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Publisher Gary Durr and Associate Editor Kristin Brooks discuss the day's strategies at the new Contract Pharma booth.
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Last year, 162 people processed 57-tons of packaging material. Since then, our partnership has expanded to include a sort of production totes and packaging foam.
Aurora Aksnes (born 15.6.1996), is a Norwegian singer, songwriter and record producer. Born in Stavanger and raised in the towns of Høle and Os, she began writing her first songs and learning dance at the age of six. After some of her songs were uploaded online and became popular in Norway, she signed a recording contract with Petroleum Records, Decca and Glassnote Records in 2014. Aurora gained recognition with her debut extended play (EP), Running with the Wolves (2015), which contained the sleeper hit "Runaway". Later that year, she provided the backing track for the John Lewis Christmas advert, singing a cover of the Oasis song "Half the World Away".
Aurora's debut studio album, All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend (2016) received generally positive reviews, charting in various European countries and earning platinum certification two times in Norway. Her second EP Infections of a Different Kind (Step 1) (2018) was the first part of a two-part album, while the second part was her second studio album, A Different Kind of Human (Step 2) (2019). Her third studio album The Gods We Can Touch was released on 21 January 2022.
Her music is primarily electropop, folk, and art pop with vocals referred to as "ethereal". She only played piano at the beginning of her career, but later involved herself in percussion and other aspects of music production. In addition to her solo work, Aurora has collaborated with and co-written songs for other artists, including Icarus, Askjell, Lena, Travis and the Chemical Brothers. She has also contributed to soundtracks for several films and television series, including Girls, Frozen II and Wolfwalkers.
She calls herself a "forest person" due to being surrounded by nature and her love to "climb trees", and being "isolated and hidden".[15] She has also shown interest in the ocean since she lived close to the sea, and her parents have a sailboat.[15][16] When she attended school, her sisters—Miranda (currently her makeup artist) and Viktoria Aksnes (currently her costume designer)—worried that she might be bullied due to her eccentric personality and style of dress.[17] Contrary to this, Aurora's classmates asked for more time than she was willing to give, and she instead preferred to spend time in the forest.[18] She also claimed that withdrawing into natural spaces gave her time to philosophize and discover the "power" of her own mind.[19] As a child, she was afraid of people who sought to hug her and disliked such a gesture in general: "I used to be terrified of people who wanted to hug me", she said. "I did not like to be hugged as a child. And I used to be terrified of one of my teachers at school, but then I met him a few months ago, and it was really nice. It’s weird how things change."[20]
At age nine, when she had a better handle of the English language, she began writing songs.[13] She has mentioned being influenced at that time by artists like Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, Enya, and the Chemical Brothers.[24][25]
According to Aurora, the first song she ever finished writing was titled "The Lonely Man".[33] Her first work before embarking on her music career was washing a pizza restaurant using a hose.[33] Songs from her early works were written in this early stage of her life.[34][35] Another of her early compositions was "I Had a Dream", which referred to how hard the world can be.[25][23] Although she considered it a "really long and boring song about world peace" she performed it once at her high school's leaving ceremony. The recording of her song "Puppet" (which was originally made as a Christmas gift for her parents) and a video filmed by a classmate of her school performance were uploaded online without her permission (which made her angry),[13][36] and was quickly discovered by a representative of the agency of Artists Made Management, a Norwegian management company, who invited Aurora to visit their office for a meeting in early 2013.[37][38] Aurora initially denied the proposal: "At first I thought no", she recalls, "but then my mum said I should think about the idea of sharing my music with the world because maybe there's someone out there who desperately needs it. And that could actually be a good thing".[36] In a few hours, both songs received thousands of visits in Norway, which earned Aurora some recognition in her country, in addition to a fan base on Facebook.[38][21][39]
2012–2016: Running with the Wolves and All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend
Aurora self-released the song "Puppet" as her debut single in December 2012 under her birth name.[40] Aurora then set about working on her songwriting for around a year before giving her "first proper live performance" at Nabovarsel Minifestival in Bergen. About similar performances to that one she said: "I don’t think I was born to be an entertainer, I used to really be afraid of playing live on-stage. Obviously it’s terrifying! But now I’ve learned to, and I’ve learned to not focus on myself, cause it’s not about me. Now I only think about giving everyone the best experience. A magic moment."[20][41] Her second single, "Awakening", followed in March 2014, which became the first one released under the stage name Aurora.[42] Her third single "Under Stars" was the first one signed to her labels Glassnote Records and Decca Records, released in November 2014. Both songs established her as a "Promising Artist" of 2015 and attracted the attention of critics in Europe and the United States, especially for the artist's voice. Her next single "Runaway" was released in February 2015, which gained attention from singers Katy Perry and Troye Sivan.
