Young Republican Historical Perspective
The Young Republicans are the oldest political youth organization in the United States. The first organized effort of the Young Republicans began in New York City in 1859; three years after the Republican Party selected its first presidential candidate. A year later, the YRs played a critical role in helping elect President Lincoln.
In 1931 the YRs were organized nationally. West Point graduate George H. Olmsted began to attract the attention of the leaders of the national Republican Party, and he was invited to meet with President Herbert Hoover at the White House.
President Hoover, so impressed with his visit with Olmsted, asked the young man to head the Young Republican division of the Republican Party, which Olmsted accepted. In 1935, the Young Republican division officially became the Young Republican National Federation, and Olmsted was elected the first president of our national organization.
Taking The Next Step Forward
The YRs have a solid record of producing future Republican Party leaders – including Governors, Senators, Congressmen, nationally recognized campaign consultants, and community leaders.
The West Virginia Federation of Young Republicans are looking forward to working with all of you to build a successful organization for young adults here in West Virginia.
A group of likeminded individuals, in which we will provide essential grassroots support for our Republican candidates and conservative issues, produce future Republican Party leaders, and provide a great opportunity for interaction among members that allows for the exchange of ideas, networking, and friendships that will last a lifetime.
Through recruiting, training and mobilizing people, the YRs present opportunities for ordinary people to do extraordinary things. Through community involvement in political issues, charitable projects, and participation in political campaigns, the YRs will work to improve our community.
The YRs will provide different opportunities for different people. No matter what your long-term goals maybe, the YRs will serve as the building blocks for a successful future in our great state of West Virginia.


In many ways, John Lewis’ life speaks for itself. He was a champion of justice who risked his life in the name of freedom countless times, and continued on in public service until his very last days. But with lessons not only from the recent past but for our present day and beyond, the story and witness of John Lewis is one that bears telling — and hearing — again and again.
In the forthcoming biography His Truth Is Marching On: John Lewis and the Power of Hope, historian Jon Meacham lays out the arc of Lewis’ extraordinary time on this earth: from his early days as “the boy from Troy,” as Martin Luther King Jr. called him in their first meeting, to the front lines of the civil rights movement, to the halls of government, and finally to the pantheon of history. The book includes an afterword by Lewis himself, written not long before his death this past July.
“He was as important to the founding of a modern and multiethnic twentieth- and twenty-first century America as Thomas Jefferson and James Madison and Samuel Adams were to the creation of the nation-state in the eighteenth century,” Meacham writes. “This is not hyperbole. It is fact—observable, discernible, undeniable fact.” Meacham also submits that John Lewis might meet the requirements of an even loftier title: saint.
In this excerpt, taken from the introduction, John Lewis has just visited the bridge above the Alabama River where he was beaten nearly to death years before, on the march from Montgomery to Selma.
Taken together with sit-ins to integrate lunch counters and other public facilities and Freedom Rides to integrate interstate travel, the Selma march, Lewis recalled, “injected something very special into the soul and the heart and the veins of America. It said, in effect, that we must humanize our social and political and economic structure. When people saw what happened on that bridge, there was a sense of revulsion all over America.” Revulsion, then redemption: Is there anything more American? “Redemption—redemption is everything,” Lewis said. “It is what we pray for. It is what we march for. It is the work of America. In the ’60s, and now, and always.”
In the middle of the last century, he marched into the line of fire to summon a nation to be what it had long said it would be but had failed to become. Arrested 45 times over the course of his life, Lewis suffered a fractured skull and was repeatedly beaten and tear-gassed. It takes nothing away from the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr., or of Rosa Parks, or of any of the legions who marched and worked and struggled for justice, to say that John Lewis was the fullest and bravest embodiment of the raw courage required to end a century of Jim Crow in America.
His plea was not rhetorical but real. He led by example more than by words. He was a peaceful soldier in the cause of a religiously inspired understanding of humanity and of America. And he bent history to his will—though he would insist the important thing was not his will, but God’s. No other American represented the harsh realities and the high hopes of the civil-rights movement more vividly over a longer period of time more than John Lewis; no other prominent American bore such steady witness over as many decades to the belief, grounded in scripture and in the American tradition, that all men are in fact created equal.
The world was one way before John Lewis came out of Pike County and into the maelstrom of history, and it was another way when he was done. Though, to be strictly accurate, he was never done. “In the final analysis, we are one people, one family, one house—not just the house of black and white, but the house of the South, the house of America,” Lewis said. “We can move ahead, we can move forward, we can create a multiracial community, a truly democratic society. I think we’re on our way there. There may be some setbacks. But we are going to get there. We have to be hopeful. Never give up, never give in, keep moving on.” Devoted to the ideal of a soul’s pilgrimage from sin to redemption, from the wilderness of the world to the Kingdom of God, Lewis walked with faith that tomorrow could be better than today, and that tomorrow was but prelude to a yet more glorious day after that.
To put complicated matters simply: John Robert Lewis embodied the traits of a saint in the classical Christian sense of the term. A complex concept, sanctity has at various times been applied to all believers or to a special few. In Greek, the language of the New Testament, sainthood is derived from hagaizo, which means “to set apart” or “make holy.” (The Latin is sanctus.) Generations of believers have held that some human lives are in such harmony with the ideals of God that they should be singled out. One need not embrace Catholic practice and doctrine to benefit from the contemplation of men and women who, in the words of an old hymn, “toiled and fought and lived and died for the Lord they loved and knew.” One test of a saint, closely tied to the test of a martyr, is the willingness to suffer and die for others. Which Lewis was willing to do—again and again and again, on the streets of America the day before yesterday.
This may sound sentimental and overly grand, and if one were saying it about virtually anyone other than Lewis, it likely would be. To see John Lewis as a saint and hero, however, is not nostalgic, nor does such an understanding flow from a kind of easy-listening historical sensibility in which the civil rights movement is white America’s safe and redemptive drama. It comes, rather, from the straightforward story of what Lewis did, how he lived, and why. He accomplished something on the battlefields of twentieth-century America, in the skirmishes in our streets and in our cities and in our hearts, that links him with the saints of ancient ages, with the revolutionaries of the eighteenth century, and with the abolitionists and Union soldiers of the nineteenth. In Abraham Lincoln’s First Inaugural, the new president appealed, eloquently but theoretically, to “the better angels of our nature.” John Lewis is a better angel. The American present and future may in many ways hinge on the extent to which the rest of us can draw lessons from his example.
Excerpted from His Truth Is Marching On by Jon Meacham. Copyright © 2020 by Jon Meacham. Excerpted by permission of Random House, an imprint of Random House. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
* * *
Pre-order your copy of His Truth Is Marching On, then make plans to join us for a virtual event with Jon Meacham on Tuesday, Aug. 25!


The château was built in 1878 for the nobleman Edmond de Blay and his wife Thérèse de Sevin.
During the Second World War, the house was occupied by the Resistance. Traces of their presence can be seen to this day.
Since acquiring the property in 2014, we have undertaken a complete renovation and restoration of the interior while maintaining its original appearance. We have redesigned the garden to create a perfect idyllic framework for the beauty of the house.


San Pedro in September is a town of celebrations and remembrance, of thinking back to our shared history and looking forward at the future.
Belize was born on September 21, 1981, and on that day each year we celebrate our independence. But before we get to that date, on September 10 each year we also celebrate a pivotal moment in our history from the late 1700s: the Battle of St. George’s Caye.
Of course, in true San Pedro fashion we never miss an opportunity for festivities, and celebrating history is no different. If you should find yourself in our neck of the woods – perhaps staying at a quaint and cute little pink hotel – we’d love to cheers some Belikens with you!


Welcome to the world of woodcarvings - South Tyrol
The profession of woodcarver and wood sculptor can be found in old documents of the history of South Tyrol. It contains numerous names for our profession – all of them refer to the processing of wood in order to create noble and stylish forms.
In different regions of the Alpine region there were and still are mask carvers, crib carvers, relief and picture carvers, and last but not least wood carvers. The production of wooden figures was first described in South Tyrol at the beginning of the 17th century. Since then, this handicraft has been passed down from generation to generation, with the aim of preserving its originality and constantly developing its high quality. No wonder, then, that our small and large wooden works of art are in great demand all over the world!
Discover the variety of our products from decades of experience in our online shop and let yourself be enchanted by them!
For information and questions, we are always available by phone or e-mail.


Dr Stuart Mills
Geosciences Senior Curator, Museum Victoria
Why is 2014 the UNESCO International Year of Crystallography? And why is crystallography important to us?
In 1914, 100 years ago, Max von Laue won the Nobel Prize for Physics “for his discovery of the diffraction of X-rays by crystals”. A year later, Australian father and son team Sir William Henry Bragg and Sir William Lawrence Bragg were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize after being not only the first people to solve a crystal structure – that of salt, but for also developing the first X-ray spectrometer. These gifted scientists launched a new experimental discipline which has since uncovered the atomic arrangements of hundreds of thousands of materials in mineralogy, biology and chemistry, and has been vital to discoveries such as the structure of DNA.
So 100 years on, what is the state of play? Dr Stuart Mills, Senior Curator of Geosciences at Museum Victoria, will take you on a journey through “Bonding in the world of minerals” and show you that minerals are not only beautiful, but also that amazing discoveries are constantly being made. In 2014, determining the structure of minerals is as important now as it was 100 years ago, when von Laue and the Braggs started it all.
This talk is part of the public lecture series celebrating the2014 UNESCO International Year of Crystallography (http://science.unimelb.edu.au/crystallography).


