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LEARNING – from cow to cheese

I knew before I arrived that there would be milking going on at this farm. This was not the only factor in my decision to come, but it did play a significant role. Milking a cow is one of many items on my Life’s To-Do List, and now I can call that one – accomplished.

Prior to my arrival, I had this romantic notion of milking. I envisioned myself sitting on a tiny wooden three legged stool, milking the cows by hand into an old tin bucket. The rhythm of the milking and the scent of earthy cow lulling me into a pioneer daydream. I thought it would be like Little House on the Prairie or the Amish, but it was not…

They got machines in these here parts. Milking machines. You still have to do a fair bit of work, but it goes much faster than milking each cow individually by hand. The whole process from set up to clean up, for all four cows, takes about an hour with two people helping (a bit longer when all alone). Not too bad.

How To Milk A Cow

We start in the house and take all of the necessary equipment out to the barn via wheelbarrow. Equipment includes: the portable milking machine, the container for the milk, and a small bucket of warm water with several drops of tea tree oil.

Once we are out to the barn, one person starts setting up while the other person goes out to get the cows. The person who is setting up has the easy job. All that setting up entails is putting some grain in the troughs at the two milking stations, and opening the gate of the holding pen so the cows can go in. That’s it. Then you sit and wait.

The cows are out in the pasture. Bad Bull is behaving himself today and is far away.

The person who has to go get the cows has a little more work to do. The cows are out in the pasture and are moved a little further everyday. So you walk out, being careful to mind the steaming piles of cow dung that seem to be everywhere, and try to get the cows to come back to the barn with you. Sounds simple, right? Sometimes they come very easily and sometimes, especially when they are lying down, they take a lot of prodding. Usually a few slaps on the rump get them up and on their way. There is also a bull to watch out for. They call him Bad Bull for good reason. He is separated by an electric fence, but that little string doesnt seem like much proteciton when he is huffing and charging and looking like he could spear you like a pitch fork. Once you get the cows moving, while avoiding the angry stare of the bull, you follow them back to the barn side stepping the seemingly continuous flow of manure.

While following the cows to the barn, be sure to watch your step.

Back at the barn the cows know what to do and they know their order too. The first two cows, Blacky and Precious, get into position while the other two, Loony and Mickey, wait in the holding pen. The cows are busy munching on the grains and get linked to the troughs with a chain so that they don’t run off or over you mid-milking.

Blacky on the left and Precious on the right.

Next it’s time to wash the udders and teets with the warm water and tea tree oil. Gotta get all the poo and other gross things off so it doesn’t go into the milk. After they are clean, you get the milk started with a few squirts and then hook up the machines. Precious and Mickey get the portable machine and Blacky and Loony get the machine that stays in the barn.

Mickey on the left and Loony on the right.

The machines are powered by an air compressor, so you turn that on and then hook up the machines. Simply stick one sucker on each teet and presto – your’e milking. It only takes five or so minutes to milk them – then you detach the machine, detach the cow, and move onto the next two.

This is me attaching the portable milking machine to Mickey.

The milk from the portable machine gets transferred to the milk container after filling up the barn cats milk bowl. There are a few cats and many kitties vying for a spot at the rim – watch you don’t pour the milk on their heads. Next, you put out more grain for the last two cows and start the whole process over again.

The cats anxiously await their milk everyday.

After all the cows are finished it’s time to clean up. One person stays in the barn and the other takes the milk and portable machine back to the house. If you are the person in barn, you clean the machine by running hot soapy water through and then rinsing with cold water. Then you sweep out the barn and hope that none of the cows left any presents for you (those are gross to clean up and require more than a broom).

The last two cows are leaving the barn.

If you are the person who goes to the house, you do one of two things with the milk. Sometimes the milk is separated into cream and skim, other times the milk is just kept as is.

Wheeling the milk back to the house.

To use the separator, first you strain the milk and then add it to the machine that magically (through centrifugal force) separates out the cream. The cream is kept and the skim is fed to pigs (they love it and get a little perturbed when they don’t get it). When you are simply keeping the whole milk, it is again strained and then measured by liter into jugs.

Separating the cream from the milk.

Almost done. You just need to wash everything with hot soapy water. Wahbam! You have successfully milked a cow (or four). Yay!

How To Make Cheese

When there is extra milk sometimes they make cheese. Fortunately I was here for one of these sometimes days. It takes a lot of milk to make a little cheese. We decided to make Farmhouse Cheese, how fitting.

The recipe for the cheese.

The process of making cheese is actually very simple. First you must heat the milk to a nice and balmy 98° F. Once it’s heated you add a few things to the mix: rennet, mesophilic culture, and some salt. Then it sits for about an hour until the curd separates from the whey.

First you must heat the milk.

You can tell the curd is ready when you can get a ‘clean break’ with your spoon. Then you ladle out thin slices of the curd into the draining containers.

The curd is ready when you can get a clean break like this.

Ladling the curd out of the vat and into the containers.

I missed the last part of the cheese making process due to my unfortunate bout with stomach flu (read about that lovely day here). Fortunately, the rest of the process is very simple. It takes a bit of time for all the whey to drain from the curd and for the curd to compact into a cheese like consistency. This cheese drained overnight and by the next day it looked like this!

The finished product. Yumm!

It was soft and tangy and just a tiny bit sour. Pretty good for such a simple process and considering it went from cow to table in a matter of days, amazingly fresh and delicious.

I hope you enjoyed this glimpse into farm life.

One last word of wisdom. If you are a milk drinker and there is any way for you to get fresh raw milk from a local dairy – DO IT! You will not be disappointed, and will be so much healthier too.

Thanks for reading!

– Rene

10 responses to “LEARNING – from cow to cheese

  1. cool to see the process in action. I love cheese and got to visit some dairy farms and cheese factories in several states. Hope you are enjoying it.

  2. That was so interesting.. while I am not a “milk lover”, I love this process and the cheese does look Yummy!!

    • Thanks for the comment Lynne. I am not usually a milk lover either but when in Rome – yada yada. I was amazed at how much healthier it is to drink raw
      milk as opposed to the pasteurized and homogenized stuff they sell at the store. In fact most people who are lactose intolerant can drink raw milk just fine. Very interesting. – Rene

  3. I made cheese like that once…….back in my hippie days.
    Now you’ve empowered me to try my hand at it again.

  4. Ahhh, fresh milk, fresh cheese – what more could a girl need 🙂
    Cool post – I never realised there were portable milking machines. How very handy!
    I’ve only just recently found a source for rennet… but am now in the middle of moving home and don’t quite have all my pots to hand. The minute we are all reunited (and I’ve found a local dairy) I’m going to get stuck in to cheese-making. I love it!

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Posted on November 3, 2016

Lots to think about of course 🙂   It’s a conference!

I’m in session on’we’re not critical enough

and among lots of other things she’s duly noting that from 1970-74 there was a big movement towards “open ”   (big spike in the bar graph about ‘open’ research).

resnick 1972 quote: ” open education movements and ed tech are often seen as mutually hostile, challenge in ed is” change in slide ’cause these are 25 minute sessions… but oh, the truth was known then!

So bottom line:   our research and articles are nice for us but aren’t as good for convincing others.   (She thinks the 1970’s were more into theory 🙂   )

… and yes, this is a group that has their own little insulated universe, and most of what they’re doing is inaccessible to people out of that universe

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Saint Perpetua

Catholic Heroes of the Faith has a new animated series with the first DVD on Saint Perpetua.  The DVD includes a leader’s guide with lesson plans, reproducible student handouts, discussion questions, puzzles, coloring pages and more.  Additional resources available online at   To reserve DVD 0339 go to

Heroes and Legends of the Bible

Greatest Heroes and Legends of the Bible is an animated series hosted by Charlton Heston.  Some of the stories now available through the Sidney Media Center are Joshua and the Battle of Jericho, Samson and Delilah, Jonah and the Whale, Sodom and Gomorrah. For description and reservation information go to

Digital Catechesis

There are some terrfic video clips on this blog.  Check them out – only if you want to think in new ways!

Company’s Coming

Looking for a process for creating more welcoming parishes?  This is the book for you!  Dr. Richard McCorry outlines a detailed spiritual process that you can follow.  Check out his Center for Parish Hospitality at

Introducing Catholic Prayer for RCIA Leaders: A Companion to The Catholic Way to Pray

A Must-Have for every RCIA Coordinator!

This book by Kathleen Glavich, SND  (Twenty-third Publications) is the “How to Teach Prayer” book you need!  It tells how to teach meditation, Mantras, Catholic Prayers, The Rosary and Praying with others.  Included are web sites and resources on prayer, samples and acitities and guided meditations to copy.

Sprinkled on every page are Questions (Why do Catholics pray to Mary?), Tips for RCIA Leaders, humorous and insightful Stories and Activities to do in RCIA Catechtiecal Sessions.

Let me know how you have used some of the ideas to teach prayer in RCIA.  Carolyn

Another PowerPoint presentation

Learning About Resources

Learning about resources

Check out one of the PowerPoint presentations from our Catechetical Leaders’ meeting of September 4, 2009


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Rooms, services Travelling to Longboat Key and looking for accommodation? Take a look at what RESORT AT LONGBOAT KEY CLUB Longboat Key has to offer! Guests looking for accommodation in Longboat Key are welcome to book a nicely furnished room at the hotel. In case you'd like to have a meal or a drink on the spot, you will be provided freshly prepared dishes in the restaurant every day. Refreshing wellness services will be available on the spot. For meetings and nice evening chats the local bar will provide an ideal location. An exact and detailed list of equipment in the rooms and of the services provided by RESORT AT LONGBOAT KEY CLUB Longboat Key you will find on the information sheet below, including any applicable additional fees.

