text:
import {Connection} from "../connection/Connection";
import {FindOptions} from "../find-options/FindOptions";
import {ObjectType} from "../common/ObjectType";
import {BaseEntityManager} from "./BaseEntityManager";
import {QueryRunnerProviderAlreadyReleasedError} from "../query-runner/error/QueryRunnerProviderAlreadyReleasedError";
import {QueryRunnerProvider} from "../query-runner/QueryRunnerProvider";
import {ObjectLiteral} from "../common/ObjectLiteral";

/**
 * Entity manager supposed to work with any entity, automatically find its repository and call its methods,
 * whatever entity type are you passing.
 */
export class EntityManager extends BaseEntityManager {

    // -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    // Constructor
    // -------------------------------------------------------------------------

    constructor(connection: Connection, queryRunnerProvider?: QueryRunnerProvider) {
        super(connection, queryRunnerProvider);
    }

    // -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    // Public Methods
    // -------------------------------------------------------------------------

    /**
     * Persists (saves) all given entities in the database.
     * If entities do not exist in the database then inserts, otherwise updates.
     */
    persist<Entity>(entity: Entity): Promise<Entity>;

    /**
     * Persists (saves) all given entities in the database.
     * If entities do not exist in the database then inserts, otherwise updates.
     */
    persist<Entity>(targetOrEntity: Function, entity: Entity): Promise<Entity>;

    /**
     * Persists (saves) all given entities in the database.
     * If entities do not exist in the database then inserts, otherwise updates.
     */
    persist<Entity>(targetOrEntity: string, entity: Entity): Promise<Entity>;

    /**
     * Persists (saves) all given entities in the database.
     * If entities do not exist in the database then inserts, otherwise updates.
     */
    persist<Entity>(entities: Entity[]): Promise<Entity[]>;

    /**
     * Persists (saves) all given entities in the database.
     * If entities do not exist in the database then inserts, otherwise updates.
     */
    persist<Entity>(targetOrEntity: Function, entities: Entity[]): Promise<Entity[]>;

    /**
     * Persists (saves) all given entities in the database.
     * If entities do not exist in the database then inserts, otherwise updates.
     */
    persist<Entity>(targetOrEntity: string, entities: Entity[]): Promise<Entity[]>;

    /**
     * Persists (saves) a given entity in the database.
     */
    persist<Entity>(targetOrEntity: (Entity|Entity[])|Function|string, maybeEntity?: Entity|Entity[]): Promise<Entity|Entity[]> {
        const target = arguments.length === 2 ? maybeEntity as Entity|Entity[] : targetOrEntity as Function|string;
        const entity = arguments.length === 2 ? maybeEntity as Entity|Entity[] : targetOrEntity as Entity|Entity[];
        if (typeof target === "string") {
            return this.getRepository<Entity|Entity[]>(target).persist(entity);
        } else {
            if (target instanceof Array) {
                if (target.length === 0)
                    return Promise.resolve(target);

                return this.getRepository<Entity[]>(target[0].constructor).persist(entity as Entity[]);
            } else {
                return this.getRepository<Entity>(target.constructor).persist(entity as Entity);
            }
        }
    }

    /**
     * Removes a given entity from the database.
     */
    remove<Entity>(entity: Entity): Promise<Entity>;

    /**
     * Removes a given entity from the database.
     */
    remove<Entity>(targetOrEntity: Function, entity: Entity): Promise<Entity>;

    /**
     * Removes a given entity from the database.
     */
    remove<Entity>(targetOrEntity: string, entity: Entity): Promise<Entity>;

    /**
     * Removes a given entity from the database.
     */
    remove<Entity>(entity: Entity[]): Promise<Entity>;

    /**
     * Removes a given entity from the database.
     */
    remove<Entity>(targetOrEntity: Function, entity: Entity[]): Promise<Entity[]>;

    /**
     * Removes a given entity from the database.
     */
    remove<Entity>(targetOrEntity: string, entity: Entity[]): Promise<Entity[]>;

    /**
     * Removes a given entity from the database.
     */
    remove<Entity>(targetOrEntity: (Entity|Entity[])|Function|string, maybeEntity?: Entity|Entity[]): Promise<Entity|Entity[]> {
        const target = arguments.length === 2 ? maybeEntity as Entity|Entity[] : targetOrEntity as Function|string;
        const entity = arguments.length === 2 ? maybeEntity as Entity|Entity[] : targetOrEntity as Entity|Entity[];
        if (typeof target === "string") {
            return this.getRepository<Entity|Entity[]>(target).remove(entity);
        } else {
            if (target instanceof Array) {
                return this.getRepository<Entity[]>(target[0].constructor).remove(entity as Entity[]);
            } else {
                return this.getRepository<Entity>(target.constructor).remove(entity as Entity);
            }
        }
    }

    /**
     * Finds entities that match given conditions.
     */
    find<Entity>(entityClass: ObjectType<Entity>): Promise<Entity[]>;

    /**
     * Finds entities that match given conditions.
     */
    find<Entity>(entityClass: ObjectType<Entity>, conditions: ObjectLiteral): Promise<Entity[]>;

    /**
     * Finds entities that match given conditions.
     */
    find<Entity>(entityClass: ObjectType<Entity>, options: FindOptions): Promise<Entity[]>;

    /**
     * Finds entities that match given conditions.
     */
    find<Entity>(entityClass: ObjectType<Entity>, conditions: ObjectLiteral, options: FindOptions): Promise<Entity[]>;

    /**
     * Finds entities that match given conditions.
     */
    find<Entity>(entityClass: ObjectType<Entity>, conditionsOrFindOptions?: ObjectLiteral|FindOptions, options?: FindOptions): Promise<Entity[]> {
        if (conditionsOrFindOptions && options) {
            return this.getRepository(entityClass).find(conditionsOrFindOptions, options);

        } else if (conditionsOrFindOptions) {
            return this.getRepository(entityClass).find(conditionsOrFindOptions);

        } else {
            return this.getRepository(entityClass).find();
        }
    }

    /**
     * Finds entities that match given conditions.
     * Also counts all entities that match given conditions,
     * but ignores pagination settings (maxResults, firstResult) options.
     */
    findAndCount<Entity>(entityClass: ObjectType<Entity>): Promise<[ Entity[], number ]>;

    /**
     * Finds entities that match given conditions.
     * Also counts all entities that match given conditions,
     * but ignores pagination settings (maxResults, firstResult) options.
     */
    findAndCount<Entity>(entityClass: ObjectType<Entity>, conditions: ObjectLiteral): Promise<[ Entity[], number ]>;

    /**
     * Finds entities that match given conditions.
     * Also counts all entities that match given conditions,
     * but ignores pagination settings (maxResults, firstResult) options.
     */
    findAndCount<Entity>(entityClass: ObjectType<Entity>, options: FindOptions): Promise<[ Entity[], number ]>;

    /**
     * Finds entities that match given conditions.
     * Also counts all entities that match given conditions,
     * but ignores pagination settings (maxResults, firstResult) options.
     */
    findAndCount<Entity>(entityClass: ObjectType<Entity>, conditions: ObjectLiteral, options: FindOptions): Promise<[ Entity[], number ]>;

    /**
     * Finds entities that match given conditions.
     * Also counts all entities that match given conditions,
     * but ignores pagination settings (maxResults, firstResult) options.
     */
    findAndCount<Entity>(entityClass: ObjectType<Entity>, conditionsOrFindOptions?: ObjectLiteral|FindOptions, options?: FindOptions): Promise<[Entity[], number]> {
        if (conditionsOrFindOptions && options) {
            return this.getRepository(entityClass).findAndCount(conditionsOrFindOptions, options);

        } else if (conditionsOrFindOptions) {
            return this.getRepository(entityClass).findAndCount(conditionsOrFindOptions);

        } else {
            return this.getRepository(entityClass).findAndCount();
        }
    }

    /**
     * Finds first entity that matches given conditions.
     */
    findOne<Entity>(entityClass: ObjectType<Entity>): Promise<Entity|undefined>;

    /**
     * Finds first entity that matches given conditions.
     */
    findOne<Entity>(entityClass: ObjectType<Entity>, conditions: ObjectLiteral): Promise<Entity|undefined>;

    /**
     * Finds first entity that matches given conditions.
     */
    findOne<Entity>(entityClass: ObjectType<Entity>, options: FindOptions): Promise<Entity|undefined>;

    /**
     * Finds first entity that matches given conditions.
     */
    findOne<Entity>(entityClass: ObjectType<Entity>, conditions: ObjectLiteral, options: FindOptions): Promise<Entity|undefined>;

    /**
     * Finds first entity that matches given conditions.
     */
    findOne<Entity>(entityClass: ObjectType<Entity>, conditionsOrFindOptions?: ObjectLiteral|FindOptions, options?: FindOptions): Promise<Entity|undefined> {
        if (conditionsOrFindOptions && options) {
            return this.getRepository(entityClass).findOne(conditionsOrFindOptions, options);

        } else if (conditionsOrFindOptions) {
            return this.getRepository(entityClass).findOne(conditionsOrFindOptions);

