Early on in the program we learned that a story doesn't have to be particularly dramatic in order to be memorable. It started when Angie Anderson wrote to us to say: "I drive from Apex to Durham (North Carolina) every day to work... Every morning, without fail, a little man stands beside the road in front of a ramshackle building and waves. It's a small, low wave and he waves at every car that passes."
We invited Angie to the studio to talk with us about the waving man. His name is Rickie Moses, and we drove out to the country one morning to meet him ourselves.


text:
A "Lesson" Learned the Hard Way at Yellow Barn
Posted on September 26, 2017 September 26, 2017 by It's All Theatre
By Daniel Skora
Adrian Diffey as The Professor
For sixty continuous years, Eugene Ionesco's "The Lesson" (La Leçon) has been playing to sold out audiences at the Theatre de la Huchette in Paris' Left Bank. But there's no reason to learn French or spend money on an expensive trip to France to be able to enjoy one of the finest examples of absurdist theatre. Mind the Gap is bringing back their award winning production (Best of the 2016/17 Season from it's All Theatre, access here) originally performed a year-and-a-half ago at the Monster Box Theatre. The play is entertaining, amusing in a creepy kind of way, creepy in an amusing kind of way, and an assault on language and logic. See previous review here.
"The Lesson" is appearing at The Yellow Barn (a Theatre Nova event) in Ann Arbor for eight performances: Sept. 28, 29, & 30 and Oct. 5, 6, and 7 at 8:00p.m., with Sunday matinees on Oct.1 & 8 at 2:00p.m. Adrian Diffey and Fran Potasnik reprise their roles of The Professor and The Pupil while Amy Choudhury takes on the role of The Maid. Tickets are available by calling 1.734.635.8450 or going online at www.artful.ly/theatre-nova/store/events.
Posted in Mind the Gap, Theatre Nova (Yellow Barn)Tagged drama
Friendly Skies Even Friendlier Over Northville
Encore's "Sweeney Todd" a Cut Above the Rest

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Gulf Healthcare Center reopens two years after Harvey
Published 12:27 am Thursday, August 29, 2019
By Cassandra Jenkins
Gulf Healthcare Center is newly renovated and reopened two years after being flooded by Hurricane Harvey. The four-star nursing home in Port Arthur received an upgrade to its occupational therapy gym, which is equipped with technology and exercises. (Cassandra Jenkins/The News) 8-28-19
Aug. 29 and 30, 2017, will forever mark historic days for much of Southeast Texas.
Hurricane Harvey hit the Gulf Coast full force, causing unforeseeable flooding and storm damage to homes and businesses in its wake. Port Arthur was one of many towns devastated and while some of the community has returned to normal, others here are just beginning to get back on their feet.
The nationally recognized Port Arthur nursing home, Gulf Healthcare Center, was one of those businesses finally able to celebrate a grand re-opening this week.
Gulf Healthcare Center is newly renovated and reopened two years after being flooded by Hurricane Harvey. The open reception area was newly designed to look more like a hotel lobby than a nursing home. (Cassandra Jenkins/The News) 8-28-19
CEO Ron Payne of Southwest LTC, the company that operates the nursing home, said he remembers the day Hurricane Harvey hit the nursing home and the way his staff responded.
At the time, Payne said the decision was made to enact a shelter in place once the floodwaters started rising and they contacted the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
"We did flag down FEMA and they determined we were not critical and did not need to evacuate at that time," he said. "The water continued to rise and the decision was finally made to evacuate. We did enlist the services of the 'Cajun Navy' and other volunteers in the area."
Payne said an individual, Nick Hebert, the Vice President of Operations with Southwest LTC, was a driving force behind maintaining a safe and quick evacuation.
"(Hebert) was in the Gulf Coast region when (hurricanes) Rita and Ike hit, so he knew what to do," he said. "He was the driving force behind keeping the boats organized and not allowing a chaotic scene to occur. We were able to take residents two at a time to the boats and take them to our sister facility Senior Rehab, also in Port Arthur."
Payne said the building was destroyed and rebuilding has been difficult.
"We were in litigation with our insurance company trying to dispute whether the damage was from the main storm or the flood," he said. "Obviously, in our opinion, the flood was a result of the storm and we should have coverage. We've been in litigation with them for a couple years now and were able to work with one of our senior lenders and use some equity from another building to get a secondary loan that allowed us to cover the cost of the reconstruction."
With the buildings reopening, Payne said it is a better facility than it used to be with upgrades to the therapy gym equipment and all new interior design.
"We gutted the building completely and the interior is all brand new — new flooring and furniture," he said.
Payne said the services mostly remain the same, but there is a bigger, better gym for rehabbing people with strokes, hip and knee replacements. Rooms were also designed with more comfort in mind.
Carrie Jeanis, Healthcare Center administrator, said she is thrilled to continue serving Port Arthur, a feat not all businesses in the area were able to overcome.
"We were just one of three nursing homes that had flood damage and had to evacuate," she said. "For ours to come back, that says a lot to the community that we are invested to having these services for the community that are definitely needed."
Payne said reopening was largely because the evacuation process went smoothly and avoided serious ramifications.
"There have been difficulties in differentiating us from the facilities that are not reopening," he said. "We evacuated our building without any repercussions or lawsuits. We were able to do it all in an organized manner that was safe for all our residents."
As the only four-star nursing home building in Port Arthur, Payne said he is ready to continue great service to the community.
"We are proud to bring this level of care to the Port Arthur community and they deserve the highest quality care. We've owned and operated that facility until 2004 and we feel like we are a part of this community. We are proud of the staff and residents and will always do what it takes to make sure they are taken care of and get the best they can."
The facility is open for tours. Those interested can call 409-962-5541.


text:
Home La Liga Ronaldo wants to return to Real Madrid this summer!
Ronaldo wants to return to Real Madrid this summer!
Gulshan Sharma
Ronaldo has asked his agent to determine which clubs would be interested in his signature.
Cristiano Ronaldo is reportedly keen to return to Real Madrid at the end of the season.
The Portugal skipper made his second debut at Manchester United from Juventus last year. He has been in impressive form for the Red Devils this season, scoring 14 times in 23 appearances across all competitions.
Everything depends on Man United's campaign in Premier League. Ralf's men are struggling to get themselves in the top four and if they fail to qualify for the Champions League, the Portuguese may leave Old Trafford.
As per the reports of El Nacional, United striker has asked his agent Jorge Mendes to determine which clubs would be interested in his signature ahead of the 2022-23 campaign.
The report also adds that the 36-year-old 'would be delighted to return to Madrid', with the Portuguese desperate to win more trophies before the end of his career. Meanwhile, Paris Saint-Germain are also said to be keeping a close eye on the developments.
Ronaldo has been a legendary figure for Real Madrid, scoring 450 goals and registering 132 assists in 438 appearances. He has also won his most number of trophies with the club – two La Liga titles, two Copa del Rey and four Champions League trophies. His contract with Man United will expire in 2023
Real Madrid reluctant to release Luka Jovic for loan
Zlatan Ibrahimovic advised Mbappe to join Real Madrid
Previous articleReal Madrid reluctant to release Luka Jovic for loan
Next articleReal Madrid eyeing La liga striker Alexander Isak
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Gulshan Sharma - April 25, 2022


