I'm delighted to be here today in Undostate for the Undostate edition of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Clinic. Let me take this opportunity to extend my sincere congratulations to my brother and friend, Governor Oluwa Rotimi, Acre Dulu, SAN, and his team for their continuing hard work and commitment to the development of the state. Undostate is well known across Nigeria for not just business but for its agricultural potentials. It is the cocoa capital of Nigeria, responsible for as much as 40 percent of Nigeria's annual cocoa output. Undostate is also a major producer of oil palm, is also home to one of the largest deposits of butymen in the world. Indeed, there is a lot for this state to be proud of and to seek to exploit for economic growth and for the prosperity of the people. The federal government is fully committed to working with the Undostate government to ensure that not only are these potentials exploited to the fullest but that they also translate into a better life for all who live and work and do business here in this state. Indeed, in the last three years, we have demonstrated an abiding commitment to facilitating genuine efforts by all states of the federation to attract investment, to diversify their economic base and to create jobs and economic opportunities for their people. So far, we have held 13 editions of the MSME clinics in various states across the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria, and we are today holding the 14th edition of the MSME clinic here in Undostate. This is further demonstration of our commitment to ensuring that small businesses, market women and artisans have an opportunity or have several opportunities to do business and to do business successfully. It is, of course, well known that MSMEs or small businesses and micro-businesses have tended to be neglected in this country over the years as a result of the competing priorities as well as a tendency to discount their contribution to the national economy. As individual units, small businesses may appear to be slight, but together they account for as much as 50 percent of Nigeria's GDP and over 80 percent of our labor force. Clearly, they are an important part of the national economy, and they should be treated as such, more so now that it has become inevitable for us to look inwards to become a country that is able to grow what we eat and produce what we consume. The MSME clinics were conceived with this in mind and designed to bring government closer to the people by assembling in one place all the regulatory agencies whose work affects the business experience of small and medium-scale businesses. This affords MSMEs an efficient platform to which they can bring their business related problems for the intervention of the regulatory agencies for solution outside the formal and sometimes intimidating offices of these agencies. At the same time, gaining access to all the agencies in one place saves the small businesses the travel time and the cost of having to seek out different agencies. The MSME clinics have also enabled regulatory agencies to gain a better understanding of the difficulties that small businesses face and has helped them to become better prepared to offer value to these small businesses. For instance, several agencies have reduced the cost and timeliness for service deliveries to small businesses. Since the launch of this program last year, it has been easier for small businesses to access funds because the Bank of Industry, the Development Bank of Nigeria, and the Nigerian Export and Import Bank, NEXEM, have used the clinics to increase not just awareness of their products but also to make available credit to participating businesses. NAVDAC has made it easier to do business by reducing the cost and the waiting time for product registration for MSMEs and NAVDAC is here today. I want a lot of the businesses that are looking for NAVDAC registration to meet with these NAVDAC officials today and find out what exactly it is that is causing the delays that they may be experiencing because it's important for you to have a NAVDAC number especially if you are going to trade in good shops or if you want to export what you are selling. Processes that used to take as much as eight months now take three months. The Corporate Affairs Commission which registers businesses and companies now registers businesses within 48 hours and also carries out registration at reduced rates. During this clinic, the Corporate Affairs Commission is also registering companies and is ready to do so especially at this reduced price. The Nigerian Export Promotion Council, NEPC, and the Standards Organization of Nigeria have both slashed their charges on various products and services in order to support MSMEs. To foster continuity after the clinics, at least five state governments have set up one-stop shops that bring all the relevant agencies together in one place so as to enable small businesses to access their services on an ongoing basis with relatively easy. And this is very important and we hope that we'll be able to do this in understate so that the state has in one place, in one office, have NAVDAC, they have SON, they have the CAC and others in one place so that small businesses can go there to do their businesses. Another idea emerging from the clinics is the establishment of shared facilities for small businesses based on a partnership between the federal government and the state governments and the Bank of Industry. The idea is that the small businesses that do not have financial capacity to purchase their own equipment should be able to walk into a fully equipped cluster, a facility that has all of the equipment that they may need. So for example, we will try and see a situation where if you make furniture or if you're a tailor, we provide a cluster with equipment and with power so that you can come there and do your business. Now this is supposed to be some kind of assistance for those who do small businesses but cannot afford to own their own spaces. So these clusters are meant to create that opportunity. Where possible, the facility will already have been certified by the relevant agencies so that it just makes it easier for people to do businesses. The MSME clinics also afford us the opportunity to widen the reach of the government enterprises and empowerment program GEEP, the micro-credit component of our social investment program. Today during this on those state MSME clinics, GEEP will be expanding its footprint in on those state and looking at how to expand those opportunities and to pre-qualify beneficiaries. On those state is of course already benefiting substantially from the entire suite of social investment programs, GEEP, the national school feeding program, N-PAR and the conditional cash transfer scheme. This state has 5,271 volunteers in the first batch of the N-PAR, 24 of them in N-Build. It's a company program for artisanal skills related to the building industry. The total resources that were spent in on those state and of course we continue to invest in this state through our social investment program and I think that one of the most important things that we must bear in mind is that the whole idea of the of the social investment scheme of the government is to ensure that people who do not have opportunities are given those opportunities. If you look at our budgets, we provided 500 billion for the whole country. We have not been able to fund it to the tune of 500 billion, we don't have that much money. In fact what has been what we've tried to spend so far is about 80 billion in all but we intend to look as we as our income increases we intend to improve and continue to expand. That is why so far across the country we've done only 200,000 N-PAR volunteers. We still intend to do 300,000 more and we are watching out for that. The gentleman who has a question there is in the second batch. That second batch is there are so many across the country as well they are the next 300,000. It's very important for us to bear in mind that this government is earning 60% less than previous governments earn, previous federal government despite that. We are spending more on the people, we are investing more in the people. For the first time, for the first time in the history of this country we are putting 1.3 trillion on infrastructure, 1.3 trillion on infrastructure. A lot of people sometimes you know I was reading a comment today somebody one somebody was making a comment about how well the government has done or how well it hasn't done and I said one thing that you must understand first of all about this government is that it's a government that wants to be honest with the people. If a government wants to be honest with the people look at the money you have. If you have if you have one billion spend that one billion on the people don't steal it spend it on the people. The difference between us and any previous government is that we're not going to steal the money we spend the money on the people. That's the difference and I want to assure you I want to assure you for example look at the Lagos Carnot look at the Lagos Carnot Bridge the Lagos Carnot Railway. They've been talking about Lagos Carnot Railway for almost 10 years. They never built it. Now we have put money into it despite the fact that we're only 60% less. We have started building it from a Papa Port before the end of this year we'll go all the way to Ibadu in that Lagos Carnot Railway. We are building the Second Niger Bridge. The last government they talked about it. They always talk about these things but they never started they never built it. Now we are building now we are building with 60% less income. We are building it. These all these things we are doing all these things we are doing the empower homegrown school feeding. Homegrown school feeding is feeding primary school children all across Nigeria 7.6 million children today. I've been fed every single day. When we were earning a hundred dollars a barrel of oil there was no homegrown school feeding. Today we are earning between 60 and 70 dollars a barrel. We are feeding children in schools. What happened to the money before now? So I think it's very important for us to bear in mind and one of the reasons why we hold ourselves to account why the vice president of the country will come today to to this meeting a town hall meeting where you can ask your questions. It's because we want to be held to account. The money does not belong to us. The money belongs to the people. It is taxpayers money and we want to be held to account. Those who say those who say that they want to see that they want to see performance must see