Olvera Street Mexican Marketplace at El Pueblo de Los Angeles
United States California Los Angeles
All Los Angeles
Kayte Deioma
Kayte Deioma is an internationally published travel writer and photographer based in the Los Angeles area.
marianne muegenburg cothern/Flickr/CC BY-SA 2.0
You don't have to travel to Tijuana to get a taste of Old Mexico; there's a clean, nicely packaged slice of Mexican California right in downtown L.A. at El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument also known as Olvera Street. Technically, El Pueblo encompasses the whole block of historic buildings, and Olvera Street is the named alley that was turned into a pedestrian Mexican Marketplace that runs down the middle of the block, but the terms are often used interchangeably. The entire area is usually referred to as Olvera Street.
The famed Mexican Marketplace with its colorful old-world feel was created in 1933 as a way to preserve the surrounding historic buildings, including the oldest structure in Los Angeles, the Avila Adobe ranch house, now squeezed between a couple later brick buildings halfway down Olvera Street.
Where Is Olvera Street?
Olvera Street is conveniently located across Alameda Street from L.A.'s historic Union Station in downtown Los Angeles next to Chinatown, which was once Little Italy, so there are remnants of all three cultures at El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument. While most visitors focus on the Mexican Marketplace, there are 27 historic buildings on the site, some of which are open to the public, so it is worth exploring a little further.
The block is bound by Alameda to the east, Plaza to the south, Main to the west, and Cesar E Chavez to the north.
The small parking lots at Olvera Street are quite expensive. You can usually find less pricey lots or metered street parking north of Cesar Chavez on North Spring Street or New High Street in Chinatown just a couple blocks away.
Directly across from Union Station at the southeast corner is the Old Plaza, which is a good point to start your exploration.
La Placita Olvera
Visitor7/Wikimedia Commons/CC BY-SA 3.0
The Plaza was the center of community life for the first settlers in Los Angeles. It is a square space with a circle of shade trees surrounding a bandstand or kiosko where events are held.
The Pobladores Plaque in the Plaza is dedicated to those first settlers of the City of Angels. According to the plaque, the original 44 settlers were Negro, Mulatto (Negro and Spanish), Indian, Mestizo (Indian and Spanish), and a couple of Spaniards.
The Plaza (Placita) is often used for festivals at Olvera Street including Dia de Los Muertos Novenarios, Cinco de Mayo, the Christmas Posadas, the Easter Blessing of the Animals, the Chinese Lantern Festival, and many more.
Continue to 2 of 13 below.
Plaza Methodist Church
On the right side of the plaza is the Plaza Methodist Church, which replaced an adobe house owned by Agustin Olvera who was the first judge of Los Angeles County. The street was named for him in 1877. The church is designated a Methodist Historical Site and a California Historic Monument. Its tower lords over the entrance to Olvera Street, which proceeds to the right. The church is still used by a local congregation. In 2012, the Los Angeles United Methodist Museum of Social Justice also opened on the site.
Next to the church is the Biscailuz Building, which was originally the United Methodist Church Conference Headquarters and the Plaza Community Center. It was more recently the Instituto Cultural Mexicano (Mexican Cultural Institute), and before that was the Mexican Consulate in L.A. for 30 years.
Blessing of the Animals Mural
Chris English/Wikimedia Commons/CC BY-SA 3.0
In 1979, artist Leo Politi painted the mural "Blessing of the Animals" under the archways of the Biscailuz Building at El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historic Monument. It represents the event that happens at Olvera Street every Easter.
Mexican Marketplace
Peter C in Toronto Canada/Flickr/CC BY 2.0
Next to the Methodist church is the entrance to the Mexican Marketplace in the pedestrian zone that is Olvera Street proper. You really will find the same touristy souvenirs on Olvera Street that you would find in any marketplace in Mexico. The prices are just a little higher and you don't have to deal with vendors badgering you to buy their wares.
The Mexican Marketplace is bustling in summer, especially on weekends and perks up for holidays throughout the year, but can be pretty calm, if not totally dead on a winter weekday.
Avila Adobe
Los Angeles/Flickr/CC BY-SA 3.0
About halfway down Olvera Street on the right, you'll find the oldest surviving structure in Los Angeles: the Avila Adobe. It was built in 1818 by Francisco Jose Avila, who was mayor of Los Angeles in 1810. The Avila Adobe is now a museum furnished in the style of a 1940s ranch. It is free to walk through the house, courtyard, and the additional exhibits in an educational building at the back of the courtyard. These include the History of Water in Los Angeles and a Tribute to Christine Sterling, who was instrumental in saving the Avila Adobe and creating the Mexican Marketplace on Olvera Street.
coffee shop soulja/Flickr/CC BY 2.0
You eat at Olvera Street more for the ambiance than the food itself, which is generally decent, if not inspired. La Golondrina and La Luz del Dia are both popular sit-down restaurants in historic buildings with open-air seating. At the outside tables, you have the advantage of people watching as well as enjoying the music from strolling musicians. La Golondrina, in the Pelanconi House, the oldest brick building in L.A., is famous for its enormous margaritas.
Churros from Mr. Churro's are an Olvera Street tradition, and the taco stand, Cielito Lindo at the Cesar Chavez end, is known for its taquitos.
Daniel Orth/Flickr/CC BY 2.0
Beyond the Avila Adobe, about halfway down the street is a gathering spot under a shade tree where musicians often stop to perform. There is a brick archway there that used to be the entrance to a winery. You'll find public restrooms and a gallery through the archway. The musicians are volunteers who play for tips, and only scheduled musicians are permitted to perform.
Italian-American Museum in Los Angeles
Sheila Thomson/Flickr/CC BY 2.0
After exploring the Mexican Marketplace on Olvera Street, take a left at Cesar Chavez and walk left again around the corner to Main Street. The first building on the corner is Italian Hall, once the center of Italian community life in L.A.'s Little Italy. It is now the home of the Italian-American Museum in Los Angeles.
If you turn around and look up after you pass the building, you can see the winged canopy covering the restoration of a mural on the side of the second story of the building. Painted in 1932 by David Alfaro Siqueiros, it's called América Tropical and "featured an Indian bound to a double cross, surmounted by an imperialist eagle and surrounded by pre-Columbian symbols and revolutionary figures." About halfway down the street just before the Sepulveda House is the América Tropical Interpretive Center where you can learn more about Siqueiros and his work as well as the restoration of the mural. The main entrance is on the Olvera Street side.
Sepulveda House
Ken Lund/Flickr/CC BY-SA 2.0
The Sepulveda House (1887) is now a museum and the El Pueblo Visitor Center with the Interpretive Center for the David Alfaro Siqueiros' América Tropical mural next door. On the other side is the Jones Building, which used to be machine shops. Most of what you are looking at are street-front side—which is now the back—of the buildings that show their business side on Olvera Street. There is an entrance to the Visitors Center from the Olvera Street side through a corridor near Casa Flores Imports, opposite El Paseo Restaurant.
Continue to 10 of 13 below.
Nuestra Señora Reina de Los Angeles
Also known as La Placita and the Old Plaza Church, this is the oldest church in Los Angeles and the only building at El Pueblo that has always been used for its original purpose. The first chapel was built in 1784, but it was damaged in an earthquake. The current church was dedicated in 1822, but it too sustained earthquake damage and was rebuilt in 1861. The church is an active Parish of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles.
Ken Lund/Wikimedia Commons/CC BY 2.0
LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes, which is a museum about the history and contribution of Mexicans and Mexican culture in Los Angeles, occupies two historic buildings on Main Street near La Placita Old Plaza Church. The two-story Plaza House was built in 1883 as part of the Garnier Block by Frenchman Philippe Garnier. The lower level has been occupied by a variety of shops, saloons, and restaurants.
The five-story Vickrey-Brunswig Building next door was constructed in 1888 to house the Eastside Bank. It was purchased by the F. W. Braun Drug company in 1897 for its wholesale pharmaceutical operations and taken over in 1907 by one of the partners, Lucien Napoleon Brunswig, who, among other significant renovations, added his name to the top of the building. In 1930, the building was purchased by the County of Los Angeles and used for various offices including a courthouse and crime lab.
Both buildings suffered damage from earthquakes and fires and sat vacant for decades before being completely retrofitted and renovated for their current use as a museum.
Pico House
Buyenlarge/Contributor/Getty Images
On the Plaza side of the street, you'll see the Pico House, which is a grand hotel that opened in 1870 by Pio Pico, the last governor of Mexican California. On the Main Street side of Pico House, it abuts the Merced Theatre (1870), one of L.A.'s oldest theaters; and the Masonic Hall (1858), which after various other uses over the years is once again an active Masonic Hall and home to L.A. City Masonic Lodge 841. It is currently used as a special event space.
Las Angelitas del Pueblo
Konrad Summers/Flickr/CC BY-SA 2.0
Around the corner, the opposite side of the old hotel faces the offices of Las Angelitas del Pueblo (Little Angels of the Pueblo) in the Hellman-Quon Building between the firehouse and the Chinese American Museum. Las Angelitas consists of a group of volunteer docents who conduct free, 50-minute tours of El Pueblo historic site. Their office also includes exhibits and is sometimes used for workshops during El Pueblo events.
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in response to reader comment: It's been suggested...
Submitted by Waell Murray (United States), Feb 18, 2007 at 21:54
Some of us live long or short life and may never find the truth of many many things about life, the world around us and about those who we interact with on daily basis.
When I read the first thing about Walid, let's forget about his family name for a little while, I was struck by a strange or a weird feeling, first I thought to myself: what a shame, someone had to be brought up in such a messy circumstances to have such a confusion in life, in own religion, and in own culture. A lot of Palestinians like myself do not agree with acts of some fellow Palestinians because some acts may appear to be unjustified to the world and the truth of the matter is: only those who commit those acts can begin to justify them.
For example; a person who decides to cause a group of people death and injury by exploding a number of grenades strapped to his or her waist , such person must have reached a point where nothing in life had a balance of value due to the lack of choices left out there, it's life with nothing to hope for, free from freedom, free from a valid identity, free from the ability to plan for a bright future and above all, it's life without dignity . I'm not justifying the act, I'm trying to enter the mind of the bomber to figure out what drives such acts.