The Penguins have traded Sergei Plotnikov to their opponents in tonight's contest, the Arizona Coyotes. The return is uncertain right now, aside from the fact that it's a "conditional and minor league player." Plotnikov, 25, had two assists in his brief time with the Penguins and had been benched for the last 20 games.
UPDATE- 9:52 A.M.: Pens receive forward Matthias Plachta and seventh-round pick in 2017.
Penguins trade Sergei Plotnikov to Arizona for a conditional and minor league player. @CraigCustance broke this one.
I'm disappointed that Plotnikov could not find his footing in Pittsburgh. During the offseason, there was incredible--perhaps too much--hype around the incoming Russian winger. I think he possesses good size, was beginning to find his way in the league, and has a good upside. While I'm a little upset that he is leaving, I'm more happy for him as he'll have a chance to play out in Arizona with some good, young talent like Anthony Duclair and Max Domi, alongside fellow Russian, Viktor Tikhonov.
Good luck in Arizona, Sergei!
The Pittsburgh Penguins have acquired defenseman Justin Schultz from the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for the Penguins 2016 3rd-round draft pick. Edmonton retains half of his $3.9 million cap hit.
The deal was made official by the Penguins shortly after their 4-1 win over the Winnipeg Jets that saw goals from Kris Letang, Scott Wilson and two from Carl Hagelin.
Schultz, 25, becomes a restricted free agent (RFA) at season's end. He has accumulated 101 points (28G, 73A) in 248 career games, all played with Edmonton.
The 6'2", 193-pound defenseman was originally drafted by the Anaheim Ducks and never suited up for the club. He played his collegiate hockey at the University of Wisconsin from 2009-12 and was a Hobey Baker finalist during his last two seasons. Edmonton pitched the best proposal for the free agent and in 2012, Schultz inked his first NHL contract.
Due to immigration arrangements, the Penguins do not expect to have Schultz join the team until Wednesday or Thursday of this upcoming week.
There it is, folks. General Manager Jim Rutherford did not pull the trigger as quickly as other GM's had earlier in the day, such as Dale Tallon of the Florida Panthers and he landed one of his primary targets. I don't really see any downside to this trade on paper, but of course, paper can be deceiving.
If memory serves me correctly, the Penguins were on his short-list of teams he would accept going to when he was going to sign in 2012, but he ultimately chose the Oilers. Well, now, we will get to see the young defenseman in action.
Schultz was almost a necessity at this point. With the injury to Ben Lovejoy, limited trust in Ian Cole and the highly rumored name of Kris Russell of the Calgary Flames flying around, it was apparent the Penguins were going to acquire a defenseman. Did I personally see Justin Schultz coming over? No, but I had always hoped he would make his way to the East Coast.
Of course initial assessment of the trade comes in lightning form because of social media. Did the Penguins steal the deal or shoot themselves in the foot?
"A worthwhile risk." That's what stood out to me and exactly how I feel. Edmonton retains half of the salary and he gets a change of scenery. While I'm not the biggest believer in whether or not analytics is the be all, end all of a player's worth, I do think that they are a helpful guide. I believe a change of scenery to a locker room with a winning mentality may boost Schultz confidence. Instead of playing with stars like Taylor Hall, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Jordan Eberle, he now gets to play with superstars the likes of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Phil Kessel.
If that's not exciting and doesn't light a fire under you, I don't know what will.
I like the deal and think that he could be a great asset. While there are some defensive lapses and a raw mold of what he can be, working alongside Sergei Gonchar and company should help shape Schultz into the defenseman scouts, Anaheim, and Edmonton believed he could be.
I work with letters rather than numbers. I give this trade a solid B solely for the fact that it's not overwhelming, lose my mind with excitement, but it's not a complete head-scratcher. I'm optimistic about the deal and hope the best for young Schultz.
Welcome to the Burgh, Justin Schultz!
The Blackhawks have bulked up to win yet again with their recent acquisition of Winnipeg captain Andrew Ladd. Ladd, who won a Stanley Cup with the Hawks in 2010, will surely fit in with an already exceptional group of talent in The Second City.
So, full deal: Ladd, Fraser, Harrison for Dano, a first and a third-rounder in 2018 if CHI wins Cup. WIN retains 36 per cent of Ladd salary.
What Does This Mean For Pittsburgh?
I think it's a win for Pittsburgh. First off, there is no way they had the available assets to pull off the deal. Secondly, even if they did, they would have grossly overpaid. I don't think it's a great business deal for Chicago, however, when you've won three Stanley Cups in a six year span, you can afford to make these "all-or-nothing" kind of deals. Lastly, Ladd is a UFA in the off-season. The Pens have traded for rentals for the last several seasons and none have panned out whatsoever.
So, good on GM Jim Rutherford to avoid going all-in on this trade. Now, were the Penguins even involved in conversation with Winnipeg?
Despite the conflicting reports/rumors, I have to side with Yohe here solely for the fact that he is more closely affiliated with the team than the other outlets drumming up the rumors. As mentioned earlier, good on Pittsburgh avoiding the temptation of Ladd and holding the cards closer to their chest.
Do I believe the Penguins make a move between now and Monday? Of course I do. A blockbuster? No. Am I glad they didn't go after Ladd? Yes.
Am I going to end this blog by summing up the fact that I'm like the "Speaks in Third Person" doctor from Scrubs? Yes, yes I am.
Oh Pens fans, rejoice! Rejoice!
We are one week away from one of the most fantastic days of the NHL season: Trade Deadline Day.
I am truly a junkie for the day. I've skipped high school classes, college courses, and I've called off work just to sit home and follow Trade Deadline happenings with the TV on, phone in one hand, tablet in the other all while staring at my computer screen and continuously refreshing my Twitter feed. My set-up is very similar to that you'd see of Darren Dreger and "The Bobfather" on TSN.
It's exciting to me not only for who the Penguins may acquire, but also to see what the competition is doing. With the East being as tight as is it is this season, it is absolutely crucial that the Penguins make the best moves possible.
That's what this blog is going to attempt to do.
The biggest question every season for the Penguins are do they move bodies in and out or do they stand pat? With a slew of injured players currently rehabbing (Evgeni Malkin, Nick Bonino, Eric Fehr, Beau Bennett), those returning players could make as much of an impact upon their return as compared to if General Manager Jim Rutherford were to make some deals.
I, along with every Pens fan, love to see trades as long as they make sense. For the last two seasons, I didn't believe they needed to make a deal, but this season I feel that a couple may be necessary. I'll hit that up in a few seconds.
My favorite website to research leading up to this holiday is The Fourth Period. Their list of "Top 25 Players Available" is almost always spot on and my main frame of reference. Below, I'm going to list the players the Penguins currently have their names attached to and my opinions on those options.
UPDATE: Ladd traded to CHI. Correct on this prediction.
Radim Vrbata- RW (VAN). Read my views on Hudler. It's essentially the same thing here.
I'd love to see the Penguins make a move for a defenseman, and that's about it. Maybe two. I believe when the forwards listed earlier are healthy, that's a huge upgrade to the team. No one on the market, within the realm of realistic possibilities can offer what Malkin, Bonino, or Fehr can for this squad.
I do believe that a couple WBS kids deserve to stay on the main roster such as Conor Sheary, Scott Wilson, and Bryan Rust. While I like the play of Tom Kuhnhackl, Kevin Porter, and Oskar Sundqvist, I could see them easily being the ones substituted out of the lines.
To me, players like Jeff Zatkoff, Ben Lovejoy, Beau Bennett, Ian Cole (I say on the fence), Derrick Pouliot and Matt Murray are the best trade chips. Read into it what you will, but I don't risk sending away Patric Hornqvist or Chris Kunitz at this point. Things are finally clicking for them.
There's so much more to cover, but what I can proudly say is that I will be live tweeting the Trade Deadline and offer coverage as best as I can. I'll have write-ups and hopefully a special edition of the Pensimist Podcast to follow.
Stay tuned, folks! Things are going to get very interesting over the next seven days.
And I can't freaking wait!
#Pensimist Podcast host, writer of many articles. Trade Deadline/Free Agent Frenzy junkie.