The 2008 all-star weekend held in New Orleans just recently is one of the most important events the town has held as it is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, event that was held there since the town was devastated by Hurricane Katrina. The spectacle’s success was remarkable, letting tourists know that New Orleans has been reborn.
The festivities started with the Rookie Challenge, sponsored by T-Mobile. The game featured fancy passes, spectacular dunks, and athletic feats that the younger generation boasts. But among these great plays, one Daniel “Boobie” Gibson from the Cleveland Cavaliers, with his deadly three-point accuracy, stood tall among other rookies and sophomores. He led the sophomores to victory with 33 points, all of them coming from beyond the arc.
The next day, the all-star weekend continued, and the 2008 Haier Shooting Stars started the night off, and what a way to do so, as the San Antonio team, consisting of Spurs forward Tim haier led tv 43 inch Duncan, Silver Stars guard Becky Hammond, and NBA Legend David Robinson, overcame the odds and won the event, despite it being an event that requires good shooting from the perimeter (both Duncan and Robinson were known for their inside presence).
The Playstation Skills Challenge was the second event of the night, and continued the string of upsets, as Miami Heat star Dwayne Wade, the event’s 2-time defending champion, bowed out of the competition early on, leaving Utah Jazz guard Deron Williams and New Orleans’ own Chris Paul fighting for the championship. Even though the crowd was clearly behind the hometown boy, and Paul being the better man stats-wise, that didn’t stop the Jazz guard from having a date with destiny, as he defeated Paul in the finals, beating the record for the fastest time lapsed in the event while doing so.
But just when people thought this would be a night of upsets, the Foot Locker 3-point shootout featured Toronto Raptors shooter Jason Kapono’s dominance in the event. He breezed through the eliminations, leading the competitors with 20 points, next to both Dallas’ Dirk Nowitzki and Daniel Gibson’s 17. Nowitzki surprisingly faltered in the final round, and while Gibson managed to get a respectable score, both were humbled by Kapono’s amazing shooting streak, and the champion successfully defended his title with a score of 25, tying the all-time record for the most points in a three-point shootout event that was held by Chicago’s Craig Hodges.
Ending the night was the Sprite Slam Dunk Contest that featured Toronto rookie Jamario Moon, Memphis sophomore Rudy Gay, 7-foot-tall Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard and Defending Champion Gerald Green of the Minnesota Timberwolves. Despite being the tallest of all the competitors, Howard showed tremendous leaping ability, which the announcers mentioned all the time that the NBA has never seen anyone so tall with the high leaping ability like Howard possesses. After he successfully nailed an astonishing left-handed tomahawk follow-up dunk which sounds quite easy on paper, but the thing is he bounced it off the backboard, and by back I meant the back of the backboard; everyone was already predicting a win for Howard, and they’re right. And while his first dunk raised the roof of the joint, the second and third ones blew it away. No doubt that he was the clear-cut champion of one of the best slam dunk events of all time.
The last night of the weekend featured the main attraction, the 2008 NBA All-star game, featuring the leagues brightest stars today, showcasing their amazing talents; and it showed during the first 3 quarters of the game, including Howard and Cavaliers star LeBron James sharing eye-popping alley-oop passes to one another. But in the final 10 minutes of the game, the competition got stiffer, and the heat was on. The East led throughout the game, but the West clawed their way back. But the West fell short when James drove home with a jam over Nowitzki that not only drew tremendous applause from fans, players and coaches alike, but also served as the nail in the coffin for the game. And it’s just fitting that with the East’s victory over the West, the Cavs’ forward received the award as All-Star MVP, showing everyone that he was the star among stars that night.


The Knot Guy in Charleston, SC
I started tying knots in 1985 while working on off-shore oil rigs in Alaska. A few of the work crew started making Monkeys Fist key fobs and before you knew it, we were trying to out do each other with all kinds of knots and braids. This was a wonderful way to pass the time while on fire watch or when the seas were too rough to work on deck.
At home in Anchorage I found myself fumbling with a piece of cord while all the time making key fobs, zipper pulls, bell ropes and Turk’s head bracelets. After 20 years in Alaska I have relocated to Charleston, South Carolina; drawn to the lowcountry by its maritime history and scenic coast line.
I have been a member of the International Guild of Knot Tyers since 1992.
As a member of The International Guild of Knot Tyers I am surrounded by Master maritime craftsmen who have helped me with all aspects splicing of line and knot tying and we enjoy sharing knotting techniques.


Preparations for a construction of the Public library in Brno started after the issue of the Library Code in the year 1919. The library council assembled for the first time in the Brno city hall led by Žofie Zvěřinová, a business school director and a latter longtime chairwoman of the council, on the 5th of October 1920. The library council decided to work out a list of all society libraries in Brno and to write out an audition for a librarian. The Brno Public municipal library was founded on the 1st of February 1921 and at the same day the librarian Antonín Vančura - Jiří Mahen entered into that position.
The Library was given two rooms in the ground floor in the German ordinary school on Veveří Street Nr. 26. One room was for administration purposes and the second one for a delivery room and a stock.
On the 20th of November 1922 the central library was open. It contained 13,228 of books. Right after fourteen affiliated branches were added (however the greatest library branches Křenová and Královo Pole were added to the central library in the year 1923) and 3,700 book volumes were given there out of the head office. A public reading room situated in a building of the city school on Křenová Street initialized its activity with 67 magazines. The whole library had three paid laborers and one worker without remuneration. A work of librarians was stroke by long-lasting troubles: low financial grants, perpetual postponements of moving the library into a better place and a fight over every crown. In some seasons new books could not even be bought and actually the State Ministry had to intervene into disputes between the library and municipality.
In 1926 the library moved out of the unsatisfactory premises up to the corner of Rašínova and Jakubská Street into a German girl’s school where it got five rooms. On the 1st of February 1926 a central reading room was opened as well. It was at least a partial improvement. At that time the library had over 30,000 book volumes, 14,583 out of them in affiliated branches. In the year 1927 first printed list of books that every reader had to buy was edited.
The year 1928 was very significant for Brno because an Exhibition of the contemporary culture which encouraged the city into an unusual cultural activity took place. At the congress of culturally pedagogic employees which took place during an occasion of the exhibition in Brno, Mahen presented a report named Library as a national institution. A library was not more a place to issue books. It was supposed to be an institution that was systematically educational and pedagogical.
At the end of the year 1939 the library moved into nine rooms in the building at 12 U solnice Street (Solniční Street today). Jiří Mahen did not live to see this change for the better. The illness, tragic misfortunes of the country, and other problems which complicated the realization of his plans pushed him to end his life voluntarily on 22nd May 1939. PhDr Ladislav Řezníček who came to the library after the German occupation of Znojmo took over his place. But from the very beginning of German occupation all the activities were subordinated to the supervision of a German librarian. The library council was suspended. About 140 “unsuitable” books were taken away from the library and other marked books were forbidden to lend but fortunately remained in the library. The Nazi town administration closed some branch offices of the library and municipal reading-rooms from October 1940.
After the liberation the library was gradually changing. It put emphasis on educational influence on readers, its location, equipment and personal security were step by step improved. In the year 1951 the library was placed into the Schrattenbach Palace, near Liberty Square in Brno, and its head office has stayed up to now. The name of Jiří Mahen has been connected with this library since the year 1959.
The library gained its present appearance at the beginning of the 1970s. The network of branch offices extends the central library and these are located in the different parts of Brno - in the old built-up area, in new housing estates as well as in some integrated communities. The 1990s represent the expansion and modernization of services. The public reading-room with an enquiry office and music library were built, book resources are complemented with some new kinds of documents, especially CDs and CD-ROMs. Computer technology is applied to the record-keeping and to the elaboration of book resources as well as to the record-keeping of readers and book-loans which at the same time makes the development of services of information easier. In autumn 1997 the operation of public internet station begins in the central building of the Jiří Mahen Library, at 4 Kobližná Street.
Between 1998 and 2001 a complex reconstruction of the central library was realized and the library became a basis for building a modern information institute – The Library for 21st century.
Further information from the history of Jiří Mahen Library can be found in the book “Library for a city” in the property of Jiří Mahen Library.
It is hard to imagine more precious ideas than those to be found in books!
(The Library as a national institution, 1928)