Payment Depending on the selected date, room and price, you may need to provide credit card guarantee or advance bank card payment to finalize your reservation.

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34228 220 SANDS POINT ROAD , Longboat Key, 34228 (United States of America)
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Dinosaur sketch

My wife and I attended the Montana Festival of the Book over the weekend and attended Jack Horner‘s presentation about his newest book How to Build a Dinosaur. I had my Moleskine journal with me so I started doodling one of the dinosaur images at the beginning of the presentation and was able to finish this small sketch before the presentation was completed. He was kind enough to sign my drawing along with my wife’s copy of How to Build a Dinosaur. It’s always a treat to meet an author we especially like and we found that Dr. Horner was a very approachable and patient person.

I had been lucky enough to attend a symposium in Bozeman, Montana (the home of the Museum of the Rockies, where Horner is curator) and listened to another presentation for the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators before leading us on a field trip to the Museum of the Rockies where we were given a behind-the-scenes look at the efforts that go into creating and preserving the many exhibits at the museum.

It was one of those experiences that makes you say, “If I ever got the chance to work here, I would be in heaven.” Unfortunately I don’t know how to weld, have never cast a bone in a silicone mold, haven’t created exhibit displays where the specimen can be removed for study and reinserted without causing damage to the display or, more importantly, the bones themselves. Needless to say, I’d need a few more qualifications which is why their current exhibit coordinator is so unique. It’s a great museum and well worth the visit if you even happen to be in Bozeman before traveling down to Yellowstone National Park.


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Fits & Fugues

Education can be so much more.

Possibility vs Scarcity Thinking with Ben and Roz Zander

The Art of Possibility: Transforming Professional and Personal Life

I’ve just finished Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander’s book The Art of Possibility: Transforming Professional and Personal Life. This book caps of a trio of books I’ve “read” since January 2009. (Note: I have placed “read” in quotations because I actually listened to two of the books and some of my English-teacher friends would say that doesn’t really count as having read them. That’s their problem, not mine. I’m all the better for my auditory or visual interaction with them anyway and I’ll use read to signify both kinds of interaction here.) The other two books are Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die by Chip Heath and Dan Heath and The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything by Ken Robinson with Lou Aronica (listed in reverse order read.)Made To Stick

First of all, Zander’s The Art of Possibility and Robinson’s The Element represent the books I purchased because I watched related videos on TED. TED, by the way, if you have never heard of it is “riveting talks by remarkable people, free to the world.” For all you corporate, copyright, intellectual control, 19th-century business model, knowledge-hoarding authoritarians, you might want to notice that the free media on TED directly contributed to the purchase of two additional, possibly three items -the Zanders’ physical book and Robinson’s audio recording, which I may also purchase in hard copy for future reference. Additionally, after listening to the Heaths’ book, I purchased the hard copy…I’m just sayin’.

The ElementI didn’t intend to read the books in the order I did. In fact I didn’t intend to read them at all other than The Element. After watching Robinson’s TED talk and Zander’s TED talk, I had to learn more. Additionally, reading Made To Stick and The Art of Possibility were a result of recurring recommendations by those I follow on Twitter and those whose blogs I read.

…Meanwhile, back to the books themselves. They all have a similar “long line” as Zander calls it, “a theme upon which each [book] is a variation.” That theme is simply to make a difference our own lives and the lives of others. Each author (or groups of authors) present rather compelling and impassioned ways to do this. But each does it in almost the same way; they tell stories -lots of them. In fact stories are one of the six principles in the Heaths’ “SUCCESs” model. Each book speaks to the transformative power of Story. In testament to this, The Zanders have a section at the end of their book called “A Guide to the Stories.” The Heaths include story references from their chapters also in the end section “The Easy Reference Guide.” Robinson focuses often on “epiphany stories,” those stories that “involve some level of revelation, a way of dividing the world into before and after.” For this post, I’ll focus on the Zanders’ The Art of Possibility.

In using stories told from each of their perspectives, Ben and Roz (as they identify themselves in the book) illustrate in concrete ways we can make a difference in our own lives and of others. Of the three books, theirs provides some of the most practical thinking for transformation -well, duh, it is in the title. One of the most compelling thoughts comes early on in the book as they reframe the context of world from one of scarcity to one of abundance. Here are some examples from the book. While note set against each other for a direct comparison, some do flow that way. Some may make immediate sense, while other may necessitate your reading the book.

Scarcity Thinking

Abundance Thinking

A world of measurement: assessments, scales, standards, grading, and comparisons Beyond the world of measurement to include all worlds: infinite, generative, and abundant
Obstacles show up as a scarcity of people, time money, power, love, resources, and inner strength We gain our knowledge by invention
Acceptance and Rejection Action may be characterized as generative, or giving, in all senses of that word -reproducing new life, creating new ideas, consciously endowing with meaning, contributing, yielding to the power of contexts. The relationship between people and environments is highlighted, not the people and things themselves.
Surviving in a world of scarcity and peril
Responses: alertness to danger, a clever strategic mind, an eye for assessing friend and foe, a knack for judging strength and weakness, the know-how to take possession of resources, a measure of mistrust, and a good dollop of fear
Resisting challenges to our personal viewpoint Resources are likely to come to you in greater abundance when you are generous and inclusive and engage people in your passion for life
We know each other and things by measuring them, and by comparing and contrasting them A passionate energy to connect, express, and communicate
Children are compared to each other Children contribute meaning and are passionate
Life arranged in hierarchies Taking a long view without being able to predict the outcome
People, ideas, and situations can be fully known and measured When you are oriented toward abundance, you care less about being in control, and you take more risks
Some groups, people bodies, places, and ideas seem better or more powerful than others
Some people, races, and organizations are safer and more desirable than others All are contributors
There are only so many pieces of the pie The pie is enormous, and if you take a slice, the pie is whole again.
A world of struggle Setting the context and letting life unfold
Competitive sports and war metaphors apply to almost any situation A cooperative universe
Conversations chronicle personal trials and triumphs A wiliness to be moved and inspired
Fear, anger, and despair at losing A humane, charitable world
…virtually everybody, whether living in the lap of luxury or in diminished circumstances, wakes up in the morning with the unseen assumption that life is about the struggle to survive and get ahead in a world of limited resources. Unimpeded on a daily basis by the concern for survival, free from the generalized assumption of scarcity, a person stand in the grate space of possibility in a posture of openness, with an unfettered imagination for what can be.
Seek more for ourselves no matter how much we have and treat others as competitors no matter how much they have Lighting a spark in others
Questions of assessment Questions of inquiry
Persuasion Enrollment
What’s best for me What’s best for all of us
Expectations to live up to Possibilities to live into
Reality is fixed No guarantees
Winning and Losing Life appears as variety, pattern, shimmering movement, inviting us in every moment to engage.
Overcoming odds and prevailing
Being acknowledged and included
Competition is the vehicle to success
Exhilaration of coming out on top
Supplies are fixed and limited
The frenzied accumulation of resources by some leaving others without enough

Further in the book the context for these ideas are framed in the illustration of “downward spiral” and “possibility” talk/thinking. The define the downward spiral talk as “a resigned way of talk [thinking] that excludes possibility…[f]ocusing on the abstraction of scarcity…creat[ing] an unassailable story about the limits to what is possible, and tells us compellingly how things are going from bad to worse” (p. 108). They introduce possibility earlier on page 20, but it stands contrast:

“The action in a universe of possibility may be characterized as generative, or giving, in all senses of that word -reproducing new life, creating new ideas, consciously endowing with meaning, contributing, yielding to the power of contexts. The relationship between people and environments is highlighted, not the people and things themselves. Emotions that are often relegated to the special category of spirituality are abundant here: joy, grace, awe, wholeness, passion, and compassion.”

PopTechSee the video on Pop!Tech to hear from Zander himself on the topic -and many others from the book. Zander is one of those teachers we all wish we could have. He walks his talk absolutely graciously. It has some similarities with his TED talk, but this one has a kid! Stay for the end. The 30 minutes is completely worth it.

The above quote from the the book, published in 2000, resonates with me as an educator (and I suspect others also). It’s what we strive for as educators it speaks to our passions and best hopes. It’s often how we define our educational reform efforts.

This is one of those must-read books for educators. It has so much more than a blog post can do justice.

If you’ve read this book or have feedback on the post, I welcome your comments.

July 10, 2009 Posted by | Education | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments


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Tag Archives: Twitter

I’m Not Afraid of a Colonoscopy (Nor Should You Be)

I couldn’t help using the “Finish This Tweet” meme to my own advantage. What I spent the better part of two days not being afraid of — as best I could — was a colonoscopy. Before you ask, it was routine; the occasion was my 50th birthday, put off until after my 51st but not before my health care coverage ended from my cubicle job I quit two weeks ago.

I owed you an explanation today. I’d like to expand the idea of this post to dealing with fear of the unknown, especially of your insides when you get to a certain age, and why it’s worth fighting through. I’d also love to revisit the whole idea of this fun Twitter game, which was wildly successful for me this time, and benefited only a little from an implied imprimatur from Laura Fitton (see previous post).

The fact is, I’m still a little out of it from the anaesthesia. (Not so much that I couldn’t spell anaesthesia!)

A photo after the break… Continue reading

The Art of Multichannel Web Storytelling

Last week, I witnessed a fun and touching piece of performance art. Its impact didn’t hit me at the time, and it might have had I participated in it more. But since that day, I haven’t been able to get it out of my head. I had the satisfaction of watching a magic trick which, even though I have a vague idea of the preplanning behind the scene—or especially because I do—I have an even bigger appreciation of its execution.