I made several calls to the West Bank and checked the availability of Shoebat as a family name, but my search hit a gridlock, no such name or even a close name regardless of how you want to play with the spelling. It bothers me a great deal that some or many Americans can get taken away by such false hype due to the fact that they are willing to believe any story without finding out the truth about the story teller. Our religion was never about spreading terror or fear in others, non Muslims have been urged to study our shareeah ( Low) and come to our faith but forcing people to become Muslims was never a conduct of Muslims.
In the glorious QURA'AN Allah said: La ikraha fiddeen, meaning: no force shall be needed to get people to get into this religion, and those who say anything contrary to that rule are trying to change Allah's intention, they are simply wrong.
I don't know how many people realize that it was Israel who helped the establishment of Hamas in Palestine years ago, so the goal Hamas is playing today is nothing but an Israeli plan that has been put on the back burner for a few years. It's a shameful fact that those who are leading the Palestinian people today are far away from the people of Palestine, the elections that took place were nothing but a game that lacked the true people acceptance, but outside powers played a major role in enforcing a fake leadership on the helpless people who had no way of contesting the outcomes.
Mark my comment as a response to The Truth, by Waell Murray


EXPLAINER: Who Has Been Charged in the Deadly Capitol Riot?
The top federal prosecutor for the District of Columbia has said “all options are on the table” for charging the rioters, many of whom were egged on by President Donald Trump’s speech hours earlier at a rally over his election loss
By Alanna Durkin Richer	• Published January 9, 2021 • Updated on January 9, 2021 at 7:38 pm
Shay Horse/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Dozens of people have already been arrested and prosecutors across the U.S. have vowed to bring to justice those who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, sending lawmakers into hiding as they began their work to affirm President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.
The top federal prosecutor for the District of Columbia has said “all options are on the table” for charging the rioters, many of whom were egged on by President Donald Trump’s speech hours earlier at a rally over his election loss. Investigators are combing through photos, videos and tips from the public to track down members of the violent mob.
A Capitol Police officer died after he was hit in the head with a fire extinguisher as rioters descended on the building and many other officers were injured. A woman from California was shot to death by Capitol Police and three other people died after medical emergencies during the chaos.
Some questions and answers about the investigation into the Capitol breach:
HOW MANY PEOPLE HAVE BEEN CHARGED?
The U.S. attorney’s office for D.C., which handles both local and federal cases in the district, had filed 17 cases in federal court and at least 40 others in the Superior Court by Saturday. The cases in Superior Court mainly have to do with things like curfew violations and gun crimes. Those being tried in federal court, where prosecutors can generally secure longer sentences, are charged with things like violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds, assaulting a federal law enforcement officer and threatening House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Defendants facing federal charges include Richard Barnett, the Arkansas man shown in a widely seen photo sitting in Pelosi’s office with his boots on the desk. Barnett is charged with crimes including theft of public money, property or records.
Another man being tried in federal court, Lonnie Coffman of Falkville, Alabama, was arrested after authorities say they found guns and 11 Molotov cocktail explosive devices made out of Mason jars, golf tees and cloth rags in his pickup truck.
A Florida man identified as the person seen in a photo shared widely on social media carrying the speaker of the House’s lectern also was arrested Friday. Adam Johnson faces charges including theft of government property.
WHY HAVEN’T MORE PEOPLE BEEN CHARGED YET?
Prosecutors say these charges are just the beginning. Authorities said Friday that said additional cases remained under seal and dozens of other people were being sought by federal agents.
U.S. attorneys in several states, including Kentucky, Ohio and Oregon, said people could face charges in their home states if they traveled to Washington and took part in the riot. The FBI has released photos of people inside the Capitol, urging the public to help identify them.
It takes time to build a case. Capitol Police arrested just more than a dozen people the day of the breach while D.C. police arrested around 70. Many people freely left the Capitol, which means investigators now have to work to identify them and track them down. Authorities have to distinguish between those who traveled to Washington only to participate in the rally before the riot versus those who were part of the insurrection at the Capitol. It can take weeks for investigators to go through photos and video, identify suspects, interview witnesses and write a complaint to secure an arrest.
Those who’ve been charged so far could also lead investigators to others who joined in the violent siege on Capitol Hill.
COULD THEY FACE MORE SERIOUS CHARGES?
Michael Sherwin, acting U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, said this week that prosecutors are not keeping anything out of their “ arsenal for potential charges.” As prosecutors gather more evidence, they can add more charges against those they’ve already arrested.
Experts say federal prosecutors could bring rarely used seditious conspiracy charges against some of the rioters. In the wake of protests across the U.S. over police brutality this summer, then-Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen told prosecutors in September that they should consider using the sedition charge, which calls for up to 20 years in prison, against violent demonstrators. Rosen, who took over the top Department of Justice job when Attorney General William Barr stepped down last month, said the charge does not require proof of a plot to overthrow the U.S. government and gave the hypothetical example of a group that “has conspired to take a federal courthouse or other federal property by force.”
COULD TRUMP BE CHARGED?
Trump urged the crowd to march on the Capitol, even promising to go with them, though he didn’t in the end. The president told his supporters to “fight” to stop the “steal” of the election, while his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, called for “trial by combat.”
But the legal bar for charging the president or any other speakersat the rally with inciting violence is high. Experts say it would be tough to prove that the president intended for violence to happen on Capitol Hill. Trump’s speech likely would not be considered illegally inciting violence because he didn’t specifically call for people to storm the Capitol, experts say.
Richer reported from Boston. Associated Press reporter Michael Balsamo contributed to this report from Washington.
Capitol Riotriots


30 June 2016 / Features
Silicon Valley Bank Bets on Utah
We’ve been engaged in Utah for years and have watched it grow into a vibrant technology market.
Silicon Valley Bank was founded in 1983 by Bob Medearis and Bill Biggerstaff. The two came up with the idea to create a “bank for startups” during their weekly poker game, which was attended by a group of people who would eventually become some of the biggest names in Silicon Valley.
“The mythology around Silicon Valley Bank is that it was during this poker game that the very first idea for Silicon Valley Bank was hatched, or conceived,” said Blake Baldwin, former Executive Vice President of Silicon Valley Bank. “The idea was quite simple: that the burgeoning tech and life science companies that were blooming like so many wildflowers in the valley at the time were substantially underbanked — if not unbanked.”
The idea paid off — big time. Today, SVB Financial Group has more than 1,400 employees and more than $23 billion in total assets.
Like so many great companies, Silicon Valley Bank was created to challenge the “traditional way of doing things.” In 1983, the big banks were not even remotely interested in taking a chance on startups.
“When you’ve gone through from the real estate side and been rejected by some of these big banks, you sit there and all of a sudden come into the fact that maybe there is an opportunity for a bank to be in the high technology sector,” said Medearis.
Medearis and Biggerstaff envisioned a different kind of bank. A bank that actually understood the plight of an entrepreneur.
“We decided let’s have one where we really specialize in startups, get to know them, the product and the people. We’re really lending to people,” said Biggerstaff.
In 2006, Silicon Valley Bank opened a parallel operations facility in Salt Lake City to provide support and back-operations company-wide as part of its business continuity strategy. By 2008, the bank had officially opened a locally-based relationship manager office in Salt Lake City.
“Our strategy is to have a local presence in those areas with a significant concentration of technology, life science and venture capital worldwide, and we see plenty of opportunity in Utah,” said Greg Becker, president and CEO of Silicon Valley Bank, in a statement announcing the opening of the Salt Lake City office. “We’ve been engaged in Utah for years and have watched it grow into a vibrant technology market. We’re pleased to be a part of it and look forward to increasing support for local venture funds and entrepreneurs.”
We recently had the opportunity to visit the bank’s Salt Lake City office to learn more about the type of support it can offer to local entrepreneurs.
“We bring the technology and the banking to them,” said Gary Jackson, Managing Director of Silicon Valley Bank’s Salt Lake City branch. “Our business model revolves around lending, which is what a typical bank might do. The differentiator for us is that because we have such an in-depth understanding of technology, we’re able to do things that other banks won’t do or can’t do.”
Silicon Valley Bank pioneered a lending practice commonly referred to as “venture debt,” which is something traditional banks would never even consider. For those unfamiliar, venture debt provides debt financing for VC-backed companies as a means to accelerate growth in a way that’s beneficial to shareholders. In layman’s terms, venture debt can be a good way to grab some extra capital on relatively favorable terms.
“It allows a lot of companies to extend their runway while reducing dilution to the founders,” said Jackson. “It ends up being a win for people that are raising capital on an institutional basis.”
From total assets in 1983 of $18 million, Silicon Valley Bank has come a long way. The bank now dominates the startup banking market.
“If a company has institutional venture backing, there’s a better than 50–50 chance that they’re a client of ours, or soon will be,” said Jackson.
With 34 locations worldwide, and a market share that includes half of all venture capital-backed technology companies in the United States, Silicon Valley Bank is in a unique position to evaluate the validity of a startup ecosystem. With that in mind, we asked Jackson to describe what makes Utah unique compared to other parts of the country.
“It’s hard to compete with a Silicon Valley,” said Jackson. “It’s hard to compete with a New York, and some of these other major population centers. That’s not where Utah has its advantage. Utah does have an advantage in terms of the quality of life that people can have here, which has attracted a lot of people and a lot of talent to this area.
“It’s a very favorable economic environment due to just the community. You have major research universities that are putting out incredible science, and you have a culture of boot-strapping entrepreneurs building, in particular, software companies. What makes it great is also what makes it unique.”
As it continues to increase its presence in Utah, Silicon Valley Bank hopes to help foster the state’s blossoming startup ecosystem by focusing on what makes it such a unique place to start a company.
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California's pathway to 100% clean electricity begins to take shape, but reliability concerns persist
Kavya Balaraman @kavya_balaraman
California's energy agencies are taking a first stab at assessing possible pathways to the state's ambitious goal of achieving 100% renewable and zero-carbon electricity by 2045, but concerns about system reliability — especially in light of the rolling blackouts that took place in the state this August — continue to dog regulators.
