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Net Shop Boys
Menswear sites can offer a rare window into how cis men perform gender for each other
Sasha Geffen October 30, 2017 share
Image: From The Smile of a Snake (2016) by George Henry Longly. Courtesy of the artist and Koppe Astner, Glasgow.
Every so often, when the algorithm decides that I am male, I'm served ads on my Twitter feed for remote personal stylist services. Cheaper than personal shoppers who work face-to-face with their clients, these monthly subscription sites market themselves like Blue Apron; they're for people who'd like to dress well, but don't want to spend time rifling through the racks, just as Blue Apron caters to those who aspire to cook well without setting foot in a grocery store. You punch in your measurements and preferences and let someone — the marketing emphasizes that there's a real person on the other side of the screen, often depicted as a woman — pick out a box of clothes for you. When it comes in the mail, you pay for the articles you'd like to keep, plus a "styling fee," and send the rest back.
Companies like Stitch Fix, Trunk Club, and Frank & Oak offer these services to both men and women, and while my government ID suggests I'm the latter, I've only been served ads tailored to men. These web spots suggest that the service removes an obviously undesirable obstacle (shopping) to an obviously desirable goal (looking good). Stitch Fix's introductory lingo promises, in clipped commands, "Save time. Look great." The service is identical for each gender, but the company bifurcates its marketing: Women sign up for a friend, while men sign up for a technology. Women receive their packages with "a personal note written by your Stylist;" men receive an unfussy stack of clothes.
Women sign up for a friend, while men sign up for a technology. Women receive their packages with "a personal note written by your Stylist;" men receive an unfussy stack of clothes
The idea that shopping for clothes is an inherently feminine activity — for men, it's at best a nuisance, at worst emasculating — saturates American culture. It's the premise to many a sitcom gag, as well as viral YouTube clips like "Shoes." Even the layouts of department stores like Macy's or Nordstrom indicate that for women, shopping is leisure and entertainment, accompanied by bright, glittering displays and wide varieties of products. For men, it's work, performed among spare racks, bright spotlights, and solemn browns and blues, something you do to get done and get on with your life. A 2004 study performed by researchers at the University of Wollongong indicates that men are far more likely to be "hunter" shoppers who enter a store to procure a single, needed item and then leave, while women act as "gatherers" who linger in stores, often with a group of friends, and find pleasure in making spontaneous purchases.
Stitch Fix and its ilk assume that men would rather avoid shopping, but other digital startups employ a newer script. Rather than encourage shoppers to hunt down their prey and bolt, retailers like the online luxury fashion outlet Ssense, which caters to both men and women, have recently introduced robust editorial sections to their websites, inviting shoppers to read up on the cultural contexts of the clothes they buy. And the site Grailed — part social network, part editorial outlet, and part resale store — similarly operates on the premise that there exist men who actually enjoy shopping for (and lusting after) clothing.
Like a niche eBay, Grailed allows individual users to buy and sell items, with no structural distinction made between full-time, high-volume sellers and people who just clean out their closet sometimes. More than traditional online retailers, who sell from a position of impermeable authority, Grailed facilitates an intimacy among its participants that contradicts cultural norms concerning men and their clothes. Because anything you can buy there necessarily comes from another person, not a store, communication on the site flows bidirectionally. Instead of dictating gender to men with well-funded, deeply researched marketing campaigns, Grailed offers a rare window into how cis men perform gender for each other.
Fashion is necessarily an aspirational industry; you're always supposed to want more clothing, preferably clothing a little better than what you already have. Moreso than many consumer products, clothes themselves hold an embodied potential. They're visual signifiers enmeshed with the body — they transform the body, allow the body access to specific spaces, enable communication with certain people. In their advertising materials, designers and retailers stimulate consumers' aspirational fantasies — maybe Polo makes you long for the chance to throw a yacht party, or Balmain for an invitation to an exclusive cocktail bar. These fantasies are powerful, but also broad and often sterilized. The models look superhuman, broadcasting their wares from a plane somewhere beyond our own. The peer-to-peer fashion market, conversely, operates without such a stark power imbalance. Sellers on Grailed are individuals or small businesses, not industry powerhouses. Their communication is limited and rife with human flaws — motion blur, spelling errors, awkward poses under beautiful clothes. The products might still be costly on the resale marketplace, but they're sold via a whisper, not a megaphone.
Grailed emphasizes the sale of luxury clothing — its editorial section is full of primers on high-end designers like Rei Kawakubo and Rick Owens — but it permits the listing of just about anything you can wear. It divides its wares into three sections: "Grails" is where you find the good stuff, like Gucci, Saint Laurent, and Balmain; "Hype" offers brand new streetwear from outlets like Supreme, scooped up IRL and sold at a profit; and "Core" is everything else. Load the homepage and by default you'll only see Grails, but like on eBay, the dregs reward a thorough comb. Buyers rate transactions, enabling a reputational system for sellers, but both purchases and sales add to the tally next to any given username, marking every user by the volume of their activity on the network. You can "like" a particular item by clicking a heart icon to monitor its price, which may drop, and you can follow sellers whose offerings you like, rendering a chronological stream of items similar to Twitter's timeline or Facebook's news feed.
Like any sufficiently active online community, Grailed has its own vernacular and customs. Some of the lingo is baked into the interface — hilariously, the site's shoe section is called "footwear," and there's a whole different tab for "sneakers." But slang appears within individual listings, too, much of it overlapping the language used on men's style forums. Leather jackets become "leathers," as in, "I'm only selling this because I have too many leathers." A new batch of sweatpants from Palm Angels or Needles is a "drop," a word shared with gamers slaughtering bosses for the loot. TTS stands for "true to size," BNWT is "brand new with tags," and so on. The language is utilitarian enough, but also strikingly specific. Unlike eBay, whose listings run the gamut from hyperdetailed descriptions with high-res photos to a few tossed-off words, Grailed offers a consistent and individuated browsing experience even for people who prefer to window shop.
Most listings include more or less standard information about the item being sold, but certain sellers inject personality and backstory into the text of their listings, describing where the item was purchased, how many times it's been worn, and why they're letting it go. Some stage their photos against pleasing backdrops in their homes, modeling clothes in a light-drenched living room full of houseplants, a copy of Swann's Way or Infinite Jest left conspicuously on a nearby coffee table. These details reduce the aspirational aesthetics of professional fashion campaigns to an individual scale. Sellers may be performing in front their own cameras in hopes of offloading their wares, but their props and sets are limited to what they already own and the space in which they already live.
Clothes themselves hold an embodied potential. They're visual signifiers enmeshed with the body. Grailed is an aperture, albeit a narrow one, into how men resolve their bodies with the world
Popular sellers tend to infuse their listings with sumptuous details, not only in the photos, out of which their faces tend to be cropped or blurred, but in the descriptions. A leather jacket is never just a leather jacket, and because potential buyers can't feel it themselves, a well-worded description is key. Sellers detail the weight of the leather, whether it's soft or stiff, and the sensory experience that accompanies touching it. The best leather jackets, the ones that go for thousands of dollars used, tend to be "juicy" or "oily," though some are "blistered," i.e. deliberately cracked. "The details on the leather is [sic] breathtaking and so alive — the most tremendous leather job from Rick's hand!" reads a listing for a 2009 Rick Owens jacket, originally up for $3,300. "This jacket is literally like a piece of art; you can stare at the leather for hours and always find new cracking details and skin in bloom." That anyone would gaze into a leather jacket for hours seems unlikely, but that a seller would hint at this experience indicates a particular expression of masculinity: a masculinity that encompasses the appreciation of beauty and sensuality, a masculinity beyond strict utilitarian behavior.
The amateur photoshoots and breathless descriptions open up a particular pathos among the men who sell on Grailed. They expose small perforations into their interior, individual lives — the way they decorate their homes, how they carry themselves, their tattoos. The tenor of the site allows room for an automatic intimacy among the men who use it (there are some women in the ranks, but not many, from what I can tell). In one of my first interactions on the marketplace, a seller called me "bro," a gesture I found both disarming and charming. There's no information about me on my profile, no photos of my body — why wouldn't I be a bro? It was like he was saying, we're all boys here, it's okay.
That American masculinity considers shopping a taboo speaks, in a way, to its parameters, its limits. Derided as superficial and frivolous, shopping is in fact often a process of serious consideration about how you modulate your body in the world, how the interior life can be communicated by way of the visible presence. The cliché question — "does this make me look fat?" — has serious ramifications once you get at what's inside it: Will I be socially ostracized for how I look? Will the way I present myself render me undesirable? When teen girls shop together, they learn from each other how best to articulate themselves to ensure their future social and emotional survival.
By encouraging sociality in shopping for clothing, Grailed punctures the isolation of American masculinity. Unlike subscription-based clothing startups, it presumes no shame among its members; instead, it fosters excitement about choosing their own clothes, guided by their peers. When I use it to contextualize my own strange, inchoate masculinity, I browse unencumbered by images of ultra-ripped, testosterone-ripe cis men that populate the pages of many traditional online retailers — idealized bodies that bear very little resemblance to most other cis men, let alone me. Grailed is an aperture, albeit a narrow one, into how men negotiate their masculinity, how they resolve their bodies with the world. The quirks in their performance, where I can find them, act as ruptures in a gender that's mythologized as self-evident, never practiced, never learned. These holes are doors. They are a way in.
Sasha Geffen is the author of Glitter Up the Dark: How Pop Music Broke the Binary, an analysis of queerness and gender nonconformity in the past century of popular music. Their writing attends to the intersections of gender, pop culture, the body, and technology, and has been published in Artforum, the Nation, Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, Paris Review, and elsewhere. Originally from Boston, they now live in Colorado.


