3 Casos em 1 vídeo: Caso Paul Miller, Caso William Angelos e Caso Beauford Parham.Clique aqui para ser Membro: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC84itY69Ol2AS...

✈ 4, 6, or 7 Night All-Incls. Be Live Collection Canoa Trip w/ Nonstop Air. Price per Person Based on Double Occupancy.

There's no doubt in our minds – brunch is the best meal ever created. Bigger than breakfast, more exciting than lunch, we love all things involving coffee, croissants and champagne – so add in the word bottomless and there's no holding us back.  When The Bali Bible started, StarfishBloo was the best Sunday brunch around – mind you, it still is, but now there's plenty more to try! Whether it's all-you-can-drink mimosas with waffles or free-flowing bloody marys with a side of seafood, we've happily knocked back plenty of brekkies to bring you our tried and tested favourites. Happy brunching! Alila Uluwatu - CIRE Restaurant (Lobster Brunch) It doesn't get much more luxurious than Alila Uluwatu's iconic Sunday brunch. Located on the cliff's edge and offering free access to the resort's stunning swimming pool, this is the perfect setting for a Sunday in paradise. Sip three different flavours of Bloody Mary before diving head first into a sumptuous spread starring their Batik Lobster Thermidor and all-you-can-eat appetisers, entrées and sweet treats. Yum. IDR 850,000++ per person Sofitel Bali Nusa Dua - Cucina (Italian) When it comes to the island's best brunches, there's no doubt you'll find Sofitel Bali Nusa Dua Beach Resort sitting pretty at the top of most lists. Famous with foodies and fine-dining connoisseurs alike, here you'll find an endless array of gourmet Italian dishes, bottomless bubbles and dreamy, oceanside vibes. IDR 688,000++ per person for food and non-alcoholic beverage IDR 1,288,000++ per person for food and standard alcoholic beverage IDR 2,188,000++ per person for food and premium alcoholic beverage W Bali – Seminyak – Starfish Bloo (Asian-Fusion) Dubbed as one of the best brunches in Bali (and one of our all-time favourites!), Starfish Bloo's signature Sunday brunch at W Bali is a culinary experience not to be missed. We're talking unlimited access to the food stations, bottomless buckets of fresh seafood and as many plates from the a la carte menu as your tummies can handle. Then, top it off with a selection of cakes and sweets before heading for a dip in the pool. Paradise. IDR 950,000++ per person for food and non-alcoholic beverage  IDR 1,850,000++ per person for food and alcoholic beverage  IDR 2,800,000++ per person for food and champagne Mandapa, A Ritz-Carlton Reserve - Sawah Terrace (Indonesian) Fancy tasting the finest local delicacies surrounded by lush jungle views? Head down to Sawah Terrace for mouth-watering Indonesian dishes, creative live stations, Jimbaran-style BBQ and amazing local desserts. You'll want to bring your stretchy pants for this one…  IDR 650,000 ++ Jumeirah Bali (South East Asian) Set on Ulu's stunning shoreline, Jumeirah's sun-kissed Sunday brunch takes coastal dining to the next level. Delicious, sustainably sourced South East Asian dishes are paired with five-star service and a live saxophone performance – all in a FOMO-inducing setting. To top it all off, not only will you get the chance to release baby turtles into the ocean, but you also have the option to upgrade your brunch with a trip to the resort's dreamy spa.  IDR 950,000 ++ per person Children aged 4 - 12 years old get 50% off Alila Seminyak -Seasalt (Seafood) Bali's best Sunday seafood brunch is back and ready to fill your weekend with unlimited fresh-from-the-net ocean delicacies! We're talking live sushi and sashimi stations, "catch of the day" carvings and live music to compliment your lazy Sunday by the sea. Not in the mood for seafood? Try the extra tender Wagyu short rib or fill up on tasty Chicken Yakitori. Trust us, you won't regret it. IDR 650,000++ per person  For a limited time only, enjoy 15% off your Seasalt Sunday brunch with this exclusive voucher – you're welcome! Raffles Bali - Rumari (Champagne Brunch) Looking for Bali's most luxurious champagne brunch? Let us introduce you to the iconic Rumari Bali. The feast starts with an amuse-bouche, followed by a sophisticated take on surf and turf meets authentic Balinese cuisine. Next, fill up on a gourmet selection of artisanal pastas and cheeses, then end with a selection of mouth-watering desserts. While you eat, sip your way through the free-flow soft drinks, or treat yourself to a free-flow wine and champagne package – it is a champagne brunch after all.  IDR 1.050.000 + + per person with free flow non-alcoholic beverage IDR 1.700.000+ + per person with Italian wine and Prosecco IDR 2.050.000+ + per person with premium wine and champagne IDR 20.000.000 + + per couple with Krug Grand Cuvee, The Palm by Whispering Angel and Neprica Negroamaro Intercontinental Bali - Bella Cucina (Mediterranean) Treat yourself to a Sunday brunch like no other at Bella Cucina. Bordered by a breezy alfresco terrace, this beachfront restaurant serves up a variety of Mediterranean brunch favourites paired with unlimited bubbles and live music. Little ones will love the kids corner and activities while the adults kick back and unwind in paradise.  IDR 595,000++ per person for food and free-flow soft drinks IDR 995,000++ per person for food and free-flow wine IDR 1,195,000++ per person for food and free-flow champagne Children aged 6 - 12 years old get 50% off Children under 5 years old eat free Apurva Kempinski - Bai Yun (Dim Sum) Did somebody say all-you-can-eat Dim Sum? Head down to Bai Yun at The Apurva Kempinski resort in Nusa Dua for a truly incredible Chinese hot pot experience. Choose from 28 Dim Sum varieties, paired with speciality dishes and free-flow tea and juice. For a fun day out for the whole family, make use of the complimentary access to the resort's family pool, waterslides and beach activities.  IDR 468,000++ per person IDR 188,000++ per child age 9-12 years old Children below 9 years old eat for free Sundara (Tapas) Soak up the all-day beach vibes and oceanfront views at Sundara's iconic signature Sunday brunch. Home to the longest brunch on the island, indulge in six hours of unlimited à la carte tapas, paired with soulful acoustic music and some of the island's best cocktails. When your appetite is well and truly satisfied, take a nap in a poolside cabana or work it off with laps in the 57-metre beachfront pool – before making the most of the epic happy hour.  IDR 650,000 ++ per person IDR 375,000 ++ per teen age 13-17 years old Written by Rae-Anne Gouyette

Welcome To The Chaos We Live Here family poster. Is a cute and funny way to create a homey feeling with this custom minimal wall art design. Printable art is an easy and affordable way to personalize your home, office or make an original gift. You can print from home, your local print shop, or upload the files to an online printing service and have your prints delivered to your door!
 ◆D I G I T A L D O W N L O A D :
 Please note, this is a digital product, saving you delivery time and shipping costs. No physical product will be shipped. Frame and background are not included. ◆H O W T O O R D E R :

 / Fill up the --> Add your personalization / Please provide: Names of family members (from oldest to youngest) e.g. Noah Mia Lucas Olivia ◆ I N C L U D E D F I L E S :

 Included are 5 high res JPG image files with your custom design at 300 dpi (dots or pixels per inch).

 1. 4x5 ratio file for printing 4"x5", 8"x10", 16"x20" inches.

 2. 3x4 ratio file for printing 3"x4", 6"x8", 9"x12", 12"x16", 18"x24" inches. 3. 2x3 ratio file for printing 4"x6", 6"x9", 8"x12", 10"x15", 12"x18", 16"x24",20"x30", 24"x36" inches. 

 4. An international paper size file for printing 5"x7", A5, A4, A3, A2, A1, 50x70cm.

 5. file for printing 11"x14" inches.

If you have a custom size in mind, I'd gladly send you a new version!

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 Thank you for visiting Sunset Prints Shop

If you are interested in buying meat from a local farmer, in quarters or halves, review these five considerations: how much meat your family can consume and what cuts to buy, sourcing an animal, finding a local meat processor, costs, and timing. | Jennifer Lutes, Field Specialist in Agricultural Business Kyle Whittaker, County Engagement Specialist in Agriculture and Environment Eric Meusch, Field Specialist in Livestock Rachel Hopkins, County Engagement Specialist in Agriculture and Environment Amie Breshears, County Engagement Specialist in Agriculture and Environment To access and purchase local meat, consumers have choices. One option is to buy a live animal from a livestock producer and have that animal processed at a custom-exempt, state-inspected or federally inspected facility. Rather than purchase a whole animal, consumers could instead pool their resources and split meat from an animal in halves or quarters. Buying a whole, half or quarter is considered a “bulk quantity” meat purchase. Purchasing local meat in bulk quantities allows you to customize how your meat is cut and packaged. You can choose what’s best for your home, eating style, schedule and budget. Directly buying from farms also gives you an opportunity to support your local economy and know the farmer or rancher who raised the animal you purchase (Thilmany et al., 2020). If you plan to buy an animal to have processed into packaged meat, then the process can present some learning curves. This publication can help you navigate that process in five steps. Identify desired meat products. Purchase animal from livestock producer. Find a processor that fits your needs. Understand your costs. Consider timing. Step 1: Identify desired meat products Consumers who buy meat in bulk should estimate how much meat to buy and consider what meat cuts they’d like the processor to make. How much meat to buy Freezer tip: Check your freezer’s owner’s manual to determine how full to fill your freezer. If you use your freezer to store other foods, then think about how much space you can dedicate to meat. Consumers who have limited freezer space or cannot consume meat from a whole animal within six months may seek out a livestock producer who sells animals on shares (i.e., half of an animal or a quarter of an animal). Before you purchase an animal to be processed, determine how much beef, pork, chicken, lamb or goat meat your family can consume in a three- to six-month period. When you pick up meat from the processor, it’s typically frozen. Freezing extends the shelf-life of meat; however, product quality declines the longer meat is stored (Qian et al., 2018). The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services maintains a list of recommended food storage times. Next, ensure you have enough freezer space to store the meat you purchase. Plan to have one cubic foot of freezer space for every 35 pounds to 40 pounds of meat (USDA, 1969). Space needs can vary, however, if the meat is cut into odd shapes. What cuts to make As you estimate how much meat you need, also consider the meat cuts you’re most likely to use. When processing a whole animal, you may receive cuts that are unfamiliar. Consider whether you want these cuts or ask the processor to convert cuts you’re less likely to use into ground meat. Request that the processor explain what cuts are available and approximate the quantity of each cut you’ll receive. A primal is a section of meat initially separated from an animal’s carcass during butchering. Primals are then cut into retail cuts such as roasts, steaks, and ground meat. Understand that each primal offers specific cut options. For example, a beef loin primal may be cut into T-bones or strip steaks and tenderloin filets. To get tenderloin filets, the processor will remove the bone from the T-bone, leaving strip steaks. After you decide what cuts best meet your needs, you will fill out a “cut sheet” to give to the processor when your animal is delivered. In some cases, the processor will ask you questions and complete the sheet for you. The cut sheet will instruct the processor about what cuts to make from each primal along with steak thickness and roast size (also known as fabricating the carcass). Figure 1 provides an example of a beef and pork cut sheet. Fabrication refers to creating the various cuts from the carcass to produce particular types of products. Primal or wholesale cuts are made first (Hui, Y.H., et al., 2012). A cut sheet is used to record information such as how thick to cut steaks, what package portion sizes you’d like, what specific cuts you want from each primal (e.g., steaks or roasts), whether you prefer bone-in or boneless cuts and what specialty products you want the processor to make for you. Specialty products may include hot dogs, brats, premade burger patties and cured and smoked bacon and hams. Figure 1. Example processor cut sheet for beef (left) and pork (right), sorted primal and associated cuts. Step 2: Purchase animal from livestock producer Purchasing local animals to process into meat requires connecting with local farms that sell finished animals. Farms throughout the state take pride in raising animals to sell directly to consumers like you. Take your time to find an animal that meets your needs and expectations. Navigating this process for the first time can be challenging. However, these resources can help: Show Me Food — Hosted by MU Extension, this searchable database includes farms selling directly to consumers and butchers. Missouri Meat Producer Directory — From Missouri Farm Bureau, this directory organizes local meat producers into lists by county and city. Eat Wild — In this directory, you can find farms that produce grass-fed meat, eggs and dairy products. Local Harvest — Search for farms, community supported agriculture subscriptions and farmers markets by area. To find local farms selling animals for slaughter, you can also check local advertisements and social media, or talk with friends, family and neighbors. An online search is likely to provide a list of potential options as well. Questions for the farm operator After you’ve identified a farm, ask the operator the following questions to determine if the farm is right for you. How is the animal raised and finished? When will the animal be ready for processing? What is the animal’s expected finished weight? Do you have references you can share? How is the animal priced? Is a deposit required? Do you arrange for processing? What processor do you use? Do you decide the final cuts, or will I need to specify the processing details? Do you provide transport to the processor? Is there an additional fee? Step 3: Find a processor that fits your needs If the farm selling your animal does not arrange processing or does not use your preferred processor, then you can make processing arrangements yourself. Before you choose a processor, call or visit to learn about the business’ services. Meat cuts, packaging and further processing options (e.g., curing and smoking) will vary by processor. Some processors offer value-added services such as longer meat aging times, multiple curing and smoking flavors or specialty products such as meat sticks and jerky. Finding a local meat processor Missouri Association of Meat Processors members The Show Me Food database lists butchers that have registered their businesses with the site. Many small-scale local processors do not pay for advertising. Therefore, to find a processor near you, consider resources such as the following. All small meat processors that slaughter or butcher animals must register with the state’s Meat and Poultry Inspection Program, which is part of the Missouri Department of Agriculture (MDA), or the USDA Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS). Processors register with a particular agency depending on the type of inspection program or inspection exemption that applies to them: a federal grant of inspection, a Missouri grant of inspection or a Missouri exemption of inspection — also called a custom exemption. USDA inspected Meat processed by a federally inspected processor can be sold at retail in any state and across state lines. FSIS provides a directory of all federally inspected facilities. State inspected Meat processed by a state-inspected processor can be sold at retail locations within Missouri. This includes Missouri restaurants, stores, farmers markets and other retailers. Buyers from other states may visit Missouri to purchase state-inspected meat. However, Missouri retailers may not sell state-inspected meat in other states or online to buyers in other states. Custom exemption At custom-exempt meat processing facilities, animals and meat don’t require state or federal inspection. These facilities may only provide custom butchering services to animal owners. Meat processed at a custom-exempt facility is not eligible for retail sales, and it will be labeled “not for sale.” It can only be used by the person who owns all or a share of a live animal (i.e., half a beef) and that person’s household along with nonpaying guests and employees. The animal owner is the individual who owns the live animal at the time of slaughter. To find a custom-exempt processor, call MDA’s Meat and Poultry Inspection Program at 573-522-1242, or refer to the directories available from the Missouri Association of Meat Processors or MU Extension’s Show Me Food database. Step 4: Understanding your costs When purchasing an animal for processing, you will pay for both the animal and processing that animal. These are separate transactions. You pay the livestock producer for the animal, and you pay the processor for slaughtering the animal and processing the meat. Paying the producer The producer will set the live animal’s price. Essentially, you pay the producer for raising and finishing the animal. Producers may sell animals at a price per pound of live weight or a price per head. The live weight is the weight of the live animal prior to slaughter. Paying the processor Your bill from the processor typically will include three types of costs: processing costs, slaughter and disposal fee and other additional processing fees. Processors base processing costs on a price per pound of hanging weight — also known as the hot carcass weight. A hanging weight equals the animal carcass’ weight after removing the head, hide, blood and offal (internal organs). Remember, you will take home less than the hanging weight because fat and bones are included in this weight. Using your animal’s live weight and hanging weight, you can determine the animal’s dressing percent, which is the percent of live weight that is hung. Calculate it as follows: Dressing percent = [(hot carcass weight/live weight) × 100] To approximate an animal’s hanging weight, you can also use an average dressing percent, shown in Table 1. Keep in mind, however, that your animal’s exact dressing percent will likely vary. Factors that affect dressing percent include age, gender, breed, live weight and amount of fill. To estimate hanging weight, use this formula: Estimated hanging weight = live weight × average dressing percent Table 1. Average dressing and take-home percent for the hot carcass of a lean, non-pregnant female or castrated male animal at market weight with a clean, dry hide (Hui, Y.H., et al., 2012). Species Average dressing percentage Average take home percentage of liveweight Beef cattle 62 35 Hogs 73 36 Sheep 52 25 For example, if you purchase an 1,100-pound beef steer, you could expect to take home approximately 385 pounds of meat. Expect processors to charge a slaughter and disposal fee. This fee compensates the processor for discarding the animal’s head, hide, blood and offal — a term used to describe the unused organs. Depending on the processor, you may incur other additional fees for packaging (vacuum packaging is more expensive than butcher paper); specialty meats such as brats, hot dogs and premade burger patties; and cured and smoked meats. Typically, processors base these specialty product fees on a price per pound of these products’ raw weight. Totaling your costs The formulas shown in Figure 2 will help you calculate your cost to purchase and process an animal. Talk with your farmer and processor to get current pricing. Also, you can use the average dressing percentage above to estimate pounds hanging weight. Payment to producer (Pounds live weight × Dollars per pound) + Animal delivery fee = Payment to producer Payment to processor (Pounds hanging weight × Dollars per pound processing fee) + Slaughter and disposal fee + Specialty products cost = Payment to processor Total cost Payment to producer + Payment to processor = Total costs Average cost per pound* Total costs ÷ Pounds take home = Average cost per pound *Average cost per pound of meat will include everything you choose, from ground meat to steaks. Figure 2. Worksheet for calculating total and average cost of local meat. Step 5: Consider timing Timing is important throughout this process. Keep in mind these four timing considerations as you plan to make a processing appointment and when to pick up your meat. Schedule processing appointment in advance Take care when scheduling the slaughtering and processing appointment. When asking processors for available processing dates, only consider scheduling an appointment time that coincides with when the animal will be ready to butcher. This timeline can vary based on the animal’s expected growth rate. In some cases, the animal available may not fit in the processor’s schedule. To give you the best chance of securing an appointment, you or the livestock producer should contact the processor well in advance of the desired processing appointment time. In some cases, you may need to check several months or even a year ahead. Be prepared for the processing appointment Know drop-off and pickup procedures. Be on time for your appointment; this helps you to build a good relationship with your processor. If you need to cancel or change your appointment, then contact your processor as soon as possible. The processor may be able to rebook an appointment. When estimating a pickup date, account for processing time Processing involves multiple steps including chilling and aging the carcass, cutting the meat, creating specialty cuts, packaging meat and freezing meat. The time needed for these steps is known as total processing time. Processors use varying hanging and aging times, so contact your processor to know how much time will elapse between delivering the live animal and picking up your meat. Don’t miss your pickup date Your processor has limited space for storing processed meat, so pick up meat soon after it’s ready. Talk with your processor if you experience a delay and cannot pick up your meat right away. Processors may store your meat for a short time, and they may charge storage fees if you don’t pick up processed meat on time. Before the pickup date, double-check you have enough freezer space ready to store your meat. Also, consider taking boxes or large coolers when you pick up meat. They help keep your meat cool during the trip home. References Hui, Y.H., Aalhus, J.L., Cocolin, L., Guerrero-Legarreta, I., Nollet, L.M., Purchas, R.W., Schilling, M.W., Stanfield, P. & Xiong, Y.L. (2012). Handbook of Meat and Meat Processing (2nd edition). CRC Press Taylor & Francis Group. Quin, S., Li, X., Wang, H., Sun, Z., Zhang, C., Guan, W., & Blecker, C. (2018). Effect of sub-freezing storage (-6, -9, and -12 °C) on quality and shelf life of beef. International Journal of Food Science & Technology, 53(9), 2129–2140. Thilmany, D., Canales, E., Low, S., & Boys, K. (2021). Local food supply chain dynamics and resilience during COVID-19. Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, 43(1), 86–104. USDA. (1969). How to Buy Meat for Your Freezer (PDF). National Agriculture Library, Consumer and Marketing Service Home and Garden Bulletin No. 166.