Housed in Felix Warburg’s former Fifth Avenue mansion on New York City’s “Museum Mile,” The Jewish Museum is one of the world’s oldest museums dedicated to the presentation of art and Jewish culture. Founded in 1904, and featuring collections from the ancient to the contemporary, its current focus highlights apparel from the collection of The Israel Museum in Jerusalem. Over twenty countries and one hundred examples of Jewish costume from the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries illuminate the diversity and complexity of Jewish identity and culture in “Veiled Meanings: Fashioning Jewish Dress.”
Staged in a darkly lit room for protection of its textiles, the lighting serves as a successful aid to what turns out to be a fascinating and immersive ambiance. We understand that clothing serves to functionally cover our bodies (a form of shelter from our nakedness and to separate us from the natural world); but its cultural dimensions are far deeper and wider wherever it is worn, gaining ever more complicated meanings as it emerged from the mists of time. With Jewish migration historically worldwide, “Veiled Meanings” addresses this subject thematically in the exhibition’s four sections: Through the Veil; Interweaving Cultures; Exposing the Unseen; and Clothing that Remembers. Largely subsumed by non-Jewish cultures, it is not surprising that Jewish clothing was identical to, or a tweak of the dominant nationality, as well as having characteristics identifiably Jewish, such as badges, the color yellow, the Judenhut (the Jewish hat), and specific types of robes and face gear marking them as different from Christian and Muslim societies.
Female outdoor body wraps were the custom throughout the Middle East and Central Asia, in countries like Afghanistan, Iraq and Uzbekistan. Through the Veil shows the degree that body wraps primarily masked female personal identity, shielding it from public scrutiny. As indicators of status or religion, one display of differentiation was the wearing of veils; in Baghdad, Iraq, Christian women did not cover their face, but Jewish women wore a fine-mesh black horsehair veil for more total concealment.
Especially interesting is the amalgamation of cultural diffuseness brought about by migrations over time and place throughout the world. In the section Interweaving Cultures, there is seen a zesty embrace of contemporaneous internationalized fashions, motifs and materials in the making and wearing of dress. One delightful representative is an ensemble where the skirt was inspired by a ballet tutu. This shalita gained popularity and imitation after a European visit in 1873 by the Shah of Persia and his (favorite) wife.
As both a protection from evil and symbolic of fertility, a bride’s palms were painted with henna dye and reflected ongoing traditional beliefs. Sewn by her mother, the Henna Dress was made for Dakhla Rachel Mu’allem, who was married at eleven, and worn to the child’s henna ceremony prior to the marriage ceremony itself. The dress shows a mixture of cultural influences from the Ottoman coatdress worn by Muslim and Jewish women to the European-style gathered long skirt sewn to a long-sleeved top. Like this one with its decorative flourishes, many garments pointedly emphasized and amplified the breast area. Interestedly, and a curious conundrum, in a culture that was sexually restrictive and proscribed modesty as a critical indicator of the virtuous female, these dresses were not considered immodest. Today they might be considered a mixed message of what is a women’s traditional role in a culture experiencing worldly influences, vacillating between tradition and modernity.
Two stunning garments, a woman’s kaltachak from Uzbekistan of brocaded silk and ikat-dyed silk, and from Iraqi Kurdistan a groom’s attire decorated with diamond-shaped amuletic symbols, are breathtaking examples of craftsmanship at work. In Zakho, from where the groom’s outfit derives, Armenian weavers were renowned for the high quality of their patterned goat-hair fabrics. The woman’s coat is a superb example of the compelling presentation that ikat-dyed fabric makes; and the combination of brocade and silk is elegant and luxurious. This kaltachak likely reflects the political and social changes that were taking place in Bukhara following the Russian conquest and Jews were free to emigrate to Ottoman Palestine. By the end of the nineteenth century some one hundred eighty Bukharan Jewish families had resettled in Jerusalem and it is surmised that this extraordinary coat is from one of these families.
The importance of family in Jewish life, ensuring its continuance and stability, is another feature of the exhibition with its examples of children’s clothing. Symbolic weddings of five-year-olds were held in Moroccan communities on Shavuot, the holiday celebrating the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai and was meant to strengthen the children’s connection to the Torah and its commandments. Imitating a real groom’s attire, the boy’s suit here is decorated with hamsas (hand symbols), a North African emblem to ward off evil.
“Veiled Meanings” shows the degree to which Jewish dress is akin to other periods of history in timeless, essential struggles between religion, tradition and modernity, East and West, freedom and equality. Yet the exhibition’s power is its ability to synthesize what is visually unique and specific to Jewish life, experience and culture, by how dress has not only been regulated by those cultures that controlled Jewish daily life but the “way of life” (orah hayyim) proscribed by Jewish law itself.
In a subtle and understated way, the exhibition invites questions about how we live with a sense of respect, tolerance and accommodation for those who make up this world. How do we live safely and well in a turbulent world with forces that we, ourselves, cannot control, yet still rise to the challenge of expanding the inherent possibilities of what it means to be human? Many questions are there for answering.
“Veiled Meanings: Fashioning Jewish Dress, from the Collection of the Israel Museum, Jerusalem,”
shows at the Jewish Museum, New York City, through March 18, 2018.
Click Images for Captions
These photographs were taken at the Veiled Meanings exhibition in New York, November 2017.
Carolyn L. E. Benesh is Coeditor of Ornament and our in-house expert on contemporary wearable art. As Ornament’s resident itinerant, she moves to and fro across the USA in search of inspiring craft, great experiences and, of course, excellent food. In the waning months of 2017, she made her annual trip to the Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show, a much beloved annual stop, adding a visit to New York City for more work. After one delightful morning spent at the Neue Galerie’s Cafe Sabarsky with artist Reiko Ishiyama, Benesh went on to The Jewish Museum to review “Veiled Meanings: Fashioning Jewish Dress.”


image from Junior Library Guild
Farrell, Mary Cronk. Pure Grit: How American World War II Nurses Survived Battle and Prison Camp in the Pacific. ill. Nonfiction. Abrams Books for Young Readers. 2014. 160 p. $24.95, 978-1-4917-1028-5. Outstanding. Grades 7-11.
From the striking cover to the harrowing stories inside, Pure Grit is a story that commands attention. Farrell tells the story of the hundred nurses that were stationed in the Philippines during World War II. Since most of the action of World War II had been in Europe, the nurses thought they were going to a safe place primarily to attend to the needs of military personnel and their families in peace time.
The nurses’ life in the Philippines was relaxed at first. They played card games and attended dances. This casual lifestyle ended abruptly when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and began bombing the Philippines the following day. In a day, their lives went from serene to chaotic. Almost none of the nurses had worked in a combat zone, so the shock of attending injured men, maimed, and dying men took its toll on these women. The sound of bombs exploding was a constant. As the war raged on, food became scarce, and many people, nurses included, became malnourished. Diseases such as beriberi, dysentery, malaria, and leprosy spread. When the nurses were sent to prison camps, their families didn’t receive any news of them. By the time the war was over, and the nurses were able to go home, many of them were changed for life. Although we didn’t have Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) identified yet, many of these nurses suffered from it. It was very difficult for them to adjust to life back home, and to make matters worse, the Veterans Administration denied benefits to them. By the time they were formally honored for their work in 1983, many of them had already died.
Historically significant black-and-white photographs, along with maps, a dual-column text layout, glossary, list of nurses, select timeline, endnotes, bibliography, and websites for more information, complete the book.


Ben Stokes, the English all-rounder, cemented his place in Ashes folklore with his heroics in the third test of the 2019 Ashes series. The test match, which was played at Headingley, will forever be remembered for Stokes’ remarkable innings that turned the tide in England’s favor.
The game was in a precarious position for England when Stokes came to the crease with the team struggling at 286 for 4 in the second innings, still needing 73 runs to avoid an innings defeat. The situation was made even more challenging when England lost their last two recognized batsmen quickly, leaving Stokes stranded with only the tail-enders for support.
Despite the daunting task at hand, Stokes refused to give up and started taking on the Australian bowlers aggressively. He hit an array of spectacular shots and kept the scoreboard ticking, taking England closer to their target with each passing over. The pressure was immense, but Stokes remained calm and composed, putting up a magnificent display of batting.
As the tension mounted, Stokes lost his batting partner, Jack Leach, with just two runs left to win. With the weight of an entire nation on his shoulders, Stokes held his nerve and hit a series of boundaries, taking England to a sensational victory. His unbeaten 135 off 219 balls included 11 fours and 8 sixes, and was one of the greatest innings in the history of test cricket.
Stokes’ heroics in the third Ashes test not only secured a famous victory for England but also boosted the team’s morale for the rest of the series. His performance was an inspiration to the entire squad and lifted the spirits of the nation. Stokes’ never-say-die attitude, combined with his skill and determination, has earned him a place in Ashes folklore, and he will always be remembered as one of the greatest all-rounders to have played the game.