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), California Energy Commission (CEC) and California Air Resources Board (CARB) last week released a draft report on getting to a 2045 clean electricity portfolio, which indicated that the goal is technically achievable.
But multiple stakeholders raised the need to think hard about system reliability at a joint agency workshop Friday, including Jim Shetler, general manager at the Balancing Authority of Northern California (BANC). "[W]e support California's greenhouse gas reduction goals as defined in SB 100 — with the understanding that implementation needs to be balanced against the equally important requirements of safety, reliability and affordability," Shetler said.
The report presents important initial insights into potential paths for the electric sector, Mary Nichols, CARB chair, said at the workshop, adding that "the initial work highlights the enormous challenge ahead, requiring a complete transformation in the type of electricity that Californians consume."
California's carbon goals are part of legislation passed by the state in 2018, called Senate Bill 100, which calls for 100% of electric retail sales in the state to come from renewable energy and zero-carbon resources by the end of 2045. The bill also required the three energy agencies to create a report evaluating the policy, and follow it up with updates at least every four years. The agencies intend to submit a final version of the initial report early next year.
The draft report uses a 60% renewables portfolio standard model as a reference baseline, and modeled, among other things, "core scenarios," which include technologies that have already been commercialized and have public cost data. Based on this analysis, the report concludes that achieving the 100% clean electricity goal is technically achievable, and could cost around 6% more than the baseline 60% RPS future by 2045, although that could change if renewables grow cheaper at a faster rate than anticipated by the models.
This modeling included only resources that have been commercialized, with vetted, public cost and performance data, including solar, wind, geothermal and bioenergy as well as green hydrogen fuel cells. However, they did not include "drop-in" hydrogen and biomethane — that is, as replacement fuels in natural gas power plants and potential zero-carbon dispatchable generation — after concluding that the technologies didn't meet those requirements
Similarly, both natural gas and coal-fired generation coupled with carbon capture and sequestration were excluded from the analysis, the former because of the lack of data around carbon capture, and the latter because of possible health impacts.
Meeting SB 100's goals in a highly electrified scenario would require record build rates for new generation, according to the draft report. It also concludes that natural gas is still the cheapest way to ensure a reliable system — although future cost reductions and innovation around storage technologies and other zero-carbon firm resources could change that.
"Further analysis is needed to evaluate costs associated with maintaining an aging gas fleet operating in a high renewables system," according to the report.
Reliability remains a top concern
But there are additional details that regulators think require more scrutiny for the next iteration of the report, especially in terms of reliability, which has been a major concern in California especially since an unprecedented heatwave this summer led to rolling blackouts in the state for the first time in 20 years. More analysis will be required to ensure that the portfolios forecasted in the modelling can meet system reliability needs, the draft report notes, and the CPUC and CEC are in the process of doing so.
BANC agrees with the overall analysis that existing technologies should theoretically allow the state to reach 100% clean electricity, Shetler acknowledged — but it would be premature to make this conclusion before the detailed reliability analysis is completed.
"[E]specially in light of the events of this August, we urge the agencies to view an honest and transparent discussion on reliability challenges as a positive element of debate that will advance the interests of consumers, and not view any reliability analysis as an inconvenient roadblock to decarbonize," Shetler added.
Danielle Mills, director of the American Wind Energy Association-California, agreed that regulators cannot compromise on reliability.
"A diverse and complementary portfolio of renewable resources and storage is the solution, with regional and offshore wind that complement California's solar and storage resources," she said, adding that the state will need to double or triple renewable and storage deployments to replace the suite of conventional resources that are scheduled to go retire in the next four years.
The analysis of the report's core scenarios suggest that reaching the SB 100 goal could cost around $5 billion more annually in 2045, or 6% more than the 60% RPS model, driven largely by investments in renewables, storage and transmission. But Doug Karpa, senior regulatory analyst at Peninsula Clean Energy, urged regulators to also do a more extensive analysis of how affordable the models are.
"I think many Californians are pretty keenly interested in, how does that translate into actual ratepayer bills?" he said.
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I Live Here Too: Why young people want a stake in the future of their neighbourhood
Author Grosvenor Britain and Ireland
This resource publishes findings from the 'I Live Here Too' project, commissioned by Grosvenor and conducted by consultancy Beatfreeks. The project focused on the role of young people in community consultation about the future of their neighbourhoods, and found that, whilst many young people would like to have more of a say in the future of their places, the majority have never been asked for their view on this. The research supports a free youth engagement toolkit, which can be drawn upon to engage more young people in shaping the future of high streets and town centres.
Date added 25 November 2020
I Live Here Too: Why young people want a stake in the future of their neighbourhood https://www.grosvenor.com/Grosvenor/files/40/405ae6cd-5423-4e60-bc49-a4169a1f562e.pdf
‘I Live Here Too’ is a piece of research commissioned by Grosvenor Britain & Ireland to support the launch of 'Voice, Opportunity, Power', a free toolkit to enhance young people's participation in how places are made and managed. The research set out to gain a better understanding of young adults' views on activism, community engagement, and the opportunity to have a voice in the future of their neighbourhood.
Following a survey of over 500 young people (16 - 18 year olds) across the UK, the research found that 89% had never been asked their opinion about the future of their neighbourhood, and only 8% had taken part in a public consultation. This was despite 97% responding positively to the idea of contributing to these discussions.
For those that had engaged in these conversations, 46% said that they didn’t feel listened to and reported examples of experiences in which they felt the person conducting the interview wasn’t interested in their opinion. The study found that young adults felt most listened to when the people undertaking this process showed that they cared and respected their voices, and shared the results of how their thoughts and views had actively effected the outcome.
Although nearly a quarter of people in the UK are under 19, this study shows that they feel they have almost no influence in the planning or management of places.
The Voice, Opportunity, Power youth engagement toolkit can be found here.
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Life of a Manchild Chapter 19 – It’s a Small World After All
It was the last night of my first trip abroad. After three weeks of draining our bank accounts as well as ourselves pounding all the wine and beer we could handle along coastal Spain and southern France, my buddy Clough and I had decided to take it easy and watch some TV in our Roman apartment which we’d rented for three nights at the cost of a hundred bucks a night. We’d been alternating between Jersey Shore with which the authentic Italians genuinely detested being associated, a music video station and some soft-core porn which had appeared to be on a basic cable channel during primetime hours. Since our apartment had only been about three blocks from the Vatican, I had to imagine that they had the same cable service provider over there and it made me wonder if the Bishop of Rome ever tuned in to this non-penetrational cunt-ramming and got the urge to grease up the old papal ferula on nights when he’d felt particularly enlivened by the holy spirit.
“Yo,” I said to Clough around ten p.m., “I’m gonna go grab some pizza from that place across the street. You interested?”
“Nah,” he replied without taking his eyes off the tan Mediterranean tits on the tele, “I’m good.”
“Okay, but, uh, how do you say ‘good evening’ again? I forgot already.”
“It’s ‘buona sera,’” he said while turning to look at me. “I remember it this way. When I was a kid growing up, I used to know a girl named Sara Buona. And I imagine her visiting Italy and some dude with a goofy mustache and a striped shirt greeting her as she steps into a gondola, ‘Buona sera, Sara Buona!’” he said in a stereotypical Mario Brothers accent. “Try it. You won’t forget it that way.”
He was right. Four years later and I still haven’t forgotten it.
After stumbling across Via Ottaviano in my flip flops and into the pizza shop where I found I’d been the only customer, I greeted the tall, hairy man behind the glass counter with a hearty, “Buona sera!”
“Buona sera,” he replied then followed that phrase up with some seemingly basic Italian that had exceeded my understanding of his language.
I shrugged like the touristy ignoramus I was and he laughed.
“Where you from?”
“I’m from Chicago.”
“Oh yeah? If you’re from Chicago, then I’m from Lake Forest.”
“You know,” he said, “Lake Forest, up on Chicago’s North Shore.”
“I know where Lake Forest is. I’m just confused as to how you know where Lake Forest is.”
He again laughed.
“I lived there for two years with some family when I was in my early twenties.”
He was probably in his mid-forties at the time we crossed paths.
“No shit, man. That’s wild. How’d you like it?”
“It was a great time. You know Excalibur night club?”
“Yeah, I know where it is. Never been there though.”
“Oh-ho-ho, you should go,” he said. “I was there every weekend when I lived in Chicago. That’s where all the beautiful young ladies like to hang out. Of course they probably like me better than you because I’m a romantic Italian guy, but hey, I’m sure you’d have a good time too.”
“Yeah, I can’t compete with you Casanova types.”
“That’s right, you can’t,” he joked. “So what can I get for you?”
“I’ll take that one,” I pointed to what looked like a pepperoni and sausage combo under the glass.
“You got it,” he replied before taking the square-shaped delicacy and throwing it in the oven behind him. “Why don’t you take a seat, it’s gonna be a few minutes.”
I did just that.
“So what part of Chicago you from?”
“I’m from the northwest side. A little neighborhood called Edison Park. You know it?”
“Yeah, I know it. You ever hear of Tony’s Deli?”
I was again caught off-guard.
“Yeahhhhhh. I live a block away from Tony’s Deli. How do you know it?”
“Viti,” he said, “the guy who owns it, he and I are from the same village. I ate there all the time when I was in Chicago.”
“Isn’t his name Vito?”
“Maybe in America, but in my village we call him Viti.”
“Wow man, that’s ridiculous.”
“Here,” he added, “take my business card. Next time you get a sandwich from Tony’s, bring this to Viti and show him that you met me. He’ll be surprised.”
I took his card, went to Tony’s when I got back to Chicago and showed it to Vito as was suggested. As he held it in his hands and squinted at it to read what it’d said, it brought a strange smile to the man’s face – one that I interpreted as home never being as far away as it sometimes seems. In fact, he was so glad to have received that card from me that he gave me a free sandwich, we had sex in the back of the shop and then went on a killing spree together. Nah, I’m just fuckin’ around. He said, “Thank you for showing this to me,” and we each went on with our days and our lives. But it was still a pretty cool connection and I was glad to have been part of it. Never again had I thought I’d experience anything like this.