it in the works that have been done. Look at Lagos Ibadno Expressway. How many years since 1999 they've been talking about Lagos Ibadno Expressway. They haven't built it. People who are complaining today who are in government from 1999 16 years they never built the Lagos Ibadno Expressway. Now we are building it. So I think Nigeria's problems are not many if the money is not stolen. If you don't steal the money, if we spend the money, we will achieve the results for the people. This government is committed to ensuring that the money is given to the people and that the people use the money. That is one of the reasons why corruption is fighting back and they are fighting back very desperately because they want to come back to do what they used to do before. But God forbid it will not happen again. The people of this land say that we will hold ourselves to account. We have promised the people of this country that we will lead honestly. The people will experience honest leadership. It may be difficult. It may be tough. But this country is moving forward by the grace of the almighty God. Finally, let me just say that every inch of the way as we make progress, we believe that a country such as this, a country as great as Nigeria, there should be no reason why our young people should experience difficulty in finding opportunities. No reason. Opportunity is not a big deal. It is not a big deal. Opportunity has a big difficulty in finding opportunities. No reason. Opportunities will abound in industry. Opportunities will abound in agriculture. They have devices they have and we are putting training on those, we are putting training materials on those devices and also on the platforms because we believe that young people have to be trained for the future. The future lies in technology. It lies in entrepreneurship. It lies in great ideas. They are committed are committed to training and retraining our young people so that they will be competitive in the next ten years, they will be even better than young people in different parts of the world. We are committed to ensuring that this country is not the way that it used to be. This country has to change. I used to be a university teacher and I served in the university for many years. Every year we will say something has to happen in this country. Something has to change in this country. Why will it not change? We are here now and by the grace of God we will all see the changes that we have been praying for by the honest leadership that we have put in place in this country. Money will not be stood. We are not going to let anybody steal, anybody who steals money. Some of them say, oh, we haven't seen anybody being thrown in jail, but they are on trial. We will continue to arrest them, put them on trial. Even if the courts waste time, whoever will still put them on trial, but will not allow anybody to run away with the money. The money of this country belongs to its people and its people must enjoy that money. Thank you very much.


One, I'm James Malan, welcome to this episode of Talk of the Town. I get to talk to the director of the ACA, the Arlington Center for the Arts, Tom Formicola for this Talk of the Town ACA update. Tom, always a pleasure to welcome James to the studio. Good to see you again. Absolutely. You come solo today for the first time in a while, and we'll try not to be too hard on you. Everybody else is too busy to join me. Well, it is a super busy time of the year. It always is with the ACA. And I know, though, that you're looking at camp next week because it's absolutely, yeah, just like that. And we'll be in summer before we know it, but that's part of what we'll be talking about today. Great. So we always like to use these conversations, obviously, to, you know, actually, sometimes we revisit things that have happened since we last spoke to you. And if that should that come up, we will be happy to hear. But most often, we're looking forward. We're wanting to let people know what's going on specifically at the ACA and specifically probably over the next two or three months or so. So that's what we'll do today. And it's easy to know where to start because the ACA has a major event coming up at the end of this month. I'd like you to start there, if you don't mind. Just about two weeks away. Mark your calendars. Saturday, April 29th, from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., we'll be presenting our new fundraiser called Spotlight ACA for folks who loved the blue jean ball. It has all of the great components that were part of the blue jean ball and more. And you can wear your tux. And I'm going to actually go the opposite way because people are like, oh, but I loved wearing my blue jeans. You could still wear your blue jeans. We encourage you to. And there will still be lots of music and lots of dancing. In fact, we'll have three bands with us that night. Made in the shade Trio is going to be playing folks in as they arrive that evening. And we'll have a jug band playing on the first floor to get people sort of warmed up and ready to go, ready to party. And then later in the evening, Tall Mall, which is a very popular porch fest band, will sort of close out the night with a really fun set that includes everything from Bollywood to Abba and everything in between that you can imagine. Wow. Well, that sounds like fun. But it also, in addition to that, it sounds like a lot of fun. But I love the choice in a lot of ways of the music as well because certainly the last two that you mentioned are so kind of interwoven with the ACA already. You were here talking with a guest about jug bands and jug band music not that long ago. Porch Fest is obviously another thing we'll talk about today and something that is huge in town and huge for the ACA. What a wonderful kind of confluence. So it's funny that you should use that word interwoven because that's exactly what we tried to sort of incorporate with this new fundraiser is to try to give folks like a little taste of all of the things that we do all year long. You mentioned the jug band, it's in Talmala's of Porch Fest band. We're going to have several artists that are going to be doing demos. We're going to have a ceramics demo up in the ceramic studio. Somebody will be doing paper weaving. Somebody else is going to be doing embroidery. We're going to have a fun interactive activity that will sort of conjure up a feeling of a camp. People have access to a new exhibit. We'll talk more about that in a minute. In our gallery. So the whole night is sort of dedicated to giving people just sort of a little taste of all the wonderful things that ACA provides to the community throughout the year. Yeah, it sounds like just about like a kind of celebration slash open house where you're really inviting people because again that's also different from blue jean ball as you've said. In the past the blue jean ball has been held quite often in town hall in the auditorium which is as we know a magnificent space for such things. But this means that by placing this event right in your facility people will be able again to explore all the facets of what you do in a single evening. So technically it's in the Arlington Community Center. There you go. Sorry about that. And the funny thing is their address is 27 Maple Street and the Arlington Center for the Arts is address is 20 Academy Street. But guess what? It's the same building. And so it is great to be like at home and doing that event and we get to do that because of the you know the generosity of the town and our great neighbors in that building including the council on the aging and the health department. Yeah, and let's talk for a second about just the importance of this. I mean obviously we've talked about how nice it will be to be there and how proud you are of the kind of components that you've already put together without taking anything away from that. I think I'd also just want to remind people that this is hugely impactful for the community as well, right? Because I remember the fundraising efforts that happened years ago when they're the move to this new space needed to happen and how the town responded at that point. Talk a little bit about that. Sure. Well we're hoping to raise $30,000 through this event and it is I mean it's built to be a fun social event. But it is also meant to like sort of remind folks that we're a not-for-profit organization and we survive because of the generosity and the kindness of community members who participate in that whole range of programs including Porch Fest or who take classes with us or who will drop it and see an exhibit. And this is just sort of a gentle reminder to them that we want them to celebrate us but we also want them to remember that like supporting us is important as well because the work that we do isn't possible without their engagement and without their support. Yeah and I mean it's a different thing right to kind of come together around it wasn't an emergency exactly but it wasn't by you know it wasn't a choice that meant moving from what is now the Gibbs School to this new space. And it's again one thing for the community to recognize oh my goodness this is an important moment for us to reach into our pockets etc. But as you're saying I mean your work goes on every week of every year and in order to do that this needs to the money needs to keep funneling in. Yeah I'm happy to say this isn't an emergency moment we're doing well like we're you know we've come out of COVID stronger than we went into it I think in many ways and we're growing and we're trying to serve more people and we're trying to serve them in better ways like we're always trying to improve our programs and deepen the experiences that people have and in order for us to do that you know it takes a staff it takes great teachers you know we rent a building you know there are expenses associated with that and and it's it's not enough to replicate that year after year at the end of every year we we look back at what we did we think oh you know we could do that better if we had some more resources so this is about you know growth. All right so let us just before we move on to other topics let's just remind folks one more time Saturday April 29th from 7 to 10 p.m. tickets are on sale now you can get them on our website and and it's gonna be a fun night like it's it's gonna be a really fun night wear your blue jeans bring your dancing shoes. Excellent okay we have some other stuff to talk about too. Let's let's take the rest of it maybe chronologically or something I know that there's a new exhibit opening also around the same time at the end of this month. So we're installing it right now and it's