Looking for a custom home on the Canal with a private boat dock, where you can enjoy an amazing sunset every night?!....walk to Siesta Key Beach?!...., swim in your own private salt water pool?!....be able to bring the whole gang?!.... desire serenity, peace, quiet!?......It's all here waiting for you on Siesta Key, Fl in this gorgeous, renovated high-end custom home. Walk to Siesta Key Beach, 8 Minute Walk! Siesta Key Village Shops & Restaurants only 1.2 miles away Master bedroom: King bed w/private Bath, Flat screen TV Patio/Pool w/flat screen TV & BBQ Grill Pool Heat Optional (fee to cover electric cost only) Boat Dock/Drop a Kayak Bedroom #2 - a Queen bed, Walk-in Closet, Smart TV Bedroom #3 - 2 Double XL Beds. Smart TV 6 Smart TV's Total Cable TV Beach Accessories (Towels, Beach Cart, Chairs, etc) Garage & Driveway Parking Full size Washer/Dryer NO PETS ALLOWED Enjoy our spectacular canal with a NEW DOCK and drop a kayak! Swim in the private pool ( salt water, heat extra), no having to swim with strangers...this home is loaded with high end finishes in the heart of Siesta Key. Just a short bike ride or about 8 minute walk to famous #1 rated Siesta Key Beach & Pavilion with its white powdery sand where you and your family can spend the afternoon building sandcastles, walk the beach for miles while picking up shells. On Sundays, come and experience a local favorite....Siesta Key Beach drum circle. During your stay feel free to walk the beach in the morning, then play in the Gulf of Mexico to cool off, or read a great novel poolside and at the end of the day, head back to the beach with a picnic basket of wine and cheese for an amazing sunset. Siesta Key Village is only minutes away. Keep the car in the garage and take one of several free shuttle services to the village for a morning of shopping and lunch, or dinner following a homemade ice cream cone. Enjoy some live music and adult beverages in the evenings and make some new friends. Park your car in the garage and leave it. Tip only services are available on Siesta Key! The kitchen is large with plenty of custom cabinetry, tan & black granite solid stone counters with white appliances making for a clean & bright appearance. It is equipped with basic cooking essentials so you may create a masterful meal at home whenever you like. Just off of the kitchen is the family or den room with a large flat screen TV, work desk, beautiful queen sofa sleeper with stacked sliders that open up the wall that leads out to the salt water pool...the best part...a bay window showing off the sparkling & spectacular water views!!! The bar/dining area is off of the kitchen where the new dining table rests under gorgeous lighting. The table will accommodate 6-7 adults. This area is open to the gorgeous and spacious living room where your family can enjoy the super sized flat screen TV with Sonos sound system along with WiFi & Xfinity cable. Enjoy movie night relaxing on the large, new corner sofa which also has a full sleeper for additional sleeping options. You are sure to appreciate the shiplap ceilings, custom artwork and other high end finishes. Feel free to open up the stacked sliders giving you an "all outdoor feel" letting you enjoy the screened patio/pool area. Don't worry about missing your favorite show while enjoying the pool area because there's a flat screen TV outside too! Enjoy a glass a wine in the shade under the covered patio, or out in the sunshine laying on one of the loungers with a good book. Start up the new BBQ grill for a burger or brat whenever you feel the urge. We provide two propane tanks which you can refill on your own at any Publix/Ace hardware. Feel free to eat outdoors....there's a new dining table for 8, plus loungers and Adirondack chairs for ample seating. Enjoy nightly sunsets out on the water by the boat dock with your favorite adult beverage......Watermelon Margaritas anyone? The King master bedroom suite is located off the living room away from the other bedrooms allowing it to be more private and quiet. It is large and has lots of natural light highlighting the beautiful space. A large, wall mounted Smart TV will ease you to sleep every night. Two dressers and a walk-in closet. Check out the newly renovated bathroom suite! It's spectacular with separate His & Her sinks (natural solid stone countertop) in white wood, step in tiled rain shower with a door. This is a monthly rental and complies with zoning regulations which is one rental per month. Pool heat is OPTIONAL at an extra cost so let us know if you would like heat. There is NO SMOKING allowed anywhere inside the home or near any open windows or doors, extra fees apply if smoke drifts inside the home. Electric allowance is $220/m (plenty!) and pool heat is extra. This home is in a quiet residential area. No parties. No Pets, Max 3 cars. Quiet hours after 10PM. This home can be rented once a month per zoning restrictions.

Here's what we got up to last week in sunny Sant Feliu: For our October Knitting retreat we made these sweet rag dolls. They're knit in the round, starting with the legs, which are joined with a knitted gusset to create the basis for a body, which is then knit up to the head. They're a great way to use up scraps of 4 ply wool left over from other projects. We used our own-label, Costa Brava Knitting 100% organic cotton yarn. You'll need one 50 g ball of the skin-coloured yarn to knit the body of the doll and scraps for her shoes, dress and hair. Just read on for the pattern: Abbreviations used: K = knit P = purl  K2 tog = knit 2 together KFB = knit front and back of stitch PFB = purl front and back of stitch MC = Main Colour CC = Contrast Colour W= Wrap  T = Turn i.e. turn work around and work back in the opposite direction M = place stitch marker M1 = make a new stitch by bringing yarn to the front (yarn forward YFWD) and knitting the next stitch. This will create a new stitch to be worked on the next row.   SSK = slip 2 stitches knit-wise, and then, placing the left needle in the fronts of those stitches, knit them together YFWD = bring the yarn to the front and knit the next stitch. This will create a new stitch to be worked on the next row.  Doll Body Starting with a foot: Cast on 8 stitches using the two needle twisted cast-on method.  To work a 2 needle twisted cast on: - Hold the two needles side by side, parallel in your right hand. Twist the yarn around the top needle, looping it over itself at the back. Holding the working yarn over your forefinger and the tail over your thumb, twist the forefinger yarn around the bottom needle, looping it over itself at the back, and the thumb yarn over the top needle, looping it over itself at the back as well. Carry on with a rocking movement until you have the desired number of stitches. Turn the needles over so that the purl bumps are facing upwards, and knit the stitches off the bottom needle. Push the work to the other end of the needles, and knit the second needle with the working yarn, working in the opposite direction. Row 1: Knit 1 row. Row 2: Knit into the front and back of each stitch (kfb) (16 stitches) Row 3: k Row 4: *k1 kfb*. Repeat from * to * to the end of the row (24 stitches). Divide the stitches over the 3 needles so that there are 8 stitches per needle. You can do this by just knitting 8 stitches on the next round and starting a new needle each time you reach the 9th stitch. Knit until the foot measures 3cm (about 11 rows on my tension) Shaping the heel: To shape the heel we work on the first 12 stitches on the needle. The remaining 12 stitches are held in waiting until the heel has been turned. If your tension is loose you may like to put them on a couple of stitch holders until they're in play again. They will, in due course, be knit to form the instep, the front part of the sock opposite the heel. Row 1: k 11, wrap the following stitch (W), turn Row 2: p10, W, turn Row 3: k9 (i.e. to within one stitch of the previously wrapped stitch), W, turn Row 4: p8, W, turn Row 5: k7, W, turn Row 6: p 6, W, turn Row 7: k5, W, turn Row 8, p4, W, turn Now we’ll carry on and work the other side of the heel, picking up the wrapped stitches. Row 9, k4, pick up first wrapped stitch and knit it along with its wrap, turn Row 10: p5 pick up first wrapped stitch and purl it along with its wrap, turn Row 11: k6, pick up next wrapped stitch and knit it along with its wrap, turn Row 12: p7, pick up next wrapped stitch and purl it along with its wrap, turn Row 13: k8, pick up next wrapped stitch and knit it along with its wrap, turn Row 14: p9, pick up next wrapped stitch and purl it along with its wrap, turn Row 15, k10 pick up next wrapped stitch and knit it along with its wrap, turn Row 16: p11, pick up next wrapped stitch and purl it along with its wrap, turn Leg Carry on working in the round until leg measures 10 cm Put to one side and work on the other sock. Do NOT cast off. If you would like to give your doll stripy tights, choose a contrasting colour and join it after you have turned the heel. Knit 2 rows of your main colour, and then 2 rows of your contrasting colour all the way up the legs. Work a second foot and leg to match the first. The gusset We’re now going to join the 2 legs together with a gusset. Place the feet side by side, and chose the central six stitches on opposite sides to knit up and across to form the gusset. Be careful that you chose stitches that are in the middle and will leave both feet pointing in the same direction. Join the knicker colour, which is the colour that we will use for the gusset, and knit 6 rows in stocking stitch. Leave the stitches on the needle and do the same on the other leg. Using the knicker colour join 2 sets of live stitches using a 3 needle bind-off. Keep the last stitch on the needle to start knitting around the body. Pick up 2 stitches on the other side of the gusset seam, and (still using the knicker colour) knit around the live stitches of the first leg to the other side of the gusset. Pick up 6 stitches across the other gusset section, and knit around the live stitches of the second leg back towards the gusset where the 3 needle bind-off terminated. Pick up 3 stitches on the first section of that part of the gusset. At the end of this row there will be 48 stitches on the needle, which we will carry on knitting to form the body. Knit 2 rows in the round. Row 3: *k7, kfb*. Repeat from * to * to the end of the row. You will have added 6 additional stitches and will finish the row with 54 stitches on the needles. Lightly stuff the legs and feet with toy stuffing. It’s a good idea to keep doing this as you work your way up the body as it will get increasingly difficult to stuff the extremities as the body is worked. Knit in stocking stitch until the knickers are 4.5 cm long, join the skin colour, and carry on working with it. Knit in stocking stitch until the body measures 9 cm. Shape the neck Row 1: *k1, k2 tog*. Repeat from * to * all the way round. This will reduce the number of stitches by 18 leaving 36 stitches on the needles. Rows 2 to 6: knit in stocking stitch. Row 7: *k2, k2 tog*. Repeat from * to * all the way round. This will reduce the number of stitches by 9 leaving 27 stitches on the needles. Rows 8 to 11: knit in stocking stitch. The neck has now been knit. Satisfy yourself that you are happy with the legs and feet stuffing and lightly stuff the body. The head We are now going to increase the number of stitches to knit the doll’s head. Row 1: *k2, kfb*. Repeat from * to * all the way round. You will have added 9 stitches, increasing the number of stitches on the needles to 36. Row 2: *k2, kfb*. Repeat from * to * all the way round. You will have added 12 stitches, increasing the number of stitches on the needles to 48. Row 3: *k2, kfb*. Repeat from * to * all the way round. You will have added 16 stitches, increasing the number of stitches on the needles to 64. Knit 25 rows i.e. rows 4 to 28 in stocking stitch. Row: 29: *k2, k2 tog*. Repeat from * to * all the way round. You will have decreased the stitch-count by 16 stitches, leaving 48 stitches on the needles. Row 30: *k2, k2 tog*. Repeat from * to * all the way round. You will have decreased the stitch-count by 12 stitches, leaving 36 stitches on the needles. Row 31: *k2, k2 tog*. Repeat from * to * all the way round. You will have decreased the stitch-count by  9 stitches, leaving 27 stitches on the needles. Stuff the neck and lightly stuff the head, adding a felt circle of about 10 cm in diameter behind the part of the head that will form the face. The idea here is to have something a little firmer, that won’t fray, into which you can fix the safety eyes and anchor the embroidery as you sew on the facial features. Add the safety eyes, piercing the felt to hold them securely in place. Row 32: *k1, k2 tog*. Repeat from * to * all the way round. You will have decreased the stitch-count by 9 stitches, leaving 18 stitches on the needles. Row 33: *k1, k2 tog*. Repeat from * to * all the way round. You will have decreased the stitch-count by 6 stitches, leaving 12 stitches on the needles. Row 34: knit. Check that you are happy with the head stuffing. Add any final amounts of stuffing that you believe necessary. Cut the yarn and using a darning needle thread the yarn back through stitches on the needle to draw them tightly to a close. Secure the loose end and finish off. Arms (Knit 2 – both the same) Cast on 18 stitches. Work on the flat in stocking stitch for 10 rows. Row 11: cast off 2 stitches. Row 12: cast off 2 stitches. Carry on in stocking stitch until work measures 11 cm. Cast off, and sew around side seams. Stuff lightly and sew up top seam. Sew the arms to the body – at the side, and just below the neck. Add the hair using a crochet hook, looping it through the textile that forms the head and securing it with a loop knot. Once all the hair has been added you can trim it so that the doll has a haircut to your liking. Using embroidery thread, give the doll a smile and some rosy cheeks. Doll's Dress Please bear in mind that the pattern given below is for the blue dress. At the end of the dress pattern you will find the patterns for the alternatives that have been used to knit the pink dress, namely how to do the slip-stitch stripes, the longer, frilly sleeves and the i-cord cast-on edging. The skirt Starting with the bottom hem of the skirt cast on 90 stitches in contrasting colour (CC). Distribute evenly across 3 needles i.e. 30 stitches per needle.  Join with first stitch to make a circle without getting any twists. Rows 1 and 2 purl, or see alternative i-cord cast-on (set out at the end). Change colour to the main colour (MC), and work in knit stitch following the chart for the colour pattern. The stitch chart shows the pattern for the 30 stitches on each needle. Repeat the sequence for each needle as you knit around.            Carry on in knit stitch until work measures 8 cm. Shaping row: k1, K2 tog, all the way around (60 stitches)] The bodice                                                                                                                                                                                                            Divide the stitches for the back and the front: place 30 stitches on one needle for the front, and another 30 on another needle for the back. From this point on we will work on the flat to shape the front and back independently of one another. Back bodice Work 12 rows in purl stitch. Row 13: Cast off 4 stitches, and work to the end of the row in purl stitch (26 stitches). Row 14: Cast off 4 stitches, and work to the end of the row in purl stitch (22 stitches). Row 15: Reverse stocking stitch. Row 16: Cast off 1 stitch, and work to the end of the row in reverse stocking stitch (21 stitches). Row 17: Cast off 1 stitch, and work to the end of the row in purl stitch (20 stitches). Row 18: Cast off 1 stitch, and work to the end of the row in purl stitch (19 stitches) Row 19: Cast off 1 stitch, and work to the end of the row in purl stitch (18 stitches). Row 20: k3, cast off 12 k2 (this will leave you with 3 stitches on either side of the 12 cast-off stitches). Work 3 rows in purl stitch on the right hand side shoulder of the 3-stitch row on that side. Cast off and rejoin the yard to work a similar 3 rows on the left hand side shoulder on the other side of the cast off stitches. Cast off and rejoin the yarn to knit the front. Front bodice Join yarn and work 12 rows in reverse stocking stitch i.e. purl the right side (odd numbered) rows and knit the wrong side (even numbered) rows. Row 13: cast off 4 stitches, work to the end of the row in reverse stocking stitch (26 stitches). Row 14: cast off 4 stitches, work to the end of the row in reverse stocking stitch (22 stitches). Row 15: work in reverse stocking stitch. Row 16: Cast off 1, work to the end of the row in reverse stocking stitch (21 stitches). Row 17: Cast off 1, work to the end of the row in reverse stocking stitch (20 stitches). Row 18: Cast off 1, work to the end of the row in reverse stocking stitch (19 stitches). Row 19: Cast off 1, p5, cast off 6, p5 (leaves 6 stitches on either side of the 6 cast off stitches). (Working on right shoulder) Row 20: knit Row 21: Cast off 2, p3 (4 stitches) Row 22: knit. Row 23: Cast off 1, p2 (3 stitches) Cast off and rejoin yarn to work the left shoulder Row 20: Cast off 2, k3 (4 stitches) Row 21: purl Row 22: Cast off 1, k2 (3 stitches) Row 23: purl Cast off, sew shoulder and side seams, darn in ends and block the dress.             The Sleeves (both the same) Pick up 24 stitches around the armhole. Join with first stitch to knit in the round. Work 6 rows in knit stitch. Work 2 rows in purl. Cast off and darn in the ends.                        Alternatives: i-cord cast-on in the round This could be used as an alternative hem for the skirt. ·      Cast on 3 stitches using the long tail method using on pin needles or circular needles. ·      Slip the stitches back onto the left needle. ·      You are going to knit them across onto the right needle again, pulling the live end of the yarn from the stitch on the extreme left, which was the last stitch to have been cast on and knitting into the front and back of the first stitch to create an extra stitch. ·      At the end of this first row, slip the last 3 stitches back onto the left needle and repeat. ·      Keep on going until you have the required number of stitches cast on plus one extra stitch. ·      Slip the last 2 stitches purl-wise back onto the right needle and then knit them together. This will give you the correct number of stitches and correct the bulk of the i-cord so that its two ends can be seamed when you’re finished knitting the project. If you don’t stitch the 2 ends together you’ll get a slight V-shaped gap in the finished article. ·      Join and close the circle by knitting the first stitch cast on with the live end of the yarn, and carry on knitting in the round. Be careful to pull the tension reasonably tight on the stitch that joins the round. ·      Carry on as normal with your pattern.                                                                                                             Slip-stitch stripes If you would like to do some colour-work but don’t want to follow a chart and create a picture pattern you may like to consider some vertical slipstitch stripes. This pattern can be worked over any even number of stitches. Rows 1 and 2 : knit in main colour (MC) (Row 1 will be the i-cord row if you chose to combine and i-cord with slip-stitch stripes) Row 3: Change to contrast colour (CC) : *k1, slip 1* to the end of the row Row 4: (same as row 3) Row 5: pick up MC: *slip 1, k1* to the end of the row Row 6 (same as row 5) Carry on repeating rows 3 to 6 until your work is the required length.                         Frilly sleeves                                                                                                                        Pick up 24 stitches around the armhole. Join with first stitch to knit in the round. Work 9 rows in knit stitch. Row 10: purl into the front and back (PFB) of each stitch (48 stitches) Row 11: purl Row 12: PFB all the way round (96 stitches) Row 13: purl Row 14: Cast off and darn in the loose ends.            Seed stitch bodice On the pink dress a seed stitch bodice has been worked in place of reverse stocking stitch. This is worked in k1, p1 sequence. On the second row reverse the order taking care to knit on the purl stitches of the last row so that they are always out of sequence over any 2 successive rows. Shoes These are knit in two colours: the main colour (MC) and the contrast (CC) using 4 ply yarn and 2.75 mm (size 12) needles. Left Shoe Using MC cast on 29 stitches. Row 1: k 14, place marker (M), k1, place second marker (M), K14 Row 2: kbf, k to M, m1, k1, m1, M, k to last stitch, kbf. N.B. all the central stitch increases will be made between the two markers. Please keep the markers in place for this and the succeeding rows. The position of the markers will be shown as M for clarity. By the end of row 2 there will be 33 stitches on the needle. Row 3: k Row 4: kbf, k to M, m1, k3, m1, M, k to last stitch, kbf  (37 stitches) Row 5: k Row 6: kbf, k to M, m1, k5, m1, M, k to last stitch, kbf (41 stitches) Row 7: k Row 8: kbf, k to M, m1, k7, m1, M, k to last stitch, kbf (45 stitches) Rows 9 to 13: k On row 9 remove the markers as you knit along the row. Row 14: change to CC and k. Row 15: k Row 16: k12, SSK (5 times), k1, k2 tog (5 times), k12 (35 stitches) Row 17: k Row 18: k7, cast off 21, k7 Row 19: k7, Cast on 20 stitches using two-needle cast-on method to form the cross bar of the shoe to fasten it with. For now just leave the other 7 stitches on the other side of the 21 cast-off stitches un-worked. Row 20: k (27 stitches) Row 21: k23, k2 tog, yfwd, k2. NB the k 2 tog, yfwd stitch combination creates the simplest buttonhole to button the shoe up with. Row 22: k. Cast off. Re-join yarn on the other side of the 21 stitches cast-off, and knit 1 row (7 stitches) Cast off remaining 7 stitches. Sew up the bottom seam and the back. Place a piece of felt where the button is to be sewed on, and sew the button in place to fasten the strap across the shoe. Darn in loose ends. Right Shoe Follow the same method as for the left shoe for rows 1 to 17. Row 18: k7, cast off 21, k7. Row 19: k 7 stitches on the live-yarn side of the 21 cast off stitches. Cast off 7 stitches, and rejoin yarn on the other side of the 21-stitch bind off at the side furthest away from the cast-off stitches. Row 19: (continued on other side of the bind-off with the right side facing) p 7, turn work so that the wrong side is facing and cast on 20 stitches (i.e. at the side adjacent to the cast-off stitches) using the two-needle cast-on method. Row 20: k (27 stitches) Row 21: k23, k2 tog, yfwd, k2 Row 22: k. Cast off and finish as for the left shoe.

