N. Chase photo

 

From what I've been able to gather, the 1970s seemed to have been a somewhat eclectic time on American railroads. It appears that the unusual was the norm. As an example we have an odd trio of locomotives at Conrail's Collinwood Yard in Cleveland in March of 1978. Closest to the camera is FP7a 4341, followed by Amtrak E8a 441 (which was a former L&N unit), which is then succeeded by Conrail GP40 3049 and then the nose of FP7a 4349 peeks out behind. Not exactly an everyday combination but I guess this was the 1970s.

 

Collinwood, OH

March 1978

 

Train of the Day

10/19/18

The above video was published on Nintendo’s YouTube channel giving the world a sneak peek into what the upcoming LEGO Super Mario theme will look like. I don’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t this. Let’s break down what the video shows us. Mario Is Gigantic and For Good Reasons He’s an electronic […]

  

www.fbtb.net/lego-nintendo/2020/03/12/nintendo-released-a...

My Sister in law, with only 2 weeks till her due date!

This was one of those rare occasions when the stranger approached ME!

 

I was nearing my home in the east end of Toronto after class downtown and was not expecting to have another Stranger encounter when I heard a voice from across the street. “How do you like your Olympus camera?” I turned and this man was on the other sidewalk with a friendly smile. I crossed the street and told him I love the camera and said why.

 

He has the same camera and is just as pleased as I am, appreciating the image quality, the generous configuration options in a beautifully built compact package. We were into camera talk and I told him a bit about my 100 Strangers project and it wasn’t until then that I realized I may have met my “bonus Stranger” for the day.

 

It seems odd that when I’m not in “Stranger mode” I can sometimes chat with someone and not think of the project right off. It seems silly, but fortunately I came to my senses and said “Actually, you would make a great participant for my project, are you game?” “Sure” he said.

 

Meet Tony who has lived just one block from me for about 30 years, and yet we’ve not met. He said he’d seen me in the neighbourhood but never had the excuse to meet me until my camera bridged the gap.

 

Tony suggested we do the photo in front of his house which was just a few steps away but I thought the light and background would work better on the sidewalk so we took a few steps to get away from a refuse bin from a renovation project and I simply fired away. I got out my reflector, not being sure how much difference it was going to make and Tony was happy to hold it in position for a couple more shots until I was satisfied that I had a good photo for the project.

 

Tony is a semi-retired Massage Therapist with a home office. I said I’ve heard that his line of work takes a toll on the body because it is so physical and that many Massage Therapists have short careers because of this. He said it’s true and that he took an early retirement and now just sees a handful of patients per week which boosts his retirement income.

 

He’s an avid amateur photographer as is his partner and he mentioned what a pleasure it was using his E-M1 camera on their recent trip to Chicago. “You’re kidding” I said. “I’m originally from Chicago.” We laughed at the small world aspect of our meeting.

 

Tony said he’d email me so I would get his address so I can send him his photo and we can see each other’s photography. My phone chimed, telling me his email had already been received.

 

Tony is 60 and was born and raised not far from where he lives now. We agreed it will be nice to know each other since we’re neighbours and I told him “I’m a bit of a daydreamer so if you see me on the street and I don’t say hi, please say hi to me.” He laughed and said “I never like to break people out of their daydreams.” I told him it was perfectly ok.

 

Thank you Tony for participating in 100 Strangers. You are now Stranger #369 in Round 4 of my project and I look forward to seeing you in the neighbourhood now that we are no longer strangers.

 

Additional note: I have run into Tony several times since this meeting and he is always the same friendly guy, more than happy to pause and talk photography. I've learned that he has delved much deeper into the technical features of the camera we both use and he was recently quick to advise me of a new firmware update available. Accordingly, Tony is a frequent poster on the Internet forums discussing technical features of the camera. Tony's partner is also an avid amateur photographer with some beautiful photos - mostly of landscapes. He has an upcoming exhibit at the Toronto Public Library.

 

Find out more about the project and see pictures taken by other photographers at the 100 Strangers Flickr Group page

 

To browse Round 1 of my 100 Strangers project click here: www.flickr.com/photos/jeffcbowen/sets/72157633145986224/

 

To browse Round 2 of my 100 Strangers project click here:www.flickr.com/photos/jeffcbowen/sets/72157634422850489/

 

To browse Round 3 of my 100 Strangers project click here: www.flickr.com/photos/jeffcbowen/sets/72157635541434065/

My friends are having twins so had to get some snaps prior to the big entry to the world . Any day now. Cant wait to get cuddles from two. oh i love twins.

MiMo, Mike Mozart painting of a Tall ship signed MiMo, Mike Mozart age 12, 1974. Painted in Maine. At the time, Weekly Reader Publications company was based in Middletown Connecticut! This video shows How Newspapers & Magazines expected commercial black and white duotone, ( Black plus one other color), artwork and illustrations to be prepared BEFORE any Computers! I created over a thousand pieces like this for dozens of clients! This piece for Weekly Reader About 1981

 

About Me

Wolfgang Mikyáll Mozart, known professionally by several pen named as a commercial artist, fine artist and video celebrity Mikke Mozart, Michael Wolfe or Mike Mozart has been an professional artist and product designer since the age of 14.

 

As an illustrator for over 40 years, Mike specializes in creating artwork of some of the most popular children's characters for many companies, such as Disney, Warner Brothers, Mattel and Crayola to name a few.

  

MiMo, (MIke MOzart), manages to thematize current events and convey a message through color that excites collectors over a work.

 

Passionate about painting since he was a child, Mike has had a long and diverse art career. Starting out as a street artist back in the 70s, Mike used his initiative and his love of art to break into the illustration world when he was a teenager - a career that would span over 40 years.

 

These days, Mike enjoys well-deserved success as a fine canvas artist in his own right, but he has never lost the love of painting that fueled him forward from a young age. In fact, listening to him speak about the happiness he gets from creating art, you can feel an almost childlike wonderment in his voice - and this is certainly reflected in his bright, colorful artwork featuring nostalgic cartoon characters like the Monopoly Man, Richie Rich and Uncle Scrooge. Mike also created the super popular TheToyChannel on YouTube, where he has reviewed thousands of classic toys. As well as the Toy Review Channel Jeepersmedia featuring critical reviews of the worst toys in history!

 

•Over half a billion total views across my two top Youtube channels: JeepersMedia and TheToyChannel

  

Appeared as co-host in the Kids Program Funtime and Funtime Express from 1983 to 1988. With the puppet TX Critter, created by Paul Fusco, TX was the prototype Alf Puppet! TX critter was puppeteered by Don Wunderlee after Paul Fusco left for Hollywood for the hugely successful Alf TV

 

Mike Mozart, have created several thousand products over 40+ years that were produced and sold worldwide in ALL the major retailers! Walmart, Target, K-Mart, CVS, Walgreens, Rite Aid, Kohls, Zellers, Sears, JC Penney, Lord and Taylor, Macy’s Filenes, Nordstrom, Toys R Us, Play World, Child World, Kay Bee, Canadian Tire, Michaels arts and crafts, Hobby Lobby, A.C. Moore, Dick Blick, Garden Ridge, Bronners, Stop and Shop, Albertsons, Piggley Wiggley, Giant Foods, literally ever brick and mortar retailer.

 

Recently, I have been best known for my fine art paintings of The Monopoly Guy, Richie Rich and Uncle Scrooge McDuck! I was the ghost artist designer behind the artist Alec monopoly!

 

I have appeared over a hundred times on QVC, HSN, TSC ( The Shopping Channel Canada), Infomercials, talk shows ( Mostly on NBC!

 

I have illustrated countless Children’s books. Created hundreds of toy products.

 

My products for Easter Christmas and Halloween have sold worldwide for decades! At least 2,000 different products that actually sold into major retailers. I was the designer and artist of lines for all the Disney licensed seasonal products! Mickey Mouse and Friends, Winnie the Pooh, Ducktales, Ariel, The Little Mermaid, The Lion King, Aladdin, Hunchback of Notre Dame, Beauty and the Beast! Sesame Street, Muppets, Teletubbies, Batman, the Real Ghostbusters, Looney Tunes and so much more!

 

I invented house and Garden infomercial products that I sold live for over a decade on HSN, QVC, etc! A couple dozen specialty planters, Crayola Products, Home Decor Products, Amazing Hand Tools, Toys, LED Lights and more!

 

My real full name is Wolfgang Mikyáll Mozart, I was Wolf or Wolfie to everyone until I was 16 and used the English version of my middle name, Mikke or Mike.

 

Most of my products up until 2006 were marked and sold as the brand “Michael Wolfe” for the designer’s name. An adaptation of Wolfgang Mikyáll.

 

I spent my summers in Maine, working on a farm and spending time at my Grandmother classic one room log cabin with sleeping lofts in a spring fed lake!

 

My mother was half American Indian. My father was of Finnish Norse Viking descent. Hence, the giant huge Beard!

on the 18 year cycle we expected hogh tide of 14 +metres at Avonmouth and this would have been 11+ at Entrance Lock. the tide was not as high as last year but still impressive

the picture has been solorised to give more false colours

Expecting Raeya Lynn :)

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the model, the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!

  

Some background:

Alexander Martin Lippisch (November 2, 1894 – February 11, 1976) was a German aeronautical engineer, a pioneer of aerodynamics who made important contributions to the understanding of flying wings, delta wings and the ground effect.

 

After working intially for the Zeppelin company, Reichsluftfahrtsministerium (RLM, Reich Aviation Ministry) transferred Lippisch and his team in 1939 to work at the Messerschmitt factory, in order to design a high-speed fighter aircraft around the rocket engines then under development by Hellmuth Walter. The team quickly adapted their most recent design, the DFS 194, to rocket power, the first example successfully flying in early 1940. This successfully demonstrated the technology for what would become the Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet, his most famous design.

 

In 1943, Lippisch transferred to Vienna’s Aeronautical Research Institute (Luftfahrtforschungsanstalt Wien, LFW), to concentrate on the problems of high-speed flight.That same year, he was awarded a doctoral degree in engineering by the University of Heidelberg. However, his research work did not stop Lippisch from designing further, mostly jet-powered and tailless fighter aircraft, e. g. for Henschel.

 

In early 1944, the RLM became aware of Allied jet developments and the high altitude B-29 in the Pacific TO, which was expected to appear soon over Europe, too. In response, the RLM instituted the Emergency Fighter Program, which took effect on July 3, 1944, ending production of most bomber and multi-role aircraft in favour of fighters, especially jet fighters. Additionally, they accelerated the development of experimental designs that would guarantee a performance edge over the Allied opponents, and designs that would replace the first generation of the German jet fighters, namely the Messerschmitt Me 262 and Heinkel He 162.

 

One of these advanced designs was the Ta 183 fighter, built by Focke Wulf and developed by Kurt Tank. The Ta 183 had a short fuselage with the air intake passing under the cockpit and proceeding to the rear where the single engine was located. The wings were swept back at 40° and were mounted in the mid-fuselage position. The pilot sat in a pressurized cockpit with a bubble canopy, which provided excellent vision. The primary armament of the aircraft consisted of four 30 mm (1.18 in) MK 108 cannons arranged around the air intake. The Ta 183 had a planned speed of about 1,000 km/h (620 mph) at 7,000 m (22,970 ft) and was powered by a 2nd generation jet engine, the Heinkel HeS 011 turbojet with 13 kN (2,700 lbf) of thrust. Several, steadily improved variants of the Ta 183 entered service from mid 1945 onwards, and the type was also the basis for more thorough derivatives - including a high altitude jet fighter proposed by Alexander Lippisch.

 

The resulting aircraft mated the structural basis of the proven Ta 183 with advanced aerodynamics, namely a tailless design with a much increased wing and fin area, and the machine was also powered by the new BMW 018 jet engine which delivered at this early stage 25kN (5.200 lb) of thrust and was expected to achieve more than 36 kN (7.500 lb) soon, without bigger dimensions than the widely used HeS 011 at the time.

 

The resulting machine, designated Li 383 in order to honor the developer, sacrificed some of the Ta 183' agility and speed for sheer altitude and climb performance, and the new wings were mostly built from non-strategic material, what increased weight considerably - the Li 383 was 1.5 times as heavy as the nimble Ta 183 fighter, but the new wing was more than twice as large.

 

Nevertheless, the modifications were effective and the RLM quickly accepted the radical re-design, since no better options were available on short notice. While the Ta 183 fighter was able to reach 14.000m (45,935 ft) in a zoom climb, the Li 383 could easily operate at 16.000m (52.500 ft) and even above that. However, Alexander Lippisch's original design, the Li 383A, had, despite positive wind tunnel tests, turned out to be unstable and prone to spinning. The reason was quickly found to be a lack of latitudal surfaces, and this was quickly fixed with a bigger tail fin and a characteristic gull wing that gave it the inofficial nickname for the serial Li 383B, "Sturmvogel".

 

When the Allied Forces eventually added the high-flying B-29 bombers to their air raids over Germany in late 1945, the Li 383 B-1 serial production variant was just ready for service. The new machines were quickly delivered to front line units, primarily fighter squadrons that defended vital centers like Berlin, Munich or the Ruhrgebiet. However, even though the Li 383 B-1's performance was sufficient, the type suffered from an inherent weakness against the well-armed Allied bombers: the range of the MK 108 cannon. While this weapon was relatively light and compact, and the four guns delivered an impressive weight of fire, a close attack against massive bomber formations was highly hazardous for the pilots. As a consequence, since bigger guns could not be mounted in the compact Ta 183 airframe, several weapon sets for filed modifications (so-called Rüstsätze) were offered that added a variety of weapons with a longer range and a bigger punch to the Li 383 B-1's arsenal, including unguided and guided air-to-air missiles.

 

Anyway, the Li 383's overall impact was not significant. Production numbers remained low, and all in all, only a total of 80-100 machines were completed and made operational when the hostilities ended.

  

General characteristics:

Crew: one

Length: 7.78 m (25 ft 5 1/2 in)

Wingspan: 12.67 m (41 ft 6 in)

Height: 3.86 m (12 ft 8 in)

Wing area: 46.8 m² (502.1 ft²)

Empty weight: 4,600 kg (10,141 lb)

Loaded weight: 6,912 kg (15,238 lb)

Max. takeoff weight: 8,100 kg (17,857 lb)

 

Powerplant:

1× BMW 018A turbojet, 25kN (5.200 lb)

 

Performance:

Maximum speed: 977 km/h (estimated) (607 mph) at 12,000 meters (39,000 ft)

Service ceiling: 16,000 m (estimated) (52,000 ft)

Rate of climb: 22 m/s (estimated) (4,330 ft/min)

Wing loading: 147.7 kg/m² (20.2 lb/ft²)

Thrust/weight: 0.34

 

Armament:

4× 30 mm (1.18 in) MK 108 cannons around the air intake with 75 RPG

2x underwing hardpoints for two 300l drop tanks or 2x 250 kg (550 lb) bombs;

alternatively, various weapon sets (Rüstsätze) were available, including racks for 8× (R1) or 12× (R3)

R 65 “Föhn” or for 24x R4M unguided missiles (R2), or for 2× Ruhrstahl X-4 Wire Guided AAMs (R4)

 

The kit and its assembly:

This fictional Luft ’46 aircraft was inspired by the question what a further developed Ta 183 could have looked like, and it was also influenced by the many tailless Lippisch designs that never left the drawing board.

 

From the hardware perspective, the design is more or less the salvage of the most useable parts of the PM Model Horten IX/Go 229 kit – namely the outer wing sections. The PM Model Ta 183 is only marginally “better”, and I had one of these in the stash (Revell re-boxing), too. So, why not combine two dreadful kits into something …new?

 

Well, that was the plan, and building was rather straightforward. In the cockpit, I added simple side consoles, a dashboard, some oxygen flasks, a different seat and a pilot figure (seatbelts simulated with tape strips) – the kit would be finished with closed canopy.

 

An exhaust pipe was integrated and the air intake filled with a better compressor fan (from an Airfix D.H. Venom, IIRC, fits perfectly). The inner walls of the landing gear wells (well, they are not existent) were cut away and replaced with leftover jet engine parts, so that there was some structure and depth. The landing gear was taken OOB, though, I just used slightly bigger wheels, since the “new” aircraft would have considerably more mass than the Ta 183.

 

The highly swept, long Ta 183 tail was cut off and replaced by a surplus Me 262 fin and tail section (Matchbox). Despite the different shape and size, and the resulting side view profile reminds strangely of the Saab 29?

The original Ta 183 wings were not mounted and their attachment points on the fuselage cut/sanded away. Instead, I used the outer wing sections from the Go 229, with clipped wing tips for a different shape.

 

When I held the wings to the fuselage, the whole thing looked …boring. Something was missing, hard to pinpoint. After consulting some Luft ’46 literature I adapted a trick for better stability: a gull wing shape. This was achieved through simple cuts to the wings’ upper halves. Then the wings were bent down, the gap filled with a styrene strip, and finally PSRed away. Looks very dynamic, and also much better!

 

Another late addition was the underwing armament. I was about to start painting when I again found that something was missing… The new wings made the aircraft pretty large, so I considered some underwing ordnance. Anyway, I did not want to disrupt the relatively clean lines with ugly bombs or drop tanks, so I installed a pair of racks with six launch tubes for R 65 “Föhn” unguided AAMs into the lower wing surfaces, in a semi-recessed position and with a deflector plate for the rocket exhausts.

  

Painting and markings:

As a high altitude interceptor and late war design, this one was to receive a simple and relatively light livery, even though I stuck with classic RLM tones. The Li 383 was basically painted all-over RLM 76 (Humbrol 247), onto which RLM 75 (from Modelmaster) was added, in the form of highly thinned enamel paint for a cloudy and improvised effect, applied with a big and soft brush. On top of the wings, a typical two-tone scheme was created, while on the fuselage’s upper sides only some thin mottles were added.

 

In order to lighten the scheme up and add a unique twist, I added further mottles to the flanks and the fin, but this time with RLM 77. This is a very light grey – originally reserved for tactical markings, but also “abused” in the field for camouflage mods, e. g. on high-flying He 177 bombers. I used Humbrol 195 (RAL 7035), again applied with a brush and highly thinned for a rather cloudy finish.

 

The air intake section and the intake duct were painted in aluminum, while the engine exhaust section as well as the missile racks and the areas around the gun ports were painted with Revell 99 (Iron Metallic) and Steel Metallizer.

 

The cockpit interior became dark grey (RLM 66) while the landing gear, the wells and the visible engine parts inside became RLM 02.

 

The kit was lightly weathered with a thin black ink wash and some dry-brushing.

 

The markings were puzzled together; due to the light basic tones of the model, the upper crosses became black, with only a very small cross on the flanks due to the lack of space, and for the wings’ undersides I used “old school” full color markings in black and white. The red color for the tactical code was basically chosen because it would be a nice contrast to the bluish-grey overall livery.

 

Finally the kit was sealed with matt acrylic varnish and some gun soot stains added with grinded graphite, as well as some traces of flaked paint on the wings’ leading edges and around the cockpit.

  

Well, the attempt to bash two mediocre (at best) kits into something else and hopefully better worked out well – the Li 383 does not look totally out of place, even though it turned out to become a bigger aircraft than expected. However, the aircraft has this certain, futuristic Luft ’46 look – probably thanks to the gull wings, which really change the overall impression from a simple kitbash to a coherent design which-could-have-been. The livery also fits well and looks better than expected. Overall, a positive surprise.

I expected dk bley, or perhaps silver. Some color they've actually come in a set in.

