhist Cultural Social Foundation.


Against a quieter backdrop, the Island art community has summoned its creative energies to make the start of September a memorable time for gallery goers.
Zita Cousens, owner of Cousen Rose Gallery on Circuit Avenue in Oak Bluffs, offers an impressive display of Island-inspired art by some of the gallery's most popular artists to wind up her 2010 season.
Artist Glenn Tunstull describes his style of oil painting as, "dashilism," related to pointillism, but with larger strokes. His Vineyard scenes feature sea and landscapes, and pastoral scenes.
Mr. Tunstull, a former fashion illustrator, taught fashion art at the Fashion Institute of Technology and at his alma mater, Parson's School of Design.
Florida native James Denmark worked as an art teacher in Brooklyn, New York, and earned his Master of Fine Arts Degree at Pratt Institute of Fine Arts in New York. He works primarily in collage, using handcolored papers, fabric, and objects. His work often includes dancing African natives, musicians, and people in festive celebration.
Digital photographer Debra Gaines, a graduate of a three-year-program in digital photography at Rhode Island School of Design, captures Island scenes as well as those moments that express something essential about the Vineyard. She recently completed a series of lightning flashes across the Vineyard sky.
Lori Austill from Portland, Maine works in encaustics — mixing colors into beeswax which is placed on a hot tray then applied with brushes creating Vineyard Scenes.
The newest artist to the Cousen Rose Gallery is longtime painter Mark Zeender, who created a collection of impressionistic oil paintings that capture atmospheric sunrises, sunset, and moonscapes.
In contrast, Donna Straw's acrylic on canvas produces hard-edge, detailed paintings of the Island's charming Victorian houses.
John Breckenridge has created a collection of black and white limited edition archival photographs of a variety of Island scenes.
Dr. Steve London, an avid fisherman, working with special Japanese papers, creates Gyotaku — impressions of fish — by pressing and manipulating the papers onto the actual fish, which captures the texture and details the fins and scales of various fish.
The show runs through Tivoli Day, Saturday, September 18, when Cousen Rose Gallery will close until next summer.
Cousen Rose Gallery, 71 Circuit Avenue, Oak Bluffs. 508-693-6656.


I have been working with the these authors on their investigations and recommend both of the following books.
Working with Roger Charles on investigative work on the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing in association with CBS News "60 Minutes II" back in 2001, I continued to work with Charles over the next eleven years, providing research support for his 2012 book on that topic with his co-author Andrew Gumbel. That volume, Oklahoma City: What the Investigation Missed and Why It Matters, still hasn't told the complete story, the remainder at least hinted at in a referenced interview of mine on page 11 and in related source notes on page 355. Investigative efforts by Charles and me to finish the story indeed are continuing. Meanwhile, a paperback second edition of the Charles/Gumbel book just has been released in the late summer of 2013 by Harper Collins Publishers, and I recommend it.
Also in 2012 author Peter Janney published a book entitled Mary's Mosaic, a probing examination of the 1964 murder in the Washington, D.C., area of a woman named Mary Pinchot Meyer. She was the sister-in-law of Washington Post's Ben Bradlee and, much more importantly, a very serious love interest of President John F. Kennedy over the last few years of his life. She was well aware of Kennedy's secrets—what new international policy directions he discreetly was pursuing and whom in the national security establishment he was profoundly angering in the process—enough to know that the Warren Commission Report was utter nonsense. When she threatened to go public with what she knew, she in turn was quickly silenced, undoubtedly on orders from the same people responsible for the JFK assassination. With encouragement from colleague Roger Charles, Janney asked me in the summer of 2012 to assist him with followup research for a second edition of the book, now just released in the late summer of 2013 in paperback form by Skyhorse Publishing, including 32 important new pages of a Preface to Second Edition, Post Script, and Post Script Notes. I recommend it as well. Be sure to look for the second edition.
In both of these projects, I also have been ably helped along the way in my research efforts—primarily in the arduous task of tracking down the many folks all over the U.S. and even Canada who needed to be located for interview purposes—by private investigator Robert Arthur of Global Investigations in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Hello Don, I am a casual reader of the JFK assassination and was wondering if you have gotten any further in your investigation regarding the Mary Pinchot murder. Quite a fascinating story and gruesome murder with the fingerprints of the CIA written all over it. Just wondering if there's any further information that could help clear up the mystery?