The Princess of Wales chose familiar styles and a few new items for a visit to HMP Styal, a prison and young offender institution for women ages 18 and older.  The Princess was there to highlight the importance of strong, loving, and consistent mother and baby relationships to a child’s development, even in the most challenging of environments, per a Kensington Palace news release. The prison is located in Cheshire, roughly 3 hours north of Windsor, and it currently has approximately 400 prisoners. Embed from Getty Imageswindow.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'OzIleg4rRilmbUiAURtQXQ',sig:'bwzZkbxiPp6fEfokLwVFslGquiy6T7is4JQfEYgT4uo=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'2198334629',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })}); During today's visit, the Princess visited a Mother and Baby Unit (MBU) run by Action for Children at the prison. We learn more from the BBC's story by royal correspondent Sean Coughlan.  On her fourth official visit to a prison, the princess met women being supported by the Action for Children charity, which runs mother-and-baby units in three prisons in the north of England. The prison hopes that helping new mothers build a strong family connection with their newborns while in jail will reduce the risk of reoffending when inmates are released. While there, she met specialist staff supporting new mothers, and visited a nursery for babies who will have to spend their first formative months inside a jail. The unit at HMP Styal provides a dedicated area for new and expectant mothers, allowing them to live separately from other inmates. There is nursing care and support for both the mothers and their babies - who may spend their first 18 months in prison. The Princess has been Action for Children's patron since 2016.  The first portion of today's visit, when the Princess met with four current prisoners who have children, was private. Here you see the Princess with one of the babies recently born at the unit. Rebecca English of The Daily Mail reports that the Princess also met staff and two former inmates to hear about their experiences. Embed from Getty Imageswindow.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'Y4YROS4URZhhFq-HRI1R7w',sig:'Iy3X0JgG2taH8JW1J5tuFHOf121mZAYLPE2KuAlMTQ4=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'2198335084',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })}); More from her Rebecca's Daily Mail story.  The women, Donna and Sam, spoke with confidence and conviction about what it had been like to be mothers of young babies in prison. They made clear the treatment they had received had been exceptional and made them even more determined to ensure the lives of their children would be different. Sam, who was at HMP Styal for 14 months, told the princess about the huge range of courses they had been on and how much of a difference it had made to their parenting: ‘It was a safe space. It was run by the charity [Action for Children] and not by the prison regime. So to have that opportunity to step outside of the regime, if only for a few hours, was so important. You could just be a mum. Share ideas about how to be a better parent. I wish I could have done more.’  Embed from Getty Imageswindow.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'AF6S_oKuSjlivIwf8vMiwQ',sig:'xamjz890lgaQ-e_ZeKCxyGbx0NHiGUNK4TRNIrl90ec=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'2198334760',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })}); Sam added: ‘We are both first time mums and put it this way, we didn’t start the best way. But where we are now is incredible. We got the most out of it we possibly could. We made silly decisions and ended up in this position, but you can’t turn back the clock. So we just stuck with it in here and got as much out of it as we could. There is so much we have done that I wouldn’t necessarily get access to if this hadn’t have happened. ‘ Kate said: ‘it gave you that really focused time to build that bond. ‘ Donna added; ‘We recognise there is a prison sentence that needs to happen. But the support we have received here has made all the difference to the mothers we are. It’s so hard to do it alone, so to be in a community setting within here is amazing. My dream and vision would be for this to be moved into a community setting [outside].’ And from Simon Perry's People piece.  Amanda Taylor, Action for Children's Operational Director of Children’s Services, tells PEOPLE that it was an “incredible visit.”  We felt very privileged that the princess visited one of our mother and baby units, she says. We consider them our little gems that we don’t always get publicity about. It is incredibly important work that we deliver and for the princess to shine a light on that work was a fantastic opportunity for us. Although the mothers in the unit were nervous, the Princess of Wales made everyone feel incredibly comfortable, Taylor says. She just naturally helped the women to feel relaxed, she explains. One of the women found it hard to talk and she spent some time with her at the end, talking to her one to one. She is very skilled at making people feel comfortable. These are very vulnerable women in a difficult situation.” It looks like the Princess also enjoyed some playtime with a toddler. Now for our look at what Kate wore today. I bet many readers immediately recognized the BLAZÉ Milano coat. As noted in previous posts, the coat is double-breasted, with gathers at the waist, peak lapels, strong shoulders, and the brand’s signature pockets. It was first noted on Christmas Day 2021 when we had just a glimpse of it. It was worn again in mid-January when the Princess visited Royal Marsden Hospital, where she received her chemotherapy treatments. What the Princess wore beneath the coat today is a bit of mystery. As best I can tell, the skirt is new, a knit style in brown. The polo neck (turtleneck in the USA) top looks like it is a maroon or burgundy shade, and it could be the Kiltane Cashmere Polo Neck Jumper ($205) worn several times before by the Princess. It's tough to tell without more photos, and it's possible the ribbing at the neckline is different. Below, you see the top when worn to the Royal Marsden in January, paired with the BLAZÉ Milano coat.    The skirt is a ribbed knit that appears to be a midi length from what we can see in the photos. Several of us are looking for it; I will update the post if the skirt is identified. UPDATE FEB 11 8:30 PM: With thanks to Princess of Wales Closet on X, it looks like the Princess wore Sézane's Naelle Skirt ($125 on sale) in chocolate brown. The skirt is a blend of 53% merino wool and 47% organic cotton with an elastic waist. The skirt is offered in a variety of colors.  This is a style the Princess has worn before in another color, seen below when she visited Nottingham in October 2023.  We saw the return of the Princess's bespoke suede boots by Gianvito Rossi. They are similar to the Glen style shown below ($1850), although the Princess's style has a more sharply pointed toe than the Glen. The Princess debuted a new pair of earrings that very much look like the Pearl Earrings in 18K Gold ($1260) from Katherine James Jewelry, with thanks to Carly at Kate Middleton Style for her speedy ID. This is a vintage style with pearl clusters set in 18K gold; each earring showcases five pearls. Katherine James Jewellery offers a selection of modern, vintage, and antique fine jewelry located in London's jewelry quarter. The company says, Sustainability is at the heart of what we do. From responsibly sourced materials to embracing lab-grown diamonds as stunning, eco-conscious alternatives, we strive to reduce our environmental impact without compromising on quality or brilliance.

FEB 2022 - We have now set up a Facebook Group for owners of the body sets so they can share photos and build ideas.You will be emailed a link when you buy a body set. I first saw the 33 Stradale Prototipo in 1991 at the “Alfa Romeo Sport Through Design” exhibition and ever since that day dreamed of one day owning one. However, with just a handful of production cars ever made they never come to the market and, if one did, the price would be stratospheric (circa 10 million Euros!). Enquiring further, I learned that a well-known and very talented Italian fabricator had access to the original hammer buck as he had been friends with Carlo Chiti (of Autodelta). He had, on occasion, made “a few” nut and bolt Stradale Prototipo replicas including the H pattern chassis with bag fuel tanks inside. These were still extremely expensive as they had a lot of “as original” 33 components in them which were very costly to source (especially in very low volumes). Later in the 1990’s one of my customers decided he would like to build something of his own here in the UK and managed to persuade the fabricator to sell him just a Stradale Prototipo bodyshell. Beautifully made in aluminium - the prototype design with four headlights and large rear side vents is generally considered to be better looking than the simplified final production cars. Over the next few years these panels were painstakingly jigged up and moulds made of each section including moulds created for the front windscreen, side windows and rear window. This was a precursor to making a complete set of composite body panels. A first car was built and later displayed at the 2016 London Classic Car show using a Vauxhall VX220 / Lotus chassis with which the Stradale shares very similar dimensions!The completed car demonstrates the excellent panel, glazing and perspex fit.At this point Classic Alfa, having followed the project with great interest for many years, decided to make some additional body sets in partnership with the project owner with a view to meeting the market demand for a Stradale Prototipo recreation.The London show car was rather compromised by the TZ2 influenced wheels so we have had the Lotus wishbones redesigned and found an alternative brake set up that has allowed us to have a 15” version of the dished Stradale wheel made in Italy.To celebrate the 50th Anniversary of this incredible car design icon, last year we started producing a limited, numbered run of 33 of these body sets which comprise the following –Front “clam” / bonnetCentral body sectionRear “clam”Headlamp mounting panels (pair)Doors with carbon/Kevlar layer for extra strengthLaminated windscreen with correct blue tinted strip at the topPerspex rear window and door windowsPerspex headlight coversThe price for this panel set is £19,000 export (add VAT for UK orders) and only 10-12 sets can be produced per year (up to the total of 33 sets). ** 2024 - We have one set left available - when it's gone it's gone! **Worldwide shipping is no problem, we have custom made wooden shipping crates and have so far sent sets to France, USA, Japan, Australia, Ireland, Italy and New Zealand.We also have LHD Stradale style dashboards in fibreglass, headlights, rear lights, 13” or 15” wheels, tyres, instruments, windscreen seals and various other items available to purchase separately to help complete your project.Chassis OptionsChassis choices are varied – Customers can “do their own thing” with their own bespoke chassis, buy a chassis from companies like McKernan Restoration (more on this further down) or pursue the VX220/Lotus (or Opel Speedster for left-hand drive) route. This latter solution, if you can put in some of the build hours yourself, allows completion of a road legal car on a very reasonable budget and for which we can supply our modified suspension and brake kit allowing you to fit our fantastic 15” Stradale style wheels specially designed for the VX / Lotus chassis. Nine W Race Engineering in Stockbridge, Hampshire, UK are currently building a car on the VX / Lotus platform - see photos below. The cost to do such a build would be £60-75,000 including donor car and would depend on how much work you did yourself. You can see in these photos how much we have improved the look using re-designed wishbones and new wheels.A UK based company have designed and built a prototype chassis that is very close in design to the original Autodelta chassis and uses readily available suspension and brake components. Rough costings to build a car with a bespoke chassis would be at least £120,000 as you have the cost of the chassis, plus the body set, plus engine and gearbox and then paintwork, interior trim, wiring etc.  UK built chassis with Maserati 4200 engineIf you live in Australia / New Zealand / Japan - you should get in touch with McKernan Restoration - they are building three cars at the moment and have a very nice chassis in development - see their website and social media pages.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Here is another car, in partly built form on a custom tubular chassis.Unpainted panel set on a tubular chassis and our 13" wheelsFor further reading about the 33 Stradale design this is an excellent article - https://www.carexpert.com.au/car-news/design-review-alfa-romeo-33Please contact Richard Norris at Classic Alfa for further [email protected]. +44 (0)20 8688 4443