        } else {
            return this.getRepository(entityClass).findOne();
        }
    }

    /**
     * Finds entities with ids.
     * Optionally find options can be applied.
     */
    findByIds<Entity>(entityClass: ObjectType<Entity>, ids: any[], options?: FindOptions): Promise<Entity[]> {
        return this.getRepository(entityClass).findByIds(ids, options);
    }

    /**
     * Finds entity with given id.
     */
    findOneById<Entity>(entityClass: ObjectType<Entity>, id: any, options?: FindOptions): Promise<Entity|undefined> {
        return this.getRepository(entityClass).findOneById(id, options);
    }

    /**
     * Executes raw SQL query and returns raw database results.
     */
    async query(query: string): Promise<any> {
        if (this.queryRunnerProvider && this.queryRunnerProvider.isReleased)
            throw new QueryRunnerProviderAlreadyReleasedError();

        const queryRunnerProvider = this.queryRunnerProvider || new QueryRunnerProvider(this.connection.driver);
        const queryRunner = await queryRunnerProvider.provide();

        try {
            return await queryRunner.query(query);  // await is needed here because we are using finally

        } finally {
            await queryRunnerProvider.release(queryRunner);
        }
    }

    /**
     * Wraps given function execution (and all operations made there) in a transaction.
     * All database operations must be executed using provided entity manager.
     */
    async transaction(runInTransaction: (entityManger: EntityManager) => Promise<any>): Promise<any> {
        if (this.queryRunnerProvider && this.queryRunnerProvider.isReleased)
            throw new QueryRunnerProviderAlreadyReleasedError();

        const queryRunnerProvider = this.queryRunnerProvider || new QueryRunnerProvider(this.connection.driver, true);
        const queryRunner = await queryRunnerProvider.provide();
        const transactionEntityManager = new EntityManager(this.connection, queryRunnerProvider);

        try {
            await queryRunner.beginTransaction();
            const result = await runInTransaction(transactionEntityManager);
            await queryRunner.commitTransaction();
            return result;

        } catch (err) {
            await queryRunner.rollbackTransaction();
            throw err;

        } finally {
            await queryRunnerProvider.release(queryRunner);
            if (!this.queryRunnerProvider) // if we used a new query runner provider then release it
                await queryRunnerProvider.releaseReused();
        }
    }

}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


In the Bay Area, we generally weren't affected as much by the events of 9/11 than those living close to the crashes. That said, it affected all of us greatly, and here's a way to join with others to give service to our community.
Hands on Bay Area is organizing a month of giving opportunities: From Remembrance to Change: a Season of Service, from September 1 to October 1. Learn more about it, and find projects your family can help with, here. This includes Be the Change Day, on October 1.


The Press Release: Make it Pop!
A press release (PR) can be an effective SEO and marketing tool. However, many struggle with how and why to write one. Here are tips from our pro, Stephen, to make your press release stand out.
Open the Press Release with a strong headline.
Most people will not read a PR unless the headline catches their attention. In October last fall, a magazine cover boasted, "Rachael Ray finds inspiration in cooking her family and her dog" that story went viral. It turns out that it was a photo shopped hoax, but it illustrates two points. First, a great or shocking title (maybe not cannibalistic shocking) will attract attention and secondly, be sure to proofread the PR before sending it in for publication.
How to make it Pop!
Stick to the news story and don't add a lot of fluff and fillers. Sugary words are not necessary in a PR. A great PR is more "See spot run," than William Shakespeare. So being a great writer is not necessary. Skip buzz words that attempt to make the story sound more newsworthy than it is, such as legendary, revolutionary, or cutting-edge those clichés are too salesy and say nothing!
Write a Press Release as if you are a reporter, not a salesman. People are bombarded with ads all day long. Start with an attention getting headline, just like the ones you see in the newspapers. Then cover the five W and the H, who, what when, where, why, and how.
Use short sentences and only three or four sentences to catch and keep the reader's attention. Use common terms everyone will understand. Be careful not to use too much industrial jargon and when it is necessary, explain it simply.
Using quotes and statistics help tell the story and make it believable.
According to Ken McGaffin in his recent article Is There Really a Battle between SEO and PR? "PR is the practice of encouraging news and business media to carry positive stories about your company, website, or products – and where possible carry a link to your site." In this case, he is referring to Public Relations when using PR. But, the two are mutually inclusive. Using a Press Release to create Public Relations for your website and ultimately your product is brilliant and free. Utilize a link to point to the article, so the user can read the entire article.
That in turn helps with SEO by providing an external link.
That's another good point, use compelling quotes by subject matter experts to strengthen your viewpoint. Also, use statistics and percentage figures that support the story. In the article he states that, "71% of respondents had used PR in SEO or link building over the last 12 months." And when asked, "Do you intend to expand your use of PR in 2015?" More than half of those using PR already said yes, and 79% that didn't said they would expand their use.
Not only does the proper use of quotes and statistics add credence to the story, but almost two complete paragraphs or nearly 200 words out of a 300-500 word press release are already written for you.
Close with an effective summary.
It's like the speechwriter and philosopher Aristotle reportedly said, "Tell them what you are going to tell them, tell them, then tell them what you told them." This is the last chance to drive home the importance of the story, so wrap it up with a bow. Once again, a good press release doesn't require Shakespeare or Aristotle's talent to be effective. The ability to write a good PR is developed by utilizing the five Ws and an H.
Always close with a point of contact.
"For more information, contact:" The Press Release Format used to be to give the standard name line, position, FAX, and telephone number, but put your website URL in at least twice, at the top and again at the bottom.
Following these tips should help you to create a press release that will impress current and potential clients alike.


What Does Same-Day ACH Processing Mean for You?
Beginning September 15th, 2017, The Federal Reserve will start processing same-day ACH transactions.
When using your debit card or writing a check, you may be accustom to a "float" period; where there is a delay in the posting of transactions. ACH transactions will now post the same day! For example, if you call your electricity company to pay your bill over the phone, those funds will now be cleared from your account before 5:00 p.m. the same day.
How can you prepare for this change?
There are a couple of things that you can do to prepare for same-day ACH transactions. We encourage you to monitor your share draft account in order to prevent overdrawing your account. Also, plan for the transaction to post as soon as you pay with your debit card. Before making a payment, make sure that you have the funds available in your account.
Remember, we're here for you. Please reach out to us with any questions at 207-375-6538.


text:
Gabarnaudia is a genus of anamorphic fungi in the family Ceratocystidaceae. The genus, circumscribed in 1974, is named in honor of French mycologist Gabriel Arnaud. It contains five species that are known from Asia and Europe.

References

External links

Sordariomycetes genera
Microascales

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
5 Ghost Towns That Are About 50 Miles From Bismarck
Rockin' Rick (Rick Rider)
Rockin' Rick (Rick Rider) Published: October 29, 2021
Looking for a Halloween weekend road trip? How about experiencing 5 ghost towns that are about 50 miles from Bismarck. Sounds to me like some spooky good fun. To be honest, most of these towns will be void of anything. You'll be hard-pressed to even find a structure in these once-thriving communities, but in the spirit of things, it will still be fun to imagine what was.
So, let's have a little creepy fun, and here are 5 ghost towns within 50 miles of Bismarck.
#1 Lark, North Dakota. Lark is located about 10 miles west of Flasher, North Dakota. Roughly 50 miles from Bismarck. The town was located just off Highway 21 to the north. I know this town well (I'm using the word town loosely), I've done a lot of pheasant hunting around it in the past. There really is nothing left that shows any remains of the town. Only a couple of farms north of the highway. There's a couple of old structures on one of these farms. I'm not sure if they're part of the old town or not? I stopped by the farm a few weeks back, but couldn't find a living soul. According to Grant County, the city was once a thriving railway community. The post office was opened in 1906. During the height of the communities population in the early 1900s, there was a hardware store, lumber yard, a church, implement dealer, two general stores, community hall, two cream stations, a blacksmith shop, and others.
#2 Arena, North Dakota. Arena is about 35 miles northeast of Bismarck and east of the town of Wing, North Dakota in Burleigh County. According to Legends of America, Arena was founded in 1906 by the Patterson Land Company of Minnesota.
#3 Freda, North Dakota. Very little is known about this town. According to Wikipedia, Freda was formed in 1910 and was another railroad town. Believe it or not, but Freda actually replaced an older town called Pearce, which was founded in 1906. The post office was later moved one mile north and the city was renamed Freda. The post office closed in 1975 and in 1976 only two people remained in Freda. Freda is located about halfway between Flasher and Shields in Grant, County.
Paul Knightly
#4 Dogtooth, North Dakota. According to the Grant County Website, Dogtooth is a ghost town that was named after a pair of buttes near the town that resemble the molars on a dog's lower jaw. The town was located east of the city of Raleigh. Today, the lone bar in Raleigh is named "The Dogtooth." According to Wikipedia, Dogtooth was first established as a station in 1876 on the railroad. A post office then came to be in 1900.
#5 Brisbane, North Dakota. According to the Grant County website, Brisbane is located about 5 miles southeast of Carson. A post office was opened in 1910. Shortly thereafter the town was bustling with a general store, a school, hardware store, blacksmith shop, and a restaurant. Now, all that's left of this community is the spirits of the past.
10 Smallest Towns In North Dakota
30 famous people you might not know were college athletes
Stacker dug deep to find 30 celebrities who were previously college athletes. There are musicians, politicians, actors, writers, and reality TV stars. For some, an athletic career was a real, promising possibility that ultimately faded away due to injury or an alternate calling. Others scrapped their way onto a team and simply played for fun and the love of the sport. Read on to find out if your favorite actor, singer, or politician once sported a university jersey.
Filed Under: breaking news, Burleigh County, Ghost Towns, Grant County, North Dakota
Categories: Bis-Man Entertainment, Breaking News, Entertainment, Local News, North Dakota, Travel, Weird News

