nominated photos on Flickr

Contact Info

Press Contact George Rodriguez/ @ above emails

Booking Agent Henry Knowles/ henry@worldsalsadj.com, Angel Justiniano/ angeljustiniano08@gmail.com

Members George Rodriguez/ Vibes- leader, Angel Justiniano/ congas- vocal, coro- co-leader, Harry Justiniano/ Bass, Coro, Hector Ortiz/ Bongo, Percussion, Jimmy Figueroa/ Timbales- coro, Conal Fowkes/ Piano, Gilberto Velasquez,don sonero- Lead vocal............

About

New swing sextet, New York oldest Vibe driven sextet, and still performing "salsa that keeps the dancers moving and the Dj's pumping"

Biography

ABOUT THE NEW SWING SEXTET

A product of New York City and the excitement and turbulence of the sixties, the New Swing Sextet made its professional debut performing in the Singer Bowl at the last New York Worlds Fair in 1965... The band has been a popular and innovative exponent of Latin jazz, salsa and pop music for nearly four decades.

Composed of vocals, piano, vibes, bass and Latin percussion, the original New Swing broke up in the late seventies after successfully recording, touring and doing all the hot club dates that the New York metropolitan area had to offer. In recent years most of the groups core members have reunited and have been performing with Mambo Negro the highly popular Latin jazz ensemble, which performs regularly in and around the tri-state area. However, you can't buy or replace 40 years of history, and on special occasions the band performs as the New Swing. The New Swing offers an established and respected name with a sound from another era, which has been perfectly preserved and bottled for another generation to enjoy.

The band was part of a young crop (and new breed of aspiring Latin musicians) who grew up in the greater New York Metropolitan tri-state area with its rich ethnic mix and diverse inner-city culture, while at the same time growing up surrounded by the Latin music explosion happening in the region. The Palladium and other clubs were dancing to the music of Machito and his Afro-Cubans, and the Jose Curbelo Orchestra while Tito Puente, Tito Rodriguez, Eddie Palmieri, Joe Cuba, and Cal Tjader, among many others, had already established their unmistakable sounds. In the early sixties, every other city block in New York had a Latin band and a doo-wop group. Blend these many elements together and you get the influences that shaped the New Swing Sextet and their contemporaries, including Johnny Colon; the Lebron Brothers; Willie Colon, Joe Bataan and Pete Rodriguez groups that helped pioneer a new street sound (which would eventually become Latin Boogaloo and Salsa). The New Swing Sextet would join the Alpha Artists of America (under the Management of Jose Curbelo) and ultimately record 4 long albums (and have a separate Best of the New Swing Sextet) all under the Cotique label. The band regularly performed on popular TV shows such as El Club de la Juventud con Polito Vega; The Tito Puente Show with host Sofi; and El Show de Myrta Silva among others. It was a magical time to be a performing Latin artist in New York City. A fraternity of great musicians and legends in the making, routinely performing together at the great dance clubs of the day, including: The Corso; LaMaganette; The Chez Jose; La Mancha; The Colgate Gardens; The Psycho Room; The Tropicoro; The Cheetah and at all the great battle of the band venues such as The Hunts Point Palace; The Manhattan Center; The Riverside Plaza Hotel and The St. Georges Hotel. Over a ten-year period the New Swing performed all summer-long at popular resorts and at the summer home of Latin music: las Villas. The band has also toured extensively and performed at world famous venues such as the legendary Apollo Theatre; the South Street Seaport and Webster Hall in New York City. Recent performances to large audiences in Montreal, San Francisco, & Los Angeles, proved that the band still has plenty of sabrosura to keep the dancers on the floor.

(read less)

Knights of Old by Commercial Motor

2

Nominated by David Wells, FTA managing director finance and operations (chief executive elect)

Mullingar Half Marathon 2017 by Peter Mooney

This is a photograph from the start second annual running of the Renault Mullingar Half Marathon which was held on Friday 17th March 2017 St. Patrick's Day Lá Fhéile Pádraig 2017 in Mullingar, Co. Westmeath, Ireland at 10:30. Following on from the incredible success of the first two years of the race this year the total numbers participating rose from just under 600 in 2015, 900 in 2016 to over 1200 in this year 2017. As was the case last year the nominated charity was Childline. The roots of the successs of the event last year was the perfect running weather, excellent organisation and a very flat and fast route. All of these characteristics were repeated this year.

Last year's weather was not repeated. Indeed the race could be described as a race of two halves in terms of weather. The first half participants had the strong, fresh westerly wind on their backs. However, turning for home along the Royal Canal this became a very strong headwind for 3 - 4 miles. Participants travelled from all over Ireland with a very large participation from runners around Mullingar and the midlands. The race has an AAI permit. The race's early start time was to facilitate the annual St. Patrick's Day parade which brings a large number of local visitors to the town on an annual basis. Parking is free in Mullingar town for the entire day. A small change to the course configuration seen the race cross the M4 Motorway at The Downs via a winding pedestrian footbridge.

The race began on Pearse Street/Austin Friar's Street in the town and proceeds North East out of the town to the N52 Delvin/Dundalk road towards Lough Sheever. The course then follows beautiful rural country roads out to The Downs at the M4. The only significant hill or rise on the course occurs here at about 7 miles when runners cross a pedestrian footbridge over the M4 near Junction 14 Thomas Flynn and Sons The Downs. The race then joins the now local access route of the old N4 road and then joins the Royal Canal at Great Down. The remainder of the race follows the Royal Canal back westward to Mullingar town. The towpath on the Canal is perfectly flat and in excellent condition. Runners will notice how the level of the canal changes dramatically along the route - at points the canal is level with the towpath. In other places the canal is at least 3 meters lower than the canal path. However the path is perfectly flat and firm the whole way. The course then leaves the Royal Canal at the Ardmore Road/Millmount area of the town and finishes in the Mullingar Town Park on Austin Friar's Street beside the Annebrook Hotel which is the Race Headquarters. The park provides a very nice setting for the finish of the race and runners and their families can mix and congregate around the finish area and the hotel.

Timing and event management was provided by http://www.myrunresults.com/. Their website is here [www.myrunresults.com/] and will contain the results to today's race.