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To get organized and it’s worth taking the time to do it because ultimately the business runs so much smoother as a result.” Elaine W. “When you are finished, you have a firm planning strategy and know exactly how to organize the most complicated pieces of an online business. I’ve become more efficient at getting more things done despite the fact that I have less time.” Heather R. Previous Next The 3 Phases to Systems Savvy Success: Phase 1: Strategy & Foundation Assess your current systems, understand the overall organization strategy, and dive into the foundational knowledge needed to create effective task management systems. Phase 2: Implementation & Action Create powerful systems and CEO-level organization techniques. You’ll master effective task management systems, set up efficient workflows and other processes to help you see real results. Phase 3: Optimization & Growth Take your systems to the next level with advanced strategies to help you maintain and refine your systems, ensuring they always work for you, along with quick wins and easy-to-implement tutorials. With this 3-phase journey, you’ll lay a rock-solid foundation, implement game-changing systems, and optimize your processes for more time, less stress, and way better productivity! I’M READY, LET’S DO THIS! Check out everything you’ll find inside: Monthly Cheers to Action Week Each month, you’ll dive into ONE training with a system template—whether it’s a Trello board, spreadsheet, or another tool—and focus on implementing it throughout the week. With daily prompts, community engagement and accountability, you’ll be motivated to complete specific challenge action steps for a chance to win exciting prizes! ➡️ By the end of the week, you’ll have a custom-fit system template perfectly aligned with your business needs. 🎉 On-Demand Systems Feedback Get personalized, step-by-step feedback on your Trello boards and systems twice per month! Simply share your board, screenshots, or questions in the dedicated thread, and I’ll record a customized video response with clear, actionable tips within one week. ➡️ No live calls or scheduling needed – get expert guidance on your own time and implement at your own pace! Monthly ‘Ask Lucy Weekend’ Enjoy personalized, on-demand support with no extra apps or scheduling hassles. Simply post your questions in the dedicated thread Friday-Sunday, and I’ll provide tailored feedback (via audio or text) by Tuesday. ➡️ This is your chance to get unstuck, gain clarity and make confident decisions for your business systems. Twice/Month Coworking Work alongside like-minded solopreneurs inside this virtual, dedicated space to hold each other accountable and get your systems created. ➡️ Bi-monthly sessions bring us together to set intentions, connect, GET WORK DONE and share our wins. Quarterly Trello Improvement Call Take your Trello board to the next level with these live sessions that combine focused coworking sprints with interactive Q&A, giving you the chance to fine-tune your Trello processes in real-time. Share your screen, get personalized feedback and inspiration with how to enhance your Trello boards and more. ➡️ You’ll leave each call with clear, actionable steps to streamline your workflows and boost efficiency right away. 📈 Daily Community Support Get support inside our vibrant community where you can ask questions anytime, share your progress and get valuable feedback from both me and your peers. ➡️ This means you’ll never feel stuck or alone in your journey to create efficient and streamlined systems for your business. I’M READY TO BECOME SYSTEM SAVVY! Savvy Courses & Content Library In addition to the live support and community, you’ll also have all the trainings and resources you need to help you go from messy to systems savvy. This is your go-to membership for creating simple task management systems, workflows, and processes that are low-tech and don’t require complex, multi-platform automations. As soon as you join you’ll get instant access to our library of courses and content covering everything from creating workflows, simple Trello automations and more.  But don’t let that overwhelm you – While we’ve got loads of content instantly available, the good news is you only need to focus on ONE system per month to start seeing real progress. Click each title tab below to learn more about each course or resource available inside the Society.  Savvy Solution Vault The Efficiency Self-Assessment Toolkit Trello Savvy Spreadsheet Savvy Savvy Solution Vault Access to past workshops, Trello templates, spreadsheets, and more that break down complex systems into easy steps for immediate implementation.  ✨ Currently available inside:  – Annual-at-a-Glance (Trello Template + Training)  – Promo Email Campaign Tracking Workshop (Spreadsheet) – Effortless Content Ideas Bank (Trello Template + Training)  & more added regularly to streamline your business operations and save you time!  The Efficiency Self-Assessment Toolkit Tame the digital chaos, assess what’s important vs what’s clutter and take control of your workload. Take a deep dive into your business to pinpoint where efficiency improvements can be made. ✨ Develop a clear order of priority for creating systems and processes ✨ Save time and effort in future system and process creation ✨ Identify potential cost-saving opportunities to boost your bottom line By the end, you’ll have a clear roadmap to streamline your business systems and workflows, making your daily routine smoother and more productive. Trello Savvy Whether you’re a Trello newbie or advanced user, this course will show you everything you need to know about using Trello strategically for improved efficiency and productivity in your day-to-day tasks.  ✨ Get started with Trello and set up your account within minutes ✨ Discover the true differences between all the Trello plans (and how to keep your account forever free!) ✨ Harness the full potential of the mobile app, along with best practices to follow when updating your systems on-the-go ✨ Organize your workspace and Trello boards to find what you need when you need it (whether you have 3 Trello boards or 50) Spreadsheet Savvy We love a good ol’ spreadsheet don’t we? Learn how to use Google Sheets for data analysis, tracking progress, and making informed decisions.  ✨ Countless ideas on what types of data to track for better informed decisions ✨ How to keep your spreadsheets organized and optimized for increased efficiency ✨ How to format and customize your spreadsheets for streamlined data tracking Workflows Savvy System Feedback Library Efficiency Boosters Time-Saving Templates Workflows Savvy Create effective workflows in Trello or Airtable to supercharge your tasks and projects and get them done quicker.  ✨ Learn the different types of workflows and how to know which to use and when ✨ Streamline your tasks and projects, reduce overwhelm and increase your efficiency  ✨ How to create easy-to-use workflows that suit YOUR specific business needs System Feedback Library Access a library of insights and solutions to common system challenges, all curated from the monthly Systems Implementation & Feedback Calls. ✨ Find precise answers to your specific system questions, saving you time and effort. ✨ Discover innovative ways to optimize your Trello boards by learning from real-life examples. ✨ Implement practical tips immediately and gain inspiration from other members’ questions and solutions. Efficiency Boosters Quick-fix tutorials designed to streamline your workflow and processes within a matter of minutes. These include actionable tips on Trello automations, organization hacks, and process shortcuts that make managing your business a breeze. ✨ Currently available inside: – Learn how to mark all checklist items ‘Complete’ in Trello with just one click  – Discover what to do when a due date is added to a Trello card to ensure you don’t miss the deadline & more time-saving hacks and tips to keep your business running smoothly.  Time-Saving Templates Say goodbye to the hassle of starting from scratch and dive into ready-to-go Trello boards, Airtable setups and spreadsheets that’ll simplify your business. These tools are ready for you to implement with ease.  ✨ Check out some of the gems available inside:  – Monthly Expense Tracker (Spreadsheet)  – Trello Board Setups for Workflows  – Airtable Base for Workflows   And guess what? I’m always adding more based on what you need!  I WANT INSTANT ACCESS TO IT ALL! No more feeling lost or short on time – here’s how you’ll get a stress-free start inside the Systems Savvy Society. ⬇️ 90-Day Onboarding Plan and Membership Tracker With this, you’ll have a clear path laid out for you. No need to guess what to do next or feeling like you’re drowning...

The Princess of Wales brought back a Burberry suit for today's engagements at textile mills in Leeds and Lancaster. Kensington Palace said in a release the Princess has ...long been passionate about the importance of the textiles industry and that today's engagements involved learning more ...about the heritage, history, and innovation of the industry, the technical processes involved and how vital the sector is to the UK economy. Her first stop was at AW Hainsworth, a historic mill in Pudsey, West Yorkshire. A video as the Princess arrived via Richard Palmer of The Daily Express.  The Princess of Wales is in Leeds today, visiting A W Hainsworth’s textile mill in Leeds which made fabrics for the Coronation and is part of a company that bought her great-grandfather’s business in 1958. pic.twitter.com/x7g7MxLYPr — Richard Palmer (@RoyalReporter) September 26, 2023 In his People story, Simon Perry explains the Princess's family connection to AW Hainsworth. Kate visited AW Hainsworth, a family-owned heritage textile mill on the outskirts of Leeds. Her paternal ancestors were owners of a local woolen manufacturer and merchant William Lupton and Co., which was sold to AW Hainsworth in 1958. Kate’s great-grandfather Noel Middleton, who married Olive Lupton in 1914, was a director of the company. Noel and Olive had three sons including Peter Middleton, Kate’s grandfather and the dad of her father, Michael. Here is a quick video that references the Middleton family ties. The historic @AWHainsworth mill in West Yorkshire is part of the fabric of the UK textiles industry, and it even shares some family ties... pic.twitter.com/ZdTQtskimP — The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) September 26, 2023 The fabric used for the anointing screen at this spring's coronation was made from Hainsworth fabrics with embroidery done by the Royal School of Needlework. At the coronation, Prince Louis wore a Garter Tunic made from Hainsworth doeskin fabric. As noted in a news release, the company is a fully integrated, vertical textile mill which supplies fabrics to a wide range of customers – from fashion and homeware brands to the Armed Forces. AW Hainsworth makes the fabric used for the Grenadier Guards uniforms, seen here at the Trooping the Colour 2022. The Princess had a tour of the mill.  Another view.  She also learned about the manufacturing process.  AW Hainsworth uses traditional machinery and techniques, still considered the backbone of today's industry. Here, you see her with Zeb Akhtar, Senior Weaver Trainer. More from Rebecca English's story in The Daily Mail.  Zeb Akhtar, senior weaver trainer who talked the princess through some of the process, said afterwards: ‘She was very interested in the process and I talked her through how we made the cloth for the Guards on the somet loom. She had a good background knowledge.  'The princess wanted to know how it would stop if anything happened and as we were talking a thread snapped and it stopped automatically. We can make a hundred yards in an eight-hour shift. ‘It was such a pleasure to have her, very good. We feel very proud at being a royal warrant holder. We work hard and look after the royal family whenever they call upon us.’ It looked like the Princess enjoyed herself. Rebecca English also reported that at one point, she grabbed handfuls of freshly-woven Merino wool fabric and declared: 'I love the feel of it and the smell of it!' The Princess met Oliver, a mannequin modeling the King's Guard military uniform. A brief video via Rebecca English.  The Princess of Wales meets ‘Oliver’ the resident mannequin sporting a guardsman uniform that @AWHainsworth made the fabric for pic.twitter.com/91ygtsL5Q9 — Rebecca English (@RE_DailyMail) September 26, 2023 The company's fabric was used in a Madderson London dress worn by the Princess when she was expecting Princess Charlotte in 2015. The company now has one of the dresses on display.  The Princess wore this dress by @MaddersonLdn when she was pregnant - the fabric was by @AWHainsworth who now have the original dress on show! pic.twitter.com/xMhIMhJdDR — Rebecca English (@RE_DailyMail) September 26, 2023 Sadly, Madderson closed in 2019. Rebecca English also reported on an iconic item sold by Hudson's Bay. Her eye was also caught by a group of ladies packing cream blankets with a distinctive colourful stripe for Canadian firm Hudson Bay, part of a batch of 1,600 that are being made and packed to send out in time for their Christmas market.  ‘I really recognise this,’ she said. ‘I think we were given one on tour to Canada as a gift. So I’ve still got it. It’s in a box. I’ll take photograph and send it to you. 'I use it for the children all the time. I am going to double check when I get home and look at the label.’ Below, a wave from the Princess as she leaves AW Hainsworth. The second stop today for the Princess was in Lancaster, where she visited Standfast & Barracks. Founded in 1924, the company is known for its textile printing—more from Lancaster Live's report. The firm, now part of the Sanderson Design Group, is renowned for its heritage in textile design and creativity and employs around 160 staff to design and print 35,000 metres of printed fabrics each week. On its website, Standfast and Barracks say they plan ...to be Net Zero emissions by 2030, we continue to reduce our carbon emissions to protect future generations and unite against climate change, whilst proudly being Planet Mark certified for the past three years. Planet Mark is a recognized symbol of sustainability progress. It demonstrates a business' commitment to measuring and reducing its carbon emissions... per the Planet Mark site. Below, the Princess with the company's Creative Director, Emma Douglas. The Princess met the founders of House of Hackney, a British interior design brand, Javvy M. Royle (center), and Frieda Gormley (right). The Princess learned about the product development process between Standfast & Barracks and House of Hackney. We return to the Lancaster Live story. They are now collaborating with Standfast & Barracks, to pioneer sustainable, traceable materials in their work. Mr Royle said: “The whole re-gen thing is quite important to us, so we have been on this journey looking at all our fabrics.” Kate said: “There is a growing need, isn’t there? And some understanding, from the consumer, about where their products come from.” The Princess met Peter Ellison, the company's longest-serving employee. In November, Mr. Ellison will have been with the company for fifty years. Mr. Ellison's granddaughter, 7-year-old Emily May Catto, gave the Princess a picture she had drawn and a bouquet of flowers. Mr. Ellison told Lancaster Live the Princess asked Emily ...about what colors she liked. She said keep up dancing. She told us about her daughter, Charlotte, she likes ballet and tap. Below, a video via Richard Palmer.  A sweet encounter at Standfast & Barracks, a printworks dating back to 1924, as the Princess of Wales visits Lancaster to show her support for British textile design and creativity. pic.twitter.com/vNZjYCgRUJ — Richard Palmer (@RoyalReporter) September 26, 2023 The Princess also spoke with employees.   Now for our look at what Kate wore for today's engagements. She was in custom separates by Burberry that we first saw in photos and a video used for the launch of the Shaping Us project, then worn again this March for a meeting with Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway. The blazer is a custom version of the brand's Wool Tailored Jacket ($2050), seen below in grey. The garment features a loose single-breasted silhouette with front flap pockets, defined shoulders, notch lapels, and four buttons prominently placed at the cuff. The Wool Wide-Leg Trousers ($1050) have a front zipper, angled front pockets, back button-through welt pockets, pleats, and belt loops. We saw the return of the 'Josie' Block Heel Pumps ($490) by go-to brand Emmy London.  The Princess wore her hair down. She had on a new pair of earrings, the Shyla 'Rosalia' style (£68), with thanks to Found by Bojana for this ID. They are made in the UK of sterling silver with 22K gold plating and freshwater pearls.  She also wore her Laura Lombardi 'Portrait' 14kt Gold-Plated Chain Necklace ($158), a chunky style with round and oval links. It was first noted when worn to a Boston Celtics NBA game last December.  I show the necklace at Matches Fashion ($158) above, but it is also available at SSense ($160), as well as from Laura Lombardi ($180) and Net-a-Porter ($205).  VIDEOS: ITN's Royal Family Channel offers roughly three minutes of coverage of the AW Hainsworth visit in this video.  And roughly the same amount of coverage of the Standfast & Barracks visit in this video.