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After working with four generations of Inshore Fisheries family, Yarmouth County woman getting set to retire
Kathy Johnson (Kathy.Johnson@tricountyvanguard.ca)
Published: Nov 21, 2017 at 8:26 p.m.
Nancy d'Entremont, long-time bookkeeper for Inshore Fisheries in West Pubnico, poses with the fourth generation of the family she has worked with during her career. From left: George, Andre and Marc d'Entremont. KATHY JOHNSON PHOTO - Kathy Johnson
"She might know us better than we know ourselves"
WEST PUBNICO, N.S. – Through four generations and almost 50 years, Nancy d'Entremont has seen a lot of changes as bookkeeper for Inshore Fisheries Ltd. in West Pubnico, Yarmouth County.
D'Entremont began her career with Inshore Fisheries in February 1969, working for Mercedes d'Entremont and her business partner Lester d'Entremont.
"The office was in her house," recalls d'Entremont. And the pay was good. "I started at $40 a week."
In those days, buying and selling lobsters was the main focus of the company.
"It was very different than it is today," says d'Entremont. "When we did payroll, it was all cash. We had to figure out how many $20s, $10s, $5s and how many coin to get and go to the bank and get it. We paid everything with cash.
"We had a plant in Jordan Bay and we would send the driver down with a bag of cash. We always had these big amounts of cash to deal with. If we tried to do that today, it would take forever, of course they weren't making the money they do today, and the catches were nothing comparted to what they are today."
With lobsters fetching about 50 cents a pound back then it certainly was a very different type of fishing than it is now, says d'Entremont.
Getting used to a computer was a big change, she says. Aside from dealing in cash, back in the day all the ledgers and books were kept by hand so it meant a lot of writing.
"Now it's all computerized," says d'Entremont. "Even in the plant itself, our machines to cut fish over the years have improved," as has the freezers, ice plants and other components.
Mercedes' three sons Larry, Eric and Bernadin were the next generation of the family to operate Inshore Fisheries.
"Larry ran the fresh fish plant so he wasn't right with us in the lobsters," says d'Entremont. "The other two boys were in the lobsters."
During the 1970s, the company got out of the lobster buying business as well as salt fish production, and concentrated their efforts on fresh fish production. D'Entremont made the move to the office at the plant on the Dennis Point wharf. The main species processed at the time was yellow tail flounder.
"That was our big thing for many years. It wasn't haddock," says d'Entremont. "After Georges Bank got divided, it seems all the yellow tail flounder stayed on their (U.S.) side more than they stayed on our side. Now we do a lot of haddock. We have three boats, draggers, and buy a lot of fish from other plants that don't do processing."
The haddock is processed into fillets and a lot is sold locally to restaurants as well as local major grocery chains like Sobeys. Some is also shipped to Boston and as far as Ontario.
"We used to freeze a lot of fish," says d'Entremont. "We still freeze a bit but nothing like we used to do."
By the 1980s it was time for the next generation of d'Entremonts to take over the helm at Inshore Fisheries with four cousins Shawn (Eric's son) Jean Guy (Larry's son) and Yvon and Claude (Bernadin's sons). After a few years Jean Guy left so it was the three of them for many years.
Over the years, Inshore Fisheries has grown into one of Yarmouth County's largest employers, with close to 100 employees on shore and on the water.
"Our captains have been the same captains for many years," says d'Entremont. "We don't have a big turnover on our boats."
In the plant there are about 75 people employed year-round, but as is the nature of the fishing industry, it all depends on the weather related. If the boats can't go out, there's no work.
Throughout the decades, and the business's family generations, d'Entremont has been a constant in the office for Inshore Fisheries.
"I've enjoyed my work. They are a great bunch of guys to work with. They're very accommodating, very good. I can't speak highly enough of them," she says. "Obviously, they're doing something good if I stayed here this many years."
The feeling is mutual.
"She's been a loyal employee forever," says Shawn d'Entremont. "She might know us better than we know ourselves because I've never known anybody in this capacity except Nancy since I started. When we come to work we never have to worry about the office. We could concentrate on the other things we had to do. The administration was well taken care of. We never had any problems. That means a lot."
When asked if Nancy is like family, "Absolutely," says Shawn.
"She's very close to our workers as well. Our workers see her a close friend, the captains, especially, who have been with us for many years. She's a very good listener and caring person. A good sounding board. It's going to be different that's for sure."
The difference he talks about is when Nancy leaves.
She will be officially retiring in February, 2018, marking 49 years as the bookkeeper for Inshore Fisheries, but not before working with a fourth generation of the d'Entremont family; Shawn's two sons Marc and George, and Yvon's son Andre.
IN DEPTH: The Ultimate recycling project in Nova Scotia: Meteghan River house built with around 612,000 recycled plastic bottles
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A dream with flavour - Annapolis County ex-pat creates sea salt business so he can return home to the place he loves
Extraordinary auto exec Lee Iacocca, rescuer of Chrysler, promoter of minivan, dead at 94
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Smith & Mighty
Format: CD, Download
Release Date World: Monday 25th October 2004
It has been fifteen years since SMITH & MIGHTY released their first single "Anyone". One and a half decades later, the Bristol based duo can proudly look back at their oeuvre. Appropriately named "Retrospective", the new SMITH & MIGHTY CD presents their finest tracks, early releases, rarities as well as recent recordings by Rob Smith and Ray Mighty.
The "Bristol Sound" was largely influenced by the music and productions by SMITH & MIGHTY. It all started with their Three Stripe Sound System in the early 80's. Championing a unique mix of funk, rap, reggae and dub the name Three Stripe quickly became a name for quality. Their own productions soon followed. In 1987, SMITH & MIGHTY released a few Burt Bacharach cover versions, "Anyone (Who Had A Heart)" ("Anyone"), and later "Walk On By" ("Walk On"). With these tracks, marked by low frequency basslines, soulful vocals and deep arrangements, SMITH & MIGHTY laid down the blueprint for the releases that followed from the British coast town, such as the debut single "Any Love" by Massive Attack. After a rather unlucky deal with London Records, SMITH & MIGHTY released their first official album in 1995, titled "Bass Is Maternal" on their own label More Rockers. During the euphoria for drum'n'bass in 1998, SMITH & MIGHTY finally had their international breakthrough. A fantastic set at Radio 1's "Essential Mix" catapulted the Bristol outfit into the front row. The following release of their "DJ Kicks" for !K7 which in large part is made of their own productions raised the buzz to global proportions. SMITH & MIGHTY's DJ tour which followed showcased their vast musical range and received enthusiastic responses in Germany, England, France, Japan and the USA.
The large musical spectrum SMITH & MIGHTY covered for their first releases also shaped their first album for !K7, "Big World, Small World", which was released early 2000. Contrary to the dark and apocalyptic sound sketches by Tricky, Massive Attack and Portishead, SMITH & MIGHTY remained true to the original spirit of Bristol. With their mix of hip hop, reggae and soul and their deep love for dub, SMITH & MIGHTY produced a classic album. Following the huge success of "Big World, Small World", !K7 re-released "Bass Is Maternal" in summer 2000 which helped to re-raise awareness for the first masterpiece by SMITH & MIGHTY. The album eventually entered the German album charts. Two years later, the album "Life Is…" was released on !K7, which highlighted further excursions into the realms of dubbed out, rhythmically versatile, urban soul.
After three albums and a dozen of 12" singles, it's now about time for a "Best Of" compilation by the former More Rockers. On "Retrospective" one finds the biggest tunes by SMITH & MIGHTY, rare gems and floor burners. Like the first two tracks, who until recently were very hard to get: "Come On Back" is an impossible to find Bristol classic featuring the legendary singer Carlton. In 1990, Carlton released the album "The Call Is Strong", which by many music critics is considered more important than "Blue Lines" by Massive Attack. Even Daddy G, one of the heads of Massive Attack, said in an interview that "..it was Carlton who made THE Bristol record". The song was produced by Three Stripe, a.k.a. SMITH & MIGHTY. The same for "Wishing On A Star", a long lost Bristol anthem, which originally charted in 1989 in the front rows of the UK top 100. The track was performed by Fresh 4 who originally consisted of well-known UK DJs and producers DJ Krust, DJ Suv (later together with DJ Die and Roni Size part of the "Full Cyle" crew), Judge and Flynn (who later went on to form the UK drum'n'bass outfit "Flynn and Flora"). This song, which was personally signed by Richard Branson for Virgin, illustrates the many personal connections that have shaped the music coming from Bristol in the recent two decades.
Most notably "Retrospective" shows how timeless the sound by SMITH & MIGHTY remains. Though many of the songs were born in the mixing desk of SMITH & MIGHTY more than one and a half decades ago, their sound endures. Whether it's the entrancing Burt Bacharach cover version of "Walk On By" ("Walk On"), the dubby drum'n'bass monster "Down In Rwanda" or the skanking 2002 dancefloor smasher "B-Line Fi Blow" – this "Best Of" selection is an essential compilation for every serious collection of electronic dance music. No doubt, "Retrospective" by SMITH & MIGHTY can be filed right next to albums like "The Call Is Strong" by Carlton, "Blue Lines" by Massive Attack, "Dummy" by Portishead, "Maxinquaye" by Tricky or Roni Size & Reprazent's "New Forms".