Our Full Set of photographs from today's race is at www.flickr.com/photos/peterm7/albums/72157679566202191

Useful Links:
Our Flickr Photo Album from the 2016 Mullingar Half Marathon www.flickr.com/photos/peterm7/albums/72157665831236062
Our Flickr Photo Album from the 2015 Mullingar Half Marathon www.flickr.com/photos/peterm7/sets/72157651394365962

The Annebrook House Hotel (Race HQ) www.annebrook.ie
Offical Race Facebook Page www.facebook.com/mullingarhalfmarathon/
Google Maps Location of the Start/Finish www.google.ie/maps/@53.5253133,-7.3369538,18z

USING OUR PHOTOGRAPHS - A QUICK GUIDE AND ANSWERS TO YOUR QUESTIONS
Can I use these photographs directly from Flickr on my social media account(s)?

Yes - of course you can! Flickr provides several ways to share this and other photographs in this Flickr set. You can share directly to: email, Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Tumblr, LiveJournal, and Wordpress and Blogger blog sites. Your mobile, tablet, or desktop device will also offer you several different options for sharing this photo page on your social media outlets.

BUT..... Wait there a minute....
We take these photographs as a hobby and as a contribution to the running community in Ireland. We do not charge for our photographs. Our only "cost" is that we request that if you are using these images: (1) on social media sites such as Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter,LinkedIn, Google+, VK.com, Vine, Meetup, Tagged, Ask.fm,etc or (2) other websites, blogs, web multimedia, commercial/promotional material that you must provide a link back to our Flickr page to attribute us or acknowledge us as the original photographers.

This also extends to the use of these images for Facebook profile pictures. In these cases please make a separate wall or blog post with a link to our Flickr page. If you do not know how this should be done for Facebook or other social media please email us and we will be happy to help suggest how to link to us.

I want to download these pictures to my computer or device?

You can download this photographic image here directly to your computer or device. This version is the low resolution web-quality image. How to download will vary slight from device to device and from browser to browser. Have a look for a down-arrow symbol or the link to 'View/Download' all sizes. When you click on either of these you will be presented with the option to download the image. Remember just doing a right-click and "save target as" will not work on Flickr.

I want get full resolution, print-quality, copies of these photographs?

If you just need these photographs for online usage then they can be used directly once you respect their Creative Commons license and provide a link back to our Flickr set if you use them. For offline usage and printing all of the photographs posted here on this Flickr set are available free, at no cost, at full image resolution.

Please email petermooney78 AT gmail DOT com with the links to the photographs you would like to obtain a full resolution copy of. We also ask race organisers, media, etc to ask for permission before use of our images for flyers, posters, etc. We reserve the right to refuse a request.

In summary please remember when requesting photographs from us - If you are using the photographs online all we ask is for you to provide a link back to our Flickr set or Flickr pages. You will find the link above clearly outlined in the description text which accompanies this photograph. Taking these photographs and preparing them for online posting takes a significant effort and time. We are not posting photographs to Flickr for commercial reasons. If you really like what we do please spread the link around your social media, send us an email, leave a comment beside the photographs, send us a Flickr email, etc. If you are using the photographs in newspapers or magazines we ask that you mention where the original photograph came from.

I would like to contribute something for your photograph(s)?
Many people offer payment for our photographs. As stated above we do not charge for these photographs. We take these photographs as our contribution to the running community in Ireland. If you feel that the photograph(s) you request are good enough that you would consider paying for their purchase from other photographic providers or in other circumstances we would suggest that you can provide a donation to any of the great charities in Ireland who do work for Cancer Care or Cancer Research in Ireland.

Let's get a bit technical: We use Creative Commons Licensing for these photographs
We use the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License for all our photographs here in this photograph set. What does this mean in reality?
The explaination is very simple.
Attribution- anyone using our photographs gives us an appropriate credit for it. This ensures that people aren't taking our photographs and passing them off as their own. This usually just mean putting a link to our photographs somewhere on your website, blog, or Facebook where other people can see it.
ShareAlike – anyone can use these photographs, and make changes if they like, or incorporate them into a bigger project, but they must make those changes available back to the community under the same terms.

Above all what Creative Commons aims to do is to encourage creative sharing. See some examples of Creative Commons photographs on Flickr: www.flickr.com/creativecommons/

I ran in the race - but my photograph doesn't appear here in your Flickr set! What gives?

As mentioned above we take these photographs as a hobby and as a voluntary contribution to the running community in Ireland. Very often we have actually ran in the same race and then switched to photographer mode after we finished the race. Consequently, we feel that we have no obligations to capture a photograph of every participant in the race. However, we do try our very best to capture as many participants as possible. But this is sometimes not possible for a variety of reasons:

     ►You were hidden behind another participant as you passed our camera
     ►Weather or lighting conditions meant that we had some photographs with blurry content which we did not upload to our Flickr set
     ►There were too many people - some races attract thousands of participants and as amateur photographs we cannot hope to capture photographs of everyone
     ►We simply missed you - sorry about that - we did our best!

You can email us petermooney78 AT gmail DOT com to enquire if we have a photograph of you which didn't make the final Flickr selection for the race. But we cannot promise that there will be photograph there. As alternatives we advise you to contact the race organisers to enquire if there were (1) other photographs taking photographs at the race event or if (2) there were professional commercial sports photographers taking photographs which might have some photographs of you available for purchase. You might find some links for further information above.

Don't like your photograph here?
That's OK! We understand!

If, for any reason, you are not happy or comfortable with your picture appearing here in this photoset on Flickr then please email us at petermooney78 AT gmail DOT com and we will remove it as soon as possible. We give careful consideration to each photograph before uploading.

I want to tell people about these great photographs!
Great! Thank you! The best link to spread the word around is probably http://www.flickr.com/peterm7/sets

Sigourney Weaver, nominated for "Prayers for Bobby" by djtomdog

Sigourney Weaver, nominated for "Prayers for Bobby" on the red carpet of the 2010 SAG Awards

Grammy nominated Legendary New Swing Sextet, Angel Luis Justiniano by Santos Torres

VIDEO PLAYLIST www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyNsyrqQLo4&list=PLC87jK6_9w7...

BUY CD YESTERDAY TODAY & TOMORROW itunes.apple.com/album/yesterday-today-tomorrow/id5890407...

OFFICIAL WEBSITE www.thenewswingsextet.com/

FACEBOOK www.facebook.com/pages/Grammy-nominated-Legendary-New-Swi...