called reunion 10 Iranian artists ten years later we have an instructor who works regularly with us her name is Bahareh Safarani and with her sister together the Safarani sisters are curating this show they are both from Iran they went to the University of Tehran and they studied art there and they have assembled a show that is essentially showcasing the work of their colleagues and they all graduated 10 years ago and it's a it's a beautiful show with a beautiful range of work mostly painting and drawing and it's you know one of the things that's really striking about it is that it's so different from the show that we just took down which was a fiber arts show it was which was very colorful and very playful and this is more thoughtful and contemplative and and provocative and and and the works make you stop they stop you in your tracks and you really want to sort of get inside those images and and understand them better it's it's beautiful work it opens on Thursday the 27th of April so two days before our exhibit and the folks that come to our fundraiser will be among the first folks to actually get a sneak peek at at that exhibit so we're we're really excited about it I do like the fact that you brought up that contrast between the fiber arts you know exhibit that just closed and this one that will be opening because I do think that again it reminds folks of the range of excellent art experiences that are possible within your building there are other galleries in town but most of those are very kind of topic specific or subject specific and yours you kind of run the gamut you said we might take a look backwards and I'll go backwards for a minute so we just closed that exhibit like a week ago maybe two weeks ago and we have in the time that we've been in this building and the time that I've been at the ACA which is going on four years believe it or not I've never seen this kind of response to an exhibit before like there were there were tens of people coming in every day and and that's unusual you know we're on the third floor of a building that's kind of off the main track you gotta know you gotta be getting there on purpose yeah word was out and and people were coming and they were coming back and bringing friends and and we did some really interesting programming with that art as a backdrop you know I think the the thing about this fiber arts show was called labor of life was that the work that was on display was sort of unexpected I don't think the show looked like anything that anybody imagined it would look like the works were really creative and really interesting and and we did a fun fishbowl discussion with the artists nine of the artists from that show sort of sat in a circle and the audience sat in circles around them and they had a conversation and I remember when somebody suggested when someone proposed to me the idea that that's what you're gonna do I thought oh come on that's never gonna work nine people are gonna talk it was beautiful wow and it was so great to hear like these artists not only share information about their own work but to ask each other questions about like their technique and their process and their inspiration I'll bet they had a really good time too I think that they really did and and we also a few nights after that there's a new poet laureate in town I imagine you've talked to not yet okay we will be gene flan again who incidentally is one of the founders of the aca but she assembled the L wife poets to come and they created and presented an evening of poetry and the readings were inspired by the the work on the walls and they came and they spent time with that work and then they did a beautiful reading and again we had it's a small space but even so we had a sold out crowd on a Monday night on a rainy Monday night for that poetry reading I'm really proud of that yeah so you know again as if we needed any more proof this is a good this is a good time right now at daca this is a rich and fertile time yeah good excellent um so speaking well you know continuing I think with the theme um teen artists on the issues is something that you've done before and we've talked about before but I understand there's a new program this year this is our third year and that program changes every year we haven't to date like just run with one discipline we've decided every year to shake it up a little bit uh we are working with an excellent artist his name is Gustavo Barcelona he teaches regularly in our program we knew that we wanted to do this with him in particular he's a super talented um ceramics artist and he's a really thoughtful guy and he's an activist himself and um he's really interested in social justice issues and he just jumped at the chance to work with local teenagers and uh and he so we're doing a program on ceramics and social justice which strikes everybody's ear is a little funny because everyone's like what and he is looking both at functional works and at um symbolic works representational works and so I'm I can't wait to see what comes out of the conversations that they're having and the collaborations that are happening in that classroom but there's a lot of talk about social justice and issues and um and the issues that that these young people care about and then there's talk about how they can engage community members in conversation about those issues you know I don't know that they're going to do any of these things in particular but like you know one example is like you know a soup bowl is meant to nourish people and um and so there's sort of a representational you know aspect to that by the same token it's you know it's very functional right but there's also you know um sculptures we're gonna be doing I don't have the date in my head but in the middle of June we're gonna we're gonna do a public um conversation with the teenagers and show their work and it's gonna be at the robbins library so people who are interested in that should take and everyone should be interested in that uh uh should take a look on our website and see when that's gonna be but it'll be around the middle of June and these are like really like sharp young people and and Gustavo is so good and they're working so well together and I think they're just going to create something that's going to fascinate all of us yeah you know my my experience here at ACMI and in other ways of dealing with youth in Arlington it they are there are a lot of impressive young kids and their commitment to social issues and issues of great societal impact are is it it's clear I think most people understand what I'm talking about if you're talking if you're interacting with teenagers you know that they care about their world and about the threats to it about the things to celebrate about the inequities there and etc etc so the idea that you would be kind of empower or this this program is going to be empowering them to actually to to let their voices be heard in a different in different media or in a different media over time some of them have experience with ceramics some of them don't have experience ceramics some of them come to this because of their strong interest in ceramics some of them come to this because of their strong interest in social justice so I would also be remiss if I didn't mention that we're this is the third year that we've done a program like this and we offer this program for free and it's an intensive program and it's it it plays out over 10 weeks and you know it's really important for us to to lower the barriers or the obstacles to participation in a program like this and so you know we we we want people to participate also this is by application and we had more this was the first year we actually had more applications than students that we could serve which is exciting and sad simultaneously right of course it's a mark of success obviously in a lot of ways but also you never you don't want to say no to anybody especially around something like this last thing i'll say about that is that i really like the model that you've got there very much again as a former teacher i just like the idea that what you're doing is offering access to everybody at least potentially right but also uh expecting a commitment which is a serious commitment on their part and if they can do their part you're happy to do your part i like that arrangement in case any of those teens are watching i should say this out loud as well the applications were all great without exception i mean we actually asked the kids to talk about the social issues that they're interested in and why they think art is important and we got amazing answers to those questions and we had intended to like all sit down as a group and go through those applications and say this one but not that one and that one but not this one we couldn't do it and so we literally just threw all the names into a hat oh and it was a kind of almost a lottery yeah yeah because there were there were no there was no qualitative way to do it they were all fabulous there's there if we had room for all of them we would have loved to serve all of them but it's a ceramic studio and unfortunately like it just doesn't expand easily that's right well i'm glad that you had uh you know had an opportunity to mention that as well because that's super important and hopefully some are all of those kids are going to tune into this okay a couple more things to talk about one that for sure is already on everybody's radar and that is porch fest of course because who doesn't love porch fest right so saturday june 17th mark your calendars we have the date if it rains it'll be sunday june 18th but it's not going to rain um registration opened about a month ago and we already have a lot of folks registered as porches and we have a lot of folks registered as bands so if you're thinking about it that's an important thing to think about everyone is invited to participate in porch fest and and we you know think of that word banned you know sort of very liberally you know somebody called the other day because they wanted to present a group of dancers great go for it we have visual artists that want to like bring a group together and display visual art terrific sounds fabulous right so it doesn't strictly speaking it doesn't have to be music but you know i always say to everybody that they need to think about the the registration system we have a sort of a kind of dating system like you know porches can register and bands can register and then their job is to to match right and it's their job to match like you know people are always surprised to learn that we don't curate porch fest we don't choose the stages we don't choose the bands like this is very