text:
layout: page
title: Emily Dixon's 56th Birthday
date: 2016-05-24
author: Ronald Sawyer
tags: weekly links, java
status: published
summary: Nulla facilisi. Suspendisse iaculis purus vel velit dignissim tincidunt. Morbi.
banner: images/banner/leisure-01.jpg
booking:
  startDate: 06/27/2018
  endDate: 06/30/2018
  ctyhocn: LKMHSHX
  groupCode: ED5B
published: true
---
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


There is a huge movement around the world to end pollution, poverty and corruption just to name a few. But one of the biggest goals out there for the general public is how to eliminate germs and deadly bacteria from just about anywhere from our food, homes and also ourselves. Doctors and personalities in the medical field have always stressed the importance of keeping good hygiene whether it's our teeth or our hands. One area however, isn't stressed enough and those are the areas where we utilize to relieve ourselves in the bathrooms.
Dr Safiya Ojo, a General Practitioner recommends the use of water for cleansing rather than toilet paper after defecation.
Rafik Motala who founded Istinja Bidet in 2009, found a solution to help North Americans with the growing problem of bad hygiene and increase in illnesses due to it. On a trip to New York, Rafik went into a washroom and stumbled upon a contraption that actually did most of the work for you in the cleaning process after completing 'your business'. It was device attached to a water source and affixed to the toilet seat that would dispel fresh water for instant cleaning. Thoroughly impressed by this, he set out to look for this device and stumbled upon the manufacturing company. As he ordered a few of them, not just for himself, but for friends and family, the company struck up a deal for him to get into the business as well. He ordered five samples and when they arrived, he listed them online on various buy and sell websites and within hours, all of the bidets were sold! That gave him the idea to do this regularly and from that Istinja Bidet was launched.
Istinja is an Arabic term that means cleaning away whatever has been passed from the private areas with water, or toilet paper or both.
Rafik and his team in the initial stages used word of mouth and ended up using traditional means to market this unique and unusual product. But as the years went on, he noticed that the trend for using social media in all aspects of doing business such as marketing, supply chain and customer engagement would prove to be very valuable. Not conforming to this growing trend would impact his company negatively and end up affecting sales and reputation.
The biggest challenge for Rafik and Istinja Bidets was how to convince the general public that just sitting on the toilet or standing at the urinal, maybe using a few squares of toilet paper and getting up and go wasn't the ideal method of hygiene in lavatory use? A practice that has now been long accepted in mainstream society. Istinja Bidet products utilize fresh water and jet technology to get into the nether regions of a person while on the toilet to give the gold standard of cleanliness and hygiene. Persuading the public that this is a product that they require in their homes and places of work was not just the only challenge, but coordinating the supply chain workflow and ensuring that the individuals on the team are assigned pertinent tasks and responsibilities that are carried through were also on the agenda in the social media canvas of the company.
Rafik Motala who founded Istinja Bidets needed some strategies to not only market his product to the general public, but also need to ensure communication within the internal departments of his business was continuous to ensure the workflow was moving smoothly. In the beginning, Istinja employed traditional means of marketing. Word-of-mouth was at the forefront of creating awareness of their product and posting online at various product sharing websites such as Craigslist and Kijiji created a buzz and as a result, an abundance of sales. When sales were steadily rising, more aggressive means of marketing were implemented such as putting up booths at large trade shows and other events that possessed a live shopping experience for attendants. This way, Rafik and his team could display and present their products and show people how to use them – not in a literal sense of course – which allowed for first hand customer engagement.
When the trade shows ended, Istinja put up their Facebook page, Youtube videos showing do-it-yourself installation techniques and a website with a plethora of information about all of their products and their immense benefits. To ensure all partners in the organization were assigned tasks and that deliverables were being met, various online chat groups were established such as the popular Whatsapp. This allowed continuous flow of information to go to each group member and to give updates of tasks that were assigned and to share ideas if anything innovative came onto the market. Furthermore, the supply chain management aspect of the company also implemented the use of email and Whatsapp to keep track of pending orders and if any questions or concerns arose from Istinja or the manufacturers themselves.
At the marketing end of things, Rafik was adamant that this product was a huge benefit to everyone and used various tools in getting the word out such as Google Ad words, Facebook ads and Search Engine Optimization techniques. Rafik did find that SEO was challenging because "finding that reputable organization that would give you the appropriate results was either time consuming or expensive". He did, however find a local solution by employing the services of Wisdek and they have given him the results he needed and that was ensuring he was always on the first page of any Google search when it comes to lavatory hygiene.
Istinja also had to convince a huge population of people that the conventional methods of using toilets and the mere use of urinals was detrimental to one's health. With that, on their website, they outlined very important benefits to both men and women that could lead to serious illnesses and life altering changes.
Customer service was another focal point of the business and as positive testimonials were pouring in, they were readily posted online to show their audience that their products were in fact, changing lives. At the same time, negative feedback and also occur and because of the open communication channels between Rafik and the manufacturers are readily available to make amends quickly and thoroughly.
With a lot of trial and error when it comes to social media, Rafik feels that his organization could do more in all aspects of his enterprise. From the actual marketing end of it, to the customer engagement, to the supply chain aspect, social media methods at his company have come to a standstill and with it sales. His product line is fairly extensive and he has been a pioneer somewhat in introducing such a product to not just the Canadian market, but also the North American market. However, as sales in the beginning were rapidly increasing, he and his team have been stagnant on social media and therefore, noticed a decline or a plateau in sales forecasts. With that, other players have entered the market and are getting far more headway in the awareness and importance of this type of product. He mentions that "in order for a company to progress and reach higher levels, dedicated resources must be established in social media" and this holds true today as organizations are establishing a serious footing in the social media world with their onlines posts, employee engagement and interactivity with customers.
Rafik Motala – founder of Istinja Bidets – paints a very real picture when organizations do not conform to the social media prowess of the competition. Not just himself, but the team needs to ensure that more frequent than not, some form of social media is being utilized so that people are made aware of the benefits of a particular product. On top of that, knowing where the customers are, what they need and the methods in which to get the product from point A to point B are paramount in the health of any organization. Rafik goes on to add that allocating resources, even if they are outside resources, to handle the social media aspects of all steps in a company's workflow should be high on any agenda as competitors will always pursue to be ahead, and if social media isn't part of the plan, then begin to notice a decline in sales, market share and in turn, relevance in the industry.