Contact Info

Press Contact George Rodriguez/ @ above emails

Booking Agent Henry Knowles/ henry@worldsalsadj.com, Angel Justiniano/ angeljustiniano08@gmail.com

Members George Rodriguez/ Vibes- leader, Angel Justiniano/ congas- vocal, coro- co-leader, Harry Justiniano/ Bass, Coro, Hector Ortiz/ Bongo, Percussion, Jimmy Figueroa/ Timbales- coro, Conal Fowkes/ Piano, Gilberto Velasquez,don sonero- Lead vocal............

About

New swing sextet, New York oldest Vibe driven sextet, and still performing "salsa that keeps the dancers moving and the Dj's pumping"

Biography

ABOUT THE NEW SWING SEXTET

A product of New York City and the excitement and turbulence of the sixties, the New Swing Sextet made its professional debut performing in the Singer Bowl at the last New York Worlds Fair in 1965... The band has been a popular and innovative exponent of Latin jazz, salsa and pop music for nearly four decades.

Composed of vocals, piano, vibes, bass and Latin percussion, the original New Swing broke up in the late seventies after successfully recording, touring and doing all the hot club dates that the New York metropolitan area had to offer. In recent years most of the groups core members have reunited and have been performing with Mambo Negro the highly popular Latin jazz ensemble, which performs regularly in and around the tri-state area. However, you can't buy or replace 40 years of history, and on special occasions the band performs as the New Swing. The New Swing offers an established and respected name with a sound from another era, which has been perfectly preserved and bottled for another generation to enjoy.

The band was part of a young crop (and new breed of aspiring Latin musicians) who grew up in the greater New York Metropolitan tri-state area with its rich ethnic mix and diverse inner-city culture, while at the same time growing up surrounded by the Latin music explosion happening in the region. The Palladium and other clubs were dancing to the music of Machito and his Afro-Cubans, and the Jose Curbelo Orchestra while Tito Puente, Tito Rodriguez, Eddie Palmieri, Joe Cuba, and Cal Tjader, among many others, had already established their unmistakable sounds. In the early sixties, every other city block in New York had a Latin band and a doo-wop group. Blend these many elements together and you get the influences that shaped the New Swing Sextet and their contemporaries, including Johnny Colon; the Lebron Brothers; Willie Colon, Joe Bataan and Pete Rodriguez groups that helped pioneer a new street sound (which would eventually become Latin Boogaloo and Salsa). The New Swing Sextet would join the Alpha Artists of America (under the Management of Jose Curbelo) and ultimately record 4 long albums (and have a separate Best of the New Swing Sextet) all under the Cotique label. The band regularly performed on popular TV shows such as El Club de la Juventud con Polito Vega; The Tito Puente Show with host Sofi; and El Show de Myrta Silva among others. It was a magical time to be a performing Latin artist in New York City. A fraternity of great musicians and legends in the making, routinely performing together at the great dance clubs of the day, including: The Corso; LaMaganette; The Chez Jose; La Mancha; The Colgate Gardens; The Psycho Room; The Tropicoro; The Cheetah and at all the great battle of the band venues such as The Hunts Point Palace; The Manhattan Center; The Riverside Plaza Hotel and The St. Georges Hotel. Over a ten-year period the New Swing performed all summer-long at popular resorts and at the summer home of Latin music: las Villas. The band has also toured extensively and performed at world famous venues such as the legendary Apollo Theatre; the South Street Seaport and Webster Hall in New York City. Recent performances to large audiences in Montreal, San Francisco, & Los Angeles, proved that the band still has plenty of sabrosura to keep the dancers on the floor.

(read less)

Oscar-Nominated Animator Chris Bailey Visits VFS by Vancouver Film School

1

VFS recently welcomed Oscar-nominated animator Chris Bailey for a special visit and presentation with VFS Animation & Visual Effects students. Chris’ work can be seen in much-loved films such as The Lion King, The Little Mermaid, The Rescuers Down Under, and more recently on hits such as X-Men 2, Eragon, and Hop.

Grammy nominated Legendary New Swing Sextet, George Rodriguez by Santos Torres

VIDEO PLAYLIST www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyNsyrqQLo4&list=PLC87jK6_9w7...

BUY CD YESTERDAY TODAY & TOMORROW itunes.apple.com/album/yesterday-today-tomorrow/id5890407...

OFFICIAL WEBSITE www.thenewswingsextet.com/

FACEBOOK www.facebook.com/pages/Grammy-nominated-Legendary-New-Swi...

Contact Info

www.heritagebc.ca/blog?articleid=162

Press Contact George Rodriguez/ @ above emails

Booking Agent Henry Knowles/ henry@worldsalsadj.com, Angel Justiniano/ angeljustiniano08@gmail.com

Members George Rodriguez/ Vibes- leader, Angel Justiniano/ congas- vocal, coro- co-leader, Harry Justiniano/ Bass, Coro, Hector Ortiz/ Bongo, Percussion, Jimmy Figueroa/ Timbales- coro, Conal Fowkes/ Piano, Gilberto Velasquez,don sonero- Lead vocal............

About

New swing sextet, New York oldest Vibe driven sextet, and still performing "salsa that keeps the dancers moving and the Dj's pumping"

Biography

ABOUT THE NEW SWING SEXTET

A product of New York City and the excitement and turbulence of the sixties, the New Swing Sextet made its professional debut performing in the Singer Bowl at the last New York Worlds Fair in 1965... The band has been a popular and innovative exponent of Latin jazz, salsa and pop music for nearly four decades.

Composed of vocals, piano, vibes, bass and Latin percussion, the original New Swing broke up in the late seventies after successfully recording, touring and doing all the hot club dates that the New York metropolitan area had to offer. In recent years most of the groups core members have reunited and have been performing with Mambo Negro the highly popular Latin jazz ensemble, which performs regularly in and around the tri-state area. However, you can't buy or replace 40 years of history, and on special occasions the band performs as the New Swing. The New Swing offers an established and respected name with a sound from another era, which has been perfectly preserved and bottled for another generation to enjoy.