"We die the way we live," says BJ Miller, a palliative care doctor at a facility called Zen Hospice in San Francisco, "and all of us are dying." I heard Miller give a TED Talk a couple of years ago, and last winter I read a story about him in the NY Times.
When BJ Miller was a sophomore at Princeton University, one Monday night, he and two friends went out drinking. Late that night, on their way back, drunk and hungry, they headed to WAWA for sandwiches.
There's a rail junction near the WAWA, connecting the campus to the city's main train line. A commuter train was parked there that night, idle, tempting BJ Miller and his friends to climb up it.
When he got to the top, 11,000 volts shot out of a piece of equipment and into Miller's watch on his left arm and down his legs. When his friends got to him, smoke was rising from his shoes.
BJ Miller woke up several days later in the burn unit at St. Barnabas Hospital to discover it wasn't a terrible dream. More terribly, he found that his arm and his legs had been amputated.
Turmoil and anguish naturally followed those first hazy days, but eventually Miller returned to Princeton where he ended up majoring in art history.
The brokenness of the ancient sculptures— the broken arms and broken ears and broken noses— helped him affirm his own broken body as beautiful.
After medical school, Miller found his way to Zen Hospice in California where their goal is to de-pathologize death; that is, to recover death as a human experience and not a medical one.
They impose neither medicine nor meaning onto the dying. Rather, as Miller puts it, they let their patients "play themselves out." Whomever they've been in life is who they're encouraged to be in their dying.
For example, the NY Times story documents how Miller helped a young man named Sloan, who was dying quickly of cancer, die doing what he loved to do: drink Bud Light and play video games.
"The mission of Zen Hospice is about wresting death from the one- size-fits-all approach of hospitals, but it's also about puncturing a competing impulse: our need for death to be a transcendent experience.
They're going to feel like there is something they must be doing that they're not doing.
They're going to worry that they're doing something wrong or they're going to fear that they're not doing enough.
We die the way we live.
Just as many die thinking that there's something more spiritual or profound or meaningful they're supposed to be doing and worry that they aren't doing it or aren't doing it right or doing it enough, we live with that same anxiety.
St. Paul says earlier in his Letter to the Romans that the Law (what we ought to do, who we ought to be) is written not just on tablets of stone but on every single human heart, believer and unbeliever alike.
Therefore, you're hard-wired to think that there's something else you should be doing for God.
You're hard-wired to think there's somone else you should be for God.
In a way, it's natural for you to think that Jesus came down from Heaven, cancelled out your debts upon the cross, but now it's on you to work your way up to God, climbing up to glory one commandment at a time.
The Golden Rule may not justify you before God, but with the Law written on your heart it's not surprising you think the Golden Rule makes a good ladder up to him.
With the Law written on our hearts, it's natural that we live in the same exhausting manner in which BJ Miller says so many of us attempt to die.
Indeed St. Paul writes in Galatians that this way of living is a ministry of death— it kills us.
It kills us because tonight's scripture, I believe, is the only empirically verifiable, objectively true claim in all of the Bible.
Paul's confession here in Romans 7 is an indictment of us all. None of you really know the stranger you call you. The good you want to do is very often what you do not do and the evil and damage you want to avoid is very often the very evil and damage you wreak.
As Thomas Cranmer puts Paul here: What the heart loves, the will chooses, and the mind justifies. The mind doesn't direct the will. The mind is captive to what the will wants, and the will itself, in turn, is captive to what the heart wants.
We're hard-wired to do, Paul says, but such doings end up deadly because we are all strangers to ourselves.
Tonight, we answer Paul's question with ash and oil.
The way we live and the way we die— it's natural.
But the Gospel is not natural.
The Gospel must be revealed.
Because the Law comes naturally to us while the Gospel does not, we can never take the Gospel for granted. We need to remind ourselves of the Gospel over and again. So tonight we make the Gospel message plain on the best ad space available to us, our faces.
Even though what we'll say to you tonight, "Remember that from dust you came and to dust you will return," sounds like a micro-aggression, the medicine administered tonight is not grim but, to those who know they are sick in a Romans 7 sort of way, it is the good news of the Great Physician.
What we make plain on your face tonight is the Gospel.
"Remember that from dust you came and to dust you shall return" is Gospel because for you the only death that matters is the death you have behind you.
I'm going to say that again so you've got it: "Remember that from dust you came and to dust you shall return" is good news because for you the only death that matters is the death you have behind you.
Don't let the props get in the way— what's important about the ash-and-oil cross we smear across your fore-head is that it's a cross.
The wages of sin is death, the Apostle Paul writes.
We mix up our metaphors on Ash Wednesday, dust…ash…dirt…sin…death…because the wage for the sin we should mourn with ashes is a death marked by the throwing of dirt.
Or the sprinkling of water.
While the words we will say to you invite you to remember that you're going to die, the cross we smear on you invites you to remember that you already have.
The cross on your forehead isn't a symbol of your sin.
The cross on your forehead is a symbol of your death.
That is, the cross is an oily and ashen reminder of your baptism.
"To dust you came and to dust you shall return"—- you're gonna die— is grim godawful news not good news unless it presumes the prior promise that by your baptism you have already died the only death that ultimately matters.
You will die, sure. From dirt you came and, when your DNR kicks in or the Medicare runs out or your children lose their patience, you'll just as surely get planted right back there.
But the death that should haunt. The death that should keep you up at night— meeting God in the good you wanted to do but did not do and the evil you did not want to do but did— the death that should haunt you is a death you've already died.
You've already been paid the wages your sins have earned.
What you have done and what you have left undone— what you have coming to you has already come to you by way of the grave we call a font.
By water and the Spirit, God drowned sinful you into Christ's death.
The death Christ died he died to sin, once for all. The death Christ died he died for your sins, all of them, once, and in his blood by your baptism all your sins have been washed away.
We do not smudge our foreheads to solicit God's forgiveness for our sins. We smudge our foreheads to celebrate God's once for all forgiveness of them.
The wages of sin smudged on your head is good news not grim news.
Your sin, though incontrovertible, cannot condemn you. There is therefore now no condemnation for you.
The seal of that promise is your baptism into his death. The sign of that promise is the symbol of his death smeared on your temple.
What's miraculous, BJ Miller contends, more miraculous than empty, contrived spiritual gestures, is watching what the dying do with their lives once they learn they have the freedom not to do anything.
What's miraculous is watching what the dying do with their lives once they learn they have the freedom not to do anything, the freedom just to play themselves out.
The Law comes naturally to us but the Gospel does not so tonight if the ash and oil doesn't do it then let a triple amputee agnostic working at crunchy Buddhist hospice hospital on the Left Coast remind: it's the work of the Gospel to unburden you from the crushing weight of expectations.
It's the work of the Gospel to unburden you from the accusations of all the Oughts and Shoulds and Musts— the Law— written on your heart, a heart which— at best— you know only dimly.
The Gospel is that, though what's inside of you is about as beautiful as what we smear on the outside of you— though you are every bit as broken and busted up as those sculptures that rescued BJ Miller— nonetheless you are forgiven and justified and loved exactly as you are…FULL STOP.
What are you going to do with this faith of yours now that you have the freedom not to do anything?
What are you going to do with this life of yours now that you can live— free—with death behind you?
What are you going to do for your neighbor now that— with death behind you— there's nothing more for you to earn.
What are you going to do now that you have the freedom not to do anything?
It's fitting then that crowd is always smaller tonight.
Like hospice, it's not for everybody.
The ash and oil tonight is like palliative medicine for those who are already dead in Christ.
It's a visible, tangible reminder that you who, lives with death behind you, you're free to play yourself out. To learn the art of living posthumously.
The ash and the oil— it marks you out as one like those busted up sculptures without the noses and the ears, broken by the Law but declared beautiful by the Gospel.
And you'll leave here tonight not practicing your piety before others— as Jesus wants us not to do.
You'll leave here tonight like one of those broken sculptures inviting another broken person to discover themselves beautiful.