much a community built you know event and and we trust the community to make the choices that like suit them best and so you know we're off to a grand start we had an info session lots of folks showed up with great questions we had 8,000 people last year and we seem to be tracking at a like more enthusiastic rate than we did last year so like it could be big it'll be from 12 until 6 p.m we as the Arlington Center for the Arts is the facilitator of porch fest we're the presenter and and we try to think carefully about just setting down some ground rules that make it easy for people to participate and understand what their roles are and understand the importance of their roles as porches and bands and audience members and one of the things that we talk a lot about is the importance of being a good neighbor and so we have two zones an east zone and a west zone west of town hall is activated from 12 p.m until 4 p.m east of town hall is is activated from 2 p.m to 6 p.m right and then so there's a two hour overlap in the middle and you know that's by design because we don't want to I know you started out with everybody loves porch fest but there are a few folks out there it's not their thing and that's okay yeah good I'm sure they have other interests and that's just fine but like you know it's it's important to us like this is a community building event and so I think everybody agrees that like everybody loves community celebration and so we just try to say you know be respectful tell your neighbors what's going on like no surprises if somebody asks you to turn it down a little bit turn it down a little bit you know just if there's another band playing nearby make sure that you're not competing with one another and and like just enjoy what's going to be a beautiful sunny warm day um and I I really like I don't know if this is happening in other communities as well it probably is but I love what you said at the outset about the fact that you're being very kind of flexible and how you see these performances and that you are going to be inclined to say yes rather than no and try and figure out just you know how how or let folks figure out how well that you know how that will work best but I love that attitude in general the attitude of saying yes it's very ACMI as well and the fact that it is expansive enough it's a truly a community celebration and of course it's it has its roots in and is it is largely a music event as well but there are that you know there's all kinds of possibilities there's no reason to like limit it yeah no I think that that sounds great okay I think we've got one last thing that we should at least touch on you know I remember you giving the date for porch fest months ago because it's something that people do put on their calendars for you know way early this is something else that we've also talked about before because it's just such a big part of what ACA does every year and that is summer camp which you know I know we're not yet at April break very shortly but summer will be here as we all know so we have our dress rehearsal next week with April camp is that right and then all right of course right and then on June 26th we jump in for 10 weeks of camp it'll run through September 1st this year as you know it's a thematic camp we serve uh you know kids from um ages five essentially to high school age students as well and uh registration opened in January and wow the response was like daunting um but our system actually broke down for a few minutes because 300 people were trying to register at once what is this a Taylor Swift concert yes we were making that joke as well um so I mean there's a lot of enthusiasm for this program there's also a lot of need for this program I mean people really count on us you know for the summer to make sure that their kids are having like just really good quality summer fun creative experiences and we take that seriously so we'll have 10 full weeks of really great programming both in our space at Arlington Center for the Arts and at St. Paul's where we've been operating for many years as well over on route two you know lots of great teachers in the mix you know Harry Potter week is back it's always like a really popular week we're like exploring you know underwater creatures and you know worlds of the future and outer space and you know every every week is different than the week before yep yep well it is as I said it's it's it's a lock on a lot of people's calendars and uh as you say it's both exciting time but also a real kind of service to families here in Arlington who want to give you know make sure their kids have really excellent and fulfilling experiences and also want to know that they're taking care of right right and taking care of well and I remember going back some years now uh talking to you about how you were setting summer camp up during COVID and how you were trying and or and just as as we were edging our way out and stuff like that and the fact that it's summer and you can be outside so you can do some more stuff than otherwise but you have to be really and you were so thoughtful and meticulous and careful about all the different components that would reassure parents in the community that you're really doing this right it must be kind of nice not to have to worry about some of those extra constraints but they're still in the picture and we do still have some COVID you know policies because we want to we want to keep our camp community healthy and we want to be able to continue to run our camp program and so but it's it's not it's not like it was yeah I mean we have a lot more room to navigate uh which is great and I have to like say even though there's no staff sitting on either side of me like you know I couldn't do this without like the amazing staff that works at the ACA like really thoughtful people who never stop asking questions and are really comfortable challenging one another which is one of like my favorite things about working with like this team is like you know I will just sometimes this might surprise you but I have a way of just asserting things and um and my staff will just say I don't know about that and I have to tell you I love that I love that the conversation is always ongoing I love that people feel comfortable asking questions and challenging an idea right because it makes us better and start you know and I have to say that kind of culture does come from the top down so I'm glad to hear that I mean it really does and it's really good because it allows it allows and encourages people to be adults and to be able to disagree with each other respectfully and figure out with the understanding that you're going to figure out how to do this best through that and you know that that's true in every context and I learn from my staff every day they they manage up really well you're getting better and better say your staff so good all right well Tom anything that we've missed we've got a minute left don't have any details yet but there's going to be a jug band festival in the fall surprise probably late september early october seems like everything every time you start something new it catches and then you're going to you know you get to do it some more after that somebody said to me the other day when does like summer camp planning start and I said well I used to say the day after the camp ends summer camp ends but actually in the last years it's actually started a couple weeks before that even so it's you know it's you're always looking at the next six months right so maybe in the next aca update we talk about 2025 or something like that we'll see I might be able to do that all right I have been speaking and obviously enjoying myself with Tom Formicola he is the executive director at the Arlington Center for the Arts this has been talk of the town an aca update we appreciate Tom's time he's a busy guy and we appreciate yours as well thanks so much for joining us I'm James Milan we'll see you next time


And before my eyes start, as you can hear me, I really need to say your question again and again. So not shy either. So take your advice out, take all your advice out, then you can keep your calls and time to silence please. Not vibrate, not lower volume of silence. And do make a big deal of it, such that you may have a relationship. Don't bring it to the master.  I guarantee you're not at home. So don't bring it to the master. We have problems, okay? So we're all right. In ahad al-idha, certainly, certainly without a doubt, all please, fans, gratitude, belongs, belongs to the kind of world that I am. In ahad al-idhu, for that reason, we praise him. We thank him for everything that's given to us. We thank him for this wonderful day. We thank him for the opportunity that you have and you came here to pray to praise him. Allah says in this book, in this book, Allah says in this book, in this book, in this book, not that it should be new to you, that your idea of Allah is not to introduce you to something new, but rather to remind people that you already know that there is a purpose of Allah in your mind and there, ok? That's what I'm trying to do in the show. And here's the thing that I've been hearting on, here's the thing that I've been mentioning, at least in all the time that I've spent here. The month that you and I went through, the month of Ramadan that passed, that month is about one thing. The idea of associability is one thing, is this. The month of Ramadan, that means we have to do things to come close to this Quran, that means we have to learn something from it. So I'm going to mention a thing I have, just as an exercise that, what are we trying to do? What are you learning from this book? After all, you and I said this book is a guidance for us, we accepted that. That means now we have to explore upon this. So there's an ayah and a Quran in Surah Al-Balayah Quran, the third Surah. Allah says the following. This is an ayah and a Quran. One thing that I mentioned is a few times about Ramadan, and I didn't go far enough. It was purposely mentioned that way and I was thinking about it for a few days and actually feeling guilty.  But these incentives are not the end, they're just the means to make you move forward.  