The band was part of a young crop (and new breed of aspiring Latin musicians) who grew up in the greater New York Metropolitan tri-state area with its rich ethnic mix and diverse inner-city culture, while at the same time growing up surrounded by the Latin music explosion happening in the region. The Palladium and other clubs were dancing to the music of Machito and his Afro-Cubans, and the Jose Curbelo Orchestra while Tito Puente, Tito Rodriguez, Eddie Palmieri, Joe Cuba, and Cal Tjader, among many others, had already established their unmistakable sounds. In the early sixties, every other city block in New York had a Latin band and a doo-wop group. Blend these many elements together and you get the influences that shaped the New Swing Sextet and their contemporaries, including Johnny Colon; the Lebron Brothers; Willie Colon, Joe Bataan and Pete Rodriguez groups that helped pioneer a new street sound (which would eventually become Latin Boogaloo and Salsa). The New Swing Sextet would join the Alpha Artists of America (under the Management of Jose Curbelo) and ultimately record 4 long albums (and have a separate Best of the New Swing Sextet) all under the Cotique label. The band regularly performed on popular TV shows such as El Club de la Juventud con Polito Vega; The Tito Puente Show with host Sofi; and El Show de Myrta Silva among others. It was a magical time to be a performing Latin artist in New York City. A fraternity of great musicians and legends in the making, routinely performing together at the great dance clubs of the day, including: The Corso; LaMaganette; The Chez Jose; La Mancha; The Colgate Gardens; The Psycho Room; The Tropicoro; The Cheetah and at all the great battle of the band venues such as The Hunts Point Palace; The Manhattan Center; The Riverside Plaza Hotel and The St. Georges Hotel. Over a ten-year period the New Swing performed all summer-long at popular resorts and at the summer home of Latin music: las Villas. The band has also toured extensively and performed at world famous venues such as the legendary Apollo Theatre; the South Street Seaport and Webster Hall in New York City. Recent performances to large audiences in Montreal, San Francisco, & Los Angeles, proved that the band still has plenty of sabrosura to keep the dancers on the floor.

(read less)

New Restuarant Opening in Old New Town - Vancouver Chinatown by PhotoJunkie88

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.

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.”

Emily King @ Crocodile Cafe by Kirk Stauffer

Emily King performs on February 1, 2013 at the Crocodile Cafe in Seattle, Washington

Osprey by Jon Irvine

Nominate subspecies haliaetus

River Fal, Cornwall, UK

Dazzling Day by Essentia.by.Ladida .

6 5

---

Nominated at The FLICKYS... / THEME: Excellence in SETS

Academy of Flickr Arts and Sciences - AFAS (Resource Group).

Voting Deadline: September 01, 2005

Check the whole set "Old Town Memories" at www.flickr.com/photos/meloses/sets/490816/

White-throated Toucan by Jon Irvine

3

Nominate subspecies cuvieri Cuvier’s Toucan.

Refugio Amazonas [230m], Tambopata, Madre de Dios, Peru

CFTC Commissioner Rostin Behnam by Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)

Rostin Behnam was nominated by President Trump as a Commissioner of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission on July 13, 2017, was unanimously confirmed by the Unites States Senate on August 3, 2017, and was sworn in to serve as a Commissioner on September 6, 2017 for a term expiring in June 2021.

Commissioner Behnam arrived at the CFTC with extensive experience in financial and agricultural markets. After earning an A.B. in English literature and a minor in economics from Georgetown University, Commissioner Behnam worked as a proprietary equities trader in New York City, structuring and executing technical and fundamental trading strategies during a period of significant technological change. Seeking to improve and help shape the intersection between financial markets, public policy, and the law, Commissioner Behnam pursued a Juris Doctorate at Syracuse University. While a student, his experiences interning within the Division of Enforcement at the CFTC’s New York Regional Office motivated Commissioner Behnam to direct his professional attention on protecting consumers and individual investors.

Upon graduation, he returned to his home state of New Jersey and joined the Bureau of Securities within the state’s Office of the Attorney General. As an Investigator within the Bureau, Commissioner Behnam helped further the Bureau’s mission of protecting investors from investment fraud and regulating the securities industry in New Jersey through various enforcement actions and regulatory and financial literacy efforts. Following his time with the Bureau of Securities, Commissioner Behnam practiced law in New York City, representing public and private companies on a range of corporate law and regulatory matters.

In 2011, Commissioner Behnam joined the staff of the U.S. Senate Committee of Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, as senior counsel to Senator Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, the Committee’s Ranking Member. As senior counsel to Senator Stabenow from 2011 through his 2017 appointment, Commissioner Behnam primarily focused on policy and legislation matters related to the CFTC and the United States Department of Agriculture, agencies within the direct jurisdictional purview of the Committee. Within that role, Commissioner Behnam was also responsible for reviewing and vetting all executive branch nominations reported out of the Agriculture Committee.

Commissioner Behnam’s major responsibilities included advising Senator Stabenow on the implementation of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. In addition to the derivatives title, Commissioner Behnam also advised Senator Stabenow on all Dodd-Frank matters affecting the Treasury Department, the U.S. prudential regulators, and the Securities and Exchange Commission. Commissioner Behnam served as lead advisor to Senator Stabenow during the investigation of MF Global, following its 2011 bankruptcy. Commissioner Behnam worked as legal counsel and led negotiations on the 2013 Pesticide Registration Improvement Act, several key provisions of the 2014 Farm Bill, the 2015 Cotton Futures Act, and the 2016 National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard.

Since joining the CFTC, Commissioner Behnam has advocated that the CFTC utilize its authority and expertise to ensure the derivatives markets innovate responsibly within an appropriate oversight framework and promote coordination and engagement among the financial regulators and innovators. As sponsor of the CFTC’s Market Risk Advisory Committee, Commissioner Behnam convenes leading market experts and public consumer groups to engage in a public dialog on the timeliest issues relating to evolving market structures and movement of risk across clearinghouses, exchanges, intermediaries, market makers, and end-users.

Grammy nominated Legendary New Swing Sextet, Angel Luis Justiniano & Hector Ortiz by Santos Torres

VIDEO PLAYLIST www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyNsyrqQLo4&list=PLC87jK6_9w7...

BUY CD YESTERDAY TODAY & TOMORROW itunes.apple.com/album/yesterday-today-tomorrow/id5890407...

OFFICIAL WEBSITE www.thenewswingsextet.com/

FACEBOOK www.facebook.com/pages/Grammy-nominated-Legendary-New-Swi...