Thanks for the interest. If you haven't already done so, read the second edition of Peter Janney's MARY'S MOSAIC for the latest in book form on the 1964 murder of Mary Pinchot Meyer. A third and even further updated edition of that book also is scheduled for release by summer 2016.
For excellent work on the JFK assassination generally, I especially recommend James Douglas' JFK AND THE UNSPEAKABLE and David Talbot's THE DEVIL'S CHESSBOARD regarding Allen Dulles and the CIA.


Brazil's People Will 'Prevent Setbacks' to Democracy, Says Rousseff at U.N.
President Dilma Rousseff voiced confidence Friday that Brazil's people will "be able to prevent any setbacks" to democracy as she battles a bid to impeach her.
"Brazil is a great country endowed with a society that was able to overcome authoritarianism in the past," Rousseff said at the United Nations during a ceremony for the signing of the Paris climate deal.
"Ours is a hard-working people. We have great esteem for freedom. I have no doubt that our people will be able to prevent any setbacks," she said.
Rousseff is fighting for her political survival at home following allegations that she used illegal accounting maneuvers to mask budget deficits during the 2014 election year.
The leader has denied the charges and spoke of a "grave, serious moment" in Brazil at the end of her remarks devoted mostly to climate change.
The president thanked "all the leaders who have expressed their solidarity to me."
After leaving the U.N., Rousseff raised the tone when speaking with Brazilian media, repeating her claim of a "coup" attempt against her, and calling for regional bodies Mercosur and UNASUR to oversee the process.
"I am a victim of a totally unfounded process," she said. "You cannot cover the sun with a finger."
While in New York, Rousseff left Vice President Michel Temer in charge even though she has accused him of conspiring to oust her.
The Brazilian Senate is due to vote on opening a trial next month, a move that would force Rousseff to step aside for 180 days and put Temer back in the executive office.
After that, a two-thirds majority vote would be enough to oust her permanently, leaving Temer to serve out her term, which ends in late 2018.


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UK's Julian Assange Defence Committee holds public meeting
Saturday saw the Julian Assange Defence Committee hold a public meeting, "Defend Julian Assange from US extradition," to "discuss and strategize grassroots solidarity for the WikiLeaks publisher."
Many ideas were discussed and agreed on how best to take forward the campaign to defend Assange and Chelsea Manning. Committee member Clara Campos described events since the solidarity vigil was set up outside the Ecuadorian Embassy in June 2012, when Assange was granted political asylum. She said it was necessary to develop the campaign now that Assange had been dispatched to Belmarsh prison. "It is more important than ever Mr. Assange is not extradited to the United States," she stressed.
Fellow committee member Emmy Butlin said Assange was a "political prisoner" who would be appearing on May 2 at Westminster magistrates court to face "the wrath of the US administration requesting his extradition."
"We want to continue the simple solidarity we have done over the years, but we want to open out the efforts to more people," she said.
"We have had many disappointments but not a single thing has dissuaded me from continuing. This has been a joy. Even someone like me or you, a simple person, can do something towards this struggle. We will continue. We have had a tremendous positive response."
Fidel Narváez, former consul at the Ecuadorian embassy, explained that he had been in daily contact with Assange and "the fact that you were there non-stop for so many years made him feel he was not alone. I feel what has happened with Ecuador is really a crime," he said.
Some supporters criticised the failure of the "labour movement" to come to the aid of Assange. One asked about the National Union of Journalists (NUJ), which had only recently issued a two-paragraph statement opposing the extradition of Assange, saying, "So far they have been absent." Another complained about the lack of coverage in the Morning Star, the newspaper of the Communist Party of Britain.
A third attendee, who was involved in the campaign for prisoners during the "Irish Troubles," added, "I think it is important that when people say, 'We support Julian Assange,' as [Labour leader Jeremy] Corbyn did at one point on Twitter and the NUJ has done 'in its own way,' we need to write to them, to picket them to say, 'What are you actually going to do then?'
"Verbal support will not cut it. Julian is up against the US state and the British government. Few of these people come out on demonstrations."
Socialist Equality Party National Secretary Chris Marsden welcomed the proposals being discussed to broaden the campaign in support of Assange. He told the Defence Committee, "You have the moral and political authority" to lead a campaign because "you have waged this struggle so consistently." He recounted how the committee had been "struggling for seven years," but said "the game has changed" with the attempts to extradite Julian Assange to the US.