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Multiple Sclerosis is a disease of the central nervous system in which patches of myelin and underlying nerve fibers are damaged or destroyed. Over time, the condition gets worse and the individual experiences both a loss of feeling and loss of control of movement and speech.
It poses a serious threat to the individual's brain, spinal cord and or optic nerves. Multiple Sclerosis destroys the myelin sheath, which are layers of tissue that protect the nerve fibers. Myelin aids in nerve cell communication. As this deterioration happens, it becomes noticeable in the individual's behavior, going from normal to abnormal. Multiple Sclerosis can both progress and regress unpredictably.
The actual cause of Multiple Sclerosis is unknown, but it is thought that either a virus or some unknown antigen somehow triggers a reaction that is directed against the body's own tissues and this usually occurs early in life. The autoimmune reaction results in the inflammation, destruction of myelin and significant damage to the myelin sheath and the underlying nerve fibers.
In adults, the myelin sheath can be damaged or destroyed by stroke, inflammation, immune disease, metabolic disorders and any of the various nutritional deficiencies. Poisons and the excessive use of alcohol can also damage and destroy the myelin sheath. If the sheath is able to repair itself and regenerate, there is a possibility for normal nerve function to return. If the sheath is severely damaged, the underlying nerve fiber can die and this results in irreversible damage.
Disorders of the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord) that cause demyelination and have no known cause are referred to as primary demyelinating disorders. Multiple Sclerosis happens to be the most common of these disorders.
Some of the contributing facts associated with Multiple Sclerosis include heredity and environment.
If the gene is present, this greatly contributes to your risk of developing the disease at any stage of life. Children are at risk, if either parent has a history of the disease.
Environment also has a role. Temperate and tropical climates have a major effect. Where individuals spend the first 15 years of their life, affects the chances of developing the disease.
As Multiple Sclerosis begins affecting the nervous system, the individual can experience tingling, numbness, pain, burning and itching in the arms, legs, trunk or face and the loss of strength or dexterity in a leg or hand. The person can feel unusually tired; have mood swings, euphoria and depression. Also possible are memory disturbances, decreased judgment and inattention.
Because the symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis vary widely, doctors may not be able to recognize the disorder in the earliest stages. When the disease is suspected, a thorough examination of the nervous system is performed during the physical examination. Although there is no single diagnostic test, laboratory tests can help distinguish Multiple Sclerosis from other disorders that can produce similar symptoms, such as AIDs, ALS, Lupus and Lyme disease. A spinal tap may be ordered to check both the white blood cell count and protein content in the fluid, paying special attention to the concentration of antibodies. There is evidence that a specific pattern of antibodies is detected in the majority of people with the disease. MRI's are the best imaging procedure for detecting and confirming the diagnosis.
A procedure that involves evoked responses may be performed. In these tests, certain types of sensory stimuli are used to activate certain areas of the brain and the brain's responses are recorded. In a person who has the disease, the brain's response to the actual stimuli maybe very slow, because the signal conduction along the damaged nerve fibers is impaired. This procedure also helps detect if there is damage to the optic nerve.
There is no treatment for Multiple Sclerosis that is uniformly effective. There are numerous medications that are used in the treatment, such as corticosteroids, but many of the drugs are administered with the hope of controlling the various symptoms. The benefits of using a procedure called plasmapheresis have not been established as yet, but many of the experts recommend it to prevent severe relapses, that are not controlled by the use of corticosteroids. Plasmapheresis involves the removal of blood, so that abnormal antibodies can be removed and then the purified blood is returned to the person.
People with this disease can often maintain an active lifestyle, until they conditions gets worse, which is over time. They may become tired very easily and not be able to keep up with a demanding lifestyle. Light exercise and physical therapy can help maintain cardiovascular, muscular and psychological health. Participating in a physical therapy program can help with maintain balance, walking ability and range of motion.
The single most important thing you can do is to maintain a proper diet to strengthen your immune system.
Avoid the excessive consumption of alcohol.
If you have any other illnesses or disease conditions, you must make your doctor aware of them, so that any medications you might be put on with not have adverse side effects.
If you feel that you are experiencing any of the symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis, it is imperative that you see your doctor as soon as possible.
If you are a teen or young adult and either of your parents has the disease, you must advise your doctor of this and be monitored on a regular basis.
If you are planning a trip to another state or a foreign country, find out if the change in environment could cause you any types of problems.


"When you donate... You become a part of the Racine Zoo community. People who care..."
Create a lasting impression as a gift or in memory of a friend or loved one. Your brick will leave a permanent message for all to see in the brick walkways throughout the Zoo.
Plant a memory to last a lifetime. By purchasing a tree, it will include a rock that can be engraved with your own personal message, quote, poem, or significant date. Each rock can accommodate up to 15 characters per line and up to three lines of text. Every time you visit the Zoo you will know that you have left a lasting impression for all to see.
The Racine Zoo sits on 25 beautiful acres of land. We need comfortable areas to give our guests relief from tired legs and feet. Benches are strategically located throughout the Zoo, giving guests some of the most scenic views on campus so they can fully experience the tranquility of the site. You can have your name or the name of a loved one engraved on a plaque that will be affixed to your own Racine Zoo bench for the community to see and enjoy for decades to come.
Call 262.636.9189 or e-mail info@racinezoo.org for more information.


text:
Kelsey Bates September 17, 2021 September 17, 2021
As the new Director of The Rosenbach, and as someone who enjoys writing and thinking about history even in my spare time, I'm delighted to be sharing with you a monthly blog about my own discoveries in The Rosenbach's collection.
The Rosenbach's collection is vast, and while I've worked here for seven years, I'm still relatively new to the collection. We do tend to look at and celebrate the most well-known items—and for good reason, people tend to gravitate toward what they know and love already. But I'd like to take some of your time each month to go beyond the most discussed and well-known items and examine what's just beneath the surface. Often, that is where truly great stories can be found. I hope you'll join me on this adventure.
"Have you ever when attempting to eat a large, luscious orange, been forcibly reminded that it is very hard to grab the great opportunities of life?"
Talking about food isn't always just talking about food. Talking about food—its preparation, its ingredients, its taste—can communicate many unsaid things. Talking about how we prepare a meal, with whom we've enjoyed that meal, where the recipe originated, and how far back we can remember eating it can convey the history of an entire community and the footprint of a whole people.
The study of "foodways" is the study of history, and U.S. history can become more alive, more tangible, by studying the food we grow, prepare, and eat. In particular, the study of African-American food history conveys events, movements, memories, and culture of a people whose history has not been equally recorded and saved.
This fall I am teaching my first Reading Course at The Rosenbach, a virtual course on African-American Foodways, with my friend and mentor Psyche Williams-Forson of the University of Maryland. One might ask: what does The Rosenbach's collection have to do with African-American foodways?
First, a step back to why I chose this topic.
A few years ago when I worked in the Birmingham Public Library archives I began studying a group of oral interviews. This group of interviews was taken between 1979 and 1981 in the all-Black community of Gee's Bend, Alabama (you may be familiar with Gee's Bend because of its well-known quilting tradition). This community of approximately one hundred families was made up entirely of descendants of people enslaved on the same property, who then became tenant farmers following emancipation. Around the time of the Great Depression, the white owner of the properties, who lived across the Alabama River from Gee's Bend, suddenly and forcibly removed all the agricultural supplies—seeds, tools, farm equipment, food, and livestock—from the properties of all one hundred Gee's Bend families.
The sudden catastrophic event caused a crisis that served as a community unifier of sorts; it created a collective memory the residents talked about repeatedly with their interviewer even though many of them were small children when the incident occurred. The community memory had become an essential part of a strong collective narrative—an identifier of the place and the people who lived there. In addition to this incident, interviewer and interviewees discussed related topics that were a substantial part of Gee's Bend history including the New Deal, the Great Migration(s), and the Civil Rights Movement(s); all of these discussions were encouraged and enhanced by "foodtalk". How the community grew food together, cooked together, and ate together was all entwined with these movements and community ideas of freedom, power, and ownership. Food, in this case, became a signifier of catastrophe, community evolution, and change.
Now back to The Rosenbach's collection: The Rosenbach has a very strong U.S. history collection, but a growing one in terms of African-American writing and philosophy about the Diaspora. In this course we are going to look at African-American foodways against the philosophies of two 20th-century writers who cared very much about the dissemination and/or assimilation of African culture and art in the U.S.: W.E.B. Du Bois and Alain Locke. Locke's seminal publication, a collection of essays entitled The New Negro, helped launch the African-American arts and culture movement, The Harlem Renaissance, in 1925. The Rosenbach now holds a first edition of The New Negro in its collection.
Alain Locke had what you might call a philosophical rival (it was actually pretty intense!) and that person is W.E.B. Du Bois, one of the founders of the NAACP and a philosopher more well-known today than Locke. While the two shared some ideas about the philosophy of the African Diaspora, they had some significant differences, which we'll explore in this course. Mostly, though, we'll discover and discuss what these two (both Philadelphians for a time) believed about the African Diaspora, the African aesthetic movement, and African-American culinary history (termed "Soul Food" after the Harlem Renaissance).
In this course we will treat foodways as art, which in my opinion is exactly how it should be treated. Foodways is a creative expression of culture, as well as a means for sustenance and survival. The evolution of African-American foodways reflects the expansion of the African Diaspora, a tangible example of the philosophies of Du Bois and Locke. We will also examine the historical evolution of Soul Food by reading the works of important historians such as Michael C. Twitty, Jessica B. Harris, and my co-instructor Psyche Williams-Forson. We will look at these very readable histories as we examine the words and ideas of Du Bois and Locke, and others like Alice Walker and the residents of Gee's Bend, Alabama.
The study of foodways can signify broad national trends as well as the culture and history of a single community. Soul Food is particularly like this: when define Soul Food we might think of collard greens or barbeque. Going back in time and a little further south, we might think of rice, chitterlings ("chitlins"), and other offal. Study a community like Gee's Bend, and you'll find out about Tom Thumbs (a little "pack" of spice rolled into a thumb-sized piece of pork intestine used to flavor soups and stews) that are seemingly specific to Gee's Bend. It's fascinating to discover what an individual, a community, or a region grows and eats, and thereby trace the evolution of Soul Food from Africa to its melding with Native American and European American foodways in the Southern U.S., to its dissemination across the country. The study of Soul Food, then, is the study of American history itself.
Join the virtual course: Soulful Foodways: African-American Culinary History beginning on October 18 at 6:30pm. Register.