Bạn đang xem: White house
Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions khổng lồ improve this article (requires login).
Feedback TypeSelect a type (Required)Factual CorrectionSpelling/Grammar CorrectionLink CorrectionAdditional InformationOther
Our editors will review what you’ve submitted và determine whether khổng lồ revise the article.Join bigbiglands.com"s Publishing Partner Program và our community of experts khổng lồ gain a global audience for your work!
White House, formerly Executive Mansion (1810–1901), the official office & residence of the president of the United States at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue N.W. In Washington, D.C. It is perhaps the most famous & easily recognizable house in the world, serving as both the trang chủ and workplace of the president và the headquarters of the president’s principal staff members.
White House, drawing by James Hoban
Drawing of the elevation of the nhà trắng by James Hoban, 1792; in the Maryland Historical Society, Baltimore.
Courtesy of the Maryland Historical Society, Baltimore
The building’s history begins in 1792, when a public competition was held khổng lồ choose a kiến thiết for a presidential residence in the new capital city of Washington. Thomas Jefferson, later the country’s third president (1801–09), using the pseudonymous initials “A.Z.,” was among those who submitted drawings, but Irish American architect James Hoban won the commission (and a $500 prize) with his plan for a Georgian mansion in the Palladian style. The structure was to lớn have three floors và more than 100 rooms and would be built in sandstone imported from quarries along Aquia Creek in Virginia. The cornerstone was laid on October 13, 1792. Labourers, including local enslaved people, were housed in temporary huts built on the north side of the premises. They were joined by skilled stonemasons from Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1793.
In 1800 the entire federal government was relocated from Philadelphia khổng lồ Washington. John Adams, the country’s second president (1797–1801), moved into the still unfinished presidential mansion on November 1 & the next night wrote in a letter to his wife, Abigail Adams:
I Pray Heaven Bestow the Best of Blessings on This House & All that shall hereafter inhabit it. May none but Honest & Wise Men ever rule under this Roof.
At the insistence of Pres. Franklin Roosevelt (1933–45), the quotation was inscribed on the fireplace of the State Dining Room immediately below the portrait of Abraham Lincoln, by George Healy.
When Abigail Adams finally arrived in Washington several days later, she was disappointed with the inadequate state of the residence. The first lady wrote,
There is not a single apartment finished. We have not the least fence, yard, or other convenience outside. I use the great unfinished audience room
The white house nhà trắng in the 19th century
The mansion quickly became a focal point of the new federal city and was symbolically linked to the United States Capitol by way of Pennsylvania Avenue. Following his inauguration in March 1801, Jefferson became the second president khổng lồ reside in the executive mansion. In keeping with his ardent republicanism, he opened the house to public visitation each morning, a tradition that was continued (during peacetime) by all his successors. He personally drew up landscaping plans và had two earthen mounds installed on the south lawn to remind him of his beloved Virginia Piedmont. Meanwhile, construction continued on the building’s interior, which still lacked ample staircases and suffered from a persistently leaky roof. During Jefferson’s tenure, the white house nhà trắng was elegantly furnished in Louis XVI style (known in America as Federal style).
During the War of 1812 the building was burned by the British, and Pres. James Madison (1809–17) & his family were forced lớn flee the city. The Madisons eventually moved into the nearby Octagon House, the Washington mansion of John Tayloe, a Virginia plantation owner. Reconstruction and expansion began under Hoban’s direction, but the building was not ready for occupancy until 1817, during the administration of Pres. James Monroe (1817–25). Hoban’s reconstruction included the addition of east & west terraces on the main building’s flanks; a semicircular south portico và a colonnaded north portico were added in the 1820s.
During the 19th century the nhà trắng became a symbol of American democracy. In the minds of most Americans, the building was not a “palace” from which the president ruled but merely a temporary office and residence from which he served the people he governed. The nhà trắng belonged to lớn the people, not the president, và the president occupied it only for as long as the people allowed him to stay. The idea of a president refusing to leave the nhà trắng after losing an election or an impeachment trial was unthinkable.
The inauguration of Andrew Jackson (1829–37), the “people’s president,” attracted thousands of well-wishers to the nation’s capital. As Jackson rode on horseback down Pennsylvania Avenue to lớn the trắng House, he was surrounded by a frenetic throng of 20,000 people, many of whom attempted khổng lồ follow him into the mansion lớn get a better look at their hero. A contemporary, Margaret Bayer Smith, recounts what happened next: “The halls were filled with a disorderly rabble…scrambling for the refreshments designed for the drawing room.” While friends of the new president joined arms to lớn protect him from the mob, “china và glass lớn the amount of several thousand dollars were broken in the struggle to lớn get at the ices & cakes, though punch và other drinkables had been carried out in tubs & buckets lớn the people.” Said Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story, “I was glad to escape from the scene as soon as possible.” During his administration Jackson spent more than $50,000 refurbishing the residence, including $10,000 on decorations for the East Room and more than $4,000 on a sterling silver dinner and dessert phối decorated with an American eagle.
In 1842 the visit to lớn the United States of the English novelist Charles Dickens brought an official invitation lớn the white House. After his calls at the white house nhà trắng door went unanswered, Dickens let himself in and walked through the mansion from room to room on the lower & upper floors. Finally coming upon a room filled with nearly two dozen people, he was shocked and appalled khổng lồ see many of them spitting on the carpet. Dickens later wrote, “I take it for granted the Presidential housemaids have high wages.” Until the Civil War, however, most white house servants were enslaved people. Moreover, the wages of all white house employees—as well as the expenses for running the white House, including staging official functions—were paid for by the president. Not until 1909 did Congress provide appropriations to lớn pay white house servants.
Dickens was not the only foreign visitor to be disappointed with the white House. On a trip lớn Washington just before the Civil War, Aleksandr Borisovich Lakier, a Russian nobleman, wrote that “the trang chủ of the president…is barely visible behind the trees.” The trắng House, he said, was “sufficient for a private family and not at all conforming lớn the expectations of a European.” Subsequent changes khổng lồ the building in the 19th century were relatively minor. The interior was redecorated during various presidential administrations & modern conveniences were regularly added, including a refrigerator in 1845, gas lighting in 1849, và electric lighting in 1891.
The white house nhà trắng was the scene of mourning after the assassination of Pres. Abraham Lincoln (1861–65). While Mary Todd Lincoln lay in her room for five weeks grieving for her husband, many white house holdings were looted. Responding khổng lồ charges that she had stolen government property when she left the trắng House, she angrily inventoried all the items she had taken with her, including gifts of quilts và waxworks from well-wishers.


Antique Turkish Drip Vase III
Hand-crafted from terracotta with an olive green glaze, this antique vessel was historically used to preserve olives and oil in the off-season. As you can see in the fourth photo, the base on this vase is missing, but otherwise, it's in good condition and still stands up perfectly.
width 23cm x height 26cm
As with all vintage pieces, there may be minor imperfections which are considered normal. We make every effort to highlight more significant flaws.


Just turned on “The War,” a documentary about World War II by Ken Burns. I can’t get over the lines narrated by David Keith.
“The greatest cataclysm in history grew out of ancient and ordinary human emotions: anger and arrogance and bigotry, victim-hood and the lust for power. And it ended because other human qualities—courage and perseverance and selflessness, faith, leadership and the hunger for freedom— combined, with unimaginable brutality, to change the course of human events.
“The Second World War brought out the best—and the worst—in a generation, and blurred the two so that they became at times almost indistinguishable.”


The palazzo was built in the latter half of the sixteenth century when the Becchi Counts decided to construct their city residence, choosing a location on Via della Ghiara, now Corso Garibaldi, which at the time was particularly strategic for trade.
Several elite families had already settled there in the fifteenth century, to the point that it could be described as a planned urban development, later amplified in 1597 when building began on the Basilica of the Madonna della Ghiara. This led to stipulations for a precise alignment of façades and attention to perspective when positioning palazzi within the street plan, often by applying corner decorations.
Palazzo Magnani also has this type of decoration: a marble herm depicting two-faced Janus, created in 1576 by sculptor Prospero Sogari, aka ‘Il Clemente’.
The only remains of the original construction from that period is the palazzo layout, built around a central courtyard and the marble herm on the corner.
In the early nineteenth century, the palazzo was ceded to another Reggio family, the Chioffi, who undertook major renovations in 1841. These entailed a complete renovation of the building in neoclassical style, visible above all in the internal and external façades and in the central staircase. It was probably in this period that the palazzo established its current external form, whereas the internal decorations and the ceiling frescoes on the first floor rooms were made over a longer period of time, up until the late nineteenth century.
After several interim changes of ownership, on 18 March 1917 the property was purchased by Giuseppe Magnani. On his death in 1960, the property was inherited by his son Luigi, an art collector and musicologist.
Already by the early 1980s Luigi Magnani was considering transferring the building to the provincial government, to be used for exhibition purposes. At the same time a plan to establish the Magnani-Rocca Foundation was underway to protect and promote its extraordinary art collection, and ensure it was permanently accessible to the public at Villa di Mamiano di Traversetolo.
At the time of Luigi Magnani’s death, the province of Reggio Emilia acquired the building and began restoration work, which ended in the spring of 1997.
On 26 April 1997, Palazzo Magnani began its journey in the world of culture and art.
Luigi Magnani (Reggio Emilia, 1906 – Mamiano, 1984) was a writer, essayist, art historian, musicologist, composer and music critic.
Luigi dedicated his life to culture in all its forms, forging friendships with some of the greatest Italian artists and intellectuals of the twentieth century, among them Giuseppe Ungaretti, Eugenio Montale, Giorgio Morandi, Alberto Burri, Renato Guttuso, Giacomo Manzù and Alberto Savinio.
His extraordinary art collection, exhibited in his residence at Mamiano di Traversetolo, includes works by Goya, Titian, Rembrandt, Dürer, Monet, Renoir and Canova.
Luigi was the son of Giuseppe Magnani, an agricultural entrepreneur and owner of a dairy industry, and Eugenia Rocca, a member of a Ligurian noble family.
A student of the exceptional teacher Adolfo Venturi, Luigi graduated 1929 with a liberal arts degree from the University of Rome, where he later taught. Alfredo Casella was responsible for his musical education. Over the course of his life Luigi produced important research and writings on Correggio, Morandi, Mozart, Beethoven, Goethe, Stendhal and Proust.
During his extraordinary career Luigi Magnani belonged to the Pontificia Accademia di belle arti e lettere dei Virtuosi at the Pantheon in Rome. He curated broadcasts for RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana, and he won the Campiello writing award for his novel Il nipote di Beethoven and the Otto/Novecento prize for literary criticism.
After he left teaching at the University of Rome, in 1976 he retired permanently to the villa at Mamiano. From that moment on he developed the idea of creating an art foundation and intensified his search for artworks to enrich his collection, often following suggestions from art critics and friends, including Argan, Brandi, Chastel, Emiliani, Frommel, Longhi, Quintavalle, Ragghianti, Sgarbi, Vitali and Zeri.
In 1977 he founded Fondazione Magnani Rocca, in memory of his parents.
Luigi Magnani died at his villa in Mamiano on 15 November 1984. Two months earlier he had presented his collection of ancient art at Palazzo Magnani in Reggio Emilia, in an exhibition entitled Fondazione Magnani Rocca: Masterpieces of Ancient Painting.
Fondazione Palazzo Magnani © 2024 all rights reserved | P.IVA 02456050356


top of page
The serene acreage of Melan Farm was purchased in 2005 by Andy and Melody Orvin.
By 2007, a beautiful 12-acre pond had been created, around which numerous family gatherings would be held, countless fish would be caught, and cherished memories would be made. The pond remained largely encompassed by trees until September 2017 when the vision for a wedding venue was hatched. Construction began soon after in October.
The crown jewel of the property, the large closed-in barn, was built almost completely by Andy and Jordan. They stood the walls, set the trusses, hand crafted each of the doors and windows, and finished out the entire barn in beautiful tongue and groove wood.
After a seven-month labor of love, the Orvins opened their doors in April 2018 for the barn’s first wedding. Since then, the barn has seen many gorgeous wedding ceremonies and housed various events, such as birthday celebrations, charity galas, and corporate retreats.
bottom of page