Contact Info

Two 1st MSC Units nominated for the Army Award for Maintenance Excellence (AAME) by 1st Mission Support Command The largest federal US Army Command in the Caribbean

Press Contact George Rodriguez/ @ above emails

Booking Agent Henry Knowles/ henry@worldsalsadj.com, Angel Justiniano/ angeljustiniano08@gmail.com

Members George Rodriguez/ Vibes- leader, Angel Justiniano/ congas- vocal, coro- co-leader, Harry Justiniano/ Bass, Coro, Hector Ortiz/ Bongo, Percussion, Jimmy Figueroa/ Timbales- coro, Conal Fowkes/ Piano, Gilberto Velasquez,don sonero- Lead vocal............

About

New swing sextet, New York oldest Vibe driven sextet, and still performing "salsa that keeps the dancers moving and the Dj's pumping"

Biography

ABOUT THE NEW SWING SEXTET

A product of New York City and the excitement and turbulence of the sixties, the New Swing Sextet made its professional debut performing in the Singer Bowl at the last New York Worlds Fair in 1965... The band has been a popular and innovative exponent of Latin jazz, salsa and pop music for nearly four decades.

Composed of vocals, piano, vibes, bass and Latin percussion, the original New Swing broke up in the late seventies after successfully recording, touring and doing all the hot club dates that the New York metropolitan area had to offer. In recent years most of the groups core members have reunited and have been performing with Mambo Negro the highly popular Latin jazz ensemble, which performs regularly in and around the tri-state area. However, you can't buy or replace 40 years of history, and on special occasions the band performs as the New Swing. The New Swing offers an established and respected name with a sound from another era, which has been perfectly preserved and bottled for another generation to enjoy.

The band was part of a young crop (and new breed of aspiring Latin musicians) who grew up in the greater New York Metropolitan tri-state area with its rich ethnic mix and diverse inner-city culture, while at the same time growing up surrounded by the Latin music explosion happening in the region. The Palladium and other clubs were dancing to the music of Machito and his Afro-Cubans, and the Jose Curbelo Orchestra while Tito Puente, Tito Rodriguez, Eddie Palmieri, Joe Cuba, and Cal Tjader, among many others, had already established their unmistakable sounds. In the early sixties, every other city block in New York had a Latin band and a doo-wop group. Blend these many elements together and you get the influences that shaped the New Swing Sextet and their contemporaries, including Johnny Colon; the Lebron Brothers; Willie Colon, Joe Bataan and Pete Rodriguez groups that helped pioneer a new street sound (which would eventually become Latin Boogaloo and Salsa). The New Swing Sextet would join the Alpha Artists of America (under the Management of Jose Curbelo) and ultimately record 4 long albums (and have a separate Best of the New Swing Sextet) all under the Cotique label. The band regularly performed on popular TV shows such as El Club de la Juventud con Polito Vega; The Tito Puente Show with host Sofi; and El Show de Myrta Silva among others. It was a magical time to be a performing Latin artist in New York City. A fraternity of great musicians and legends in the making, routinely performing together at the great dance clubs of the day, including: The Corso; LaMaganette; The Chez Jose; La Mancha; The Colgate Gardens; The Psycho Room; The Tropicoro; The Cheetah and at all the great battle of the band venues such as The Hunts Point Palace; The Manhattan Center; The Riverside Plaza Hotel and The St. Georges Hotel. Over a ten-year period the New Swing performed all summer-long at popular resorts and at the summer home of Latin music: las Villas. The band has also toured extensively and performed at world famous venues such as the legendary Apollo Theatre; the South Street Seaport and Webster Hall in New York City. Recent performances to large audiences in Montreal, San Francisco, & Los Angeles, proved that the band still has plenty of sabrosura to keep the dancers on the floor.

(read less)

old Geneva Car Barn / Geneva Office Building and Power House by sftrajan

San Francisco

built 1901 as an office building and carhouse for the San Francisco and San Mateo Electric Railway Company. (Adolph Spreckels and John D Spreckels)

architects: Reid Brothers

1906- The San Francisco earthquake damages the Geneva Car Barn Building. The Powerhouse sustains the most damage. However, the building returns to normal operations less than a month later, and all damage is repaired by 1910.

1907- United Carmen’s strike against United Railroad in one of the bloodiest strikes of the early 20th Century.

1917- United Carmen strike again. Strikebreakers are stationed in Car Barn and snuck in and out of a window to operate the streetcars, as a precaution against clashes with the mob of striking operators outside the building.

1921 – United Railroads reorganizes as the Market Street Railway Company.

1944 – Market Street Railway Company is absorbed by the San Francisco Municipal Railway. The Geneva complex becomes the center of streetcar operations in San Francisco.

1985 – Geneva Car Barn Office Building designated San Francisco Landmark No. 180 by the Board of Supervisors.

1989 – The Loma Prieta Earthquake damages the Car Barn and Powerhouse. The building is closed and abandoned, and remains that way.

1999 – Ten years after the closure of the building, San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown directs San Francisco Municipal Railway to halt demolition of the Car Barn. He does so at the urging of the community.

2004 – Building ownership is changed from San Francisco Municipal Transportation Authority to the Recreation and Parks Department. The building is stabilized and given a new roof, and community activists form a partnership with the City to restore the building as a future youth center.

2009 – Geneva Car Barn and Powerhouse nominated for the National Register of Historic Places, and the Powerhouse is proposed as an addition to the complex’s SF Landmark status.

info source with old photos and plans for the future: www.genevacarbarn.org/history/

2014-Oct-E 004

Fort Buchanan, PR: The 346th Transportation Battalion and the 471st Engineer Company competed for the Army Award for Maintenance Excellence (AAME), Phase two. This is a very demanding Department of the Army (DA) competition, which took place 28 Feb thru 4 March 2011.

A group of extremely prepared officers and non commissioned officers answered the call in proud representation of the two units. Master Sgt. Vicente Vazquez (Battalion Maintenance NCO) represented the Headquarters and headquarters Detachment, 346th Transportation Battalion. Staff Sgts. Juan Tirado, Alex Rancier and Spc. Thomas DeLeon represented the 268th Cargo Transfer Company. Sgt. 1st Class Samuel Watson and Sgt. Tony D Vargas represented the 390th Transportation Company. Meanwhile, Sgt. 1st Class Ralph Marchese was competing for the 432nd Transportation Company and Sgt. Christian Mena represented the 268th Cargo Transfer Company.