GreenUP was incorporated in 1992, has been eastern Ontario's leading environmental organization, offering a wide and progressive suite of programs focused on environmental education and action. In addition to managing the 5-acre teaching garden, called Ecology Park, GreenUP offers programs focusing on landscape naturalization, sustainable transportation, energy and water conservation, and participatory planning (www.greenup.on.ca). The organization has been used as a model for other environmental non-governmental organizations across the country, and was the birthplace of one of Canada's leading national environmental umbrella organizations, Green Communities Canada, which is also located in Peterborough (www.greencommunitiescanada.org).
GreenUP manages a 5-acre Ecology Park in the city of Peterborough, which provides students with the opportunity to connect and better understand the urban ecosystems in their backyards. The Ecology Park has been operating for more than 20 years, and has offered critical learning opportunities to thousands of students. GreenUP also offers a wide range of in-school workshops and programs – focused on the development of cycling skills, waste management and reduction, water and energy conservation, local food systems, ecosystem planning, and more – to both elementary and secondary school students. These programs make direct connections to the ESD curriculum, and help to supplement more traditional approaches to teaching.
Camp Kawartha provides outdoor environmental and educational programming from two locations within the region: a main camp located on Clear Lake and their Environment Centre – one of the most sustainable buildings in the province – located in the city of Peterborough. At these facilities, they offer curriculum-linked outdoor education and leadership training programs for students and adults alike. These programs offer rich opportunities to develop a direct connection with nature, and to learn more about natural systems.
Camp Kawartha has been offering children in the region the opportunity to experience the natural environment at their beautiful property on Clear Lake. In 2009, the Camp built the Camp Kawartha Environment Centre. Their work currently includes 80 curriculum-based programs focused on leadership, environmental science, history, recreation and the arts, in facilities that showcase sustainable building techniques (www.campkawartha.ca).
For Our Grandchildren (4RG), established in 2013, is an organization of grandparents with a mission to inform, motivate, and mobilize grandparents and others to combat climate change on behalf of our grandchildren. 4RG works in collaboration with other groups to establish different events such as workshops, youth meetings, group discussions, etc. – to enable citizens and communities to prepare for change. Since 2015, 4RG - with collaborators - has involved over 1,000 people directly and thousands more indirectly (through social media, webpage, media articles, etc.) in sustainability education and action - individually and collectively - to combat climate change.
Fleming College was established in 1967, and has more than 5,900 full-time and several thousand part-time students. Fleming has four campuses, three of which are distributed among the corners of the proposed region - Peterborough, Kawartha Lakes (Lindsay), and Haliburton. These include Fleming College's School of Environmental and Natural Resource Sciences, located in the City of Kawartha Lakes. Fleming has forty years of experience in Applied Environmental Education across thirty programs, including first-of-their-kind programs in Ecosystem Management, Sustainable Agriculture, and Urban Forestry. The Haliburton campus also houses a unique Sustainable Building and Design program. Fleming has an increasing focus on sustainability in its Business and Early Childhood Education programs. Overall, Fleming College is taking a whole-campus approach to sustainability and has introduced sustainability concepts across the majority of diploma programs at the College, supported by a Five Year Sustainability Plan.
In 2015, Fleming College signed on to a Canada-wide Indigenous Education Protocol and has introduced a new Indigenous Perspectives designation for several programs across the College. Fleming College offers dual credit opportunities for Curve Lake First Nation secondary students to ladder into programs at the College, and is also a licensed service provider of the Building Environmental Aboriginal Human Resources (BEAHR) program that provides training in a variety of environmental protection sciences. To find out more information, please visit www.flemingcollege.ca.
Sustainable Peterborough is a community based, regional collaborative working to integrate the sustainability framework identified in the Community Sustainability Plan throughout the Greater Peterborough Area. The Sustainable Peterborough Plan defines what a Sustainable Peterborough will look like for the next generation, and sets goals, directions, and actions for balancing the environmental, socio-cultural, and economic pillars of sustainability. Caring communities balancing prosperity, well-being and nature was the vision created by our community to reflect what the Greater Peterborough Area should look like in 25 years. For more information, please visit www.sustainablepeterborough.ca.
Farms at Work, a non-profit, charitable project is a local and provincial leader of the agricultural sector. They work to train new entrants and to encourage the diversification of farming in the region, including the protection and environmental stewardship of farmland. Farms at Work is the coordinator of the Kawartha Farm Stewardship Collaborative with ten organizational partners. For more information, please visit www.farmsatwork.ca.


text:
The Cabin Boy director delivers a pointed, funny essay collection Will Not Attend
Josh Modell
Adam Resnick
Will Not Attend
Blue Rider Press
Adam Resnick's fingerprints are on some of the most cultishly adored film and TV of the last couple of decades, from Late Night With David Letterman and The Larry Sanders Show to Get A Life and Cabin Boy—he directed and co-wrote the latter with his longtime collaborator Chris Elliott. Resnick's goofy, smart résumé doesn't necessarily point to the deeply misanthropic vein that runs through his soul, though that's on full display in Will Not Attend: Lively Stories Of Detachment And Isolation, his dark, hilarious first book.
Comprising 15 personal stories that cover everything from his childhood to fatherhood to a run-in with a fast-food corporation over a razor blade, Will Not Attend acts like a herky-jerky memoir, but notably skips Resnick's professional life almost completely. And that's fine—preferable, even—because his stories and pained inner monologues don't need celebrity status to be touching and funny: Resnick is a guy thoroughly uncomfortable in his own skin, and he knows how to wring laughs and pathos out of that fact.
In the first entry, "An Easter Story," a childhood romance is cut short by the discovery of a horrifying photo possessed by his young crush's father. Later, all grown up, Resnick decides to let Scientologists in the subway audit him—maybe he's taking the piss, and maybe he's searching for something. In many stories, Resnick's constantly fuming father, Merv, looms large. In "The Panther," he's something of a hero, threatening Adam's teacher; in "The Lion In Winter" he tells Adam matter-of-factly that if Adam's mother dies before he does, "I'll blow my head off," a statement followed closely by "no fucking funeral and no Jews."
If that all sounds a little morbid, it can be, but Resnick delivers his sad little histories with such wit, insight, and hilarious detail ("He was practically a dead ringer for Jerry Lewis, and his every waking moment was the nineteenth hour of the telethon") that they never come across as pitiable. He doesn't want pity—like kindred spirits Louis C.K. and Larry David, he just wants the rest of the world to see how stupid it all is.
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BEFORE deciding in middle age to become a historian, Connecticut's new state historian was a folk singer, a country music composer, a commercial jingle writer and the owner of an advertising agency.
Walter Woodward became Connecticut's third state historian on July 1, succeeding Christopher Collier, who had held the unpaid position for 19 years. The state historian is appointed by the University of Connecticut board of trustees and comes with a paid position in the university's history department. Dr. Woodward is an assistant professor, working out of the Hartford campus to be close to the state library, archives and the seat of state government. Beginning next semester, he will teach at both the Hartford and Storrs campuses.
Dr. Woodward does not come from Connecticut. He was born in 1949 in Vienna where his father, an Air Force officer, was serving as a military attaché. "My father had grown up on a farm in Columbia, Conn.," Dr. Woodward said. "I spent several summers there with my grandparents, but we lived in Europe, mostly in Germany, during the first 10 years of my life."
When his parents divorced, he settled in North Carolina and Florida with his mother and attended the University of Florida, where he helped pay his expenses by singing in coffeehouses.
"I also started writing country songs," Dr. Woodward said, "and when I was a senior in 1970, I wrote 'Marty Gray,' a song that made the top 10 on the country music charts."
"Marty Gray," recorded by Billie Jo Spears, told the tale of a teenage romance and asked the question, "Pretty little Marty Gray, does your mama know what you're doing?"
After Dr. Woodward graduated with a degree in English, he went to Nashville to continue writing country music but quickly took to composing advertising jingles. "I sold my first jingle to a new, Nashville shopping mall and when I was asked how much I wanted for it, I didn't have any idea what to ask, so I said $1,500. The shopping mall official said that was cheap, which meant I learned something from that experience."
His success as a Nashville jingle writer led to a job at a Cleveland advertising agency that "had run an ad saying they were looking for misfits who were creative," Dr. Woodward said. He would eventually become executive vice president of that agency and later start not only his own jingle business, known as Perfect Pitch, but also his own ad agency.
"We did a lot of music for tourist destinations," he said. I wrote a tourism jingle for Sioux Falls, South Dakota, which is quite an accomplishment and when I wrote a song about Kentucky, the trade paper Advertising Age said it could replace 'My Old Kentucky Home' as the state song. But the last time I looked, they were still playing 'My Old Kentucky Home' at the Kentucky Derby."
He also won eight Clios, the advertising equivalent of the Oscar, and an award for "the best radio commercial in the world" from the International Radio and Television Society.
"I can't remember what the best commercial in the world was," he now says.
Having enjoyed considerable success in advertising, Dr. Woodward and his wife, Irene, determined by the 1980's that it was time to consider what they wanted to do with the rest of their lives.
"One night," he said, "we sat down at the kitchen table and talked about our dreams. I was getting too old to be doing what I was doing; there's nothing worse than an older ad guy trying to be hip. At 40, I realized I wanted to use my abilities and what time I had left to make an intellectual contribution."
Irene Woodward had long wanted to be a veterinarian. She achieved that goal after studying at the Ohio State College of Veterinary Medicine and now practices in Manchester where the Woodwards live. Dr. Woodward's change of professions proved to be more complex and time-consuming.
After getting a master's degree in history at Cleveland State University and developing a special interest in Colonial America, he applied to study for a doctorate at the University of Connecticut under Karen Kupperman, whose writings on the subject, most notably the climate and wilderness of early America, he had admired.
It proved to be an 11-year effort with Dr. Woodward continuing for a time to run his Cleveland agency and commuting to UConn by airplane.
"I'd be on the campus from Tuesday to Thursday, fly to Cleveland for four days where I'd shoot a Stop & Shop commercial and work on my doctorate. It was crazy."
He sold his business, combined his studies with positions at Colonial Williamsburg where he produced and hosted "a talk show with historic figures" and then served as director of education at the Plymouth Plantation in Plymouth, Mass. He received his Ph.D. in 2001 and joined the history department at Dickinson College in Pennsylvania.
Dr. Woodward thinks he was named state historian because of his unusual background in communications, coupled with his interest in early America and his experience in what he terms public history at places like Williamsburg and Plymouth Plantation.
By law, the state historian serves as an ex officio member of state boards involved in history, tourism and cultural affairs and supervises the publication of state records in conjunction with the state archivist. The state historian is also a resource on state history for journalists, legislators, teachers and researchers and a promoter of significant historical events.
During Mr. Collier's long tenure as state historian, he often testified as an expert witness on state and constitutional history and he was one of the experts who testified in the Sheff vs. O'Neill school desegregation case.
One of Mr. Collier's last tasks before stepping down on the same day Gov. John Rowland resigned was to find out the number of governors who had resigned in the past. The answer was five, Ella Grasso for health reasons and four others to take jobs in Washington, the most recent being Abraham Ribicoff who resigned to become Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare in the Kennedy administration.
"Since July, I've been getting around as much as I can to meet and listen to people who are part of the state's history constituency," Dr. Woodward said. "People like museum and library directors, educators, heads of historical societies and preservationists."
He is also writing a book with a Connecticut theme, the life of John Winthrop Jr., who was a founder of New London and the governor of the colony for 18 years in the 17th century. He first wrote about Winthrop in his Ph.D. dissertation.
But long before he had heard of John Winthrop, even long before he wrote his first country song or commercial, Dr. Woodward had wanted to study history.
"Just before my father retired from the service, he was stationed at Hanscom Field outside of Boston" he remembered. "I was 10 or so. "One day, I got up right at dawn and went out and walked the Battle Road to Lexington. The early light and my imagination made it an unforgettable experience. I think from that day on, I was drawn to history."