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In Lake Barrington, part of Anderson Road between routes 59 and 176 is set for resurfacing, among other 2019 roadwork planned in the village.
Barrington area villages and the Illinois Department of Transportation will soon start summer road and drainage repairs in residential areas as temperatures warm and grounds begin to thaw, officials announced.
In North Barrington, IDOT has started constructing three drainage upgrade projects along routes 59 and 22.
On Route 59 at Signal Hill, the project consists of culvert relining and storm sewer improvements with daily road closures over the next two to three weeks, according to a postcard sent out to residents from the village.
After Route 59 is completed, the drainage work continues on Route 22, east of Route 59.
The route will be reduced to one lane with temporary lighting and traffic signals up to three months, according to village officials.
Located west of Old Barrington Road in Lake Barrington, on Route 22 upgrades begin after school the school year ends in the coming weeks, and is expected to take 25 days — with full route closure.
Also in Lake Barrington, about a half-mile of Anderson Road between routes 59 and 176 is set for resurfacing May 6 to June 28 in the Lakeland Estate subdivision, costing the village $155,500, said Village Administrator Karen Daulton Lange.
"Anderson Road is fairly-well traveled. It connects Route 59 and Route 176, and temporary one-lane closures are with a flagger out there," she said.
Area villages have been in communication with each other regarding the road projects, officials said.
"North Barrington notified us because these projects are an intergovernmental agreement, and they not only effect Lake Barrington and South Barrington, but the whole motoring public," Lange said.
Lange also said the village spends $170,000 to $200,000 a year on road maintenance.
"We do about one street a year, and it varies because the streets vary in length in Lake Barrington," she said.
South Barrington officials said the village's street resurfacing program begins in May and ends in late June, with 14 streets scheduled for work.
Work is planned at Liberty Drive and Bartlett Road, Brandywine Road from Revere Road to Liberty Drive, and Lexington Road from Liberty Drive to Revere Drive.
A total of 3.8 miles of repairs across the village are planned, village officials said.
"We don't really look for number of miles to repair each year, just according to road conditions and our budget," said South Barrington Village Administrator Robert Palmer.
This year's total expenditure is $762,000.
South Barrington officials said the spring/summer 2019 street resurfacing in the village is expected to run from May to late June, with work scheduled for 14 streets.


Hunky Sheriff Yancy's not without his fair share of admirers in Justice Creek. After a terrible tragedy years before, though, he's faced life alone. Now the real-life woman of his dreams just happens to be his bride—and pregnant with the child of his heart, if not his reality. So "father" is a role that will come naturally to Seth. And will "husband" really be that far behind?


The new ten calorie sodas were displayed on the back of a delivery truck. Each of the cans had their brand name. All but one have a description of the type of soda. The one that doesn't isn't that obvious either: what does RC mean? It's probably the least known brand. For some reason, the masters of the universe felt compelled to name the orange soda, the lemon lime soda, the ginger ale and the root beer in white letters under the ten calorie blurb.
And then what do you call Dr. Pepper? Except by its 23 'authentic flavors'? But they're not proclaiming this in capital white lettering.
Either let's treat the consumer equally by naming all of the sodas or don't name them at all in such a bold way. RC does show 'Royal Crown Cola' in microscopic letters. Why did the marketers think we needed the captioning for A&W, Sunkist, 7UP and Canada Dry?


Christ Center Church is located at 4615 Platt Springs Road in West Columbia, South Carolina. Just 15 minutes from downtown Columbia, we are easily accessible from a number of directions. To view a detailed map of our location, click the View Map button. To get driving directions, enter your starting address and then click on the Plan Route button.


This is the best season of the year to spend some time on the beach, but if you are the one to stay indoors, you must already be thinking how to keep the house cool this summer. While air conditioning might be the easiest option, it isn't very pocket-friendly. As the summer heat intensifies, here are some ways to keep your homes cool without spending much on artificial ways of cooling.
Create Shade: Trees, umbrellas and canopies all create shade. Also, plan your trees strategically. While this may be a long-term plan, it is a great natural shade. Plant them in locations, where the sun hits the house the most during summers.
Cook Smart: Go for lighter meals that do not require a lot of cooking and cook during the cooler parts of the day. You can go for more salads and fruits which need minimal or no cooking and also keeps the body cool.
Move the Air: Catch a breeze where you can by keeping windows open during cooler hours. You can open the windows in opposite directions for cross ventilation or on lower and upper floors to create what is called the "stack effect" where warm air exits the upper level and draws in cooler air at the bottom level.
Block the Heat: Get the ductwork of the air conditioning system checked for leaks and get it fixed if required. Leaks can diminish system performance by 40%. Apart from this, air leaks in and out from various places in the house, so air sealing can help to keep the cool breeze in and keep the warm air out. Caulk and foam sealants can help seal ducts and other wall and ceiling openings. Also, keep the windows and vents shut during the hottest and humid hours of the day. Use blinds, drapes or window shades to keep the sunlight out.
Re-evaluating and Maintaining Air conditioners: Check the air conditioner filters at regular intervals and clean or replace them as required. Also, get the maintenance done annually by a trained professional. If you are looking at upgrading your air conditioner, pick one with a high energy star rating and choose an appropriate size as per the requirement of the room to ensure maximum cooling and energy efficiency.
Apart from this, wear light and loose clothing made of breathable fabrics like cotton and also use cotton bedsheets. Also, sip icy cold drinks and put a damp cotton cloth around your neck and other pressure points in the body to stay cool. Make the most of a cool breeze when you can and enjoy the summer.