Meanwhile, the 471st Engineer Company was also equally represented by Capt. Hector Mojica, Staff Sgt. Moises Melendez, Staff Sgt. Nidia Rodriguez, Sgt. Luis Ferreira, Sgt. Francys Hernandez and Spc. Bethzaida Peralta.

The evaluation consisted of an onsite detailed review of the maintenance program. “The 1st MSC units did an extremely well job with the evaluation”, said Chief Warrant Officer Four Nicole S. Rettmann, one of the AAME Evaluators. In addition, Sgt. Maj. Leon J. Chovan, another AAME evaluator, stated “Maintenance excellence is our goal (with this inspection)”.

Eleven Army Reserve units were nominated for phase 1 of the demanding competition. Only seven units complied with the high standards, survived the first phase and competed for phase 2. The scores will now be tallied to finally determine the winner. The AAME banquet will be held in Richmond, Va. on 12 May 2011.

The AAME winner will be the one that displays an expertise and professionalism in performing their tasks. Each unit is evaluated on their effectiveness in ensuring that Soldier competency is maintained. Assessments of each unit in the categories of attitude and effective leadership are rated with a benchmark based on those of past winners. The tenets of exceptional maintenance processes that were exhibited are validated and ranked. If you believe your unit should compete for next year’s inspections, go to Chapter 7 and Appendix D of AR 750-1, Army Materiel Maintenance Policy, and review the requirements.

Two 1st MSC Units nominated for the Army Award for Maintenance Excellence (AAME) by 1st Mission Support Command The largest federal US Army Command in the Caribbean

2

Fort Buchanan, PR: The 346th Transportation Battalion and the 471st Engineer Company competed for the Army Award for Maintenance Excellence (AAME), Phase two. This is a very demanding Department of the Army (DA) competition, which took place 28 Feb thru 4 March 2011.

A group of extremely prepared officers and non commissioned officers answered the call in proud representation of the two units. Master Sgt. Vicente Vazquez (Battalion Maintenance NCO) represented the Headquarters and headquarters Detachment, 346th Transportation Battalion. Staff Sgts. Juan Tirado, Alex Rancier and Spc. Thomas DeLeon represented the 268th Cargo Transfer Company. Sgt. 1st Class Samuel Watson and Sgt. Tony D Vargas represented the 390th Transportation Company. Meanwhile, Sgt. 1st Class Ralph Marchese was competing for the 432nd Transportation Company and Sgt. Christian Mena represented the 268th Cargo Transfer Company.

Meanwhile, the 471st Engineer Company was also equally represented by Capt. Hector Mojica, Staff Sgt. Moises Melendez, Staff Sgt. Nidia Rodriguez, Sgt. Luis Ferreira, Sgt. Francys Hernandez and Spc. Bethzaida Peralta.

The evaluation consisted of an onsite detailed review of the maintenance program. “The 1st MSC units did an extremely well job with the evaluation”, said Chief Warrant Officer Four Nicole S. Rettmann, one of the AAME Evaluators. In addition, Sgt. Maj. Leon J. Chovan, another AAME evaluator, stated “Maintenance excellence is our goal (with this inspection)”.

Eleven Army Reserve units were nominated for phase 1 of the demanding competition. Only seven units complied with the high standards, survived the first phase and competed for phase 2. The scores will now be tallied to finally determine the winner. The AAME banquet will be held in Richmond, Va. on 12 May 2011.

The AAME winner will be the one that displays an expertise and professionalism in performing their tasks. Each unit is evaluated on their effectiveness in ensuring that Soldier competency is maintained. Assessments of each unit in the categories of attitude and effective leadership are rated with a benchmark based on those of past winners. The tenets of exceptional maintenance processes that were exhibited are validated and ranked. If you believe your unit should compete for next year’s inspections, go to Chapter 7 and Appendix D of AR 750-1, Army Materiel Maintenance Policy, and review the requirements.

Two 1st MSC Units nominated for the Army Award for Maintenance Excellence (AAME) by 1st Mission Support Command The largest federal US Army Command in the Caribbean

1

Fort Buchanan, PR: The 346th Transportation Battalion and the 471st Engineer Company competed for the Army Award for Maintenance Excellence (AAME), Phase two. This is a very demanding Department of the Army (DA) competition, which took place 28 Feb thru 4 March 2011.

A group of extremely prepared officers and non commissioned officers answered the call in proud representation of the two units. Master Sgt. Vicente Vazquez (Battalion Maintenance NCO) represented the Headquarters and headquarters Detachment, 346th Transportation Battalion. Staff Sgts. Juan Tirado, Alex Rancier and Spc. Thomas DeLeon represented the 268th Cargo Transfer Company. Sgt. 1st Class Samuel Watson and Sgt. Tony D Vargas represented the 390th Transportation Company. Meanwhile, Sgt. 1st Class Ralph Marchese was competing for the 432nd Transportation Company and Sgt. Christian Mena represented the 268th Cargo Transfer Company.

Meanwhile, the 471st Engineer Company was also equally represented by Capt. Hector Mojica, Staff Sgt. Moises Melendez, Staff Sgt. Nidia Rodriguez, Sgt. Luis Ferreira, Sgt. Francys Hernandez and Spc. Bethzaida Peralta.

The evaluation consisted of an onsite detailed review of the maintenance program. “The 1st MSC units did an extremely well job with the evaluation”, said Chief Warrant Officer Four Nicole S. Rettmann, one of the AAME Evaluators. In addition, Sgt. Maj. Leon J. Chovan, another AAME evaluator, stated “Maintenance excellence is our goal (with this inspection)”.

Eleven Army Reserve units were nominated for phase 1 of the demanding competition. Only seven units complied with the high standards, survived the first phase and competed for phase 2. The scores will now be tallied to finally determine the winner. The AAME banquet will be held in Richmond, Va. on 12 May 2011.

The AAME winner will be the one that displays an expertise and professionalism in performing their tasks. Each unit is evaluated on their effectiveness in ensuring that Soldier competency is maintained. Assessments of each unit in the categories of attitude and effective leadership are rated with a benchmark based on those of past winners. The tenets of exceptional maintenance processes that were exhibited are validated and ranked. If you believe your unit should compete for next year’s inspections, go to Chapter 7 and Appendix D of AR 750-1, Army Materiel Maintenance Policy, and review the requirements.