Last week, some of us visited the Sifting Project in the Tzurim Valley National Park below Mount Scopus. Under the direction of Bar Ilan University archaeologists, Dr. Gabriel Barkay and Zachi Zweig, volunteers have been sifting through hundreds of truckloads of earth and debris that was dumped from the Temple Mount by direction of the Islamic Waqf who administers the Temple Mount and its Muslim sites. Over a 48-hour period in October 1999, workers used heavy machinery to dig deep into the Temple Mount in order to create a staircase to access a mosque with a 10,000-person capacity in what is known as “Solomon’s Stables”–a massive arched area that Herod built to support his expansion of the Temple Mount platform when he renovated the Second Jerusalem Temple in 20 BCE. More than 200 trucks worked day and night to empty the refuse mainly into the Kidron Valley. Archaeologists have not previously had any access to the Temple Mount; in this refuse, they have found artifacts and significant materials dating from Iron Age I–the 10th century BCE onward. Here is an Israeli television interview that shows some of the archaeological findings.
The site confounds the narrative taught to many Muslims that the Jewish Temples are fictions invented to support Israeli territorial claims to Jerusalem. Thousands of years of Jewish pilgrimage and worship, the First Jerusalem Temple, Persian, Hellenisitc, Roman (the Second Temple), Byzantine, Arab, Crusader, Malmuk, Turkish, and modern periods are documented in the debris. The professionalism of the project, the expertise and open-mindedness of the archaeologists on site, and the material evidence are incontrovertible. They use a technique not dissimilar to the contemporary garbage harvest, sorting metal, semi and precious stone, architectural stone, glass, bone, and pottery from the dirt. One of the people in our group found a beautiful carnelian bead–a semi-precious gem. The staff duly marked it with Courtney’s name and packaged it to be sent to the lab for dating and analysis. Kader and I found a fine sharp flint stone.
The project contributes difficult layers and controversy to the meaning of “garbage” in Jerusalem, and among us. In what we discard, we encode our personal and societal biographies, historical and current. Unfortunately, disrespectful treatment of important material–as if it is refuse–has destroyed the datable stratification of historic layers and caused more work. The organizers estimate that 10 more years of sifting remain. We also need to sift through our experience together and interpret its meaning to our joint creative work on garbage.


With many variations, from fig to quince, the unmistakable flavors of northern Italy’s famous agrodolce fruit preserve crown meat, poultry, pasta, cheese and even seafood.
A favorite of Catherine de’ Medici, who placed a jar in her dowry trunk when she left to marry the king of France’s son in 1533, mostarda is a distinctive fruit conserve that mixes the intense spice of mustard with the sweet flavors of candied fruit. The first known written recipe for this condiment appeared in chef Lancelot de Casteau’s Ouverture de Cuisine in 1604, which called for finely chopped candied orange and quince peels—a substitute for the traditional grape must—added to a purée of mustard, sugar and rose water. Over the centuries the agrodolce flavor characteristic of mostarda has taken on countless variations. By the 19th century there were many cities with their own versions, and the varieties of mostarda made in Cremona became widely regarded as the most special because of the complexity of their ingredients. The 1875 publication of Il manuale del cuoco included the first instructions for making a more modern version of mostarda di Cremona—a recipe close to those found in Cremona today.
The origins of mostarda go back much further than the 19th century, to the ancient practice of pairing sweet and spicy flavors, like grape must and fruit, with mustard. There are fifth century references to a compote of quince, pomegranate and sorbus fruit, cooked together in grape must until the fruit began to fall apart. The word mostarda is traced to the Latin word ardens, or ardente in Italian. Ardente means burning, and it refers to the spice of the white mustard flour that was once added to the unfermented grape must, or mustum, to make mustum ardens. In French, this spicy conserve was called moût ardent, which then became moutarde, and was translated into Italian as mostarda. While its name may come from French, mostarda is entirely an Italian specialty, and like most of the country’s recipes, there are several regional versions of this preserve.
In Lombardy, the mostarda of Mantova is prepared with sliced quince, apple or local pear, and in the nearby town of Viadana, a spicier version is made with passacrassana pears, a winter variety with dense flesh. Puréed quince and pears, mixed with candied orange and citron peel, characterize most mostarda from the Veneto region, except for that from Verona, which calls for vegetables. Without mustard, however, mostarda is considered cognà, an ancient preserve traditionally found in Piedmont, made by cooking quince and pear in grape must with walnuts and hazelnuts. Grape must is still used in some recipes from Emilia-Romagna, where it is mixed with quince, pear and prune. The Tuscan version of mostarda includes apples, pears, candied citron mustard and grape must, as recorded by Pellegrino Artusi in the 19th century. Mostarda is also the name of a dessert in Sicily, a sweet and slightly sour cake made with grape must and flour that is seasoned in various ways.
According to tradition, mostarda is served in the fall, paired with bollito misto, Italian boiled meats. Today, mostarda is not limited to a single season and complements a wide range of foods. For the mostarda of Cremona, each fruit has its own dish: fig mostarda is served with herbed cheese and salumi; clementine mostarda with roast meats and fresh cheeses; while tome cheese, prosciutto cotto and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese are all ideal pairs for mostarda with pumpkin. With pear mostarda, serve Parmigiano-Reggiano and Felino salame, and for melon, serve culatello and fresh cow’s milk cheeses. The mostarda of Mantova, a fundamental ingredient in the local tortelli, is great with boiled white meat and medium-aged cheeses.
© 2013 Quadratum USA. All rights reserved.


Embark on the mesmerizing journey by way of time as we delve into your enchanting planet of Luxor, Egypt, and also the awe-inspiring wonders it has to offer. In this post, We'll investigate the captivating experiences awaiting individuals who enterprise on Hurghada to Luxor excursions, that has a Exclusive target the enduring Valley in the Kings.
Hurghada to Luxor Tours:
For travelers seeking a mixture of record, society, and experience, a visit from Hurghada to Luxor can be an complete have to. Luxor, usually known as the "globe's greatest open up-air museum," features an abundance of archaeological treasures that span 1000s of a long time. The journey in the coastal paradise of Hurghada to the historic heart of Egypt is an immersive experience, offering a glimpse into your place's wealthy past.
Valley of your Kings:
Among the list of crown jewels of Luxor would be the renowned Valley in the Kings, a necropolis that served as the final resting spot for pharaohs of the New Kingdom. Nestled about the west financial institution in the Nile, this ancient burial floor can be a UNESCO Globe Heritage site as well as a testament to your grandeur of Egyptian civilization.
Site visitors towards the Valley of your Kings are greeted by a landscape dotted with elaborately decorated tombs, Every single holding a novel story of the pharaohs who at the time ruled Egypt. The intricate hieroglyphics, vibrant murals, plus the sheer scale in the architecture are bound to depart an indelible impression on each individual traveler.
Hurghada Tours: Gateway to Luxor's Splendors
Hurghada, a popular vacation resort town together the Crimson Sea, serves as The best start line for those wanting to discover the miracles of Luxor. The journey from Hurghada to Luxor is not just a possibility to witness the stark contrast concerning the coastal oasis and the ancient town but in addition a chance to knowledge the heat of Egyptian hospitality.
Hurghada to Luxor excursions normally include guided visits to iconic landmarks including the Karnak Temple, Luxor Temple, along with the Colossi of Memnon. The knowledgeable guides present insights into the historic significance of every website, presenting a comprehensive comprehension of Egypt's cultural tapestry.
Practical Methods for an Unforgettable Luxor Trip:
Relaxed Attire: Provided The nice and cozy local weather, it can be recommended to don light, breathable apparel and comfy footwear.
Hydration: Carry enough water to stay hydrated, Primarily throughout outside explorations.
Digicam Prepared: Seize the magic of Luxor by bringing a camera to immortalize the spectacular landscapes and historic artifacts.
Respect Neighborhood Customs: When viewing religious websites, it's important to costume modestly out of respect for that area customs.
A Luxor excursion from Hurghada is usually a transformative encounter, presenting a novel blend of leisure and hurghada luxor tours exploration. Within the sun-kissed seashores of Hurghada to your timeless wonders of Luxor, this journey is actually a celebration of Egypt's abundant heritage. Whether or not marveling with the grandeur of your Valley of the Kings or navigating the bustling markets of Luxor, each and every minute claims to be a stage back again in time, leaving an indelible mark over the hearts of travelers.


The Market Theatre, founded in Johannesburg in 1976 by Mannie Manim and the late Barney Simon, was constructed out of Johannesburg’s Indian Fruit Market – built in 1913. The theatre went on to become internationally renowned as South Africa’s “Theatre of the Struggle”.
The Market Theatre challenged the apartheid regime, armed with little more than the conviction that culture can change society. The strength and truth of that conviction was acknowledged in 1995 when the theatre received the American Jujamcyn Award. In providing a voice to the voiceless, The Market Theatre did not forego artistic excellence, but, rather, made a point of it. Its twenty-one international and over three hundred South African theatre awards bears eloquent testimony to the courage and artistic quality of its work.


About the History of “Summer Sake”
Since it’s quite impossible to go to Japan for fresh sake, the only thing I can do is to review some interesting contents.
“Kura of Japan” is a book published by Kyushu University that introduces the history of the Kura architecture in Japan.
It introduces sake manufacturers in different geographical locations across Japan. There are various arrangements and designs of architecture in response to the procedures of steamed rice, koji making, and sake making under different climate conditions.
There’s a little part about the brewing of “summer sake ” in ancient times, which is quite interesting. Unlike the concept of modern summer sake. The current version of summer sake is not really a tradition in seasonal Nihonshu. It’s relatively more like a marketing outcome.
However, in the history of ancient sake manufacture, there was indeed a tradition of summer brewing recorded in history book.
The ” Tamonyini Diary” (たもんいんにっき) is a history book started from 1478 by a monk Hidetoshi of Kofukuji Temple in Nara, and continued to record 140 years of monastery history.
It mentioned that the summer sake （夏酒）brewing in the monastery was initiated from February to May on the lunar calendar, and the official Lunar sake (正月酒）brewing period was from September to October on the lunar calendar.
Interestingly, the summer Sake brewing period was longer than winter season period. I wonder if it is because of the larger demand at the time? (Smile)
#日本酒 #夏酒 #多聞院日記 #日本酒女子 #Sake #nihonshu #清酒 #酒蔵 #九州大学 #山口昭三


Arizona was predicted to be the swing state most prepared to manage the onslaught of mail-in ballots. In 2018, 79% of Arizonans voted by mail. This may account for why Arizona was historically slow to report vote counts.
But in 2020, Arizona was amongst the first states to be called for Joe Biden. With only 73% of the state’s votes counted, Fox News projected that Biden would win Arizona’s 11 electoral votes. At the time, more than 900,000 votes were still to be counted. Most of them were from election day in Maricopa County where 60% of the electorate lives.
When 99% of the votes had ultimately been counted, Joe Biden’s lead over Donald Trump was only 10,000 votes or just .3 percentage points.