The Duchess was in sporty separates for engagements today in Plymouth, England. She was there for Sail GP races in her role as patron of the 1851 Trust. (I do not have any information on the artwork the Duchess is holding in this photo.) UPDATE: With thanks to Dragonzflame and hrhdhd for their comments, it turns out the artwork was a gift from the New Zealand sailing team and its charitable partner, Live Ocean. More about the day's races from The Daily Mail:  The SailGP competition, which is being held in Plymouth for the second year running, will see nine international teams take part in short races on high-speed Catamarans. Sir Ben Ainslie will be leading the Great Britain SailGP team in the short races, in which the catamarans can reach speeds of up to 55 miles per hour.  Below, the Duchess with Sir Ben and Hannah Mills, OBE, a two-time world champion sailor. The 1851 Trust is the official charity of Great Britain's Sail GP team.  The Trust was started in 2014 by Sir Ben and Sir Keith Mills; the name comes from the year of the first America's Cup race. Before taking part in a race, the Duchess met with young people participating in some of the Trust's activities to promote sustainability. More from The Evening Standard's story.  Kate met excited youngsters who told her how they were growing seagrass, and took part in activities educating young people about sustainability. Carnegie Bedlow, 12, from St Helier in Jersey, said: “I was a little bit nervous but she did what I told her and she was very good. “She asked me if I was interested in sailing. I do sailing camps in the summer, I love the ocean.” Here is a quick video. #ProtectOurFuture https://t.co/qw9nj9OvEz — Great Britain SailGP Team (@SailGPGBR) July 31, 2022 The Trust's Protect our Future initiative encourages young people to engage with, and support, climate action. Kensington Place notes, Protect our Future programme equips young people with skills and knowledge to understand climate science and take positive action, protecting nature, people, our oceans and the planet. Below, the Duchess and others work on an exercise making mats out of seagrass. The Telegraph reports: The Duchess’s mat will form part of an ambitious National Marine Aquarium (NMA) scheme to restore four hectares of lost seagrass meadows, equivalent to 10 football pitches. The NMA says seagrass is crucial to the health of British waters, providing a haven both for commercial fish stocks and rare marine animals such as seahorses and stalked jellyfish. Then it was time to get changed for the race.  You'll note the earrings are gone, and I believe the engagement ring was also removed before the race. The Duchess in her wetsuit, all set to get out on the water.  Team members were taken by launch out to the racing catamarans.  Here you see the Duchess with Georgie Thompson, Sir Ben's wife. Another view of the Duchess as she is ferried out to the catamaran. And one more.  Great Britain and New Zealand teams took part in a 'friendly Commonwealth Race.' Below, the Duchess gets her headset set up. The Evening Standard notes, 'She's a really good sailor in her own right, she has sailed with me on foiling boats as well and we're expecting a little bit of extra help, given she's sailed across the Atlantic,' Ainslie said.Below, the Duchess and Sir Ben. The teams are racing F50 foiling catamarans, described as the sailing equivalent of a Formula 1 racecar by Yachting World. Below, Team GB's catamaran on Plymouth Sound. More from the Plymouth Herald's coverage.  The Duchess of Cambridge inspired Team GB to victory over New Zealand at SailGP in Plymouth. She joined the British racing team on their F50 catamaran in a friendly 'Commonwealth Race' vs Team NZ with Sir Ben Ainslie. The race, which took place ahead of the official final day’s racing, saw Great Britain take on UN Patron for the Ocean Lewis Pugh alongside Peter Burling and Blair Tuke on the New Zealand F50. And it was a triumph for the British Team as they sailed to an easy victory in front of thousands lining the Plymouth coast. Now for our look at what Kate wore today.  We begin with her first ensemble featuring Holland Cooper's Tailored Shorts (£199, about $240 at today's exchange rates).  The high-waisted design is made of a linen/viscose blend and features front pleats, wide belt loops, side pockets, a front zipper, and the brand's signature gold buttons and rivets.  They are fully lined. Thank you to Innominate93 for this ID. A closer look at the details.  The Duchess also sported an Erdem Lotus Stripe Cashmere Sweater (past season). If it looks familiar, the Duchess also owns this piece in the ivory colorway, seen here when worn in May 2021 for a visit to St. Andrews. It looks like the Duchess has an updated version of the Superga Cotu Classic sneakers ($65).  The design we've seen her wear previously had five eyelets (shown below when worn in March). Today's shoes have six eyelets, shown below.  The Superga UK site shows the trainers with six eyelets. Most photos on the Superga US site show five eyelets, with the exception of the photos with a model wearing the shoes. My guess is that we'll see the six-eyelet style eventually replace the current version.  The five-eyelet style remains relatively easy to find at Superga, as well as retailers like Nordstrom and Zappos.  The Orelia Chain Huggie Hoops ($22) returned. Now for the sailing look.  The Duchess was in a wetsuit by O'Shea (thanks to UFO No More), a baseball cap by Henri Lloyd (thank you to KatiesRoyalLove), and her Adidas Performance Pureboost X trainers, shown below in 2016.  She also had on what looked like a pair of SunGod Sierras ($120), with frames made of 100% recycled plastic waste.  This is the Great Britain Sail GP limited edition style.  Thank you to Remoulade Sauce & Dagmar of Denmark, as well as Elizabeth of Kate's Closet for the ID! After the race, the Duchess changed into a different look. Embed from Getty Imageswindow.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'fihM7lkLSJlQ_66h5n-aaA',sig:'t8d36hs3XFLlK7QiXdN5KZ9pGwsdTS2SY756lbU9jhk=',w:'395px',h:'594px',items:'1242227263',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })}); She wore a Henri Lloyd Team GB shell atop a white tee and a pair of Helly Hansen Maridalen Hiking Shorts ($75).  Made of quick-drying stretch fabric, the shorts have cargo pockets with hidden snap closures, a zippered front pocket, and a zip front.  I show them at Helly Hansen, but they are also offered at Back Country USA ($75), at Amazon ($75), at TrekkInn ($45.99) Many thanks to Carly at Kate Middleton Style for this ID. Here is a closer look at the Henri Lloyd Team GB baseball cap ($40).  ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ A very quick note about a cute video posted on Kensington Palace social media accounts this morning, with Prince William and Princess Charlotte showing their support for the Lionesses (England's women's football team) ahead of tonight's European Championship Final match against Germany at Wembley.    Good luck tonight @Lionesses, we’re all cheering for you! pic.twitter.com/ATsLg6QHIF — The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (@KensingtonRoyal) July 31, 2022 There was speculation Princess Charlotte and/or Prince George might attend the match, but neither child is at the match. The Lionesses proved victorious, taking the match with a 2 -1 final score.   Here is one more photo from today. I'll see you Tuesday for the Commonwealth Games.  VIDEOS:  The Royal Family Channel offers 3+ minutes of coverage in this video.   Here you have about 2 minutes of video from The Telegraph.

Detail Specification of Highest Performance DSLR Camera Canon EOS 5DsR  The Canon EOS 5DS R includes an all-new 50.6 megapixel CMOS sensor, alongside double DIGIC 6 processors. The 'R' model counterbalances the counter associating channel for greatest goals (to the detriment of moiré). The self-adjust framework has an aggregate of 61 points (in a 'high thickness reticular cluster'), 41 of which are cross-type. It utilizes the equivalent 150,000-pixel RGB+IR metering framework as the EOS 7D II with a scene recognition framework. The metering framework likewise has an enemy of glint work for shooting under sodium vapour lights. The ISO extend on the camera is 100-6400, expandable to 12800.  The 5DS R has a more unbending skeleton than the EOS 5D III so as to limit camera shake and improve flexibility. The shade is appraised to 150,000 cycles. The 5DS game is a 'Wise Viewfinder II' which has an installed straightforward LCD board that can show edited shooting outlines, synthesis networks, and an electronic dimension. It likewise sports a 3.2" LCD show with 1.04M spots and double memory card openings (CompactFlash and SD/SDHC/SDXC with UHS-I support).  Picture takers have a decision of two harvest modes: 1.3x (30.5MP) and 1.6x (19.6MP) just as medium and little size Raws. The 5DS can shoot persistently at 5 fps. Video-wise, the 5DS backings 1080/30p account, however, needs clean HDMI yield and an earphone jack. Short Description about Canon EOS 5DS R Digital SLR Camera w EF 24-70mm F2.8 Lens Bundle Price $5298.00as of May 14, 2019,  Brand Canon Resolution 50.6 Megapixel Sensor Size Full Frame Sensor Type CMOS ISO 100 - 6400 Viewfinder Optical Display Size 3.2 inches Shooting Speed 4.8 fps Video Resolution 1920 x 1080 Focal Length 24 - 70 mm 35mm Equivalent 24 - 70 mm Max Aperture F/2.8 Optical Zoom 2.9x Release Date June 2015 Body Weight 32.8 ounces Lens Weight 28.4 ounces Weight 61.2 ounces Detail Specification of  DSLR Camera Canon EOS 5DsR  Specifications Canon EOS 5Ds R Year Introduced 2015 Megapixels 50.6 Total Pixels 53.0 Sensor Size 36.0 x 24.0mm Pixel Dimensions 8688 x 5792 Pixel Size 4.14µm Diffraction-Limited Aperture f/6.7 Aspect Ratio 3:2 Sensor Cleaning EOS Integrated Cleaning System with fluorine coated Low-Pass Filter Lens Mount EF (excludes EF-S lenses), TS-E, MP-E FOVCF 1.0x Image Processor Dual DIGIC 6 Autofocus Type TTL-CT-SIR with a dedicated CMOS sensor Points 61 Point / 41 f/4 cross-type AF points inc 5 dual cross-type at f/2.8 The number of cross-type AF points will differ depending on the lens. Working Range EV -2 - 18 (at 20°C & ISO100) Modes One-Shot AI Focus AI Servo Point Selection Automatic selection: 61 points AF Manual selection: Single-point AF (61, 41 cross-type only, 15 or 9 points selectable) Manual selection: Spot AF Manual selection: AF point Expansion 4 points (up, down, left, right) Manual selection: AF point Expansion surrounding 8 points Manual selection: Zone AF AF points can be selected separately for vertical and horizontal shooting Predictive Assist Beam Emitted by optional dedicated Speedlite Microadjustment AF Menu +/- 20 steps ( wide and tele setting for Zooms) Adjust all lenses by the same amount Adjust up to 40 lenses individually Adjustments remembered for lens by serial number Exposure Control Metering Modes 150,000-pixel RGB+IR metering sensor EOS iSA System with 252-zone metering: (1) Evaluative metering (linked to All AF points) (2) Partial metering (approx. 6.1% of viewfinder at centre) (3) Spot metering (approx. 1.3% viewfinder at centre) * AF point-linked spot metering not provided (4) Centre-weighted average metering Metering Range EV 1 – 20 (at 23°C with 50mm f/1.4 lens ISO100) Exposure Comp +/-5 EV in 1/3 or 1/2 stop increments (can be combined with AEB). AEB 2, 3, 5 or 7 Shots +/-3 EV 1/3 or 1/2 stop increments ISO Sensitivity Auto (100-6400), 100-6400 (in 1/3-stop or whole stop increments) ISO can be expanded to L: 50, H1: 12800 Shutter Speed 30 - 1/8000 sec (1/2 or 1/3 stop increments) + Bulb (Shutter speed range available varies according to shooting mode) WB Settings AWB (Ambience priority/White priority), Daylight, Shade, Cloudy, Tungsten, White Fluorescent light, Flash, Custom, Color Temperature Setting. White balance compensation: 1. Blue/Amber +/-9 2. Magenta/ Green +/-9. Custom WB Yes, 1 setting can be registered WB Bracketing +/-3 levels in single-level increments 3 bracketed images per shutter release. Selectable Blue/Amber bias or Magenta/ Green bias. Viewfinder Type Pentaprism Coverage Approx. 100% Magnification Approx. 0.71x Eyepoint Approx. 21mm Diopter Correction -3 to +1 m-1 (diopter) Focusing Screen Fixed (Transmissive LCD screen) Mirror Motor-Driven Quick-return half mirror (Transmission: reflection ratio of 40:60, no mirror cut-off with EF600mm f/4 or shorter) Information AF information: Single/Spot AF points, AF Frame, AF status, Focus indicator, AF mode, AF point selection, AF point registration Exposure information: Shutter speed, aperture value, ISO speed (always displayed), AE lock, exposure level/compensation, flash metering, spot metering circle, exposure warning, AEB, metering mode, shooting mode Flash information: Flash ready, high-speed sync, FE lock, flash exposure compensation, red-eye reduction light. Image information: Card information, maximum burst (2 digit display), Highlight tone priority (D+). Composition information: Grid, Electronic level Other information: Battery check, Warning symbol, Flicker Detection, drive mode, white balance, JPEG/RAW indicator DOF Preview Yes, with the Depth of Field preview button. Eyepiece Shutter On strap LCD Type 3.2" (8.11cm) Clear View II TFT, approx. 1040K dots Coverage Approx. 100% Viewing Angle Approx. 170° Coating Anti-reflection and Solid Structure Brightness Adj Adjustable to one of seven levels Display Options (1) Quick Control Screen (2) Camera settings (3) Dual Axis Electronic Level Flash Built-in GN N/A (ISO 100, meters) Built-in Coverage N/A Built-in Recycle Time N/A Modes E-TTL II Auto Flash, Metered Manual X-Sync 1/200sec (EX-series Speedlites only) Exposure Compensation +/- 3EV in 1/2 or 1/3 increments Exposure Bracketing Yes, with compatible External Flash Exposure Lock Yes 2nd Curtain Sync Yes Hot Shoe/PC Terminal Yes / Yes External Flash Comp E-TTL II with EX-series Speedlites, wireless multi-flash support External Flash Control Via camera menu Shooting Shooting Modes Auto+, Program AE, Shutter-priority AE, Aperture-priority AE, Manual (Stills and Movie), Custom (x3) Picture Styles Auto, Standard, Portrait, Landscape, Neutral, Faithful, Monochrome, User Defined (x3) Colour Space sRGB and Adobe RGB Image Processing Highlight Tone Priority Auto Lighting Optimizer (4 settings) Long exposure noise reduction High ISO speed noise reduction (4 settings) Auto-Correction of Lens Peripheral illumination Chromatic aberration correction Distortion correction Resize to M1, M2 or S RAW image processing - during image Playback only Multiple exposures HDR images 5 presets Drive Modes Single, Continuous L, Continuous H, Self-timer (2s+remote, 10s+remote), Silent single shooting, Silent continuous shooting Continuous Shooting Max. Approx. 5fps. (speed maintained for up to 510 number of JPEGs or 14 RAW images) with UDMA mode 7 card Shutter Lag 59ms Viewfinder Blackout 125ms Live View Type Electronic viewfinder with image sensor Coverage Approx. 100% (horizontally and vertically) FrameRate 29.97 fps Focusing Manual Focus (Magnify the image 6x or 16x at any point on screen) Autofocus: Quick mode, Live mode, Live Face detection mode Metering Real-time evaluative metering with image sensor Active metering time can be changed Display Options Grid overlay (x3), Histogram, Aspect ratios, Dual Axis Electronic Level File Information Still ImageType JPEG: Fine, Normal (Exif 2.3 [Exif Print] compliant) / Design rule for Camera File system (2.0), RAW: RAW, sRAW1, sRAW2 (14bit, Canon original RAW 2nd edition), Digital Print Order Format [DPOF] Version 1.1 compliant RAW+JPEG Simultaneous Rec Yes, any combination of RAW + JPEG possible, separate formats to separate cards possible Image Size JPEG: Full Frame - (L) 8688x5792, (M1) 7680x5120, (M2) 5760x3840, (S1) 4320x2880, (S2) 1920x1280, (S3) 720x480 1.3x Crop - (L) 6768x4512, (M1) 6016x4000, (M2) 4512x3008, (S1) 3376x2256, (S2) 1920x1280, (S3) 720x480 1.6x Crop - (L) 5424x3616, (M1) 4800x3200, (M2) 3616x2408, (S1) 2704x1808, (S2) 1920x1280, (S3) 720x480 1:1 Crop - (L) 5792x5792, (M1) 5120x5120, (M2) 3840x3840, (S1) 2880x2880, (S2) 1280x1280, (S3) 480x480 RAW: (RAW) 8688x5792, (M-RAW) 6480x4320, (S-RAW) 4320x2880 Movie Type MOV (Video: H.264 Intra frame / inter frame, Sound: Linear PCM) Movie Size 1920 x 1080 (29.97, 25, 23.976 fps) intra or inter frame 1280 x 720 (59.94, 50 fps) intra or inter frame 640 x 480 (59.94, 50 fps) inter frame Movie Length Max duration 29min 59sec, Max single file size 4GB Sound Files N/A Folders New folders can be manually created and selected File Numbering (1) Consecutive numbering (2) Auto reset (3) Manual reset Other Information Wireless Features GPS Custom Functions 13 Custom Functions with 47 settings Metadata Tag User copyright information (can be set in camera) Image rating (0-5 stars) LCD Panel / Illumination Yes / Yes Water & Dust Resistance Yes (equal to EOS-1N) Sound Memo No Orientation Sensor Yes Playback Zoom 1.5x - 16x Display Formats (1) Single image with information (2 levels) (2) Single image (3) 4 image index (4) 9 image index (5) Magnified view (6) 2 image compare display (7) Movie edit Slide Show Image selection: All images, by Date, by Folder, Movies, Stills, Rating Playback time: 1/2/3/5/10 or 20 seconds Repeat: On/Off Histogram Brightness: Yes RGB: Yes Highlight Alert Yes Image Erase Protection Erase: Single image, All images in folder, Checkmarked images, unprotected images Protection: Erase protection of one image at a time Menu Categories (1) Shooting menu (x4) (2) AF Menu (x5) (3) Playback menu (x3) (4) Setup menu (x4) (5) Custom Functions menu (x4) (6) My Menu Menu Languages 25 Languages English, German, French, Dutch, Danish, Portuguese, Finnish, Italian, Norwegian, Swedish, Spanish, Greek, Russian, Polish, Czech, Hungarian, Romanian, Ukrainian, Turkish, Arabic, Thai, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Korean and Japanese Interface Computer Interface SuperSpeed USB (USB 3.0): for computer communication and direct printing Other Interface HDMI Type C, External microphone (Stereo mini jack) Canon Printer Support Canon Compact Photo Printers and PIXMA Printers supporting PictBridge Pict Bridge Yes Memory Memory Type CompactFlash Type I (UDMA 7 compatible), SD card, SDHC card or SDXC card (UHS-1 compatible) Software Browsing & Printing Software ImageBrowser EX Image Processing Software Digital Photo Professional Other Software PhotoStitch, EOS Utility (inc. Remote Capture, WFT utility*), Picture Style Editor * Requires optional accessory Batteries & Power Battery Rechargeable Li-ion Battery LP-E6N (supplied), 1x CR1616 for date & settings Battery Life Approx. 700 (73°F/ 23°C) 660 (32°F/ 0°C) Battery Indicator 6 levels + percentage Power Saving Power turns off after 1, 2, 4, 8, 15 or 30mins. Power Supply Battery Chargers AC Adapter Kit ACK-E6, Battery charger LC-E6, Car Battery charger CBC-E6 Physical Specs Body Materials Magnesium Alloy body covers Shutter Durability Rating 150,000 Operating Environment 0 – 40 °C, 85% or less humidity Dimensions Inches 6.0 x 4.6 x 3.0" (152 x 116.4 x 76.4mm) CIPA Weight 32.8 oz (930g) Accessories Viewfinder Eyecup Eg, Eg-series Dioptric Adjustment Lens with Rubber Frame Eg, Anti Fog Eyepiece Eg, Angle Finder C Camera Case Wireless File Transmitter Wireless File Transmitter WFT-E7 Compatible Lenses All EF lenses (excludes EF-S lenses), TS-E and MP-E lenses Compatible Flash Canon Speedlites (220EX, 270EX, 270EX II, 320EX, 420EX, 430EX, 430EX II, 550EX, 580EX, 580EX II, 600EX, 600EX-RT, Macro-Ring-Lite, MR-14EX, Macro Twin Lite MT-24EX, Speedlite Transmitter ST-E2, Speedlite Transmitter ST-E3-RT) Battery Grip BG-E11   Remote Remote control with N3 type contact, Wireless Controller LC-5, Remote Controller RC-6 Other Hand Strap E2, GP-E2