Early in the morning of Friday, October 17, Laura Fitton, a power-user on Twitter going by the name of Pistachio, read the following short bio of another user, whose name is probably Ben K. Weller:

I write songs, record them and sing them for people. I love music and Bass fishing. Most of all I love my wife Liz and my son Dorian.

This inspired Laura to post the following “tweet”:

@benkweller’s Twitter bio inspired this morning’s “Finish This Tweet” (#FTT) “Most of all I love ______”

Some things you should know before we proceed, if you’re new to Twitter:

  • “#FTT” is a Twitter code Laura also made up on the spot. It starts with a hashmark (#), making it a hashtag, which makes searching more tightly focused. When you put a hashtag code into search.twitter.com, you get only those tweets with the code. (She clarified herself a little in some other tweets.)
  • Laura follows many people via Twitter. But that Friday demonstrated how many people follow her—listening, going to sites she recommends, looking up people she may be conversing with who we ourselves may not yet be following. Yes, I’m among them.

Continue reading

Addicted to Heroines?

Can a guy have a knight in shining armor? I think I’ve had two.

I sat in the car, waiting for everyone else to show up and unlock the door to the law firm office. On the radio, Colin Powell was making the case for WMDs to a UN committee, pointing to photos that reminded my mind’s eye of the visual displays of Dr. Strangelove. There was a battle of a different kind brewing this morning: I was about to be deposed pursuant to a lawsuit.

When the summons came in the mail a few months prior, it was this bulky stack of double-space type. In my ignorance, I reacted like it was an invoice for a million dollars. I freaked out.

Five years before that, I caused a car accident that supposedly injured the driver of the other car. He didn’t seem injured to me that day.

Continue reading

There’s an Echo In Here.

One of the drawbacks to getting my political news from Twitter.

I Was a Social Media Debutante — on Twitter

We last left our hero at the front door of any of a number of social media sites, uttering the fist-shaking plea, “If I had friends, I wouldn’t need you, you stupid social media site, now would I?”:

• FaceBook
• MySpace
• LinkedIn
• MyBlogLog
• CoComment
• Spock
• WhyGoSolo
• Seesmic

The invitations to join them are always large and gleefully insistent (often taking up the space in which I would have liked to see a paragraph of what’s so special about this entry into the horse race). I joined all of them effortlessly, except of course when it came to forking over my entire inventory of contacts, some of whom were barely acquaintances, to make them “friends” online. Which would prompt the second pathetic cry: “I’ve joined. Now what?”

Then came Twitter. I had heard raves about Facebook, and MySpace prior to that. But nobody ever said, “Facebook changed my life.” If people feel the warmth of friendship from MySpace (people over 30, that is), I haven’t heard it.

I forget what made me decide to try Twitter, on October 18, 2007. Could have been because five days prior, I turned 50, and was in the middle of a well-worn rut of depression from which I’m still not completely recovered. Clearly I was reaching out. (That’s another post, or perhaps something for the bio.) I can trace through my tweets (the ones I left up, that didn’t disgust me) and see the progression: soon I wrote “Twitteresque” tweets (I felt like such a poser), finally realized how completely useless the public stream is, made suggestions to my first followed (I forget who), discovered my first follower (ditto), learned new things about the platform from off-site tutorials (which have gotten better even in this short time and continue to improve), and only recently got a reply from a call for help—something I thought was a privilege of the “Twitterati” with 1000 followers (in more than the Twitter sense).

I know exactly the breakthrough day when I got Twitter, and in a sense, got social media. It was on February 11, 2008, about 3/4 of the way into my Twitter tenure to date, after which I did about 3/4 of my current tweets. I had read part 3 of Jennifer Laycock’s article (see link above), which was the catalyst. Before this, people had seemed opaque, and I felt invisible. Some of the conversations were one-sided, and I felt imposed upon to “follow a perfect stranger” to get the full point. (No, you just visit that other guy’s page, with the option of following if you feel like it.) But that’s the breakthrough: these people were at one time all perfect strangers to each other (well, no more than average) when they were new. They took tiny leaps of faith in following each interesting someone. In butting in with a suggestion or joke, into a conversation to which they weren’t invited (but you see, you’re always invited, and the only thing stopping you is a sense of propriety, which serves you well in the physical realm but holds you back here). That’s why I couldn’t seem to break the surface tension and make real connections: I was too damn polite!

I wonder if other social media platforms are anything like this. I wonder if I can take what I learned and continue to learn in Twitter, and apply it in, say, Facebook—to which I’m now adding my Twitter friends and acquaintances. Am I doing it backwards? Do I care? Do you?


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About Us

Ken ReinertEvery Harley owner likes to modify their bike and make it their own. Ken Reinert was no different. He wanted his own tunes – ’70s and ’80s classic rock – so he loaded his iPod and hit the road. He quickly tired of the Velcro strip mounting his iPod to his windshield, and he began innovating a better mount. Reinert was in the unique position to do so, having spent his past 30 years engineering, designing and manufacturing industrial seals. After several months of prototype trial and error, The Rider’s ClawTM was born. The slogan? “Your ride…Your music.”

In no time, his fellow Harley riders were requesting the mounts, and Reinert added an iTouch and iPhone version. Before he knew it, the Rider’s Claw quickly spun into it own separate business supporting the iPod Nano, iPod Touch, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPhone 5S, iPhone 5C, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, Samsung Galaxy S3, S4 and S5, Samsung Note 2, Note 3 and Note 4.

Today, over 10,000 riders throughout the U.S. and in twelve countries are sporting the Rider’s Claw on their Harleys’ and Metric Cruisers. “The look of the Rider’s Claw is one that just looks like it belongs on the bike. Smartphone technology has come so far over the years, with so many rider friendly aps now available for the casual or serious motorcycle rider.” “Whether it’s your own music library, Pandora Radio, Sirius XM, GPS and Navigation, Weather Radars and Forecasts, etc… they truly give riders a lot of functionality and creature comforts for the ride”.

As much as the quality and innovation are critical to his product success, Reinert insists he’s in the customer service business. “If you dial our toll-free number, my cell phone rings. Unless I’m out on a ride (or fishing), I will always answer it, 24/7. We strive to ship every Rider’s Claw within 24 hour of receiving the order.”

As to future plans for Rider’s Claw, Reinert will continue to develop mounts to accommodate other phone styles as they continue to evolve. “I believe if we continue to follow our business model of exceptional, customer-friendly service, made in the USA quality and fast delivery, the sky’s the limit.”

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Tag Archives: Storm and Grace

ABC Book Club, Season 11, Episode 1: #bookclubABC

Image stolen from Marieke Hardy’s twitter account.

It’s back. Life can resume again as Book Club is here. JByrne is of course sleeveless because she hasn’t been working those delts to keep them hidden by sleeves. Marieke is flawless. And Ace, oh my, sleeves rolled up to show off those exquisite forearms and he’s wearing stripey blue and yellow socks. Or is it green and yellow? #sockwatch The exact colour is an enigma just like Ace.

Before we get into the actual show let me take care of a few housekeeping issues:

1) I’m dyslexic, there will be spellos, grammos, typos, and just plain wrongos.

2) JByrne = Jennifer Byrne

Ace = Jason Stegersaurussex

Marieke = jamiest bit of jam.

3) I am unsponsored but if anyone wants to bribe me I love wine and notebooks… and money. Money is my favourite.

Now onto the show. Joining the heavenly regular panelists are Michael ‘the dagger’ Robotham (known as Robo-Tham from previous episodes) and Clementine Ford. I am wet your pants excited about the Fordinator being on. I hope there is plenty of talk of about uteruses.

The panelists get down to business and discuss books that have been released during their hiatus. Australian author Sarah Schmidt’s
See what I have Done
 gets a shout out. I’m excited because I’m reading that at the moment.

And of course they pay tribute to the brilliant Heather Rose who has taken out the Stella Prize this year with The Museum of Modern Love. Rose remembers vividly once getting a royalty cheque that was for less than the envelope would have cost. Thankfully she is getting the recognition she deserves now and more royalties. Big congrats to an outstanding Australian woman writer.

Onto the bones of the show. JByrne says that they’re looking at Sydney author, Kathryn Heyman’s, newest offering, Storm and Grace. JByrne says that it has been touted as the literary thriller of the year. That’s a big call seeing how it’s only April, but then again, she’s an author capable of making a big call. Let’s see if the panelists agree.

They do the dramatic recreation thingo. It looks like a romance movie or teenage coming of age movie. One where the lead female’s ultimate coming of age involves getting boinked. I’m not getting the thriller vibe from this footage. I might be getting slightly hard in the bra region but definitely not suspenseful.

Robo-Tham liked it. He found the book claustrophobic and uncomfortable. That’s exactly the feeling he wanted to get. He respects the level of research that she must have done to get the sensation of deep sea diving just right. Heyman’s research included free diving and deep sea diving. She definitely went all out.

Ace says it’s not a thriller because there is little suspense over the major crime. But he quite liked it. He says it’s a book about an “unusual” relationship and a very odd man. Marieke corrects him and says, “abusive relationship.” Preach. Let’s stop using euphemisms for family violence. They’re not “robust relationships.” They’re abusive. They’re criminal. Let’s not sweep it under the metaphorical rug with niceties.

JByrne was sucked in by the sexyness. Oh myyyyy. It’s a repeat of episode one of season ten where JByrne yearned for Heathcliff’s inky eyes. JByrne we need to talk. Let’s do coffee and Aunty Robin will tell you all about love and life. You’re not simply getting warm in the underpants region over literary bad boys, you’re getting excited for literary wife beaters.