OAKVILLE ROOFING CONTRACTORS
Tops Roofing Company has been an active member of the Oakville community since 1987 and providing homeowners like yourself with expert residential roof replacement, roof repair and roofing contractor services.
Our business & reputation as Oakville’s top roofing contractor really began to boom in the late 90’s when the most easterly and first built homes in the Glen Abbey area of Oakville were due for roof and roof shingle replacement. Beginning at the prestigious Glen Abbey Golf and Country Club and later on as the westerly area homes in Glen Abbey aged, we gradually moved west throughout the Glen Abbey neighbourhood and replaced the residential roofing beyond Third Line and all the way over to Bronte Creek. Between 1998 and 2008 Tops Roofing Company replaced on average, six out of every ten residential roofs in the Glen Abbey area alone. Tops Roofing Company was not only recognized as Oakville’s best residential roofing contractor winning top spot in the Oakville Beavers, peoples choice awards multiple times, but as well received recognition as Oakville’s top commercial roofing contractor completing many commercial projects in Oakville’s downtown Lakeshore Road area, Oakville Marina and waterfront buildings, plus numerous city buildings, plazas and businesses.
Residential Roofing Contractor in Oakville
Residing in Oakville and especially the Glen Abbey area in the late 90’s through until 2010 you would have been most familiar with Tops Roofing Company and our main office which was located right in Glen Abbey at Nottinghill Gate (4th line) and the North Service Road, right beside the Abbey Arms restaurant & pub.
In 2010 we gave up our Mississauga warehouse and our main office location on Nottinghill Gate and moved everything to one single location on Wallace Road in Oakville which was right next door to the Knights of Columbus hall and near Third Line and Speers Road.
In 2017 Tops Roofing Company moved again. Although we remain an active business and the best Oakville roofing contractor, our main office has been relocated just next door in Burlington Ontario. So in case you were wondering where we have gone, we have never left and are still providing top quality roofing service in Oakville Ontario.
So, look no further and you will see why we continue to service the same customers again and again, 20 years later in the town of Oakville
• Roof repair in Oakville
• Roofing placement in Oakville
• Roof Skylights in Oakville
• Custom Roof Flashings in Oakville
• Roofing Contractor in Oakville
No roof to small & no roof to tall !
Residential Roofing Completed Last Week In Oakville
If your only looking for advice, the advice is free and so am I to chat, but for a no-obligation on-site quote and to address any roofing questions or concerns, Call Tops Roofing Company at 905-465-0538 and speak with Wanda, our friendly office administrator of 17 years and learn the many ways we can assist you or to direct your call.
Sincerely, Brian Burnett / President


The Early Years
Innovation, perseverance and close attention to customer needs have characterized Kennametal since its founding. In 1938, after years of research, metallurgist Philip M. McKenna created a tungsten-titanium carbide alloy for cutting tools that provided a productivity breakthrough in the machining of steel. "Kennametal®" tools cut faster and lasted longer, and thereby facilitated metalworking in products from automobiles to airliners to machinery. With his invention, Philip started the McKenna Metals Company in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. Later renamed Kennametal, the corporation has become a world leader in the metalworking industry and remains headquartered in Latrobe.
McKenna Metal's first full-year sales, with a staff of 12 employees, totaled some $30,000. But World War II saw American heavy industry shift into high gear. Kennametal's annual sales approached $10 million and employment was nearly 900 as the company's tools were used extensively in the war-time economy.
When the wartime boom ended, Kennametal sought new ways to exploit the toughness and wear resistance of tungsten carbide alloys. In the mid-1940s, the company pioneered the use of carbide tooling for mining, which led to the development of the continuous mining machine. Kennametal also found uses for tungsten carbide in demanding specialty applications where resistance to wear was vital, such as in valves, dies, drill bits and snowplow blades.
Kennametal developed an international presence from the start. Philip sold early patent rights to British industrialists who later also began Kennametal of Canada. Exports through the company's first five years totaled more than $2.5 million, and by 1955 Kennametal had representation in 19 countries. The company's overseas manufacturing started in 1957 with a joint venture in Italy. A joint venture in the United Kingdom and a German sales subsidiary soon followed. Between 1972 and 1981, foreign sales grew from 17 to 34 percent of the total.
In 1993, Kennametal acquired Hertel AG, a tooling systems manufacturer headquartered in Fürth, Germany, with operations throughout Europe and worldwide. This enabled the corporation to compete more effectively in Western Europe, gain better access to emerging markets in Eastern Europe, and offer additional product lines in Asia Pacific. The Asia Pacific effort was further expanded to include manufacturing joint ventures for mining tools in China and a metalworking tool manufacturing plant in Shanghai. In 2002, Kennametal acquired Widia, a leading manufacturer and marketer of metalworking tools in Europe and India. Other acquisitions that expand Kennametal’s capabilities to better serve its customers worldwide include Conforma Clad Inc., a leading provider of engineered components that deliver premium wear solutions, and Extrude Hone Corporation, a supplier of market leading engineered component process technology.
A Technological Leader
Kennametal was founded on the strength of a technological breakthrough, and a list of highlights demonstrates that it has continued to lead its industry in innovation.
In 1946, the company introduced the Kendex line of mechanically held, indexable insert systems that accelerated tool changing and increased machining precision.
Kennametal's unique, patented thermit process for producing impact-resistant macrocrystalline tungsten carbide today remains the best way to produce extremely tough tool materials for demanding applications such as mining.
In 1964, Kennametal introduced tungsten-carbide-tipped Kengrip tire studs. Although studs clearly contributed to safe winter travel, they became controversial amid speculation about their role in road deterioration. After legislation limited the use of carbide studs, Kennametal left the business in 1977.
Leader in the development of silicon-nitride based "sialon" ceramics for the machining of exotic aerospace materials.
First to develop cobalt-enriched substrates for coated inserts, was first to commercially introduce physical-vapor-deposition (PVD) coated cemented carbide cutting tools and created the first commercially viable diamond-coated carbide inserts.
Leader in the development of quick-change tooling systems that today lead the world in versatility, speed and accuracy.
Kennametal maintains its technological leadership through its $30-million Technology Center in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, and complementary facilities in various locations around the globe. The facilities are dedicated to rapid development of products engineered to meet specific customer requirements.


First appeared in Science Fiction Writers of America Blog August 2012
Ideas for my stories come to me in museums, in galleries, in gulibraries. Find me upstairs (and it’s always quieter upstairs) in the British Museum trawling the past looking for future inspiration.
Old books, paintings, objects are part of our material heritage. Survivors of the ravages of times, sometimes cherished throughout the ages, sometimes forgotten, dug from the ground, broken and then reconstruction. Objects tell stories. Museums select and interpret these stories, grouping objects together to give a window into the past.
Museum objects are rich in concrete detail for stories. And not just for fantasy stories, set in the real or imagined past. A detail from the past can act as a springboard for a story about the future. Looking at the helmet of a 10th century Norwegian chief leads me to consider what armour a space Viking might wear (Space Vikings! Now I want to write a space Viking story). Looking at a beaten gold headdress from ancient Ur makes me wonder how the woman felt wearing such a beautiful and precious item. How did her society shape her? How will my future society shape my characters? An object in a museum will catch my attention. Why was this sword engraved with the image of a bear? And that will send me down a pathway of research.
Some museums collect the finest pieces of the past, the most costly, the most cherished. Objects may be monumental, priceless and awe-inspiring. But these are not the only stories to be told. Sadly many objects from the past of the working person have been lost. Yet, you can still glimpse the lives of working folk painted as rural scenes on objects. And social museums seek to recapture a glimpse of the ordinary, the everyday.
Objects, books and paintings are material records of the stories told in the past, the stories of religion and mythology. You can read the changing nature of stories through objects. Creation stories, eschatologies, the stories of the gods as their worshippers migrate and change, stories of lovers seeking to retrieve their beloved from the underworld. Some stories are repeated through the ages. What element has gripped so many imaginations?
Musuems don’t always look backwards. In the British Museum’s African Galleries there’s a sculpture called Tree of Life (2004) constructed out of decommissioned rifles. Science museums examine the science of the past, the future and even trends for the future.
The presence of an object in a museum in a story in itself. The Parthenon Marbles, the Benin Bronzes (and others) on display in London are subject to repeated calls to be returned to their countries of origin. These objects tell stories of colonialism, empire, and war.
Though I love the massive, wealthy London museums and galleries, I’ve a fondness for the more obscure museum. After all, I used to work for one, as curator of the Royal Veterinary Museum. In London you can visit Alexander Fleming’s laboratory, or visit the Royal College of Surgeons Museum to explore the ideology that underpinned medicine for thousands of years. University are centres of research and specialism. Their collections are often open to the public by appointment. It’s worth trying a visit to a museum outside your area of interest. Volunteering to help out during my daughter’s school trip took me to the Imperial War Museum, I saw a wealth of cool spy gadgets that will no doubt work their way into some of my stories.
I live in London, and this article has been about London’s cultural wealth. But you can find wonderful museums everywhere. Holidays at home or abroad are opportunities to glimpse other cultures. A family wedding in Cyprus found me in a small museum examining of hundreds of votive offerings, clay figurines of a men on horseback. A collection that I couldn’t have seen anywhere else. I’m Derbyshire born and bred. Derby’s Museum has a wonderful collection of Joseph Wright of Derby’s atmospheric paintings exploring the development of modern science during the Enlightenment. A bus ride from my home town takes me to the D.H. Lawrence Museum, and to the National Trust’s Museum of Childhood. And sometimes history can’t be constrained to a building. I like the prehistoric stones ring at Arbour Low in Derbyshire that sometime in the past has been pushed over. The standing stones are fallen, nobody remembers why. There’s history everywhere.
And there’s the internet. Museums have embraced the internet seeking to widen access to their collections. It’s not, in my opinion as good as seeing the real thing. (Who can forget standing under the real-size model of the Blue Whale at the Natural History Museum?) But museum websites are a valuable resource.
And if you do take a trip to a museum, don’t forget to take a tour. Curators love to talk their collections. They have a passion for them. And curators are people who want to communicate stories. I should know; I used to be one.