 

*I am not selling, giving away, or trading any of these.*

Promise Fulfilled, Accomplishment Achieved at WSSU Commencement on May 14

 

WINSTON-SALEM, NC -- For Jeanette Valentine, earning her bachelor’s degree in business administration will be fulfilling on many levels.

 

Valentine, 50, is one of the approximately 1,000 undergraduate and graduate students who are expected to participate in WSSU’s Spring Commencement exercises on May 14 at 9:45 a.m. in the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Stephen A. Smith, noted journalist, media personality and motivational speaker, will be the keynote speaker.

 

Commencement will mark a special satisfaction not just because Valentine, a travel audit officer in WSSU’s accounting department, will be graduating with her 24-year-old son William R. Valentine. It’s because of a long-time promise fulfilled. Valentine made the promise to her mother back in 1978. Her mother and father never graduated from high school. When Valentine’s mother, who was battling cancer, asked her to promise she would graduate college, Valentine did. Valentine’s mother died two weeks before she graduated high school. Valentine was devastated over losing her mother.

 

“I started school at WSSU that year, but it lasted only one semester. I didn’t have the drive. I was still too distressed and overcome by my mother’s death. I couldn’t focus on school,” Valentine said.

 

Instead, Valentine got married, had two children and eventually went to work at a few jobs before coming to work at WSSU in 2006. In 2007, she decided to return to school since her children were adults. At the same time, her son who graduated high school in 2004 was thinking about returning to college after quitting previously. By fall 2007, both with full-time jobs returned to school at WSSU. He was an exercise science major and she was in the School of Business and Economics.

 

“He was so career focused on his job and he was doing well. But I kept pushing him and telling him he had to get a degree. I was thrilled he came back to school and that we were in school at the same time. It was exciting,” said Valentine.

 

Eventually Valentine saw her son was distracted by work. They talked and it was he who asked they agree to push each other so they could graduate at the same time.

 

That time is now. Valentine is thrilled they are graduating together. She says it feels like she has kept the promise made to her mother times two.

“In addition to the accomplishment, it may be quite an emotional day,” Valentine said.

 

Valentine is a member of Beta Gamma Sigma, the international honor society for collegiate schools of business as well as Alpha Sigma Lambda, a national honor society for Adult Learners in Continuing Higher Education. She plans to pursue her master’s degree at Liberty University.

 

Extraordinary Journey

It will be a festive ending to an extraordinary journey for Jerrica Scott, 24, of Winston-Salem. For Scott, commencement will symbolize the end of a passage marked by limitations, fear and uncertainty. It will be a celebration of a personal renaissance, driven by a theme that anything is possible with faith, passion and purpose.

 

“No matter how bad things may look, you can make a difference in your own life and the lives of others if you work really hard and know things can change. Soon things may look different, then not so bad, better, even good.”

 

Scott’s journey is verification of her belief. She entered WSSU to earn a four-year bachelor’s degree in elementary education six years ago as a single teen-aged mom. During that time as a full-time student, living on her own with her young daughter, she worked full-time, changed majors multiple times, quit school, got married, had another child, returned to school, made up a semester of credits lost when she quit and found her way back to the major that gave her the purpose.

 

“Just before I started my freshman year, I could hear people saying now that I had a baby as a teenager, my life was over or I wouldn’t get very far,” noted Scott. “Because I got pregnant in high school and had a baby in my first year of college, it didn’t mean I would be a failure. I did not want to be the stereotype of a young single mom who would work only at fast food restaurants or be on welfare the rest of her life.”

 

Although Scott was determined, she became distracted during her second year.

 

“I was failing classes miserably. I was living on my own and I was 18 years old. I felt lost and beaten, so I quit school,” Scott said who worked as a waitress. “Then one day, my manager told me the biggest thing he regretted was not finishing school. So if you don’t want to be waiting tables for the rest of your life, you need to go back to school. “

 

That was the turning point for Scott. She also thought about her mother, a cosmetologist, who always stressed the importance of education and often expressed interest in wanting her children to be greater than she. Scott soon quit her job and returned to school. Her best friend and others helped her find her way back to the major that aligned with where her talents and passions had always been -- elementary education.

 

“My best friend told me this is what I suppose to be doing. She told me we are going over there right now and you are going to get enrolled back into school. I just thank her,” said Scott.

 

Then she met a good man who cared about her and her daughter. It was like an unattainable dream. They soon married. Her second daughter was born in 2010. Now in school and completely focused on her education, Scott delivered the baby on a Friday and returned class on Monday.

 

Scott is currently working as a substitute teacher and searching for a fulltime permanent teaching job. She is also going to be the “first in my family to graduate college.”

 

Multiple Job Offers Early in Her Senior Year

Information technology major Kristen Dunlap, 21, of Charlotte, has accomplished a standout achievement, even before she completed her last year of college. In this challenging economy, she had two job offers from Fortune 500 companies one before her senior year, the other early in her senior year. She selected one position which she will begin this summer.

 

Dunlap attributes her success to internships, which she began participating in back in her freshman year. That first one was a summer research experience for undergraduate WSSU computer science students at WSSU, funded by NASA. She used, GIS visualization tools to visualize North Carolina weather patterns. The goal of the summer program was to expose students to researching skills and help to develop their problem solving and critical thinking skills.

 

For her second year, Dunlap interned at the NASA Langley, Va., facility where she worked as a liaison between the technology and client teams for the database tracking system used to manage NASA’s contractual projects.

 

For summer 2010, she was an intern at Altria Client Services in Richmond ,Va., where she worked on data archiving to consolidate previous and current information to migrate to a new system.

 

“You can never underestimate the value of internships. I started utilizing the WSSU Career Services office in my second year. My parents always told me to be aggressive at seeking job opportunities. I didn’t want to be a person to work hard for four years and have no job in the end,” Dunlap said.

 

She will start her new job at Altria Client Services as an IT assistant analyst.

 

The Entertainment Mogul

Erikka Rainey, 22, of Philadelphia wants to be a female Sean “P-Diddy” Combs. In fact, she has wanted to be an entertainment mogul from a very young age. As a child, she dabbled in music and even took classes, but by age 14, she knew wholeheartedly that she wanted to be on the business side of the music industry.

 

“When I first learned about P-Diddy, I knew that was where I wanted my future to be,” said Rainey. “I look up to P- Diddy because I’m working to be the first female to start a record label, then restaurants, clothing lines and television shows.”

 

When she sees a famous entertainer, she wonders what sort of things they did in their career to get famous. If not famous, she wonders what it would take to make them famous. While at WSSU she jumped at every opportunity to market and promote musical artists and events. She worked with Hidden Beach Recordings to promote events for a new CD. She passed out flyers and did social media and internet marketing for jazz artist Monette Sudler of Philadelphia this past summer.

 

“If there’s one thing I live by, it’s take advantage of all opportunities. Don’t close yourself off to anything. You never know what you will learn that can be the key to your future,” Rainey said.

 

An honor student, Rainey will be attending New York University’s (NYU) music business program in the fall. She plans to maintain at least one home in New York City after graduate school when her career kicks off.

We stumbled upon All Saints en route to a different church, and as all those seen thus far on this day had been small and plain, not much was expected. But I saw the tower from along the main street, and looked impressive. and once parked we found it unlocked and welcoming.

 

Star of the show is the northern chapel, given over to the Culpepper family, with a fabulous tomb in the centre. On the walls, dozens of blank shields show what had been planned to be the family mausoleum for centuries, but things changed, the family moved away and the chapel has just three shields decorated.

 

------------------------------------------

 

There was considerable damage caused to this church in an earthquake of 1382. The medieval accounts survive so we know that 48s 2d was spent on the rebuilding. Little can have changed to the structure since that time, except for the construction of a north chapel in 1638. This chapel has a charming pattern of flint flushwork triangles in a horizontal course below the battlements. It contains one of the most interesting seventeenth-century monuments in Kent - to commemorate Lady Elizabeth Culpepper (d. 1638), carved and signed by the Court Sculptor Edward Marshall. The detail is amazing and the cord that connects her ring and wrist is always pointed out to visitors. The rest of the church was restored early in the career of George Gilbert Scott Jr in 1876 (see also Frinsted) and retains its patina of age unimaginable in a restoration by Scott Sr. The pulpit is early seventeenth century and dates from a few years after the much crocketed font cover. There are three signed monuments by Rysbrack and a tall crownpost roof of good construction in the nave.

 

www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Hollingbourne

 

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HOLLINGBORNE.

THE next parish north-westward from Harrietsham is Hollingborne, called in Domesday, Hoilingeborde, and in later records, Holingburnan and Holingeburne. It probably took its name from the spring which rises in the vale underneath the hill, in this parish.

 

THE PARISH of Hollingborne is situated much the same as that of Harrietsham last described, close to the great ridge of chalk hills, at the foot of which is the village called Hollingborne-street, in which at the south end of it stands the church and vicarage, and near them a well-looking brick mansion, of the time of queen Elizabeth, which by its appearance must have had owners of good condition in former times, but what is remarkable the rector of Hollingborne claims some rooms in this house in right of his rectory at this time. The road through Newnhambottom from Ospringe and Canterbury passes through Hollingborne-street, and thence through Eyhorne, commonly called Iron-street, in this parish, where there are two good houses, one belonging to Robert Salmon, esq. who resides in it, and the other built not many years since by Mr. John Weeks, who died possessed of it in 1785. Hence the road leads on, and joins the Ashford high road through Bersted to Maidstone. The southern part of this parish consists mostly of a deep sand, the whole of it below the hill is well watered by some small streams, which running southward join the Lenham rivulet in its way to Maidstone. Nearer the street the soil becomes a chalk, which continues to the summit of the hill, at the edge of which stands Mr. Duppa's house, whence the remaining part of this parish northward, situated on high ground, and exposed to the cold bleak winds, is but a wild and dreary country, with thick hedgerows, and frequent coppices of wood, mostly of hazel and oak, and small unthriving trees of the latter dispersed among them; the soil a deep tillage land, wet and very poor, being a red cludgy earth, covered with quantities of flint stones. On Eyhorne green, or as it is commonly called Broad-street, in this parish, in October yearly, two constables are chosen, one for the upper, the other for the lower half hundred of Eyhorne, each of which district consists of the twelve adjoining parishes, the borsholders in which, and the several boroughs in them, except such as are chosen at the different court leets, are chosen here likewise.

 

This parish, with the manor of Elnothington in it, together with the rest of the hundred of Eyhorne, was antiently bound to contribute to the repair of the sixth pier of Rochester bridge.

 

ÆTHELSTAN ETHELING, son of Ethelred II. gave by his will in 1015, to Christ-church, in Canterbury, his lands at Hollingborne, with their appurtenances, excepting one plough-land, which he had given to Siserth. In the MSS. in Bennet college library, Cambridge, of the evidences of Christ-church, Canterbury, intitled Thorn, printed in Decim. Script. f. 2221, this gift is said to have been made in 980; a very improbable circumstance, the king, his elder brother, at that time being but fourteen years of age.

 

These lands he had bought of his father, and gave them, with his consent, to Christ-church, L. S. A. that is, free from all secular service, excepting the trinoda necessitas, in like manner as Adisham had been given to it.

 

The manor of Hollingborne remained part of the possessions of the church of Canterbury at the time of the conquest, when the revenues of it were enjoyed as one common estate by the archbishop and his convent; but archbishop Lanfranc, after the example of foreign churches, separating them, in the partition Hollingborne fell to the share of the monks, and was allotted for their subsistence, (or ad Cibum, as it was usually termed) and it is accordingly thus entered in the book of Domesday, under the general title of Terra Monachorum Archiepi, i. e. the land of the monks of the archbishop.

 

The archbishop himself holds Hoilingeborde. It was taxed at six sulings. The arable land is twenty-four carucates. In demesne there are two, and sixty-one villeins, with sixteen borderers, having twenty-three carucates. There is a church, twelve servants, and two mills, and eight acres of meadow. Wood for the pannage of forty hogs. In the whole, in the time of king Edward the Confessor, and afterwards, it was worth twenty pounds, and now it is worth thirty pounds. To this manor there adjoins half a suling, which never paid scot, this the bishop of Baieux rents of the archbishop.

 

At this time, the whole of the above premises seems to have been valued at thirty pounds.

 

King Henry II. granted to the monks of Christchurch a charter for their lands at Hollingborne upon the Hills. In the 10th year of king Edward II. the prior obtained a charter of free-warren for his manor of Hollingborne, among others; about which time it was, with its appurtenances, valued at 46l. 9s. 8d. King Henry VI. by his letters patent, in his 25th and 26th year, granted to the prior a market, to be held at this place weekly on a Wednesday, and a fair yearly on the feast of St. Anne. (fn. 1)

 

William Selling, who was elected prior in the next reign of king Edward IV. anno 1472, during the time of his holding that dignity, greatly improved the prior's apartments here. After which, it seems to have undergone no material alteration till the dissolution of the priory, which was surrendered into the hands of king Henry VIII. in the 31st year of his reign.

 

The manor of Hollingborne did not remain long in the hands of the crown; for the king settled it, by his dotation charter, in his 33d year, on his newerected dean and chapter of Canterbury, part of whose possessions it now remains.

 

There is a court-leet and court baron regularly held by the dean and chapter for this manor, which extends likewise into the adjoining parishes of Hucking, Bredhurst, and Harrietsham, the quit-rents of it called Beadle-rents, being about forty-two pounds per annum.

 

¶BUT THE DEMESNE LANDS of this manor have been from time to time leased out by the dean and chapter at a reserved rent of 10l. 9s. The year after the grant of it to them, they demised them by lease to I. Reynolde, as they did anno 19 Elizabeth to William Puresoy, in whose family they remained till the beginning of king James I.'s reign. After which the Fludds held them in lease, and continued so to do, till their interest in them was passed away to W. Alabaster, D. D. After which these premises were held in succession by Bargrave, Boys, Farewell, and Gookin, till the year 1684, when Sir Thomas Culpeper, had a lease of them, in whose family they continued till John Spencer Colepeper, of the Charterhouse, passed away his interest in them to the Hon. Robert Fairfax, who held them in 1758, and then alienated his lease to Francis Child, esq. banker in London, whose brother Robert Child, esq. of London, banker, dying in 1782, the trustees of his will, Robert Dent and John Keysel, esqrs. are now in the possession of his interest in the lease of these demesnes, under the dean and chapter, besides which the dean and chapter have several other lands and woods here leased out by them to different persons.

 

HOLLINGBORNE is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deaury of Sutton; and is exempt from the jurisdiction of the archdeacon.

 

The church, which is dedicated to All Saints, is a handsome building, consisting of three large isles, with a chancel at the end of the middle one, and a square tower at the west end. The chancel is much enriched with the monuments of the family of Culpeper, of Greenway-court, and for two of the lords Culpeper, one of them by Rysbrack; on the north side is one for Sir Martin Barnham and his two wives, in 1610, their three figures kneeling at a desk, and underneath their children. At the east end of the north isle there is a small neat chapel, raised up several steps to give room for a vault underneath, in which lie the remains of all this branch of the Culpeper family. The sides of the chapel are filled with black escutcheons, and square tablets of black marble alternately, only two of these among the numbers of them are filled up, and those with younger branches of the family settled elsewhere, a proof of the disappointment of the vain endeavours of the builder to transmit the memory of his descendants to posterity. On the middle of the pavement is a beautiful raised monument of white marble, and the figure of a lady, lying at full length, in the habit of the times, of exceeding good sculpture, in memory of Elizabeth, lady of Sir Thomas Culpeper, daughter of John Cheney, esq. of Sussex, obt. 1638. In the isle a monument for Nich. Chaloner, esq. obt. 1706. Against the north wall of the north isle for two of the family of Duppa, and at the lower end of the church, for the Plummers, Collins's and Dykes. In the middle isle a stone, on which have been the figures of a man and woman in brass, but two shields of arms remain, being quarterly, first and fourth, A chevron, engrailed on a chief, three sleurs de lis; second and third, Three fishes, wavy, sessways, in pale.

 

There is belonging to this church, a most superb altar-cloth, and a pulpit-cloth and cushion, of purple velvet, ornamented with different figures of fruits of pomegranets and grapes, wrought in gold, the needlework of the daughters of Sir John Colepeper, afterwards created lord Colepeper, who employed themselves for almost the space of twelve years in the working of them, during their father's absence abroad with king Charles II.

 

The communion plate is very handsome, and an swerable to the above-mentioned furniture, being mostly the gift of the family of Colepeper, and some of it of Baldwin Duppa, esq.

 

John Eweyn, by his will proved in 1527, gave a table of alabaster, to stand upon the altar of St. John the Baptist in this church; and money to the repair of St. John's chapel in it. John Aleff, parson of Hollingborne, as appears by his will in 1537, was buried in the way beside the porch-door, on the right hand, and that there was set in the wall, nigh his grave, a stone with a plate of sculpture, mentioning where and when he was buried. He had before been vicar of Little Chart, and of St. Laurence Wolton, as he was then of St. John's Sherburne, in Hampshire.

 

The church of Hollingborne, to which the chapels of Hucking and Bredhurst were antiently annexed, is a sinecure rectory, with a vicarage endowed. The rector of Hollingborne is at this time patron of the perpetual curacy of the chapel of Bredhurst. The archbishop is patron both of the rectory and of the vicarage of Hollingborne, the vicar of which is collated to this vicarage, with the chapel of Hucking annexed.

 

The vicarage was endowed before the year 1407, in which year Arthur Sentleger, the rector, granted to William Maunby, vicar of this church, a messuage, with its appurtenances in this parish, for the habitation of himself and his successors for ever. (fn. 5) In archbishop Chichele's register, at Lambeth, there is an unauthenticated writing of a composition, made about the year 1441, for it is without date, between William Lyeff, then rector here, and John Fsylde, vicar, upon the assignation of a proper portion for the endowment of this vicarage in future times.

 

The rectory of Hollingborne is valued in the king's books at 28l. 15s. 5d. and the tenths at 2l. 17s. 6 1/7d. The vicarage is valued in them at 7l. 6s. 8d. and the yearly tenths at 14s. 8d. The vicarage in 1640 was valued at eighty-six pounds, and the communicants were then 271. It is now of the yearly certified value of 70l. 16s. 8d.

 

The vicarage was augmented twenty pounds per annum, by lease between Ralph Staunton, rector, and Sir Thomas Culpeper, of this parish.

 

¶The name of Culpeper, or Colepeper, is so variously spelt in different deeds and records, that it is impossible to keep with any rule to either spelling; on all the monuments, and in the parish register, (excepting in two instances in the last) it is spelt Culpeper.

 

www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-kent/vol5/pp460-478

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2017 World Championship Group Stage at Wuhan Sports Center Gymnasium in Wuhan, Hubei, China on 8 October 2017.

Day 2 of 2017 Mid-Season Invitational Semifinals at Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on 20 May 2017.

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Photo by Erin Brueggen

Public School 66 (formerly the Brooklyn Hills School, Later the Oxford School, now the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School). Richmond Hill, Queens

 

Originally constructed in 1898-9, Public School (P.S.) 66 is a remarkable survivor from a time when Richmond Hill, Queens, was transitioning from a rural farming community into a vibrant residential neighborhood. Three identical schools (two now demolished) were constructed in anticipation of an influx of residents, expected as a result of improvements in transportation, the subdivision of farmlands into lots for residential development, and the consolidation of Queens with Greater New York City that same year.

 

Also known as the Brooklyn Hills School after the suburban development in which it was physically located, P.S. 66 formally opened its doors in 1902. Harry S. Chambers, Superintendent of School Buildings for the Union Free School District No. 7 of the Town of Jamaica, Queens, is credited with the design of the original school building.