Her next single, "Running with the Wolves" was released in April 2015, and its music video was released two months later. The song gained attention from BBC Radio station.[49] It was released alongside the announcement of the release of her debut EP Running with the Wolves.[50] Released in May 2015 on digital platforms, the EP received positive reviews from online music blogs and national press. To promote the EP, she appeared at summer festivals such as Way Out West, Wilderness, and Green Man Festival. Aurora's next single, "Murder Song (5, 4, 3, 2, 1)", was released in September 2015 and has received continued support in the national press, on national radio, and popular online music blogs.[51] Aurora also performed at the 2015 Nobel Peace Prize Concert,[52] saying that she and her family "have been following it from the living room at home for many years", and "it is an incredibly beautiful thing to be a part of."[53] Her presentation was praised by the concert's host Jay Leno.[54] She has played a sold-out headline show in London and supported Of Monsters and Men at Brixton Academy in November 2015.[55] Aurora recorded a cover of the Oasis song "Half the World Away" for the 2015 John Lewis Christmas advert.[56] Her next single, titled "Conqueror", was released in January 2016, and a music video was released the following month. Before the single release, the song appeared in the soundtrack of the videogame FIFA 16.[57]
In early 2016, Aurora featured on British band Icarus' song "Home" and released a cover of David Bowie's "Life on Mars" for the HBO Girls television series.[58][59][60] After a prolific start with her first musical productions, she released her debut album All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend in March 2016,[61] receiving generally positive reviews from critics. After releasing the album, Aurora embarked on an international concert tour beginning in Australia that lasted more than a year.[62]
On 14 March 2016, Aurora made her American television debut on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, performing "Conqueror", which was later performed on Conan.[63] On 25 July 2016 she performed her cover of "Life on Mars" on The Howard Stern Show. The following night on 26 July, she performed "I Went Too Far" on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, which was later released as the album's fifth single. The album's sixth and final single "Winter Bird" was released on 20 December. Aurora became the first in a series of emerging artists to partner with YouTube for a creative content distribution program,[64] she also starred in her own short documentary directed by Isaac Ravishankara and produced by The Fader, titled "Nothing is Eternal."[65]
2017–2019: Infections of a Different Kind and A Different Kind of Human[edit]
When All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend debuted, Aurora said that it was "the first album of many" she was planning to release.[66] As of 12 May 2016, after coming back from her European tour, the singer announced that she was ready to begin writing and producing more material, which will form her second studio album. She stated in a Facebook event that she has fifteen demo songs and has written a thousand songs/poems. Her next project consisted of covering the song "Scarborough Fair" for the Brazilian telenovela Deus Salve o Rei and filming the opening sequence for it.[67] Between April and August 2018, the singer released two singles, "Queendom" and "Forgotten Love",[68][69] which would be included in the first half of a two-part album divided into "steps".[70] Aurora recorded the album during her stay in France in January of that year, and the production included the producers Askjell Solstrand, Roy Kerr and Tim Bran, with Aurora herself also involved in this aspect.[15] Some of that new material was anticipated in live performances, including festivals like Lollapalooza and Coachella.[71][72]
While maintaining some of the themes and stories of the previous album, this production would mark the first time that Aurora has incorporated themes of politics and sexuality into her music.[73] Most of the new inspiration came from the interaction that she had with her fans during her first tour.[74] The music video for "Queendom" saw its release in May 2018, which presented themes of inclusivity and empowerment of "the underdog", particularly her LGBT fans. In the video, Aurora kisses one of her female dancers to convey that "every type of love is accepted and embraced" in her "queendom".[75]
On 28 September 2018, the singer released the first half of her second album on EP format,[70] under the title Infections of a Different Kind (Step 1). The EP features eight songs,[76] and the title itself comes from the eighth track included on it, which Aurora declared as "the most important song I've ever written".[77] A Different Kind of Human (Step 2) followed on 7 June 2019, with lead singles "Animal" and "The River".