The Maryland House and Garden Pilgrimage (MHGP), a non-profit organization, is dedicated to the preservation and restoration of architecturally significant properties in the State of Maryland. The Pilgrimage has remained constant with this purpose since its formation in 1930.
The 2019 Tour dates are as follows:
Charles County: Saturday, April 27th, 2019
Queen Anne’s County: Saturday, May 4th, 2019
Baltimore City: Saturday, May 11th, 2019
Baltimore County: Saturday, May 18th, 2019
Carroll County: Sunday, May 19th, 2019


Presenter Ray Thomas filming Open University programme T100/31 ‘The Economics of traffic congestion: traffic control in action’ (1972).
T100 was the first Technology foundation course created by The Open University and it was presented from 1972 to 1979.
When the OU first opened its doors to students in 1971, there were four foundation courses offered for Mathematics, Understanding Society, Humanities and Science. By 1972, OU students had increased to 36,000 including 50 of the first post-graduate students.
Like more OU history? Make sure you visit the Open University Digital Archive.


Swing Dance Event | Prohibition Party
Ladies and Gentlemen – Welcome to Prohibition!
Escape your everyday life join us on a journey 100 years back in time to the Prohibition Era and the wild parties of the Great Gatsby!
For one night only we turn Hamburg into a Roaring Twenties Speakeasy filled with 1920s style, music and dance!
On stage there will be world class entertainers, among others the amazing Swing’it, who has sold out venues all around Scandinavia and Europe along with the world class burlesque star Miss Jolie Papillon among others. After the show there will be a DJ keeping the party going until the early hours!
So get ready for an elegant night – let the champagne flow, dance like there’s no tomorrow and get lost in the extravagancy of Great Gatsbys Era and the music of the Roaring Twenties!
Diesen Termin teilen:


The Centro de História d’Aquém e d’Além-Mar (CHAM) is an R&D institution working in an interuniversitary basis. Localized in the Faculty of Social and Human Sciences – New University of Lisbon (FCSH-UNL) it is strictly connected with the Azores University (UAc) and is financed by Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT).
CHAM develops research related to the History of the Discoveries and the Portuguese Expansion, as well as the Portuguese presence around the world, with a special focus in the period between the origins of the Overseas Expansion and the Independence of Brazil (1822), with an interdisciplinary perspective and incorporating comparative history, paying particular attention to the history of the regions with which Portugal maintained contacts.
This wider area of research has potential for the study of interculturalism, especially in terms of the otherness, perceived by the Portuguese and other European peoples, and vice-versa, during the process of European expansion. Res Antiquitatis’ main contribution to the more general scientific purposes of CHAM is the study of that interculturalism and those conceptions of the otherness in diacronic terms, more specifically starting with the cultural references of Antiquity.


Posts Tagged ‘womens wear daily’
In this world of immediate online access, it’s hard to imagine how the fashion press operated a century ago. If you can believe it, trends and silhouettes were sketched – by hand! – and brought back on trans Atlantic steamers. At the time, Womens Wear Daily was the foremost voice on the industry, and in many respects that is still the case today. Last night at Cipriani’s on 42nd Street, the paper reminded the world of their history, their relevance, and their power (they got every major designer to participate in a specialty auction), bringing the likes of Ralph Lauren, Diane von Furstenberg, Stefano Pilati and so many others out to pay homage.


Tasting Notes: Very rich mouth, with aromas of macerated white fruits and leather. No hesitation ! Silver medal at the international wine challenge in 1998.
Castarede Armagnac 1939 40% 700ml Armagnac
- SKU : CAS39
- Brand/Distillery : Armagnac Castarède
- Country of Origin : France
- Vintage : 1939 Vintage
- ABV : 40%
- Volume : 700ml
Out of stock
Founded in 1832 under NapolÃ©on III, CastarÃ¨de is the oldest Armagnac trading house in existence. Baron Haussmann who was the sub-prefect of NÃ©rac, initially encouraged their ancestors to become the first traders in the register of commerce. CASTAREDE ancient and persistent quality is throughout the best range in France of vintage Armagnacs all the way back to the end of the 19th century. But their superiority is that they can guarantee the absolute authenticity with the Indirect Ministry of taxation archives of Excise Taxes. And very few houses of Armagnac can do that with certainty.


The Wagner Vineyards Estate Winery Building
In 1976, Bill Wagner broke ground on what would become the famous octagon building that houses Wagner Winery. He began construction even before the Farm Winery Act was passed later in that same year. The building was specially designed by Bill Wagner to be advantageous for wine production and planned to be energy efficient long before that was in vogue. Construction was completed and the doors opened to Wagner Vineyards Estate Winery in June of 1979.
The center of the octagon houses our tank room with a walkway wrapping part-way around so visitors can see where much of our wine is made. Many of our tanks were custom-made to fit the space we have available. Over time we have added tanks and now have a full tank room! Below the retail shop, tasting rooms, tank room, and bottling room is our cellar.
In the cellar seven of the eight sides of the octagon are full of barrels for our barrel aged wines. Being underground, the temperature stays relatively even year-round allowing for optimal aging conditions. In 1997 the brewery and the outdoor brew deck were added onto the winery – stop by and enjoy a glass of your favorite wine on our deck while you enjoy the beautiful lake view!
In 2015, we continued our investment in our farm winery’s sustainability with the installation of a 250KW solar array. This was a logical step for us as our family has made our living for five generations by harvesting the sun’s energy to ripen our grapes. This array, the largest in the Finger Lakes, is spread out among 3 of our buildings, including the Ginny Lee Café which you can see easily right from our parking lot!
You can see most of the building any time you stop in – but during our free daily tours visitors can be brought down to explore our cellar. It is quite a sight and worth it to plan your visit to the winery around one of our daily tour times.


In The Footprints of Ancients
Though the world has been called by many names in different regions, at the height of civilizations glory the commonly accepted name was “Andomenel”, coming from an old Elvish phrase for “Heaven’s Gate”, which itself stemmed from a belief that this world was but one step away from the realm of Gods. Though all regions of Andomenel have their own unique histories, it is the story of the worlds unified rise and collapse that truly defines it.
For an age Andomenel had been a world steeped in magical energies. Nearly every child born across the world showed some aptitude for magic. The elders and priests believed it was a gift from the Gods, that magic had been bestowed upon the people of the world from a heavenly source. During the first few centuries of wide spread magic society grew, cities formed where small villages had once stood, great states and nations united. Great heroes arose in this time, as the world teamed with evil and wicked Magi. Heroes and armies tamed the wilderness, throwing down great demons and beasts, sealing malovelance within caverns, and fighting to the death against torrents of monsters. But the formation of cities and states rarely benefits all, and so many wars were fought in those years, with great magic users on either side, and a great many men died, and the world was scarred. Evil wizards rose, seeking to subjugate all others beneath them. Wars raged between kingdoms, against sinister Magi, against demons spewed from the earth. As wars diminished the population, and stunted the growth of civilization, the birth of the magically gifted also slowed. Many thought that their transgressions against one another had disappointed the Gods, and so their gifts were withdrawn. As the centuries passed the magi dwindled. During this time the greatest of the magi banded together, and swore an oath of peace, that no magic kingdom should do war with another. And so though the wages of time, and an increasingly smaller crop of magical children, continued to diminish the Magi, slowly the bloodshed stopped.
During this period of Andomenel’s history many great works were accomplished. Large dams were built to tame waters, aqueducts allowed people to expand to arid wastes, great cathedrals were constructed, great walls erected to keep out the wild beasts, roads stretched from city to city, and cities grew outwards and upwards. But much of this expansion was owed not to the technology, or slave labor, but rather to the works of great wizards and other magical people. The vast constructions, too big and intricate to have been built without magical tools, were constructed and maintained by magic, patrolled and repaired by golems, held safe by unbreakable seals, and all of it allowed a leisurely and frivolous life for the average man. As time stretched on magic was by no means ubiquitous, and so kings and emperors and lords with no magical talent ruled over the peaceful kingdoms, and had to take wizards and clerics into their service, and pay them great sums and afford them great freedoms in order to insure that society was maintained.
Eventually, the great wizards and clerics of the world grew in their power, sustaining their lives supernaturally. They had become a minority once more, and were quickly realizing that the age of magic was coming to a close. They understood how much they were being relied upon, and in many ways used, to maintain the vast empires of lesser men, and so they grew tired. They no longer wished to keep vassals in check or rebuff demonic incursions or heal the sick, and realized that they never had much of an opportunity to pursue their own goals since the Magi diminished. Their lives in the latter days of the time of the ancients was mostly spent furnishing their lords with lesser magicians and great works. Reviling the unenlightened kings and emperors, and especially the common man, many of the greatest wizards and sorcerers and clerics banded together once more and formed their own, extremely inaccessible, enclaves. They left to mountain tops, remote islands, cities beneath the oceans, palaces in the clouds, and lived in peace, free from the demands and the wars of those beneath them. In their enclaves they flourished, and grew more and more powerful, and even those among them who felt sorry for those they left behind eventually realized how much better off they were. The gates to their enclaves closed, illusions were deployed to hide them from lesser men, and the Magi left the world.
Lesser magicians had been left behind, many of them students at the time of the exodus, or those who continued to be born with the gift for magic, but unable to truly master its use. These people were relied upon as kings and emperors scrambled to prove themselves strong still in the face of this catastrophe. But the abilities of the magicians were not strong enough, and they were not practiced enough. Much of the magic that had been maintaining the infrastructure of empires, had been warding off storms and droughts and plagues, was far beyond them. Many of them died, falling victim to backfired spells and alchemical mishaps, and with fewer and fewer wizards of any skill level to rely on, society began to wither, having grown beyond its means and no longer having the magic to sustain it. As the centuries passed the roads became decayed and overgrown, the great dams burst and whole cities were swallowed by the waters, the jungles and forests encroached on the towns, the universities and libraries crumbled and became colonies for the plague stricken, society fell into darkness.
Andomenel forges on still, and the time of peace and prosperity, many centuries passed, has come to be known as The Time of the Ancients. Magic still exists, though it is sometimes persecuted. Small kingdoms have formed, using more primitive mechanical or alchemical means to support the constructions of old where they still stand. Wars are fought, monsters roam, the world is unquestionably darker.