 

C.B.J. Snyder, Superintendent of School Buildings for the New York City Board of Education from 1890 to 1923, is noted as the architect of a 1905-6 addition.

 

The two-and-a-half and three-story red brick building is Victorian Eclectic in style. Many of its features are characteristic of the Romanesque Revival style and give the building a fortress-like appearance, including prominent round arches highlighting window openings and the main entrance, a flared base, and a distinctive six-story tower (restored in 2001).

 

Elements of the Queen Anne style are also present in the building’s large entablatures featuring elaborate rinceaux, its gabled dormers, and the steeply pitched roofs of the 1905-6 addition, which was harmoniously designed in the style of the main section. The tower, which originally contained a bell used to call school children from neighboring farms and developments, is distinguished by round arches, brick corbelling, large masonry columns, and foliate details. An ornamental panel above the main entranceway survives and features the name of the school.

  

Today, P.S. 66 has been renamed the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School in honor of the former First Lady’s passion for literacy and for historic preservation and continues to serve in its original function as a grammar school. It remains one of Queens’ most distinctive school structures.

 

Richmond Hill, Queens

 

P.S. 66 is geographically located in east central Queens, just south of the verdant Forest Park in the neighborhood of Richmond Hill. The area was originally part of the town of Jamaica, one of the oldest and most historically significant areas of the borough. Jamaica was inhabited by a Native American tribe called the Jameco or Yamecah, a word meaning Beaver in Algonquin, when the first Europeans arrived there in 1655.

 

They had came from neighboring Hempstead looking for more space to farm and in 1656 applied to Governor Stuyvesant for a patent to “purchase” 10 acres of land from the native tribe.4 When the English took over in 1664, the town’s name was changed to Jamaica. Queens County (then including all of Nassau County) was chartered in 1683 as one of the ten counties of the colony of New York and official town patents were given to Jamaica, Newtown, and Flushing. A 1698 census of Queens County showed a total population of 3,366 white residents and 199 black residents.

 

While early records do indicate the existence of slaves in Jamaica, the town also had a free black population throughout its history. Through the next century, the community of Jamaica served as the county seat and became a trading post where farmers from outlying areas brought their produce.

 

Incorporated as a village in 1814, Jamaica became a center of trade on Long Island. Early east-west roads, like King’s Highway, and the arrival of the first railroad, the fledgling Long Island Railroad (LIRR), in 1836, provided crucial links between Eastern Long Island and Manhattan.

 

Further transportation improvements following the Civil War, including a horse car line in 1866 and electric trolley in 1888, began to open up previously rural, inaccessible portions of the county. The area became ripe for urban development, much of which remained focused around Jamaica.

 

During the 19th century, Jamaica evolved into a retreat for urban dwellers who patronized its numerous inns and saloons on weekend excursions and built large summer homes on its open land. The permanent population of Jamaica increased steadily throughout the second half of the 19th century, and eventually some of the nearby farms were subdivided for house lots.

 

While driving from his Wall Street office to his Lawrence, Long Island, summer home, Albon Platt Man, a wealthy lawyer from New York City, is said to have become enamored by a sunny slope in northwest Jamaica which dropped gently southward from Long Island’s terminal moraine ridge.

 

Man purchased the land in 1869, consisting of five farmsteads belonging to the Lefferts, Bergen, Welling, Robertson, and Hendrickson families, amounting to more than 400 acres.9 He later acquired adjacent parcels to the north and to the east.10 Man and his business partner, Edward Richmond, a landscape architect, envisioned the development of a rural community where workers could escape from the congestion of the industrial city to peaceful homes in picturesque settings.11 They named the project Richmond Hill, most likely after the famed London Borough of Richmond upon Thames.

 

By the 1870s, 250 acres of Man’s original purchase had been transformed into lots suitable for private residences. Between 1868 and 1874, some 400 shade and ornamental trees were planted, and various streets, avenues, and drives were laid out around the most desirable portions of the property. A passenger depot at Richmond Hill was opened in 1868 by the South Side Railroad of Long Island.

 

A school and a church were erected, followed shortly by both small-scale cottages and more luxurious houses built by wealthy businessmen from Manhattan. The heart of the village was the main junction of Myrtle, Jamaica, and Lefferts Avenues, near the train depot and a small grocery store / post office.

 

Richmond Hill continued to grow in the decades that followed, as did the surrounding neighborhoods that were similarly being developed by real estate developers and syndicates. In 1895, the three separate hamlets of Richmond Hill, Morris Park, and Clarenceville were incorporated as the Village of Richmond Hill.

 

The municipal independence of the village, however, was short-lived – just three years later Queens would become part of Greater New York City. Consolidation was favorably looked upon by developers, as extension of New York City’s water and sewers, rapid transit, and new bridges across the east river undoubtedly meant an increase in the region’s desirability.

 

Brooklyn Hills

 

In 1887, the Brooklyn Hills Improvement Company, a real estate syndicate, purchased roughly 160 acres of farmland within Richmond Hills.14 The land was easily accessible at the junction of the Long Island Railroad on Atlantic Avenue, the Rockaway Beach Railroad, the Brooklyn Union Elevated Railroad, and a proposed subway route (later an elevated train, now the J). To help ready the land for residential development, the company graded streets, laid flagging and sidewalks, planted more than 1,000 trees, and connected water pipes to the mains of the Woodhaven Water Supply Company.

 

By 1895, the company had constructed about 150 houses and 20 stores within the development that had come to be known as Brooklyn Hills.16 While the population of the neighborhood was cited as 200 residents by 1898, much of the land remained undeveloped at the turn of the century. This included “Plat No. 3,” a residential subdivision within Brooklyn Hills that consisted of roughly twelve blocks surrounding the newly constructed P.S. 66, located at Union Place (now 102nd Street) between Walnut Street (now 85th Road) and Tulip Street (now 85th Avenue) (see Figure 18).

 

A lawsuit brought by the Brooklyn Hills Improvement Company against the New York and Rockaway Railroad Company in 1899 alleged that a contract to establish a station at Brooklyn Hills had been breached, and that failure of the railroad to build the station had damaged and hindered the company’s efforts to sell real estate in the area.18 Ultimately the company was awarded only six cents in damages. The argument that the company had not been able to profit off its land was widely considered specious.

 

A Brooklyn Hills station of the Rockaway Beach Branch of the Long Island Railroad had operated at Myrtle Avenue and Forest Park from about 1882 to 1911. Moreover, records indicate no problem with sales – as reported in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, by 1902 the company had sold nearly 600 building lots at prices ranging from $2,500 to $3,000 per acre.19 The company had also profited in 1898 off the condemnation by the city of a hilly portion of the tract located north of Plat No. 3, which was to become part of Forest Park.20 Development delays, specifically within Plat No. 3, more likely resulted from complications with the nearby Waterbury and Napier farms which, until 1905, prohibited the cutting of through streets and which therefore stood as a barrier between the subdivision and the rest of the village.

 

This impediment, however, was removed by the time of the 1905 auction of the 382 lots of Plat No. 3.22 Real estate boosters prepared for the auction touted the tract’s location, bounded by a “beautiful range of hills” to the north (now part of Forest Park) slated to become “one of the most beautiful of New York City’s public parks.” Physical improvements were also touted, such as the widening of Union Place (now 102nd Street), the plat’s principal avenue, and the presence of the “large modern public school on its property,” referring, of course, to P.S. 66. The auction was apparently a success. The Brooklyn Hills Improvement Company was voluntarily dissolved on October 28, 1907.

 

Public Education in Jamaica, Queens

 

The present New York City public school system, fully supported and maintained by public funds, developed slowly from the initial establishment under the Dutch of elementary schools supported and jointly controlled by both the civil authorities and the Dutch Reformed Church. Under English rule, a system of private academies, similar to those in Britain, appeared in lieu of a public system. Through the 18th century, schools in Queens were rarely free and were primarily run by religious institutions.24 It was not until after the American Revolution that New York State undertook the task of creating a public education system. During the period between the first meeting of the state legislature in 1777 and 1851, nearly 1,000 pieces of legislation concerning education were passed. In 1812, New York State adopted a common school system intended to provide free elementary education to all the residents of the state, to be funded through local taxes.

 

In 1813, the town of Jamaica voted to receive its allotted quota of the state’s school fund to put towards establishing common schools.

 

“Union free school districts” were established during the 1853 session of legislature as a way for municipalities to combine two or more common schools for the purpose of making education available to children from a broader region. In addition to free admission, pupils within union free school districts were also entitled to free school materials, such as textbooks.26 The Union Free School District No. 7 of the Town of Jamaica was founded in 1888 and encompassed Richmond Hill.27 By 1890, 1,350 school children were enrolled within District No. 7, an increase of more than 30 percent in the two years since the district was established.

 

Consolidation of the city in 1898 created the need for a unified public education system that would combine the numerous, independently-administered school districts of the borough, each with its own curricula, grade divisions and educational policies. The Borough School Boards and Central Board had been established in 1897 to begin centralized decision making, but in 1901 they were abolished and replaced by a newly reorganized Board of Education consisting of 46 Local School Board Districts and a central Executive Committee. The work of the new organization was affected by several recently implemented state and municipal efforts at reform, including the Compulsory Education Law of 1894 which mandated school attendance for all children until age 14, the School Reform Law of 1896 which mandated state support of secondary schools, and revision of the city charter in 1901.

 

The laws substantially increased the number of children attending city schools, created new types of schools, and improved school accommodations. A temporary halt in funding for new buildings significantly slowed the construction of school facilities in most parts of the city for a year following consolidation. Although the moratorium led to further overcrowding in existing schools in Jamaica, as throughout the city, in the years that followed, millions of dollars were authorized for the construction of new facilities.

 

History of P.S. 66

 

Conditions in District No. 7, as throughout pre-consolidated New York City, were crowded as a result of the changes to state and municipal education laws. In July 1897, a resolution was presented before the local school board calling for $100,000 to be raised via taxes and the sale of bonds, for the construction of additions to existing school structures and the purchase of land for the erection of a new school house within District No. 7.30 Hoping to thwart further shortages in classroom space, and possibly anticipating the post-consolidation freeze in funding for new buildings, the board dramatically increased its proposal just one month later with a call for three additional ten-room school houses. In total, the school board hoped to be able to accommodate 1,750 pupils.

 

On August 3, 1897, the school board passed a resolution to purchase three sites for the proposed school houses – Site No. 7, referred to in town records as the Broadway site, which would become Public School 64, Site No. 8, referred to as the Union Course site, which would become Public School 65, and Site No. 9, referred to as the Brooklyn Hills site, which would become P.S. 66. The parcel of 200 feet by 175 feet on which P.S. 66 would be constructed was purchased for $7,000 from the widow of Thomas F. Hayes, a real estate agent who may have been associated with the Brooklyn Hills Improvement Company. Three identical plans were submitted for the buildings by Harry S. Chambers, the Superintendent of School Buildings and architect for District No. 7, and were accepted in the fall of 1897. In early December, however, a motion was made to reduce the size of the schools from ten rooms to eight rooms, as a result of contractor bids exceeding approximated building costs.

 

New plans were summarily submitted and accepted. A carpenter by the name of Thomas J. Clarke was awarded the contract for construction of “Building No. 9” just one week later, with a winning bid of $24,290.31 Construction began in early 1898, and the school was officially designated as “Public School No. 66” on April 15, 1898. The building was completed on July 28, 1899.32

 

Upon completion, P.S. 66 contained eight classrooms serving the first through sixth grades, a library, and a principal’s office. Four classrooms were located on each of the first and second stories of the building, surrounding an octagonal lobby. The two-and-a-half story Victorian Eclectic-style building, consisting of bearing exterior and interior walls with floors framed with wood joists, was essentially square in plan. The primary entrance to the school, which was picturesquely sited within a verdant, undeveloped area of Brooklyn Hills, was located at the base of a six-story, projecting tower along the building’s west elevation. Many of the original school’s features are characteristic of the Romanesque Revival style and give the building a fortress-like appearance, including prominent round arches highlighting window openings and the main entrance, a flared base, and its distinctive tower.

 

Elements of the Queen Anne style are also present in the design of the original school building, in its large entablatures featuring elaborate rinceaux, its gabled dormers, and a pair of paneled brick chimneys. The tower, which originally contained a bell used to call school children from neighboring farms and developments, is distinguished by round arches, brick corbelling, large masonry columns, and foliate ornamentation. An ornamental panel above the main entranceway featured foliate decoration and the name of the school.

 

Despite a very real need for classroom space throughout New York City at the turn of the century, most apparent in the fact that many schools were running classes part-time in order to accommodate demand, P.S. 66, like other schools constructed in Queens just prior to consolidation, did not immediately open. Due to a shortage in municipal funds, the unoccupied school had not been assigned a janitor and consequently began to deteriorate. In December 1899, the windows at

 

P.S. 66 were reportedly broken by neighborhood children and the plumbing stripped by thieves. To prevent further vandalism, P.S. 66, as well as the still unoccupied P.S. 65, were boarded up. Notwithstanding the continued residential development of the borough, Queens was still largely considered a rural farming community at the turn of the century and the presence of unutilized schools structures did not go unnoticed. As reported in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle in 1900:

 

…While in Brooklyn and Manhattan there are thousands of children who cannot

go to school because there is no room for them, [here] there is room for nearly

two thousand with which the population of the village has not yet been blessed...

 

The notion that the schools remained unopened due to a lack of demand, however, was a misconception. For several years, the children of Brooklyn Hills residents were forced to attend Public School 58 in nearby Ozone Park on a half-day schedule as they eagerly awaited transfer to the new school. The New York City Board of Estimate and Apportionment, however, had only allotted $25,000 for janitors’ wages for the entire borough of Queens for the 1900-1901 school year, a full $15,000 less than the sum awarded the borough in the years prior to consolidation.34 Similar reductions in appropriations were made for teachers’ salaries, with reductions of 25% in early 1900 leading to a numerous teacher resignations. While P.S. 65 appears to have opened in time for the 1899-00 school year, relieving some of the crowding experienced by the school district, it is not surprising that under such financial strain, both P.S. 64 and P.S. 66 remained closed.

 

P.S. 66 finally opened its doors on April 14, 1902 and was referred to locally as the Brooklyn Hills School.35 Neighborhood residents were transferred to the school by start of the new fall term. In early 1902, the school board petitioned the Board of Public Improvements to open nearby Orchard Avenue (now 86th Avenue) “to accommodate school children in getting to this school, as no street opens from the northeast to it.”36 By May of that year, attendance at the school had increased so rapidly that the services of two additional teachers were requested. Records from 1905 indicate that seven teachers and 278 students occupied the building.

 

Between 1900 and 1910, the city’s population grew by nearly 39 percent, primarily a result of unprecedented levels of immigration. This growth naturally led to further increases in school enrollment and attendance throughout the city. To meet the latest increase in demand for classroom space, a three-story addition to the east of P.S. 66’s original school building was constructed in 1905-6. The addition doubled the number of classrooms and included space for a kindergarten and an auditorium. The addition, which is attributed to C.B.J. Snyder, superintendent of School Buildings for the New York City Board of Education from 1890 to 1923, was harmoniously designed in the style of the main section. Consisting of brick bearing walls with floors supported by steel beams, the addition is roughly rectangular in plan. The addition features a pair of two-and-a-half story gabled wings that project northwards and southwards from a three-story, flat-roofed core.

 

The addition is distinguished by steeply pitched slate roofs and ornamental brick corbelling at the wings and central core. According to Board of Education records, the addition was occupied on September 9, 1907.

 

Description

 

P.S. 66 is situated towards the eastern boundary of a large, rectangular lot bounded by the gently sloped 102nd Street to the west, 85th Avenue to the north, 85th Road to the south, and a service driveway to the east. The site is presently surrounded by a non-original concrete curb that is topped by iron and chain-link fencing. Primary pedestrian entry to the site is located along 102nd Street, while secondary entries can be found along 85th Avenue, 85th Road, and also via the service driveway. The school building is set back from 102nd Street by a verdant lawn featuring large trees and other plantings.

 

The school structure is composed of various masses that, together, are roughly symmetrical in plan (see Figure 12). The two-and-a half story, original portion of the school building, consisting of approximately the western two-thirds of the present structure, is essentially square in plan. An addition, consisting of a pair of two-and-a-half story gabled wings projecting northwards and southwards from a three-story, flat-roofed core, was joined to the east of the original school building in 1905-6 and is roughly rectangular in plan. The primary entrance to the structure is located at the base of a projecting fortress-like tower along the original school building’s west elevation. Secondary entrances are located along each of the remaining elevations.

 

All elevations of the Victorian Eclectic-style school feature red-brick laid in a Common bond. Partially-exposed basement stories are visible at all elevations (except where noted) and are flared at the original school building, one of several design elements that gives the school a fortress-like appearance. Rectangular window openings (shorter at partially-exposed basement stories) featuring flush cast-stone lintels and projecting cast-stone sills are typical at each elevation of the structure (except where noted). At the original school building, the sills of the first and second stories, as well as the lintels of the first story, are continuous with flush cast-stone bands at all elevations (except where noted). All first and second-story window openings of the original school building and 1905-6 addition feature six-over-six double-hung wood sashes (except where noted), several of which are original (see Alterations).

 

Basement window openings typically feature three-over-three double-hung wood sashes (except where noted).

 

Original School Building

 

West (102nd Street) elevation: The primary, west elevation of P.S. 66 is composed of three sections. The two-bay wide central section projects forward (except where noted) and is principally defined by a six-story, fortress-like tower at the southern bay. Two round-arched openings featuring concentric brick arches with brick hood molding are located at the ground story of the central section (basement not exposed), consisting of a window opening containing paired typical sashes and a typical sill, topped by a fanlight with ornamental lead dividers, on the left, and the primary entrance, consisting of slightly recessed, wood double-doors (non-original), paneled wood reveals, and a matching fanlight, on the right. The primary entrance is raised slightly on a single granite step. The ground-story arches of the central section spring from a molded cast-stone water table course, continuous on all sides of the projecting central section and beneath which are found recessed rectangular brick panels.

 

A single, narrow typical window opening, which descends slightly into the water table course, is visible at the north-facing portion of the projecting central section at the first story. A decorative panel featuring foliate details and inscribed with the words “Public School” and “No. 66” is found above the primary entrance. A masonry and cast-stone balustrade tops the first story of the northern bay of the central section (including the north-facing portion). The two-story tall northern bay is recessed above the first story. At the second story, the northern bay features paired window openings topped by blind arches consisting of concentric brick courses, brick hood molding and a herringbone tympanum and featuring elaborate window surrounds with foliate details. An entablature consisting of a molded architrave, rinceau, and molded cornice, is found directly above the second-story window openings of the northern bay (see Alterations).

 

A hipped section of the structure’s slate roof is visible above the entablature at the northern bay. A drain pipe is affixed to the north-facing portion of the central section.

 

The southern bay of the central section consists of the six-story tower. Above the primary entrance, the tower consists of two, narrow rectangular window openings featuring four-over­four double-hung wood sashes and flush, continuous cast-stone lintels and sills at the second story, three narrow round-arched window openings featuring two-over-two double-hung sashes with arched upper sashes, brick hood molding springing from molded brick corbels, and slightly projecting cast-stone sills connected by a flush cast-stone band at the third story, three blind rectangular windows with a continuous cast-stone sill supported on stepped brick corbelling above a paneled frieze (continuous on all visible sides of the tower) at the fourth story, three arched masonry openings featuring outsized Corinthian columns (half-columns at outer arches), a continuous rinceau, and a projecting cast-stone sill supported on stepped brick corbelling at the fifth-story and repeated at a shorter height (and without the frieze) at the sixth-story, and a diminutive molded cast-stone cornice at its crown. Similar to the fourth story, the sixth-story sill and corbelling is continuous on all visible sides of the tower. The south elevation of the tower features two, irregularly-sized and irregularly-spaced narrow typical window openings at the first and second stories (left window opening at first story descends slightly into the water table course) and a single window opening at the third story with details similar to that of the third story of the tower’s west elevation. The details of the fourth, fifth and sixth stories of the west elevation of the tower are repeated on the north, south and east elevations (east elevation not visible from street).