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Venomous language in UT president kerfuffle seems to come from the Powers side
July 8, 2014 Rob Port
By William Murchison | Special to Watchdog.org
By mid-Monday afternoon, "I Support Bill Powers" – an "i-petition" attacking the "politically motivated campaign to attack and discredit our President, Bill Powers," had acquired more than 10,000 signatures.
ODD: There isn't anything like a public debate about University of Texas President Bill Powers going forward. There's rancor and division — nearly all of it coming from the side that professes to despise rancor and division, the Powers side.
There was nothing to it. You could sign with Facebook. You could sign with Twitter.
You could add a message, as many did.
"The (University of Texas) Chancellor and many of the regents are an embarrassment to Texas," wrote one signatory.
Said another: "Chancellor and many of the Regents are the ones that should leave. They are an embarrassment to Texas."
And yet another: "It is time to take the right wing politics out of our great university" – "the tea part (sic) and right wing GOP." Ah, sweet reason!
They don't mention that their hero is about to get canned, it appears, for admitting unqualified students as political favors.
There's nothing like the threat of a presidential sacking to coax from the adversely aroused various pronouncements that a University of Texas philosophy class, say, could dismantle at leisure.
There's a "politically motivated campaign" against Powers? What's that mean? What politicians are behind it? Are you saying you know they are, or just that they're such rats they must be?
Here's a nice sally: "Regent Hall and his allies are inept cronies who have no business meddling in our state's higher education affairs."
Well, hmmm. There must be some mistake in the state Constitution, which seems to suggest that the Board of Regents' job is precisely to oversee "higher education affairs."
There's no special harm in bad political rhetoric, whose protection is part of our rich political inheritance. And yet it's sad to see so many of the players on the presidential side of the debate slather themselves with mud, a substance they playfully heave at those on the other side. You might think you were in a courtroom, where insult and abuse are the coin of the realm.
The more angry and indignant among the petition signers seem to think some organized debate about UT and its president is going forth, and that their champion is, unfairly, of course, getting the worst of it. It would be an odd thing to think. There isn't anything like a public debate about Bill Powers going forward. There's rancor and division — nearly all of it coming from the side that professes to despise rancor and division, the Powers side.
What we've been witnessing for months is a legislatively directed inquisition — conducted behind closed doors, mainly — into the investigatory style of a single regent, Wallace Hall, who has not, to my knowledge, doled out to Powers or his administration a public word of reproach: for example, "embarrassment." I would judge Hall to be the gentleman in this ugly affair. It is a shame others have not stepped up to imitate him.
All the venomous language, this is to say, seems to come from the opposite side of the table — the Powers side. The "neurotic politics of a childish regent and an unprofessional chairman" — there's the anti-Hall, "Save Bill Powers" side at work, using the awesome power of logic, as learned presumably in some university context.
Save Bill Powers to what end? To make higher education safe for people whose style of argument is of the "Shut up, you bum" school. Where's the debate? Where might it have been, say, six months ago had the Powers side of the case undertaken to lay out its reasoning for public consumption, showing their superiority to the reasoning of others?
The UT establishment, in behalf of, um, civilized discourse, plays rough and emphatically. There are reports of student demonstrations planned the day of the Regents meeting to consider how to handle this firecracker. The Faculty Council meets Wednesday afternoon. Should all be fun — depending on your definition of "fun," and of "civilization," naturally.
William Murchison is an author, syndicated columnist, and former associate editor of The Dallas Morning News.
Previous Challenger calls for new election in Mississippi's U.S. Senate race
Next Tribune story may have doomed UT's Powers
Ford Foundation pours millions into net neutrality to guarantee billion-dollar investments
December 15, 2014 Rob Port
Conservative group: California trying to grab donor lists
Prisons committee calls for firings of employees and major reform


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The West Branch Croton River is a tributary of the Croton River in   Putnam and Westchester counties in the state of New York.  It lies within the Croton River watershed and is part of the New York City water supply system's Croton Watershed.

Path
The rivers headwaters drain into Sagamore Lake in the northwest part of the town of Kent in Putnam County.  From there the West Branch flows southeast one mile into Boyds Corner Reservoir, where it joins the New York City water supply system.  From Boyd's Corners it flows into West Branch Reservoir in the town of Carmel, New York. It then flows southeast into the Croton Falls Reservoir in Carmel immediately above the Westchester border, where it picks up the waters of the Middle Branch Croton River after their co-mingling in the Diverting Reservoir immediately to the north. These combined waters exit the Croton Falls Reservoir for a brief stretch of the West Branch alone, which joins the East Branch at the confluence of the Croton River proper in Croton Falls, a hamlet of the town of North Salem, New York in northern Westchester County.

See also
List of rivers of New York

References

Rivers of New York (state)
Rivers of Westchester County, New York
Rivers of Putnam County, New York
Tributaries of the Hudson River