So the homework for you is, if the incentive is not the end before me, what is the end? What is the goal? What am I talking about? Here's one incentive. Allah says, do these things, you get a genetic, and that you don't have, you get gardens. Allah says, do these things, do these things, do these things, you get a genetic, you get gardens, you get a genetic. That is your homework for yourself. Allah says in this ayah, hold, stay, and then address to Allah, by His fault, and then address to all of you, and me and you included. By the way, I've done one thing here in this ayah, the purpose is not to find you, the purpose is just to say you, saying the same thing as Shaikh Waqf-e-saih, and me, if somebody actually says you, addressing all of you, so it's like talking to a third person and they didn't mention you, so don't be offended. I'm not trying to put an end to it now, Allah says, Allah says, say what? If you truly, if you really serious, if you are serious about loving Allah, if you really need it, if you really need it, and if you structured your life in a way that you think you got to the point that you have claimed now that you could fall in love with Allah, then what you should do, but that you already then follow me, Allah says in this ayah, to say that to everyone. I know you're hearing this. If you really, truly understood that how do you have to follow love with Allah, then follow the Prophet, follow Allah. In Arabic it means to follow lovingly, to follow willingly, to follow with wholeheartedly, not just to follow. The translation says to follow his business, to be really injustice to the translation. Follow lovingly. There are two contacts. If you look at this, your contacts are really different story, but what is the need to do my life today? How do you follow the Prophet of Allah? That means the pre-condition for loving Allah. That's not about actually loving Allah. How do you really follow the love of something, for someone? It's not a trick question. Take a moment. The more you need to know someone, the more time you spend, the more you become interested, the more you know that person. Just think about friendships. Think about who is your best friend. The more you are attached with that person, the more you are actually close to another person. So there's another ayah for an I'm going to translate that for you. If the remedy to follow me lovingly is being given further evidence, so listen to these words carefully please. These words are powerful. The first thing you have to understand when Allah is saying I swear by something is powerful. In this case, Allah says I swear by your God, by your master, by your Lord, I Allah is taking over on himself by addressing the focus of Allah. I take an oath by your Lord, by your master, by your God. For what? What is this oath taking for? It's kind of scary. You all they, you all will not believe. What does that mean you will not believe? You don't have faith. You don't believe. Why? Until you make you, until they, all of you, us make the focus of Allah as judge. Make him judge based on what they are for me for this hearing past a second. Anytime you are making an issue a challenge if we do not reach out to the book of Allah and the Prophetic Tradition to get lessons, to get answers from that. If you are there, Allah says you do not believe. That's it, period. When you seek an answer from Prophetic Tradition for one of the challenges that you are facing and this is your condition should look like you do not find the slightest the most insignificant trouble in your life. You do not find the slightest trouble in your heart to accept it, to believe it. You do not have even as smallest hesitation so why are you, why are you not saying this and why? Look at our condition. I hate to be hated in it. Anytime you are asked for a, for a response to something we ask the person who is hearing Qubah, the person who is hearing a lecture and we kind of don't like the answer. Our immediate default answer is like, well, there are differences in meaning, right? Meaning, I'm looking for a loophole meaning I'm looking for a sign on the line and I want to find an answer until I am satisfied with the answer. Allah says don't you have a single shred of hesitation in your heart when you are looking for an answer from Prophetic Tradition that you were seeking. Going back to the ayah we just decided to follow Allah. This was the translation of how to follow the Prophet Muhammad. What is the incentive for following the Prophet Muhammad or is the incentive for following the love of God? Here Allah says you have been called Allah this is how you were this is how you were Allah says if you do this Allah will love you back Allah is there if Allah the One who created you and I the One who provides you with every single thing all the opportunities that you have in life is only one reason because He is the One who created you and I on top of those opportunities He said He will not be back You cannot find anything better than that You cannot find anything better than that On top of it Allah says if that's not good enough for you Allah will forgive everything that you have done completely completely clean anything that you have done so long as you are sincere so long as you follow the Qur'an the translation so long as you are sincere Allah is the One who created you Allah is extremely forgiving Allah is extremely merciful Here is another nuance in Arabic at the end of the area usually it is called something in the law of the Qur'an the in that part is missing here why do you think it is missing these are the kind of reflections Allah is telling you and I in the Qur'an to reflect upon in natural certainty whatever that that piece is missing because of major pre-condition Allah says Allah is extremely merciful Allah is extremely forgiving and He will allow you to follow Allah with Him so long as you understand how to follow the Qur'an if that piece is missing then there is no deal that's what it basically translates what does this mean to you and I what does this mean to you and I today each time that they go to the grocery store and read the labels to find out if there is any ingredients in our way you are calling for that distribution each time that you say that you are going to start your work at 8am and you are going to finish at 5pm and you are actually working at 8pm and 5pm without taking unnecessary time off without knowing your manager won't you are calling for that distribution each time that you are smuggling to your partner or sister you are calling for that distribution each time that you are inviting someone out of a month of work on the system you are calling for that distribution each time that you ask this puppy out too much you are calling for that distribution that is what it means when you have your brothers and sisters I had a discussion I had a little idea you gave money right I had a discussion I had the same topic now we have $200 at hand what is it that you are going to do with $200 and I said this is my money I will do what I want to do how the fuck is your money what is it that you are going to do he said I am going to buy myself 5 skins on Fortnite no no no 5 skins I am going to spend $25 $30 each you can do that but what I will tell you is my money I know what I want to do maybe he does not discuss this you can put the person down or you can discuss here is the options I gave him Syrian refugee crisis $200 at hand you can give $10 to that he is stupid I can so your dad is putting money for college $10 in a college right now in 5 days that you are going to graduate that could be $1000 he said could be then he could give $5 to your sister I can do that as an MCC you can give $5 $10 to that I can do that you can buy some food for yourself you can buy the latest designs I can do that you can do that these are all avenues you can spend your money that brings you closer closer to this time that is what I am going to stop being about I am not going to stop being about we could claim we could say brother sound good if you are not going to make sense we are not denying before you even think about it we could say something else before you even think about it faith faith does not enter into the heart unless there is love in the heart love cannot happen unless there is loyalty and respect to the presence of Allah if you say love takes a long time and Allah says this the next time say what you have to mean when you do this again to you pay attention to each words even if you don't understand Arabic pay attention stay if you don't know how to respond if you don't know if you don't know how to respond say obey Allah and the translation says obey Allah and the prophet here is an alternate translation this word this word is an act by end sorry to Yigit that means in English that is the same obey Allah that is the say obey the prophet that means the equivalent that means obey the prophet that is obey Allah that is what Allah is trying to tell you willingly lovingly and here is the ticker here is what disney muslims my hair and body sticks out the next part of the ayah in tawala if you turn away from that that means if you turn away from the prophet's mission because what happens but in Allah without a doubt Allah is saying you without a doubt Allah does not love this believers what just happened what just happened what happened is this if you and I turn away from the prophet's mission if you and I do not need time and effort and you and I do not sacrifice we do not need our status away we are clinging to our titles Allah says you are not among the believers running away from the solution that Allah has put forward for you the ayah that we cited today from aaliyah and ral 31 and 32 go home and read the translation that he talked about to me it is telling you a match of what we can do listen to Allah listen to his message and that is equivalent to doing what practice of Allah plays in the solution Allah says read at home read at home and look at your own things and say how does that fit to me how does that fit to me Allah says his mission is to what is his mission what is his mission is to perfect to compete to beautify our character so pay attention do we give our due rights to our kids we have fun and bar do we give our due rights to them do we spend time with them or are we a harsh event or are we only authority to them our classes are really nice and lovingly talking to them Allah says we mind from Allah and share spouse share spouse they have me speak with a loving language who we call it as the DM the region if for some reason we have been separated the most of the place you know that's the hardest part that is the hardest part that is the question are we still in that state to be data back to them or are we being just or are we being just these are all the things that are meant in this area if you and I are going thinking what it means when we turn away from all decent when we take someone's breakaway you're turning away from this in the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful, the Most Merciful. In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful, the Most Merciful.