 

The two-and-a-half story north section of the west elevation is four bays wide and features a typical window opening at each bay of the partially-exposed basement, first, and second stories. A wide gable with cast-stone coping that culminates in a finial spans the width of the section. Two shorter typical window openings are set within the gable and feature six-over­six double-hung wood sashes, sills connected by a flush cast-stone band and another flush cast-stone band that serves as a lintel course. The substantial metal tympanum beneath the gable features elaborate foliate, garland and urn details. Paired, cylindrical pinnacles of differing height, featuring cast-stone corbels with foliate details and patterned cast-stone finials, flank the section (the left-most pinnacle is continuous with the north elevation). From a distance, a rectangular brick chimney featuring arched panels, brick banding, and masonry coping, is visible above the roofline (also visible from the north elevation).

 

Each of the three bays of the two-and-a-half story south section of the west elevation features a typical window opening at the partially-exposed basement, first, and second stories.

 

An entablature consisting of a molded architrave, rinceau, and molded cornice, is found directly above the second-story window openings, matches that of the northern bay of the central section, and is continuous with the south elevation. A gabled dormer featuring cast-stone coping that culminates in a finial contains two rectangular window openings featuring two-over-two double-hung wood sashes and typical sills. The dormer pierces the cornice of this section and is flanked by cylindrical brick pinnacles with patterned cast-stone finials. A flush cast-stone band serves as a lintel course for the dormer windows. The metal tympanum beneath the gable features elaborate foliate details. A drain pipe that is affixed to the south-facing elevation of the tower at its top pierces the cornice of the section and continues towards the ground affixed to it. From a distance, a cross-hipped section of the structure’s slate roof is visible above the entablature.

 

One of the structure’s two rectangular brick chimneys featuring arched panels, brick banding, and masonry coping, is visible above the roofline (also visible from the south elevation).

 

South (85th Road) elevation: The south elevation consists of two sections. The two-bay east section of the south elevation is recessed from the four-bay west section. At the partially-exposed basement, first, and second stories, the west section of the south elevation features single typical window openings at each of the first two bays and two typical window openings at each of the third and fourth bays (a single header course is found beneath the typical sills of the partially-exposed basement windows). A dormer matching that of the south section of the west elevation is centered above the west section. At the partially-exposed basement, first, and second stories, the east section features a single typical window opening at the western bay and three typical window openings at the eastern bay. An additional bay is visible at the east-facing elevation between the two sections and features a single narrow typical window opening containing four-over-four double hung wood sashes at each of the first and second stories and a non-original door opening with typical cast-stone lintel raised on one concrete step at an exposed basement level (door is accessed via non-original, below-grade concrete stairway surrounded by a concrete curb with metal handrail) (see Alterations). An entablature matching that of the west elevation is found above the second-story window openings of the east, west, and east-facing sections of the south elevation, and is continuous from the west elevation. A cross-hipped section of the structure’s slate roof is visible above the entablature, as is one of the structure’s two rectangular brick chimneys featuring arched panels, brick banding, and masonry coping (also visible from the west elevation). A drain pipe that is affixed towards the right side of the east section pierces the cornice as it runs to the ground. Additional drain pipes are affixed towards the left edge of both the east and west sections.

 

North (85th Avenue) elevation: The north elevation is the same as the south elevation, except where noted. Unlike the south elevation, the west section of the north elevation features two typical window openings at each bay of the partially-exposed basement, first, and second stories, and there is no header course beneath the sills of the partially-exposed basement window openings of the east section. Although there is no opening at the partially-exposed basement story of the west-facing elevation between the sections, there is a non-original door opening at the right side of the third bay of the east section at the basement level (door is accessed via non-original, below-grade concrete stairway surrounded by a concrete curb with metal handrail) (see Alterations). The window openings of the left side of the fourth bay of the east section at the first and second stories have been altered into door openings to accommodate a fire escape (see Alterations). A multi-level, cross-hipped section of the structure’s slate roof is visible above the entablature at this elevation, as is one of the structure’s two rectangular brick chimneys featuring arched brick panels, brick banding, and masonry coping (also visible, at a distance, from the west elevation). In lieu of the smaller dormer present at the south elevation, a large, gabled dormer rises from the roof at the east section, about two-thirds of the way back. The dormer contains a single rectangular window opening with a molded window surround and three-over-three double-hung wood sashes. The metal face of the dormer features radiating sunburst and foliate details. Unlike the south elevation, only one drain pipe is affixed to the north elevation, at the west section.

 

1905-6 Addition

 

West elevation: The west elevation consists primarily of the west elevations of a pair of two-and-a-half story wings that project from a central, three-story, flat-roofed core (because the core abuts the slightly shorter original school building to the west, only a small portion of its western elevation is visible). Few details adorn the west elevations of the north and south wings. The west elevation of the south wing does not feature any openings, and although a typical lintel and sill are present at the partially-exposed basement story, any window opening that may have been present here has been seamlessly bricked in. The west elevation of the north wing features a short, wide rectangular window opening with a typical lintel and sill at the partially-exposed basement story that has been filled-in with a non-original metal panel. A portion of the west elevations of both the north and south wings is taken up by a projecting one-story pavilion which features brick corbelling, a large, flush masonry band, and masonry coping, all of which wrap to each pavilion’s south elevation (the pavilions may not be original to the 1905-6 addition, see 1905-6 Addition, South (85th Road) elevation). Brick corbelling caps both the north and south wings and terminates at the outer edge of each wing at a stylized brick buttress featuring a cast-stone corbel and capital (the buttresses are shared with the north and south elevations of the wings). A pitched slate roof is visible above each wing. The visible portion of the west elevation of the central core features a projecting brick band and parapet with brick corbelling and masonry coping, all of which are continuous with the north, south and east elevations of the core. A rectangular brick chimney is partially visible above the roofline of the flat-roofed core. Drain pipes are affixed to the west elevations of both the north and south wings and a pipe vent is visible along the roof of the south wing.

 

South (85th Road) elevation: The south elevation is principally defined by the gabled, three-bay wide, two-and-a-half story tall, projecting south wing. A single bay of three-story central core, flush with the original school building, is visible to the west of the south wing. Each of the bays of the south wing features a typical window opening at the first and second stories. At the partially-exposed basement story, only the outer bays feature a typical window opening. A single, shorter typical window opening is found within the gable of the south wing. Stylized brick buttresses featuring cast-stone corbels and capitals flank the gable (the buttresses are shared with the east and west elevations of the wing) and are continuous with cast-stone coping which culminates in a finial. The single bay of the central core, to the west of the south wing, features a typical window opening at the second story and a narrow typical window opening at the third story.

 

The first story is taken up by the projecting one-story pavilion, which overhangs the original school building slightly and which features brick corbelling, a large, flush masonry band, and masonry coping, all of which wrap to the pavilion’s west elevation. The masonry band serves as a lintel course for a wide door opening that pierces the brick corbelling. The door opening is raised on a wide concrete step that extends beyond the opening and contains a deeply recessed non-original metal door and solid metal side panel. The pavilion may not be original to the 1905-6 addition, as it obscures most of what appears to have been a typical window opening at the first story of this bay, presently only partially visible above the pavilion. Portions of the brick band and parapet with brick corbelling and masonry coping of the central core are visible above the gabled roof of the south wing, all of which are continuous with the north, east and west elevations of the core. A brick buttress-like element is located above the west slope of the gabled roof of the south wing at the central core.

 

North (85thAvenue) elevation: The north elevation is a mirror image of the south elevation, except where noted. Unlike the south elevation, only the west-most bay of the partially-exposed basement story of the north wing features a window opening. At the projecting pavilion, a shorter typical window opening that pierces the brick corbelling, whose lintel is integrated with the masonry band, and which contains two-over-two double-hung wood sashes, is located to the right of the door opening. To the west of the north wing, two bays of the central core are visible, both recessed slightly from the original school building. The eastern bay of the central core is the same as the north elevation, while the western bay features a short, narrow typical window opening containing two-over-two double hung wood sashes, offset in height at each of the first, second and third stories.

 

East elevation: The east elevation is comprised of three sections consisting, like the west elevation, of two wings projecting from a central core. The east elevations of the north and south wings are the same as the west elevations of the wings, except where noted. Unlike at the west elevation, the north and south wings are flush with the central core. Additionally, at the south wing, the window opening of the partially-exposed basement story is not filled in and, in lieu of a sill, abuts a raised concrete planting bed (see Related Landmark Site). The north wing does not feature any window openings, lintels or sills. Neither the north nor the south wing is obscured by a pavilion.

 

The three-story tall central core features two bays, each containing three typical window openings at the first, second and third stories. At the partially-exposed basement story, a single typical window opening is present at the first bay which, in lieu of a sill, abuts a raised concrete planting bed (see Related Landmark Site). At the second bay of the partially-exposed basement story, an additional three window openings are found and consist of a short typical window opening containing three-over-three double-hung wood sashes to the north, a typical, full-height window opening at center, and a filled-in typical window opening to the south that has been altered to accommodate a basement door opening below and three, square louvered vents above (door is accessed via a below-grade masonry and brick stairway surrounded by masonry curbing and a metal fence with gate).

 

A one-story pavilion projects from the central core at the first bay of the partially-exposed basement story and may not be original to the 1905-6 addition as it obscures part of the rightmost window opening of the first bay of the central core at the first story. The pavilion features projecting brick banding separated by a large masonry band, and masonry coping, all of which wrap to the pavilion’s north and south elevations. The east elevation of the pavilion features two typical lintels where typical window openings appear to have been bricked in. A square metal panel with a hinged door is set within the south elevation of the pavilion. At the third story of the central core, a projecting brick band runs continuous with the lintels of the third-story fenestration and is also continuous with the north, south and west elevations of the core. The central core also features brick corbelling and masonry coping at the parapet which, too, is continuous with the other elevations of the core. At the partially-exposed basement story, a small length of masonry or concrete base trim stretches from the right side of the central core to the north wing. A large number of drain pipes, pipe vents, and through-wall vents are affixed to all three sections of the east elevation, several of which may be original.

 

Alterations

 

While the windows of P.S. 66 are largely non-original, the replacement windows were apparently selected to maintain the integrity of the exterior facade and feature multi-paned, double-hung wood sashes similar to the building’s original windows (several of the non-classroom windows of the west elevation of the original school building are original and have not been replaced; it is not known when the non-original windows were installed). None of the school’s doors are original. The doors of the primary entrance were replaced with new paneled wood double-doors in 2009, while the remaining secondary entrances feature non-original metal doors. The fire escape affixed to the east section of the north elevation of the original school building is not-original.

 

Although it is unclear when the fire escape was put in place (not present in c. 1939 tax photograph), its installation required the enlargement of the leftmost window openings of the fourth bay of this section at the first and second stories in order to accommodate new door openings and metal doors. Although the original window lintels were retained, the remaining portions of the window openings not occupied by the doors have been filled in with metal panels. The three pavilions that extend from the various elevations of the 1905-6 addition are not thought to be original. Although it is not known when they might have been constructed, the pavilions do appear in the c. 1939 tax photograph of the school. An element that appears to be a large cornice at the central core of the 1905-6 addition looks to be present in the c. 1939 tax photograph, but has since been removed. It is not known when the concrete curb that surrounds the site was installed or when the areas to the north and south of the school were paved with concrete, but both conditions are present in the c. 1939 tax photograph.

 

Non-original signage is affixed to the central section of the west elevation of the original school building. A number of non-original security lights, school bells, speakers, conduit, and electrical boxes are affixed to the various elevations of both the original school building and the 1905-6 addition. Non-original window guards are present at all windows of the first, second, third, and partially-exposed basement stories at all elevations and at the fanlights of the central section of the west elevation of the original school building, but are not present at dormer or gable windows. The small length of masonry or concrete base trim at the east elevation of the 1905-6 addition is painted red. A concrete platform has been built up along the east elevation of the 1905-6 addition at the central core and north wing, which extends from the projecting pavilion and is continuous with the ramp that runs alongside the north elevation of the north wing.

 

It is not known whether the through-wall vent beneath the rightmost window of the south section of the west elevation of the original school building is original, nor if any of the through-vents on the east elevation of the 1905-6 addition are original. Similarly, it is not known if the various drain pipes affixed to the east elevation of the 1905-6 addition are original, although the drain pipes affixed to the other elevations are thought to be original.

 

A major exterior modernization project that took place in 2001 under the leadership of the architectural firm Montoya-Rodriguez Architects, PC returned many original details to the school building that had been removed or altered over the intervening years. The metal entablatures, including the rinceaux, present at the north, south and west elevations of the original school building, had been covered with stucco (see Figure 10), but were replaced as part of this project. The firm also restored much of the bell tower, which had been removed above the second story in 1967 due to wood deterioration. Although the present tower is not an exact replica of the original, a large number of details, including the numerous brick and masonry arches, continuous brick corbelling, and open belfry, are evocative of, and, in fact, very similar to the original design (see Figures 13 & 14).

 

As part of the scope of work, finials were returned to the pinnacles of the west elevation of the original school building, failing cast-stone details and rusted sections of decorative metal were replaced in kind, several windows of the 1905-6 addition that had been previously enclosed with face brick were filled-in with matching brick, and asphalt shingles that had been introduced to the roof in the 1980s were replaced with more appropriate slate shingles. The project also undertook the stripping of non-original paint layers from all exterior brick, cast-stone, masonry, and metal details, and the repointing of all existing brickwork (including chimneys) and masonry. Window openings at the partially-exposed basement story of the east-facing section of the south elevation of the original school building and at the rightmost opening of the third bay of the east section of the north elevation of the original school building were enlarged into door openings and below-grade access staircases were installed as part of the project.

 

- From the 2010 NYCLPC Landmark Designation Report

Berlin, Germany - February 14 --- during the 2019 League of Legends European Championship Series Week 3 at the LEC Studio on February 14, 2020 in Berlin Germany (Photo by Michal Konkol/Riot Games)

Before March 2 2015, please come here to nominate the entire Chinatown as the historic site to be preserved, don't expect City of Vancouver to save Chinatown when the Council approved more condo to be built in Chinatown at rapid rate to destroy the Chinatown.

www.heritagebc.ca/blog?articleid=162

Chinese Historic Places Recognition Project

 

THE HERITAGE BATTLE FOR CHINATOWN

 

Historic Vancouver neighbourhood is being redeveloped, raising fears it will lose its character.

 

By JOHN MACKIE, VANCOUVER SUN November 15, 2014

 

The marketing line for the Keefer Block condo development in Chinatown is “Heritage Meets Modern.”

 

But just how much heritage will be left after a wave of modern developments washes over the historic district is a matter of debate.

 

A new proposal for the 700-block of Main Street would demolish the last three buildings from Hogan’s Alley, a once-notorious back lane that was the longtime home of Vancouver’s black community.

 

Another condo development at 231 Pender would replace a funky, Chinese-themed garage that is listed on Canada’s Register of Historic Places. Angelo Tosi’s family has owned their building at 624 Main since 1930. It may date back to 1895, and looks it — the fixtures and shelving are as old as the hills.

 

But Tosi is 82, and will probably sell when the price is right. He doesn’t expect his store to survive.

 

“It’ll be gobbled up by the monstrous buildings,” said Tosi. “And then they’ll take it all, and it’s finished. They won’t keep the heritage on the bottom, they’ll put down whatever they want.”

 

His fatalistic attitude reflects the changes in Chinatown, which is undergoing a development boom after zoning changes by the City of Vancouver.

 

The protected “historic” area of Chinatown is now Pender Street, while much of Main, Georgia and Keefer can now be redeveloped, with heights of up to 90 feet (nine storeys). A few sites can go even higher.

 

Two towers are going up at Keefer and Main — the nine-storey, 81-unit Keefer Block, and the 17-storey, 156-unit 188 Keefer. Up the street at 137 Keefer, a development permit application has just gone in for a new nine-storey “multi-family building.”

 

None of them has stirred up much controversy. But a recent public meeting about a 12-storey, 137-unit condo to be built on an empty lot at Keefer and Columbia got people riled up.

 

“There was a lot of angry people that night,” said Henry Yu, a UBC history professor who feels a “vision plan” the Chinatown community worked on with the city for several years is being ignored.

 

“The vision plan gets passed, (but it has) no teeth,” said Yu. “Actually (there is) no policy, it’s a wish list of ‘Oh, we’d like seniors housing, we’d like to do this, we’d like to do that.’

 

“Almost immediately, the two (highrise) buildings in the 600-, 700-block Main go up, and they’re just basically Yaletown condos. Not even Yaletown — Yaletown has more character.

 

“These are straight out of the glass tower (model), no (historic) character, obliterating everything in terms of tying it to the kind of streetscape of Chinatown. You’re going to split the historic two or three blocks of Chinatown with a Main Street corridor of these glass towers.”

 

Yu says Chinatown has historically been small buildings on 25-foot lots, which makes for a jumble of small stores that gives it a unique look and character. But the new developments are much wider, and just don’t look like Chinatown.

 

“The two 600-, 700-block buildings have a rain shield that’s an awning, a glass awning that runs the whole block,” said Yu. “That’s the design guideline for the city as a whole, but it was nothing to do with Chinatown, (which is) narrow frontages, changing awnings.

 

“We said that (to the city planners), we raised it and raised it, but the planners just shoved it down our throat.”

 

Kevin McNaney is Vancouver’s assistant director of planning. He said the city changed the zoning in parts of Chinatown to help revitalize the neighbourhood, which has been struggling.

 

“We have been taking a look across Chinatown,” said McNaney. “What we’re finding is that rents are dropping, and vacancies are rising. And that’s a big part of the strategy of adding more people to revitalize Chinatown.

 

“There are only 900 people currently living in Chinatown, many of them seniors. It’s just not the population base needed to support businesses, so a lot of the businesses are going under. Along Pender Street you see a lot of vacancies right now.

 

“So at the heart of this plan is to bring more people to revitalize Chinatown, and also use that development to support heritage projects, affordable housing projects and cultural projects.”

 

Henry Yu disagrees. “The idea that you need density in Chinatown itself, that you need your own captive customer base, is moronic,” he said.

 

“Where else in the city would you make that argument, that nobody can walk more than two blocks, that no one is going to come in here from somewhere else?

 

“They will. People go to the International Summer Market in Richmond in an empty gravel field. Ten thousand people at night come from everywhere in the Lower Mainland, because there’s something worth going to.

 

“The problem isn’t that you need a captive audience that has no other choice but to shop in Chinatown — that’s just stupid, there’s plenty of people in Strathcona. The problem is, is there something worth coming to (in Chinatown)? And that has to do with the character, what the mix is, what kind of commercial.”

 

Ironically, all the new construction comes just as Chinatown seems to be undergoing a bit of a renaissance. Several new businesses have popped up in old buildings, attracted by the area’s character and cheap rents.

 

The très-hip El Kartel fashion boutique recently moved into a 6,000 sq. ft space at 104 East Pender that used to house Cathay Importers. It’s on the main floor of the four-storey Chinese Benevolent Association Building, which was built in 1909.

 

Across the street at 147 East Pender is Livestock, a runner and apparel store that is so cool it doesn’t even have a sign. “We were in Gastown at the corner of Cordova and Abbott, (and) just felt a change was needed,” said store manager Chadley Abalos.