text:
Arbitration Is One Thing That Isn't Bigger In Texas
In a decision issued at the end of November in Robinson v. Home Owners Management Enterprises, Inc.,[1] the Texas Supreme Court addressed whether the availability of class arbitration under the Federal Arbitration Act is an issue for the arbitrator or the court to decide and whether an arbitration agreement permitted class arbitration. The Court held that the availability of class arbitration is a gateway issue for a court to decide unless the arbitration agreement expressly and unmistakably provides for the issue to be decided by an arbitrator. The Court also held that the arbitration agreement at issue did not permit class arbitration because an arbitration agreement's silence or ambiguity as to the availability of class arbitration is insufficient to permit class arbitration.
The underlying dispute arose from construction defect claims brought against a home warranty company. The homeowners brought claims against the warranty company for defects in the construction of their home, and that dispute grew into a putative class action on the overly broad releases the warranty company required homeowners to sign before the warranty company would perform any repairs to a home. After the home purchasers filed a lawsuit for defects in their home, the home warranty successfully moved to compel arbitration. The homeowners then moved to amend to add class action claims alleging the warranty company refused to cover home repairs it was obligated to cover unless homeowners would sign releases of claims. The home warranty company was successful in having the trial court dismiss the class action claims, and the homeowners appealed.
The Court contrasted gateway arbitrability issues with procedural or subsidiary issues and defined gateway arbitrability issues as whether a valid arbitration agreement exists and whether the arbitration agreement applies to a particular type of claim. The Court found the distinction and having courts decide gateway arbitrability issues necessary to prevent forcing parties to arbitrate disputes they did not agree to arbitrate. The Court noted that the determination and delegation of that determination takes on greater importance given the narrow appellate review available for arbitrators' decisions.
The Court acknowledged it previously held, relying on the United States Supreme Court's decision in Green Tree Financial Co. v. Bazzle,[2] that class action arbitrability is an issue for the arbitrator to decide. Finding the United States Supreme Court's opinions subsequent to the Bazzle plurality opinion cast doubt on the import of Bazzle for class arbitrability, the Court reconsidered and overruled its earlier opinion holding class arbitrability is an issue for the arbitrator. The Court stated that since Bazzle the "jurisprudential landscape has evolved to provide a clearer, and distinctly different perspective" because the US Supreme Court had since "issued two opinions emphasizing that whether class arbitration is a gateway or subsidiary question remains an open question that was not answered by Bazzle."
The Court relied on the US Supreme Court's opinions in Stolt-Nielsen[3] and Oxford Health Plans,[4] as explicitly clarifying that Bazzle did not state federal law on class arbitrability as it being an issue for the arbitrator. The Court also relied on the numerous federal circuit court opinions issued since Stolt-Nielson and Oxford Health Plans, all holding that class arbitrability is a gateway issue for an arbitrator.
The Court viewed earlier decisions in other jurisdictions deciding the issue as considering two lines of reasoning: (1) that class arbitrability is a contract formation issue because it goes to what claims and parties are subject to the agreement, and (2) that class arbitration is fundamentally different from bilateral arbitration to the extent that agreeing to bilateral arbitration is not an agreement to class arbitration. On the fundamental difference rationale and as other courts have reasoned, the Court reasoned that class arbitration is fundamentally different from bilateral arbitration and this fundamental difference renders class arbitration outside parties' agreement to arbitrate unless the parties explicitly agreed to class arbitration. Specifically, the Court held "the question of class arbitration is more akin to what type of controversy shall be arbitrated—a question for the courts—not a procedural question presumptively for the arbitrator."
Turning to the gateway question of class arbitrability, the Court relied on Stolt-Nielsen and Lamps Plus, Inc. v. Varela[5] as establishing that a court cannot compel class arbitration under the FAA when an agreement is only silent or ambiguous as to the availability of class arbitration. Instead, for class arbitration to be available, an arbitration agreement must expressly provide for class arbitration. While maybe groundbreaking in terms of Texas arbitration law, the Robinson decision does not break any new ground for arbitration under the FAA. Rather, the decision represents one more nail in the coffin for class arbitration, joining with the multiple federal circuit courts in holding that the availability of class arbitration is a gateway arbitrability issue for courts to decide. As required, the decision also follows the precedent set by Lamps Plus, which was covered previously here. With courts determining the availability of class arbitration, a clear presumption by courts against class arbitration, and the requirement that an arbitration agreement expressly provide for class arbitration for it to be available, class arbitration seems dead.
[1] Robinson v. Home Owners Management Enterprises, Inc., — S.W.3d —, 2019 WL 6223128 (Tex. Nov. 22, 2019).
[2] 539 U.S. 444 (2003).
[3] Stolt-Nielsen S.A. v. AnimalFeeds Intl. Corp., 559 U.S. 662 (2010).
[4] Oxford Health Plans LLC v. Sutter, 569 U.S. 564 (2013).
[5] Lamps Plus, Inc. v. Varela, — U.S. —, 139 S. Ct. 1407 (2019).
Construction Defect Case Law
Product Liability | 06-14-2012
Ben and Jerry's issues recall for missing allergen advisory
Ben & Jerry's has issued a recall on its chocolate nougat crunch flavor sold in pint sizes after an allergen advisory statement was not printed on the packaging. The ice…
Nursing Home Abuse | 12-8-2020
Who Is Liable for Resident-On-Resident Abuse in South Carolina Nursing Homes?
Over the past few decades, the number of South Carolina nursing home admissions has been on the rise. Many families would prefer to care for aging loved ones in their…


GODFREY – The job of breaking into the upper echelon of Southwestern Conference girls volleyball remains an ongoing challenge for the Alton Redbirds.
But on that obstacle-riddled journey, the Redbirds managed to produce a record-setting season in 2014.
A 16-game winning streak staked Alton to a 19-1 start before a back-loaded schedule ended the Redbirds' season at 25-8-1. The 25 victories broke the school record set with a 24-9 season in 2008 and earned Stacey Ferguson honors as 2014 Telegraph Large-Schools Coach of the Year.
Losses to Collinsville, O'Fallon, Edwardsville and Belleville West left the Redbirds in fifth place with a 3-4 mark in the SWC. That is their best league finish since 2008. The last three of the conference defeats came in the season's final two weeks.
The slide started with a loss at Breese Mater Dei and straight-sets defeat to Springfield in the semifinals of the Edwardsville Class 4A Regional ended Alton's season with a five-match losing streak.
The Redbirds were denied their first appearance in a regional championship match since 1998, but the 2014 season still yielded much to cheer for Alton.
"Right now, it's hard to celebrate those things," Ferguson said after the regional loss to Springfield. "But I'm very proud of the way the girls have played all season long. Very proud of the goals that we set and reached as a team. Just very disappointed that here at the end, we let the last five teams just kind of deflate us. They took a little bit something away from us every time they beat us.
Alton posted its 25-win season with just one of its players earning All-SWC recognition. Setter Jordan Nolan was a third team pick and one of five seniors the Redbird must replace in 2015.
After a semifinal loss to Calhoun in the season-opening Roxana Tournament, the Redbirds captured back-to-back tourney titles on their own court to launch a super September. When the Redbirds traveled to Breese to play Mater Dei on Oct. 9, Alton boasted a 25-3-1 record with all three of those losses coming in three sets.
The Redbirds also delivered career win No. 100 for Ferguson, who completed her sixth season as Alton head coach with a 114-88-4 record.
Alton coach Stacey Ferguson (middle) talks with her team during a Southwestern Conference match against Belleville West on Oct. 23 at Alton High in Godfrey. Ferguson guided the Redbirds to a 25-8-1 record — breaking the school record for wins in a season — to earn 2014 Telegraph Large-Schools Volleyball Coach of the Year honors.