"It will change the political situation," Marsden insisted. He took issue with a member of the audience who said that Assange's extradition was inevitable.
Assange faced two courts: "One is the official judicial system and the other is the court of public opinion. We will fight for the public's support."
There was an organised conspiracy to silence Assange and slander him, Marsden said. The Guardian, whose official position is to oppose extradition "because to do otherwise would discredit them for ever," is churning out columns that smear and denigrate him. The NUJ statement "is not only inadequate but an insult" to what Assange faces, he said to applause from the meeting.
Marsden pointed out Assange had "an extraordinarily good legal team," which was addressing "all the fundamental issues that are raised by his victimisation."
Further proof of the power of Assange's defence case, he said, is the April 14 statement by the secretary general of the Swedish Bar Association, Ms. Anne Ramberg, who accuses Sweden and Britain of a "deplorable legal handling."
Ramberg's statement was very important, given the huge campaign to change the agenda around Assange and resurrect the "rape" allegations, as the Blairites in the Labour Party had done.
Marsden quoted Ramberg, "The right to a fair trial within a reasonable time is established both in the Swedish legal system… and in the European Convention (Article 6). This legal right also applies during the preliminary investigation stage. To this has to be added the so-labelled presumption of innocence. It may well be questioned whether the result of the Swedish managing [of the case] was done in accordance with the principle of proportionality.
"I have previously stated that I find it remarkable that the Prosecutor did not implement the preliminary investigation forward at the pace and with the care one could have demanded. In this context, the courts have a very great responsibility.
"They could have put tougher demands on the prosecutor, to move the preliminary investigation forward. The conclusions that the prosecutor had as ground to dismiss the case [the pre-investigation], should also have been communicated considerably earlier than what happened. This leads to the conclusion that Sweden has a great responsibility for the situation that has arisen."
Ramberg concludes, "Let us not forget that whatever we may think of Assange or the deeds he is suspected of, this is about much more. It is about freedom of speech and the rule of law principles. It is ultimately about the right and the moral obligation to expose war crimes. Assange and WikiLeaks did it. The revelations about US abuse were necessary and particularly important. Should we extradite to Germany's Hitler someone who has revealed the existence of concentration camps and genocide, regardless to how that information was obtained? I don't think so."
Marsden also referred to Assange's former associate, Daniel Domscheit-Berg, who had recently pointed out, when requesting his testimony, that "Only one day after writing the indictment specifying that Assange faces charges of up to five years, the US Attorney's Office in a letter outlining the conditions for Domscheit-Berg to testify, admitted it was also investigating Assange for the 'unauthorized receipt and dissemination of secret information.'
"This accusation can be charged under the Espionage Act of 1917, intended to protect military secrets which has also been used to charge Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden. Convictions under the Espionage Act can be punished by death."
Marsden declared, "Things are changing. We can proceed with a great deal of confidence. Millions are concerned about freedom of speech, censorship, democratic rights. Julian Assange and Chelsea Manning represent the opposition to these attacks and will be defended for that reason.
"There is a groundswell in Britain and internationally. You can see the number of people coming forward because of the gravity of the situation. The victimisation of Assange is the first great crime of the 21st century. If they are allowed to get away with it then everyone will suffer.
"The ability of an ordinary person in Australia to get 120,000 signatories to a pro-Assange petition is an indictment of organisations that should be able to mobilise thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands and haven't.
"We can change that. Not because we have confidence in the system but because there are millions of working people all over the world who look to Assange as someone who should be defended, who is a heroic figure who has been slandered from pillar to post. Those lies can be exposed, are being exposed. In doing so, we can change the political climate in favour of justice and freedom for Julian Assange and Chelsea Manning." Their victimisation was a fundamental assault "on the democratic rights of the British, European and international working class."
Marsden appealed to everyone to attend the SEP public meeting demanding freedom for Julian Assange and Chelsea Manning taking place in London on May 12 at the YMCA Indian Student Hostel.
Chelsea ManningFree Julian Assange!


Earlier this year Toshiba announced the first SDHC card with a Near Field Communication (NFC) built-in. The concept is simple enough and allows you to preview your SD card without having to put it into a PC or a digital camera. By holding an NFC-enabled Android smartphone, with the Memory Card Preview App, a preview of your pictures is visible. Additionally you see how much free space is left on your card.Tohsiba says that an iOS version of the app is also on the way.