 

“We found the opportunity in Chinatown, so we decided to move here. We feel it’s one of the new spots that are booming. You see a lot of new businesses — restaurants, clothing stores, furniture. We see the potential in it growing.”

 

Russell Baker owns Bombast, a chic furniture store at 27 East Pender. But he is not new to the neighbourhood — Bombast has been there for 10 years.

 

“I think (Chinatown is) one of the most interesting parts of the city,” he said.

 

“It’s still got some variety, some texture, architecturally, socially, economically. A lot of what’s happened to the downtown peninsula (in recent years) constitutes erasure. This is one of the places that still sort of feels like … it feels more urban than some parts of downtown. I would say downtown is a vertical suburb.

 

“If you like cities, Chinatown feels like one. That’s why we’re here.”

 

Baker said he expected Chinatown to happen a lot sooner than it did. Retailers that do well there still tend to be destinations, rather than stores that rely on heavy street traffic. “The buzz is that Chinatown is happening, but it’s really strategic, what’s happening,” he said. “Fortune Sound Club, that’s a niche market that’s destination. That’s the kind of thing that works down here. We’re destination, Bao Bei (restaurant) is destination.”

 

The new businesses make for an interesting mix with the old ones. The 200 block East Georgia Street is hopping with hipster bars (the Pacific Hotel, Mamie Taylor’s) and art galleries (Access Gallery, 221A, Centre A). But it also retains classic Chinatown shops like the Fresh Egg Mart and Hang Loong Herbal Products.

 

The question is whether the small businesses will be displaced as the area gentrifies. Real estate values have soared — Soltera paid $6.5 million for the northwest corner of Keefer and Main in 2011, Beedie Holdings paid $16.2 million for two parcels of land at Columbia and Keefer in 2013.

 

That seems like a lot for a site that’s two blocks from the troubled Downtown Eastside, but Houtan Rafii of the Beedie Group said that’s what land costs in Vancouver.

 

“It is a significant, substantial amount of money, but compared to most every area in Vancouver, it’s not dissimilar, whether you’re in Gastown, downtown, Concord-Pacific, even on the boundaries of Strathcona or on Hastings close to Clark or Commercial,” said Rafii. “It’s not an obscene amount of money, it’s market.”

 

Rafii said the Beedie Group met with local groups for a year about its development, and was surprised at the reaction it got at the public meeting, which was held because Beedie is looking to rezone the site to add an additional three storeys.

 

Yu doesn’t have a problem with the Beedie proposal per se, but feels it’s on a key site in Chinatown, and should be developed accordingly.

 

“It’s not the building’s fault,” said Yu.

 

“People are going ‘What’s wrong with this glass tower, it’s working everywhere else, and Chinese people love buying this stuff if it’s UBC.’

 

“That’s not the point. There’s plenty of room around the city to build glass towers (that are) 40 storeys, 50 storeys, whatever. Why do they need to be in this spot?

 

“This one is right in the heart (of Chinatown). Across the street is the Sun Yat-sen (garden), the Chinese Cultural Centre. On the same street is the (Chinese workers) monument. Next door is the back alley of Pender.”

 

Yu said a recent study found there will be a need for 3,300 income-assisted senior housing beds in the Lower Mainland over the next 15 years. He said the Columbia and Keefer site would be perfect for a seniors project.

 

“There’s a particular kind of resonance to the idea this is a traditional place where a lot of Chinese seniors can retire to,” he said.

 

“There is a five-year waiting list for the Simon K.Y. Lee Success long-term care home, so there’s huge demand, huge need, this is a place where they want to go. (Building a seniors home) would actually would help revitalize (Chinatown), because seniors bring sons, daughters, grandsons and granddaughters into a community.

 

“That’s the Chinatown vision plan, that’s what’s in there, that’s what those discussions were about. And yet what we’ve got is 137 luxury condo units for hip youngsters. That’s the Beedie proposal, and that’s what the last two towers (on Main) were. It’s not just insulting, it’s the thwarting of the very promise (of the vision plan).”

 

Wu would like to see a moratorium on new developments in Chinatown “until design guidelines are actually built to create a zone that respects the (area’s special) character.”

 

Retired city planner Nathan Edelson agrees. Which is significant, because he worked on the Chinatown vision plan for over a decade.

 

“My suggestion is that there should be a moratorium on the rezonings, for sure, until they can get an assessment of what the current new development is,” said Edelson. “To what degree are they contributing to, or harming Chinatown, the historic character of Chinatown? And it’s not an obvious answer.”

 

Read more:

www.vancouversun.com/business/Battle+Chinatown/10384991/s...

The festival celebrates the finest in both gardening and food. Visitors can expect stunning show gardens and nursery displays alongside a bounty of food producers, shopping and top tips from garden experts and celebrity chefs.

 

Set against the picturesque Malvern Hills, show gardens are always a number one destination, with five designers being awarded with RHS Gold Medals in 2016.

 

The Floral Marquee is bursting with examples of the finest nurseries in the UK and abroad, with many old favourites and new varieties on sale.

 

The foodie hotspot, Festival Food and Drink Pavilion, is a lively market of food producers offering a variety of artisan produce. At the heart is a Kitchen Theatre where celebrity guests and local producers showcase their skills and produce.

 

Other festival favourites include the School Gardens, Get Going Get Growing pavilion and Family Day (Sunday).

 

RHS Malvern Spring Festival is a joint partnership with the Royal Horticultural Society and Three Counties Agricultural Society.

 

An entirely new vision brings RHS Malvern Spring Festival into full bloom for 2017, taking inspiration from the event’s Spa town heritage. The landmark four-day spectacle, taking place from Thursday 11 – Sunday 14 May at the Three Counties Showground, welcomes all new features and exhibits and a vibrant line up of the finest in gardening, food and lifestyle.

 

Jane Furze, Head of RHS Malvern Spring Festival, said: “We are so excited to share the glorious plans that are afoot for RHS Malvern Spring Festival 2017. It really is going to be a sensational year for our leading event with plenty for everyone. Whether you’re a newcomer to gardening, a veteran horticulturalist or simply looking for a family day out, RHS Malvern Spring Festival has it all. We look forward to welcoming visitors to our stunning showcase of spring in May.”

 

The new vision for RHS Malvern Spring Festival takes inspiration from Malvern Spa’s Victorian heyday as a fashionable health resort – a place where day-trippers descended to take advantage of the clean air and to enjoy the health giving waters amongst the romantic beauty of the hills and into a town of pleasure gardens, assembly rooms and numerous eating-places.

 

Promising a bountiful day out for everyone, visitors can expect:

 

NEW FOR 2017

 

FLORAL MARQUEE

RHS Malvern Spring Festival boasts the UK’s longest Floral Marquee at over 195 metres – the equivalent length of four Olympic swimming pools. The Floral Marquee welcomes more than 65 leading UK and international nurseries, setting the horticultural standards with impressive displays of prized blooms and new varieties. Exhibitors in the Floral Marquee represent the very best in plants and advice available. Here visitors can browse and buy from the very best.

 

JOE SWIFT’S PLANT HUNTER PARLOUR

BBC Gardeners’ World presenter and acclaimed garden expert, Joe Swift brings to life a new centerpiece of the Floral Marquee – Joe’s Plant Hunter Parlour. This immersive experience like no other features daily talks from award winning nurseries and welcomes budding gardeners big and small to discover, learn and indulge their inner plant hunter.

 

LIVE WELL

Newly introduced for the very first time, this dedicated zone interprets and explores the theme of health and wellbeing in the 21st century.

 

JEKKA MCVICAR’S HEALTH & WELLBEING GARDEN

The centrepiece of the Live Well zone, British Queen of Herbs, Jekka McVicar designs and builds a specially commissioned permanent garden, bringing to life the role gardens continue to play in our health and sense of wellbeing. Jekka’s garden is a living working space for mind, body and senses.

 

The garden is both a tranquil seating space where visitors can spend time amongst the aromatic herb beds, and a place to learn and explore what living well meant in yesteryear and what it means today. Visitors are invited to join daily ‘herbal conversations’ with Jekka herself and explore the awe-inspiring world of alternative therapies. The garden is in support of Pathways, a day service for adults with learning disabilities and difficulties.

 

GROW

A horticultural experience by Jon Wheatley, RHS Gold Medal winning gardener and Chairman of RHS South West in Bloom, Grow takes inspiration from interactive Country gardens and wildflower borders, showcasing a variety of edible beds and bountiful Grow To Show competitions.

 

SPA GARDENS

A brand new category introduced for the very first time to RHS Malvern Spring Festival, offering a unique platform for emerging gardening talent. Glorious gardens from up and coming designers bring to life the new vision and reflect the thirst for knowledge, new horizons and innovative technology at the heart of Malvern’s Victorian heritage. Gold Medal winning Chelsea garden designer, Jo Thompson is mentoring the new talent as they embark on this exciting new challenge. The Spa Gardens category also features one garden from an international designer supported by the esteemed Moscow Flower Show. This is part of a newly introduced exchange programme, which in return offers one selected British Spa Garden designer the once in a lifetime chance to showcase at Moscow Flower Show in July.

 

INDOOR SHOPPING ARCADES

A premium quality shopping experience, it is here that visitors can pick up unique pieces in fashion, furniture, homewares, horticulture, gifts and more from independent designers, craftsmen, artisans and artists.

 

PLANT ARCADES

An exciting open-air shopping experience with over 35 nurseries, each showcasing a wonderful array of plants. Plant steals aplenty can be found here, especially during the famous sell-off on Sunday.

 

MAKING A WELCOME RETURN

 

FESTIVAL GREEN

The heart of RHS Malvern Spring Festival featuring a colourful array of pleasure gardens, a bandstand of live music, an impressive collection of classic cars, an array of global flavours from the International Street Food Market, and plenty of places to picnic. It is here visitors rediscover the Victorian love of amusement, surprise and delight, alongside enjoying unique show gardens unlike any other.

 

FESTIVAL THEATRE

Hosted by RHS Malvern Spring Festival favourite and award winning writer and broadcaster, James Alexander-Sinclair, the Festival Theatre plays host to a lively line up of leading experts and familiar faces. Visitors may take a seat and enjoy demonstrations, talks and exciting features as personalities share their knowledge and passion for all things gardening and food. Confirmed experts include Carol Klein, Joe Swift, Jekka McVicar and Jon Wheatley with plenty more to be announced soon.

 

SHOW GARDENS

The highest standard of garden design is showcased in the Show Gardens of RHS Malvern Spring Festival 2017. Leading designers create awe-inspiring gardens as they compete for prestigious RHS accolades including Gold medals and the coveted Best In Show. RHS Malvern Spring Festival is famed as the show that raises the bar for design and horticultural talent with numerous RHS Gold medals awarded in 2016. This year is tipped to be no exception.

 

FOOD & DRINK PAVILION

A foodie hotspot, the Food & Drink Pavilion is a magnificent celebration of British tastes with bountiful offerings from the country’s best-loved artisan producers. Expect the freshest field produce, big cheeses, bread of heaven, specialty gins, decadent bakes and more.

 

KITCHEN GARDEN THEATRE

This animated live kitchen, hosted by Mark Diacono, showcases a line up of delicious cookery demonstrations from culinary experts and the country’s top chefs. Mark shares advice from his home farm cookery school, Otter Farm and experience as head gardener at River Cottage.

 

YOUNG GARDENER

A hive of activity tailored to inspire the next generation of gardeners and horticulturalists with fun hands-on activities to help children learn and explore the wonderful world of plants and gardens.

 

FAMILY DAY

Budding gardeners great and small are invited to get green fingered with a dedicated Family Day on the Sunday of RHS Malvern Spring Festival. This exciting and educational day with plenty of hands on activities is the ideal opportunity to engage children in the fun of gardening and the great outdoors. Expect Kids Cookery demonstrations, make and take crafts, Kids Plant and Grow workshops with BBC Blue Peter Gardener, Chris Collins and more.

 

SCHOOL GARDENS

RHS Malvern Spring Festival is one of the only RHS Shows in the UK to have a collection of Show Gardens designed and built entirely by young people. This year sees over 12 schools and educational groups from across the three counties taking part, led by BBC Blue Peter Gardener, Chris Collins.

 

RHS Malvern Spring Festival 2017 will take place from Thursday 11 May until Sunday 14 May. For more information, please call 01684 584900 or visit

 

British Queen of Herbs, Jekka McVicar will unveil the first ever specially commissioned permanent garden at RHS Malvern Spring Festival 2017. A magnificent centrepiece of the celebrated event’s all-new Live Well zone, Jekka’s garden will bring to life the contribution horticulture continues to make to our health and wellbeing in today’s bustling modern world. The Health & Wellbeing Garden will be launched when the show opens its gates on Thursday 11 May at the Three Counties Showground.#

 

RHS Ambassador for Health through Horticulture, Jekka McVicar said: “I am delighted to have been asked to create a lasting garden for RHS Malvern Spring Festival. I want the Health & Wellbeing Garden to be a usable and beautiful space that is embraced by people of all ages – a space for growth, education and reflection. With the Malvern Hills as a dramatic backdrop, RHS Malvern Spring Festival is such a beautiful place and because it’s at the start of the summer, it’s always a time of such optimism. It is a real privilege to bring this garden to life as part of such a dynamic and exciting show.”

 

Jekka’s Health & Wellbeing garden, as the focus for the new Live Well Zone, is inspired by the increasing need for reflection and escape from the stresses of modern life. It also seeks to preserve and share the vital knowledge of how horticulture and its associated therapies can help the mind, body and soul. The garden will be a living, working space with a tranquil seating area, where visitors can immerse themselves amongst the aromatic herb beds, and also educate themselves on the place that herbs and horticulture play in today’s society.

 

Head of RHS Malvern Spring Festival, Jane Furze said: “It is a real pleasure to be working with Jekka to build a garden not only for this year’s event, but also for the future. Jekka’s designs look spectacular and we cannot wait to see these brought to life and shared with our many visitors. The Health & Wellbeing Garden will no doubt be a real highlight of RHS Malvern Spring Festival 2017 and for many years to come.”

 

Throughout the 4-days of RHS Malvern Spring Festival, Jekka will host daily ‘herb conversations’ in the garden, unearthing hidden gems from the world of alternative therapies, food and gardening. Jekka will also provide insights into herbs as the foundation of modern medicine, seeking to preserve the knowledge that over time is danger of being lost.

 

The Health & Wellbeing Garden is in support of Pathways, a work-focused day service for adults with learning disabilities and difficulties. Pathways use gardening and the environment as an educational tool to introduce young adults to the working world. Clients of Pathways benefit from gaining vital skills for entering the working world, these include trust, communication, interaction with peers, taking direction and responsibility for themselves and others.

 

Leaving a legacy, Jekka’s garden will provide Pathways with a nurturing space to continue their works in encouraging clients to grow. Throughout the show times, Pathways will sell plants and refreshments from the garden. Funds raised from these sales go towards covering the costs of the residential trip taken twice each year for clients of Pathways, a vital retreat for clients that contributes to their sense of wellbeing. Outside of show days, Pathways and local schools will host sessions in the garden. The garden aims to inspire visitors of all ages and abilities with engaging elements tailored for all.

 

Jekka’s design will incorporate the unique and flexible WoodBlocX system, specially selected to provide permanent raised bed structures to house the garden’s vast selection of herbs and edibles. The centrepiece of the garden contains four large planted sections featuring smooth curves constructed from the unique WoodBlocX system. WoodBlocX use sustainable, long-lasting, organic and FSC accredited wooden bricks, which can be used to create any shape such as the naturally fluid curves seen in Jekka’s elegant design.

 

Considered an unmatched expert by the UK’s top chefs and horticulturalists, Jekka McVicar is an enterprising British herb grower, organic gardening expert, author and broadcaster. Jekka’s Herb Farm, in nearby South Gloucestershire, boasts the largest collection of culinary herbs in the UK with more than 500 different varieties.

 

Alongside her RHS Ambassadorship for Health through Horticulture, Jekka’s accolades include 62 RHS Gold Medals, Garden Media Guild Lifetime Achievement Award and the RHS Lawrence Medal for the best exhibit shown at any RHS show in 2009. Jekka is also a Vice President of the RHS, Vice President of the Herb Society, is a founder member of the RHS Herb advisory group, and a member of the RHS Three Counties Agricultural Society Joint Committee. Jekka has herself exhibited at RHS Malvern Spring Festival since 1993 and has been a vital contributor to the team at Three Counties for over a decade.

 

RHS Malvern Spring Festival 2017 will take place from Thursday 11 May until Sunday 14 May. Tickets are now on sale. For more information and to book tickets, please call

Day 5 of 2017 Mid-Season Invitational Group Stage at Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on 14 May 2017.

Expecting

When we got off the tube at London Bridge I expected to see the bridge, and Tower Bridge. Finally we made it to the Modern London Bridge!

 

Seems like as soon as you get to it from Southwark, you are in the City of London.

 

I only went halfway up the bridge, before returning to Southwark and London Bridge Underground Station to go back to our hotel.

 

Now to the side of the river with Tower Bridge.

 

The view of Tower Bridge from London Bridge with HMS Belfast and London Bridge City Pier in front of it.

 

Tower Bridge is Grade I listed.

 

Tower Bridge (that Part That Lies Within the Borough of Southwark)

 

SOUTHWARK

 

TQ3380 TOWER BRIDGE ROAD

636-1/2/793 Tower Bridge (that part that lies

06/12/49 within the Borough of Southwark)

 

I

 

Bridge. 1886-94. By Sir John Wolfe Barry, engineer and Sir

Horace Jones, architect. For the City Corporation.

Low level bascule bridge with wider side spans hung from

curved lattice girders; central narrower opening section.

Steel structure with twin Gothic towers rising from 21.3m

(70ft) broad piers which support the bascules and house their

counter balances.

Towers clad in rock-faced stone with ashlar dressings; high

pitched slate roofs behind stone battlemented parapet. High

level footbridges between the towers, incorporating ties

between the 2 suspended spans and linking whole bridge

together as continuous structure. Tower of 4 stages with

corner turrets surmounted by pinnacles. Some architectural

detailing added after Jones's death.

Above archway, elaborate Gothic-style windows on each level

surmounted by dormer feature in roof; moulded string courses

between floors. Lower approach tower (with twin on north

side), in similar Gothic style and with a large elliptical

archway spanning the road.

Although the bascules were electrified in 1976, some of the

hydraulic machinery by Armstrong Mitchell & Co., and the steam

pumping engines, are preserved under the south approach

viaduct.

Built onto east side of southern approach are accumulator

tower and chimney stack (qv).

See also London Borough of Tower Hamlets.

  

Tower Bridge (that Part in London Borough of Tower Hamlets), Stepney

 

1. TOWER BRIDGE EC3 & E1

4431 Tower Bridge

(That part in London Borough

of Tower Hamlets)

TQ 3380 21/722

I GV

2.

Opened 1894. Designed by Sir John Wolfe Barry with architectural features by

Sir Horace Jones.

Bascule bridge with suspended bridge approach and high level footbridges between

twin stone towers. French chateau influence. Massive cast iron balustrades.

Hydraulic machinery still used to open bridge. The rest of the bridge is in Southwark

LB.

 

Tower Bridge and its approach form a group with the London Hydraulic Power Co

Subways Entrance, 8 Bollards outside the main entrance to The Tower of London,

the Tower itself, the Queens Stairs, Tower Hill.

   

Listing NGR: TQ3369780338

  

Canary Wharf in the background.

Photo Caption: Mark Lankester (right) and Jonathan Yabut, the first ever winner of The Apprentice Asia.