The knife comes out, Marieke says it’s a year 9 romance and the names of the characters, particularly Storm, are lame. She slams it as badly written and badly structured. So harsh. I think my mouth will never shut again because it is hanging open in shock. Brutal. All I can say is, brutal.

Marieke goes on to explain that her savagery comes from a place of crossness not because she’s a disparaging biatch. She lets us know that she ia quite nice and doesn’t actually enjoy saying awful things about books but she’s cross. She’s super cross because domestic violence is such an important issue and it needs to be explored but she thinks this did it badly. Maybe she wanted something more like Zoe Morrison’s Music and Freedom? I don’t know, but she is not happy. Not happy at all.

She says that Storm is a sleazy creep from the start so why did Grace ever fall for him? She says the seduction and Grace’s vulnerabilities needed to be clearer so that people understood why women get involved with these guys. For Marieke it was a creep from the start becomes a killer and that’s no surprise and wasn’t thriller worthy.

JByrne is just about crying at this point. Why doesn’t Marieke understand that Storm is sexy? JByrne is all about the sexy. She’s possibly going to overtake Ace in the sexy loving stakes.

The Fordinator speaks. She wanted the desire to be clearer. She felt that it wasn’t clear why Grace would fall for creepy, controlling Storm. JByrne is looking at her in despair. I can tell she’s thinking, “but he’s fucking hot!” But the Fordinator quite liked the Greek Chorus as a literary technique. JByrne says the Greek Chorus is why it is a literary thriller because Thrillers generally don’t have literary techniques.

I throw my glass of Brown Brothers Moscato at the television. It doesn’t make it. I simply makes a mess of my carpet. I love you JByrne, you are the sun and the moon, but you are wrong, oh so very wrong. Plenty of Thrillers use literary devices. Plenty! I could go on and and give a detailed list (OH, HOW DO I WANT TO GO ON AND GIVE A DETAILED DISSERTATION ON THIS) but I’m supposed to be writing a recap right now, but just know, I’m quietly seething… and sucking at my carpet.

Robo-Tham bravely steps up and explains to Marieke and Clementine the attraction women feel for Storm. He likens it to Trump. People voted for Trump because he talks big. They got sucked in by his confidence and big talk. You know how us ladies love big talk, orange skin, and extreme comb-overs. Amirightoramiright? Ooooo Trumpy, you so sexy. No.

The Fordinator asks why do all the women have the same attraction. It’s almost as if she thinks us sheilas are diverse. Pfffft. Come on CFord, you know us ladeez are only after one thing.

Now onto discussing what the literary trends for 2017 will be:

  • Progressing from titled with GIRL in the title to WOMEN… Fuck. My book coming out the year is Henrietta Dodgson’s Asylum for Damaged Women. I’m falling into a stereotype before it’s even set. Shit!
  • Australian Domestic Noir, will be big. Phew. I’m not a complete stereotype. My November release is set in Callan Park Hospital for the Insane in 1906. So it’s Australian, and it’s dark, but it’s not exactly domestic.
  • Angry lady books will be big… Shit.
  • Spec Fic with a literary bent will be in. SHITSHITSHITSHIT! Another glass of wine goes at the TV, hits the floor again.  Henrietta Dodgson’s Asylum for Damaged Women is Historical Fantasy. I basically take fairy tale princesses and lock them up in Callan Park Hospital for the Insane in 1906. I’m a great big future trends whore instead of a maverick self publisher. I’m not a special snowflake.

    JByrne picks up Michael Sala’s newest book as an example of a book to look out for. I’m cheering at the TV. I used to teach with him. Go buy his book. Yay. Go Michael, go.

    The Fordinator admits that it’s a good time to be a feminist writer. Maintain the rage, sister, bring out Fight Like a Woman.

    Robo-Tham wants less celebrities writing, long pause, children’s books. What was the long pause? I read into everything he does because he’s a Crime writer. Is the pause because you mean not just children’s books but all books, or is it because you want to emphasise Children’s Books but they can run wild on adult? Tell me Robo-Tham, tell me!!! It probably means nothing and he just had to breathe.

    Which leads us to By the Bed. The segment where the panelists say what books are by the bed and I waft into a fantasy world of lying next to Ace’s bed.

    Robo-Tham is reading Rebus novels.

    Marieke throws a curve ball. She hasn’t been reading in bed but reading drunk in the bathtub. New fantasies are emerging. She’s been loving The Last Picture Show.

    JByrne has been reading Storyland.

    Ace has been reading
    Crimson Lake by Candice Fox Small excited wee for Sydney crime writer Candice Fox. I adore her. More Candice, more L.A. Larkin, more Tania Chandler, more Emma Viskic, more Cass Moriarty, MORE SISTERS IN CRIME.

    The Fordinator is reading
    Circle of Friends. She says it’s like a hug. Awwww.

    And now for
    Hillbilly Elegy by J.D Vance. Will Marieke go full savage on this one as well?

    JByrne does the intro, it’s a memoir but was billed as the inside story of Trump’s people. However the author said its purpose was to start a conversation not to be the ultimate explanation and lesson.

    Robo-Tham loved it. He kept nudging his wife in bed to read her quotes. She told him she had a headache. We’ve all been there.

    Ace said it reminded him of Jimmy Barnes’s memoir. A man who pulled himself up from poverty and an awful life to achieve greatness. And how they both nearly didn’t make it out of their horrific circumstances alive.

    Marieke charges into this love fest and calls it a flat telling of an interesting story. She is having none of anyone’s shit today. She said it skimmed through interesting stuff that should have been fleshed out. Ace said he loved the skimming. They stare at each other across JByrne. Horns locked. I await JByrne saying something about sexyness. It does not happen.

    The Fordinator starts to say how she felt that the author was an intelligent guy and that the author should have moved passed the “America is the greatest country” rhetoric and actually given the idea some critical thought. He as a white man could pull himself out of despair. It was hard but would it not be even harder for others that aren’t CIS white men?

    Robo-Tham leaps into the thick of things. He talks more about the problems faced by America and white people in poverty and how beautifully J.D. Vance covered it by showing the good and the bad.

    Fordinator is back and asks why is it suddenly now that people care about poverty. Why is it that black and Hispanic people being in poverty is looked away from in disgust but now that it’s a white problem people are fascinated? Marieke and the Fordinator state that the author fails to recognise his own privilege as a white man. And again raise the issue that he never critiques the trite “America is the greatest country” without thinking about if it actually is or not.

    Robo-Tham tells Ford she wanted the author to “attack” his own country where as he could accept that Vance was still backing his own country. Did she want it critiqued or attacked? There’s a difference.

    In the end, the two white male panelists loved Hillbilly Elegy, and one out of the three white female panelists likewise loved it. Yep, that’s enough to get it voted in.

    JByrne concludes by letting us know that Omar and CS are back next week. Hooray, we loved them last year. They’re discussing Exit West and The Monkey’s Mask. And we are treated to a clip of Roald Dahl saying WRITE DOWN YOUR IDEAS!!! Because like dreams, you’ll forget them.

    Watch this episode on iView here.

    Read last year’s season highlights here.

    Buy my shit here.


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Mini Pies (fruity sweety crunchy)

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My dear fellow baking blogger, lovely Sabine Indra (Lixie Pott) from Photolixieous celebrates her 1. Blog-Birthday. Feel free to visit her gorgeous blog and her guests with their fine recipies.

For her sweet birthday table I created some mini pies with two different fillings.

I hope you like them too and have fun in making them.

Continue reading “Mini Pies (fruity sweety crunchy)”

Vanilla Kifli (Kipferl)

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Another really easy classic in my Christmas bakery.

And for now this will be my last Christmas cookie recipe. Although I have some left over egg whites in the fridge – maybe some coconut macaroons – we will see. Looking back at this year`s baking I am more than content and I really hope you enjoy the recipes and the making and last but not least the consuming.

Continue reading “Vanilla Kifli (Kipferl)”

Cut Out Cookies

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There are so many yummie, extravagant, innovative recipes for Christmas cookies out there. But in the end, the simple ones are the ones that remind me of my childhood. Waking up and the house is full of the flavor from your mother baking in the kitchen. Still in the pyjama you steal the first bit of the cookie dough. And then – the first cookies fresh out of the oven with a hot chocolate. And these Cut-Out Cookies remind me exactly of that time.

This time I decided to make the double ones with marmalade. But be sure to let your fantasy work. You can make the simple ones with a little egg yolk on it before baking. Or decorating them after baking with different kind of chocolate.

Here I present you the ones I made this year and hope you like them.

Continue reading “Cut Out Cookies”

Peanutbutter Chocolate Cookies

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Peanut butter is a must in my christmas bakery. This really easy recipe helps you not to waive the taste of peanut butter during this period.

Continue reading “Peanutbutter Chocolate Cookies”


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AeroFarms Using Technology To Grow Food

There’s been a fair amount of research in the past few years about more scalable and environmentally friendly ways to grow food. AeroFarms is embarking on an ambitious plan to put some of technology to work with a Newark, NJ based farm in an old factory.

The basic idea is using technology like energy efficient LED lighting, carefully monitored watering and nutrition by using a mist (vs planting in soil). Space is optimized by stacking them similar to servers in a data center. The end result is you can grow edible plants in a very fast, efficient, predictable way. No more weather ruining crops, thousands of acres of land devoted to farming.

Just imagine if one day this could get deployed to places like Africa. Efficient solar powered farming could change how Africa does food. It could become much more practical to farm in desert places.


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Archive for June, 2006

Seattle International Film Festival..