Besides this wireless convinience, Toshiba' device is a regular SDHC card that can also operate in SD slots. It is available in 8/16 and 32GB versions, it is compatible with SDA version 4.00 and support the UHS-I interface and SD Speed Class 10 - so expect decent transfer speeds here (busspeed of up tp 104 MB/s, 10 MB/s minimum serial data).


This condition often causes tender "trigger points" in specific areas of the body.
Fibromyalgia causes widespread pain and tenderness.
Fibromyalgia is a chronic disorder characterized by pain and tenderness throughout the body, as well as fatigue.
Although the condition is often grouped in the same category of disorders such as arthritis, it doesn't cause damage to joints or other tissue.
Instead of being caused by inflammation, fibromyalgia is widely understood to be a disorder of the central nervous system — meaning that the brain is oversensitive to pain signals.
Fibromyalgia symptoms may fluctuate in intensity, and may improve or worsen over time.
Factors such as stress, changes in weather, too much or too little exercise, and too much or too little rest can affect the severity of your symptoms.
Fibromyalgia tender points — also known as trigger points — are areas of the body where pain frequently occurs.
People with fibromyalgia often say that these areas hurt when you press on them with a finger.
There are 18 identified tender points (nine pairs) that tend to be painful when pressed.
These spots are commonly found on both sides of the body around the elbows, shoulders, knees, neck, hips, sides of the breastbone, and back of the head.
Fibromyalgia is sometimes difficult to diagnose because many of its symptoms are similar to those of other disorders.
A diagnosis often requires excluding other conditions, rather than finding definitive proof that fibromyalgia is what you have.
In someone with fibromyalgia, "There's very little to see on a physical exam," other than reported pain and tenderness, according to Don L. Goldenberg, MD, a rheumatologist and professor emeritus of medicine and nursing at Oregon Health and Science University in Portland.
In addition, "Laboratory tests are unremarkable," and often give doctors little help, Dr. Goldenberg says.
You may end up seeing several doctors before getting an accurate diagnosis. This process may last longer than it should because of mistakes made by both doctors and patients, according to Goldenberg.
A diagnosis of fibromyalgia, says Goldenberg, requires accepting that your pain has no cause beyond the nervous system itself — and may, as a result, be more difficult to treat.
At the same time, doctors may prolong the diagnostic process by being either too deferential to — or too dismissive of — patients, Goldenberg says.
"A lot of doctors will order a lot of unnecessary tests," he notes, due to patients' desire to rule out improbable causes of their pain.
While Goldenberg doesn't excuse this kind of behavior in doctors, he understands why some of them react so badly to fibromyalgia.
While there's no definitive test to diagnose fibromyalgia, the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) has established criteria for identifying the disorder.
In the past, doctors would check the 18 tender points on the body to determine a person's level of pain. Current guidelines don't call for this kind of exam.
It's important to find a doctor who is familiar with fibromyalgia. Many rheumatologists, internists, and family doctors can properly diagnose and treat the disorder.
Even if your doctor suspects you have fibromyalgia, it may be desirable to rule out other, more serious conditions.
Complete Blood Count This test can help rule out a number of disorders, including anemia (inadequate red blood cells), infection, and leukemia.
Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate (ESR, or Sed Rate) This test can help reveal inflammatory processes throughout your body.
Cyclic Citrullinated Peptide and Rheumatoid Factor These tests can help detect rheumatoid arthritis.
Thyroid Function In some cases, it may be helpful to rule out a thyroid problem as the cause of your symptoms.


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Completion reports for November 8, 2022
Republicans sweep Oklahoma's congressional and statewide offices
Former Sen. Kim David wins Corporation Commission race
Former State Sen. Kim David will be Oklahoma's newest Corporation Commissioner after making a sweep of her race with 64% support.
The Republican candidate from Porter won Tuesday's general election race, beating Democrat Margaret Warigia Bowman of Tulsa and Independent Don Underwood.
With 95% of the votes reported Tuesday night, David had received 690,857 votes while Bowman received 327,489 and Underwood 60,524.
David will replace Dana Murphy who was term-limited and will succeed her when she takes the oath of office in January 2023. The election of David keeps the Commission an all-Republican body.
A total of 1,078,870 votes were cast in the election. Of the 69,530 votes by absentee mail, David received 32,502 while Bowman had 34,185 and Underwood 2,843.