text:
EDSE Covid-19 NewsWebinar SignupGBV Webinar
Ecosystem Development for Small Enterprise
EDSE
Programme Components
SMME Competitiveness
Access to Finance South Africa
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Agribusiness Solutions
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For many South Africans, Ms Gloria Serobe needs no introduction, such that few could have been surprised when President Cyril Ramaphosa tapped Ms Serobe to launch the work of the Solidarity Trust. Ms Serobe's work in business, community and women's organisations has long been recognised for its innovative impact.
Now, as South Africa enters lockdown level one, and economic recovery programmes are launched across a wide range of economic sectors, the lessons from a major agricultural project implemented by Ms Serobe's WIPHOLD company in the Eastern Cape can be leveraged and replicated in other provinces.
The Centane and Mbashe Agricultural Initiative agribusiness model was launched in 2014 by Women Investment Portfolio Holdings Limited (WIPHOLD) as a corporate social investment model. WIPHOLD has a 40% shareholding, with the remaining 60% held by community participants. Ms Serobe notes: "We began very slowly, ensuring there was buy-in from the community, meeting all traditional leaders, asking them what can be done to develop this place, so they helped map out a plan for maize and livestock."
The project's primary focus is to promote food security, but it also provides revenue-generating opportunities for small-scale farmers and householders active on communally-owned land in the Eastern Cape.
The project was launched with the assistance of government grant subsidies. Within two years, 2,023 landowners and project members, drawn from 34 villages, were participating in the initiative, using 2,001 hectares of cultivated land. Just over 60% of project beneficiaries are women.
While the communal farming project is managed by WIPHOLD, the community is involved in the implementation of fencing, guarding livestock, monitoring crop diseases, harvest pickup and the recruitment of staff to work the farm. WIPHOLD nominates individuals to operate as farm managers on the project while the community appoints an executive committee for each participating village.
Landowners receive numerous incentives for participating in the project. Some of the benefits include a land-use fee set by the community – in the form of 40kg bags of maize per landowner – dividend distribution and training and development.
The Centane initiative was developed in a poverty-stricken community with zero profits in the first three years of its implementation. Due to high crop theft the initiative's financial model prepared a cushion of emergency funds reserved each year for dividend distribution, while the farming operation builds towards profitability. Since the implementation of these provisions theft has dropped dramatically. The community mobilisation and training has also contributed to the success of the project.
As Ms Serobe recently noted: "The ultimate goal is for the people in Centane and Mbashe to run their operation on their own, they do not need a Wiphold to do this."
The model is certainly worth replicating given its notable socioeconomic impact, the enhancement of income and food security, and favourable job creation projections. Lessons from the project will inform the work of EDSE Programme's agribusiness workstream, more details of which can be found here
Note: The Solidarity Fund posted an interim Impact Report in December 2020
Six months of the Solidarity Fund
Solidarity Fund's performance to date: a presentation to Parliament's Standing Committee on Finance (01 December 2020)
Solidarity Fund's performance to date
Seeding a knowledge garden to support enterprise and supplier development in South Africa
Contributing to South Africa's Small business ecosystem
National Planning Commission colloquium on SMME recovery post-Covid19
Implementation of Business Recovery Support Package; merger of Seda, Sefa, CBDA
Department of Small Business Development, SEFA and SEDA: 2021/22 Q1 and Q2 performance reports
This EDSE Programme website was created and is maintained with the financial support of the European Union.
Its contents are the sole responsibility of The EDSE Project and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.
© The Ecosystem Development for Small Enterprise Programme 2020.
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The second major version of Toolbar Extras – v1.2.0 – brings several new features, including general settings plus Smart Tweaks, and overall continues the existing journey of this site-builder's helper tool.
For the first time, the plugin got features that were requested by its users. The first one of this is the disabling of all link attributes (aka "Tooltips") from the Toolbar. These are the little info texts that appear when hovering over a link with the mouse. By default this setting is disabled, so the attributes are shown. You can find this setting under: Settings > Toolbar Extras > Tab: General – look under "Links Behavior".
The second user requested feature is the plugin support for the "Convert Plugin" suite by Brainstorm Force: now "Convert Plus" (via CodeCanyon marketplace, formerly known as "ConvertPlug") and "Convert Pro", including its "Convert Pro Addon" are now integrated in Toolbar Extras, once any of these plugins is active. The same plugin support was added for their competitor called "OptinMonster" and its free OptinMonster API plugin. The Toolbar items of all four plugins are to be find within the "Site Group". More plugins of this kind may be added in future releases.
The list of plugins where you can re-hook the original top-level Toolbar items to the Site Group or anywhere else got expanded: Now you can do this optionally also for "WP Rocket" (awesome caching plugin), "Autoptimize" and "Swift Performance". The latter two are "optimization" plugins and the support for Swift covers its lite version from WordPress.org as well as the Premium version of that plugin.
And then, there's something new for Toolbar Extras: after many, many thoughts about it I decided to add three tweaks that are beyond the WordPress Toolbar/ Admin Bar. This is, to optionally achieve a better environment more suited to site-builders and multilingual setups. Please note: this kind of beyond-the-Toolbar-Tweaks will be strictly limited, to resist feature bloat and only add useful features for our target user group(s).
Optionally unload translations for Elementor/ Elementor Pro and/or Toolbar Extras itself.
So what you can do now? – You can optionally unload the translations of Elementor and/or Elementor Pro so it falls back to its original English strings and wording. And the very same you can also do for Toolbar Extras itself. Both can be very useful in multilingual installs where you as site-builder are hired to do some work within Elementor or such. If you are not speaking any foreigh language you can just work in an English environment with your favorite "Tools"/ Page Builder. Please note, this tweak is "global" and completely independent of the WordPress settings for site language (in General Settings) and (admin) user language (in Profile Settings).
Plus, another special tweak got added for the Elementor Live Editor, also known as the Elementor Panel. Here you can now optinally disable the category of "WordPress Widgets". These are the regular widgets of WordPress Core which Elementor supports. However, since these widgets are mostly simple and have no styling in Elementor available you can now – optionally – disable them for projects where you will never need them. Please note, this tweak will only unload these widgets from Elementor Panel, it does not touch these widgets in any way! You can still use them outside of Elementor, of course.
As you would have guessed, the Theme support was extended again in v1.2.0. Three regular (parent) themes were added, with "Customify" and "Flexia" leading the pack. But also the awesome independently released "Eletheme" by Romanian WordPress developer Liviu Duda was added as well. He just did so great work I couldn't resist to add support for it, even if the theme is currently only available via GitHub.com (and therefore requires a manual install).
One more word to Customify and Flexia: these belong to the new kind of WordPress themes that got popular in the last few years. Signature features are awesome Customizer support, a clean design and support for Page Builders (like Elementor). Both themes have a Premium Add-On plugin (very much like GeneratePress, Astra and Page Builder Framework) which further extends Customizer options plus other features. While both are still very new, I can only recommend to check them out!
Then the focus this time was on adding more Genesis Child Theme support: 15 more Child Themes were added, including the Genesis Sample (v2.6.0+). This shows the strong support and respect we give to the users of this ever popular theme framework. Even more Child Themes might be added over time.
Eight additional WordPress plugins were added in v1.2.0, including the four Optin plugins mentioned above, "Lightweight Sidebar Manager" by Brainstorm Force, and "Widget Options" which includes native Elementor support in its Premium version (also supported).
Of course, also more Elementor Add-Ons are now supported. Leading the pack here is the brand new white-label solution for Elementor: The company IdeaBox Creations just released "White Label Branding for Elementor" which basically brings all the features and options Elementor users requested so many times over the last few months. Additionally I added support for two special Elementor Add-Ons that improve the integration with WooCommerce. "JetWooBuilder" and "DHWC Elementor" are both very similar and allow you to create and style product templates for WooCommerce with Elementor. It is really nice as you now can finally break out of the limitations a native WooCommerce has.
Really nice David. The plugin is going places!


After 3 fantastic German shows in June with Ruben Hoeke on guitar we are on our way to Berlin this weekend to play the Blues Night II at Wendenturm Köpenick – Sommergarten Am Müggelsee. An open air festival in the magical city of Berlin. Good weather and good music, what else do we need. Germany here we come.