Qualified accountant with a minimum 5 years' post qualification experience which ideally will have been within a retail or wholesale trading environment.
Forward thinking with attention to detail – a can do attitude.
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Seasons the incarnate word product started his NFL career
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The NFL plans to review the results before potentially moving ahead with video and instant replay for 2016 regular season and playoff games.
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The premium trading card product will offer an array of autograph and memorabilia cards from golf icons and rising stars, including Tiger Woods, Arnold Palmer, Annika Sorenstam, Bryson DeChambeau, Collin Morikawa, Justin Thomas, Matthew Wolff, Danielle Kang and Lexi Thompson.
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• Turner Sports confirmed Capital One's The Match: Champions for Change, a premier golf custom baseball jerseys with Phil Mickelson, Charles Barkley, Stephen Curry and Peyton Manning.
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CBS for the 34th consecutive year will air the Championship Game, with TBS for the second year getting the two Final Four games.
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What to expect at Harmony Public Schools for Fall 2021
The following is a message from Harmony Public Schools CEO Fatih Ay for HPS students, families and team members.
Hello … and happy summer vacation!
We hope you are having a fun and relaxing break. Here at Harmony, we're already hard at work preparing for another exciting and engaging school year for our students and team members. With the first day of classes just a few weeks away, we wanted to take this opportunity to provide our students, team members, and their families a little more information on what to expect in the coming school year.
Here are a few highlights, but expect more details along with our annual Back to School Playbook in the days ahead:
CAMPUS-BASED LEARNING FOR ALL: Last year, many of our families elected to learn remotely rather than sending their student to campus. Accordingly, Harmony came into the summer preparing to expand and further improve its virtual learning options for families in 2021-22. Unfortunately, state leaders in the Texas Legislature have declined to continue funding for full-time virtual learning in 2021-22 for all Texas public schools, eliminating the option for virtual learning for millions of public school students at thousands of campuses like ours across the state. We are closely monitoring all potential developments and will provide family updates as new developments may occur. In the meantime, we are eagerly looking forward to greeting all of our scholars back in person when the 2021-22 school year begins.
BACK-TO-SCHOOL TRANSITION HELP: Many of our students will be returning to campus for the first time in a long time this fall. For some of our youngest students, it will be their first time coming to campus ever. So we've developed a comprehensive transition plan that focuses on helping students regain possible academic losses from the past two years, Social Emotional Learning (SEL) support, increasing access to campus behavioral counselors, and a behavior intervention system that rewards good choices.
RETURN OF EXTRACURRICULARS & SPORTS: With proper safety precautions, Harmony students will be able to participate in a full range of in-person extracurricular activities this fall, including sports and other interschool competitions. We'll also continue to offer many of the clubs and activities that students enjoyed last school year. Keep an eye on the Clubs page of your campus website for more information on activities offered at your Harmony campus.
MODIFIED CAMPUS SANITATION PROTOCOLS: Health experts have learned a lot about how COVID-19 spreads since the start of the pandemic. So with all of our learners returning to campus this fall, we have modified some of our safety procedures and eliminated others to comply with the most up-to-date guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Texas Education Agency. Chief among those changes is a reduced social distance requirement in some indoor settings, a change in mask recommendations for outdoor activities, and the opportunity for visitors and volunteers to come to campus again under certain circumstances (at principal's discretion). Look for more complete details on these and other COVID-related guidelines in the coming days in our "Back to School Playbook."
MASKS OPTIONAL: According to an order from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, public schools are no longer allowed to require their students or team members to wear masks. Instead, masks are optional for both students and team members. Currently, the CDC strongly recommends masks for unvaccinated individuals ages 2 and older. (Ages 12 & Up: Find a free and convenient vaccine clinic near you.) Harmony will continue to offer masks for those who request them.
As you can see, helping our students move forward from the past two years both academically and social-emotionally will be key goals of the 2021-22 school year. We appreciate your ongoing support in this critical effort and will provide you more details soon.
Thank you for being a member of our Harmony Public Schools family.
We can't wait to see you this fall!
July 27, 2021 /by John Boyd
https://campus.harmonytx.org/hsihouston-new/wp-content/uploads/sites/136/2021/07/WHAT-TO-EXPECT-FOR-FALL-2021-1.png 788 940 John Boyd https://campus.harmonytx.org/hsihouston-new/wp-content/uploads/sites/136/2017/10/HSI-Houston-WHITE-letters-300px.png John Boyd2021-07-27 19:31:162021-07-27 14:35:38What to expect at Harmony Public Schools for Fall 2021
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For more information, please visit our Media & Public Relations page.
Harmony Public Schools ("Harmony") is committed to making the information on its website accessible to individuals with disabilities in compliance with the requirements of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader, eye tracking device, voice recognition software, etc.) and have difficulty accessing information on the Harmony website, please contact HPS Webmaster by email at accessibility@harmonytx.org . Please include the following when communicating with Harmony regarding accessibility issues:
A description of your accessibility concern.
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The best way to contact you (email address or phone number, or both).
Harmony will make appropriate accommodations to facilitate access to any website content.
Complaints regarding website accessibility may be submitted through the Public Complaint process outlined in Board Policy PG-1.12 (Public Complaints).
Please note that some pages on the Harmony website contain links to third-party sites, which are not within Harmony's control. If you notify Harmony of problems with accessing a third-party site that is necessary to participate in one of Harmony's programs or activities, we will make the material or information available in an accessible format.
If you are experiencing a problem with bullying at Harmony, or have other discipline-related concerns regarding one of our schools, please fill out the form at the link below for the Dean of Students.
HPS Child Find Policy
Please click here for the HPS Child Find Policy.
As required by Title IX, Harmony Public Schools does not (and is required not to) discriminate on the basis of sex in its educational programs or activities. This non-discrimination requirement applies to admission to and employment with Harmony Public Schools. Inquiries into issues related to Title IX may be referred to Harmony's Title IX Coordinator(s) (identified below), to the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights of the Department of Education, or both.
Title IX training presentation link
Harmony's Title IX Coordinators:
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clambert@harmonytx.org
713-343-3333 x1104 Employee and applicant matters
Kelly Ann Hebeler
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khebeler@harmonytx.org
Non-discrimination Statement as Part of the School's Admission Policy
It is the policy of HPS not to discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, age, or disability in its programs, services, or activities as required by Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended; Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972; and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended. For inquiries regarding non-discrimination policies, please contact Section 504/ADA Coordinator at (713) 343-3333 located at 9321 W. Sam Houston Pkwy S. Houston, TX 77099.
Non-discrimination Statement in Career and Technical Education Programs
HARMONY PUBLIC SCHOOLS offers support to school district for career and technical education programs in Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources; Architecture and Construction; Arts, Audio/Video Technology, and Communications; Business Management and Administration; Education and Training; Finance; Government and Public Administration; Health Science; Hospitality and Tourism; Human Services; Information Technology; Law, Public Safety, Corrections, and Security; Manufacturing; Marketing; Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics; Transportation, Distribution, and Logistics. Admission to these programs is based on enrollment in HARMONY PUBLIC SCHOOLS secondary schools.
It is the policy of HARMONY PUBLIC SCHOOLS not to discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex or handicap in its CTE programs, services or activities as required by Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended; Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972; and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended.
It is the policy of HARMONY PUBLIC SCHOOLS not to discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, handicap, or age in its employment practices as required by Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended; Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972; the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, as amended; and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended.
HARMONY PUBLIC SCHOOLS will take steps to assure that lack of English language skills will not be a barrier to admission and participation in all educational and CTE programs.
For information about your rights or grievance procedures, contact the Title IX Coordinator, CHARLES LAMBERT, and/or the Section 504 Coordinator, IHSAN KARA, at 9321 W. Sam Houston Pkwy S. Houston, TX 77099, Phone: (713) 343-3333.
Aviso de No discriminación en los Programas de Educación Profesional y Técnica
Las Escuelas Públicas Harmony ofrecen programas vocacionales en Agricultura, Alimentación y Recursos Naturales; Arquitectura y Construcción; Artes, Tecnología de Audio / Video y Comunicaciones; Administración de Negocios y Administración; Educación y Entrenamiento; Finanzas; Gobierno y Administración Pública; Ciencias de la salud; Hospitalidad y Turismo; Recursos Humanos; Tecnología de la Información; Derecho; Seguridad Pública, Correccionales y Seguridad; Manufactura; Mercadeo; Ciencias, Tecnología, Ingeniería y Matemáticas; Transporte, Distribución y Logística. La admisión a estos programas se basa en el número de estudiantes de secundaria registrados en las Escuelas Públicas Harmony.
Es norma de las Escuelas Públicas Harmony no discriminar por motivos de raza, color, origen nacional, sexo o impedimento, en sus programas, servicios o actividades de CTE, tal como lo requieren el Título VI de la Ley de Derechos Civiles de 1964, según enmienda; el Título IX de las Enmiendas en la Educación, de 1972, y la Sección 504 de la Ley de Rehabilitación de 1973, según enmienda.
Es norma de las Escuelas Públicas Harmony no discriminar por motivos de raza, color, origen nacional, sexo, impedimento o edad, en sus procedimientos de empleo, tal como lo requieren el Título VI de la Ley de Derechos Civiles de 1964, según enmienda; el Título IX de las Enmiendas en la Educación, de 1972, la ley de Discriminación por Edad, de 1975, según enmienda, y la Sección 504 de la Ley de Rehabilitación de 1973, según enmienda.
Las Escuelas Públicas Harmony tomarán las medidas necesarias para asegurar que la falta de habilidad en el uso del inglés no sea un obstáculo para la admisión y participación en todos los programas educativos y CTE.
Para información sobre sus derechos o procedimientos para quejas, comuníquese con el Coordinador del Título IX, CHARLES LAMBERT, y/o el Coordinador de la Sección 504, IHSAN KARA, a la siguiente dirección: 9321 W. Sam Houston Pkwy S. Houston, TX 77099, Teléfono: (713) 343-3333.
TX Transition and Employment Guide
The Texas Transition and Employment Guide provides youth, young adults, parents and professionals with secondary transition resources to facilitate a young person's progress towards post-secondary goals to education, employment, and community living.
Please choose a version to display the guide:
— Spanish
Harmony Public Schools Admission Policy
Click here to see Harmony Public Schools Admission Policy.
HARMONY PUBLIC SCHOOLS BOARD OF DIRECTORS
DR. ONER ULVI CELEPCIKAY, MR. HOMER STEWART, MRS. HELEN SHERWOOD, DR. HAKDURAN KOC, DR. MEHMET ARGIN, DR. OSMAN KANLIOGLU, MS. LAURA GONZALES
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2021-2022 Supply List FAQ: Back to School 2021-22 at Harmony Public Schools