Commissioners voted 9-0 to direct the county solicitor to send a strongly worded response to the foundation stating their intention not to remove the cross from the seal.
FFRF and its co-plaintiffs are seeking a declaration that the religious symbols on the county seal and flag are unconstitutional, a permanent injunction against displaying them, nominal damages, costs and attorney fees.
"Lehigh County is not a Christian county, it should be equally welcoming to all its citizens regardless of their religion or their reject of religion. A redesign to comply with the Constitution is imperative," says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor.
It's taken long enough, but a federal judge has finally ruled on this issue. And Judge Edward Smith echoed what atheists had been saying all along.
The law, as it currently stands, requires that the court rule in favor of the plaintiffs: the inclusion of the cross lacked a secular purpose both when the defendant adopted the seal and when the defendant refused to remove the cross from the seal, and a reasonable observer would perceive the seal as endorsing Christianity.
Smith spends a good chunk of his decision basically saying he didn't want to rule this way because he knows this isn't meant to be a promotion of Christianity. He even concludes, "While the court may not fully agree with the test provided, the court must apply that test." That's why he rules in favor of the atheists: the law requires him to apply the test of a what a reasonable observer, with no knowledge of the county's history, would think. And that person would call this a promotion of Christianity regardless of what's surrounding it.
FFRF called Smith's ruling "begrudging," but the conclusion is all that matters, and they're happy with the result.
"This welcome ruling should settle the matter and get the seal redesigned to be inclusive, to ensure that it does not continue to send a message that only Christian citizens are represented or welcome," says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor.
It's now up to county officials to choose a better design. They could've saved everyone a lot of trouble, though, if they had just listened to the atheists years ago.


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Q: Conditionally duplicate rows in R while changing values in a single column I have a dataframe, df, in which some of the values in the second column, alt, are separated by commas:
ref    alt
ACTGG  A,AATGG
GGC    G,GG
GC     G
AAT    A,AA,AAA

Is there a way in R for me to duplicate each row that has comma-separated values in column df$alt such that each value is show individually? They would be duplicated number_of_commas+1 times to allow each comma-separated value to be shown once. Below is the output I'm be looking for:
ref    alt
ACTGG  AATGG
ACTGG  A
GGC    GG
GGC    G
GC     G
AAT    AAA
AAT    AA
AAT    A

Again, this would only change the values in the second column. The first column, and any other potential columns, would simply be copied.

A: The concat.split.multiple function from my "splitstackshape" package already handles this:
library(splitstackshape)
concat.split.multiple(df, "alt", ",", "long")

Because it uses reshape, it will result in some rows with NA values.
However, I would suggest checking out the updated version of the function I've been working on a. It's much faster and you can find it here. This version is like the data.table approach you have selected, but you can split multiple columns at a time.
With this function you can do the following:
## Will convert your data.frame to a data.table
cSplit(df, "alt", ",", direction="long")
#      ref   alt
# 1: ACTGG     A
# 2: ACTGG AATGG
# 3:   GGC     G
# 4:   GGC    GG
# 5:    GC     G
# 6:   AAT     A
# 7:   AAT    AA
# 8:   AAT   AAA

Splitting to a "wide" form is the present default:
cSplit(df, "alt", ",")
#      ref alt_1 alt_2 alt_3
# 1: ACTGG     A AATGG    NA
# 2:   GGC     G    GG    NA
# 3:    GC     G    NA    NA
# 4:   AAT     A    AA   AAA

A: You can use split-apply-combine, handling each row of df separately:
do.call(rbind, lapply(split(df, seq(nrow(df))),
        function(x) data.frame(ref=x$ref, y=strsplit(x$alt, ",")[[1]])))
#       ref     y
# 1.1 ACTGG     A
# 1.2 ACTGG AATGG
# 2.1   GGC     G
# 2.2   GGC    GG
# 3      GC     G
# 4.1   AAT     A
# 4.2   AAT    AA
# 4.3   AAT   AAA

A: library(data.table)
dt <- data.table(df)
dt[, list(alt = unlist(strsplit(as.character(alt), ','))),
         by = list(ref)]

# ref    alt
# ACTGG  AATGG
# ACTGG  A
# GGC    GG
# GGC    G
# GC     G
# AAT    AAA
# AAT    AA
# AAT    A

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


This school year I will be working in the early childhood EXCEL program. I am also the Phonological classroom teacher. This program is designed to improve intelligibility for children with severe speech phonological delays. I am also part of the Early Childhood Evaluation team and also responsible for speech and language only evaluations within New Lenox School District.
I am married to my husband, Dean and we have three boys. Busy with High School and College sports.
I enjoy working with children and watching them grow throughout the year.
Working out, reading, and watch my boys play sports.