Before Christmas we took advantage of the Premier Inn sale and booked a Friday night in Brighton for the end of January, so we had something to look forward to.
I knew I'd head to a parkrun on Saturday morning, and when I was down in the summer I heard people talking about a new one starting up near the marina/ Kemp Town (and I did hope for Kemp Town as I still need a K…). Anyway, East Brighton parkrun started in early December, so to complete all of the Brighton ones (depending on where you draw the line) I decided I'd head there. It was a 2 mile run in pretty much a straight line (parallel to the sea) through Kemp Town and to the park. Andy had mentioned that he thought the start was in the middle of the park, so I was quite relieved when I got there and could see the parkrun flag peeping over the bushes.
I arrived at about 8.45 and ended up chatting to one of the runners who had been tail walker the week before. A couple of tourists came over and we all started chatting about where we had been and which courses we liked- they'd been to Ellenbrook fields which is always nice to hear, but I'd not been to any of their local ones (Guildford area). They'd completed their alphabet last year and were doing Wilson Index chasing and needed an event number 8- I just love that there are challenges like this to keep you going (although I didn't need an E, or an East, or the number, I just wanted to tick off all the Brighton ones again). The guy doing the new runners briefing had a big map where he tried to explain the course- it looked totally confusing! But you know that with a parkrun you just follow the person in front and all will be fine. I also couldn't believe that it would be 3.1 miles because you could see all of the park from where we were standing and it looked like the size of two football pitches, and it was only 3 laps.
Then at the main briefing they warned us that if the air ambulance had to land on the football pitch then the parkrun would have to be stopped- a bit of added peril right there.
I shall try to explain it as best I can. We started on the edge of the first park part (just a big grassy field) and ran along to where the park had large steps/ levels cut into the sides of the slope. On the first lap you took the top level, on the second lap the middle, and the final lap the lower one (you can see that on the bottom right of the map above). The rest of each lap ran along the top of the park (to the bottom left of the picture), before a u-turn, running on a slightly lower ledge, then you ran along the middle bit, another u-turn and then a lap of the football pitch, before running back to the start/finish area. It was grassy and muddy in places- we were pre-warned of some muddy slopes, and I wished I'd worn my trail shoes as they give better grip, so I took it fairly steadily. It was really fun though- wherever you were on the route you could see people running above you, below you, around the pitch and so on. The nature of the route meant that there weren't a huge number of marshals but you passed each one many times- the lady by the slope (showing you were to go for lap 1, 2 and 3) had gold pom-poms and she did not stop cheering or shaking them the entire time- she probably used more energy than the runners! Some of the marshals you passed a couple of times on each lap and they were constantly calling out warning people of the slippery slopes and cheering. As I ran past the finish on my second lap, three people had finished but I only noticed one of them lapping me, and I think that was because of how the course was that people were just all over it at any one time.
On my final lap there was a guy just ahead of me with a 50 t-shirt adapted to show 50 different parkrun venues, and he kept shouting at me "go tourist" and other friendly things and I would call back. As I came into the finish, he had finished and gave me another shout out.
I got one of my highest finishing tokens for a while (44 out of 70 runners and first in my age category!). When I'd had my token scanned, I looked for the people I'd been chatting to at the start, and the tourist who was cheering me on, but I couldn't see them, and as Andy was meeting me for breakfast I didn't hang about. I would happily go back to this one- it is maybe a little further than Hove Prom (which is deceptively far from the town centre even though it's perfectly run-able) but it was a really fun route. There's a lovely run report here about how they are encouraging their community to use the park and join in.
I met him at Cafe Coho where I enjoyed their delicious pancakes plus an Earl grey (of course), before a quick shower at the hotel. We then popped to Bird&Blend to get chai lattes before walking along the seafront to Hove. We timed it pretty perfectly as we got back to the town centre as it started to rain. I was feeling hungry again by that point so we sat in Pret and shared one of their delicious falafal and avocado wraps. We did a spot of shopping (I added to my tea collection and Andy treated me to some Montezuma's chocolate)- we took the shopping back to the car and then went to a cafe for tea and a slice of lemon and blueberry cake. By then the rain had stopped so we had a bit more of a wander, although we tried to walk along the coast in the other direction but the wind had really picked up so we headed back to the lanes.
We'd booked Bill's for dinner (we had a voucher for 2-for-1) and then drove back home (in the pouring rain). Such a nice 24 hours in Brighton.
On Sunday I put my head out of the window and my it was freezing! All my long leggings were in the wash, so I put on leg warmers so keep my ankles warm. I was originally planning 12 miles, but after all the running and walking on Saturday I felt quite tired, and then when I first started running my knee was fine, but I stopped to get around someone walking their dog, and then it started feeling weird again. I walked for a bit and after half a mile or so I was fine to run, so I carried on. I hadn't planned a route (sounds familiar) and when I got to the usual cut through to the lakes I saw a guy running up the hill towards Hatfield, a route I used to do a lot with the club, so though I'd head that way instead. The club run must have just finished as I was beeped and waved at by about 3 different cars (I recognised two of them!). The wind was so strong and I was so glad of my jacket- I'd worn it for the first few miles, thinking I'd take it off, but I kept it on the whole time.
I managed 10.5 miles in the end and I'm happy with that. Brighton half marathon is still about a month away so I have time to add on the final few miles.
I'd used the last of the panettone to make the baked French toast (this time with cherries and the Pip&Nut hazelnut chocolate butter which is pretty delicious) so while I had a shower that baked away. Like last week, Andy had been decorating the kitchen so he had elevenses (although it was more like twelveses) while it was my breakfast.
Later we walked into town (I picked up my free Starbucks drink) and then after getting home I tried to do the big garden birdwatch- I think perhaps the wind was keeping the birds away because I saw hardly anything (although I did see two red kites).
Where is your favourite place to head for a weekend away?
Author Maria RunsPosted on January 29, 2019 February 21, 2019 Categories General ramblings, Running, Stuff I love!
Ahh I do love Brighton. Tho it is slightly tainted since I got my car clamped there (for my own stupid reasons).
I know one of the Brighton event directors and he told me about the East Brighton one and I'd been tempted to do it when I was there last but it would have added complication to where I'd be parking my car. Plus in the end we had a lie-in so that sorted that debate out!
The pancakes look delicious 🙂 I must try that tea shop you mention when I go back there. And Montezuma chocolates are so good! I had some of their white chocolate snowballs and they were DIVINE.
Cafe Coho is so good- there is one right by the station or one by Fat Face- also a smaller one in the shopping centre but that's a stand and doesn't do all the lovely cooked things.
Oh no about your car clamp 🙁 We've parked in the roads by Preston Park before- not too far to walk into the centre from there.
I love Brighton – Cafe Coho is always my first stop when getting the train there! Need to check out Bird&Blend when I'm next there!
It is such a good cafe! And yes head to Bird&Blend as they do amazing tea lattes/ iced teas as well as selling the loose leaf and teabags etc too.
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The Footy Show topped the ratings last night as more than half a million Melbourne viewers tuned into Nine's coverage ahead of Saturday's AFL Grand Final clash.
Footy was top of mind across Australia for television viewers last night but especially in Melbourne where 557,000 people tuned in to the AFL Grand Final coverage.
Just 275,000 Sydney viewers tuned in and only 119,000 people in Perth, despite Freo making their first Grand Final appearance against Hawthorn on Saturday.
Different versions of The Footy Show were broadcast in different cities; for example at 8.30pm Melbournites and those in Perth were served the Grand Final special edition while Sydney viewers were given all things Rugby League with the ALF edition not broadcast until 10.30pm.
Nine can thank AFL mad Melbourne for handing them a victory over Seven, as the promise of AFL analysis saw every top 20 Nine program win more viewers in Melbourne than in any of the other four metro markets.
The Footy Show propelled Nine to win a total 35.2% share of all free-to-air viewers ahead of Seven's 25.8%.
Nine's main channel won 28.1% of FTA viewers, Seven took 18.1%.
The ABC had seven top 20 programs including Upper Middle Bogan (673,000) and Clarke and Dawe (611,000). The ABC took a combined 17.7% share of FTA viewers with 11.9% of that going to ABC1.
Ten sat on a total share of 15.3% with 10.3% going to its primary channel. Ten's best rating program was Ten Eyewitness News (574,000) and The Project (529,000).


Deze demontage is aan de gang – Herlaad regelmatig om de laatste wijzigingen te zien!
This guide is part of a reverse engineering project for EE 460. We were given a Cuisinart 4-Slice Tandem Toaster, and we broke it down into its most basic components.
Unplug the toaster prior to teardown.
Pull the press handle down and away from the toaster to disconnect the body.
Lift up the body of the toaster.
Pull the pin header cable to disconnect the body of the toaster from the main assembly unit.
Remove the 5 Torx screws to detach the heating unit from the bottom of the toaster unit.
Using a plastic opening tool, carefully pry open the metal casing underneath the toaster.
Remove the screws to detach controls from the plastic shell of the toaster.
Remove the soldered wire that is hooked to each part of the end plate assembly.
This is the Circuit Board used for controlling each subsystem of the toaster.
The integrated circuit marked 4541 contains an oscillator which oscillates at some hundreds or thousands of oscillations per second, the speed being determined by the browning setting. It also contains a binary counter which can count up to 65,536.
The integrated circuit marked 4066 contains several logic gates which select the count value required for normal, defrost or reheat.
During the count, the logic gates supply a small current to the transistor, causing it to energise the electromagnet. At the end of the selected count, the logic gates switch this current off and the transistor de-energises the electromagnet.
While energised, the electromagnet holds the lever down. When the current is switched off the lever is released and the spring pops the toast up.
Toasters of this age frequently use these "4000-series" integrated circuits as they can run off a wide range of supply voltages. Newer toasters use a microcontroller (essentially a simple micro computer) as this is more flexible in its functions and can also easily drive LEDs to show you what the toaster is doing.
Have this broken device and would be glad to us this demonstration to fix it!