In China, in October 2012, after all the wild partying at Sanlitun, I needed to get away from all the east coast big city madness and out to the country where I could clear my mind and sober the fuck up. So I left Beijing by train going through other major metropolises such as Xi’an and Chengdu on the way and then took a bus to a town called Kangding up in the hills of the Sichuan province which is used by many as a gateway into a Tibetan region known as Kham.
The roads in between Chengdu and Kangding ran along mountainsides and had been very narrow – so narrow that buses traveling in opposite directions could not pass each other at certain points. At one particularly skinny stretch, since we were on the inside part of the road and there’d been less risk of us teetering off the edge, the bus I was in as well as all the traffic behind us had to back up a quarter-mile so a bus in the opposite lane could pass us. It was an hour-long process that involved both drivers waving their arms and yelling at each other out the window until the two buses had finally been able to safely weasel past one another.
When the bus arrived in Kangding after an eight-hour ride, seeing that I hadn’t bothered to book anything in advance, I began walking around, looking for a place to stay. As I’d read and remembered some commentary on the internet in advance about a few good guesthouses being located in that general direction, from the bus station I wandered up a road that diverged from the main part of town which’d been situated at the bottom of a valley alongside a raging river. This winding pathway led me up, up and away from the city center, through a residential area. About fifteen minutes later – five of which I started thinking I should turn around and head back to town before it got dark out – I came across a place called Zhilam Hostel.
“Hi there,” said the white dude in his late thirties who sat behind the desk in a North American accent. “Did you make a reservation?”
“Hey, what’s up? Naw, I didn’t. Please don’t tell me you don’t got any open beds here tonight.”
“Nah, don’t worry, we got open beds,” he replied. “You need a private or a dorm?”
“Dorm’s fine.”
“Alright. Dorm’s actually pretty much like a private this time of year anyway.”
“Yeah? Business is slow?”
“Yeah. This is a pretty big trekking area and it always slows down when it starts to get cold and snow. Can I get your passport so I can check ya in?”
“Yeah, sure.”
“Timothy. From Chicago,” he said, looking at my information page. “What part of Chicago are you from, Timothy?”
“Northwest side. An area called Edison Park.”
“Hmm. Is a place called Olympia Park anywhere near Edison Park?”
“Olympia Park? Like, the one with the playground, the three baseball fields and the basketball court – that Olympia Park?”
“Yeah, I think so.”
“Yeah, that’s in Edison Park. That’s less than half-a-mile away from my house.”
“Wow, no way. You know the street Isham, right off Devon Avenue?”
“I got some friends who live on that street. My wife, the kids and I visit them every so often when we’re back in America. They’re like my second family.”
“That’s crazy. If you walk out onto Devon from Isham and head east towards the railroad tracks – like, ya know, less than a block away – there’s a place there called O’Connor’s Market. My mom works in the deli there.”
“Okay. Wow man, small world. Ya know, you should sign the guest book that’s sitting on the table over there near the fireplace before you go. Maybe I’ll contact you next time we’re in the neighborhood and we could get some tea or something.”
“Yeah, sure man. I’ll sign the book.”
So, I signed the book and even though my plan had originally been to keep travelling until my money ran out, I decided to fly home for Christmas that December and spend the first two weeks of 2013 in Chicago before again flying off to Sri Lanka to meet my Chinese friend, Yun. On one of the first several mornings of the new year, I’d been sitting around my parents’ house without much to do when I received a phone call from my mother who’d been at work in the deli.
“This guy named Kris is here. He said he met you in Tibet and he gave me a Tibetan necklace and his two little kids are with him and he’s just the nicest man. He thought that you were still in Asia but I told him you came home for Christmas. He’s sitting here right now having a cup of tea, you should come in and see him.”
“Oh yeah? No shit. Alright, I’ll be right over.”
I went over to the deli and took a seat at the table across from the man I’d met on the other side of the planet almost three months beforehand. It was a strange feeling to encounter him in such drastically different social contexts. After we’d greeted each other, he asked me why I was home and mentioned that he thought I’d still be travelling.
“I needed a break,” I told him, “but I’m heading back to Asia in a week or so. You here visiting your friends?”
“Yeah, in America for the holidays. We left the hostel for the winter because it’s too cold and we don’t get any customers. I remember you said your mom worked here and I thought I’d stop by. Pretty nice place.”
“Yeah,” I bopped my head up and down.
“Where you heading next?”
“Sri Lanka. I’m gonna meet a Chinese girl there.”
“Sri Lanka, yeah? You’re not gonna believe this,” he grinned, “but I actually grew up in Sri Lanka.”
“What? Are you serious?”
“Yeah, Sri Lanka when I was younger and northern India during high school. My parents did mission work there.”
“Shit. Ooh,” I put my hand over my mouth, “sorry, forgot about the kids.”
“It’s okay. They didn’t hear. But, um, you plannin’ to go to Kandy?”
“Yeah. Definitely.”
“Okay. Well, I can write down the names and addresses of some people I know there who can show you around if you’re interested.”
“Oh, that’s uh…that’s uh…I’m sorry,” I gasped. “My mind is blown by the coincidence of all this. It’s strange enough seeing you here in the place that my mom works and then you tell me you grew up in the far-fetched destination I happen to be heading to in less than a week? It’s all too much, Kristopher.”
“That’s okay,” he laughed.
“Um, yeah, sure, I’d love for you to write that stuff down for me.”
Although I didn’t end up convening with Kris’s contacts because my Chinese friend and I had our own agenda that was mostly all about one-on-one time while together on that island in the Indian Ocean, I’m still blown away by the one-in-a-million odds of all that’d happened. And then only a couple months after that when I’d been sitting in the lobby of a Tehran hotel getting to know the seven or eight other members of the tour group that’d signed up to be taken around Iran by a British-owned company that operates out of China, I was amazed to find that one of the girls had grown up less than a mile away from where I had on Chicago’s northwest side. It’s a small world after all. It truly is.


Hendrickson Sponsors IndyCar Team, Builds Engineering Support Trailer
May 23, 2019 • by HDT Staff
Hendrickson has become an associate sponsor of the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing NTT IndyCar Series program. As part of the deal, Hendrickson created a purpose-built engineering support trailer that debuts at the Indianapolis 500.
Photo courtesy Hendrickson
Hendrickson has joined Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing in a multi-year partnership that will see Hendrickson become an associate sponsor of the team’s NTT IndyCar Series program. As part of the deal, Hendrickson will also create a purpose-built engineering support trailer to be used throughout the season beginning with the Indianapolis 500.
“The addition of a third trailer devoted exclusively to our engineers will enable us to maximize information sharing between our most important assets – our human capital,” said Bobby Rahal, team co-owner of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing with David Letterman and Michael Lanigan. “In addition to using the state-of-the-art trailer to its full extent, we are looking forward to sharing technology.”
The engineering support trailer features a single wheel Intraxx suspension that maximizes the interior dimensions and usable space for the race team. It debuted at Indianapolis Motor Speedway as the team prepares for the Indianapolis 500 on May 26. The team won the 2004 Indy 500 from pole with Buddy Rice as the driver.
“For Hendrickson, advanced technology and innovation continues to drive our product development engineering process,” said Gary Gerstenslager, Hendrickson president and CEO. “We look at all industries for inspiration and new ideas, and IndyCar has always been at the top of the list. The opportunity to partner with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing on their Engineering Support Trailer and to share technology was an easy decision for Hendrickson.”
The 103rd running of the Indianapolis 500 will take place on Sunday, May 26.
Related: Hendrickson to Expand Ohio Operations with Trailer Suspension Plant
Read more about Hendrickson Trailers Sponsorship Suspensions


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Zrće
Experience crazy Zrće beach
Croatia’s most popular beach Zrće has over the last decade become one of the most recognizable beaches in Europe. Because of its ideal location on the island of Pag, it has the perfect combination of paradise surroundings, crystal clear sea and fabulous party offers. Croatia’s most famous beach Zrće has become the place where beautiful people flock in search of hedonistic parties with the world’s biggest DJs.
The beach has established itself as the no.1 after beach party location in Europe with over one million visitors each summer. The mild Mediterranean climate of the whole island provides warm and sunny weather throughout the summer. There's a great variety of restaurants, bars and cafés which offer a large selection of different Mediterranean and light Croatian summer dishes, cocktails and a very warm, welcoming and friendly atmosphere throughout night and day.
Those who have experienced the thrill of Zrće beach with all of its facilities agree that it’s one of the best party spots in the world - you can relax and enjoy at the chill out lounge areas inside the clubs, taste different types of food, participate in various types of sports or simply sunbathe on the shore of beautiful pebble beaches and take long swims in the clear Adriatic.
The main feature of Europe’s most attractive beach is its amazing selection of clubs with very affordable prices, especially in comparison with other famous party spots that have similar party concepts. Zrće and the neighbouring Bura Bura beach together consist of 6 clubs. When walking from the beginning of Zrće beach, the first club you’ll see is Kalypso club, following with Euphoria club, Aquarius club and Papaya club.
Bura Bura beach hosts one more exclusive club - Noa Beach club. All clubs host parties on a daily basis during warm summer months and most of them organize big After Beach Parties as well. Zrće beach has become this popular mainly because of its festivals - you can find numerous festivals of various music genres happening every week from June to September.
Zrće Clubbing
Noa Beach Club
Noa Beach Club is one of the most trendy and entertaining clubs in all Adriatic region. Settled above the water, offering an epic view of the clash of crystal Adriatic Sea and high Croatian mountains, combined with the top end music and entertaining experience, Noa offers life changing perspective of summer holidays. Noa Beach Club is proudly marching into new season of operation, with the impressive list of DJs in past, and some true world music sensations to come. Unforgettable music experience is guaranteed by world class artist and DJs, state of the art sound system, 3D projections and laser show in combination with attractive performers and dancers. Besides that, club offers eleven bars, yacht berths and docking area, VIP areas, lounge chairs, pool, massage tables and much more.
Papaya Club
The most popular club of Zrce beach – Papaya club – is considered to be the best beach club in Croatia and is also pronounuced the 6th best club in the world according to DJ MAG’s Top 100 Clubs poll in 2018. They say it's one of the best party spots in Europe - at the same time the club is a spectacular open air summer beach resort as well as a festival venue. It spreads over 32,000 sq ft and has the capacity of approximately 4500 people.