  

NEWS RELEASE

 

TUNE HOTELS’ RAPID EXPANSION IN PHILIPPINES BUOYED BY FASTER-THAN-EXPECTED ECONOMIC GROWTH

 

Third Tune Hotel opens in Manila; overall six in country

 

MANILA, October 17, 2013 – The Philippines and its people have all the great things coming their way with an economic wave that has driven direct investments into the country including by international hotel brand Tune Hotels, said its Group CEO Mark Lankester.

 

“This is a great market for us to do business. In less than two years we already have six hotels in operation in the Philippines, including the newly opened Tune Hotel Quezon City in Manila. Not to mention four more to come in Ortigas, Davao, Aseana City and Ayala Avenue in Metro Manila within the next nine months,” said Lankester.

 

The 140-room Tune Hotel Quezon City, located at Timog Avenue, is the group’s third hotel in Metro Manila. It opened its doors for business on October 8.

 

The first Tune Hotel in the Philippines opened at Angeles City in Pampanga in February 2012, followed by Ermita and Makati in Metro Manila, Cebu City and Cagayan De Oro.

 

International economic and financial agencies including the World Bank and Asian Development Bank have revised the Philippines’ 2013 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth upward to 7 per cent from around 6 per cent previously. This makes the Philippines the second fastest growing economy in Asia after China, and ahead of all its Southeast Asian neighbors. The strong growth is forecast to be sustained into coming years.

 

“This is a really great year for the Philippines and its people. The economy is booming, there is a great mood amongst the people and there are plenty of new jobs being created. Tourism within and into the Philippines is expanding massively, with really successful government marketing campaigns and the recent lifting of the European flights will only help contribute further to the tourism economy. In addition Filipinos have also made their mark on the Regional and International arena,” he said in reference to Filipino personalities like Jonathan Yabut who emerged the first ever winner of ‘The Apprentice Asia’ and Miss World 2013 Megan Young.

 

“There is a noticeable mood in the air that it really is the time for the Philippines to shine.”

 

Lankester had played Advisor to Tony Fernandes on the first ever ‘The Apprentice Asia’, the regional adaptation of the US reality series ‘The Apprentice’ this year.

 

He added: “It is very interesting to note that the Philippines has surpassed India as Asia’s top call-centre service provider, proving that it has quality human capital that are capable of driving the country to the next level.”

 

The Philippines has set a target of 10 million international tourist arrivals by 2016, more than double the 4.3 million tourists it received in 2012. Arrivals for 2013 have been projected at 5.5 million, contributing some PHP 1.5 trillion or 6.7 per cent to the GDP.

 

“We are very pleased with the commitment shown by the Department of Tourism and the Government in not only setting targets but to undertake firm initiatives to facilitate further growth of the tourism and travel industry in the Philippines. The country has a lot to offer and is destined to be a favorite destination in the region.

 

“For Tune Hotels, we look forward to positively contributing towards this effort by providing international standard accommodation at highly affordable rates, giving international tourists and locals alike the holiday experience they deserve. It’s definitely ‘more fun in the Philippines’ with Tune Hotels,” said the CEO.

 

Tune Hotels provides international-class high-quality accommodation which focuses on key essentials but minus the generally underused facilities found in other hotels such as swimming pools, business centres and gymnasiums. By doing away with these costly and high-maintenance facilities, Tune Hotels is able to pass on savings to its guests in the form of super low room rates. Its pay-as-you-use concept lets travelers choose and pay only for amenities that they require to keep costs down, reduce waste and save energy.

 

The group has received over five million guests since the opening of its first hotel in Downtown Kuala Lumpur in 2007. With the opening of Quezon City, Tune Hotels now has six hotels in the Philippines, eleven in Malaysia, five each in the UK and Indonesia, four in Thailand, and one each in India, Japan and Australia. Apart from further expansion in these countries, future Tune Hotels are also being planned in the Middle East, Europe and Africa.

 

Tune Hotels is part of Tune Group, a lifestyle business conglomerate co-founded by Tony Fernandes and Kamarudin Meranun, who are the Group CEO and Deputy Group CEO respectively of Asia’s largest low cost carrier AirAsia.

 

For real-time updates and promotion alerts, guests can stay connected with Tune Hotels via Facebook at www.facebook.com/tunehotelsPH and on Twitter via www.twitter.com/tunehotels.

 

For booking and further information, visit www.tunehotels.com.

 

-ENDS-

  

About Tune Hotels

Tune Hotels is part of the lifestyle business conglomerate Tune Group that was founded by Tan Sri Tony Fernandes and Dato’ Kamarudin Meranun. Tune Hotels seeks to innovate and revolutionise the way services are made available and has employed efficient web-based technologies to reach and engage its customers, presenting a unique lifestyle opportunity. All Tune Hotels’ properties feature space-efficient, streamlined rooms focusing on high-quality basics: a five-star bed, powerful hot showers and energy-conserving ceiling fans along with housekeeping services, electronic keycard access into rooms, CCTV surveillance, and 24-hour security. The Tune Group companies include Tune Air (a substantial shareholder of AirAsia), Tune Hotels, Tune Insurance, Tune Talk, the AirAsia BIG Loyalty Programme, Tune Box, Tune Studios, Caterham Group, Queens Park Rangers Football Club (QPR) and the Epsom College in Malaysia.

  

Photos can be downloaded from www.flickr.com/tunehotels.

  

Media enquiries:

Cymantha Sothiar

Mobile: +6012 315 3638

Email: cymantha@tunehotels.com

[c=#949494]gabriela *; vocevemcomigoaondequerqueeuvoe.[/c] diz:

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[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

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[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

meeu voce é muito linda *-* e aquela calça xadrez, o que é aquilo? :OOO

tô babando até agora/

Gabi . diz:

aiai, queria ter tempo pra desenhaar, só fds e agora FÉRIAS! UHULL

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Brigada!

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[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

uhuul mesmo o/\o mais voce nao tem muito tempo, é isso?

Gabi . diz:

photo ?

 

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] deseja uma Conversa com Vídeo.

Responder (Alt+C) Recusar (Alt+Z)

 

Você perdeu uma Conversa com Vídeo de [c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c].

 

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

ah eu uso photofiltre e photoshop cs2

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photofiltre vc baixou?

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ou já veio no seu comptador?

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[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

aham. adobe tambem.

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eu não uso NADA.

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q pobreza.

Gabi . diz:

vc tem orkut?

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

ahauaoehieoei meninaaaaaaaaa MANDA SUAS fotos pra mim! a coisa que eu mais amo no mundo: editar fotos <3

Gabi . diz:

sim, siim ...

Gabi . diz:

HAHA

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

tenho sim:

www.orkut.com/Profile.aspx?uid=3729965192779047357

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

ahauHAIAOEHI ;x

Gabi . diz:

ahh, eu nem tenho ;/

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não gosto muito não

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

aah serio? :\

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sério!

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qdo acabam suas aulas?

Gabi . diz:

gentzi, que SAIA é aquela? q vc fez pra sua irma

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de tule rosa

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

daqui cinco semanas.

Gabi . diz:

caaara, eu quero

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

ahauaoahUAOAHAIAOAI faciinho :9

  

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

nem eu :T deve ter em brechó, mais eu odeio³ brechó. eu amo comprar =D

Gabi . diz:

AMO³³³³³³³³³³³³³³³³³³³³ comprar.

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

coom certeza photoshop ;]

Gabi . diz:

eu já vi todas as fts dela até 2004.;

Gabi . diz:

até 2005!

Gabi . diz:

só falta 2006

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

assim, eu amo costurar, eu faço saias vestidos e tal pra mim.. o duro é comprar cara, esse é o problema da minha vida! nao dá pra ficar comprando pano pra fazer as coisas que eu uso..

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

meu SONHO é ter estilo vintage&retro, assim ó:

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www.fotolog.com/vintageandretro

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

vê se nao é de babar..

Gabi . diz:

é :/

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eu quero: um suspensorio, bottons, um colete azul marinho, peças de uma loja aí equivalentes a 188 reais, um coturno

Gabi . diz:

e por aí vaaaai

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

*----* a gente é irma meesmo.. a gente pensa igual cara *-* tá bom, vamos confirmar mais algumas coisas. que dia e mes voce nasceu, e que musica se ouuve, seus idolos? ;]

Gabi . diz:

no meu flickr tem as musikas q eu ouço. vc tá logada?

Gabi . diz:

25/07/94 - taubaté

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

ah entao a gente nao é do mesmo signo..

Gabi . diz:

leão e vc?

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

sagitario :x

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[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

9

Gabi . diz:

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mes?

Gabi . diz:

dezxembro?

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

dezembro aham :]

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

eu nuunca

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

mais minha mae deixou eu fazer umas mexinhas rosa

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

nao fiz até agora :T

Gabi . diz:

eu já pintei a ponta de vermelho.

Gabi . diz:

ficou bom, mas eu tinha cabelo comprido e coreti

Gabi . diz:

quero pintar de novooo!

Gabi . diz:

há qto tempo vc toca violão?

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

ahaoaheioia seu cabelo é taao fofo *-*

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

mais ou menos um ano.

Gabi . diz:

huun .. pretende montar uma banda?

[...]

CARACA, EU PENSO IDENTICAMENTE IGUAL A VOCE

Gabi . diz:

fiquei assustada agora!

Gabi . diz:

meo deos

Gabi . diz:

mostro!

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

OH MY GOD, a gente FOI separada!

Gabi . diz:

mas tipo, eu queria saber mais sobre a lingua portuguesa .. pra escrever melhor!

Gabi . diz:

ano passado eu cantei beatles e elvis na frente da escola inteira.

Gabi . diz:

tá, eu não canto muito bem.

 

[...]

mais espera só eu crescer... eu quero fazer uma tatoo que nem da minha amiga, MUITO linda *-*

Gabi . diz:

vou fazer uma tattoo!

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

me mostra alguma musica sua!

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

aah eu quero muuitas tattos, eu aaaaaaaaamo³ tattos. mais nao gosto muito de piercing.

Gabi . diz:

eu ñ quero piercing, só tatttoo!

Gabi . diz:

*morri* q

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

eeu tbm *------* meu se um dia a gente se encontrar eu nao vou conseguir parar de falar

Gabi . diz:

TATTOO perfeeeeeeeita!

Gabi . diz:

eu tbm não .

Gabi . diz:

aiushiauhsiauhsiuasha

Gabi . diz:

um dia a gente vai fazer compras juntas!

Gabi . diz:

HAHA

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

faz ANOOOOS que eu guardo essa foto, e vou guardar até eu tiver 18!

Gabi . diz:

sério.

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

ooooooooba ;9

Gabi . diz:

sou apaixinada por: meias, chapéus e carros conversiveis

Gabi . diz:

o pior de tudo é q minhas amigas são totalmente diferentes de mim. elas não gostam dessas roupas, e não escutam as mesmas musicas q eu. não sonham *

Gabi . diz:

sou sozinha :/

Gabi . diz:

BUAA

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

eu tenho uma idolatraçao imensa pela marilyn monroe *-*

e sou viciada em livros, meias coloridas, fotografia, buttons, tecidos, guarda chuvas, fones de ouvido e cachecóis!

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

EU TAMBEM ;O

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

ultimamente eu ando tao sem amigas pra me entender :\ a gente daria boas melhores amigas o/\o

Gabi . diz:

eu faço coleção de buttons, mas é dificil de acher :/

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

aah :\

Gabi . diz:

daria mesmo! afee :/

Gabi . diz:

eu me sinto igual a você.

Gabi . diz:

onde q vc mora mesmo?

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

santa barbara d'oeste

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

ai ai :\

Gabi . diz:

minha mãe sempre fala que queria morar em são paulo, eu nunca quis. agora q eu quero não dá mais :/

Gabi . diz:

minha mae tem duas tattoos

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

aaah que pena, sampa deve ser bem legal. tanto pra vida...

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

é disso que eu quero viver ;D

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

sério?

Gabi . diz:

eu também.

Gabi . diz:

sério.

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

meus pais tem um ódio mortal por rock piercings e tattos.

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

e namorados.

Gabi . diz:

meus pais são novos.

Gabi . diz:

minha mae engravidou com 15.

Gabi . diz:

gostam de rock e me deixam namorar [eu acho]

Gabi . diz:

HAHA

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

sério?

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

UI que pais legais

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

ahaiaoeheioai

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

meu pai fala que vai grampear minha boca e só vai deixar eu namorar com 18

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

:BBB

Gabi . diz:

eu sempre escolho a roupa da minha mãe. é divertido

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

mais se ja namorou ou ficou, sério?

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

ahauaoahaaioaiahaia *-*

Gabi . diz:

não

Gabi . diz:

HAHA

Gabi . diz:

e vc?

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

tambem nao :D

Gabi . diz:

minhas amigas gostam de funk [eu tbm, mas SÓ pra dançar sabe?] e se vestem como pessoas normais.

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

eu tambem, pra dançar sooomente.

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

mais cara elas sao muito diferentes. nao sei em que mundo elas vivem. vao de jeans pra escola, nao tem estilo, nao se arrumar, nao usam maquiagem (é obrigatorio, lapis e blush todo dia!) :D

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

meniiiiiina tive uma idéia ;O voce tem 13, ta na sétima né? pensou se a gente cai na mesma faculdade, na mesma classe? =DDDDD

Gabi . diz:

genteeeeeee! q liiindo.

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

ahaiaoaahiao tomara que a gente nao perca o contato até lá!

Gabi . diz:

eu vou de jeans pra escola, mas não todo dia. tipo, as vezes eu vou de shorts com polaina, uma calças meio malucas, coloridas. . HAHA

Gabi . diz:

to nem aí

Gabi . diz:

e vc?

Gabi . diz:

éé

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

ahauaoaheueoia eu aperto todos meus jeans pra ficar beeeeeeem skinny

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

e vou de blusa mais as vezes eu faço umas sobreposiçoes (amo!)

Gabi . diz:

[amo!] també,*

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

tipo uma regata da escola com uma outra por baixo..

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

e tooodo dia, all star.

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

ai uns acessórios e pá *-*

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

ai eu queria polaina :~~ é caro?

Gabi . diz:

15 reais em média. eu só tenho uma :/

Gabi . diz:

tenho 4 all stars, quero mais 3!

Gabi . diz:

HAHA

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

aah :\

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

ahauaoaheie

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

tenho só dois

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

vermelho e branco. mais eu queria um mooonte!

Gabi . diz:

meu preto tá acabdo sabe? daí eu quer mais um preto, um ROXO, e um vermelho ou branco de couro.

Gabi . diz:

isuhasihuaushaiu

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

*-*

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

oolha esse cara, eu QUERO *--------*

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

com desenhos atras *-*

Gabi . diz:

gentzii

Gabi . diz:

meu all star branco tem cadarço vermelho e é tooooodo quadriculado de azul .

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

*-*

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

ajsaosjaosjoa :x

Gabi . diz:

seeeeeei

Gabi . diz:

eu tbm penso assim .

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

eu ja me imagino vestindo estrelas..

Gabi . diz:

a gente vai montar uma banda qdo estiver na faculdadde

Gabi . diz:

eu tambéém.

Gabi . diz:

oww, vamo fazer intercambio?

Gabi . diz:

HAHA

Gabi . diz:

NY é o PARAISO DAS ROUPAS.

Gabi . diz:

spo ropa legal

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

É MESMO *-*

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

eu vou fazer quando eu tiver 16

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

sempre quis ir pro canadá mais voce me deu uma idéia de mudar de destino ;999

Gabi . diz:

vamos pra NY!

Gabi . diz:

iasuhaishiashasuh

Gabi . diz:

:B

Gabi . diz:

tem menino gato tb!

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

isso é o maaaaaaais³ importante

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

mais tipo..

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

te paqueram muuito na escola e tal?

Gabi . diz:

aham .. e vc?

Gabi . diz:

paoskaoskaposkpaosk

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

oô ahaiahaiaoahaiaoai da vergonha demais ;x

Gabi . diz:

vergonha?

Gabi . diz:

ahh, sei lá, eu nem tenho não

Gabi . diz:

só q o pessoal da minha cidade [roça] me olha estranho por causa das minhas roupas e tal.

Gabi . diz:

sabe o q eu amo? meia-calça com shorts por cima, q nem as VJ's da MTV usam.

Gabi . diz:

a roupa delas sempre é legal

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

demais demais demais eu tbm.

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

é, aqui é interior e estranham tbm, mais eu so timida demais..

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

nossa acabei de abrir o site da capricho

Gabi . diz:

qq tem?

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

olha só: moda e musica andam juntas, os melhores clipes que misturam fashion e musica!

*----*

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

capricho.abril.com.br/atelie/conteudo_258635.shtml

 

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

aham.

Gabi . diz:

belê.

Gabi . diz:

vou passar minhas férias INTEIRAAAAAS: desenhando [IUPI] assitindo filme e arrumando meu flickr [em dois dias eu faço!]

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

*-------*

[c=#949494]gabriela *; querotedaramãomaisvocênemmeolha:~ [/c] diz:

eu tbm

Gabi . diz:

aeww!

Gabi . diz:

jáá seeeeeeeeeeeeeeeei manoo.

Gabi . diz:

tipo em julho e em janeirto eu vou pra um acampamento.. se der, vc pode ir!

 

I arrived at St Mary, a journey from Wortham, following a slow moving delivery driver, looking for some obscure house looking onto the common.

 

Across fields,, mostly flat but with barely without a straight bit of road.

 

THe church is on a slight rise above the road, and to my dismay there were two cars parked in the churchyard, thus spoiling my exterior shots.

 

Inside I saw two chaps of a certain age dismantling a stage under the chancel arch.

 

I take a couple of shots, then one of them somes to speak to me. I was expecting to be told to keep away, or better still, leave as it was clearly unsafe for me to be there. But no, I was warmly greeted and given my own personal tour by the two wardens with whom we shared two mutual friends, John and Simon, or at least they knew them too.

 

There had been a celo concert the night before, but I was welcome to clamber of the stage to get shots of the fixtures and fittings, including a fine table tomb, though am wondering how Simon got a shot from above, maybe he grew wings and flew?

 

Lots of good memorials, interesting glass and lots of hatchments.

 

Under the care of the CCT, St mary is open every day, and you should visit it.

 

-----------------------------------------

 

It was May 2001, and I was cycling out across the gently rolling acres of north Suffolk. Redgrave is one of those large and relatively self-sufficient villages that you get more in the north and west of Suffolk than around Ipswich. However, this was not apparent to me, as I approached it from the direction of Wortham Common. I had cycled through the Long Green, a strange, otherworldly place. The Commons and Greens around here were still, until half a century ago, intensively grazed. Now, they have been let go back to nature, and are in many places covered in gorse and furze, with outcroppings of angular trees. Occasionally, as at Wortham, there are settlements which seem carved out of the common land. There’s nowhere else in Suffolk quite like it.

I left this behind, and a deep cutting of a lane led me up and out into open fields. The sun came out, and the tower of St Mary was ahead of me. It is a curious sight. Suffolk has a handful of towers rebuilt in the 18th century. Mostly, they are red brick, as at Layham, and rather less successfully Grundisburgh. However, Redgrave’s tower is white brick, and would be quite at home in the City of London, if a little more austere than most there.

 

Attached to it is a huge church. St Mary is big; it is a little-known church, but has more to offer than most. Simon Jenkins ignored it in England’s Thousand Best Churches; most probably, he didn’t know about it. It would fit quite comfortably into his three star category along with the likes of Westhall which he also missed. Incidentally, when I met him and pointed out his omission of Redgrave and Westhall, he looked at me as if I was some kind of sad lunatic. I suppose that he’s approached by someone with a similar complaint at least twice a day.