On 12 April 2019, Aurora contributed with co-writing and vocals in the songs "Eve of Destruction", "Bango", and "The Universe Sent Me" for the Chemical Brothers' ninth album No Geography.[78] On 4 November 2019, the soundtrack to the Disney film Frozen II was released, with Aurora providing backing vocals on the song "Into the Unknown". On 9 February 2020, she performed the song on stage as part of the 92nd Academy Awards alongside Idina Menzel and nine singers that dubbed the song in their respective languages.[79] She released her solo version of "Into the Unknown" as a standalone single on 3 March 2020.[80]
Aurora released the single "Exist for Love" in May 2020, which was presented as her first love song ever with a self-directed music video.[81] The song was made during the COVID-19 lockdown in collaboration with Isobel Waller-Bridge, who composed the string arrangements.[81] It was the first glimpse into what she described as "a new era" in her career, with the upcoming release of a new album.[82] Under the musical direction of Gaute Tønder, she recorded the title track of the Christmas miniseries Stjernestøv [no] for Norwegian public broadcaster NRK; such contribution was made known in mid-November of the same year.[83] She also provided her vocals on the songs "Vinterens Gåte" and "Det Ev Ei Rosa Sprunge" (Norwegian version of the German song "Es ist ein Ros entsprungen"), from the album Juleroser by Herborg Kråkevik, in which the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra and other Norwegian artists.[84] She also re-recorded her track "Running with the Wolves" for the animated fantasy and adventure film Wolfwalkers.[85]
In early 2021, she released five compilation EPs in celebration of her song "Runaway" receiving over 100 million streams on Spotify: For the Humans Who Take Long Walks in the Forest, Music for the Free Spirits, Stories, For the Metal People and Music for the Fellow Witches Out There throughout February.[86] On 7 July 2021, Aurora released the single "Cure for Me" as the lead single for the forthcoming album.[87] On 14 October, "Giving in to the Love" was released as the album's third single, and The Gods We Can Touch was announced for release on 21 January 2022.[88] Aurora featured in Sub Urban's song "Paramour", released on 19 November as a single for the latter's upcoming debut album.[89] She also released the song "Midas Touch for the soundtrack of the third season of the Amazon Prime Video Hanna series. To promote The Gods We Can Touch, she announced a concert tour throughout the United States and Europe (with Sub Urban, Sei Selina and Metteson as supporting acts) in 2022.[90] "Heathens" was released on 3 December 2021 as the album's fourth single, and a virtual concert film was announced, which released exclusively to Moment House on 25 January 2022, a week later after the album's release.[91][92] A collaborative event with the video game Sky: Children of the Light was released on 17 October 2022, which included a virtual concert that premiered on 8 December after The Game Awards 2022 and reoccurred from 9 December until 2 January 2023.
Paul S Winson have won the contracts for services 3 and 13 from Centrebus. These routes are run on behalf of Leicestershire CC.
Acquired for the routes is Enviro200 JB51 BUS, which is duly seen here on route 3.