David received the most votes on election day with 582,176 and Bowman received 244,638 while Underwood got 51,877.
Most of the votes actually cast in absentee mail, early voting and election day were made on election day—878,691.
During her time in the legislature, David was the first woman since statehood to be named majority leader of the State Senate. She was also the first woman to chair the Senate Appropriations Committee and the first Republican woman to serve as majority whip.
David holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Petroleum Geology at Oklahoma State University and previously worked in petroleum marketing.


Great gigs can be found in one bright place today: our casting roundup! The forthcoming young adult feature film "All the Bright Places," starring Elle Fanning and Justice Smith, is seeking stand-ins and background actors to play students and teachers. Plus, this year's New York Comic Con is hiring staff, "Woman in the Window" needs a photo double, and a futuristic feature is casting its lead role.
Join the cast of the young adult feature film "All the Bright Places," starring Elle Fanning and Justice Smith in a story about a girl who befriends a boy atop a school bell tower and the pair form a unique bond filled with life lessons. A female stand-in and a male stand-in, aged 18–26, are wanted to double for the roles of the leads. Specific height, weight, and other physical attributes are required. Additionally, the film is seeking young adults, aged 16–25, and adults, aged 18 and older, to portray students and teachers in background roles. Filming will take place from Oct. 3–Nov. 5 in Cleveland, Ohio. The background roles will shoot on Oct. 12–13. Pay is $12 per hour. Apply here!
New York Comic Con is now seeking female talent, aged 18–35, to work as staff at the trade show. The event takes place from Oct. 4–7 in New York City. Pay is $175 per day. Apply here!
The upcoming Twentieth Century Fox film "Woman in the Window," starring Amy Adams, continues its casting. A young Black female actor, aged 9–14, is wanted to be a photo double for the film. Talent must be a clothing size 6 or 7. The gig will work on Sept. 26–27 in NYC. Some pay will be provided. Apply here!
"Headache," a feature film taking place in a future society where humans' freedom can be compromised in few hours, is now casting its lead role. A female actor, aged 28–37, is wanted to play Sarah, a woman who loses her home and is taken hostage by a secret organization working for a medical laboratory. Shooting will tentatively take place from Oct. 20–Nov. 9 in NYC, with one day for make-up tests and wardrobe. Pay is $150 per day. Apply here!


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Themba Zwane Salary Per Month 2023
Themba Zwane Salary Per Month
Themba Zwane Salary Per Month 2023: A big fat paycheck comes with being a football player in South Africa, with players spending on numerous soft life things as a result of their lucrative career. We uncover how much Mamelodi Sundowns player Themba Zwane earn, as well as his super-luxurious cars.
CHECK THIS : Top 20 Highest Paid Footballers at Mamelodi Sundowns 2023
This page contains information on Themba Zwane, a South African professional footballer who presently plays for Mamelodi Sundowns in the Premier Soccer League as well as for the South African national football team.
Themba Zwane is a key participant of Mamelodi Sundowns' squad. He is an attacking midfielder with a natural ability to create chances for his teammates. As a result of the several lucrative deals he has signed over his career, his net worth is believed to be in the region of R26 million.
According to AnswersAfrica, the midfielder's wage ranges from R250 000 to R400 000 per month, depending on his position. He has also received various individual prizes, the most notable of which was an R200 000 prize for being the best player in the league.
CHECK THIS : Paramedic Courses South Africa 2023 (How to Become a Paramedic )
Themba Zwane Luxurious Cars
A football player's profession in Mzansi is a lucrative one that comes with a slew of benefits and a sizable salary, and players are known for lavishing their earnings on luxury products. We take a peek at the automobiles that the midfielder owns and enjoys driving.
1.Lexus GS360
Themba Zwane Cars
Themba purchased this car after falling in love with the manufacturer. It can be seen on his Instagram profile, where he displays his hard-earned possessions, including the vehicle. The automobile is worth more than R500 000, and he also serves as a Lexus brand ambassador.
2. Volkswagen GTI
Themba Zwane car Volkswagen GTI
This item is acquired by a large number of South African football stars, and it looks to be the gold standard when it comes to automobiles. Themba is the proud owner of a luxurious red automobile with a slew of incredible amenities suited for a king, which he drives himself.
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Themba Zwane Salary Per Month is around R250,000 to R400,000 Rand per month, according to AnswersAfrica.
He has also received various individual prizes, the most notable of which was an R200 000 prize for being the best player in the league.