Posted in robin's music on June 25, 2006 by robin guthrie

me and harold performing at the egyptian theater…picture by eric edelheit

Here I am flying over Montana, going home via New York and London, on my way back from the Seattle International Film Festival. Now before I do my usual rant about travelling I’d like to assure you all that it pains me greatly to criticise my other fellow passengers but sometimes I really do feel that the experience for others travelling with me cannot be nearly as bad for them as it is for me, travelling with them. Take for example the person in front of me who has had her seat in full recline since take off. I can’t imagine I’m bothering her much. Then there is the budding child psychologist behind, that’s right the one who just asked me not to recline my seat as it may upset her child. The one whose small child has been crying in pain since we reached a pressurised altitude, the one that, when the flight attendant suggested giving the child something to suck, responded that she couldn’t possibly ask (?) her child to suck something is was habit forming and anyway it’s good for the child to cry as it releases endorphins… mmm, hey, I’m releasing endorphins here myself, lady…. Anyway this is one part of my life, the travelling in close proximity to others while my brain is disengaged from gear where I find myself intolerant but at least I have come to smile and just get on with it and badmouth them behind their backs on the internet instead of leaning over and pouring my complimentary drink and pretzels over them..
OK, I’m not really getting to the point so I’ll try to clarify what I’ve been up to.
I came out here to join Harold Budd in performing a live score to an evening of short surrealist films at the Egyptian Theatre in Seattle as part of SIFF. I love that acronym, they can’t possibly realise that in Scotland it means a sexually transmitted disease. Anyway, as I was saying, we were asked to perform we felt it’d be a nice thing to do so we agreed a couple of months ago and thought not much more about it. I’d been playing some shows around the UK and Harold had been moving home, so we actually talked about it much. The choice of films to work with was made by Reed O’Beirne, a friend and expert in the field, a man who has evidently ingested a halliwell’s at some point in his life. The program was varied and interesting and we had problems only perhaps with two pieces as the content was seeming just a little busy and erratic for us to play to, but hey, you can’t have everything. So I arrived in Seattle and greeted warmly at the SIFF Guest relations, which shouldn’t have seemed a surprise, given that it’s their job, but for me it was a nice feeling to be made feel important for a change. I met up with Harold and almost straight away we were ushered away for a rehearsal at the music department of the Cornish College of the Arts at Capitol Hill, a most intimidating establishment, where real musicians were practicing real music. That was the first time in my life that I’ve entered into a place like that and apart from having a feeling like ‘the only way I could justify being here is if I take a job as the janitor’, I was amazed to see what a sterile environment that musicians learn their craft in. It has to be said, though that harold seemed to know his way around but then he’s a proper musician and doesn’t even flinch at the mention of black notes..

The films that we worked with were the following :
Meshes of the Afternoon [1943 Maya Deren]
Tung [1966 Bruce Baillie]
Hands [1934 Ralph Steiner & Willard Van Dyke]
Oramunde [1933 Emlen Etting]
Thimble Theater [1938 Joseph Cornell]
The Furies [1934 Slavko Vorkapich]
The Fall of the House of Usher [1928 J.S. Watson, Jr. & Melville Webber]
Spook Sport [1940 Mary Ellen Bute, Ted Nemeth & Norman McLaren]

The show? well, it was kinda fun, very simple setup, just guitar and piano. Some of the films I liked immensely, well the Maya Deren and Bruce Baillie especially, some of them I didn’t care for, which is a polite way to say that they sucked. Harold, never one to make it easy for me, used lots of black notes (er, see earlier janitor thought) but I countered this by playing the same chord for what seemed like a couple of hours. At times it was almost transcendental, although I’m sure if I ever heard back a live recording I’d think ‘OK just where are the black key notes on this guitar? I should find out really… maybe my guitar doesn’t have them, it’s old’ or something equally as pathetic. Ah, thank goodness for my highly developed denial system… I enjoyed myself, I think Harold did too. But we enjoyed ourselves even more listening in on the conversations of the filmmakers, producers and general film industry hustlers over breakfast at our hotel. This was, well as entertaining as when I wrote before about going to Starbucks at the Sundance Film Festival. Except that when two people eavesdrop for the purpose of cynical entertainment, it’s almost impossible not to laugh out loud, but thankfully when we did, no-one noticed because they all had their heads stuck so far up their own assholes that it must have been impossible to hear anything.
I learned something, though, probably another of many reasons for my marginality. In this business one has to have people. Let me explain. If I want to give you a CD of some music to listen to I, well, er give it to you. Right? Ha.. Big mistake… I have to have my people give it to your people. Problem is, I have no people but I’m sure if I could find some, well, I have my people write this weblog so that your people can read it… See I get it…

carl spence, myself and harold doing a Q&A after the show..picture by eric edelheit

So… it wouldn’t be nice if I didn’t mention some of the folks who made my stay more interesting. Carl Spence for asking us in the first place, Barbara, Randi, Amy, Davie Blue, Eric, Holden, Kris, Ken, Reed, Ted, Tom, Igor, Josie and Holly….

Catching Up…

Posted in robin's music on June 19, 2006 by robin guthrie

OK, here I am, Seattle, sitting on a friends porch, with a cup of coffee and some free time on my hands like one of them old boys that shoots up passing automobiles.. So here’s the highs and lows from the UK… In no particular order.

The M6, the concert at stratford upon avon, the city of exeter on an England world cup match evening, wild bean coffee shops, the concert at the notting hill gate cinema, costa coffee shops, gas at a pound a litre, starbucks, caffe nero and a less than intelligent woman who interviewed me on XFM.

The people of the UK who came to see me, who shared a moment with me and who bought my CD’s. The shows at the Little Theatre in Bath and The Brixton Ritzy, easily my favourites as far as my performance goes, my guests, Sonic Boom, Emma Anderson and Kevin Shields, not forgetting to mention Mark Gardner and Ulrich Scnauss. Breakfast on Aberdeen Beach, seeing old friends in Edinburgh, eating a haggis in Grangemouth, seeing Mick in York, seeing Paula in Exeter, the manageress of the city screen in York.. I’m sure I’ll think of more.

From the moment I arrived in Notting Hill for the performance at the Gate Cinema, I had a feeling that it would be the low spot of the tour.. No space to set up properly, everything running late, the cinema deciding to run an extra performance of another film to an audience of five people in order to both squeeze another fifty quid into the days takings and squeeze me out of any time for things like soundchecks and other trivialities..The rule of sod must surely apply when you do a show that lots of your mates will turn up to. The rule of sod did not disappoint, as it provided me with one of the most fucked up show that I’ve ever done. We had major tech issues on all fronts, er, all front’s except mine, that is.. All my equipment behaved itself and I believe I played quite nicely but the film crapped out after 20 minutes leaving me looking like a dick and generating the type of audience pity that I seem to be familiar with but can do without, thank you very much… never mind robin, it didn’t suck, er, it was OK, I suppose. Of course if any of them had bothered to go to the next evening they would have seen how good the show can be, as the show at the ritzy was as good as they get… picture looked good, sound was loud – and, wow, even in stereo.
OK, as you can see I’m having trouble letting that one go. I guess it’s just one of those things that happen in big cities. When I was in Cocteau Twins the best shows were always in places like Bumfuck, Idaho and never in New York, LA, London, Paris or Tokyo… These cities were always reserved for major tech disasters… So I guess I’m just keeping up an old tradition.

Posted in robin's music on June 10, 2006 by robin guthrie

OK, I suck, I know I said I’d write this every day but I’ve not got online up until now, I swear… So now I’m sitting in my vehicle, outside someones house in exeter, stealing their bandwidth…
So what can I tell you?
Well, firstly, I can say thanks to those of you who have made it so far.. Goodness knows how I thought I could write something about these shows each day, my days have been very full and I seem to have little time for anything. It’s kinda really fucking weird playing this show in some of these cinemas, don’t know how I can explain that better but I’ll try. I guess at a regular show one has time to prepare all the equipment in the afternoon, soundcheck and then mentally prepare for the event…But at these cinemas, I’m being slotted in between United 93 and The Da Vinci Code. Therefore I wait around until everyone leaves the cinema, dash in, set up then play right away without even enough time to consider things like fly checking or whether or not the film plays properly or not …. This would probably explain the startled rabbit in the headlights look that I imagine I must be wearing.. The good thing is there’s less time to panic. The bad thing is there’s less time to prepare.. Or maybe vice versa, I can’t quite tell anymore.
Now the things which help to make the performance work, you know the sound and projection systems, have been very, er… variable in quality, to say the least, which is something very frustrating but ultimately beyond my control so we’ve all had to endure a couple of shows which have not gone exactly as I would have liked them, notably the sound problem in Liverpool, which in a state of the art theatre like that was inexcusable – something to do with their DVD player apparently, and the DVD messing up in Stratford, repeating parts over and over, thus making me play for what seemed like hours….
Hey, I forgot to tell you what was enjoyable… Sonic Boom joining me for a little randomness after one of the shows…
Oh, and then there’s the Q&A session afterwards… ummm, odd but strangely fun.. It’s nice talking to people about the only thing I’m actually qualified to speak about, namely me me me me me .. And it’s all the same questions that I would be asked normally after the show anyway…. And reminds me of being in group therapy a little so that’s not such a bad thing. Never forget that what you think my film is about speaks more about you than it does me. I say that especially to the young lady in Liverpool who found all my imagery phallic….
What else? Well, England is unrecognisable as the sun is shining. Sadly people here find that an excuse to strip off and I think that after wintering on pork pies, beer and chips they ought to exercise a little more restraint. I’m kinda starting to miss things from home already, the novelty of the UK has worn off a little but it has been absolutely lovely to see some old friends and converse with the locals without being covered in spit. Still don’t want to live here though….