text: Guía de Restaurantes


text:
White Man Wins $1.2 Million In 'Reverse Discrimination' Case
The taxpayers of Fulton County, Ga. have just learned how much discrimination can hurt. Last year, a jury demanded the county pay a former official $300,000 for passing him over for a promotion in favor of a black woman. And this week, a judge added another $1.18 million to the total, reports WSB-TV.
"Endurance, pain, frustration, sadness, it's just been six years of your life consumed with this issue," Doug Carl (pictured) told the TV station about the the case. As AOL Jobs reported last year, Carl was the county's deputy director of human services, when his boss -- a black woman -- stepped down. He was already serving as acting director, when he applied to officially take her job in April 2007. After two rounds of panel interviews, he was denied the job in favor of a black woman who hadn't been interviewed, according to the lawsuit he filed in July that year. Carl retired in 2010, after his position was eliminated.
Fulton County Manager Tom Andrews, one of the defendants, admitted during the trial that he called employees "black marbles" and "white marbles" in making personnel decisions. County Commissioner Emma Darnell also allegedly made racially charged remarks, supposedly telling a deputy county manager that she had "too many white boys' in human services, and that the new director should be black and female.
Darnell denied making such a statement, however, and no witness testified to hearing those comments firsthand.
"The only reason Mr. Carl alleges that race played a part in the selection process is because the person chosen happened to be an African-American female," Ware said in his statement, reported by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "Mr. Carl was incredulous that a black woman would be chosen over him and thus decided to accuse the county of a race-based decision."
But a jury didn't agree, awarding Carl $300,000 in back pay last year. The federal judge's additional award this week covers the cost of Carl losing his pension and five years of future pay, reports WSBTV.com. The court has yet to rule on legal fees, which Carl's attorney Lee Parks said could bring the county's bill up to $2 million.
Fulton County has appealed last year's ruling, so no money has yet changed hands.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964, which outlaws race, sex and various other kinds of discrimination, was initially intended to end the suppression of the black vote, as well as racial segregation in schools, workplaces and public facilities. But increasing numbers of white men claim that they have become victims of racial and sex bias, and are demanding justice under the law.
This week, the former chancellor of Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne, a white man, sued the school, alleging gender discrimination. He claims he is the only high-level administrator to be denied an exemption from the university's mandatory retirement age, so that the school could appoint a woman to his job -- a woman who is just a year younger.
Posted in: Africa,Anti Zog Media,Europe,USA