According to many, Themba Zwane is one of the most professional and friendly players in the PSL, and unlike many others, he does not flaunt or make a big issue about his assets on social media or in person. As a result, there is little information available about his abode. The worth of the property, as well as many of its most important aspects, has not been made public. What is known, however, is that the expansive home is equipped with an outdoor swimming pool as well as a lavish game room.
Even more so, despite his success, Themba returns to Ecaleni, where he grew up, on a regular basis to spend time with the people there. Among other things, he gives the youngsters with football boots and any other goods that they may want. He is well-liked by his community as a result of the way he interacts with them.
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A new strain of norovirus is quickly spreading across the United States. To educate the public about the most effective ways to prevent the spread of norovirus, the Water Quality and Health Council (WQHC) and other public health partners collaborated to produce new resources, while experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provided scientific input.
Norovirus causes severe vomiting and diarrhea and is very contagious. More than 80 percent of the outbreaks occur from November to April, and activity usually peaks in January and February. Norovirus is the No. 1 cause of acute gastroenteritis in the U.S. The CDC estimates that over 20 million people, or about one in every 15 Americans, are infected with norovirus. It causes more than 70,000 hospitalizations and 800 deaths in the U.S. each year.
"There are simple steps we all can take to help prevent the transmission of this nasty virus. We developed these posters with a team of partners to make the public more aware of this significant health threat and better enable them to fight it," says Linda Golodner, vice chair of the Water Quality and Health Council.
The two posters feature clear, plain-language directions to help the public prevent the spread of norovirus in their communities. One poster provides step-by-step instructions for routine disinfection of surfaces. The other poster provides directions to properly clean and disinfect surfaces following a vomiting or diarrhea incident. The posters, prepared by WQHC, CDC, National Environmental Health Association, New Jersey Somerset County Health Department and the American Chemistry Council, emphasize the use of a chlorine bleach solution to properly disinfect surfaces.
"When it comes to prevention of norovirus, proper surface disinfection should always be part of the strategy. As always, people should wash their hands often with soap and water. Contaminated surfaces should be thoroughly disinfected with a chlorine bleach-based household cleaner or bleach solution wherever possible," says Dr. Aron Hall , an epidemiologist specializing in norovirus in the CDC's Division of Viral Diseases.
The posters are being made available to nursing homes, schools, daycare centers, workplaces and other locations where norovirus can quickly spread. To inform long-term care facilities of proper disinfecting procedures, the National Association of Directors of Nursing Administration in Long Term Care (NADONA) has already provided nearly 3,000 posters to their member facilities across the country.
"Long-term care facilities are committed to keeping their residents healthy. These posters are a useful tool that will allow staff at our facilities to take simple disinfecting steps that can help prevent the spread of the norovirus," says Sherrie Dornberger, RN and NADONA executive director.
Copies of the norovirus prevention and disinfection posters are available by visiting http://www.disinfect-for-health.org/resources. They are freely available for download in English or Spanish, color or black-and-white, large (11"x17") or small (8.5"x11").


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ISSUE 2: Adele's return with brand new album "30"
After six long years, Adele finally releases her new album "30".
Photo genius.com
The cover for Adele's brand new album "30."
Salma Boughdiri, Staff Writer
Adele is back with her new album and it's totally worth the listen.
On Nov. 19, English singer-songwriter Adele announced the release of her latest album "30". It is her fourth studio album, which is inspired by her divorce from ex-husband Simon Konecki. Adele set about the separation on the album, while also discussing her motherhood and the review of fame.
The album "30" consists of 12 songs, each unique in its own special ways. But what they all have in common is that they mostly speak of love and really touch one's heart.
Adele, in my opinion, has such great songs and none that I have even slightly disliked. Some may think that all her songs sound the same, but those who truly listen to them will know that each song has a different meaning. One of the songs in the album that really brought me into tears is "My Little Love", it is just so emotional. It sounds as though Adele is speaking with her son and include recorded audios of her speaking with him and sobbing about her current state. It really moved me and made me tear up a lot, you don't always come across such a song that hits you hard like this one.
Not only are there songs that really make you want to cry your eyes out, but there is also poppy-jazz music like "Cry Your Heart Out" and "Oh My God". Her songs are like an emotional rollercoaster, plus her voice is crystal clear and seems to cleanse just about anyone's soul. It can turn anyone's day for the better.