Posted in robin's music on June 2, 2006 by robin guthrie

1475 kms from home… mmm, a long way to come to play a show…


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Terence Dale Griffin, who has died aged 67, was an English drummer, record and radio producer and founder member of Mott The Hoople.

Dale Griffin, Angel Air Records.

Dale Griffin, Angel Air Records.

Born in Ross-on Wye, Herefordshire , Griffin attended Ross Grammar school and played in a number of local bands with his lifelong friend Overend Watts and it was during this time he gained the nickname “Buffin”. Amongst Dales bands were The Silence, Charles Kingsley Creation and with Watts and Mick Ralphs in The Doc Thomas Group. Changes to that line-up occurred in 1968 and keyboard player Verden Allen joined the band and changed its name to The Shakedown Sound. In 1969 they moved to London and came to the attention of record producer Guy Stevens and Ian Hunter was chosen as their lead singer and Mott The Hoople were formed.

Following the departure of Ian Hunter in 1974, Griffin along with Watts and Morgan Fisher formed MOTT with Ray Majors and Nigel Benjamin. In 1976 following the departure of Benjamin the remaining members regrouped as British Lions with former Medicine Head singer songwriter John Fiddler until their demise in the late 70’s when punk hit with a vengeance.

During the 80’s Griffin and Watts formed a Production Company and produced albums for Hanoi Rocks and The Cult as well as hit singles such as Department S Is Vic There. Dale then joined the BBC as a producer and produced numerous BBC Radio 1 John Peel sessions from 1981 to 1994 including Pulp, Smashing Pumpkins, Nirvana and Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark. In the early 21st century Dale oversaw the re-release of Mott The Hoople’s entire back catalogue from both Island and CBS period producing remastered versions and excellent informative sleeve notes.

Aged 58 Dale was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease just as he had worked tirelessly over the years to bring about the reformation of his beloved Mott The Hoople and in 2009 the band reformed for a five night sell out Hammersmith Apollo 40th anniversary concerts of the original five founder members. Having been just diagnosed Dale only performed during the band encores with The Pretenders drummer Martin Chambers, also from Herefordshire and a friend playing the set and also covering for Dale on the 2013 Mott The Hoople tour.

Dale is survived by his long term partner Jean Smith.


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Moroccan Soccer Fans Clash with Brussels Police After World Cup Qualifier

StoryfulNewsPublished: November 12, 201710 views
Published: November 12, 2017

Street celebrations in Brussels by Moroccan soccer fans marking their teams return to the World Cup for the first time in two decades turned violent on Saturday night, November 11. According to Belgian reports, 22 police officers were injured when between 200 and 300 fans began attacking them and setting cars and bins on fire outside the stock exchange in the city centre. Footage shows riot police dousing protesters with water cannons. Morocco won 2-0 against Ivory Coast, securing their place in World Cup in Russia next year. Credit: Twitter/Bekah Molony via Storyful

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Family remembers George Eyde, focuses on legacy

WSYMPublished: December 5, 2017
Published: December 5, 2017

Even if you've just moved to Mid-Michigan, you've probably heard of the Eyde family because the name is on so many pieces of real estate. The family is mourning the death of company founder, George Eyde, who had been on life support since going into cardiac arrest on Thursday. FOX 47's Chelsea Snyder had the chance to talk to his son, who says their family is just trying to focus on his legacy.

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Walk-In Clinics

appashland8Published: August 3, 20141 views
Published: August 3, 2014

Asante Physician Partners Ashland
628 N Main Street Ashland, OR 97520

Asante Physician Partners is a partnership of medical professional dedicated to providing better care access in Southern Oregon. This clinic provides Family Medicine, Endocrinology and Pediatric services, with more services being offered through close cooperation with local hospitals.

Asante Physician Partners Ashland provides pediatric services to the southern Rogue Valley. Our goal is to provide high-quality, patient-centered pediatric services. (541) 201-4930

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Cee’s Flower of the Day Feburary 26, 2015 “From my front door.”

This is my best view of my Rhododendron from my front door.  While it is beginning to fade, it still sets off a great view of color.  I used this picture as my screen save and had many compliments on last years version of this age old plant.  Hurry up spring, I want to enjoy it again……soon.

“Flower of the Day (February 26, 2015) – Rhododendron” My Rhodee

It amazes me each year that this majestic flower comes back to life and fills my window with majestic blooms.  They begin as a deep purple bud that opens into the best shade of lavender that makes my grey siding just come to life.  I really can’t take credit for this old bush as it was here when we bought the house in 1991.  The owners before me must have enjoyed it as much as I do.  I have taken pictures of it from my front door, from my office window and up close as you see in my picture.  My favorite color of the Rhododendron is the lavender.  One can not help but notice as they see my pictures of flowers.

I am so ready to see some life back in this great give God gave us.  I am sure it is also wishing the cold and snow would leave so that it could once again shine in all it’s glory.  Thanks Cee for suggesting this great picture of spring that I so look forward to sharing with all my neighbors as they pass by.


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Pump it up!

I so am enjoying the pictures of the flowers I took last summer.  My oldest daughter decided to protect her well casing by building up a planter and adding an old pump from a family member.  While the white in this picture reminds me of snow the pump reminds me that without pumping it up years ago water was a labor to obtain.  I remember a pump like this on on the sink in my grandmothers kitchen and I loved the cool fresh water it provided.  She would have us pump pans full so the water could be heated on the old cook stove for doing dishes or bathing.  I vividly remember her putting an old metal tub in the center of the kitchen and bringing out a screen so that we could bathe.  Years later my grandfather finished building the inside bathroom on the house and we no longer needed the old hand pump as he put an electric pump on the well that brought us into the world of indoor plumbing.

This memory is one that my children and grandchildren found hard to understand.  They have never had to carry water in a bucket from the creek to the house and so the pump in this picture would not really have sparked the images it did for me.  I used to think that my own grandmother must have seen some unbelievable changes in her day since she was born in 1910 and died in 2001.  It made me realize seeing this picture that time has pumped up some awesome changes that I never thought would be possible in my years on this earth.  So pump it up everyone, how many changes have you seen in your lifetime?  Share a picture that brings back vivid memories for you and share with us.


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Will the grass be greener? #Brexit

It will take a while to realize the full implications of #Brexit.  Not everyone will agree with my musings, but I seek to at least get it off my chest.

I was undecided at first, but decided to understand the facts.  I decided to vote Remain from a somewhat selfish perspective seeing that my motives were protectionism and crystal ball gazing (at least on the probability of predictions!), as to that I felt best for my Family and Businesses.

As an educated marketer, I read and read and saw reasoning in the economic reports, one after another that suggested, “you gotta be in it, to win it” – at least in respect of financial stability for our once great Nation.

I could recite a Library but just read.  Ask me if I was so wrong to believe:

BREXIT: the impact on the UK and the EU” (Global Counsel, 2015); “Should We Stay or Should We Go? The economic consequences of leaving the EU” (London School of Economics, 2015); Annual Health Check of the U.K. economy and periodic report on the financial sector “ (IMF, 2016); and “Quarterly Inflation Report” (Bank of England, 2016) etc.

So on economic grounds and potential avoidance of a recession, I was in the IN club.

The blue and yellow map representing votes cast in the EU Referendum, whilst reminding me of Fenerbache, showed that for the populous, we now are officially a ‘Broken Britain’. The people have voted but have they voted on facts?  Is it just hearts rather than heads?  I do wonder were the relative pros and cons really explained.  I feel not, just a circus of lies and misinformation especially from LEAVE. The campaign showed untruth after untruth yet this didn’t derail the wagons of Farage et al. With my personal interests in Turkey – some communication from that divide came close to racism – and was at the very least scaremongering around immigration and/or islamophobia.

Whilst, I must stand up for the principles my Grandad, Bill Stores, taught me: “never fall out about politics or religion” there is the odd contact for their views and so called ideology that I have no desire to face in the immediate future.  I do have a ‘gut feel’ – no more than that – that a ‘Gentleman’s agreement with Turkey’ may have been tabled to try and assist with accession.  This related to NATO and use of bases in Southern Turkey and the recent trafficking of refugees from Turkey to Greek Isles.  Maybe this relationship has faltered also – and it will be interesting, if right, to see the fallout from any such beliefs especially in relations between UK and Turkey.

Britain is broken.  Either that or like lemmings our citizens have simply followed the ‘redtops’ whether they read the dailies coming out in favour or not of the European Union.  The UK population voted OUT – although in fact as I always said #tooclosetocall – only just over half did in percentage terms!  The disengagement with the way things are, be that poverty lines, discrimination or UK politics undoubtedly contributed. So were people always voting in the EU debate or in fact something else? Voters voted against the advice of the Leaders of their traditional political parties except for in corners like Scotland, who in turn will no doubt pursue a claim for independence as its’ people wanted to stay in the EU.

The people spoke, as is the point of a referendum – and Europe must fear others will follow suit. Maybe, Denmark again or Netherlands?  The demographics apart from geographical territory make an interesting read.  The younger appear in the same camp as me, but the elder age-bands voted for a swift exit.

What do I believe are immediate implications regarding Turkey? The first input I felt was a good rationale response from Turkey’s Prime Minister,  Binali Yildirim: “The EU should reconsider its vision” in the wake of Britain’s impending exit, be that 24 months away. President, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan may have been less calm depending on risks of promises not coming to fruition?