[caption id="attachment_42784" align="aligncenter" width="1000"] Photo Credit: Canadian Tourism Commission[/caption]Toronto is a dynamic, multi-cultural metropolis with no shortage of things to see and do. The city’s events and festivals draw people from all over the world and the perennial attractions are sure to be on most traveler’s bucket list. Between film festivals, culinary events, major sporting events, live music and theatre, you’ll have a hard time deciding what to see and do during your stay. To help you, here are some suggested itineraries no matter how long you have to spend.For directions: Google map for each day is given at the end of the article.[adinserter block="2"][adinserter block="15"]1 Day Option: If you have only one day to spend in TorontoIf you have only one day to spend in Toronto, maybe as a flight layover or just a short break, it’s important to plan your time to take in all the best Toronto has to offer!Without a doubt the most iconic landmark in Toronto is the CN Tower and is an absolute must visit. For 34 years, it held the record of tallest tower and free-standing structure. It is now the 3rd tallest tower but still remains the tallest free-standing structure in the western hemisphere and one of the modern Seven Wonders of The World. That’s impressive!Rocket to the top in 58 seconds in the high-speed glass fronted elevator, test your nerve on the glass floor as you look down 342m and enjoy breathtaking, panoramic views from the lookout.If you’re up for a real thrill, take the EdgeWalk around the outside of the towers main pod, hands-free! Advanced reservations for EdgeWalk are mandatory. The CN Tower can easily be reached by walking west from Union Station along Front St.[caption id="attachment_42785" align="aligncenter" width="1000"] Edge Walk View[/caption]Now that you’ve tested your courage, time to calm your nerves. Leave the CN Tower and cross Bremner Blvd to sample Canada’s premier, award winning pilsner lager at the Steam Whistle Brewery. Housed in a historic brick railway roundhouse you can take a guided tour with tastings and see the steam locomotives that helped pioneer our nation.https://www.instagram.com/p/BTsdsSEBK0P/?tagged=steamwhistlebreweryOptional[adinserter block="6"][adinserter block="15"]If you are travelling with children or enjoy the world under the sea, you may wish to visit the Ripley’s Aquarium which is next to the CN Tower. This is Canada’s largest indoor aquarium with 16,000 aquatic animals, over 100 interactive displays, 9 galleries and 3 touch exhibits featuring sharks, rays and horseshoe crabs. Also next to the Brewery is the Toronto Railway Museum, where young kids can enjoy miniature Train rides.Next Stop: China TownWhen you are ready to leave this area, walk west to Spadina Rd. and take the 510 streetcar north to Dundas St. Here you will find yourself in the heart of China town. An ethnic neighbourhood full of colorful shops and smells. Browse the shops for a lucky charm or taste some exotic foods. For the kids, make a game out of seeing who can spot the most dragons!https://www.instagram.com/p/BWiGcMWDj3B/Next Stop: Kensington MarketHeading west along Dundas St. then north on Augusta St. enter the bohemian neighbourhood of Kensington Market. Full of charm and diversity, enjoy time browsing through vintage clothing stores, herbal shops, restaurants and cafes. This is a great spot to have lunch with a large assortment of different cuisines from around the world. Some favourites are Seven Lives (Mexican), Jumbo Empanadas (Chilean) and The Burgernator, but your really can’t go wrong so take your time and let your taste buds guide you.https://www.instagram.com/p/BWja4Fggl7J/Getting to Kensington Market from China Town.Suggestion: If you really want to learn more about all the tasty treats in this area, consider taking a culinary walking tour with Tasty Tours.You can also go for a 2 hour guided guided tour of Kensington and China Town.Optional Stop - Art Gallery of OntarioAlso in this area, east of Spadina Rd. along Dundas St between Beverley and McCaul, is the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO). The gallery holds more than 80,000 works including the largest collection of Canadian art, an expansive collection from the Renaissance and Baroque eras, African and Oceanic art and modern and contemporary collections.Leaving the sights, sounds and smells of China Town behind, walk or ride the streetcar back down Spadina Rd. to Queen St. Walking east you will discover an uber-trendy stretch of big brand stores, cutting edge boutiques, art galleries and hip bars. Named by Vogue magazine as the 2nd coolest neighborhood in the world! [adinserter block="3"][adinserter block="15"]Suggestion: Be sure to take a walk down Graffiti Alley made famous on the Rick Mercer report. Just one street south of Queen St and west of Spadina Rd on Rush Lane.Next Stop: Osgoode HallWalking east along Queen St. at the corner of John St. is the home of Bell Media where you might be able to catch a live taping of shows like The Merilyn Denis Show, The Social, Cityline or maybe see your favourite singer being interviewed at MuchMusic. Continue walking east past Univeristy St. and on the left side you will find the Osgoode Hall. A heritage building and the landmark for legal activity for over 160 years. The building has still retained much of its architecture from the late 1800’s and self-guided audio tours are available. Before you leave enjoy some time to stroll around the lovely 6 acres of manicured lawns and gardens.Optional: The Four Seasons Centre for the performing arts is directly across the street from the Osgoode Hall. A theatre specifically built for the finest level of opera and ballet. Building tours and backstage access are available.You may like to attend:Performing Arts Events Next Stop: Nathan Philips SquareAs you continue to walk east along Queen St. you will soon arrive to Nathan’s Philip Square. Home to New City Hall, the TORONTO sign, a sculpture court and peace garden. During the winter enjoy skating on the free ice rink and in the summer people watch by the water fountain. Across the street on the opposite corner is Old City Hall. Take a moment here to appreciate this well-preserved Romanesque building showcasing a clock tower and gargoyles. Can you spot the grotesque carved stone faces above the Queen St. entrance said to be those of politicians? Inside you can still admire the painted murals and stained glass windows.https://www.instagram.com/p/BT2V4yJDb9q/?taken-by=evologistNext Stop: Eaton Centre/ Yonge Dundas SquareIf you didn’t find everything you were looking for on Queen St. don’t worry, the Eaton Centre at the corner of Yonge St. spans two blocks and will fill every shoppers need. At the least, take a walk through and exit at Dundas St. Be prepared as you step into a world of noise, lights and crowds. Yonge/Dundas square is a public square and one of busiest and liveliest intersection in Canada. Throughout the year many public events, performances and art displays take place here.[adinserter block="6"][adinserter block="15"]Tonight, head out on the town. Toronto’s entertainment district along King St. between Spadina Rd. and University Ave. is where you can find some of the best restaurants, bars and theatrical shows. You can enjoy a production at the historic Royal Alexandra Theatre or catch a screening of old and new movies at the TIFF Bell Lightbox.Dinner: Go to Buca to see executive chef Rob Gentile create some of the city’s most original and intricate dishes in a bare-bones industrial style, open kitchen. 604 King St. W.2nd Day OptionAfter all that shopping yesterday, make today a day to explore natural history, art and culture at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM). Situated at the corner of Bloor St. and Spadina Rd. it is easily reached by subway. On line 1 exit at Musuem station and on line 2 exit at Spadina station. You won’t be able to miss the new entrance, “The Crystal”.Suggestion: If the weather is good, from the line 1 subway get off at Queens Park and take a nice stroll up to the ROM through this lovely urban park. There are several historic monuments throughout the grounds as well as the Ontario Legislature building. Often during the year events will be held in the park.You may also go on guided tours of the building. The ROM is one of the largest museums in North America so plan to spend a few hours there. With more than 6 million items and forty galleries everyone will find something of interest. For the kids, they will love the dinosaur exhibit and interactive displays.Tip: In the Spring, Wednesday nights are discounted admission and Friday nights during the summer there is live music, dj’s and food. Check the calendar for all events and special exhibits. Optional - Gardiner MuseumIf you’re not too hungry for lunch yet take some time to visit the Gardiner Museum across the street from the ROM. This is Canada’s national ceramics museum and houses a magnificent permanent collection of over 2,900 pieces from Ancient Americas, Italian Renaissance, Japanese Porcelain and more.LunchThe best food options are found west of the ROM along Bloor St., also known as the Annex. A place of students, multi-million dollar homes and excellent food. Some suggestions are Fresh, Future Bistro and Little Piggy’s. For a special treat after, line up at Eva’s Original Chimney’s. It’s worth the wait!Next Stop: Bloor YorkvilleAfter a tasty lunch in the area. Walk east on Bloor St through Toronto’s most exclusive shopping district the “Mink Mile”. Continuing one street North of Bloor you will find the affluent Yorkville. Once a bohemian cultural center and breeding ground for some of Canada’s most famous musicians, artists and writers. Take a walk beyond the upscale stores and you will still see many beautiful Victoria-style homes, quiet residential streets and picturesque gardens.Next Stop: Casa LomaWhen you feel you’ve had enough glitz and glam for the day, take the line 1 subway heading north and get off at Dupont station. Walk North two blocks on Spadina Ave (the street will end). Climb the Baldwin Steps, take your time - there are 110 steps, and at the top you will be rewarding with the site of Toronto’s majestic castle, Casa Loma. Step back into a time of European elegance and splendor. Complete with decorated suites, hidden passages, tunnels, towers, stables and a 5-acre estate garden. Watch a film presentation of the amazing life of Sir Henry Pellatt who the castle was constructed for. All included in your admission.https://www.instagram.com/p/BTcGDb1lh66/?taken-by=casalomatorontoAfter an optional short rest at your hotel, time to recharge with a nice dinner and prepare for a night of entertainment. Here are a few options of ways to spend your night.Dinner: At O.Noir, experience food, drinks and conversation like never before – in the dark! Canada’s second “Dine in the Dark” restaurant brings an extraordinary culinary experience to its guests. 620 Church St.[adinserter block="1"][adinserter block="15"]1.The Canadian Opera Company at the Four Seasons Centre is the largest producer of Opera in Canada. For a truly VIP experience purchase seats in the Grand Ring where they have boxes for two, six, eight or twelve people. Pre-purchased tickets are recommended and can be purchased on their website. Attend a live show at the Elgin and Winter Garden Theatre on Yonge St. across for the Eaton Centre. The world’s largest operating double-decker vaudeville theatre. Offering a variety of concerts, comedy shows and operatic performances. If you’re in the mood for a laugh, take a seat at one of Toronto’s comedy clubs. For local talent and top headliners head to Second City or Yuk Yuk’s. Tickets can be purchased at the door one hour before the show or in advance on their websites.For more entertainment options, see Performing Arts in TorontoLive Music & Concerts in TorontoUpcoming Concert Tours in Toronto3rd Day OptionSpend some time this morning learning about the history of Canada’s national sport, hockey! The Hockey Hall of Fame at the corner of Front and Yonge St. carries the largest collection in the world of memorabilia including famous gear, the Stanley cup and interactive games. Even if you are not a hockey fan you will surely find the information fun and educational. You can easily reach here by walking east from Union Station along Front St. or South on Yonge St. from King station on line 1.https://www.instagram.com/p/BUHuWG4DMYy/?taken-at=345153Next Stop: St Lawerence MarketAfter you’ve learned all you can about hockey continue walking east along Front St. Along the way get your camera ready as you pass the red-brick Flatiron building. One of the most photographed landmarks in the city. When you arrive to the corner of Lower Jarvis St. on your right you will find the St. Lawrence market. One of the world’s great markets. Be inspired by the locally produced products, large selection of produce, bakeries, artisan shops, antiques and more. With its variety of tasty eateries this makes a good spot to enjoy lunch. Tip: Sunday & Monday the market is closed so try to schedule to visit on a different day.https://www.instagram.com/p/BPXy-vJh8kM/Optional: St James Cathedral is one block north of the St. Lawrence market. This church is a prime example of Gothic Revival architecture and is the oldest congregation in the city. There is also a lovely park to the east to take a rest.https://www.instagram.com/p/BTN7FeBAhVu/Next Stop: Distillery DistrictWhen you’re ready to continue on your way, leave the market from where you entered and wait for the 121 bus just outside the main doors. Exit the bus at Mill St. and walk South one block. You will now find yourself in the Distillery District. Widely regarded as Canada’s premier arts, culture and entertainment destination housed in Victorian industrial buildings from the 1800’s. Take your time here to enjoy the one-of-a-kind stores, shops, galleries and studios. When the shops close up the villages many restaurants and bars come to life making it the perfect places to spend the evening. There are also local theatres with daily lives shows and an array of festivals throughout the entire year. Have a look at what’s happening.https://www.instagram.com/p/BS9tc8sjrQN/Dinner: Cluny Bistro inside the Distillery District is a beautiful modern French bistro and Boulangerie with a Gallic feel. The menu offers a playful twist on traditional French dishes. 55 Mill St.[adinserter block="2"][adinserter block="15"]Don’t feel like staying in your hotel room tonight? Consider a night of jousting, horsemanship and falconry while eating with your hands in a castle-like venue! Medieval Times at Exhibition Place is a thrilling family-friendly dinner attraction inspired by an 11th century Spanish feast and tournament. While enjoying your four-course dinner, cheer for your knight as he competes. Advance ticket purchase necessary.4th Day OptionToday spend some time enjoying the greener side of Toronto. Start your morning with a visit to Toronto’s waterfront, one of the longest urban lakefronts in the world. The heart of the area is the unique 10-acre Harbourfront Centre with a diverse range of activities, seasonal festivals, concerts and food year-round for all ages. Take a walk along the boardwalk and marina to enjoy the tall ships, music garden and the awe-inspiring glass art instillation “Waterglass”.To arrive here from Union Station take the 509 or 510 streetcar (from inside the station) and get off at the Harbourfront Centre stop. There are many, large outdoor festivals that take place so be sure to check the events calendar.https://www.instagram.com/p/BRBjXGzgTdg/?taken-by=harbourfrontcentreLunch: Enjoy lovely lake views on the patio of Amsterdam Brewhouse. A skillfully crafted menu showcasing some of the most creative uses of beer & brew process techniques in the world. Craft beer meets fresh artisan food. 245 Queens Quay West.Next Stop: Toronto IslandsAfter your lunch, continue your walk east just a short distance to the bottom of Bay St where you will find the Jack Layton ferry terminal to take you over to the Toronto Island. A refreshing escape from the downtown with blue flag beaches, manicured gardens, bike/walking trails, a petting zoo and the Centreville Amusement Park. Lockers are available after you disembark the ferry as well as a tourist booth and bicycle rentals. Half the fun is getting there on the scenic 15 minute ferry ride. No cars are allowed on the Island.https://www.instagram.com/p/BUCc4UXAyfx/?taken-at=101727Optional: Ontario Science CentreIf the weather is not good for spending time outside, let your imagination come to life with a visit to the Ontario Science Centre. An iconic cultural attraction with a vision to inspire curiosity, discovery and action with top science experiences, memorable exhibitions, engaging programs and breathtaking IMAX films.https://www.instagram.com/p/BTf1jy9ANLD/?tagged=ontariosciencecentreDirections: Take the Yonge St. line 1 north to the Eglinton Station and transfer to the Eglinton East (route 34) bus from inside the station. Get off at Don Mills Road. Or, take the Bloor-Danforth subway line 2 east to Pape Station and transfer to the Don Mills (route 25 or 185 Express) bus. Get off at St. Dennis Drive, right in front of the Science Centre.Make your final night in Toronto a truly memorable one aboard a scenic dinner cruise. Dine and dance the night away while you watch the sun set on Toronto’s harbour and take in the breathtaking skyline.HOTELS:To save time and move around easily it’s best to stay in the downtown area south of Bloor St., east of Bathurst St. and west of Gerrard St. From here many places can be explored on foot or easily on the TTC.[adinserter block="4"][adinserter block="15"]Fairmont Royal York: The newly refurbished Fairmont Royal York is located in the center of Downtown Toronto, minutes away from: The CN Tower, Ripley's Aquarium of Canada, Toronto Island Ferry, St. Lawrence Market, the Eaton Centre, and the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts.Sheraton Centre: Sheraton Centre Toronto is ideally located in the centre of downtown and near the financial and entertainment districts. Enjoy the panoramic views from the 43rd floor Club Lounge or relax in the Waterfall Garden, a two-acre natural oasis.Hotel Victoria: A historic icon centrally located between Union Station and the Eaton Centre, this boutique hotel offers great value. A relaxing home away from home amidst the excitement of Toronto.Residence Inn Toronto Downtown: Part of the Marriott chain, their large studio rooms with kitchen and sitting area make them a great option for families or longer stays. Just a short walk the entertainment district, CN Tower and Union Station.Booking.com (function(d, sc, u) { var s = d.createElement(sc), p = d.getElementsByTagName(sc)[0]; s.type = 'text/javascript'; s.async = true; s.src = u + '?v=' + (+new Date()); p.parentNode.insertBefore(s,p); })(document, 'script', '//aff.bstatic.com/static/affiliate_base/js/flexiproduct.js');GETTING AROUND:TTC: The Toronto Transit Commission is the city’s public transportation system and consists of buses, streetcars and subways. This is the fastest and least expensive way to move around the city with stops at all the top attractions. The fare is $3 per ride or you can purchase a day pass for $12.50 per person during the weekdays. On the weekends and holidays the day pass is good for the entire family. Check conditions, full fare details and route maps on the website.Hope-on-Hop-Off: Like all great cities, Toronto has its own tourist bus. This option is a bit more expensive than the TTC but allows you flexibility to explore at your own pace with stops at most of the main attractions and on-board guided commentary. This option is great if you only have one or two days and want to see as much as possible. They also include a free boat cruise with each purchase!Taxi: The main companies operating in the city are Beck, Diamond and Co-op although you may spot a few others. All taxis are signed and metered. The starting fare is about $3.50 making it the most expensive form of transportation but the most convenient. Taxis can easily be flagged down on the street. Just look for one with its rooftop light on.An alternative, but not an official taxi is Uber which has a great presence in the city and lower rates. If you have the app already you are all set!Parking: Parking in the city can be very challenging and expensive but not impossible. The city offers many Green P lots paid by the hour. On street parking is very limited and you need to pay very close attention to the signs as many streets cannot be parked on during rush hour. Driving is the least recommended way for getting around the city as you will likely waste a lot of time in traffic and looking for parking.Bike Share: This is a fun, healthy and reliable way to get around the city. Pick up/Drop off from one of the 200 convenient stations. A day pass is only $7 or a 3-day pass is $15 and the first 30 minutes of each ride are free.TICKETS:Free and Cheap ways to explore TorontoCity Pass: If you will be visiting the main attractions mentioned here the City Pass is a must. It will allow you entrance to the CN Tower, Ripley’s Aquarium, Casa Loma, ROM and the Ontario Science Centre or Toronto Zoo at a 40% discount.You may like:3 Days in Niagara Falls