The full press release can be read here. Niall Toner also has an artist profile on the Pinecastle website.
I am interested in getting our programme to listeners around the world where an interest and love for bluegrass and its roots are appreciated. I am wondering if you might have any suggestions of stations in your country or region that might be interested in such a programme. Any contact information would be appreciated.
The show is offered free of charge, and is available from a secure download site in the NPR format. It is offered in two parts, both 59 minutes each, with a separate promo.
You can find more information on Red Barn Radio from the website. Contact Ed Commons by e-mail.
We would like to draw your attention to the possibility of placing advertisements in this very carefully edited and layouted magazine. More ads are needed to finance the production and mailing of the printed magazine. Currently, EBMA's expenses on BLUEGRASS EUROPE are higher than what subscriptions and advertisements are generating. Advertising could be especially interesting to companies outside of Europe, touring artists, record labels with new CDs... Please contact be.advertising@ebma.org or check out www.bluegrass-europe.org for more information.
The 17th Bluegrass Workshop of Jindra Hylmar and Petr Brandejs took place on 12-14 August 2012 in Malé Svatoňovice. Everything went smoothly: 120 students, eleven teachers [above], Saturday night sold-out concert of Bluegrass Cwrkot and teachers (the two-and-a-half-hour-long video can be seen here), learning, jamming, having fun... Present were world-class banjo maker Jaroslav Průcha and Honza Fišer who makes guitars.
The usual Sunday afternoon farewell 'brutal jam' of all involved, playing three songs together, also took place [above]. For a very nice photo gallery, visit here.
The picture on the right shows three banjo players at the Saturday night concert: (l-r) Petr Brandejs, Pavel Zícha, Luboš Malina.
I'm happy to introduce the Mideando String Quintet from Italy. Our acoustic music is performed by mandolin, octave mandolin, mandocello, violin, acoustic guitar, and electric bass. Our songs are usually arranged with five voices harmony. Our repertoire includes both our original songs as well as covers rearranged by the band to our personal style. We like to describe it as 'auteur Pop' with a bit of jazz and ethno music and with some bluegrass influences.
In May 2006 we won the first prize as 1# European Bluegrass Band at the 9th European World of Bluegrass (EWOB) Festival in Voorthuizen, the Netherlands. In this role, we were invited to represent European bluegrass at the IBMA 2007 World of Bluegrass in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.
The song 'Talk about suffering', arranged by MSQ, was chosen for the official CD titled 10 years of EWOB. In the past years MSQ has won many other festival awards.
Their previous CD, Viaggio... ('Journey') was thought 'one of the best Italian CDs of 2005' by the La Difesa Del Popolo journal. Their latest CD, Tutte le Direzioni has had some very fine and good reviews by the following magazines: Chitarre, L'Isola Che Non C'Era, Jam, Strictly Country, FolkWord, SNMA News, Movimenti.prog, WolrdMusicSounds, La Brigata Lolli – Bielle.org: all the comments spoke of 'an excellent CD... very good music'. As well, the important Kataweb magazine nominated MSQ 'Artist of the Day' in December 2008.
During the past years Mideando played at various important music festivals such as the 40th Montreux Jazz Festival (Switzerland), Appalachian & Bluegrass Music Festival (Northern Ireland), EWOB Festival (Holland), EWOB Festival (Germany and France), Over Easy Bluegrass Festival (Switzerland), and Big Bear (Netherlands). In August 2008 the band were special guests at the Festival Europeen de Bluegrass Music in La Roche-sur-Foron, France, where they played in 2009 too.
At the moment the band is working on a new CD to celebrate their 18 years of musical activity. It will be ready in spring 2013. If you are interested in our band, you can look us up at our website. You can contact us by e-mail.
Champion fiddler Ivor Ottley, originally from England, long resident in the west of Ireland and subsequently in Sweden, is shown (left) in Holladay, TN, where he won the West Tennessee Fiddle Championship earlier this year.
Ivor will be in Ireland between 12 December and 19 December, performing in the Galway area. He will also be available for teaching and workshops between those dates. As the 'Learning' page of his website shows, he is an accomplished teacher - a point that is underlined by his article 'Fundamentally good playing' in the current issue of British Bluegrass News (no. 62, autumn 2012). He can be contacted by e-mail, and is also on Facebook.
Danilo Cartia (banjo, guitar, vocals) and Letizia Sampaolo (guitar, autoharp, ukulele, vocals) will present bluegrass, blues, and ballads this week on Thursday 25 October, beginning at 21:30 in the Pirati Pub, Via Mario Menghini 97, Rome, Italy. Admission is free.
Lands End are a diverse group of young musicians who first came together at one of Europe's premier bluegrass workshops, the Sore Fingers Summer School, held annually in Oxfordshire, England. Originally formed for a one-off show, the band, who have been tutored by some of the most prolific names in bluegrass, made such an impact in their first performance they couldn't possibly stop there! Their name, 'Lands End', pays tribute to the fact that each member comes from a different geographical location - Cork, Galway, Dublin, Munich, Liverpool, and Canada.
Lands End consists of Richie Foley (mandolin), Sam Rose (bass), Paddy Kiernan (banjo), Bruno Pichler (Dobro), Hubert Murray (guitar, vocals), and Sam Draper (fiddle). Although their music is strongly embedded in the bluegrass tradition, each member brings the distinctive sound of his own tradition to the musical arrangements of the band. Playing a mix of original material with bluegrass standards and the odd hint of Celtic and Baltic tastes, Lands End have been gathering huge momentum since they formed in April this year. They played several dates in Ireland this summer before performing at Ireland's largest free bluegrass festival in Dunmore East, Co. Waterford (IRL), and at Didmarton Bluegrass Festival (GB).
Lands End are starting work on their first studio album in December this year. They can be seen on a twelve-and-a-half minute YouTube video, recorded in St Mary's Collegiate Church, Youghal, Co. Cork, Ireland, on 11 August 2012. Several more videos of Lands End, recorded during their set at Didmarton (where the photo above was taken), are also on YouTube.
Thanks to Los Hermanos Cubero of Spain for the news that their second record, a 7" vinyl EP released by Carajillo Records, will be launched in Barcelona on 8 November 2012, beginning at 10.00 p.m. in the Club Heligàbal, Calle Ramón y Cajal 80. Admission is €6 (€10 with a copy of the record).
The A side of the EP, 'La calle abajo', is featured in a videoclip produced for Primitive Films, which will be premiered at the launch. A video poster for the event can be seen on YouTube.
Thanks to Philip Zanon, president of Double Time Music, for a complete schedule of the forthcoming European tour by the Kruger Brothers (CH/USA), mentioned on the EBB on 23 Sept. 2012.
The tour begins on Sat. 3 Nov. with the Banjo Event 2012 at the Eagle Music Shop in Huddersfield, northern England. Eagle Music is the official worldwide #1 master dealer for Deering Banjos, and Greg and Janet Deering will be present at this one-day festival, which includes concerts, workshops, picking sessions, bar, food, raffle, and trade stand, together with performances by the Kruger Brothers and leading English bands - the Down County Boys, Chris Cooper, the Kentucky Cow Tippers, Joe Mac & the Old Grey Dogs, and more. Full details, with online booking facilities, are on the Banjo Event 2012 web page.
For all Swiss dates, the Brothers are joined by special guest Josh Day (drums and percussion), who has performed with the Kruger Brothers many times and has been their #1 choice for their classical collaboration works. He has also recorded with them, most recently on 'People get ready', the bonus track of their latest release, Best of the Kruger Brothers.
Links to all shows, and online booking facilities, can be found at the Kruger Brothers online tour schedule, which announces that the final concert, at Laufen on 11 Nov., is now sold out.
Thurs. 25 Oct. Blue Maxx, CC De Garage, Sint-Antoniusstraat 27a, 2520 Ranst / Millegem (aan kerkje), 20:00; admission free. For further info, 'phone 0497/56.05.00.
Danilo Cartia (banjo, guitar, vocals) will present bluegrass, blues, country, and ballads this weekend in two shows in towns on the coast west of Rome, Italy.
The first, with Letizia Sampaolo (guitar, autoharp, ukulele, vocals) begins at 21:30 on Saturday 20 October at Fort Apache, Via Redipuglia 25 (Isola Sacra), Fiumicino, near Rome's international airport (info 06 65029150; 3312220329). Admission is free.
In the second, Danilo will be joined by Leno Landini (harmonica). The show starts at 18:00 on Sunday 21 October in the Sala Consiliare Comune, Tarquinia.
The latest e-mail newsletter from Italian guitar maestro Beppe Gambetta opens with a list of the dates in his coming tour of Germany and Switzerland, beginning on 21 Oct.. The tour includes concerts and workshops in Weingarten, Nuremberg (Nürnberg), and Berlin. Full details, including links to venue websites, are on Beppe's online calendar.
Next year the 21st Beppe Gambetta International Acoustic Guitar Workshop at Ambroz, Slovenia, will feature three teachers - as well as Beppe, Mike Dowling (USA) will teach flatpicking, blues slide guitar, and vintage jazz, and Chris Newman (UK) will teach flatpicking, Celtic, and improvisation.
Beppe's German-language DVD The art of flatpicking guitar (trailer on YouTube), on Peter Finger's Acoustic Disc Company label, has been well received, together with his compilation CD Collection.
The newsletter also includes Beppe's recommendation of a documentary film on country music, his choice of ten YouTube videos of great guitarists, and his memories of Doc Watson - culminating at Doc's funeral. To receive full newsletters, contact Beppe Gambetta through his website.
UKBluegrass.com - since 2006 the most valuable source of day-to-day information on what's happening on the British bluegrass scene - has been at a very low level of activity during this year's festival season. Its founders and operators, Katherine Selby and Jer Boon, have been moving house, and have accordingly taken a not-quite-complete sabbatical from bluegrass activity. It is good to be able to report that UKBluegrass.com is now resuming its position as a vital part of the bluegrass media in Europe.
I hope you are all well and I apologise for the lack of newsletters. The last one was 5 August and I cannot quite believe where the time has gone. Up until last week your music was being played on my radio shows even though I didn't have time to send out newsletters and playlists. I just haven't had the time.
I am writing this week to say that unfortunately I will not be running my regular radio shows for a while - at least until the new year, when I will then review what time I have to devote to the shows. Due to my increased workload and the projects that I want to work on over the winter, I initially thought I could manage these voluntary programmes on a fortnightly basis, but the hours that have to go into producing just four programmes a month is a lot more than I can give at the moment.
I will have all the specials ready for Christmas at least. That includes the Hungarian, Swiss, and Orwell bluegrass festivals. Feel free in the meantime to send your music directly to the stations as they will still pop them in play. The stations are UK Country Radio and Bluegrass Planet Earth.
I've done my very best over the last three years to promote you all as much as I can, and more importantly to promote European bluegrass music. I might well be back in the new year, so watch this space. All the specials will be repeated at Christmas too, including the older ones I've done, so that listeners are still aware of the festivals around Europe, when they take place, and of course the fabulous bands/music that is present at them.
The Carolina Chocolate Drops (USA), spearhead of the revival of black string-band music, are now on tour in Europe. On 12 October they will complete a series of shows in Ireland and Britain, and will go on to play four shows in France, one in Belgium, two in the Netherlands, and three in Germany. More details, including venues and online booking facilities, are on the band's tour schedule.
Bluegrass Today features The old home place ain't the same anymore, a new album by Finland's Jussi Syren & the Groundbreakers. Scheduled for release on 15 October in both CD and LP format, this is the band's eighth album, and features Nelli Ikola on fiddle, who has been a regular member since their last record.
A video made in the recording studio can be seen on Bluegrass Today, where you can also hear audio clips of three tracks from the album. All the material consists of original compositions by Jussi Syren, and the album can be ordered online.
Bluegrass Daily - an online newspaper dedicated to everything bluegrass - is now being updated twice daily.
Bluegrass Daily uses over twenty online sources to update its worldwide bluegrass contents. It also includes videos and topics such as education or stories.
You can also subscribe to it and get the main headlines in your e-mail box as soon as the newspaper is updated and published. Feel free to e-mail additional online content not included to SwissGrass Productions.