Hello and welcome back to the craft box. My name is Brent and today we are on episode 72 of the completionist craft this series And we are back in Aquila once more this time. We are crafting boots And we are crafting the adepts devious sandals today as always everything you will need is on screen right now So yeah, go and go and look at that and we will head over to our house and craft these in the equipment station yeah Luckily, we're back in Aquila. We as I said a while ago We're gonna be like floating about a bit for a wee while like rotating out between Aquila and everywhere else Just because there's a lot to do in Aquila, but um, yeah, anyway, so there's devious sandals one times one of those You need I recommend just farming the first boss and Mount Olympus to get them five wraith You can go get them from either bizarre a couple of other treasure card vendors. I went to Fitzsum Crystal vials you can go get from the Celestia reagent vendor black pearls. I mean you can find them in black lotuses I have a video on that blood moss. I farm Pink dandelions for my blood moss or I have a video on that. I believe which Takes you to the Athenium or the shadow palace of the two places. I go for that water lilies Again, I have a video on that and frost flower. I would recommend going to winter tusk or somewhere Yeah, that's generally where I go But I generally get quite a few you can also collect these while you're collecting cattails So it is quite a decent one, but yeah at its Add its devious sandals boom. Obviously a death school boots. We got four four points nice But yeah, so they give if we just compare them with Let's just put on my normally my normal set and we will use the compare feature to compare the stats Not that you will use these at max level, but as you can see They have 95 max health 4% power put 3% death accuracy 7% death damage 4% incoming heal 9% life and myth resist as well obviously level 30 plus and death score only and if you were gonna use them compared to this that is your Losses and stuff that you would get I would not recommend these At level 130, but if you're level 30 would be a decent Set of boots, I would say Second to the Zeus boots, which you should probably more likely go for but yeah, anyway, that is all for today Thank you for watching remember to leave it like and subscribe before you subscribe press the little bell So you know exactly when I post another video and remember to craft outside the box


Instagram sensation and supermodel Emily Raitakowski is probably best known for her jaw-dropping social media posts, but in recent years this model, swimwear designer, and author has earned even more attention for her interior decorating skills.  And really, is it any surprise this fashionista is as talented tying together a room as she is a fantastic outfit, whether it's her brand new home in Echo Park, Los Angeles, her quaint former LA apartment, or even the chic loft that she owns in NYC with her husband Sebastian Bear McClared. Emily has managed to turn each space into something that is undeniably her own. In these videos we don't reveal any addresses even though I've done a house tour of my own place, please do not show up at any private residences because it's not safe for anyone. Emily Raitakowski is a model and actress who has a net worth of about 8 million dollars or more at the time of this recording, so seeing the chic places she owns shouldn't come as much of a surprise. Hey guys, it's Care Back with another exclusive house tour here on Famous Entertainment, this one looking at the properties of Emily Raitakowski. Don't forget to like, subscribe, and hit me up on Instagram to chat some more. And now let's get into this video. Announcement in we're asking all of you guys for your support.  If you want to know more about your favorite celebrities like Cardi B, Ariana Grande, Elon Musk, and everyone else in Hollywood, we will be unearthing tons of crazy info you won't find anywhere else. Be sure to go over and subscribe to our new channel and we will see you over there with new content each and every week. When Emily was first starting off in the entertainment industry as a model and actress, she picked herself up a modest LA apartment that was home to an eclectic mix of Emily's three favorite things. I'm talking art, carpets, and reclaimed furniture. This initial home featured a large and wide open loft space that was located inside the building of a former factory, the remnants of which included exposed pipes that would run across the length of the ceiling as well as polished concrete floors. A mix of seating areas helped cultivate a more intimate feel compared and contrasted against the loft's otherwise wide open spaces. To soften the harshness of those concrete floors, Emily laid down a ton of rugs, including everything from cow hide to a vintage South Asian piece. Meanwhile, her walls were nearly as well covered as her floors and all through the loft you could find artwork by a whole bunch of artists, including LA-based painter Henry Taylor. I wasn't able to pinpoint exactly when Emily moved into this place or how much she paid for it, but my best guess is that she's spent the better part of the 2010s living here before moving on to her first house located in Echo Park. After marrying her hubby Sebastian in a secret ceremony, the couple moved into this $2 million mid-century estate just three months after getting hitched. Tucked behind gates on a double-sized lot, this 1,650-square-foot home is located at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac and was originally built in 1946, but has since been completely remodeled over the subsequent decades. This home features not only a number of large windows that are perfect for flooding their family home with that gorgeous California sunshine, but it also has a generous backyard that can be easily transformed into an entertainer's dream. Back here you'll find the large deck, private wrap-around garden, bubbly hot tub, and a gas fireplace. Only a stone's throw away from there is a separate cottage that's connected to the main house through an open breezeway and can be converted into an office, a gym, or guest house. Basically, whatever the situation calls for. Moving inside, you're probably about to experience a little bit of deja vu because it seems like Emily's deck displaces out in much the same style as her former LA apartments. In other words, lots of carpets, antique furniture, and paintings have this three-bedroom, three-bathroom home, displaying Emily's distinct sense of style and space. The living room has a number of interesting pieces, like ceramic jugs created by California artist Grant Levy Lucero. There's also a retro coffee table that complements the Sorbet color scheme of the nearly $5,000 provocateur sofa that's located at smack dab in the middle of the room. The warehouse-style interior of this living room boasts high wood-paneled ceilings, while the walls are adorned with oodles of Emily's art pieces which add plenty of color to the otherwise neutral backdrop provided by the walls. Not too long ago, Emily took to Instagram to share an aerial view of this amazing room that revealed all I've already discussed in more, like the exposed brick chimney and that floor-to-ceiling glass that leads out onto the terrace.  Bet you did a double check just now, though didn't you? Alright, moving on before you get too excited, let's check out the dining room next. With its 60-style acrylic chairs colored candy apple red tucked under a black-and-white round table, having a meal or two or three in this kitchen is probably a pretty enjoyable time, especially when you take into consideration what's staring at you directly in the face while you eat. That's right, the dining room is where Emily has decided to place the iconic photo from her 2014 sports-illustrated shoot where she posed with nothing on but a painted bikini top. This particular reproduction of the image was created by artist Richard Prince and gifted to Emily afterwards. Meanwhile, the nearby kitchen is probably the part of the home that we've seen the least of, but from what I can see, it appears to still feature some original wood and white marble finishing that matches Emily's art deco taste pretty well. Finally, moving upstairs is her master bedroom which is bursting with natural light and anchored by a few key decorative statements that definitely catch the eye. This includes a bright patterned rug, two renaissance-style armed terrace, and a large painting which Emily says is her favorite of all her pieces. Of course, since the room is an ensuite, it also features a large walk-in closet as well as a full bathroom with dual sinks and skylights. And that's where Emily and her hubby Sebastian, along with their newborn son Sylvester and their lovable German Shepherd Colombo, spend the vast majority of their time living. But when the family just needs to get away from the West Coast, they're lucky enough to have a separate home in the Big Apple, or at least they do for now. To be honest with you guys, both Emily and Sebastian have been careful not to show off too much of their NYC home. That's probably for one particular reason, but before we get into that, I figure I would give you a taste of what we do know about the place. Emily once took some time to show off her master bedroom in her Manhattan apartment, posting this picture of the city's natural sunlight flooding in through her open sash windows. In general, the little else we've seen of the place more or less matches Emily's style in her other homes. What I mean by that is luxurious retro style fittings that help