The Egg Fridge has just been launched in ChefVille making your life easier when it comes to collecting ingredients, and it didn't come alone, but together with a bunch of goals that we have to complete. I am here to share with you all the requirements and details for the Too Cooped Up Goals, as well as how to build the Egg Fridge in ChefVille, so let's not waste any time and get things started!
Have fun completing the new missions!
Bro, u play chefville, right?? Mind adding me??


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Spiritan News
Fr Paschal Kearney C.S.Sp. retires to Ireland and marks 60th anniversary of his ordination
Born in Clones, Co. Monaghan, Fr Paschal grew up in Co. Antrim and attended St. Mary's CBS, Belfast. His ordination in 1962 just preceded Vatican II, an occasion which greatly influenced his missionary life. He served in three countries in west Africa…
account_circle The Author: admin
calendar_today Date: May 18, 2022 - access_time 1 minute read
Fr Paschal Kearney C.S.Sp.
Born in Clones, Co. Monaghan, Fr Paschal grew up in Co. Antrim and attended St. Mary's CBS, Belfast. His ordination in 1962 just preceded Vatican II, an occasion which greatly influenced his missionary life. He served in three countries in west Africa: Nigeria, until the end of the Biafran War, where his first appointment was to a teaching role in Nsukka; Sierra Leone where he held several pastoral roles; and The Gambia. Having spent two years in Ardbraccan, he moved to Australia in the late 1990s. Based in Western Australia, he has been one of a group of three Irish Spiritans in the country and is one of a total of nine surviving confrères from the 1962 Ordination Year.
He retires to Ireland in May 2022 and in June will celebrate the 60th anniversary of his ordination.
Fr Brendan Carr C.S.Sp. in the Philippines – July 2022
VIVAT International's representative in Geneva visits Dublin
Celebration in June 2022 of Jubilees of Ordination to the priesthood
Fr Michael Kennedy C.S.Sp. ~ Silver Jubilee of 1997 Ordination
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Christmas Raffle Results 2021
Pentecost Sunday 2021
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Thread: Which Bike, Giant vs Marin?
As usual I can't make a up my mind! I have been looking at mountian bikes for a while now and it's came down to two options. Giant XCT Alliance 1 and Marin Rocky Ridge 09. Both bikes read very well on paper but as I am a newcomer I would appreciate some advice on which to go for.
I want an all round bike which can take on a little bit of everything from various trails to handling some jumps as well as some road work.
Both bikes have dealers near by and they both talk the talk.
Giant vs Marin, who wins?
I just bought a Marin about four months ago and like it very much. My wife has one also. the closest bike trails are an hour and a half from my house so i ride often on the roads and i have to say that it handles well any where i take it. Marins are not common in oklahoma and when ever i cross other riders most of them have to stop and check it out. There isnt one thing i had to change right away on the bike. WTB brand parts are used throughout my bike and i like them alot. GO with the Marin!
Really its personal choice. I ride with i guy that has a GT they are good bikes too.
The look and feel of the frame is what sold me on the Marin.
The newest Rocky Ridge I can find on Marin's USA website is a 2007 and it retails for $1,200.
The 2009 Giant xTC Alliance retails for about $1,900 and in my opinion has a better spec as it should.
You really need to ride them to get the one that fits you best and feels best to you. Both companies make fine bikes IMHO.
Your profile says you are from "Bangor". Is that Bangor, Maine or is Bangor not in the USA? If you're not in the USA, that could explain why there might actually be a 2009 Marin Rocky Ridge.
I believe there is indeed a 09 Marin Rocky Ridge.
It is shown in the Marin UK website.
Thanks for the comments. The feeling I get is that the Rocky Ridge is a better all rounder and will adapt better on the harder trails, jumps etc. I get the impression that the Giant would be better for speed and come into its own when racing. Great if you keep it on the ground.
Just my thoughts. please feel free to disagree!
In Northern Ireland! The 09 bikes are out there.
I had a ride on both bikes all be it in a car park so didn't really get much out of the bikes. Both felt good but very different though.
The Giant felt lighter with narrower handle bars, a compact race like feeling.
The Marin is slightly heavier with wider bars, a safe, robust, throw me of a cliff and I'll take it feeling.
My problem is I like them both. At the moment it's the Marin because of the strength. However if I was more confident the Giant could take all thrown at it I do like the light compact feel.
IMO, the XTC Alliance is a great bike. A LBS had an '08, but was unwilling to come down on the price any, even though they were having issues selling it (an '08 still around in January of '09). It fit like a glove, was light, and incredibly fast! If you want to absolutely fly through the trails, this will do it for you.
It should be able to do all of what you want, as long as you keep the jumps to 2-3ft. The only thing I might be worried about, and this is just my opinion, is the frame is partially carbon. That's fine and will hold up on most trails, but if you're going to be overly aggressive/abusive, there's a chance you could damage the CF, and your frame would be shot.
That's my thoughts on the XTC. I don't know much on the Marin.
Cheers! Thanks for that, much appreciated. Great to get advice on the carbon aspect. I can't see me being to aggressive, 2/3ft jumps would be more than enough at my stage!
You mention how they look on paper, how do they feel? You can't chose a bike by the components, pick whichever of the two bikes feels the best to you and you can't go wrong.
SS is like beer...its an acquired taste.
Ya I know what your saying but the only chance I have had to sample the bikes is in a car park. I am a bit of a novice and don't want to base spending my cash on a few laps of a car park. I don't want to regret my somewhat amateur decision in a few weeks or months down the line.
Which is why the opinions of you guys who have been there done that is so important.
i agree. buy the bike that feels best, although I think the Giant is a better looking bike, but go by feel.
Cheers guys, I like the look and feel of the Giant it's just the strength that's keeping me from going for it. I don't want to be replacing the frame anytime soon.
For some reason I have it in my head that the Marin is stronger. It there any logic to this?
are u looking for a bike or a tank?
Ya, I know I'm over cooking it. In the Giant XTC camp at the moment.
It just feels better to me.
Tank would be good though!!!
Check with your LBS, the frame probably has a lifetime warranty on it anyways. My Giant came with a 1 year warranty on components and lifetime on the frame. I absolutely love Giant bikes.
marko, with the money you pay for the xtc it will NOT break. And even if it does u will get arefund.
Let me clarify my earlier comment about overly abusive. Basically, if you smash the CF part against a rock really hard (from a fall, for instance), it would mess up the frame. But again, that would probably put a dent in most aluminum frames.
And, Giant does offer a lifetime frame warranty. So again, I wouldn't be too worried about messing it up.
Just buy the bloody thing already!
As you become a better rider, you will appreciate more the lightness and responsive feel of the Giant, if you get the Marin you will be spending a lot of cash to upgrade it and lighten it up trying to make it feel like the Giant.
I have an 08 XTC and I love it. I am a novice as well and do not do anything big. The main draw for me with the bike was the frame and it had fairly good components that I could upgrade as time went on and I would not be dumping money into a cheap frame. I did not have the opportunity to test it out, I just ordered it and it happened to work out well. I am touch over 6' and about 185 pounds, I got the large frame. It has been on some fairly technical/rough trails and handled it with no problems.
GO MARIN... awesome bikes, the giant is nice though, but the Marin is sweet IMO. I love their geometry and frame construction. Giant is a larger company... they are a very good company but quality control is limited because they produce so many... the Marin's seem to have a more handbuilt feel and look to the frame.
Cheers guys for the input. Still in the Giant camp. I agree the Marin is a great bike but the Giant feels better for me when riding. That and a warranty on the frame has helped me a lot!
Hopefully be getting sorted at the weekend!!! Looking forward to getting out there!