What, if any are potential repercussions in the world of sport where, I and ACROBAT | FCSM trade?  If you take the EPL, in 2015-2016, 432 European players were registered to play with our clubs.  Don’t expect them to be shipped out but future transfers can expect to be impacted.  By 2017-2018, any new incoming players will not have an automatic right to live and work in the UK.  Europeans could then be subject to the same immigration rules and regulations as non-EU players.

In the sport of the oval ball, rugby, repercussions are likely to be less severe. Unlike in football, there are not as many players of European origin represented in the Premiership as its NGB, the RFU, has had protocol for a while encouraging the  clubs to ‘Buy British’ with English qualified players actively encouraged through financial incentives.

I fear for households like mine – and indeed many others.  I fear for SMEs and larger corporates alike.  I fear for public sector (including higher education) and funding regimes. I just fear for the ‘unknown’ we now enter – as I strongly believe the debating and voting was a misleading marketing agenda from both sides – and people got confused and caught up in the web of lies.

Of course, the threat if in-migration and terrorism is a serious threat. So, we’ll now have more control of our borders.  Will we? Let’s wait and see.  Immigration has benefits and my children would not have been cared for by midwifery and consultants without skilled labour from overseas taking jobs that our indigenous population weren’t able to fill.

My people don’t disappoint me. Everyone has free speech in our Nation.  What upsets me is the ineptitude in the marketing and communication in facts.  Yes, hindsight is a wonderful thing, yet, with just a little more co-ordination, people would have been better equipped to give their most objective opinions.  Just a few percentages’ swing would have meant that the grass we know to have been continued to be played upon.  Whereas, I have severe reservations that by Brexit the ‘grass will be greener’.  I’ve not heard much yet on this subject, but won’t be the slightest bit surprised if this is the final straw to some citizens – and another motivation to ‘brain drain’.

Of course, as our branding at ACROBAT | FCSM constantly shouts: “you have to learn the rules of the game, and then you have to play better than anyone else!”  So rant over, and we’ll just try and get on with it in the best interest of my Family, Businesses and Clients – both in the UK, Turkey……and Europe.

My only consolation is that I know my immediate people, in near proximity, are still on the same wavelength. Proud of you Manchester and Stockport folk that saw fit to vote Remain and oppose the trend seen across the Country .

“Over and out” and back to watching the Euro 2016. My next holiday is in Gibraltar 🙂

Adrian Stores is CEO at ACROBAT | FCSM: Award winning MARKETING, FUNDRAISING & SPONSORSHIP consultancy | specialism sports and leisure | UK & TURKEY

Marseille: Ultrasound #englandfans

Ultrasound: (Ed.defn. is a diagnostic imaging technique used to see internal body structures). In the same way, I provide my own insight and commentary on this Weekend’s trip to Marseille to watch and support the England National Team in the European Championship – Euro 2016.

I was inundated by goodwill messages seeking confirmation of my safety, and that of my ten-year old Son, after the final whistle of the England versus Russia fixture.  It did make me think, I wonder what the media is broadcasting back in ‘Blighty’ and to what extent was it accurate and consistent with our experiences.  I wrote for reassurance and clarity on my Facebook page:

Home safe and sound my Friends – thanks for all goodwill messages. Of course, I’d protect my Son at all costs. Not seen a single incident involving England fans myself. Sure there will have been some. But any incident we witnessed was caused by Russian supporters. Not trying to dismiss moronic behaviour of mindless few, but expect as usual it’s the World’s media that like to sensationalise and blame the English always as ‘agent provocateurs’. At least based on yesterday in Marseille the police’s official statement was more balanced IMHO.”

This statement from National Police Chiefs’ Lead for Football Policing, Assistant Chief Constable, Mark Roberts said:

“England supporters had been in Marseille yesterday without issue. At around midnight, there was a short confrontation where a group of approximately 70 local youths approached a pub where England fans had congregated. This was quickly dealt with by French police and one English supporter was arrested. We are aware of no further incidents overnight.”

The trip will be remembered as one of the most enjoyable breaks in my life.  An emotional, fun and quality time in the most part for Father and Son in their first international football adventure.  This Video highlights just a few snippets of our ‘holiday fun’.

All day long, on match day, we had ‘a ball’ (excuse the pun!).  Infact, the whole trip was in the same vein.  Fans from clubs throughout England chatted and entertained one another in a convivial fashion.  I could recall numerous, but as a minimum we spoke to fans from Burnley, Tottenham, Oldham, QPR, Leeds, WBA, Everton etc.  All fans from England played their part in creating a fantastic atmosphere and spirit.  Of course, there was booze and ‘boisterous’ behaviour (as the radio pundits call it) but remove the singing and socialising and the roots of this great Game are erased.

Such a tone was common to the inter-action also.  All day we shook the hands of Russians looking forward to the evening’s game. Plenty of smiles and banter and England’s nominated fan even beat the Russian counterpart in a game of mini ‘ping pong’ in Marseille Harbour. An early handshake with one ‘rival’, when meeting again at the gates to Stade Vélodrome, resulted in a giant, man-hug so common is that friendship and bond of football.

We attended the Fan Park which was good to pass the time and keep the Lad entertained.  All sponsors showed good preparation to creating brand exposure, whilst soliciting personal contact details to add to the CRM no doubt, and future direct marketing campaigns.  No small budgets will have been incurred for such extravagance.  Turkish Airlines, Hisense and FDJ (La Ola) hit the target, Hyundai let down by incompetence by its ‘team’ manning the stand.

In preparation for Euro2016, our Police, confiscated the passports of nearly 1,400 people as part of the ‘Passport Surrender’ operation. That is equivalent to 97 per cent of the individuals currently subject to a banning order who hold a passport in the UK. Would the presence of these ‘hardcore’ of alleged hooligans have inflamed the situation? Possibly.  Would they have shifted more ‘blame’ to the English fans. Unlikely.  Of course, there’s a minority, that will always let down the true supporters and instigate criminal actions, but make no mistake from our experience the confrontation and protagonists were clearly, the Russians and French.

French Ultras took a focus on attacking English fans.  But the Russians took hooliganism to a different level.  I suspect the latter’s antics would be the foundation of a saleable commercial computer game – and movie that would make Green Street and Football Factory look like a children’s programme.

Supposedly these fans that started disruption in the Stadium, after the release of flares and bangers, were well drilled, of ‘one vision’, combative, ‘tooled up’ and conducting activities with military precision.  They have taken football hooliganism to a level never before witnessed in my opinion.  Thank goodness rather than the traditional, scapegoating towards England supporters – enquiries after investigation appear to remove the instant reflex and blame and appreciate the biggest finger should point East.

150 Russian football hooligans were behind the violence, French prosecutors have said. Brice Robin, Chief Prosecutor in Marseille, says: “most of the 35 people injured in the four days of fighting were English, four of whom are in serious condition.” Furthermore, he commented: “These people were well prepared for ultra-rapid, ultra-violent action. These are extremely well trained people.”

On a separate note, hindsight is a wonderful thing, but the security at the Stadium was inadequate.  We could have taken terrorist materials and weapons into that Ground without difficulty as precautions and staff were found lacking.  Whilst, incredibly concerning, it gives added credence to the work that we are commencing at ACROBAT | FCSM with Safety Awareness which are gurus in sport venue security having planned and implemented successful campaigns at: Olympics, World Cups and Commonwealth Games.

Robin, continues: “Our spotters in Marseille saw them putting in gum shields and putting on martial arts gloves and bandanas before attacking England fans in the Port. We know some were carrying knives because one England fan was stabbed. They wore a kind of uniform – all in black t-shirts and clothing and most carried bum bags, possibly to conceal weapons.”

Football hooliganism is a different ‘Game’ now.  It has gone up a Level.  I wouldn’t be surprised if an English ‘Hooligan Hit Squad’ forms and seeks to climb that League table of Ultras show of strength.

But the final comment must again be taken from my social media.  I posted: “Now this is what really happened in Marseille #Euro2016 Quality Dad and Lad time #priceless.”

It remains and always will be in my work and play – the beautiful game.  Fan engagement will continue its momentum.  But the landscape for confrontation may have changed for good, hence my titling this post, ‘Ultrasound’.


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Tag Archives: forest

Am I the Leader of the Forest?

In retrospect, I probably looked a little “Paul Bunyanesque” from his perspective. So while it was understandable, his unexpected question still surprised me. And it made me think. I was enjoying a Poncho Hike last Saturday in the mountains above … Continue reading

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“MegaTagmension Blanc + Neptune Vs. Zombies” Video Game Review: A Dimension Full of Fun, Filming, Zombie Killing Schoolgirls

★Writer: Richard K. Moe

  • Platforms: Playstation Vita
  • Publishers: Idea Factory International, Inc.
  • Developers: Idea Factory, Compile Hearts, Tamsoft

[Rated-T For: Fantasy Violence, Language, Suggestive Themes]

“Gamicademi– a learning facility located in a quiet town within Gamindustri. This historical academy is renown for educating CPUs in the ways of human life and culture. Despite its accolades, the school faced the threat of closure due to the world’s population crisis. Against all odds, Blanc and a few brave students would stand and fight to save the academy. Their mission: to make a blockbuster movie! They hoped it would bring recognition to the academy, along with new student applications. And so, the students decided to make a zombie flick. It was an innocent choice. In a twist of fate, real zombies began appearing all over the academy— However, this wouldn’t faze these brave girls. They turned the situation into an opportunity to create the best zombie movie anyone’s ever seen. These fearless students would battle real zombies, and begin shooting their greatest film ever”.  (Idea Factory)

  • A large cast of diverse fighters to choose from.
  • Every character’s play style is different from one another. (E.G. Uzume uses her fist for powerful blows and her microphone for mobbing, Plutia uses her stuffed animals to deliver ranged attacks and close attacks, Blanc uses her hammer to launch devastating blows in a slow yet steady speed).
  • Combat is fun and exciting when blending attack moves, special moves, and transformations.
  • Chaining combos, slaying groups of zombies, and conquering bosses is excellent fun.
  • You’re able to earn and collect money, treasure, and experience points in both PeashyAttack'.jpgSingle Player and Multiplayer.
  • Fighting zombies and bosses with others online is an exhilarating experience.
  • The Multiplayer has much better quests/battles than Single Player’s.
  • Special Daily Quests is a great and fun way to keep players going on Multiplayer daily.
  • There’s definitely some fun in decorating your favorite characters in accessories.
  • A variety of creepy and quirky monsters to beat up.