Miller County, the state's 117th county, was created by the state legislature in 1856 out of portions of Early and Baker counties and 283 square miles. The county was named for attorney Andrew Miller, who served in the state senate and later became president of the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta.
Colquitt was designated as the county seat in the same year as the county's founding. The city was named after Walter T. Colquitt, a clergyman, attorney, and judge, who served in the U.S. Senate from 1843 to 1848. The county's first courthouse, built in Colquitt, was replaced once and then burned twice before the current structure was completed in 1977. While Colquitt remains the only Miller County Courthouse incorporated city in Miller County, there are twenty other small communities.
At the turn of the twenty-first century, cotton, peanuts, and corn for grain were the top crops in Miller County, which today ranks fourth in total peanut production in Georgia.
Miller County is home to Georgia's official folklife play, Swamp Gravy. The ever-changing play is regularly scheduled at the historic Cotton Hall in Colquitt, which also houses the Museum of Southern Cultures. Storytelling circles are also popular because of the play. The Swamp Gravy Institute, an arts service organization formed as an outgrowth of the play, is a consulting and training unit of the Colquitt-Miller Arts Council. A storytelling festival is held in Colquitt in August, and the May-Haw Festival, honoring the tart south Georgia fruit, is held in April at Spring Creek Park, which also contains ecologically fragile wetlands.
The ongoing Millennium Murals Project, funded by public and private sources, has become a community beautification project. Using walls on area schools and business establishments, project designers pair artists with local middle and high school students, teachers, and community members. The murals depict stories told by locals about community happenings.
According to the 2000 U.S. census, the population of Miller County is 6,383 (70.3 percent white, 28.9 percent black, and 0.7 percent Hispanic), an increase of 2 percent since 1990.
Source: The New Georgia Encyclopedia


Fariba Hajamadi works with photographs originating in museums and historical sites focusing on the representation of various cultures and their history. One such instance is the way in which these remaining artifacts are organized, categorized, and stored either in their original architectural context or in institutions devoted to their preservation.
Identity, memory, photography and history are the central terms that arise in Hajamadi’s work. She explores their relationship to one another and to the apparatuses and structures, which produce them. Her work is interrogative of such cultural standards as history, common language, visual representation, as well as their interactions and the processes involved in their consumption.
Hajamadi has been the subject of numerous one person exhibitions nationally and internationally such as the Queens Museum, ICA Philadelphia and Musée Municipal de La Roche-sur-Yon, France. Her works and installations have been included in exhibitions at The New Museum, New York; ARC, Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris; P.S.1 Museum, NY; the Renaissance Society, Chicago; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; Wäinö Aaltonen Museum, Turku, Finland; Museum Fridericianum Kassel, Germany. Fariba Hajamadi lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.
Fariba Hajamadi was born in Esfahan, Iran in 1957. She received her BFA from Western Michigan University and her MFA from California Institute of the Arts.


The Guigal family, the elder Marcel and his wife Bernadette, and their son Philippe and his wife Eve, have always focused on site specificity in the great Northern Rhône appellation of Côte-Rôtie. It started in 1966 when they bottled wine separately from La Mouline, a 2.5-acre vineyard planted with both Syrah and Viognier, in an amphitheater on the Côte Blonde slope of the appellation. A few years later, in 1978, they began bottling wine from La Landonne, a single 5.7-acre vineyard on the Côte Brune also planted to both Syrah and Viognier. Finally, in 1985, they began bottling La Turque, from another 2.5-acre vineyard, planted entirely to Syrah, on the Côte Brune.
In 1990, Guigal felt the wine from another single Côte Brune vineyard, Pommière, was distinctive enough to be bottled separately. This time, however, Guigal bottled it in magnum only and, curiously, without the vineyard name on the label. Then in 1995, they decided there were six sites (a seventh was added in 2005), both on the Côte Blonde (La Clos, La Garde, and La Grande Plantée) Côte Brune (La Pommière, Le Pavillon Rouge, Le Moulin, and La Viria, the one added in 2005) that were sufficiently distinctive to produce a high-end representation of Côte Rôtie. And thus, Château d’Ampuis was born.
The name of the wine comes from the 12th century château, a national historic monument that Guigal purchased in 1995, then painstakingly restored, and ultimately made the headquarters of this great House. Château d’Ampuis is meant as a wine to lie—in stature, production and price—between Guigal’s classic Côte-Rôtie, dubbed Brune et Blonde de Guigal (200,000 bottles annually at about $90 a bottle), and the three single vineyard bottlings, collectively known as the LaLa’s (about 5,000 bottles each annually of La Mouline and La Turque and double that for La Landonne. Each cost about $500 a bottle upon release).
The youthful 2019 Château d’Ampuis is simply stunning. The influence of long aging in new oak (38 months) is still apparent at this stage, yet not overwhelming. Based on my experience with older vintages of Château d’Ampuis as well as Guigal’s single vineyard bottlings, all of which receive similarly long oak-aging, the oak eventually marries seamlessly with the plethora of fruit, pepper, smoke, and other savory nuances found in these wines. Elegance is lent to the wine by a touch (seven percent) of Viognier in the blend, with these grapes from the Côte Blonde being co-fermented with the meaty and powerful Syrah fruit.
Unevolved at this stage, the wonderful 2019 Château d’Ampuis needs at least a decade to fully unfurl and show its splendor. (95 pts., $135, imported by Vintus).


Design (Atari ST, Commodore Amiga)
My involvement in Thunderhawk came about when the astonishingly talented duo of Mark ‘Mac’ Avory and Sean ‘Gilbert the Goat’ Dunlevy arrived at Core with vast amounts of 3D knowledge, code and a desire to do something amazing. Mac had always wanted to create a helicopter sim and was in the process of doing just that when I was assigned to the project. It was clear that Mac’s engine was revolutionary for its time and my role in the design was to assist in capitalising on that.
At the time that Thunderhawk was being developed, there were two types of helicopter game. Firstly there were the 3D simulations that were highly technical, had some 30 odd controls to master and saw the player tracking small dots along a wobbly horizon for hours and then there were sprite-based arcade games that were good fun but lacking in depth. Where Thunderhawk sat was right in the middle – utilising Mac’s 3D engine to depict a realistic world of SAM sites, tanks and planes in surprising detail for the time but featuring missions that began right in the thick of the action, eliminating those hours of fiddling around trying to find a target.
What resulted was a neat, short project to work on that resulted in one of Core’s early successes as a publisher. In addition to campaign and mission design, it was my first taste of script writing – all sixty mission briefings, which in the days before decent word processors felt like fifty-nine mission briefings too many…


Turquoise is perhaps the oldest stone in man’s history, the talisman of kings, shamans, and warriors. It is a stone of protection, strong and opaque, yet soothing to the touch, healing to the eye, as if carved from an azure heaven and slipped to earth. Its unique shade of blue, often blue-green, lends it name, Turquoise, to all things of this tranquil hue.
The name Turquoise is derived from the French, pierre turquoise, meaning “Turkish stone,” because the trade routes that brought Turquoise to Europe from the mines in central Asia went through Turkey, and Venetian merchants often purchased the stone in Turkish bazaars.
For thousands of years, Turquoise has spanned all cultures, prized as a symbol of wisdom, nobility and the power of immortality. Among the Ancient Egyptians, Persians and Chinese, Aztecs and Incas of South America, and Native North Americans, Turquoise was sacred in its adornment and for power, luck, and protection.
Turquoise beads dating back to 5000 B.C. have been found in Iraq, and the Egyptians were mining the stones in the Sinai in 3200 B.C. The death mask of Tutankhamun was studded with Turquoise, as were the mosaic masks dedicated to the gods, the fabulous inlaid skulls, shields and power statues of Montezuma, the last ruler of the Aztecs.
For nearly a thousand years, Native Americans have mined and fashioned Turquoise, using it to guard their burial sites. Their gems have been found from Argentina to New Mexico. Indian priests wore it in ceremonies when calling upon the great spirit of the sky. Many honored Turquoise as the universal stone, believing their minds would become one with the universe when wearing it. Because of its ability to change colors, it was used in prophesy or divining. To the prehistoric Indian, Turquoise, worn on the body or used in ceremonies always signified the god of the sky alive in the earth.
Historically, Turquoise is credited with the property of securing friendly regard, verifying the traditional saying that “he, or she, who owns a Turquoise will never want for a friend.” In the Orient, a Turquoise ring was worn as a protector against all things evil. The proverb states: “Given by a loving hand it brings with it happiness and good fortune.” However, the ring emitted protective energy only if the stone was given by a friend. It was believed to restore clear vision to the mind when the thinking became muddled and thus ensured good fortune.
As a crystal for travel, Turquoise protects you and your possessions against theft, loss or attack, helps prevent accidents, especially falls, and even guards your pet. Attached to a collar, bridle, or cage, Turquoise prevents animals from straying or being stolen, and makes horses sure-footed and obedient to their riders.