 

I stepped inside to a vast space. This church is full of light. The clerestory and aisle windows are huge, and although the east window is full of coloured glass, it too is vast, one of the widest I've seen. It would take hundreds and hundreds of people to fill this place, more than a thousand perhaps; but it was a gentle reminder to me that our medieval parish churches were not built for congregational Anglican worship.

 

St Mary has one of Suffolk's three best brasses, the 1609 memorial to Anne Butts. It has been reset in the sanctuary floor. She was related to the Bacons, that mighty Suffolk family, and her inscription reads:

 

The weaker sexes strongest precedent

Lies here belowe; seaven fayer years she spent

In wedlock sage; and since that merry age

Sixty one years she lived a widowe sage

Humble as great as full of Grace as elde,

A second Anna had she but beheld

Christ in His flesh who now she glorious sees

Below that first in time, not in degrees.

 

Mortlock thought it the finest post-Reformation brass in England.

 

To get to it, you will have to pass an awesome table tomb in the north aisle. On it lie, life-size, Sir Nicholas and Lady Anne Bacon. Lady Anne was the daughter of Anne Butts (and Sir Nicholas her son-in-law) so we may assume that they are responsible for the quality of her memorial. But the grandeur of theirs quite outshines her, and everybody else. It is by Nicholas Stone, famous for the Coke memorial at Bramfield; she died in 1616, he in 1624. There is an excellent modern window behind it.

 

The Bacons are responsible for most of the thirteen hatchments here - more than in any other church in Suffolk. Others are for the Holt and Wilson families (who later intermarried). The latest is dated 1929.

 

One of the Holts can also be found up in the sanctuary. He's life-size, as you might expect here. He was Lord Chief Justice of England in the first decade of the 18th century, and he sits in his judge's robes. He's flanked by two voluptuous figures who are Justice and Mercy, and the whole piece is by Thomas Green of Camberwell. I know this, because he signed it in very large letters. Perhaps he was particularly proud of it.

 

In this great palace of slightly absurd grandeur, mention should also be made of the vast wooden decalogue hanging in the north aisle. I've never seen Moses and Aaron look so important. It once stood at the east end of the chancel, has ridiculously large scrolls, and would certainly have concentrated the mind. All of this is overseen by that lovely glass in the huge east window. Mortlock tells us it is by a local firm, Farrow and son of Diss. I thought it splendid, quite in keeping with this mighty place. Also in keeping is the white stone pulpit, which is rather camp, although one assumes this was not the intended effect.

 

In 2004, three years after my first visit to Redgrave church, the parish walked away from it. The cost and effort of maintaining this vast barn full of priceless treasures had become too great a burden for the small congregation, so they locked the doors and decamped to the village hall, declaring that St Mary was now no longer their responsibility. As you may imagine, this caused a certain amount of consternation. While Redgrave church is a building of national significance, there is a certain protocol required if you want to declare a building redundant and have it conveyed into the stewardship of the Churches Conservation Trust. Not being able to pay the repair bills is not considered a good enough reason to declare redundancy. Even so, the parish persisted, which rather placed the Diocese in a quandary. While their first responsibility was to the parishioners, they clearly did not have the resources needed to look after St Mary, and yet the church commissioners would have looked with some doubt on any attempt to declare the building redundant.

 

It was, in modern political parlance, uncharted territory. Nevertheless, it was obvious that the ultimate destination must be to ensure the future security and upkeep of the building, and so after eighteen months or so of what one imagines must have been fairly tense meetings, the church was conveyed into the care of the Churches Conservation Trust.

 

And in the meantime, something else had happened. The shock of the incident had galvanised some local people, including a few of the former congregation, to get together and form a group to look after St Mary. With the support of the Churches Conservation Trust this has become one of the most successful support groups in the county, putting on exhibitions and concerts for which the church is eminently suitable. Before the end of the decade, the Daily Telegraph newspaper awarded Redgrave church the prize of English Village Church of the Year. On that occasion I was asked by BBC Radio Suffolk to do an interview about the church while standing in the nave, and as I looked around I thought it seemed a happy ending.

 

In fact, within a few months I was back at Redgrave church for a quite exciting reason. The Eastern Daily Press of 13th July 2010 takes up the story: It had remained hidden for centuries. But the entrance to a 500-year-old vault beneath a medieval Suffolk church has been discovered after a woman accidentally stamped her foot through one of the floor tiles. While rehearsing a scene from an upcoming performance of the musical Quasimodo at St Mary's Church, in Redgrave, near Diss, actor Kathy Mills dislodged a marble flagstone near the altar and her foot disappeared into a dark void below. Mrs Mills, who is in her 60s, suffered a swollen ankle, but the pain soon subsided when she was later told she had uncovered a tomb never seen in living memory with coffins inside suspected to contain the remains of the village's past aristocracy.

 

Just weeks before a geophysicist had used an advanced radar to map out where the long-forgotten vault was, but if it was not for Mrs Mills' freak accident they would never have been certain of where its boarded-up entrance was or what hid inside. The church is now hosting an open weekend to give the public a chance to glimpse through the hole and see exactly what they've been walking above all these years. St Mary's Church will be open to the public this Saturday and Sunday, between 10am and 4pm, where a video camera will beam images from inside the vault onto a projector screen.

 

“I was just doing a rehearsal for the production and I walked onto the flagstone, whether it was already loose I'm not sure, but my foot went down,” said Mrs Mills. “They lifted it up (the flagstone) and you could just see some mud and sand underneath. It's possible my foot went down eight inches. I wondered where I was going. It was quite a shock. I was thrilled when they told me I had discovered this vault they did not know was there. One or two people call me the Tomb Raider.”

 

Rumours had circulated for decades that under the ancient slabs of the 14th century church, now owned by The Churches Conservation Trust, laid a labyrinth of passages and tombs. Bob Hayward, chairman of the Redgrave Church Heritage Trust, said stories had passed through the generations of how people walked through the tunnels as recently as the 1920s, but records of their existence cannot be found. In a bid to establish fact from fiction, the group employed Malcolm Weale, of Geofizz Ltd, from East Harling, near Thetford, about two months ago to analyse what lied below. Using a ground penetrating radar, Mr Weale identified a large void, about 6ft deep, spreading under the altar and into the adjacent vestry. The Trust was prepared to leave its investigations at that until the day of Mrs Mills' fateful accident just over a week ago.

 

When the damaged flagstones were lifted and a light was lowered down, a tunnel was discovered with a set of steps descending into the ground visible in one direction and a cluster of about six coffins tucked inside a dark chamber in the other. It appears timbers holding up the floor tiles had rotted. Mr Hayward said: “It's exciting. You think you know these places but you don't until something like this happens.”

 

It is thought the coffins belong to descendents of the Holt family. Sir John Holt became lord of the manor in 1703 and a large memorial to his life sits above the newly uncovered vault. However it is believed to have been built in the late 1500s by the Bacon family, but their remains are located in another tomb beneath the church's font. Archaeologists will be descending into the vault at the end of the year to assess whether any of the other supporting timbers are rotten and to record what's inside, but the coffins will remain as they are found.

 

Now, this was something I had to see. The hole was about 20cm by 40cm. Bob Hayward very kindly opened it up the hole for me and allowed me to lower my camera into it - it wasn't safe to go down there, because of the high concentration of carbon monoxide.

 

How exciting! My photograph showed the high-vaulted tunnel of 18th Century brick, and in a room beyond there were five lead coffins, almost directly under the magnificent Holt memorial.

 

This was a fascinating experience, and all in all St Mary is a fascinating church, one of the best in East Anglia, despite what that Jenkins book says. It is not understated, it never attempts to be tasteful or refined. After the thrill of exploring the tunnel, I sat for a moment on the steps leading up to the organ at the west end, surveying the wonderful brick floors, the expanses of light beneath the arcades, the awesome seriousness of the chancel. If, at that moment, a group of 18th century ladies and gentlemen had stepped out of a Samuel Richardson novel and into this church, I should not have been the least bit surprised.

And curiously, Redgrave village is not the largest population centre in the parish. That honour goes to Botesdale, down on the main road, and part of the extended village of the Rickinghalls. Botesdale has its own church, but strictly speaking it is a chapel of ease to this one. The most famous residents of the parish these days are not Bacons, Holts or Wilsons, but the extremely rare great raft spiders which live in Lopham fen, to the north of the village. It is one of only two places they are found in the British Isles.

   

Simon Knott, September 2001, updated July 2015

 

www.suffolkchurches.co.uk/redgrave.htm

Soon to be mother and father stand by a graffiti covered bridge girder as a shaft of light falls on them.

33 weeks down, 7 to go

View large

 

Strobist info

NNK Carven 321M @ 1/1 bounced off the roof on camera front left.

SB-600 behind my wife to the right, angled down from 2m. Power 1/16 85mm

SUNPAK 36FD behind my wife to the left, straight angle from 1m. Power 1/16

 

All triggered with Cactus V4

Wasn't expecting to get a cathedral in Southwark when we got off the tube at London Bridge.

 

Near the Borough Market is Southwark Cathedral.

 

It is the oldest Gothic church in London. Rebuilt in 1212 after fire damaged the Norman church.

 

In 1539 after the dissolution of the monastery it went from a Priory Church to a Parish Church.

 

Southwark Cathedral or The Cathedral and Collegiate Church of St Saviour and St Mary Overie, Southwark, London, lies on the south bank of the River Thames close to London Bridge.

 

It is the mother church of the Anglican Diocese of Southwark. It has been a place of Christian worship for over 1,000 years, but a cathedral only since 1905. The present building is mainly Gothic, from 1220 to 1420, although the nave is a nineteenth-century reconstruction in a thirteenth-century style.

 

Remarkably the main railway viaduct connecting London Bridge station to Blackfriars, Cannon Street and Charing Cross stations passes only 18 metres from the south-east corner of the cathedral, blocking the view from the south side. This was a compromise when the railway was extended along this viaduct in 1852; the alternative was to demolish the building completely to allow a more direct passage for the line. Borough Market is immediately to its south and the Hall of the Worshipful Company of Glaziers and Painters of Glass is on the riverside part of Montague Close on its north.

 

It is Grade I listed.

 

Cathedral Church of St Saviour and St Mary Overie (southwark Cathedral), Bermondsey

 

SOUTHWARK

 

TQ3280SE CATHEDRAL STREET

636-1/17/188 (East side)

02/03/50 Cathedral Church of St Saviour and

St Mary Overie (Southwark Cathedral)

 

I

 

Medieval Augustinian priory of St Mary Overie; Anglican

cathedral since 1905. C12 church damaged by fire 1212 and

rebuilt from 1220. East front, choir and retrochoir 1214-1260.

Choir ceiling and tower pinnacles by George Gwilt Jnr.

1818-27; transepts altered 1830 by Robert Wallace. Nave

replaced in 1839-40 by Henry Rose and again in 1890-97 by Sir

Arthur Blomfield in C13 style.

MATERIALS: knapped flint with stone dressing; tower and

transepts of ashlar.

PLAN: cruciform with central crossing (north and south

transepts with central tower); 7-bay nave, 5-bay presbytery,

3-bay ambulatory at east end.

EXTERIOR: lower stage of tower C14 (attributed to Henry

Yvele); 2 upper stages of the tower, C14-C15, each with

2-light transomed windows on each face. Early C19 pinnacles by

Gwilt. 5-bay E arm with clerestory, E window and flying

buttresses to E arm, Gwilt rebuilding of C14 additions.

Remains of C12 church in north wall of N transept. Main

entrance is the south-west door.

Face your phobias......

Not really scared of spiders but don't like touching them! I expect they don't like us touching them anyway!

(If my Daughter looks in you will hear her scream:)

The gap between rich and poor widens and the chancellor is expected to cut benefits further.

Merry Christmas

www.messersmith.name/wordpress/2010/03/25/actual-work-oh-no/

You'll get less sense than usual from me today, which is no sense at all. Today some people at the office expected me to do some actual work. The nerve of them! I'm the guy who lives in squalor back in the IT Dungeon; the bearded dude who comes and goes in silence and nobody bothers unless the building is on fire. Some might even have to think about that one. Anyway, it was 15:00 today before I had time to think of some novel way to irritate you.

 

I'll start with the same ol' same ol' morning sunrise: Yeah, yeah, ho-hum. Seen that scene before, man. I never get tired of looking out my front door and wondering what the day will bring. By the looks of the weather this morning, it doesn't seem promising.

 

So, I hopped over to BoinbBoing to see if I could find a muse hanging about. Amid the dross of eclectica I found this delightful item for all the dads out there seeking Daughters' Day presents: If I'm mistaken and there's no Daughters' Day yet, just give it a while. Hallmark will invent it and then you'll be obliged to spend five bucks for a twenty-five cent dard or pay the consequences in icy stares. Yes, someone has finally made Cat 5e network cables for your darling little girl. I'd say that these will work just fine until she hits about 45, unless she keeps small, yappy dogs. In that case, you're set for life. Notice the jeweled connectors. You can get these from Cables Unlimited.

 

If you see these in your son's room, you might have a little talk with him.

 

Being press for time, my mind had to wander at double-time quickstep, so I Googled "stupid stuff for girls" and found a veritable treasure chest: Among hundreds of idiotic items at www.stupid.com/fun/A_GPLS.html I found - I can hardly bring myself to say it - Glow In The Dark Fingernail Polish. This is, presumably, for young ladies who tend to believe that they ceases to exist when entering a dark room The have merely to look at their hands, assuming that they can locate them, to reassure themselves of their existence.

 

Personally, I find this unspeakably creepy, but then, I never had a daughter. Since I want to be fair about all this, I really should have a Stupid Stuff for Boys day soon.

 

Well, I could go on and on with this frivolity, but now it is time for the public service portion during which I will attempt to impart important information to you. You will, of course, find this information utterly useless. That is my speciality.

 

First, I'll show you this rather uninteresting image of Some Kind of Coral: I can't find it in any of my books and I'm far too lazy to wade through the web to give you an obscure Latin name about which you care not a whit. Now that I have a second look at it . . . does that dark shape near the top look like a mouth screaming? Whoa, let's move on.

 

I said nothing serious or substantive would be forthcoming today, but I can't find any place else to sneak in this imag of a Sea Squirt (Didemnum membranaceum) colony with a Robust Feather Star (Himerometra robustipinna) squatting right in the middle: I can't really explain why I laughed hysterically when I saw this at about ten metres. It's a diver thing.

 

You know, it's a strange sensation to laugh with a big rubber regulator in your mouth. I can't say that I've ever gotten used to that feeling anyway - sucking on that big pipe for air. It's . . . undignified. It's even weirder to cough and a completely wild sensation to sneeze. At first it's very scary, when you feel a sneeze coming on and you can't stop it and you wonder what's going to happen. Then, KAPLOOOEEE, you let fly and a huge cloud of bubbles comes out and you think, "Gosh, that felt good!"

 

It's even possible to vomit underwater, though I do not recommend the experience just for kicks. Yes, I have done it and yes, I didn't like it at all. There are two methods used. One is to remove your regulator and get it over as quickly as possible. This is not considered safe, because you may choke when you try to get air again and then it's probably all over. The other way it to just blow chunks into the regulator, gasping between and trying not to suck too much back in. You might still have to take your reg out and shake it around to get rid of the . . . stuff, so that it works properly. This also is considered dangerous.

 

I hope that I haven't put you off your breakfast.

 

We all expect instant gratification - but that's not the case when you take a hard drive to have someone attempt a recovery. First a diagnosis - well, first pass at that failed (and I already had done those steps so I knew it was coming but we all hope for a miracle). So now it's with technical where I'll get a quote for how much my carelessness will cost me. Just like with my cat, there's a $ mark where I say forget it - just put it out of its misery. So I'm waiting to see if like the cat, the drive knew just how far to push the limit. Yes, the cat's worth far more to me than the USB drive, after all he's family, but I've realized from experience that prolonging the suffering of a four-legged friend becomes abuse.

 

I will say, if you're in the Houston area and need computer or drive work then you should think first of Northrock Computer. Very nice people and they're not out to rob you of your home and grandkids. They got Small Business of the year for NW Houston Area and I can easily see why!

 

Take my advice or ignore it. The risk is yours. I've already bought one drive and I'll decide on a second. I need to make up my mind how to set up a backup. I'm leaning toward a small 2 T portable USB for my new photos and using the 3 T USB drive I bought for backup.

Nearly 1,000 Students to Participate in WSSU Commencement on May 15

 

WINSTON-SALEM, NC -- Christina Wareâs story is one of the many inspiring testimonials of the nearly 1,000 undergraduate and graduate students from near and afar who are expected to participate in Winston-Salem State Universityâs commencement ceremony on Friday, May 15, at 9:45 a.m., at Bowman Gray Stadium, 1250 South Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive.

  

Academy Award-winning recording artist, activist and actor Common will be the keynote speaker. There are no guest limits or ticket requirements for the ceremony.

  

It is conceivable that Wareâs story of work ethic, undeniable spirit and enthusiasm encapsulates the sentiment of her graduating 2015 classmates.

  

Ware, 43, of Winston-Salem, is quite active on and off campus as a mentor to other students, a member of the non-traditional student organization, the first president of Epsilon Chapter 130 of Tau Sigma National Honor Society at WSSU, a wife and proud mother of two. She is also legally blind. She wants to blaze trails, set examples and raise the bar for others with disabilities.

  

âIn 2007, I lost my eyesight. After a six-month pity party, I decided to continue my education and make a difference for others. Since 2008, I have spent every day of my life proving to society that having a disability does not mean we are weak. I am now an advocate for persons with disabilities,â Ware, a business major, said, "We are not handicapped, we are handy capable!"

  

Ware, who can be described as always pleasant and having an unlimited enthusiasm for life, says every day alive is like Christmas. She demands to be treated like everyone else and has been noted to say, âI may physically fall, but mentally I can get back up and pull a 4.0 semester.â After graduation she wants to start a Kosher/Halal foods business and become active on community boards.

  

The China Connection

 

From the City of Harbin, the capital and largest city of the Heilongjiang province of the People's Republic of China, WSSU Master of Arts in the Teaching of English as a Second Language and Applied Linguistics students Yaowen Xing and Chunling Zhang have found a second home at WSSU and in Winston-Salem. They perhaps have come the farthest distance attend the university.

 

With a population of more than five million people, Harbin is situated in the northeast region of China so close to Russia that only the Songhua River separates the two countries. Nicknamed the Ice City, the average winter temperature is -3.5 °F with annual lows hitting -31.0 °F. Itâs no wonder the students say the warmer weather here in the Piedmont Triad has not been lost in translation with them and itâs one of the things they enjoy.

 

âWe really love the weather in North Carolina, especially the long summer time, since our hometown is so cold with snow for almost 6 months of the year,â Xing, 30, noted. âWe also love the people at WSSU and the faculty who all are nice and it has been a really good experience.â

 

Xing and Zhang, 35, are in America as part of a Chinese education immersion program to help exchange the cultures between China and America. They enjoy working as cultural ambassadors to students in both the cultures. The two came to the U.S. in 2013 and have been teaching at Konnoak Elementary school during the early hours and studying and researching later in the day. âComing to America was a dream for me after learning about it through books, movies and music, and my time here it has been amazing,â Xing said.

 

Zhang, said she didnât know much about WSSU or Historically Black Colleges or Universities (HBCUâs), but after a short time here she knew WSSU would be was special part of life. âI have met many African- Americans who have been friendly and helpful. I now can say I truly have many black friends,â Zhang said. She and Xing have taken advantage of the HBCU experience. They have been often seen attending evening lectures and presentations, sports events, musical and visual arts events. With their WSSU master degrees they will return to China one day in the future to make an impact on teaching and the quality of education there.