Papaya club has hosted numerous world famous DJs throughout the years. Some of the artists that performed at Papaya several times are Tiesto, Armin Van Buuren, Hardwell, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, Paul Kalkbrenner, Nicky Romero, Marco Carola, Loco Dice, Sven Vath, Jamie Jones, Paul Van Dyk, Justice, Calvin Harris, Swedish House Mafia, Showtek, W&W, Snoop Dogg, Wiz Khalifa, Rick Ross and many others.
One of the oldest and best clubs in Croatia – Aquarius club – is pronounced the 19th best club in the world according to DJ MAG’s Top 100 Clubs poll in 2019.
It's located at one of the best party spots in Europe - Zrce beach - and it serves as an spectacular open air summer beach club as well as a festival venue. Its capacity is approximately 2000 people.
Aquarius club at Zrce beach has hosted numerous world famous DJs throughout the years. Some of the artists that performed at Aquarius are Afrojack, Alan Walker, Alesso, Amelie Lens, Avicii, Axwell, Fedde le Grand, Jamie Jones, KSHMR, Nicky Romero, NERVO, Oliver Heldens, Richie Hawtin, Robin Schulz, Salvatore Ganacci, Seth Troxler, Sven Vath, Steve Angello, Tchami and many others.
The club is also hosting different types of various music genre festivals such as: Hideout, Sonus, Barrakud, Fresh Island, Hard Island, Black Sheep, Area 4, Zrce Spring Break Europe and many others, all located at Zrce beach throughout the summer months.
At one of the best clubs in Croatia you can enjoy the remarkable night parties, become a part of the amazing atmosphere and taste various types of refreshing summer cocktails. You are also able to watch the show of our beautiful go-go dancers, enjoy the view from the club overlooking Zrce beach, Adriatic sea and the Velebit mountain, dance until dawn under the amazing sound and light system on Aquarius club's main dance arena or just sit and relax with the luxurious treatment of our staff at the Aquarius VIP area.
The crazy late 80s, or more precisely 1987, gave birth to what was to become the first Croatian beach club - Kalypso, the pioneer of the renowned Zrce club scene and the Mecca of partygoers from all around the planet.
Kalypso is definitely the place where celebration never ends. Over the years it has been the host of electronic music superstars. Festivals, special events, crazy pool parties and outstanding after beach parties are already a part of the partygoers’ collective memory.
Massive festivals such as Hideout, Fresh Island, Sonus, Area 4, Black Sheep and Hard Island, as well as numerous special events, make Kalypso more and more electrifying each year.
The very seafront location of Kalypso beach club, surrounded by hundred-year-old pine trees and the utopian landscape of the island of Pag, is what creates the unique atmosphere and places Kalypso very high on the list of the world’s best clubs.
In 2015 Kalypso’s venue was completely renewed and upgraded, which has given even more emphasizes to its organic and natural character, making it more attractive and exclusive. Guests can enjoy the luxury of the brand new VIP area, dance by the pool while drinking cocktails and various refreshing summer drinks, or chill out in the lounge area.
How to get to Zrće
If you booked your flight in advance you can be lucky and find very good value. There are a lot of flights from the UK to Zadar (CRO) or Split (CRO) per day and the flight duration is around 3 hours on average.
Check for the best and cheapest flight option for you:
https://www.cheapflights.co.uk/
Ultimate Zrće Stag Croatia Package
Quad Adventure
Trip to NP Plitvička jezera
Pag boat trip
Night Activities
Dinner at Italian restaurant
Nightclub entry
Dinner at traditional restaurant
Lesbo show
Transfers to Destination
Minibus airport transfer
Limo airport transfer with stripper
Limo airport transfer
Stagcroatia are specialists in organising the ultimate stag, bachelor and activity weekends in Croatia. Whether you are looking for a wild stag, bachelor party or a more relaxing weekend in Croatia Stagcroatia will make it happen.
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Is Facial Recognition a Violation of our Privacy?
Like any other technological advancement, facial recognition technology (FRT) has its benefits. Whilst there are clear advantages to such developments that seem almost too futuristic for 2019, there is usually a caveat at hand with an array of TBD answers to much pressing questions prior to it being fully adopted and welcomed into civilisation. Especially, if it is in the hands of authority.
And FRT is no exception. In fact, it has barely yet made its national debut into society before someone decided to legally challenge its use. Three major police forces in the UK – Leicestershire Police, Metropolitan Police and South Wales Police, have actually been trialling the tech out for a few years now, but it hasn’t been without criticism. Now, it is under scrutiny in court for breaching human rights. But, why?
Why are the police using FRT?
Some fear FRT is the first phase of pushing the US to a Big Brother era, enforcing a more oppressive surveillance state.
FRT sounds like every Crimewatcher’s dream. This piece of tech is supposedly more effective than CCTV as the camera creates a biometric map of the face it has captured, creating a unique code which distinguishes that particular face. In short, police can use these images of passers-by to see if they match anyone on their watch lists. Handy, huh? Merely understanding the basic form of how this sophisticated tech works almost makes you feel so much safer. The tool allows the police force to scan busy crowds in shopping centres or concerts to omit risk and potential danger.
And many agree. Speaking to the BBC, Chris Phillips, Former Head of the National Counter Terrorism Security Office, said: “If there are hundreds of people walking the streets who should be in prison because there are outstanding warrants for their arrest, or dangerous criminals bent on harming others in public places, the proper use of AFR [automated facial recognition] has a vital policing role.”
However, Ed Bridges, an office worker simply trying to peacefully purchase a sandwich for lunch has questioned this and states that it is a violation of privacy, a breach of human rights, data protection and equality laws.
When the MET police trialled the above in London, not everyone was happy; three arrests were made alone on one day alone
Does FRT violate our privacy?
Some would strongly argue so. San Francisco for starters: earlier last month the hub for tech revolution became the first city to ban the use of FRT by police and other agencies. Why? Some fear FRT is the first phase of pushing the US to a Big Brother era, enforcing a more oppressive surveillance state.
However, other states have witnessed the advantages of facial recognition during threatening events. In Annapolis Maryland when a suspect refused to cooperate with police and be identified with their fingerprints, FRT came into play. With Maryland being one of the most aggressive states when it comes to facial recognition, it is no surprise they opted for it to help them with their investigation. As Anne Arundel County Police Chief Timothy Altomare said: “We would have been much longer in identifying him and being able to push forward in the investigation without that system.”
But after UK’s Ed Bridges decided to seek legal action, Megan Goulding, a lawyer from the civil liberties group Liberty which is supporting Bridges in his claim, stated that using FRT is: “just like taking people’s DNA or fingerprints, without their knowledge or their consent.”.
In order to scan the suspect’s face in Maryland, the police needed to use their ‘exclusive’ access to “three million state mug shots, seven million state driver’s license photos and an additional 24.9 million mug shots from a national FBI database”, and it is not clear to how many other people or agencies have access to this same information.
It is now for police and parliamentarians to face up to the facts: facial recognition represents an inherent risk to our rights, and has no place on our streets.
If we were to push aside our worry that anyone could potentially hack or scam their way in to gain access to such data, we must at least give our time to question how we feel about scanners taking our photos when we are merely going for a stroll. When the MET police trialled the above in London, not everyone was happy; three arrests were made alone on one day alone, and one man was fined £90 for a public order offence, after arguing his right to cover his face in order to avoid the cameras. When does it switch from trying to maintain your personal privacy, to refusing to cooperate with authorities? It is a fine line in play here.
And privacy is one aspect, but Liberty states, and we can argue that the aforementioned gentleman would probably agree, that the tech breaches our freedom of expression. They released a statement, saying:
“Facial recognition technology captures the biometric data of everyone who passes the cameras, violating our right to privacy and undermining our freedom of expression.”
Goulding added to this, saying: “Facial recognition is an inherently intrusive technology that breaches our privacy rights. It risks fundamentally altering our public spaces, forcing us to monitor where we go and who with, seriously undermining our freedom of expression… It is now for police and parliamentarians to face up to the facts: facial recognition represents an inherent risk to our rights, and has no place on our streets.”
Freedom of expression aside, (yes, there is still more factors to ponder), Liberty also bring to light another pressing issue:
“The technology also discriminates against women and people of colour – it disproportionately misidentifies those people, making them more likely to be subject to a police stop due to an incorrect match.”
In fact, the BBC reported that Black and minority ethnic people could be falsely identified and face questioning, due to the fact that the police have failed to test how well their systems deal with non-white faces after missing chances to test how well their systems deal with such situations.
With the risk of there being a bias towards certain ethnicities and races, there is potential for false matches such as these changing society and the nature of public spaces.
From freedom of expression to discrimination, the matter at hand remains: is FRT well regulated? In short, no.
Adding to this, speaking to Julian Hayes, Partner at BCL Solicitors, he mentions how at the 2017 Notting Hill Carnival, FRT was wrong 98% of the time, risking misidentification and miscarriages of justice. He said: “To mitigate the risks posed by such tools, it’s important we fully consider the implications of their deployment by the authorities.”
From freedom of expression to discrimination, the matter at hand remains: is FRT well regulated? In short, no. Lecturer in law, Dr Purshouse argues that Parliament should set out rules governing the scope of the power of the police to deploy FRT surveillance in public spaces to ensure consistency across police forces. He says “As it currently stands, police forces trialling FRT are left to come up with divergent, and sometimes troubling, policies and practices for the execution of their FRT operations[1].”
However, if the criminal justice system is to retain the trust and confidence of society, it’s essential that we appreciate the limitations of AI in its various guises, from FRT to futuristic recidivism forecasting.
With there being no legal framework, there is little stopping police forces from taking images from the internet or social media accounts to populate their ‘watch lists’.
As Julian expands, “Algorithmic policing, with its efficiency and cost-saving potential, is undoubtedly here to stay, and if it prevents crime and assists in apprehending offenders, most people would encourage its use by law enforcement. However, if the criminal justice system is to retain the trust and confidence of society, it’s essential that we appreciate the limitations of AI in its various guises, from FRT to futuristic recidivism forecasting. The privacy implications are significant and the technology is not infallible; it must not be seen as a panacea.”