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Records to Die For 2018 Page 4
Michael Fremer
Cécile McLorin Salvant: Dreams and Daggers
Cécile McLorin Salvant, vocals; Aaron Diehl, piano; Paul Sikivie, bass, arr.; Lawrence Leathers, drums. With: Sullivan Fortner, piano; Catalyst String Quartet.
Mack Avenue MAC 1120 (3 LPs). 2017. Cécile McLorin Salvant, Al Pryor, prods.; Todd Whitelock, Damon Whittemore, engs.; Kevin Gray, disc cutting. DDA. TT: 112:11
Jazz singer Cécile McLorin Salvant "arrived" by winning the prestigious Thelonious Monk Competition (after almost not submitting an entry), after which she released two superb albums on Mack Avenue, the second nabbing the 2016 Best Jazz Vocal Album Grammy. This set, recorded live at the Village Vanguard, is destined to join Bill Evans's two live Vanguard albums as a classic of performance and sound. McLorin Salvant and her trio nimbly skip through breezy American Songbook chestnuts like "Never Will I Marry" and "Let's Face the Music and Dance" with mischievous delight, while the singer infuses the darker numbers with a gravitas well beyond her years.
Gillian Welch: The Harrow & the Harvest
Acony ACNY 1109LP (LP). 2011/2017. David Rawlings, prod.; Matt Andrews, eng. AAA. TT: 46:01
Recorded on magnetic tape but originally released only on CD, this übernaturally recorded album of "modern sounds in Appalachian balladry" combines the dark, tragic themes found in traditional music with more modern subject matter. Click here to hear a needle drop of "The Way It Goes," a song about drug addiction, escape, loss, failure, and rejection, which Gillian Welch sings with wry resignation. Skillfully played, sung, and recorded, and sumptuously packaged in a gatefold sleeve, this album sets a high bar for a vinyl release. Why vinyl? After years of listening to Van Morrison's Astral Weeks on CD, they found an original vinyl copy and were shocked by what they'd been missing. (Vol.35 No.2, Vol.36 No.2)
Larry Greenhill
Eriks Esenvalds: The Doors of Heaven
The First Tears, Rivers of Light, A Drop in the Ocean, Passion and Resurrection
Ethan Sperry, Portland State Chamber Choir; instrumentalists
Naxos 8.579008 (CD, 24/88.2 AIFF master files). 2017. Erick Lichte, prod.; John Atkinson, Doug Tourtelot, engs. DDD. TT: 58:52
Robert Levine, in his review of the October 2017 issue's Bonus Recording of the Month, praised this collection of choral works by Eriks Esenvalds for its "flawless engineering," and found that "its organic balance of shouts and whispers is quite a feat." John Atkinson masterfully served as the recording engineer for three of the works, and later circulated a digital copy of the recording's master files to Stereophile's contributing editors. The First Tears won the most praise. The work requires choristers to precisely maintain pitches to achieve minute but oh-so-clear shifts between consonance and dissonance. Native American flutes are used sparingly in a retelling of an Inuit folk tale of Raven and the Whale. Other selections capture the hall ambience, the space between the soloists, and their precise positions on a wide soundstage. The contrast between "intimate whisperings" and a thunderous mix of full chorus and 32Hz drums reveals remarkable dynamic range. (Vol.40 No.10)
Prokofiev: Lieutenant Kijé Suite, Symphony 2
David Clatworthy, baritone; Erich Leinsdorf, Boston Symphony Orchestra.
RCA LSC-3061 (LP). 1969. Richard Mohr, prod.; Anthony Salvatore, eng. TT: 50:07
Lieutenant Kijé reveals Prokofiev's musical wit in this more tuneful, less complex suite excerpted from music originally composed for a humorous film set in the 1800s: Due to a typographical error in a communiqué, Czar Paul I comes to believe in the existence of a nonexistent officer, Lieutenant Kijé. The film shows the fantastic subterfuges his staff resorts to to provide the Czar with Kijé's complete but fictitious military career, and the music includes wedding music and military marches. This LP provides good examples of the "brass blattiness" that Stereophile's late founder, J. Gordon Holt, always found so involving. The warmth and full tonalities of baritone soloist David Clatworthy are clearly heard in the Romance and Troika. Also included is Prokofiev's Symphony 2. At these 1968 sessions, engineer Anthony Salvatore captured the full dynamics and pace of this orchestral work.
Steve Guttenberg
John Mellencamp: No Better Than This: Thirteen New Songs
Rounder 11661 3284 2 (CD). 2010. T Bone Burnett, prod.; Paul Mahern, eng. ADD. TT: 53:49
John Mellencamp's career has had its ups and downs, but there's no doubting he's in it for the long haul. You probably bopped your head to his radio-friendly hits "Jack and Diane" and "Hurts So Good," but No Better Than This is a woefully underappreciated, sweat-soaked, blood-on-the-tracks collection. It was recorded in part in Sam Phillips's Sun Studio, in Memphis, with the ghosts of Howlin' Wolf and Elvis Presley bouncing off the walls, and in part in the San Antonio hotel room where Robert Johnson cut "I Believe I'll Dust My Broom." The tunes are all Mellencamp's, and it feels as if he's put some miles on 'em.
John Beasley: Monk'estra Vol.1
John Beasley, piano, synthesizer, arr.; large ensemble
Mack Avenue MAC 1113 (CD). 2016. John Beasley, Ran Pink, Gavin Lurssen, prods.; Joshua Stuebe, Samon Rajabnik, Scott Moore, engs. DDD? TT: 54:16
The very first jazz record I bought was Thelonious Monk's Big Band and Quartet in Concert; every day, when I came home from high school, I couldn't wait to play it. John Beasley's Monk'estra Vol.1 had a similar effect on me—Beasley's rip-roaring horn charts for his Crescent City big band catapult Monk's music into the 21st century. I'm no musician, but Monk's tunes sound as if they're a joy to play, and Beasley's band is having a ball. I just hope some 14-year-old kids out there are finding their ways into Monk's music with this CD.
Jon Iverson
Lydia Ainsworth: Darling of the Afterglow
Arbutus ABT053 (16/44.1k Bandcamp download). 2017. Lydia Ainsworth, prod., eng.; David Krystal, Jim-E Stack, prods.; Christ Kasych, eng. DDD. TT: 40:46
It's one of those albums that immediately has you calling out the influences: Kate Bush, Lana Del Rey, FKA Twigs, Peter Gabriel, even Bulgarian Voices. Ainsworth is classically trained, yet reveals modernist tendencies that veer toward pop but luckily never quite get there. And this album is very well made: the better your system, the better it will sound. The centerpiece is easily "Afterglow," which will challenge all but the most robust speakers and rooms with its spectacularly engineered bottom end and soundstage, and has become my in-house demo track of the year. There's even an odd cover of Chris Isaak's "Wicked Game." Ainsworth sings, "To play it safe is not to play at all." So true.
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark: The Punishment of Luxury
100% Records/White Noise 100CD66 (24/44.1k Bandcamp download). 2017. OMD, prods., engs. DDD. TT: 42:07
Some of us still believe in the synth-pop future laid out by Kraftwerk so many decades ago. And though their groundbreaking formula has mutated in unexpected ways (obvious examples: hip-hop, techno, house), Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark are one of the torchbearers who still manage to put out great electronic albums that hew close to the original impulse. Love 'em or hate 'em, OMD sounds even better today than back in the 1980s, musically and sonically. Their music lives or dies as much on its technical creativity as on the quality of the tunes they sing. The Punishment of Luxury offers high levels of both.
This is my 12th entry for "Records to Die For," and there really aren't that many records that I'd dash into a blazing room to save, so let me alter the terms. Here are the two albums—one new, one historical—that I cherish most of those released in 2017.
Cécile McLorin Salvant, vocals; Aaron Diehl, piano; Paul Sikivie, bass; Lawrence Leathers, drums. With: Sullivan Fortner, piano; Catalyst String Trio.
Mack Avenue MAC 1120/112060 (2 CDs/3 LPs). 2017. Cécile McLorin Salvant, Al Pryor, prods.; Todd Whitelock, Damon Whittemore, engs. DDD/DDA. TT: 112:11
The newest album from this wunderkind singer, 28 years old and already the Sarah Vaughan of our times, marks a quantum leap in her evolution—more poignant, more swinging, less mannered than her earlier discs (and she's carved new headways since). She sings standard ballads, dirty blues, French ditties, Weill operas, all with lyrical insight, rhythmic wit, and wonder. Her trio is top notch. Recorded mainly live at the Village Vanguard, it sounds superb.
Bill Evans: Another Time: The Hilversum Concert
Bill Evans, piano; Eddie Gomez, bass; Jack DeJohnette, drums
Resonance HCD-2031/ HLP-9031 (LP/CD). 1968/2017. Joop de Roo, prod.; Andre Louwerse, eng.; Zev Feldman, reissue prod.; Fran Gola, mastering. ADA/ADD? TT: 41:16
Another gem from Resonance Records' vault hunting, this 1968 session, recorded before a small audience in a Dutch studio, finds Evans in rare buoyant spirit, heading a short-lived band exceeded only by his classic trio of 1958–61. It was recorded five days after their gig at the Montreux Jazz Festival, which was released the same year by Verve and may be Evans's best post-1961 album. This one ranks just below it. The sound is excellent, too. (Vol.40 No.6)
Two of mine:
Submitted by Frank Larsen on January 25, 2018 - 12:59pm
"Magnificat" by Nidaros Cathedral Girls Choir
https://open.spotify.com/album/4xzFTIufSJK02FA5uYHVLV?si=F2FXXzxFSDeekkNRn0haWg
"Arktis." by Ihsahn
https://open.spotify.com/album/397XouQkm5WLVcPYVG76f3?si=vbwHa0BwT_SWDH1Z9a7gCw
Great choices all around
Submitted by volvic on January 25, 2018 - 1:05pm
I have the Stravinsky conducting Stravinsky and although fine, it still is a bit tame compared to other rival interpretations. But that's just me.
Scott Hamilton is a Good Wind Blowing Us No Ill
Submitted by rustybutt on January 25, 2018 - 2:45pm
One of my go-to records for listening to system detail is this Scott Hamilton recording. You can't listen to something again and again if you don't fall in love in the first 4 bars and this is it. Take a listen to (flac format)
Nice diversity of genres
Submitted by hnickm on January 25, 2018 - 3:04pm
Some of these albums I have; some I have never heard, but will explore.
May I humbly suggest Neil Young's After the Gold Rush be added.
She's worth it, original material, impecable musicianship.
Submitted by Jerry Garcia on January 26, 2018 - 8:16pm
Lindsey Webster's Back to your Heart. What a voice! Phenomenal recording on Shanachie SH5445
Listening right now. Whether
Submitted by romath on January 31, 2018 - 6:30pm
Listening right now. Nice for dancing. However, whether or not she can sing - hard to tell from the title song - the music sounds like a zillion other songs on for quite some time on smooth jazz radio and many pop stations. Would like to hear something original from her.
These records cost too much to produce
Submitted by lowcost plentymusic on February 6, 2018 - 5:02pm
Start selling low cost musical instruments and digital sound processing and recording for the general market. Today's digital technologies are produced at next to nothing costs and can be sold worldwide. Every young folks can now produce an album and post it in a website for almost no money. Digital studio monitors and every recording devises cost less than a thousands.. Do you realize how much money it cost them to produce pink Floyd the wall ??? now stop this game and produce as good albums as yes, emerson lake and palmer or pink Floyd and put that on the market. For a living any musicians and album producers can keep their daily jobs in restaurants or factories and work late at night and on week ends at home and just transfert their tracks to each other and record at home with headphones. If ever the material is good than show it on free hdtv antenna television channels so we gonna record it for free at home and remove all publicity
Tom Petty.....still can't get over it.
Submitted by RVCJJ3J on May 28, 2018 - 10:00pm
I realize I'm way late to this conversation but still felt as if I must respond to the Tom Petty picks for 'Albums to Die For'. While the above mentioned are great picks I've recently been going for Petty's 1994 solo masterpiece Wildflowers. Another gem recorded at the legendary Sound City in Los Angeles. The album was produced by Petty, Mike Campbell and, notably, Rick Rubin. Like some of Rubin's other recordings, I'm thinking of the Johnny Cash American Records and some of the Avett Bros. stuff, these tracks are stripped to their minimums yet still carry weight 'like a Mack truck'. This album of great songs were exceptionally recorded, mixed and mastered and are one of the 'Albums I'd Die For'.
No accounting for taste...
Submitted by Bkhuna on September 9, 2018 - 3:06am
I zipped over to Tidal to give "The Yellow Moon of Andalusia" a listen. Thought it was a long lost Frank Zappa recording.
Records to Die For 2021
2016 Records To Die For


Granada Pioneer . Amache, Colo., May 6. (Amache, CO), May. 6 1944. https://0-www.loc.gov.oasys.lib.oxy.edu/item/sn83025522/1944-05-06/ed-1/.
(1944, May 6) Granada Pioneer . Amache, Colo., May 6. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://0-www.loc.gov.oasys.lib.oxy.edu/item/sn83025522/1944-05-06/ed-1/.
Granada Pioneer . Amache, Colo., May 6. (Amache, CO) 6 May. 1944. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/sn83025522/1944-05-06/ed-1/.