When I tell you that I am absolutely content with this new comeback by Adele, I mean it! She has been such a huge role model of mine since I was very young and I was so excited to hear that she's coming back better than ever. Adele has indeed served us all again with this amazing new come back and I am ever so proud.
I rate this album a 10/10! The lyrics, voice and imagery are all top tier, I am in love with this album! I guarantee you I'll be repeating her songs all day and every day.
Salma Boughdiri is a senior at Robinson and a Staff Writer for RHSToday and Knight Writers. This is her first year on staff.
Boughdiri wanted to join...
ISSUE 2: Give Back This Holiday Season
ISSUE 2: Your Winter Clothing Basics for this season
ISSUE 2: All I want for Christmas is…
ISSUE 2: Johannes Roberts brings the Resident Evil games to life
ISSUE 2: How to survive midterms
ISSUE 2: The Hottest Spots for Study Season
ISSUE 2: How to have a flawless Christmas Party!
ISSUE 2: Get cozy with the Knight Writers this holiday season
ISSUE 2: A Successful Season Opener for Boys Basketball
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Alex May Arts
Home » Projects » Welcome » Monotone Symphony
Monotone Symphony
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Yves Klein's Monotone Symphony, Alex May, Martin A. Smith, and GV Art present a new interpretation of this seminal performance.
In March 1960, at the Galerie Internationale d'Art Contemporain, Paris, Yves Klein presented his Monotone Symphony and Anthropometries of the Blue Period.
Whilst a ten-piece orchestra played the Monotone Symphony, a work consisting of a single tone, three naked models rolled themselves in blue paint and then pressed their bodies onto giant pieces of paper to create paintings. Klein's idea was to distance the artist from the creation of the work, for the models to directly create the images.
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of this major event in contemporary art Alex May, Martin A. Smith, and GV Art present a new performance utilising the latest technology.
On this occasion a single musician using a laptop computer played a new interpretation of the Monotone Symphony and by using light, rather than paint, Alex and Martin re-created The Anthropometries of the Blue Period images. With the use of their state of art projector and technology systems, the recreation not only paid homage to Yves Klein but also attempted a new exciting interpretation of Klein's work.
"We wanted to develop Klein's idea of physically distancing the artist from the artistic process, of becoming a catalyst rather than a protagonist. By utilising interactive light as an artistic medium, we have further realised Klein's ideal of an entirely timeless experience, where the art created by the dancers does not ever physically exist; its passing marked only in memory."
Yves Klein said of his Monotone Symphony, "even in its presence, this symphony does not exist. It exists outside of the phenomenology of time because it is neither born nor will it die."
Marja Koponen
Geneva Rosett-Hafter
Daniel Kovacs
Format: Performance with three dancers, single video projector, single computer, video camera, stereo soundtrack
Size: 6m x 4m x 3m approx
Available for exhibition: Yes
Artwork Tags
3d Printing BioArt Data Driven Generative Interactive Performance Photography Projected Residency Robots Sculpture Sound Synthetic Biology Video Video Mapping Virtual Reality
Video Sculpture by Alex May (2007-2020)
International Journal of Performance Arts and Digital Media, Volume 16, Issue 3 (2020)
ArchaeaBot and Susceptible in Cluj-Napoca, Romania
20/20 - An Album of Human Discordance
Copyright © 2021 Alex May Arts


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Booking system in crash chaos
Staff in hospitals and primary care trusts across the Midlands and the North West have had to record patient movement using pens and paper following a 48-hour blackout of their booking system.
Eighty trusts across the two regions lost their computer system from 10am on Sunday following a power failure at the Kent headquarters of CSC Alliance, which provides the booking service to the North West and Midlands cluster of trusts.
CSC Alliance holds a 10-year contract to provide the administrative system for the region. An NHS Connecting for Health spokesperson said this was the first serious problem since the contract had been signed.
Any effect on patient care was largely avoided, but staff at the trusts affected had to revert to manual systems described as 'time-consuming and cumbersome' to log admissions and transfers.
As HSJwent to press, the system was starting to be restored in the first of the trusts.
The chief executive for what will be one of the largest NHS trusts in the north of England has been appointed from a shortlist of three interviewees, HSJ has learned.
CQC imposes conditions on major trauma centre
One of the busiest accident and emergency departments in the country has had conditions imposed on its registration by the Care Quality Commission after an inspection identified patient safety concerns.