give the home a warm feel, contrasted against stark white walls and large windows. But the real interesting thing about this place is how much drama it has drummed up recently in Emily and Sebastian's lives. Just a couple of years ago, Emily had to defend her husband after the New York Post ran a story that suggested Sebastian had been taking advantage of a rent loophole for struggling artists that allowed him to skip out on the $4,900 a month in rent. Apparently back in 1982, something called the Law Flaw was created that protected artists and other low-income tenants from being evicted from their home if the building they were living in did not have a certificate of occupancy or the necessary safety precautions like a fire ski. It turns out that the building Sebastian rents his law fin does not have the necessary occupancy certificate, so Sebastian has simply stopped paying what he owes and built up more than $120,000 in back rent. Meanwhile, Emily is arguing that while yes, her husband is an independent movie producer, he's not as rich as, say, a Hollywood producer. And that means he's simply fighting the good fight to keep his home in the downtown Manhattan, which is located in the very same neighborhood he was once raised in. It's always so hard to choose a side when wealthy landlords are picking fights with world-famous celebrities and haggling over money, isn't it? Honestly, no one really comes across looking great in this particular story, but hey, with two different homes, one on each coast, I'm sure Emily and Sebastian and their new family aren't too concerned. Odds are, it'll all work out for them one way or another. All right, now that we've checked out where the beautiful Emily Ratikowski calls home, what did you guys think? Are you into her decorating style? I loved her a sunny home in Echo Park and it's definitely unique to say the least. Be sure to tell me what you thought of Emily's distinct interior design style in the comments down below. Thanks for watching, I'm Cara, don't forget to follow me over on Instagram, and I'll see you all in the next video. Bye!


Hello, my name is Julian Jenkins. I'm here today with a cord cutting meditation Cutting cords is the energetic process of cutting negative and fear-based attachments from your life's experience to prevent them from continually to block your energy, vitality and your well-being When you cut and release a cord into the light You're no longer energetically engaged with a pattern of negativity Your perspective is immediately uplifted and you're able to more easily see the silver lining and the blessings through awareness in the present moment When you cut the cords between you and another consciously or unconsciously They will feel it too. It may even reach out and contact you In this case, establish boundaries surround yourself with love and light and stand up for yourself So the cords don't just reattach I want you to take a moment now just to close your eyes and just take a deep breath in And let it go We will be calling in the divine white light and our team of spirit guides and angels But breathe and just focus within in many ways. Just allow your mind to quiet Allow your heart to open Ground And we'll center an energy feeling your energy flowing down to the core of the earth And just notice an experience in that you are one with the light With nature with Gaia with the earth all is what it is And I want you just now to take another deep breath now allow the light at the core of the earth just to come back up Feel the divine light flowing up through the bottom of your feet traveling up through your chakras So we go up through the root Through the sacral through the solar plexus feel that divine light and energy coming up Into your heart into your throat into your third eye into your crown Allowing it to light and open up these Highly charged energy centers Continue to lift up the light Into the direct presence and connection with a universal creative source With the divine just relax and breathe and feel the love Feel your oneness with the source and with all that it is and Just enjoy this feeling bask in the divine love that radiates all around you Simply connecting with these energies will cleanse and lift your being Bringing your healing love and blessings Now what I'd like you to do is just see yourself sat in a chair with a chair opposite you And this is because where we become aware of the cords that drain us We're gonna ask our angels our guides our helpers and spores to help us become aware of the cords and Remove the attachment whichever ones are present and I now want you to bring together a situation or a person whoever it is tune in to identify and Sit them opposite you in the chair or visualize them opposite you become aware of them and become aware of the sensations and the energy patterns that Engulf you when you start to think of this situation or of this person And become aware of the cords of the attachment Where do you sense and feel the cords attaching you to this situation or to this person? What is the pattern of energy that's flowing into these cords between you and the event or the person? And how was this cord attached in the first place? And take note whether it was fear envy Jeresies in security lust love whatever it was what caused you to shift out of joy To shift out of the divine So that this cord could be attached And with the awareness of how these cords and this cord was attached you'll be able to change the pattern which created it We step off the karmic wheel We sever the cord and lift ourselves into the new love an unauthentic being and if you have more than one cord Just visualize and see them, but sense and feel where they come from which negative energy do they associate with? and in a few moments We're going to move further into the expansion and awakening of cutting these cords Sense and feel these cords between the person and the energy in the situation that sits with you And at this point we're going to call upon archangel Michael to come and feel his energy by our right hand side Call upon archangel Raphael to stand on your left hand side Allow those energies in feel the presence growing and we're going to ask our angels as you see these cords Leaving your body to the person or the situation in front of you. We will slowly but surely ask Archangel Raphael and Archangel Michael Just a one by one Cut those cords that are draining you And you see them just Cutting away and when you cut in these cords you are cutting them once and for all it's identifying The emotions the patterns of the thoughts the expressions Why were you corded in the first place? Cutting the cords and releasing these patterns allows the light to come in Allows the light to replace these Issues these problems these cords these negative attachments And you say to archangel Michael and archangel Raphael You are free yourself to cut any cords that you feel inspired to do so And you know that all of the energy that's draining you through these cords this attachment consciously or unconsciously Have now been cleansed and purified and you can see yourself your energy returning to you In a divine spiral of golden and white light feel these wonderful emotions this experience of euphoria You now have a new perspective You're able to stay core for a court free Having learned your lessons from the attachments able to respond in a new empowered way with healthy boundaries You're able to live on a pathway that's too awakening And finally just imagine this waterfall of light pouring down from the above from the divine all around you all around The person you were corded to this light of divine releases any lingering negativity into the light and Paves the way for your balance centered positive new beginning Always keep love and joy around you as you continue further knowing that love acts as a powerful shield But also check back in with your energy every now and then Understand the patterns and maybe Maybe you will never have to reduce this Meditation ever again for this person or for that situation. I hope you enjoy that meditation Be love and give love. Have a wonderful day. Take care. Bye. Bye


around the northwest now the second series of moving west is on the wednesday nights on tg car and it puts a spotlight on counties along the west coast kerry gallway mayo slago and donnie gall and there's also a special episode on the islands and it's about the lives of people or families who have moved or are in the process of moving to a new home along the atlantic coast it's presented by mary kennedy the nicest woman on tv and mary are you are mary in fairness is there anything that annoys you ever ever ever oh you'd want to see me now i'm like a whirling dervish okay well i'll tell you you're persona on the tv anyhow if there's anything that does annoy you from time to time you hide it well that's all i'll say well i have to say i i love what i do and i loved all of the the works that i did on nationwide and other programs on rte but i can't believe how lucky i am to have been given this program to present like last summer and this summer we recorded series one and series two and everybody seems to to to take something from it john and i have to say i love first of all i love showcasing ireland and my goodness you've got a fabulous place up there johnny gall and we were blessed with the weather both times actually when we went to do the west coast of johnny gall and also when we went back to do our island half our island program on aron moore but it's just lovely to meet the people and people are so so welcoming but you've got good stories to tell for the most part