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Are the Japanese soft on Climate Change?
By CarterJMRN 21/05/2020 No Comments
By Dominic Carter
At CarterJMRN we've heard many times over the years that Japanese people do not seem to care about climate change or, for that matter, environmental issues in general. This makes it hard for people whose job is to encourage positive change, and it is with those important stakeholders in mind that we're writing this article.
Perceptions of Climate Change in Japan
Japanese' apparent passive stance on the topic of climate change is a situation which often seems to mirror their stance on other 'progressive' challenges such as gender equality, the status of minorities and so forth.
It's certainly not our intention in this article to claim that this is necessarily a misconception. In the past few years, CarterJMRN have done extensive face to face work with consumers for NPOs and commercial organisations on a range of challenging social topics, including environmental conservation and climate change. In our work we have repeatedly seen a passivity that is characteristic of many average Japanese when talking about complex (and seemingly intractable) problems.
Indeed, Japan can often seem way behind when compared to the progress that has been made in activating other advanced economies (especially the young) in addressing the looming climate emergency. However, the idea that Japanese are fundamentally inconvincible and impossible to motivate when it comes to getting behind positive change is one that we don't agree with. Rather, the challenge when viewing this as an outsider is how you CAN do this, considering the way that Japan's culture and society works.
It is also an important global challenge. Japan can and should have a large role to play in this challenge. Japan is the world's third biggest economy and as such is also a huge contributor to the problem. For example, although there has recently been some good news, its banks in recent years have been quietly and steadily forging forward with financing of major coal projects in developing countries. Japan's stance on climate change is one that, as it becomes more positive, will have great influence in the world.
It may be convenient to think that Japanese are perhaps less aware of global issues, including those of the environment. This is not the case. The average person in Japan is extremely well informed and, in their own way, confident in their world view. However, it's also true that Japanese are not an easy target for persuasion on anything, let alone issues to do with the environment and climate. Does this mean that Japanese are in favour of doing nothing, or that the problem is not real? Absolutely not. Ordinary Japanese can identify and empathise with these real issues, locally and globally. They know that everything is not OK. Indeed, three quarters in a recent population representative CarterJMRN survey (taken in March 2020) said that they want greater transparency in government and business.
But there are important cultural differences to consider when comparing Japanese viewpoints, that are relevant to this topic. Before I launch into a discussion of cultural differences, I want to emphasise that 'cultural differences' are never absolute. We all, regardless of culture have similar fundamental needs and motivations. Our differences only exist in terms of degree and sometimes just in our unconsciously biased minds. Nevertheless, if a preference or characteristic is only slightly more expressed on average in a different population it will be noticeable. For example, we tend to say that Japanese are quiet people, but most of us have also met very extroverted Japanese. Often it is the situation that determines how people express themselves. Therefore, it's most useful to look at cultural differences as being apparent but not absolute.
Having said that, in the west traditional problem-solving approaches tend to favour assessing and solving problems stridently head on. The faster, more empirical, logic driven and surer the action, the more we tend to admire it. That's a typically Western vision of good decision making and leadership. However, in Japan, this is not often the case. The maxim that tends to override is 'first do no harm'. In other words, it is far more important not to risk or negate anything in the solving of a problem than to (perhaps negatively) solve the problem.
Integrating Japanese Traditions and Global Climate Efforts
In Japan, there are frequent examples of how some would rather live with problems than take the risks inherent in action. We have seen this time and again in our work with the consumer. Even in areas such as house cleaning, where surface cleaners are preferred to not clean too perfectly or to be "too efficacious", or anti-ageing regimes which should not be too effective in 'erasing' lines and wrinkles. That the stove that never achieves a "great" clean or the face that never gets as smooth as it might is less important than any potential negatives or threat to wellbeing – even in the slightest. The middle path is the way, even in the supermarket.
We have witnessed how science through the ages has taken its place over religion as the ultimate authority. Nevertheless, Japan remains a place where tradition still stands as the ultimate authority. This means that gradual change is usually preferred to the sudden, transformational change that westerners often desire in their societies.
Japanese consumers also tell us that this is a society where things tend to be 'taken care of' by authority and the powers that be. Indeed, while Japanese diligently hold responsibility as a core cultural value, the scope of their responsibility is quite personal. Although people might undertake amazing feats of courage and perseverance in the workplace, there are relatively few examples in the public domain. In short, responsibility for 'my' world exists with me, and responsibility for the outside world is delegated to those in charge of that. The locus of citizen action, responsibility and control is typically then at the individual level. This is not to say that those in power are above criticism. Politicians and businesspeople are heavily criticised from time to time but elites in Japan are generally trusted and the weightier questions of managing society are left to them.
However, this is changing. In our recent sentiment survey, 58% of Japanese agreed that the government response on climate change is not enough. A similar proportion, 55%, also agreed that businesses, both Japanese and foreign, should be encouraged by their customers to stop investing in projects which could negatively impact climate change. This strong result really surprised us – the idea that the consensus is an apathetic one simply isn't the case. Sustainability is common sense in Japan as much as it is anywhere else.
But it bears remembering that in every society, and especially in east Asian societies including Japan, the sender (and therefore credibility) of a message has a strong impact on the likelihood of it being listened to. If you seek to persuade Japanese on anything, including on climate change action, your message should not be assumed as acceptable on its face value, or even on the strength of its rational underpinning. In terms of being listened to, who you are often matters more than what you say. So, if you seek to convince you must first work to build trust. Transparency of your background and motives is a cost of entry to this important conversation.
It is also important to realise that (as many who have tried have seen), while people see the desirability of action on progressive issues, preaching to them is largely ineffective. People want to have a sense of action and change on social and environmental issues, and not just talk. There is no interest in supporting people and organisations with no chance of making a difference.
In work we have done with women in the area of gender equality we have also seen that there is a delicate balance between societal change and acceptability. It is believed that overall 'society' should support change- but it's not clear how.
The sense is that no-one is leading the way on these issues or driving positive change, with most "muddling through" issues on their own, and there's a sense of inertia that it's too hard to effect change. However, what we found across their life stories was a common theme of "I am stronger than I realised" and "together we can". I see a lot of parallels between the mountains that need climbing in gender equality and climate change. On both issues, solutions that lie in empowering the individual to take safe but collective action, and thus expanding the scope of where people can apply their power, are very promising. Work in this area to date indicates that this is the best general approach for activist organisations to achieve their campaigning goals and for the seeds of genuine change to be planted.
Representative Director & CEO
A double major graduate in marketing and Japanese studies from the University of New South Wales, Dominic came to Japan from Australia in the late 90's to launch and develop the Japan business of a major global research company. His career highlights include being local managing director for a top ten global research agency, founding his own business in Japan and helping some of the largest brands in the world use research to influence real improvements in their Japanese business performance.
Climate ChangeCultureJapanJapanese
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