[caption id="attachment_39387" align="aligncenter" width="787"] Photo Credit: Piotr Wancerz[/caption]Visiting Niagara Falls and Toronto with kids? This 3 day itinerary will help you plan to have a fun filled family getaway to two of the most visited tourist destinations in the world.This is a late spring to mid fall itinerary for first time visitors to Toronto or for those who want to take relatives/friends around Toronto. If you are coming in winter, see an alternative itinerary at the end of this article. If this is your second trip- here is a complete list of family attractions within City of Toronto.Passes you may consider buying before you start your trip: Toronto CityPASS: Saves money and lets you visit 5 best attractions in Toronto. If the weather is inclement, all the places included are indoors (mostly). So you do not have to worry about bad weather. Niagara Classic/Wonder/Adventure Pass depending on the season of your visit. Also buy all attraction passes online, as this will save time and money.[adinserter block="4"][adinserter block="15"]We also suggest you read our March Break article, to get an idea about the range of family activities and family specific events offered in Toronto. Similar activities are available all year round at almost every attraction.You may also like to read - Free Things to Do in Summer , Cheap ways to explore Toronto. and Trip to Toronto: Optional 1, 2, 3, 4 Day Toronto ItineraryIf you are in Toronto by late afternoon (~ 04:00 PM) Walk the Harbourfront/Waterfront, enjoying the views of Lake Ontario. In summer, Harbourfront comes alive with festivals, free concerts, and so many fun activities. This is FREE. Depending on the time of your visit, kids can go on paddle boats at the Natrel pond or the whole family can enjoy skating in winter. Go to Nathan Philips Square. See the TORONTO signage and enjoy lights/festivals/concerts/summer markets or skating. If you are visiting in summer - Have a beach time - Visit Woodbine Beach. Visit Ripley's Aquarium. You can also enjoy a live family theatre show or go and cheer Toronto home teams. Participate in family festivals.Day 1: Places to Visit Toronto Islands/Ripley's Aquarium/CN TowerStop 1: Toronto Islands:The best place to visit in Toronto with kids are the Islands. Toronto Islands are three connected Islands, namely Centre Island, Ward's Island and Hanlan's Point. The Centre Island features a myriad of delightful activities from feeding birds to a pettting Zoo at Far Enough Farm, splash pads, beach, a children’s garden inspired by Franklin the Turtle, Centerville Amusement Park and a treasure hunting cruise for your little pirate. Since you need to go on the ferry to reach the Islands, you also can enjoy downtown City Skyline views as part of the trip. There are cafe's and restaurants on the Island.Time Required: At least 3 hours. Plan for 5 hours. Rent a 4 seat quadricycle and explore the Islands.Planning: Go early. Take the Centre Island Ferry from Jack Layton Ferry Terminal to get to the first ferry to Centre Island. You may end up queuing for more than an hour, especially on summer weekends, if you are at the terminal after 10:00 AM. Stand in line for the return ferry by 2:00 PM. It is usually not crowded at that time (crowd swells by ~ 4:00 pm).We suggest you walk/bike the Island, stopping for kids activities in the Children's Garden, navigate the maze, see Gibraltar Point Lighthouse (Built in 1808, this is the oldest stone building in Toronto and the oldest surviving lighthouse on the Great Lakes), go for a pirate cruise **(adults can enjoy views of Lake Ontario and Toronto Skyline, while kids are busy playing pirates), visit Far Enough Farm and add one or two amusement park rides to keep the kids delighted. There are three blue flag certified beaches on the Islands, so keep a change of clothes handy. (keep in mind - Hanlan’s Point Beach, which is situated on the western shore of Toronto Islands is a clothing optional beach)**Pirate Cruise: Relocated to 333 Lakeshore Boulevard East, Toronto. The cruise start point is no longer on the Islands. ~ 1.3 km from the Ferry Terminal.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOK6vYJoYV8How much: If you are on a budget, most attractions are free, except for Centreville Amusement park rides and the pirate cruise. Admission to the amusement park is free.Ferry Fare including return fare: Adult: $7.50Student/Senior (ages 15 to 19; and over 65 ): $5.00Junior (ages 2 to 14): $3.65Infant (under 2): FreeQuadricycle Rental: 4-Seater Quadricycles $40 deposit; $30 first hour; $15 per half hour thereafter - Maximum riders: 4 adults + 2 children (under 7 years) + 1 infant (under 40lbs) in front carrier.Where: Ferry Terminal Address: Jack Layton Ferry Terminal, 9 Queens Quay W, TorontoStop 2: Ripley's Aquarium:Canada’s largest indoor aquarium features one of the world’s most extensive jelly fish exhibits, 65+ year old giant lobsters, sting ray and bamboo shark touch pools and daily live dive shows.[adinserter block="6"][adinserter block="15"]Trip Planning: Ripley's Aquarium is a 15 minute walk (~1.2 km) from the ferry terminal. Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada is located in the heart of downtown Toronto, next to the Rogers Centre and CN Tower at 288 Bremner Boulevard.Time Required: 2 hours.How much:Adult – 27.98Youth (6-13) – 17.98Child (3-5) – 6.98Senior (65+) – 17.98If you want flexibility of entry - Buy anytime tickets for $3 more.Buy timed tickets online. Buy tickets for ~ 3:00 PM. The Aquarium is not so crowded in the late afternoons/ evenings.Stop 3. CN Tower:CN Tower is an iconic Toronto landmark. Experience the ears pop as you travel on the glass-fronted elevators in 58 seconds to the Glass floor level of the CN Tower. Learn about all the engineering feats that were achieved with the construction of CN Tower. View 342 m straight down as you walk on the glass floor. Enjoy the strength of the breeze as you walk Outdoor SkyTerrace and go up to the top most level, Skypod which is situated 447 m above ground level.Trip planning:Ask about the wait times to reach the top before you go inside. If the answer is 60 minutes, it is better not to visit at that time. You might end up waiting for 2.5 hours inside the tower, after the security check, just to get to the elevator. The lines are especially long on summer weekends.If you are visiting during days with shorter daylight hours, visit CN Tower as the second stop in the itinerary. Ripley's Aquarium is open till 11:00 PM on most days. But it does close early on select days. So make sure, that on the day of your visit, it is open late, so that you can visit CN Tower before Ripley's. Or you may visit CN Tower as first stop in the morning on Day 3. Be there, when the Tower opens for the day (~09:00 AM).How much: Adult(13 - 64): $35.00Senior(65+): $30.00Child(4 - 12): $25.00This fee does not include Skypod. $12 extra for Skypod.Approximate Time required: 2 Hours.Day 2: Visit Niagara Falls:[caption id="attachment_39388" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Photo Credit: OTMPC[/caption]Niagara Falls is ~ 90 minutes drive from Toronto. Try to start your Niagara Falls drive from Toronto at around 08:00 AM, so that you can be at the Falls by ~ 10:00 AM. A detailed itinerary is given here - One Day Trip to Niagara Falls. If you are on a budget, free places to visit are also listed in the article.If you do not have your own transport: Planning a Trip to Niagara Falls.If you are crossing over from United States through Niagara Falls, visit Niagara Falls on Day 1 or Day 3 (on the day you return).Day 3: Toronto SightseeingDedicate this day to get an overview of Toronto and to visit some of Toronto's famous landmarks, and neighbourhoods.Take a city sightseeing tour. The tour takes you through downtown and will give the whole family a good overview of downtown Toronto.Approximate time: ~ 2hours for sightseeing tour not including the attractions visit.[adinserter block="4"][adinserter block="15"]How much:Adults $36.15, Seniors (65+) $32.79, Students (with valid student ID) $32.79Children (3 – 12) $19.34, Family (2 adults and 2 children under 12) $100.88The hop-on hop-off sightseeing ticket is valid for up to 48 hours. You can make Day 3 itinerary on Day 2, and visit Niagara Falls on Day 3, if you are leaving from Toronto on Day 4.If you are not leaving Toronto on this day/or depending on the time you have left to spend in Toronto, get down at CityPASS Attractions (if you bought the pass) like Royal Ontario Museum (~ 2.5 hours visit) and Casa Loma (~1.5 hours) or choose your own family friendly attractions that catches your interest like Hockey Hall of Fame (~1 hour), St Lawrence Market (Taste/shop for authentic local/Canadian food), Kensington Market, or even China Town.If you have tweens/teens with you, you may also visit Queens Park and go on a free tour of Ontario legislature Building to get a free Ontario history lesson.Other places you may include in Day 3: Only Toronto Downtown Attractions were included in this itinerary. The following places (except for Canada's Wonderland), though in Toronto, are not in downtown. Consider visiting, if you have your own transportation. You need at least half a day for either Toronto Zoo or Ontario Science Centre and a full day for Canada's Wonderland.1. Toronto Zoo: Toronto Zoo is located an ~ 35 minutes (light traffic) from downtown. Enjoy a visit to the largest zoo in Canada and 3rd largest zoo in the world. With over 5000 animals from Polar Bears to Pandas to Grizzly Bears to Rhinos, Toronto Zoo visit is a low cost option to see a variety of animals of the world.2. Ontario Science Centre: The Science Centre is located an ~ 15 minutes (light traffic) from downtown. Explore the interactive, hands-on galleries that feature exhibits that range from astronomy to geology. Discover hundreds of interactive exhibits, daily science demos, planetarium shows and learn something new as part of your vacation.3. Canada's Wonderland: You may consider visiting Canada's Wonderland if you have teens with you. You will need to plan for a full day. Spread over 330-acres, Canada’s Wonderland is home to more than 200 attractions, 70 rides including 16 rollercoasters, and Splash Works, a 20-acre water park. Canada’s Wonderland features North America’s largest variety of coasters including Canada’s tallest and fastest coaster – Leviathan, Canada’s longest wooden coaster – Mighty Canadian Minebuster and Canada’s first inverted coaster – Flight Deck.Canada's Wonderland is located in Vaughan - 9580 Jane Street, Vaughan. ~ 40 minutes from Downtown Toronto.If You are visiting in Winter: Day 1: If the grounds are free of snow, take the Ferry to Wards Island (part of Toronto Islands), The idea is enjoy the waterfront scenery on a low budget and this provides a short Lake Ontario trip. Comeback on the same ferry. There are no sightseeing cruises by Toronto companies during winter, other than the ones during special days like Santa Claus Cruise. All attractions except the Far Enough Farm are closed (you will have to walk to get around ~ 20 minutes to the Far Enough Farm). Select cafe's are open.Also remember that, it will colder on the Islands.Visit CN Tower, Ripley's Aquarium and Royal Ontario Museum on Day 1. Toronto offers an enticing range of family activities and festivals during winter (Christmas - Winter).Follow rest of the itinerary.Where to Stay?Booking.com (function(d, sc, u) { var s = d.createElement(sc), p = d.getElementsByTagName(sc)[0]; s.type = 'text/javascript'; s.async = true; s.src = u + '?v=' + (+new Date()); p.parentNode.insertBefore(s,p); })(document, 'script', '//aff.bstatic.com/static/affiliate_base/js/flexiproduct.js');Winter in Niagara Falls.For up-to date information on family entertainment in Toronto, see here.More Canada Itineraries and Trip Ideas