Alternative rock band DIE MANNEQUIN from Toronto, Ontario performed a sold out show at RIOT FEST 2015 Music Festival in Toronto. In picture: CAROLINE "CARE FAILURE" KAWA,KEVVY MENTAL,KEITH HEPPLER,J.C. SANDOVAL
Landscape Photography. Taken at the zoo a couple months ago. I was planning ahead for contract three and decided to do the shoot at the zoo. I got this wonderful shot. This is a very true to color shot. It was a spectacular view!
On 13th 2022 Hanson 59103 Village of Mells collected a rake of 30 new blue JNA's from temporary store at Milton Sidings Didcot. Builder Astra Rail Romania. First blue wagons for Mendip Rail traffic. GBRf used blue JNA's out of Whatley for it's contract. Once new build JNA's at Whatley, straight into traffic. On 16th June 59102 Village of Chantry worked 6a15 03:54 Whatley - Appleford with entire rake. Return 6c58 11:49 Appleford - Whatley Quarry pictured approaching Heywood Village.
For more and various sample purchase contracts visit: www.samplecontracts.org/purchase-contracts.html
"The Hardest Hit" March & Parliamentary Lobby - 11.05.2011
Part (1) The Prelude to the March
Between 8,000 and 10,000 disabled people with long-term conditions, their families, carers and many trade union supporters assembled on London's Victoria Embankment to protest against the punitive cuts to welfare spending implimented by David Cameron's "Caring Conservatives", which are specifically aimed at the sick and the disabled. Using French IT company ATOS Origin to do the government's dirtiest work, the disabled are being summoned to "Work Capability Assessments" at ATOS Regional offices up and down the country, and are then subjected to a twenty minute examination by often medically unqualified staff who ask a series of questions and then try fill in tick boxes on their completely inflexible computerised forms, which are inadequate for coping with the very serious complexities which go with long-term disabilities. These accumulated scores then form that disabled person's Work Capability score. Input from Doctors, Carers and Senior Consultants is not allowed to be considered when going through this sham exercise designed to force people off Disablity benefits and mobility allowances - crucial to many working disabled people, many of whom have had to stop work because they cannot get there any more thanks to this incompetent process. Instead they become trapped in their homes, unable to shop for themselves or socialise.
The ATOS assessors are paid a bounty of around £70 for every person they instruct the Department of Work and Pensions to be thrown off their benefits, and those assessors with medical qualifications are instructed by the government when they sign contracts to do assessment work with ATOS that the normal medical code of conduct regarding their innate responsibility for the well-being of the patient is waived!
Since the introduction of this punitive and intensely cruel process several disabled people have committed suicide, having had their support ripped away from them, with many disabled people becoming homeless. There are also many instances where people with terminal illnesses have been told they are fit for work, their benefits stopped, and have died within weeks in absolute abject misery because the State has treated them monstrously.
Many previously independent disabled people in their own homes have had to be institutionalised in homes run by private comanies who are egging the government forward because they make a huge profit from running these homes. The sickest irony is that it costs around £10,000 per year to keep a disabled person living in their own home, independent and contributing to society, yet it costs the taxpayer between £30/40,000 to put them in a care home where they may be neglected or even worse abused.
Assaults and threats against the disabled has increased sharply over the last year as a direct result of the government's insulting press campaigns which have painted the sick and disabled as workshy scroungers. Nothing could be further from the truth, but as long as those in power have the ability to behave so appallingly towards the very weakest and most vulnerable members of our society just to score cheap political points, then that is what an increasing number of people in this country want to believe.
In December of last year Iain Duncan Smith, the minister for Work and Pensions, said of the disabled in Rupert Murcoch's Sun Newspaper interview:
"It embarrasses me. I think this is the greatest country on earth.
“What I cannot bear is the idea that this country was the workshop of the world. It gave everybody the free market, the industrial revolution. You think what we did to change the world. This was the place that everyone looked to.