  • The transformation from the basilcom environment to the high-school environment is really done well. uNIeNERGY.jpg
  • New protagonist, Blanc, gives a different perspective of the Hyperdimension
  • It’s very entertaining to watch the girls act out their ridiculous zombie movie most of the time.
  • A lovable cast of beautiful, cute, energetic, and colorful girls.
  • The script is charming, funny, and silly.
  • New comer, Tamsoft, fits perfectly into the Hyperdimension Neptunia universe.
  • The return of past characters from the Hyperdimension Neptunia series, Plutia and Peashy put a huge smile on my face.
  • Back Stage talk provides a more personal time with the girls.

Presentation, Music, and Voice Acting

  • Character designs by Tsunako are stunning as ever.
  • The comic like visuals in the opening theme are colorful and creative.
  • The well known retro game style ending credits is still here and looks awesome.
  • The opening theme “Be My Zombie” by Idol College is a catchy and lively track.
  • The ending theme “BEFUNYOUANDQN” by Idol College is a great closing song.
  • This time around, Noire’s Japanese voice actress, Asami Imai, makes her the most hilarious character of the game because of how she presents Noire’s Tsundere charm and tantrums.

Gameplay and Presentation

  • Besides the new added characters (Plutia, Uzume, Peashy, Tamsoft), everyone else’s attacks and skills are very similar to the previous Hyperdimension Neptunia title by the developers, Hyperdimension Neptunia U.
  • Many of the missions/quests in Single Player are too quick to beat and not challenging.
  • Battles/Quests can grow a bit repetitive after a while.
  • There are many quests that use only a fragment of a wide stage, which make the other parts of the stage empty and useless.
  • Using the lock-on feature on a specific enemy can be a pain if there’s too many enemies in your line of vision.
  • The Lily Rank feature doesn’t do anything really significant.
  • The Story menu design is bland.

Story and Writing

  • The introduction is very brief and sudden. HperdimeNeptune
  • Even though there are real zombies roaming around, the girls act a bit too casual about it.
  • The story’s pacing is a bit fast and doesn’t give much time to breathe in the first couple of chapters.
  • The story grows stale at times.
  • Character spotlight is not distributed well.
  • Tamsoft is the newest character yet she is barely given any spotlight.
  • Some characters either disappear from the story almost completely after they are introduced or make rare appearances. (E.G. Peashy, Tamsoft,  Dengekiko, and Famitsu).
  • The story doesn’t really pick up until Chapter 7.  crashshjs.jpg
  • The zombie outbreak issue doesn’t entirely get addressed until around
    Scene/Chapter 8.
  • Being able to alter a cutscene by choosing certain pairs in a story mission/quest is cool and all but it’s so minor that it doesn’t make a difference. (E.G. Instead of having Tamsoft playing a background zombie in the film it is now Noire, Instead of having Rom play as a agent it is now Ram, Instead of having Dengekiko and Famitsu as Seniors it is now Uni and Nepgear).
  • The main villains have no depth and feel almost random.
  • The last battle is anti-climatic and brief.
  • Although nice, the conclusion is very cliche and just okay.
  • The whole story is pretty forgettable.
  • At times, I personally don’t enjoy the way Idea Factory writes some of the dialogue exchanges. (E.G. Sometimes a character will say things that wouldn’t usually be said by them, There are some trendy words or sayings inserted in).

★6/10★ Most Disappointing Dimension

The game trailer is down below! Zombie killing action!

2 thoughts on ““MegaTagmension Blanc + Neptune Vs. Zombies” Video Game Review: A Dimension Full of Fun, Filming, Zombie Killing Schoolgirls

    1. Yo Karandi!
      Yeah, there’s a lot of cons. The Hyperdimension Neptunia games usually gets 9’s from me. But not this one. Although there were a lot of cons, there were strong pros as well that saved it’s score. Thanks for reading!

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San Tan Valley Schools

San Tan Valley Schools
San Tan Valley Schools

San Tan Valley is home to three public school districts, a handful of charter schools and a community college district.  There is also a large home school community.

Public School Districts

J.O. Combs Unified School District

301 East Combs Rd

San Tan Valley, AZ 85140

J.O. Combs Unified School District serves over 4,400 students in San Tan Valley and the surrounding community. Our rapidly growing district is very proud of its dedicated staff, enthusiastic students and their parents, and our many progressive programs.  As our school district and community grow, we are committed to preserving the ‘small school’ atmosphere where students and families are known by staff and treated with respect as well as providing educational experiences in which the entire family can participate and be proud. Thank you parents, students, staff, and community. Our combined efforts show in the results, and the results speak for themselves - together we make a difference.

Florence Unified School District

P.O. Box 2850

Florence, AZ 85132

At Florence Unified School District #1 we put ‘Kid’s First’. These two little words make a big difference when the District Vision Statement becomes a way of life, and the last six years have shown what a difference a caring, dedicated and focused staff can make. Under the leadership of Dr. Gary Nine, and with the warm support of our parents and community, Florence Unified School District has become a leader in educational technology in Arizona, and every school has turned around previously lackluster performances to achieve ratings of performing, performing plus or highly performing - and we just keep getting better. Florence Unified School District consists of seven K-8 schools, two high schools, an online school, an alternative school and a school for students with severe emotional disabilities. All schools are located in Florence and San Tan Valley.

Additional Options

In addition to three public school districts to choose from, San Tan Valley also has a variety of charter schools, online schools and private schools to choose from. See a list of schools here.

Central Arizona College

3736 E. Bella Vista Rd

San Tan Valley, AZ 85143

Central Arizona College is a dynamic and multifaceted institution of higher education featuring nine campuses and centers strategically located throughout Pinal County for the purpose of educating the diverse population of the region. It may be the best-kept community college secret in Arizona, even the country, but one the institution fervently is willing to reveal. From students of Hispanic and Native American descent to participants in Central Arizona’s Lifelong Learners program, the institution’s diverse college community values the power of innovation, continuous quality improvement and the contribution of the individual.

Central’s mission is to provide a vibrant environment centered on learning and learner success for students ranging from teenagers to those 55 and better. The average age of Central’s student population is in the mid-30’s.

**Click here to view San Tan Valley schools


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Easter Day Out

Obviously when I say a ‘day out’, I’m assuming that you, like me, live in London.  If you, like most people, don’t live in London, then this may be more than a simple day out.  But if you can ever make it to Canterbury, I do think you should.

And here’s why.  The cathedral is jaw droppingly beautiful.

I shall now put this into some context.  A very subjective context, but a context nonetheless.  I went to a secondary school in London that had affiliations with Westminster Abbey. We had two or three services a year in Westminster Abbey and I used to be aware of the privilege of shuffling down aisles where kings and queens had proudly stomped before me. And yeah, it was quite impressive to be miming along to dirge-full hymns once a term in such an historical building.  Additionally, as a state school, we were involved with an all London choir and dance affair at St Pauls where I remember having to change into my leotard in the crypt and then prance (choreographed prancing to be fair) on a makeshift stage to the rousing Carmina Burana – yeah, it was awesome!

So, we can safely say that I have seen some Cathedrals. (Yes, I’ve been to Sagrada Família). I’d heard that Canterbury was impressive. But I stepped inside and I can honestly say that my jaw dropped.  It is freakin’ awesome in the true sense of the word.

Now, granted, I visited Canterbury on a weekday in term time so I’m sure it wasn’t as busy as it could have been and I did watch a class of year 4 students kicking their feet and lolling their heads whilst I listened rapt to the guide tell them the story about the dear old Becket and his untimely end.  Even the kid in the crown during the enactment looked bored whilst I was thinking how much I’d have liked to be the one wearing the crown shouting ‘who will rid me of this troublesome priest’.  His performance was lacklustre at best and he hadn’t even properly learned the line just taught him. Amateurs.  (Harsh, I know).

I’m not religious, nor spiritual.  I have way too many demons and free floating anxiety for either. But Canterbury Cathedral is, in my view, a jewel of serenity within a cavernous stone shell, a gem of architecture, of history, of sculpture, of craftsmanship, of building something for faith, of structure, acoustics and, quite frankly, of awesome.

Yes, I seem to remember we were charged to enter (which I find anathema in places of worship).

But if you’re like me and want to get your money and time/effort’s worth, do check it all out.  And make sure to grab one of the yellow sashed volunteers and test them. Test the fuck out of them.  I was told that they have to sit exams and actually study the history of the place, so approach them quietly (church, remember), point at something and say “What’s that?”.  They’re AWESOME.  Why I had to point out they were yellow sashed I’m not sure as I don’t remember green or red or purple sashed volunteers.

Although, come to think of it, doesn’t the Archbishop wear a purple sash?

And I bet he knows a thing or two about the place.

The town’s really nice too…. go see it.

This is their website if you’re interested:

Visitors’ Website

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