Kurdish Peshmerga nominated for Noble Peace Prize by KURDISTAN🌟 كوردستان

Kurdish Peshmerga nominated for Noble Peace Prize for ISIS ‘sacrifices’

پێشمەرگە بۆ وەرگرتنی خەڵاتی نۆبڵی ئاشتی کاندید دەکرێت

پێشمەرگە وەک هێزێکی کاریگەر لە شەڕی دژ بە داعش، بۆ خەڵاتی نۆبڵی ئاشتی ساڵی 2018 کاندید دەکرێت.

ئەمڕۆ چوارشەممە 31-1-2018 دوارۆژە بۆ پێشکەشکردنی ناوی کاندیدانی خەڵاتی نۆبڵ بۆ ئاشتی، پەرلەمانتارێکی نەرویجیش بەناوی هیمانشو گولاتی پێشمەرگەى بۆ وەرگرتنی ئەو خەڵاتە لە ساڵی 2018 کاندید کردووە.

لەبارەی کاندیدکردنی پێشمەرگە بۆ خەڵاتی نۆبڵی ئاشتی، گولاتی رایگەیاندووە "هێزەکانی پێشمەرگە رۆڵێکی گرنگیان هەبووە لە شەڕی دژ بە داعش، کە (داعش) گەورەترین دوژمنی مرۆڤایەتین".

Norwegian trainers work with Kurdish forces at a training facility in Erbil on January 31, 2017. Photo: Sgt. Josephine Carlson | US Army

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Norwegian lawmaker Himanshu Gulati has nominated the forces of the Kurdish Peshmerga for the Nobel Peace Prize for their contributions in the fight against "the greatest enemy of humanity."

"The Peshmerga have been crucial to the fact we have been able to fight ISIS, which I believe is the greatest enemy of humanity," Gulati said in an interview with the Norwegian online newspaper Nettavisen.

"Without the sacrifices of the Peshmerga victims on the frontline of the battle against ISIS, ISIS probably would be bigger and more powerful than they are today," he said.

Gulati, an MP from the Progress Party and a state secretary in the justice and public security ministry, was asked if warfare is compatible with receiving a peace prize.

"In this case," he said, "we are faced with a terrorist organization that stands for a caliphate and a territory that beats people on the street, gays being thrown down from buildings and Yezidi women who are brutally being held captive as sex slaves."

ISIS was declared militarily defeated in December after three years of war. However, Peshmerga have continued to serve to eliminate ISIS remnants as a partnered force in the US-led international coalition, of which Norway is a member.

"This kind of evil is the duty of all humanity to fight, and here the Peshmerga have been on the frontline on behalf of the rest of the world," said Gulati.

Wednesday is the deadline for Nobel Peace Prize nominations. Gulati is eligible to nominate by invitation of the Norwegian Nobel Committee.

"It will be a big signal from the world to recognize this effort and the lives that have been lost," added the MP.

More than 1,700 Peshmerga died and more than 10,000 were injured in the war that began in 2014.

Kurdish Peshmerga soldiers were the first to fight back against ISIS after the group overran the Iraqi Army in the country's second-largest city of Mosul and were just kilometers away from the gates of the Kurdistan Region's capital of Erbil.

Iran initially backed the Peshmerga with arms. The United States and then later the coalition provided air support, training, advising, and weapons to the Kurdish forces.

The Peshmerga maintained a frontline against ISIS that ran roughly from Shingal to Khanaqin, which shielded the Kurdistan Region, Turkey, and Europe.

Norwegian soldiers have trained Peshmerga at the Kurdistan Training Coordination Center.

The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded annually for "outstanding contributions in peace" in Oslo, Norway, since 1901.

The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons was bestowed the award in 201

Nominate your favorites! Visit the link in our bio to nominate your favorite urban lgbt figures or click this link http://ift.tt/1QhJvIY ! #rrawards2016 #lgbtsupport #bisexual #lgbtq #lgbtpride #lesbian #trans #ftm #lgbtcommunity #lgbtyouth #transgender # by Tj Johnson

1

via Instagram ift.tt/1Plx2XQ lgbt, Instagram,lesbian,gay,lesbian wedding,gay wedding,gay couples,lesbian couples,#teamlesbian

ISPO 2013 Brand New Village by NONUSUAL

2 1

Gropes nominated as finalist at ISPO 2013

Grammy nominated Legendary New Swing Sextet by Santos Torres

VIDEO PLAYLIST www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyNsyrqQLo4&list=PLC87jK6_9w7...

BUY CD YESTERDAY TODAY & TOMORROW itunes.apple.com/album/yesterday-today-tomorrow/id5890407...

OFFICIAL WEBSITE www.thenewswingsextet.com/

FACEBOOK www.facebook.com/pages/Grammy-nominated-Legendary-New-Swi...

Contact Info

Press Contact George Rodriguez/ @ above emails

Booking Agent Henry Knowles/ henry@worldsalsadj.com, Angel Justiniano/ angeljustiniano08@gmail.com

Members George Rodriguez/ Vibes- leader, Angel Justiniano/ congas- vocal, coro- co-leader, Harry Justiniano/ Bass, Coro, Hector Ortiz/ Bongo, Percussion, Jimmy Figueroa/ Timbales- coro, Conal Fowkes/ Piano, Gilberto Velasquez,don sonero- Lead vocal............

About

New swing sextet, New York oldest Vibe driven sextet, and still performing "salsa that keeps the dancers moving and the Dj's pumping"

Biography

ABOUT THE NEW SWING SEXTET

A product of New York City and the excitement and turbulence of the sixties, the New Swing Sextet made its professional debut performing in the Singer Bowl at the last New York Worlds Fair in 1965... The band has been a popular and innovative exponent of Latin jazz, salsa and pop music for nearly four decades.

Composed of vocals, piano, vibes, bass and Latin percussion, the original New Swing broke up in the late seventies after successfully recording, touring and doing all the hot club dates that the New York metropolitan area had to offer. In recent years most of the groups core members have reunited and have been performing with Mambo Negro the highly popular Latin jazz ensemble, which performs regularly in and around the tri-state area. However, you can't buy or replace 40 years of history, and on special occasions the band performs as the New Swing. The New Swing offers an established and respected name with a sound from another era, which has been perfectly preserved and bottled for another generation to enjoy.