In essence, policy is the problem. There is a fine line between security and infringing citizens’ privacy if there is not any legislation stating what is and is not acceptable use of FRT. We can only wait to see what the court decides to those legally challenging its use and if the government outlines the policies regarding FRT and its public usage in the upcoming years.
[1] https://www.openaccessgovernment.org/police-facial-recognition-technology/60775/
MagazineOpinion & AnalysisPublic & Regulatory
By Jaya Harrar	 Last updated Jul 4, 2019 0
Jaya Harrar
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Review by Ernie Sutton and Terry Bloxham
6 June 2013 to 6 October 2013 KUNST HAUS WIEN
http://www.kunsthauswien.com/en/exhibitions
The first real major retrospective of Linda’s photographic work has gone on exhibition in Vienna, in the magnificent Kunst Haus Wien.
The Kunst Haus Wien was designed by the Austrian artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser (1928-2000) and two floors of the gallery are devoted to his work. Hundertwasser was unique – a painter, designer and architect, he believed that life was not meant to be lived in bland square boxes. His work is characterised by bright colours and no straight lines. It’s worth going to the Kunst Haus just to see and, most importantly, experience his work – once experienced, it is not easily forgotten!
Linda McCartney’s Photography retrospective is located on the top two floors of the museum.
Linda studied at the University of Arizona where she first became interested in photography. Her influences include the photographers Walker Evans (1903-1975) and Paul Strand (1890-1976), both of whom specialised in personal, close observation work; something that Linda herself excelled in.
The exhibition is split into 5 sections.
Section one: ‘The Light Comes From Within’
“My photography is me.”
Here the exhibition focuses on Linda’s special approach to photographs, with its cultural elements of trust and understanding.
One of the highlights is the C-Type (chromogenic) print (of which there are many in this exhibition) entitled ‘My Love’ of Paul’s face viewed through the rear view mirror, taken by Linda from the back seat. The picture was taken somewhere in London (along the no. 4 bus route) and captures the red sky above in a fascinating, evocative way. There is also a wonderful photo of horses in the snow taken in 1986, which captures two horses at play and two in a ‘contemplative mood’. Linda caught that magical moment through her lens, making this one of the best shots from this section.
Section two: ‘The ‘Chronicler of the 60s’
“A special approach to photographic portraiture with central elements of trust and understanding.”
Here we have pictures of Jimi Hendrix, Simon and Garfunkel and the Rolling Stones.
Linda was working as a receptionist at Town and Country Magazine when an invitation came in to attend a promotion party on the Sea Panther in 1966 for the Rolling Stones new album.
Linda grabbed the opportunity and took some great shots which are exhibited here. Rolling Stone Magazine published her picture of Eric Clapton on 11 May 1968 on their front cover, making Linda the first woman photographer to achieve this feat.
Her subsequent pictures of such artists as The Yardbirds, Frank Zappa, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Twiggy, Judy Collins, and, of course, The Beatles, suddenly brought Linda to the public eye.
There is a video in the exhibition of The Grateful Dead featuring Linda’s pictures which encapsulates the spirit of the 60s.
Included in this section are fantastic photos of Linda taken by Paul McCartney, Graham Nash and Jim Morrison.
The majority of her black and white photographs in this section are bromide print.
Section three: ‘Family Life’
“It was a life which fluctuated between the poles of extreme publicity and retreats into privacy.”
Linda’s intimacy with both her family and with her camera produced fabulous, natural shots of the McCartney clan, their animals and their friends. There is a wonderful shot of Denny Laine with a horse, taken in Scotland in 1977. A selection of 30 small Polaroids is included with a very interesting image of John Lennon in 1974 when the Maccas met up with John and May Pang in Los Angeles and recorded the session that became the bootleg “A Toot and a Snore in ‘74”, allegedly the last ever meeting between John and Paul.
We also have a lovely picture of son James looking through an eye glass, plus a photo from 1971 of Paul in Liverpool behind which Camerons Whitbred Pale Ale is displayed. There is a great shot from 1979 taken of the heads of local Caribbean children over which are imposed images of Paul and Stella, which shows Linda’s clever manipulation of the photographic image.
Linda experimented with old photographic processes as well and some of her sun prints are displayed in this section.
Section four: ‘Photography as social commentary’
“Her empathy extended to all people of all social strata as well as to animals, and she took a stand on issues concerning the protection of animals and the environment.”
The influences of Walker Evans and of Henri Cartier-Bresson are particularly strong in this section.
Linda’s animal rights concerns are clear with photographs of animal carcasses hanging in butcher shops. One image that stands out is that of hares hanging down from a rack with plastic bags over their heads. What is most striking is that these images are of familiar scenes, the barbarity of which are revealed in Linda’s photography.
Section five: “Later Works”
“The later portraits of her husband and grown up children radiate sureness of style and an immense sense of peace.” “The woman who often would have liked to be unrecognised, scrutinised her own image at various times of her life and presented this to the beholder.”
The best photo here is one showing Paul reflected in a mirror holding a camera but which was taken by Linda. Flanking the mirror are two balloons with the markings “Listen to this Balloon” and “Happy Xmas Apple R5970” (note the UK Catalogue number). Was this a meeting between John and Paul in New York City in 1974, or is it Paul parodying John’s “Listen to this Button” ‘Walls & Bridges’ promo campaign?
A sixth section would have been welcome which explained in detail the different photographic techniques and processes Linda used but all in all this is such a great exhibition and one you must see.
For more information on this fabulous exhibition, including images of some of Linda's iconic photographs, click HERE!
Posted by Donna J at 17:20 No comments:
Labels: Beatle Week 2013
Beatle Week Schedule for Jiri Nikkinen The Beatles Tribute Band!
Here's the schedule for Nube 9, one of the regular, and most popular, bands at Beatle Week!
Liverpool’s Cavern Club Beatles are entering a new dawn this week as the band sees the departure of The Coburn brothers, Jimmy and Tony.
Liverpool’s Cavern Club Beatles are entering a new dawn this week as the band sees the departure of The Coburn brothers, Jimmy and Tony. The two who played John Lennon and Paul McCartney in the band are heading off to New York to play respective roles in the Broadway show ‘Let It Be’ which starts next month. But fear not…the Cavern Club Beatles show will go on with the brand new line-up which features Steve Howard (of Mersey Beatles fame) and Paul McDonough (formerly of Backbeat Beatles).
Cavern Director Bill Heckle says “The Cavern Club Beatles have continued to grown in stature and amaze everybody with their live sell-out show. It is with a touch of sadness mixed with a huge amount of personal pride that we can announce the departure of Tony and Jimmy Coburn have left the band temporarily to star in the Broadway version of ‘Let It Be’. It is a dream come true for both of them who have worked tirelessly throughout their careers to end up in Broadway and we all wish them the best of luck.
However, this is by no means an end to The Cavern Club Beatles and we’re excited to showcase the brand-new line up this coming Saturday in the Cavern Live Lounge. Both Steve and Paul have been performing their respective roles in highly acclaimed Beatle tribute bands for many years and really know their craft. Both of the ‘new arrivals’ are excited about joining current CCB members Paul Jones (George Harrison), Steve Finnigan (Ringo) and Paul Laverick (keyboard) and the show will be every bit as authentic and dynamic as previous shows.”
The new line-up will also be entertaining International Beatleweek audiences at the Liverpool Philharmonic show on Friday 23rd August where they will be performing the early Beatles set (from 1962 to 1964). On the same bill that night will be Scotland’s finest ‘Them Beatles’ who will perform the Beatles later years from 1965.
Tickets priced £20 are available to purchase online here or from www.liverpoolphil.com
Limited number of box seats available – please contact 0151 236 9091 or email bookings@beatlewwek.co.uk
The Cavern Club Beatles perform every Saturday in the Cavern Live Lounge – visit our what’s on page to purchase tickets. We strongly recommend early booking as this show sells out weekly.
Labels: Beatle Week 2013, News
REVIEW: THE APPLE CORE BEATLES AT THE CITY BARGE SUNDAY 28TH JULY 2013
Review by Ernie Sutton & Terry Bloxham
The City Barge pub, based at Strand on the Green, Chiswick, London, W4, is well known to Beatles fans. It is the pub where the Beatles retreated to in the film ‘Help!’, only for Ringo to fall through a trap door into a cellar where he met the Beethoven-loving Bengal tiger.
In reality the pub doesn’t have a cellar due to its location close to the Thames, but there were a number of shots of The Beatles featured in the film that were filmed at this location.
On Sunday 28th July, the pub celebrated this Beatles connection with a special event. From 2.30 a tribute band, The Apple Core Beatles, played three sets from the balcony overlooking the Thames into the early evening.
A barbeque feast was laid on and we were treated to some glorious weather (apart from the odd bit of rain that caused the band to stop for a short while).
The first set featured songs from the films ‘Help!’ and ‘A Hard Day’s Night’, focusing mainly on the Beatlemania years. The Apple Cores’ drummer couldn’t play that gig but we were introduced to ‘Jimmy Nicoi’, his replacement.
The second set was the most interesting of the three as it featured a number of George tracks including ‘Here Comes The Sun’, ‘If I Needed Someone’ and, to the crowd’s delight, the Traveling Wilbury’s song ‘Handle Me with Care’. At last George’s songs were performed on a par with the Lennon & McCartney ones.
Most of the material played was from the early albums and it got the crowd up on their feet, dancing away the afternoon. Songs from the later albums were also played, notably ‘Back in the USSR’, ‘Get Back’ and, of course, ‘Hey Jude’.
From what I could gather, the majority of those there were regular customers and have probably never seen a Beatles tribute band before, so all in all it was a great event for the locals. The Apple Cores are working hard on their harmonies and we look forward to hearing some more polished performances.
It was a great day in beautiful sunshine at a Beatles film location- what more could you want- and to top it all the film ‘Help!’ was being shown throughout the day inside the pub, and the beer is good!
Posted by Donna J at 10:01 1 comment:
International Beatle Week Shows at The Philharmonic Hall
Celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Beatles Last Show at the Cavern!