“Yet we have managed to create a block of people in Britain who do not add anything to the greatness of this country.
“They have become conditioned to be users of services, not providers of money. This is a huge part of the reason we have this massive deficit. We have had to borrow vast sums of money. We went on this inflated spending spree."
Ever since that statement by Iain Duncan Smith the Sun, the Daily Express and the Telegraph have run continual lie-filled campaigns in their pages stating that around 75% of the disabled are fully able to work but because they are little more than complaining parasites who just want to sit at home enjoying themselves at "Our" expense. The rapid consequence of this disgusting, immoral slur which could be easily mistaken for the propaganda campaigns of the National Socialist Party in pre-war Germany.
Because the government has picked on the Disabled first, they are getting away with it. Most people in this country are unable to even begin to understand what it is like living with a severe disability. Most people in this country are too stupid and dull to have the intelligence to question what they are being told to think by the right-wing press who serve the Global Capitalists hiding 'round the curtain waiting to get the nod to start taking over huge parts of our National Health Service using the appalling American model which is all about profit and not about the patient's actual needs.
This is what David Cameron has planned for Great Britain, and he's starting with the disabled because disability makes most people uncomfortable because they're so self-obsessed and shallow that human empathy is too rich an emotion for them to grasp. Instead they are turning against the disabled, and talking to many disabled people it is very clear that a lot of them are now living in a climate of fear, hounded by bullies in their local communities, taunted in the streets, often physically abused or spat at, their homes broken into, their meagre possessions stolen.
And all this human misery because David Cameron's Conservatives will not punish the banks and hedge funds which caused the recession which has wrecked our economy, and he will not close down the corporate tax loopholes, shut down the tax havens and start throwing corrupt, greedy financiers in prison where they belong. All this human pain because Conservatives think that the State should stop providing services cheaply and reasonably efficiently, and instead services should be run by completely unaccountable private comanies whose only masters are the shareholders. This is all about profit, nothing else. profit at the expense of human pain and fear.
On appeal following an ATOS assessment around 70% of people win their cases, proving how incompetent ATOS' system is, but the cruellest part is that an appeal can take a year, during which that disabled person's mental and physical health has deteriorated. Many are driven to desperation and suicidal thinking. The government is just about to make it much, much harder to appeal against an ATOS decision by making it impossible to get any form of Legal Aid which would pay for a solicitor armed with the Law to represent you. It seems unbelievably wicked and cruel to me.
All photos © 2011 Pete Riches
Do not reproduce or reblog my images without my permission.
Minister of Justice and Attorney General Shirley Bond, RCMP Deputy Commissioner Craig Callens and City of Langley Mayor Peter Fassbender (RCMP contract negotiations municipal representative) at the official signing ceremony of the new RCMP contract at the Surrey detachment on March 21, 2012
20 May 2019 – Building a Societal Contract for the World, Facilitator: Chris Hoenig, Co-Founder, Citizens Alliance
Scene setting: Anthony Gooch, Director, Public Affairs & Communications, OECD
Discussion leaders
Hossein Derakhshan, Journalist, Research Associate, MIT Media Lab
Natasha Friis Saxberg, Deputy Chairman, Foundation for Social Responsibility
Gabriela Gandel, Executive Director, Impact Hub
M. Yasmina McCarty, Head of Mobile for Development, GSMA
Ida McDonnell, Team Leader, Senior Policy Analyst, Development Directorate, OECD
Manuel Muñiz, Dean of the School of Global and Public Affairs; Rafael del Pino Professor of Practice of Global Leadership, IE University, Spain
David Grégoire Van Reybrouc, Cultural Historian, Archaeologist & Author
Friederike Röder, CEO, ONE France
Dennis Snower, President, Global Solutions Initiative
Closing: Jorge Moreira da Silva, Director, Development Co-operation Directorate, OECD, OECD Headquarters, Paris.
Photo: OECD / Christian Moutarde