The band was part of a young crop (and new breed of aspiring Latin musicians) who grew up in the greater New York Metropolitan tri-state area with its rich ethnic mix and diverse inner-city culture, while at the same time growing up surrounded by the Latin music explosion happening in the region. The Palladium and other clubs were dancing to the music of Machito and his Afro-Cubans, and the Jose Curbelo Orchestra while Tito Puente, Tito Rodriguez, Eddie Palmieri, Joe Cuba, and Cal Tjader, among many others, had already established their unmistakable sounds. In the early sixties, every other city block in New York had a Latin band and a doo-wop group. Blend these many elements together and you get the influences that shaped the New Swing Sextet and their contemporaries, including Johnny Colon; the Lebron Brothers; Willie Colon, Joe Bataan and Pete Rodriguez groups that helped pioneer a new street sound (which would eventually become Latin Boogaloo and Salsa). The New Swing Sextet would join the Alpha Artists of America (under the Management of Jose Curbelo) and ultimately record 4 long albums (and have a separate Best of the New Swing Sextet) all under the Cotique label. The band regularly performed on popular TV shows such as El Club de la Juventud con Polito Vega; The Tito Puente Show with host Sofi; and El Show de Myrta Silva among others. It was a magical time to be a performing Latin artist in New York City. A fraternity of great musicians and legends in the making, routinely performing together at the great dance clubs of the day, including: The Corso; LaMaganette; The Chez Jose; La Mancha; The Colgate Gardens; The Psycho Room; The Tropicoro; The Cheetah and at all the great battle of the band venues such as The Hunts Point Palace; The Manhattan Center; The Riverside Plaza Hotel and The St. Georges Hotel. Over a ten-year period the New Swing performed all summer-long at popular resorts and at the summer home of Latin music: las Villas. The band has also toured extensively and performed at world famous venues such as the legendary Apollo Theatre; the South Street Seaport and Webster Hall in New York City. Recent performances to large audiences in Montreal, San Francisco, & Los Angeles, proved that the band still has plenty of sabrosura to keep the dancers on the floor.

(read less)

Grammy nominated Legendary New Swing Sextet, Damian Bastar & Angel Luis Justiniano by Santos Torres

VIDEO PLAYLIST www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyNsyrqQLo4&list=PLC87jK6_9w7...

BUY CD YESTERDAY TODAY & TOMORROW itunes.apple.com/album/yesterday-today-tomorrow/id5890407...

OFFICIAL WEBSITE www.thenewswingsextet.com/

FACEBOOK www.facebook.com/pages/Grammy-nominated-Legendary-New-Swi...

Contact Info

Press Contact George Rodriguez/ @ above emails

Booking Agent Henry Knowles/ henry@worldsalsadj.com, Angel Justiniano/ angeljustiniano08@gmail.com

Members George Rodriguez/ Vibes- leader, Angel Justiniano/ congas- vocal, coro- co-leader, Harry Justiniano/ Bass, Coro, Hector Ortiz/ Bongo, Percussion, Jimmy Figueroa/ Timbales- coro, Conal Fowkes/ Piano, Gilberto Velasquez,don sonero- Lead vocal............

About

New swing sextet, New York oldest Vibe driven sextet, and still performing "salsa that keeps the dancers moving and the Dj's pumping"

Biography

ABOUT THE NEW SWING SEXTET

A product of New York City and the excitement and turbulence of the sixties, the New Swing Sextet made its professional debut performing in the Singer Bowl at the last New York Worlds Fair in 1965... The band has been a popular and innovative exponent of Latin jazz, salsa and pop music for nearly four decades.

Composed of vocals, piano, vibes, bass and Latin percussion, the original New Swing broke up in the late seventies after successfully recording, touring and doing all the hot club dates that the New York metropolitan area had to offer. In recent years most of the groups core members have reunited and have been performing with Mambo Negro the highly popular Latin jazz ensemble, which performs regularly in and around the tri-state area. However, you can't buy or replace 40 years of history, and on special occasions the band performs as the New Swing. The New Swing offers an established and respected name with a sound from another era, which has been perfectly preserved and bottled for another generation to enjoy.

The band was part of a young crop (and new breed of aspiring Latin musicians) who grew up in the greater New York Metropolitan tri-state area with its rich ethnic mix and diverse inner-city culture, while at the same time growing up surrounded by the Latin music explosion happening in the region. The Palladium and other clubs were dancing to the music of Machito and his Afro-Cubans, and the Jose Curbelo Orchestra while Tito Puente, Tito Rodriguez, Eddie Palmieri, Joe Cuba, and Cal Tjader, among many others, had already established their unmistakable sounds. In the early sixties, every other city block in New York had a Latin band and a doo-wop group. Blend these many elements together and you get the influences that shaped the New Swing Sextet and their contemporaries, including Johnny Colon; the Lebron Brothers; Willie Colon, Joe Bataan and Pete Rodriguez groups that helped pioneer a new street sound (which would eventually become Latin Boogaloo and Salsa). The New Swing Sextet would join the Alpha Artists of America (under the Management of Jose Curbelo) and ultimately record 4 long albums (and have a separate Best of the New Swing Sextet) all under the Cotique label. The band regularly performed on popular TV shows such as El Club de la Juventud con Polito Vega; The Tito Puente Show with host Sofi; and El Show de Myrta Silva among others. It was a magical time to be a performing Latin artist in New York City. A fraternity of great musicians and legends in the making, routinely performing together at the great dance clubs of the day, including: The Corso; LaMaganette; The Chez Jose; La Mancha; The Colgate Gardens; The Psycho Room; The Tropicoro; The Cheetah and at all the great battle of the band venues such as The Hunts Point Palace; The Manhattan Center; The Riverside Plaza Hotel and The St. Georges Hotel. Over a ten-year period the New Swing performed all summer-long at popular resorts and at the summer home of Latin music: las Villas. The band has also toured extensively and performed at world famous venues such as the legendary Apollo Theatre; the South Street Seaport and Webster Hall in New York City. Recent performances to large audiences in Montreal, San Francisco, & Los Angeles, proved that the band still has plenty of sabrosura to keep the dancers on the floor.

(read less)

Grammy nominated Legendary New Swing Sextet, Angel Luis Justiniano by Santos Torres

VIDEO PLAYLIST www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyNsyrqQLo4&list=PLC87jK6_9w7...

BUY CD YESTERDAY TODAY & TOMORROW itunes.apple.com/album/yesterday-today-tomorrow/id5890407...

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