3rd August 1963 – 2013
The Cavern Club to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of The Beatles last ever show
Friday 2nd – Sunday 4th August 2013
The Cavern, the most famous club in the world, will open its doors to the world to celebrate this occasion with a weekend of Live Music. The Beatles played the legendary Mathew Street venue 292 times between February 1961 and August 1963 before going on to conquer the world. The Cavern originally opened in 1957 as a jazz venue and continues to this day to be a thriving live music venue as well as a major visitor attraction.
The weekend will see a celebration of the legacy the fab four left the Cavern. Alongside the club’s regular live music offering, there will be highlighted events on all three Cavern stages showcasing the past, the present and the future of this iconic Liverpool club;
Highlights include;
8pm – Cavern Live Lounge
Dave Monks from BBC Radio Merseyside presents
“The Cavern Today”
Featuring some of Liverpool’s very best, new emerging bands and artists;
The Hummingbirds, Stephen Langstaff, The Mono L.P’s, The Verdict & Richard Batty
10pm – Cavern Front
“The Rockits”
Resident 60’s band celebrate the music of The Beatles, The Stones, The Kinks and many more of the musical greats that graced the Cavern stage
General Admission for both stages - £4 after 8pm
4pm & 9pm – Cavern Live Lounge
“Saturday with The Beatles”
Theatre style Beatles show featuring our resident Beatle band, The Cavern Club Beatles
Two shows – 4pm & 9pm / Tickets £15.00
“The Cave Dwellers”
Resident band invite guest musicians and singers from all over the world to join them on the famous Cavern stage for their weekly four hour jam. A unique opportunity to be part of this historic celebration
General Admission - £4 after 8pm
“Cavern Originals”
An afternoon of authentic Merseybeat – Featuring;
The Undertakers, The Hideaways, The Kirby’s and Beryl Marsden
Presented by Frankie Connor – BBC Radio Merseyside
Tickets £10.00
“The Cavern – the beat goes on!”
“The Ian Prowse Monday Club” presents a special show featuring the very best in new song writing. His regular Monday night in the Cavern pub is a hub of creativity, a chance for Liverpool artists, song writers and poets, to try out their new material in front of an appreciative and supportive audience.
Click here for full listings
Beatle Week Schedule for the Fabulous "Johnny and the Moondogs"!
New Competition: Win Tickets to LET IT BE, with dinner included!
Labels: Competition, News
Mark Ronson arrives to be inducted as the latest LIPA Fellow
c. Donna Jackson
Mike McCartney arriving
Paul arriving and faced, as usual, by autograph
hunters!
Paul paused to wave at the crowd before
going in for the Graduation ceremony
Paul fighting his way through the crowds after
the ceremony!
NB: All photos are used here with the kind permission of the copyright holder. Please DO NOT download or reproduced without the express permission of Donna Jackson and the British Beatles Fan Club.
LOS PASANTES from Barcelona - www.lospasantes.com
94 Baker Street gets a psychedelic revival - July 31 at 9.16pm!
94 Baker Street, the former headquarters of The Beatles, will be lit up with a special light projection in tribute to the band on Wednesday 31st July.
The projection will be a contemporary interpretation of the psychedelic-style mural that adorned the building in its heyday, and is to celebrate the converting of the building into residential apartments, aptly named ‘The Apple Apartments’. The projection will take place at 9.16pm.
The exterior of the building has a blue plaque, unveiled earlier this year, to celebrate John Lennon and George Harrison’s links with the former Beatles HQ. The building sits on the corner of Baker Street and Paddington Street, Marylebone W1.
As well as the base for The Beatles record empire in the late 1960s, the Apple Boutique was opened at street level selling clothes and accessories. The aim of the shop was, according to Paul McCartney, to create “a beautiful place where beautiful people can buy beautiful things. The launch party in December 1967 was attended by John Lennon, George Harrison, Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce, Cilla Black and Kenneth Tynan. Invites stated: “Come at 7.46. Fashion show at 8.16.”
Paul McCartney, the Beatles, and the UK Counter-Culture
Coming to DVD on October 1st
In the mid-1960s the often rigid and colourless British way of life was irrevocably transformed by the emergence of a cultural underground movement. Led by a loose collective of young radicals, they introduced new social, sexual and aesthetic perspectives. Operating out of the heart of London, their various activities, from 'The International Times' - a bi-weekly journal that no hipster could be seen without - to the psychedelic nightclub UFO, promoted alternative lifestyles and values, and sparked a social revolution.
This film not only traces the history of this underground scene, but also explores its impact on the pre-eminent British group of the era, The Beatles. Although they were well established by the time the movement emerged, Paul McCartney in particular, was closely linked with several of its key players, and through his exposure to cutting edge concepts brought ideas directly from the avant-garde into the mainstream.
Featuring many new interviews with key players from the time including; IT editor and long term friend of Paul McCartney, Barry Miles; founder of IT and UFO club organiser, John 'Hoppy' Hopkins; founder of UFO and Pink Floyd producer , Joe Boyd; Soft Machine drummer, Robert Wyatt; drummer from experimental improvisational collective AMM, Eddie Prevost; proprietor of Indica, the counter-cultural gallery, John Dunbar; Underground scenester, vocalist with The Deviants and IT journalist, Mick Farren; plus author of 'Days in the Life: Voices from the English Underground 1961 - 1971', Jonathon Greene; Beatles expert, Chris Ingham and Mojo jounalist Mark Paytress.
Also includesrare archive footage, photographs from private collections and music from The Pink Floyd, The Beatles, Soft Machine, AMM and others.
Pre-order: http://www.seeofsound.com/p.php?s=PGDVD161
We are pleased to announce the release of the ALL NEW TRAILER for the graphic novel of THE FIFTH BEATLE! The Fifth Beatle follows the life of The Beatles’ manager Brian Epstein who was known to many as “The Fifth Beatle” due to his efforts in grooming the band’s persona. The graphic novel (which will be released on Nov. 19 by Dark Horse Comics) already has a film adaptation in development (with Beatles music rights secured).
The trailer will be screened as part of a continuously looping video throughout San Diego Comic-Con at the Dark Horse Comics booth. The novel's artist, Andrew Robinson, and writer/producer Vivek J. Tiwary will host a Fifth Beatle signing at the booth on Friday at 3 p.m.
For more information visit the official website: http://thefifthbeatle.com/
Pre-Order Link: http://amzn.to/13OWmy8
About The Fifth Beatle:
THE FIFTH BEATLE is a graphic novel and feature film recounting the untold true story of Brian Epstein, the brilliant visionary who discovered the Beatles in a cellar in Liverpool, nurtured, protected, and guided them to international stardom, and died extremely successful and painfully lonely at the age of 32. It’s a human story about the struggle to overcome seemingly insurmountable odds—Brian was homosexual when it was a felony to be so, Jewish at a time of anti-Semitism, and from Liverpool when it was just a dingy port town. It’s a story about staggering ambition yielding staggering success, through a desire to change the world by messages of love and peace. A story about being an outsider and trying desperately to belong. A story about speed, triumph, and tragedy. A story whose themes resonate deeply across generations, sexes, and sexual preferences. A story full of dreams and music… The greatest music of all time.
The Fifth Beatle charts Brian Epstein’s discovery of The Beatles and his work to sharpen them into the stars they became—crafting their infectious image and presentation from truly rough and tough beginnings, securing a record deal when no one wanted to touch them, successfully bringing them to a world stage with a scale and scope no music impresario had ever attempted, and eventually proving through “Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” that pop music could be an inspirational art form. Brian Epstein’s boast—“The Beatles will be bigger than Elvis!”— seemed absurd in 1961, but proved not just prophetic but humble by 1967.
Yet behind this “behind the music” story, The Fifth Beatle also follows Brian’s personal struggles and his desire to be “one of the boys”—a true “Fifth Beatle” if you will—in the face of crushing personal obstacles and loneliness from never having fallen in Love. His struggles with rapid, overwhelming success in the face of his simple human desire to belong. “The Fifth Beatle” will leave us passionately inspired but equally forced to question the last song on the last Beatles album when it suggests: “In the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make”.
The Apple Core Beatles will be playing at the City Barge pub (a location in Help!) in Chiswick this Sunday, July 27.
There will be a barbecue and cider festival at the pub, also the film will be shown in the pub throughout the day.
The event will be running from 2-6 and the band hopes to see lots of BBFC members at the event!
The City Barge
27 Strand on the Green
W43PH
For more information, visit the band's website at www.theapplecorebeatles.com
Last year, we brought you news of a week-long summer school programme offered by the University of Oxford: "The Beatles, Popular Music and Sixties Britain". We were delighted, therefore, when we received this email from David Beard, the Academic Director and Programme Director for the Oxford Experience Summer School, telling us of the amazing time that two graduates of the programme experienced!:
Two Oxford Experience students who had studied “The Beatles, Popular Music and Sixties Britain” with Rikky Rooksby attended the the Paul McCartney sound test at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma on May 29, 2013 got the experience of their lives when they were invited up onto the stage to meet Paul.
Charles and Sherry Heard had held up a sign saying "We studied Beatles at Oxford - Please sign our diplomas"
Paul announced "Right, here we have, straight from Oxford, straight from their exams, come on, then, let's see this. I wanna see if this is official. I'm not sure I believe this even yet! Let me see. (takes the diploma) Thank you. (reads the diploma)
"University of Oxford, Christ Church, Oxford. Sherry Childress-Heard... interesting there, and Charles Heard. Oh! Very wonderful. Well, they studied Beatles!”
Paul added, "Well, anyone who studies The Beatles at Oxford is a friend of mine." Then he signed their certificates and said "And now, I confer upon you the honor of 'Beatle.'"
Rikky Rooksby will be teaching the course “The Beatles, Popular Music and Sixties for Oxford Experience 2014 from 20 to 26 July.
For more information on how to enrol for this course in 2014 (all the places for this summer are -- unsurprisingly -- taken), visit the website at http://www.conted.ox.ac.uk/courses/details.php?id=V210-36
Our original story can be seen here: http://www.britishbeatlesfanclub.co.uk/2012/11/the-beatles-popular-music-and-sixties.html
Exhibition - The Beatles & Bournemouth - Opens August 15!