that's the great thing about it it's it's it's nice experiences it's people who've made the move and and it's it's worked out for them absolutely well for instance in our johnny gall program which is going out on wednesday night um there is well people who are fans of fair city will recognize caroline harvey um and she played um farah felon in the series and then when her contract ended she went up to um bundoren and took lessons to be a surface instructor a surfing instructor and she's settled there now with her partner she she's she's she's very she's about to give birth in the in the um the program but uh just to let everybody know that since then she had a lovely little girl called maggie so she's two children very set with scenes that it's a place to bring up her children and there's another um there's also two people from uh kahlo gala horde who is originally from gertlark and um he was living in dublin and has moved back with his wife and baby and also um we have uh shanaid maggie who was in sydney in australia and she's back now and living in gredore and doing the same job she was doing john but doing it from the the the hobs you know the the which they're fab they make they are really um game changers when it comes to people being able to do their work and live and another family then who moved up from valley farmers which is near where i'm from in dublin myself and clondoken and they're living in brinlac and he has um a gorgeous coppercraft actually he was in showcase there last weekend in dublin so things are going very well for them and i also feel that those stories if people are kind of watching um and thinking about it uh they're they're they're positive you know messages that go out and these are people who've made a choice about work life balance and i think a lot of us are thinking those ways after um the pandemic well it's not just only go all the features obviously in the program and from your experience of the last series and this one what what are the big things that make make a difference what what is it that that they're they're happiest about overall well i think as i just said i think having um very good broadband has to be a factor it has to you have to have that so they people tend to settle in places like that but there are holds all over the west coast and the service is excellent and the other thing um the the factor that makes a huge difference for a lot of people is family um like uh coho came back well they they found he found the city a little bit and just kind of overwhelming and is now living back where he's from in fact you know living next door to where he grew up and working in london national park so it's about lifestyle um john and uh and it's just lovely it's lovely to see people who are they're not kind of rushing around and chasing their tails the whole time and they open their doors and they're looking at gorgeous landscapes and seascapes there's a sense of community i i went up to film there and i was staying in the waterfront hotel and the the i arrived very late the night i was coming and the night porter there was helping me to park he says you've got a rattle in your in your engine and he said now tomorrow morning i get on to martin i don't know what martin's second name was but martin came took my car fixed it and brought it back and he wouldn't take anyone now that's the kind of people that you meet when you go down the country or up to done you go anywhere along the west coast the thing is if you weren't so nice on the tv you see martin making it on that i just find this lovely but i i really um it's no chore to me done because i i really i relish it and we've a lovely team as well and it's a small team it's a small independent company based in kildare called on darah tv and media and you know everybody is nice people are nice to us and and we're nice to them but um is it be a shame not to be yeah yes absolutely and i think you know i mentioned earlier that it does help that that people are are so positive because their experiences have been so good and whether it's moving from east to west or moving from another part of the world and and coming here to dunny gall or as you said coming back to dunny gall because if you're if you're born and raised here or if you're born and raised in the country you know there's there's always a there's always a bit of calling it's a bit different if you're and and i suppose it's it's enlightening to see people moving from a city maybe a born and raised in the city and they decide to take the leap and they they move up to dunny gall and it's a more rural setting and it works for them yeah well that's the case really i suppose with neil and jackie ferry the the couple from valley farmers who moved up with their three daughters and um now uh neil's dad was from brunelack i'm actually we got a chance to to chat with neil and um or sorry neil's dad um because he was there as well but uh neil used to spend his summer holidays there as a boy and they went up and said they give it a try they tried it for three months and then um came back uh to doblin and said no definitely for for the sake of the girls and for our uh life really this is where we would like to be we'd like to move to dunny gall now i that takes courage it really does um and i mean you mentioned people that are born there i'm a city person and people often ask me well would you do it and um i mean also my sister lives on the aron islands and and i wouldn't because my my my family is all around me here so i do think there's a pull like with cahill and uh cahill and his family moving back to gert de herc um it's nice it's nice and and i think um as a as a people um we family is important to us and i hate us to lose that so um it's it's very um uplifting to be able to tell the stories of people who for who who who maybe just make the move for the sake of family for the sake of the the quality of life that they want their children to have like caroline um harvey who moved to bundoren and has two little children and she feels that the the openness and the freedom of life in dunny gall is what she would like for those two little ones um and it it's that's that's her motivating factor and and um irish people it's it's about the families and and doing the best for them and it's lovely that that's now possible because of um all of the facilities that are there and i'm fair play to tg cahar for for showcasing them they're you know two years in a row and who's to say there could be another one yeah well fingers crossed absolutely i'm sure there's plenty of other experience other examples out there there's such interesting stories they're so different like our kerry program last week uh was different again totally different um stories but like a um a woman with a a native american background living in dingle and run the pub with her her husband and children from ukraine saki and kaha sivine we have different stories and different um highlights in in in every program and it's a gorgeous way to uh to see the the lovely parts of ireland's that we have well to see the experience another reason to be proud of being irish absolutely absolutely well to see the experiences of some people who have made the move to dunny gall week and check it out to this wednesday it's moving west on tg cahar at half past eight mary kennedy thank you very much for joining us not at all you're very welcome good to be with margot


The fourth annual Southern West Virginia Fishing Expo is returning to the Williamson Fieldhouse February 17th. The expo will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and is $5 per person with free admittance for kids 10 and under. You know we started this thing in the midst of the you know COVID-19 pandemic and it has grown every year not just in you know the attendance of people coming to the show but but our vendors as well. Over the last three years we've we've maintained between 85 to 95 tables sold at this show so it's it's it's done quite well for us and it's done really well for the community and and you know the whole tourism and fishing industry as well so it's it's been it's been a great event for us to be going you know four years make your ride one of a kind and see the experts at J&M custom auto and off-road it's your customization candy store visit jmcustomauto.com and select your making model it's that easy window tanning remote starts leather interiors sound systems running rear bumpers spray and bed liners that covers wheels and tires lift kits step rails even underglow lock kits and so much more if you can dream it we can do it at J&M custom the expo is a partnership between williamson parks and recreation and friends of the tug fork river with the goal of promoting outdoor activities in the region you know i think when you when you walk in i think you're gonna you're gonna have this uh this atmosphere of just a wow factor of seeing all the different types of fishing rods different lures most most of these small businesses that are a part of our show are you know they create and make their own lures so they're custom you know baits that they'll find here i just think the overall atmosphere is just a fun thing it's almost like you know going out of town to a show and people here in town that come to it i think that they they just have they enjoy the ambience that's here in the facility with this fishing expo so it's it's exciting it's energetic and there's lots of shopping to do and the thing is you can fill up your whole tackle box by coming to the show for more information go to williamson parks and recreation on facebook reporting for mountaintop news i'm breanna robinson