Posted: 7th Mar 2005 There are threads about the mathematics of weaves and so on - but try to figure out what is behind this basic little move which forms (next to the circle) the fundamentals of Poi. Its not only the change of sides. Where is the pull (is there a pull?!?), what happens if you play extended/isolated Figure8, what different ways are there to play it, what happens with different Crossover Points . . . .
Posted: 19th Mar 2005 That's what NYC was saying,,,,today, up until now it was just the 2 dimensional stuff.
What I was suggesting was we first define the shape of the path that one Poi traces, which we don't need gravity or air resistance for.
This is one of the beauties of math,,the ability to make assumptions and leave thing out and still end up with a true statement.
We can assume that air resistance is non existent, or constant due to an assumed constant velocity and shape of a Poi, we can assume the force of gravity is negated by the force exerted by the spinner. ,,,,for now.
I've looked around online and I haven't found anything suitable to describe this shape.
As for isolations ( those ) I wonder if they wouldn't be described by using a spinning staff as a model.
"NYC has come up with an overlysimplified theoretical three dimentional representaion of the path of a Poi head when doing a figure 8"
It looks like a figure 8 from two sides (top and front) and like a circle from one (the side) which the above equations do. XZ is looking from the side in this case. XY and YZ from the front and top.
Posted: 19th Mar 2005 And there you have it, I wish I had the capability to graph it and I'll look for someone who does.
That equation assumes a single fixed point of rotation right? in the center of the graph.
Posted: 21st Mar 2005 No, No and No.
Well, yes on the damn shame about you not going to Uberstaff.
I'm just particularly good at 9th grade math and 10th grade physics. Which is really all you need to understand a figure 8.
Upon further reflection, the hand motion on a figure 8 is identical to the path of the Poi, just smaller. It moves left to right using a sinusoidal pattern while making circles in the wheel plane.
Don't believe me? Just do a giant figure 8 and you'll see your hand follow the exact path that the Poi would on a regular sized figure 8.
Any beginning Poi move can be done by having the hand do a smaller version of the desired move but just 90 degrees ahead of the Poi. I could draw force arrows and crap but that would take effort.
Now, before you all get cranky, you don't HAVE to do the complete move with your hand, you can just do a segment of the move and then 'cheat' for the rest of the move. So it feels like you're just 'pumping' at certain times, and you are.
As we get more advanced, that small flick can be applied at any point in the move just to keep the Poi moving. But it's always 90 degrees ahead of the Poi to achieve maximum pumpage.
For example, when doing a forward butterfly with your right hand (so just the circle) you can simply pump your hand up when the Poi is at the bottom of the circle. Remember when it's at the bottom of the circle, it's moving at 90 degrees to that so it's moving left to right.
It'd be pretty easy to design a robot to do a figure 8. Just have one motor go left to right at the same time that another spins.
But for a perfect 2beat weave the handles should rotate around the same spot. One leading, one following. 2 Different Figure8s?!? Can be seen when doing a 2 beat with a staff or meteors.
the hand motion on a figure 8 is identical to the path of the Poi, just smaller.
Posted: 22nd Mar 2005 Oh easy answer.
When you're doing Poi you are powering the Poi by doing this "cheat" by staying a little off the center of rotation and pulling at 90 degrees.
When you're doing staff or meteors, it's the rotation of the wrist that powers the tool.
So a staff's center can stay on the center of rotation as long as you're willing to rotate it with your wrist.
And the Poi need to recreate the move (or some portion of it) to give it the momentum.
If you could somehow power Poi by rotating the wrist (like a club) then you could stay perfectly on the axis.
Posted: 22nd Mar 2005 yes - how do you power an isolation?
Posted: 22nd Mar 2005 Sure, the center of rotation of an isolation moves a small bit. That center of rotation is 90 degrees out of phase.
So even though the center of an isolation LOOKS like it's not moving, it has to be making a very small circle because it's 90 degrees ahead of the rotation of the hand and wick.
Posted: 22nd Mar 2005 You can see this better as newbies like me and Kael isolate.
If you watch Kael's isolation vid you can see a bit of this going on in his buzzsaw isolations.
Again, as we get better we work on disguising that powering 'pump' motion to small flicks which make our circles look prettier.
Posted: 22nd Mar 2005 I'm surprised that you fellow geeks don't think about this stuff as your spinning, like I do. Maybe I'd be better if I just focused on doing the move, rather than deriving it.
Posted: 22nd Mar 2005 hehehe I'm a newb again!
Using the keywords [mathematic* figure8] we found the following similar topics.


The organization's predictive maps placed ME in a sweeping band of orange, signifying that center forecasters believe the state is among those with a 40 percent to 50 percent chance of being "warmer than normal".
Kentucky has equal chances for both above and below average temperatures according to NOAA's outlook. During the winter, typical El Nino conditions in the USA can include wetter-than-average precipitation in the South and drier conditions in parts of the North.
El Nino is an ocean-atmosphere climate interaction that is linked to periodic warming in sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific.
NOAA's Climate Prediction Center has released its Winter Outlook, which found that in December and February much of the United States will see above-average temperatures and that there's a 70 to 75 percent chance of El Nino developing. The WYMT Weather team will have their 2018-2019 Winter Outlook for Eastern Kentucky on Tuesday, November 20th. During the winter, typical El Nino conditions in the US can include wetter-than-average precipitation in the South and drier conditions in parts of the North.
Drought conditions are forecast to stay put this winter in the Southwest, Southern California, central Great Basin, central Rockies, Northern Plains and portions of the interior Pacific Northwest.
There's a lot more than just an El Nino pattern that determines how winter will play out. Northern Florida and southern Georgia have the greatest odds for above-average precipitation during the winter, the NOAA said.
"Even on a warming planet", he said, "it doesn't mean winter goes away and it's never cold again".