  

The All-In Approach

 

Olivia N. Sedwick, 21, a political science major from Indianapolis, has taken âthe all-in approach" to her WSSU experience. The current WSSU student government president (SGA), honorâs student and champion athlete, chose WSSU over other schools she could have attended.

  

Featured in a USA Today article highlighting the HBCU experience released last June, Sedwick is quoted as saying about WSSU, âI fell in love with the school.â She says, âWe talked about things that I had never had the chance to before coming from a predominantly white high school.â

 

Liking the intellectual and social environment, she was comfortable becoming involved around campus. In her first year, a walk-on athlete for the womenâs track and field team, she was a 2013 CIAA Indoor Womenâs Track and Field All-Conference competitor and the WSSU womenâs shot put record holder until earlier this year, although she never competed in the throws until coming to college. In her second year she served as the sophomore class vice president while also being appointed to serve on many committees throughout the university. In that same year, she was a delegate to the UNC Association of Student Governments (UNCASG), representing WSSU students on a state-wide level. At the end of that year, she became the first African-American female elected senior vice president of UNCASG and served in that capacity for the entirety of her third year while being active as the chief of staff for the WSSU student government association that year also. Toward the end of her term in UNCASG, she decided to run for student body president and has served as the voice of the students for the duration of her last year. With all of her activities, she has maintained a 3.95 GPA throughout her time in college.

 

Sedwick has been selected as a UNC General Administration Presidential Intern, which begins in July. Upon completion of the prestigious one-year appointment, Sedwick plans to attend Howard University School of Law.

 

A Drum Major who will March for a Noble Cause

Willie Davis, 22, a social work major from Fayetteville, N.C., who has led WSSUâs Red Sea of Sound Marching Band as a drum major for his senior year, will now march to lead the charge for helping veterans and their families cope with typical and unique challenges of serving in military. Davis will be one of four Cadets with the distinct honor of being commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant U.S. in the U.S. Army during this yearâs commencement ceremony. Despite that professionally Davis will help vets, military and families with things like dealing with emotions, he said, âI donât think I will be ready for the commissioning part (of commencement) emotionally.â

 

Readiness for Davis is an understatement. The youngest of three siblings, who was age 10 when his father died, Davis has been an A average student throughout life. He was in the top ten of his high school class and the first generation in his family to attend college. At WSSU, besides maintaining high academic achievement and serving in the U.S. Army ROTC, Davis has been active with the WSSU Band, the University Choir, a Campus Ambassador, a mentor to freshmen students, vice president of the WSSU chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi National Honorary Band Fraternity, a Veterans Helping Veterans Heal intern and a member of Galilee Missionary Baptist Church in Winston-Salem.

  

After graduation, Davis is going to graduate school at the University of South Carolina. He plans to complete that program in one year and begin his military duties. As a clinical social worker, his responsibilities may range from clinical counseling, crisis intervention, disaster relief, critical event debriefing, teaching and training, supervision, research, administration, consultation and policy development in various military settings. He wants to specialize in helping military veterans who suffer from different traumas such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), paranoid schizophrenia and other conditions.

All outstanding issues between Bangladesh and India are expected to be resolved before the upcoming visit of Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh to Bangladesh, reports BSS.

 

This optimism was expressed when visiting Indian Foreign Minister S M Krishna called on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and discussed various matters of common interests with her, at her office in Dhaka on Thursday.

 

They discussed various issues of bilateral interest, said Mr. Abul Kalam Azad, Press Secretary to the prime minister, while briefing the newsmen after the meeting.

 

Appreciating the dynamic and prudent leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the Indian Foreign Minister said the existing bilateral relations between the two friendly countries will be a role model for other co0untries in Asia.

 

The issue of providing transit facilities to Nepal and Bhutan also came up for discussion in the meeting.

 

Sheikh Hasina said her government was working relentlessly for improving the lot of the common people in Bangladesh.

 

Describing poverty as the main impediment to development in the South Asian region, she said continuity of democracy is needed for eradicating poverty from South Asia.

 

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina emphasised the need for working together for alleviating poverty in the region for the benefit of the peoples of the two countries. He referred to various programmes undertaken by her government to ameliorate the condition of the people.

 

The conference on austism, scheduled to be held in Dhaka on July 25 and 26, was also discussed in the meeting. President of Indian Congress Party Sonia Gandhi is expected to inaugurate the conference.

 

Foreign Minister Dr Dipu Moni, Advisers to the Prime Minister Dr Gowher Rizvi and Dr Mashiur Rahman, Bangladesh High Commissioner to New Delhi Mr. Tareque A Karim, Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka Mr. Rajeet Mitter, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister Mr. M A Karim, Foreign Secretary Mr. Mijarul Quayes and PM's Press Secretary Mr. Abul Kalam Azad, among others, were present on the occasion.

 

UNB adds: Bangladesh and India on Thursday expressed optimism about signing interim deals on water sharing of the common rivers, Teesta and Feni, and on border demarcation during Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Dhaka on September 6-7.

 

The details of the accords, however, are still to be worked out.

 

At a joint press conference after the official talks between the two Foreign Ministers, Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dipu Moni and Indian External Affairs Minister SM Krishna came up with the identical views on resolving the outstanding issues.

 

Replying to a question, Dipu Moni said the waters of the common rivers will be shared on the basis of equity and fairness and the demarcation of 6.5 km border and transfer of enclaves and lands in 'adverse possession' will be made under "a package" deal, in the spirit of 1974 Mujib-Indira Land Boundary Agreement.

 

About the use of Chittagong and Mongla ports, she said it would be done under a framework of agreement, encompassing India, Nepal and Bhutan.

 

"It is a part of transit issue. We're trying to come up with a framework under which a number of protocols will be signed and that work is going on," Dipu Moni said.

 

She said the Joint River Commission has nearly finalised the issue about the sharing of the Teesta and Feni river waters and "we will be able to sign something during the visit."

 

About the killing of Bangladeshi civilians by Indian BSF at the border, Dipu Moni said Dhaka's concern was conveyed to her Indian counterpart during the official meeting and India reassured Bangladesh that the killing at the border would be brought down to a zero level through a joint border management.

 

Both the Foreign Ministers reiterated that no insurgent, extremist or terrorist group would be allowed to use the soil of their respective countries to carry out activities inimical to each other's interest.

 

On the border issue, both the Foreign Ministers said the Joint Border Working Group has been working on it and they will be able to conclude their work before Manmohan's visit.

 

In reply to a question about cooperation in the energy sector, Indian Foreign Minister Mr. S. M. Krishna said India will supply 250 MW of electricity to Bangladesh by the end of 2112 or early 2013 at a preferential tariff at which the Indian power sector giant, NTPC supplies electricity to other Indian states.

 

Both India and Bangladesh will set up a 1300 MW coal-based power plant in Bagerhat and the feasibility study on the plan has been completed, he noted.

 

Regarding bilateral trade, Mr. Krishna said Bangladesh's export to India has increased by 56 per cent in the first 10 months of fiscal 2010-11 and "we would very much like to see further growth of the export to India by Bangladesh."

 

Under the duty-free quota, India, he added, has increased the volume of Bangladesh's export of readymade garment (RMG) products to 10 million pieces from 8.0 million pieces.

 

Asked if the Indian government still holds Manmohan's recent remarks that 25 per cent population of Bangladesh are Jamaat-e-Islami and they are, many times, in the clutches of Pakistan's Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI), Krishna said the matter was also discussed during his meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

 

He avoided a direct reply to the question and said it is Manmohan's consistent stand to consider Bangladesh as a close friend and the relations between Bangladesh and India are a role model for other countries in the region.

 

Asked if Manmohan made the remarks due to lack of any trust on Bangladesh, Krishna said there is 'no trust deficit' between Bangladesh and India. "India has total trust and confidence on Bangladesh", he strongly reiterated.

 

Replying to another question, the Indian External Affairs Minister said he is going back to New Delhi with a memory of the emergence of a resurgent Bangladesh.

 

BSS further adds: Bangladesh and India Thursday signed two agreements on investment protection and promotion and the operating procedure for the movement of the Bhutanese vehicles to Bangladesh through the Indian territory.

 

Visiting Indian external affairs minister SM Krishna and his Bangladesh counterpart Dipu Moni witnessed the signing of the deals before the media at the Sonargaon Hotel.

 

The Agreement on Promotion and Protection of Investments is aimed at creating favourable conditions for fostering and encouraging investment.

 

Officials familiar with the process said the deal envisaged that 'national treatment' and 'the most favoured nation treatment' would be accorded by either country to investments by investors of the other country.

 

They said the agreement also states that investments of either country will not be nationalised or expropriated except for public purpose, in accordance with law and against fair and equitable compensation.

 

It also provides for repatriation of capital investment, non-operating profits, loan repayments, royalty payments and service fees without delay and on a non-discriminatory basis.

 

The two countries signed the Agreement on Promotion and Protection of Investments on February 9, 2009 while it was ratified Thursday as Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka Mr. Rajeet Mitter and Bangladesh's envoy to New Delhi Ahmed Mr. Tariq Karim signed the protocol.

 

The deal which would be effective from July 7, 2011 will be valid for ten years and thereafter it would be deemed to have been automatically extended unless either government gives a written notice to the other of its intention to terminate it.

 

The second agreement, titled Standard Operating Procedure for movement of the Bhutanese vehicles between Indian Land Customs Stations (LCS) and Bangladesh LCS, was signed Thursday, in line with a decision reached between Dhaka and New Delhi during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's visit to India in January 2010.

 

The two sides at that time agreed that trucks for movement from Bhutan and Nepal would be allowed to enter 200 meters inside the Bangladesh border under arrangements to be mutually agreed upon, and put in place in both the countries.

 

The Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), aimed at facilitating movement of trucks from Nepal, was concluded in October 2010 during the visit of the Bangladesh commerce minister to New Delhi.

 

An identical SOP to facilitate movement of trucks from Bhutan that was signed on July 7, 2011, will promote bilateral trade between Bhutan and Bangladesh.

 

Members of Bangladesh National Board of Revenue (NBR) Mr. M Shah Alam Khan and Joint Secretary of the Indian External Affairs Ministry Mr. Harshabardhan Sinla signed the deal on behalf of their respective side.

 

Reuters adds: India will sell 500 megawatts of electricity to Bangladesh and half of it will be available by the end of 2012 or early 2013, Indian Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna said in Dhaka on Thursday.

 

He told reporters at a news conference that India also agreed to install a coal-based thermal power plant with 1,300 megawatts (MW) of electricity in Bangladesh's southern Khulna area.

 

"The connectivity work between the two countries for Bangladesh importing the electricity is going on smoothly while the feasibility study for setting up the coal-based power plant has just been completed," Krishna said.

 

The Indian minister, who arrived Dhaka on Wednesday on a three-day visit, met Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and other senior ministers including the finance minister.

 

He will also meet President Zillur Rahman and opposition leader Begum Khaleda Zia .

 

Bangladesh aims to nearly triple power generation to 15,357 megawatts (MW) by the end of 2015 as it scrambles to improve living conditions for its people and to become a middle income country by 2021, Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dipu Moni told at the same news conference.

 

The plan includes import of 1,000 MW of power from India, Nepal and Bhutan.

 

Besides, the south Asian country expects to generate 2,000 MW of electricity from a nuclear power plant, construction of which will begin next year.

 

"The details of the thermal power plant project fired by coal are under process and things are moving fast," Mohammad Mijarul Quaes Bangladesh's foreign secretary, told the news agency.

 

The Fainancial Express 08/07/2011

They flapped but dared not fly. Not just yet.

 

Impersonating church steeples, three young great blue herons appeared close to taking their inaugural flights. Canada Day, Roberts Bay, Sidney BC.

2017 World Championship Group Stage at Wuhan Sports Center Gymnasium in Wuhan, Hubei, China on 5 October 2017.

For a new constable posted to central London the information you are expected to know can be overwhelming. The fact is that most London policemen do not come from London and their knowledge of London may be somewhat scant, to remedy this all new Police Officers straight from Hendon were told by everybody who was older in service to obtain a 'Nicholsons'. This was the Nicholson's pocket guide to London which was an invaluable mine of information which seemed to become more and more dogeared as the officer retained the information in his head so that he could eventually dispense with it. A very necessary appointment for the London Policeman.See link.

www.flickr.com/photos/31363949@N02/11170715086/

1. Concierto de Genitorturers en Barcelona, Sala Apolo

 

GENITORTURERS - APOLO 2 - 2 JUNE

 

Despite facing a small venue with not as much audience as we all expected, the band gave one of most politically incorrect, kinkiest and funniest shows I've ever seen. To top it up, they sounded great as well. If all bands had this completely committed attitude while onstage, life would be more fun.

 

2. Toundra en Bikini

 

NOTHINK + TOUNDRA - BIKINI - 13 NOVEMBER

 

Nothink and Toundra are quite possibly two of the best Spanish bands around at the moment. I love their music, but for me Toundra that night stole the show. They offered a setlist tight as f**k, with great energy and dynamics. Watching this show felt pretty much like being hypnotized.

 

3. DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN LIVE RAMATAZZ 2 BARCELONA OCTOBER 2010

 

DILLINGER ESCAPLE PLAN - RAZZ 2 - 21 OCTOBER

 

I have no words to explain what seeing this band live feels like. I had never seen them live before that night, and their live act felt like something that could set the venue on fire any moment. Adrenaline, sweat, stage diving, noise and a Greg Puciato who knows how to give you the chills when signing melodic too. (PHOTO I USED WAS TAKEN BY MY COLLEAGUE IÑAKI PINHEAD, VISIT HIS FLICKR IN THE LINK ABOVE)

 

4. Anneke Van Giersbergen en Barcelona

 

ANNEKE VAN GIERSBERGEN & AQUA DE ANNIQUE - BIKINI - MAY 5

 

After she left The Gathering, I thought I would never have the pleasure of enjoying my all-time favorite female singer again. Luckily I was wrong, and when she came back to Barcelona with her solo project her magical voice made me burst in tears again.

 

5. And So I Watch You From Afar

 

ASIWYFA - THE COOLER, BRISTOL - 9 APRIL

 

If the band doesn't visit your country, fly to any country to see the band!

 

This is one motto that my boyfriend and I "practice" every once in a while, and we did it once again to witness the blast of music that AND SO I WATCH YOU FROM AFAR are.

 

These guys, even though super young, seem to have the music in their blood. Their total control over their instruments is as big as their contagious love for music and their explosive attitude onstage. Live, their rich tunes rock your socks off and can't be compared to anything else out there. One of these bands that you shouldn't miss if you're looking for moments of total communion band-audience.

 

6. Noise

 

SONIC YOUTH - RAZZMATAZZ - 18th APRIL.

 

Getting to shoot them with my DSLR was already a blast, but this especific show is the best one of them I've seen so far (and I've already seen a few!). I loved the setlist they chose and the whole thing had a raw-energy feeling that got stuck to your skin and left you in awe.

 

7. Arcade Fire

 

ARCADE FIRE - PALAU SANT JORDI - 21 NOVEMBER

 

I don't like concerts in big venues as I usually find them too impersonal, but in this case the band made us feel like we could just spread an arm and touch them.

 

I've seen the band a few times, some of them before they got proper big, when they were just presenting Funeral and everybody was going "wow, how do they do it?". So in a way, seeing them do such a big place was a bit of a surprise for me.

 

But luckily the band still have it - the joy, the passion, the way they have to make you feel that everything, somehow, will be ok after all when you listen to songs like Wake Up or My Neighborhood.

 

Getting to shoot this band from the pit after I had seen them so many times as a fan was a true delight and a memory that I will never forget.

 

8. Oceansize

 

OCEANSIZE - KOKO CLUB, LONDON - 1 OCTOBER

 

I didn't have a photopass that day (and so the picture I included in the mosaic was taken the day after), and that made me feel a bit sad, but in the end this was the least important.

 

It's not a secret that Oceansize are my favorite band, and it's not a secret that in the past I flew anywhere to see them as they didnt visit Barcelona until 2010. When I bought my tickets to see them in Koko, I knew already they were coming to Barcelona a month later, but a live show of Oceansize in such a beautiful and especial show as Koko is not something you want to miss, so there I went.

 

My expectations were really high and somehow they managed to give an overwhelmingly great show that offered even more than I was expecting. With fantastic & coherent setlist and atmosphere, they made me like even more their new songs, while all the audience looked properly engaged to the band and the moment. Legend.

 

9. Pixies @ Primavera Sound 2010

 

PIXIES - PRIMAVERA SOUND FESTIVAL - 30 MAY

 

Because seriously, there's nothing better than a Pixies show with a setlist loaded with their greatest hits to make me jump & dance my heart off.

 

10. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

 

BRMC, APOLO, 11 NOVEMBER

 

The level was already very high after their last show in Barcelona, in the same venue, but somehow they managed to do it again. Absolutely brilliant.

 

Created with fd's Flickr Toys

My Father-in-Laws pride and joy - the Aston Martin DB5.

 

Painstaking pieced together over 2 years, this 1:8 scale replica model is as heavy as it is beautiful.

 

It features full electrics to power the lights and engine sounds, and has everything on it it that Bond used in the movie Goldfinger - its brilliant :)

 

www.007db5.com/

  

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I don't know what I expected when I rolled into Stanford. Another interesting but halfway abandoned town, I suppose. Boy was I wrong. What I observed was easily one of the most beautiful and charming towns I have ever seen! Think "perfect, classic small town". This charming place is clean and bustling, with cute little storefronts and the town has a lovely color scheme of flowers in all planters and hanging baskets. Big kudos to the town of Stanford, they keep everything ship shape and so cute! Another big plus is it's located in the middle of sprawling, beautiful prairie yet surrounded on the skyline by mountains. This is probably one of the top 5 places in Montana I would love to live. Maybe some day :)

 

"Stanford is a county seat of Judith Basin. In 1880 Calvin and Edward Bower came here with a thousand head of sheep and acquired 100,000 acres. The Bowers named the settlement for their old home, Standfordville, in Duchess County, New York. Stanford was a station on the Fort Benton-Billings stage route and a meeting place for cowboys from the Judith Basin Pool and other cattle companies who stock grazed the rich Judith Basin before homesteaders and sheepmen arrived.

 

The Judith Basin County Museum was opened in 1967. The museum has many old time articles, old pictures and some history books. It also contains a collection of 2,082 sets of salt and pepper shakers; a collection of 50,000 buttons; an Indian artifacts display, and many more items. Charles M. Russell, a famous Western artist, lived and painted many of his paintings in the area. There is a display of some of his paintings at the museum.

 

For years stories of white wolves of prodigious strength and cunning grew and multiplied among folk living in the Judith. One particularly huge wolf known as Old Snowdrift became a legendary outlaw.(from Cheney's Names on the Face of Montana, Mountain Press Publishing Company) Between Stanford and the Little Belt mountains, ranged the Judith Basin area's notorious White Wolf. There he reigned supreme for over fifteen years, preying on calves and eluding the cattlemen trying to track him down. As his fame grew, hunters from all over the United States came to try their luck at hunting the legendary White Wolf. When the White Wolf was finally captured, locals found that he was as large as had been reported, weighing 83 pounds and measuring, including the tail, six feet long.

 

Recreation opportunities abound in the nearby Lewis and Clark National Forest, Judith River Wildlife Management Area and Ackley Lake State Park. The Judith River Wildlife Management Area, at the edge of the Little Belt Mountains is a good place to view large elk herds in late fall and winter." -centralmontana.com