The Beatles & Bournemouth
Beacon Hotel, Bournemouth
Opens 15 August
To mark the 50th anniversary of The Beatles’ first shows in Bournemouth, on 19 August 1963 when they opened a six-day residency at the Gaumont (now the Odeon) cinema on Westover Road, a new exhibition celebrating their many connections to the town is to open.
The Beatles played more shows at the Gaumont than in any other UK theatre outside London, notching up no less than 16 shows between August 1963 and their final visit on 2 October 1964.
The exhibition, at the Beacon Hotel on Priory Road, Bournemouth, includes dozens of photos of The Beatles in Bournemouth, as well as posters, handbills, reviews and programmes from the group’s four visits to the town.
There are various other photos from Robert Freeman’s photo shoot of the boys at the Palace Court Hotel on Westover Road that produced the iconic half-shadow sleeve shot for their second album, With The Beatles.
The Beatles on the balcony of the Palace Court Hotel
(now Premier Inn) in Westover Road, Bournemouth
taken by Harry Taylor (copyright Dave Robinson).
Also at the Beacon Hotel you can find the main venue sign, a section of stage and some seats from the historic Winter Gardens theatre where The Beatles played on 16 November 1963 and were filmed for US television – the first footage America was to see of the Fab Four.
Much interest is bound to fall on the remarkable photo of John Lennon with his young son Julian and his Aunt Mimi at Sandbanks Ferry, just yards from the harbourside bungalow he bought for Mimi in 1965 and where he visited her many times before he left these shores for good in 1971.
The exhibition tells an incredible story of how a small resort on the south coast of England came to play a significant part in the history of the greatest rock ‘n’ roll group of them all.
In conjunction with the exhibition there is a new restaurant opening at the Beacon Hotel in August.
The Bournemouth Rock Cafe uses Harry Taylor’s iconic ‘Stick of Rock’ photo as part of its logo and will be serving gourmet burgers and a full menu in rooms that are adorned with Bournemouth music memorabilia from all eras and genres.
http://www.natula.co.uk/BournemouthBeatles.html
http://beatlesbournemouth.blogspot.co.uk/
Playwrights competing in an international Liverpool Festival will introduce their own plays via the medium of film.
The eight writers selected for the Beatles-themed Ticket to Write Festival have recorded a brief message to be shown ahead of their entry at the Unity Theatre, Liverpool on Tuesday July 30.
“This will really help reinforce the international appeal of The Beatles with writers from the USA , Merseyside and throughout the UK focusing on the home city of the Fab Four”, said Artistic Director, Michelle Taylor, from Crosby, who came up with the idea of the filmed introductions.
And members of the audience will have a say in who wins the tasty £150 prize.
To mark the 70th Anniversary of George Harrison's birth, this year, four of the entries selected focus mainly George – often dubbed the quiet Beatle.
The three Merseyside entries are:
Digital Age by Chris Jenkin, from Aigburth, gives a humorous insight into how things would be if the Beatles were still together today.
Double Fantasy by Paul McGuire from Ainsdale, Southport which imagines John and George in Limbo keeping ‘dixie’ on Paul and Ringo on Earth.
Darren and George by Phil McNulty of Southport, shows a man with George’s laid back style using his beliefs and spiritual ideals to try to calm a very angry young scally tearaway.
“It's also a chance for actors from the North-West to parade their talents”, said Festival Director, Jamie Gaskin, from Southport.
Further details and tickets available at www.unitytheatreliverpool.co.uk (£10/£8 concessions) and full details about the Ticket To Write Festival at www.acedrama.co.uk. You can also follow the festival on Facebook (TicketToWriteFestival) and Twitter(@TicketToWrite13).


gastro-documentaries | series
“Concepts and Regions”, is a documentary series, presenting restaurants different in concepts, but with a common motivation, working with regional produce.
In the first episode, we explore the thoughts of Chef “Noon”, Weerawat Triyasenawat , from the restaurant Samuay & Sons, in Udon Thani, northeast of Thailand. The region known as the “Isan” region, has one of the most exciting and complex cuisines in Thailand, mixing unique herbs and challenging the balance of flavors through dynamic combinations of salty, bitterness, sour and sweet, with an enlighten spicy feeling. A history in foraging and preservation of proteins, is part of the region character. The forest is a key element, as its communities, like point the very passionate Chef, that dish by dish calls the attention to sustainable farming and cultural preservation.
“A Ostra Bêbada” (The Drunken Oyster), is located in Curitiba, capital of the Paraná State, in Brasil. The City has a very special location, being at 934 meters above sea level and 100km from the coast, separated by the Atlantic Forest Mountain Range. The Chef Lucas Cintra and his partner, the architect and urbanist Rafael Fusco, were inspired by the Spanish Tapas concept, to bring to the heart of Curitiba, native produce from the coast and the mountains. The concept goes according their, already stablished, relationship with the City and its urban use, after their first successful enterprise, the street food bar, Pizza CWB. But with “A Ostra Bêbada” they take another step, connecting the City, the Mountain and the Oceans, with a touch of the influence by the Italian and Spanish cuisine, bringing into a full circle the important geographical, historical and cultural elements that build Curitiba’s Character.


Home Dinosaur Ancient Earth may have birthed islands of life
Ancient Earth may have birthed islands of life
Credit: Michael S. Helfenbein
Islands jutting up from the world’s oceans provided environmental conditions necessary for early life to flourish, a new study co-authored by a Yale scientist suggests.
Significantly, the finding offers important evidence supporting one of the most popular ideas about the origins of life on Earth — Charles Darwin’s notion of “warm little ponds.”
Earth scientists Jun Korenaga of Yale University and Juan Carlos Rosas of the Ensenada Center for Scientific Research and Higher Education in Mexico describe their new theory in the Jan. 4 online edition of the journal Nature Geoscience.
In his writings, Darwin hypothesized that life began when shallow, warm ponds of water allowed essential biomolecules to concentrate and undergo polymerization reactions.
Many scientists believe that if such ponds existed in abundance, or if they existed over a long period of time, it is possible that life emerged from a series of these chemical reactions.
Yet there was a problem when applying this theory.
The early Earth was a “water world,” covered by deep oceans long before the first continents poked their way to the surface. In such a world, Darwin’s shallow, warm ponds simply didn’t exist.
Korenaga and Rosas say they may have the answer.
The researchers developed a theoretical model for the likely topography of Earth’s sea floor during the Archean eon, which lasted from 4,000 million years ago until 2,500 million years ago.
Their model found that a higher amount of internal heating in the Earth’s mantle than what exists today may have halted certain ongoing geophysical processes — creating a shallowing of ocean basins in some parts of the world.
In this scenario, the researchers said, volcanic island chains and oceanic plateaus may have remained above sea level for hundreds of millions of years.
“This is a very exciting finding for solid Earth science as well as prebiotic chemistry,” said Korenaga, a professor of earth and planetary sciences at Yale.
Earth’s internal heating comes from the decay of radioactive elements such as uranium. Because these elements disappear over time, there would have been more of them during the Archeon eon. Korenaga said this would mean there was greater internal heating in the past.
“My earlier collaboration with Jeffrey Bada, a world expert on prebiotic chemistry at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, tempted me to look into the influence of this well-known fact of sea-floor topography in the past, which had never been explored before,” Korenaga said.
“Juan and I were surprised when we first saw our results, but in hindsight, it actually makes sense.”
Korenaga said he hopes the study will motivate further investigations into the dynamic nature of Earth’s early landscape and its implications for the origin and evolution of life.
Grants from NASA and the National Science Foundation supported the research.
Written by Jim Shelton.


The City of Helotes currently holds two (2) Certificates of Obligation issues dated 2007 and 2015. With principle and interest totaling a little over $15 million or $2,078 per capita, the debt instruments were used to fund, among other things, City Hall renovations, new Police and Fire stations, Old Town Helotes Special District improvements, and utility, park, and drainage improvements throughout the City.
Most recently, City Council approved $4.4 million in Certificates of Obligation (series 2015) for capitol improvement projects within the City of Helotes. Click here for a copy of the financial advisor’s bid presentation.
City of Helotes Outstanding Debt (8/31/15)
Issue Name
Helotes Comb Tax & Ltd Pledge Rev CO Ser 2002 GO 8/1/2017 $270,000.00 $11,897.50 $281,897.50
Helotes Comb Tax & Ltd Pledge Rev CO Ser 2007 GO 8/1/2027 $7,065,000.00 $1,802,789.25 $8,867,789.25
Certificate of Obligation Documents
For more information, review the following Certificate of Obligation documents:
2015 Document
Click here to access the 2015 auditor’s report of municipal debt.
Credit Rating Information
In December 2013, Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services raised its long-term and underlying rating for the City of Helotes from A+ to AA. Click here to access the full report. In 2015, Standard & Poor’s reaffirmed the City’s long-term and underlying rating. Click here to access the full report.
Texas Comptroller Debt at a Glance Tool
Bond Review Board Data


Home / News / Police arrest the son of late Kogi state governor, Abubakar Audu
Police arrest the son of late Kogi state governor, Abubakar Audu
by Bjay Ademola on 07:00:00 in News
The Police in Kogi state have arrested the son of late Kogi state governor, Abubakar Audu, Mohammed and about 15 other members of the late governor's family. According to the former governor's younger brother, Mustapha, Mohammed and other family members were arrested today and are being detained at the Lokoja Police Division.
He accused the state governor of ordering the arrest of his family members. He alleged that the state governor was using the police to intimidate their family because Mohammed in a statement he released recently, mocked the governor for using the scarce resources in the state to organize an award ceremony to mark the state's 25 years anniversary, instead of using the money to pay salaries.
Meanwhile the state governor, Yahaya Bello, has denied having any links with the arrests made.
A statement from the governor's Chief Press Secretary, Fanwo Kingsley, reads “The Governor did not order the arrest of anybody. However, law enforcement agents are free to effect arrest when anyone infringes the Law. If members of Audu family run foul of the Law, they would not be spared just because they are members of Audu's family”.