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Home Taxes Supporters of Universal Home Care initiative wage war of misinformation
Supporters of Universal Home Care initiative wage war of misinformation
Since the upcoming Universal Home Care (UHC) initiative sponsored by the Maine People's Alliance (MPA) achieved ballot status, the MPA, its allies and their friends in the media have been spreading misinformation to downplay the devastating impacts of the measure.
When the MPA learned its proposal would appear on the November 2018 ballot, they told media the initiative would provide in-home care services to elderly and disabled Mainers by generating $132 million in new tax revenues—a figure that is so patently false, Mainers should be concerned about whether the misinformation campaign began while initiative petitions were still in circulation.
Unfortunately, this false (and easily disproven) claim has been cited time and again in the media.
In Maine, the Office of Fiscal and Program Review (OFPR) is responsible for crafting fiscal impact statements to be included with each initiative petition while it is in circulation. Any voter who signs a petition has the ability to view the fiscal impact statement prior to signing. The fiscal note created by OFPR estimates the Universal Home Care initiative will generate $310 million in new tax revenues, not $132 million.
In other words, the MPA had access to the fiscal impact statement in October of 2017 when they reportedly began collecting signatures, but still told reporters their initiative only raises taxes by $132 million. What else would you expect from such an upstanding organization?
On its face, the $132 million figure is a ridiculous assertion. In 2016, Maine voters narrowly approved Question 2, which imposed a three percent surtax on incomes earned over $200,000 to bolster funding for k-12 public education. Supporters of Question 2 claimed it would generate up to $370 million.
The Universal Home Care initiative imposes a 3.8 percent tax on wage and nonwage earnings over the income threshold subject to Social Security taxes, which is $128,400 in 2018. I cannot explain the logic behind how this tax – assessed at a higher percentage and on a lower threshold of income – supposedly generates less revenue than Question 2 in 2016. I will leave that to the MPA.
The UHC initiative's supporting cast has also tried to mislead voters over who exactly will be subject to the taxes established under the measure.
In April, House assistant minority leader Ellie Espling penned an Op-Ed critical of the initiative in the Portland Press Herald that read, "The proposal places a 3.8 percent tax on families in Maine making over $128,000." However, days later, the Press Herald changed the word "families" to "individuals" and printed the following correction:
"Correction: This commentary was corrected on Wednesday, April 11, at 11:49 a.m. to correct an error regarding who would be subject to the proposed 3.8 percent employment tax."
There's just one problem: Espling's words were entirely factual as originally written.
While Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap was accepting public comment on the final language of the initiative, Maine Revenue Services issued a technical analysis of the UHC initiative. Despite the Press Herald's "fact-check," Espling's comments have been validated by the agency charged with administering tax policy in the state of Maine.
Public comment submitted to the Secretary of State from the Department of Administrative and Financial Services includes the technical analysis conducted by Maine Revenue Services (MRS) which states,
"Thus, a couple filing a joint federal return will file a Maine married joint income tax return, reporting their federal [adjusted gross income] that they reported on their married joint federal return, and the computed Maine income tax, including the additional 3.8% income tax imposed by this bill, is the joint and several income tax liability of each of them. Thus, for the two income tax provisions in [UHC intiative], federal [adjusted gross income] filed, and thus [Maine adjusted gross income], includes the income from both spouses filed on a joint return basis, with no provision of state law allowing their separation."
For all three tax provisions assessed under the Universal Home Care proposal, Maine adjusted gross income includes the income of both spouses filed on a joint return, according to MRS.
Maine Revenue Services also found a number of issues with other aspects of the proposal. For instance, MRS found no exception within the bill for federal, state, or local government employers, meaning state and local governments would be required to pay the employer excise tax (1.9 percent) assessed under the initiative (the federal government would still be exempt). Similarly, MRS found no exception for nonprofit employers.
These are just some of the many flaws of this proposal, all of which exemplify the absurdity of crafting complex tax policy at the ballot box.
Unfortunately, it is real Maine people who suffer when policies are enacted this way. The out-of-state interests that push these half-baked proposals – like George Soros, who has bankrolled this initiative from the beginning – will never have to face the consequences.
ballot initiative
Maine People's Alliance
universal home care
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he called her ugly so she got plastic surgery and his last words to her were to call her a prostitute. However, when he's convinced that it was Ben who killed Hae-mi, we see him selling the calf, which could mean his last pureness he had is gone and now only filled with burning rage towards Ben(aka. No matter how talented somebody from the lower classes may be, it will never be recognized by the elite. a) Ben could literally be burning women. When Haemi disappears, Jongsu becomes suspicious of Ben and his mysterious hobby. Plus fucking one! -I think Jongsu's father scene was to imply the inner violence in Jongsu(which was emerged at the last scene of the movie) was kind of hereditary. So I just saw this movie last night and I have many theories as to what actually happened. It's a fucking amazing movie never knew where it was going can't wait to watch it again when it's out on DVD or Blu-ray woohoo okie bye. Hae-mi said she fell into well, and shouted for help and she saw Jong-su. Clue as to Ben killing Haemi.). Or maybe it's just really simple. We don't know what Ben does for a living, but he does have an odd way to describe it. There's a strong theory that Ben is actually a psychopath and kills Shin Haemi. While Jong-su assumes that Hae-mi is in a serious relationship with Ben, that is not the case. It's not hard to believe Ben's arrogance allowed him to get killed. Ben preys on these women because no one would miss them, just like no one would miss an abandoned greenhouse.-Haemi didn't fall into a well. and such. She was depressed. There's a certain weary sadness in his demeanor and I like to think he is regretting hurting Haemi when he tells the jealousy story. But before the jangly youth can figure out Ben's intentions, Haemi goes missing, and he slowly reasons the cause to be clear. One of the best films of 2018—and one that you probably didn't see—is now on Netflix: Burning. Since, his father was being in court due to his Intermittent explosive disorder. And when Ben meets with Jongsu by the greenhouses, Ben actually thinks Hae-mi has come back to Jongsu. Ben is always too cool for school, unflappable, and invulnerable in his wealth. – What was real, and what was part of Jung-su's novel? It looks like Ben kills someone once in two months. An abused battered wife has had enough of husband beating up on her. There's a scene when Jong-su receives a call from Hae-mi, and all he can hear is running and panting. Can't give the film credit for this one. Why does Jong-su not go to the police? One day, Ben and Haemi pay Jongsu a visit, and Ben reveals his secret interests to Jongsu. The light reflecting off the tower into her room reminds him of the time they had sex. Keep in mind she was buried, burned or discarded in his immediate area. I like your interpretation and since I've just watched this movie and you've watched it for the 2nd time, can you help me out with my theory: I suspect that Ben harvests organs and this is why he's wealthy seemingly without a "real" job. Overall, my interpretation of the movie was that Hae-mi committed suicide and Ben was her guide. Ben then tells him he must have missed it and that things near you are the easiest to miss. Ben is not literally burning greenhouses. BURNING Korean Movie (버닝 | 燃烧烈爱) Synopsis. She is there for them to laugh at. When Haemi disappears, Jongu's quest to discover what happened to her moves the film into thriller territory, and the tension leads to a surreal and shocking denouement. – What does Ben mean by Burning Greenhouses? When they are having sex, he is staring at the light hitting a part of the wardrobe - this is the light reflecting off the tower. He also talks about the cops not caring if they burn specifically for the reason that they are useless aka society not caring if people die/commit suicide if they are in the lower classes. Somehow, as viewers, even we feel completeness to the calm, rich, well-mannered gentleman, Ben, when we're shown that he could be a serial killer. During the first gathering with his friends, Ben was shown yawning when Haemi was talking/doing her dance. The number 4 is an unlucky number in Korea. Much of what she says leaves both the audience and Jong-su questioning her authenticity. Haemi finding Jongsu randomly on the street. This is. On a deeper level, the murder of Ben was perhaps "closure" to Haemi's disapperance - the light/sun in Jongsu's life has gone out for good, as reflected by his freezing state. The neighbour also says the same thing. As the director mentions, Jong-su belongs to one end of the spectrum, the struggling working-class. Much of what she says leaves both the audience and Jong-su questioning her authenticity. He sells the calf so he doesn't have to take care of it anymore. I was surprised at the end because I half expected Haemi to show up and Jongsu realize to his horror that he'd murdered an innocent man. This seems to be part of Ben's process to eventually kill his victim. Ben might also represent the lure or "escape" that death might give to not being good enough. The threesome come together for a few meetings, where the dynamics intertwine uncomfortably, and the mysterious Ben raises more than a few flags for Jongsu. Then he loses contact with Hae-mi and starts to look for her. First: basic plot with love triangle, revenge and stuff. The light reflecting off the tower into her room reminds him of the time they had sex. He doesn't know what to do with his life and just walks arount with round eyes, not participating intellectually in anything around him (even during sex, for fuck's sake!). -Usually calf represents 'pureness' in many South Korean literature. To me, it appears that Ben was fond of Jong-su, and it feels as if he allowed himself to be caught by him. I always felt like the North Korean propaganda had a point in the story as a whole but I was never able to connect the dots as I don't know South Korea's current political climate, I'm sure the scene where Donald Trump is on the television in the background plays in this somewhat as well. It goes like this. I think, as Haemi (and her home in particular) is used as the image of freedom and artistic source. But nobo… Earlier in the scene he requires the tenant to unlock her apartment for him, but I doubt she would let him in again. I've yet to figure out what the calf is supposed to symbolically represent. From Murakami's large body of work, Barn Burning may not be the most obvious choice for a film adaptation. At the end, when Jong-su is stabbing Ben, he doesn't resist; instead, he hugs him. Ben was going to talk about how Hae-mi left her current life including leaving Jongsu to live a better one. You can find other films using the search option on top of this page. To me the movie is a critique of the social classes of South Korea and the ultimate results of the arrogance of the ultra rich and powerful (specific to SK, the chaebol families,) revolution.
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Goodbye Christopher Robin is the upcoming movie which features Domhnall Gleeson (About Time) as author of the Winnie The Pooh novels, AA Milne, alongside star Margot Robbie (Suicide Squad) as his wife.
Check out the trailer for the movie dropping 13th October 2017!
We are so excited to see this movie and I cannot think of anyone better than Domnhall Gleeson to star in it, he is most definitely one of my favourite actors!
Don't forget to follow us on social media @PaperTrailYA to keep up with us and all the last for the book and movie world!


Guys, there a new phone from LG to watch out. It seems like a gimmick but they are launching a transparent phone. Imagine yourself texting while driving.. you can now see the road while texting, :). Nice one.
Specs are currently under wraps so we can't judge it yet but it's sheer beauty seems to undermine the specs or it's usage, hope not. Knowing LG, this brand keeps on breaking the barrier of invention so I am expecting they'd be generous on the specs :).


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