First time Con Set-up notes: Last week I received and email from an artist who will be setting up at his first convention in March, and was curious if I had any advice about setting up and exhibiting. Friends of mine suggested that this might be a topic and reply worthy of sharing, so here goes. (And I apologize for the lack of visuals that tie into the text...instead, enjoy spot illustrations from the Mouse Guard RPG) -Pulling the trigger First off, I'd like to start by talking about getting to the step of exhibiting at a convention. I would never be where I am now if I hadn't plucked up the courage and reluctantly parted with some cash and set up at the Motor City Comic Con in October of 2004. If you want a career in illustration or storytelling, I recommend exhibiting in an artist alley at least once if only for the experience. Like anything, you learn by doing (not thinking about doing something someday) and even if you are unsuccessful at your first show, or first several shows, hopefully you will have learned and grown...or perhaps you will be successful right out of the gate! Obviously, if this is your first con, you are going to need to put out a little bit of cash for some supplies like a portfolio some printing, and a table cloth...but I'll get into that stuff as we go along....just keep in mind, you can start small and build your con supplies up with a small budget. And price out a conventions that works for you. There are big expensive shows and smaller shows. There are shows with a comics-only focus and shows that are multi-media extravaganzas or pop-culture themed. Think about your audience and your budget. -What is your goal?: If you are ready to exhibit (or you think you might be) you will want to have a good idea of what you are trying to accomplish. There are lots of different types of jobs in comics: drawing/coloring/inking/writing for a big company & established characters, doing work for hire for private collectors, doing work for hire for several publishers, drawing/coloring/inking/writing your own material, or some combination of all of those. Knowing what your goal in work is can help you direct your attention for what to focus on for your table and conversations with patrons & publishers. The set-up of a creator trying to launch their own book is very different from a creator who is looking to knock out 20 commissions in a weekend, and is also very different from the creator who is selling prints of their own concepts to try and get attention from art directors. -Your best foot forward: Make your booth approachable and nice as possible. You WANT people to come browse your goods and work, so make it easy for them.Gather your BEST work to display in a portfolio or on the table. This is work that shows off who YOU are...not who you can emulate. Just like a good portfolio shows a clear message and focus, so should your table. Some conventions provide a table covering, but it's worth the effort to get your own tablecloth (it can set your table apart and even be a design choice depending on color or material) For the tablecloth, fabric can be cheap at the fabric store if you shop smart, but you can also use a flat bed sheet. And if you can manage have 2 table cloths...one goes on the table under your merchandise, the other is draped over the top of your stuff at the end of the night to prevent things from wandering off while everyone else closes down or before the con opens the next morning. -Vertical display space: Try and make sure your work isn't all just flat on the table surface. Either with signs or racks or frames to display some of your work/books/prints/etc. upright, you will want to have something vertical so someone walking down the middle of the aisle can see what you have to offer without having to be directly over your table. You can buy little book easels or plate racks, but it's also easy to copy their design and make your own out of chipboard or cardboard on a budget. Some conventions also provide a backdrop, but most don't. I think IMPhotographics has the best deal on banners for your table, but if you are budget conscious, you can improvise your own. For my first sign, I took a large B&W dithered bitmap file to Kinkos, printed it out on their blueprint copier and mount it to foamcore and displayed it behind me on an easel ($40 total supplies & printing) -Signage: Make sure every bit of info you want people to have is easy to get. Some kind of sign (or banner) saying who you are is a must. Some conventions provide a cardstock name plaque, but not all do. Everything you plan to sell should be marked. You can price everything individually with tags or little signs, or make up a con-menu sign that covers everything (prints: $10, sketchbooks: $15, commissions: $80...). If the work in your portfolio is for sale, make sure the prices are easy to find. Customers should know what the prices of your items are without having to ask. -Items at several price points: It's a good plan to have several price point opportunities for customers. Not every person who comes up to you has $40 to spend at your table, but they might part with $20 or $5...or...they might be wanting to spend $200...you never know, so try and offer something for everyone. This also helps in making back your table fees...it's hard to make the investment back selling $1 buttons or $3 comics (even if you sell bunches of them) but several $10 prints and a few original art or commission sales can make a big difference. To vary up the price offerings you can play with the sizes of prints. Most print shops will offer a good deal on 11" x 17" prints, so in addition to offering that poster-size, think about printing 4-6 smaller prints on a single sheet of 11x17 and trimming them down. Items like comics & small prints can be in the $3-5 range, with larger prints & sketchbooks going up to $10-15, and commissions and original art being more than that (figuring out what to price your originals for is a whole other conversation) -Freebies At your first con new business cards printed can be your freebie, but if you have more budget or are further on in your exhibiting you can also try bookmarks, postcards, stickers (though some cons ban them) or buttons once you get a feel for your market and what you are willing pay for free items. The items should have a way to contact you (a URL, an email address, your name, or bare minimum: the title of your project). To prevent blowing through too many of these items you paid for, you can offer them only to people who stopped and showed interest instead of just having them on the table marked 'free'. -The right sales approach: Don't be a pushy seller. Everyone's pitch and technique is different and finding your style may come easy or take some trial and error. I advise saying hello and greet everyone who stops by (which also means making eye contact), but don't go too much further pushing unless they show more interest or ask questions. Think of it as having a conversation with the customer rather than a sales pitch. I hate being hit over the head with a full explanation of someone's project & all the prices are & what items are which the minute I walk up to them. You should be proud to talk about your work and to take the opportunity to explain it, but you will turn more people off than you attract doing a hard-sell or carnival barking people over to your table. -Accept credit card  payments if possible: A few years ago, you could get by without accepting credit payments, but that has changed. I'm now seeing that I would lose a good number of sales if I didn't accept them. Square is an app and device for android or iOS devices and Paypal offers one too. The benefit about both of these devices is that you can use it on your phone's data plan (not just wifi) and you have no annual/monthly merchant fees. If you don't have a device that can use either the reader or app, but can access your email, you can ask a customer to paypal you the payment on their device and you can confirm the payment was sent by checking your email. -Commissioned work: Figuring out the pros and cons of varied commission policies is a whole post on its own ...but I'd say the best advice I can offer is to plan ahead: What do you charge for them? (Is the amount based on size, a number of figures, media used), What you are willing and not willing to do per commission? (certain subjects/themes off limits? Backgrounds?). As you do more conventions your policies may change, and you may also need to devise a method/order for how/when you accept the requests (first come/first served? limit per customer? new list every day? pre-orders?) You will want to have answers ready (not necessarily written out on a sign) for sizes, options, pricing, etc. when asked and not try to figure it out on-the-spot. Make sure you have materials you want to use to do commissions (paper, the right pens, pencils, color tools). If you are getting more requests than you planned, consider losing a little profit by overbooking yourself and offering to ship the finished art back to a customer after the convention. Commissions are a great way to build up a client base that may not yet be familiar with your work. -Copyrighted characters & ideas: Strictly speaking, you could be in violation of copyright laws by making a profit on any character/concept/or logo you don't own the rights to. A great deal of artists in Artist Alley do sell prints, commissions, and sketchbooks containing characters they don't own, but most do so at the risk that they could be busted. Some may have arrangements with the publishers of those characters because of their work history/contracts with them, others are just too small of a target for a publisher to take legal action. As an artist whose career is based on a creator owned book, I'm more interested in promoting my own ideas than copyrighted characters, so I'm biased...but my rule-of-thumb is that I won't sell printed material of anything that I don't own the rights to; however if someone commissions me to do a one-of original of a copyrighted character, I'll accept. If your goal is to get work drawing for a big publisher and you need to exhibit some of the work showcasing your understanding & skill at drawing those characters, it's fine to show, but I'd avoid selling it. -Dry run table layout: Measure out a place on your dining room table or even on your floor that matches the table space in artist alley. Try a few different table arrangements for all your items. Make sure everything fits and that it's arranged nicely to your liking. Avoid set-ups where your products overlap each other or look cluttered like a  second-hand store. Once you have a layout you like, it's easy to snap a photo of it and use the photo as reference during table set-up. -Be yourself Don't try and be someone you are not...and this goes for your artwork too. Offer up information about you or your work or your technique when asked. If someone asks you something you don't have an answer ready for (freelance work, rights questions, price breaks, etc.) It's ok to say "I don't know...let me think about that and get back to you". Don't be self deprecating or apologize for your work...(especially if you are having your work reviewed by an editor/publisher...just listen and answer the questions you are asked) being humble is one thing...coming off like a sad artist who doesn't belong is another. Smile, be nice, and enjoy the con & meeting people. It's a fun experience!   Watercolor Wednesday: In case you missed last week's Watercolor Wednesday pieces, here they are for a closer look. First up is a Moon & Sun pairing. I painted the moon first and then decided it would be fun to do a 'day' companion piece. I went back and forth on whether to sell them individually or as a set. I opted in the end for them to be a set. Second up are the Beatles in Sgt. Pepper gear. I struggle with drawing humans anyhow and getting likeness is a tricky task to boot, so in my fear of making this simple watercolor wednesday into more work than pleasure, I abstracted the layout so that the Beatles themselves were absent and only their hair & clothing (and John's glasses) remained. Tomorrow I'll post more paintings in my online store. 2013 Appearances:  Emerald City: March 1-3 Fabletown Con: March 22-24 C2E2: April 26-28 Spectrum Live: May 17-19 Heroes Con: June 7-9 Albuquerque Comic Expo June 21-23 San Diego Comic Con: July 17-21 *more 2013 dates coming*

"My wife Martha has genealogical connections to Monterey, Virginia, the county seat of Highland County. We once made a stop there and researched her family?s records in the court house and library there. We had previously done the same in bordering Pendleton County, West Virginia. To the left is a photo of the Monterey House Hotel. Monterey has the highest elevation of any town east of the Rocky Mountains, at 2894 feet. It has a population of less than 200. Actually, it was formed in 1847 from Pendleton County. The latter was formed from Augusta and other counties in 1788. Later, even though they were once part of the same county, Highland went with the Confederacy when the Civil War broke out, and Pendleton went with the Union. This resulted in the two counties being in different states after the war. This is one of the most beautiful and charming areas we ever visited in the east. Highland is the least populated counties of the state. However, the annual Maple Festival draws 50,000 people each spring. There are also several hotels; including the Monterey House which is an Eastlake styled structure over a hundred years old. The surnames we were researching were BIRD and COOK?the latter no relation to mine. We were traveling in an RV and used the parking lot of the local bank, and parked there over night. In the early days the local government and court operated in an inn owned by Martha?s ancestor. We knew what street it had been on and could not find the street. Someone in the library told us that the streets? names had been changed. She then pointed out where the inn would have been located?where the bank?s parking lot is presently. Yes, we had spent the night where the inn had been located, without even knowing it. Genealogy is fun." -- Charles M. Cook -- Mills Bros. If I had my way -- "Morning Linda, It is a beautifuly day in Southern Oklahoma. Lots of sunshine and no wind. A you know I lost my sister this week. I have received many emails of sympathy and condolences. My friend Hazel sent me this today. It is one of the best notes I have seen in a long time. I would like to share it with you and your readers. thepastwhispers.com/My_Friend.html." -- Kenneth "Vallecito celebrated May Day with a rambunctious wind out of the north and a very few fine flakes of snow. The exposed bed of the lake was blowing north at a high rate of speed on Wednesday (all of La Plata county seemed to be covered in clouds of dust), but had settled down some come Thursday. The high on 1 May 08 was 43 around 3:30 or 4:00 in the afternoon. The low last night was down to 19.4 degrees. I took one too many blankets off my bed too early." -- Vallecito Citizen When David was going through stuff in our Maple street house, he found this interesting old Subpoena in Criminal Case No. 1091 -- District Court of Woods County, Oklahoma, State of Oklahoma vs. W. B. Hull. The Subpoena commanded the following individuals to appear before the district court, 12 November 1947, 10:00 o'clock a.m., to give testimony, and the truth in the W. B. Hull case. Those mentioned in the subpoena were Gene McGill, Marion Gardner, Dewey Randall, Nels Nelson and G. B. Brown. This was a few months before my time, so I no recollecion and not even a clue as to what this Fall 1947 case was about. Nor why my dad, Gene McGill, had to testify in the W. B. Hull case. I was hoping this 1947 subpoena might jog some memories of some old timers out there -- causing them to remember back to the Fall of 1947 so we could fill in the "Rest of the Story." Thanks for any help or information that you might give to shed some light on the W. B. Hull Saga vs State of Oklahoma. [Essay written around 1929. Not sure if it was a paper that my Grandma, Constance Warwick McGill, wrote for a college class at NWSTC ... or what? Who wrote it? I am not sure! These questions have not been answered completely.] Public schools of today have diverged a great deal from the "little red school house" of yesterday. children in our present day public schools have more activity, larger freedom, and greater responsibility. The class room made for passive listening is fast giving way to the school room made for active doing. One of the most noticeable changes in the modern school is in the appearance of the class room. In many of the schools fixed desks have been discarded. Instead there are movable desks, so that everything in the room may be moved aside, leaving an open space, if the instructor so desires. it is not unusual in the school of today, to see children in one room, informally gathered about in groups with desks moved aside, perhaps feeding or caring for a cat, dog, or other pet. Children bring their pets to school and care for them, leaning much about their nature and habits. The changed conditions in the modern world demand a change in the school. The narrow curriculum of earlier days is fast giving was to a program of work and play wherein the tools of learning are mastered in their relation to every day life. In some schools, for example, the children learn the science of botany from first hand experience in the school green house. They learn about cooking and planning meals in the school cafeterias -- about decoration and arrangement of furniture in the school room by actually helping decorate and arrange, and so on. Even in the upper grades the schools have become modernized and there is a flexible environment suitable for active work, whatever it may be. There is an interesting school of the modern type in San Francisco. It is the pioneer Burk School, in a connection with the San Francisco State Teachers college, and is a school of individual instruction. The child in this school studies at his own rate of speed. In the fourth grade, for instance, a pupil may be doing third grade arithmetic, fourth grade reading, fifth grade spelling, and so on. If a child can advance faster in one study, and more slowly in another, he does so. This seems a better plan than holding an entire class of different individuals together in spite of everything. In the Burk school the tool subjects are individualized, and by the tool subjects is meant reading, selling, phonics, arithmetic, and formal grammar. Some parts of other subjects are also individualized, such as history, geography, etc. The time saved in this type of school is said to be enormous. Most children finish their tool studies a year or two ahead of time, and no child has taken more than 8 years for his studies. Moreover, no child has failed. In some modern schools the children organize themselves into clubs, joining those in which they are most interested, and in these clubs they are taught various things. For example, one group of students might become interested in the study of astronomy, organize a club, and pursue their studies in this way. Another group may belong to a sewing club, cooking, manual training, book lover's, and so on. Children in the lower grades are usually only allowed to belong to two or three of the clubs, but in the upper grades there may be no limit. One can readily see the advantage of this club idea. In this way a pupil may choose the things he likes best and thus his individuality is better developed. There is a plan of education known as the Scarsdale plan, which originated in Scarsdale residential community, 18 miles from New York City. This plan began to develop in 1923 in this residential community of 8000. Students in this school, or type of school receive individual instruction. Much of the responsibility for learning is placed upon the pupils themselves, although the instructors are responsible for careful guidance. One step toward change in the secondary schools is that of dividing the course into 2 units of 4 years each, preceded by a six year elementary course. This includes, besides the usual four years of high school, two years in college, or the junior college. This plan promises to meet the changing needs of today, and is proving successful. It is an economy in money, as well as in time. Everywhere in the world schools are different. In every country there are experiments in education being carried on in order to find better forms through which the spirit of the new age may express itself. Bibliography: School Life - June 1929, National Education Association Journal, January 1929; March 1929. - page 2 -- In this 1958 news artilce, the Santa Fe railway offices consolidated with freight offices -- moved Saturday into the east portion of old passenger depot which was recently remodeled and modernized. W. E. Byrd was the local agent backthen. The Old Freight Depot was the central local point in Santa Fe yards. It was the first Santa Fe depot built in Alva, constructed in 1886 when the rail line was placed through Alva. The article goes on to say, "The name of the town was selected by the Santa Fe officials. It was named after Alva Adams, an attorney for railroad company. Adams later became governor of colorado and served in the US Senate." The Freight Depot served as both a freight and passenger station until 1909. The old depot was remodeled in 1901, according to Santa Fe records. In 1909, the fill was constructed and a new bridge over the Salt Fork River was built. At this time, the new line of rails was constructed on the fill and over the new bridge which was still in use at the same time that the brick passenger station was constructed. Before 1909 the passenger and freight trains all came into Alva on the lower level. The new brick depot was west of the Viaduct. It also stated: " In the new project just being finished, the Negro waiting room, baggage and express rooms in the brick structure were converted to the freight receiving area." We have come across an old The Alva Review Courier, Sunday, Feb. 16, 1958, newspaper published in Alva, OK, at 616 Flynn for 5-cents per copy. Today, I believe it is up to 50-cents & 75-cents per copy. Brooks Bicknell was the Editor backthen and had an editorial column entitle "Off the Cuff..." The frontpage headlines from that newspaper in northwest Oklahoma in 1958 stated: 1. Santa Fe Moves Into One Office 2. Little Theatre Sets Play Dates 3. Slate of Officers Now completed 4. Rauh Is Named GOP chairman at Huddle Here 5. Photo of Democrat Leaders 6. Alva Band Members Named to State Band There was no story to go with the Democrat Leaders photo -- just a caption under the photo showing "Gene McGill, District Democrat chairman, Mrs. Larry Hellman, Woods County Demo Co-Chairman, and Sam Riggs, County Chairman, expect to attend a State Democrat executive meeting in Oklahoma City, Monday to assist in reorganizing the state Democrat Central Committee. The State chairman, co-chairman and secretary-treasurer will be named at the caucus." [It's no surprise that a republican newspaper would print the republican happenings and only show a photo of democrat happenings.] As to the Alva High Band members of 1958... They were under the direction of Nile Joacim. They consisted of three Alva High coronet players: Larry Magnuson, Bill Hadwiger and Bill Joachims. "There was a grocery store on Barnes Avenue on the south side and it was owned by the Magnuson family. It was right cross the street from our Lynn's Restaurant and a bit west of Monforts. There were two other grocers, both on Flynn Street, I believe, Safeway and a tiny individual owned store not too far up - down the street. May have been in the building that became the Golden Krust Pastry Shop. I went to see The Thing at the Ritz Theatre and had to walk home on that dark night. I lived on Davis Street south of the college. I stayed for all the movie. Probably A.J. Wood accompanied me to the showing as we went mostly everywhere together. Walking across that campus and athletic field was pretty frightening, so I whistled all the way and of course nothing can get you if you are whistling. I did increase my footspeed by increments all the way from the Ritz to 1421 Davis Street. We had open lunch at Alva High and the school cafeteria was at Washington school. Some of us would rush through lunch at the cafeteria and head off to Brands Sporting Goods for a game of snooker before going back to classes. Our favorite treat at Brands was a Pepsi with a sack of Planters peanuts poured in on top. Things change. One fine Spring day Austin Traverse and I decided at lunch that we would like to go fishing. Mr. Geis, the superintendent, was taking Mr. Korn's place for the day and occupied the principal's office. Austin and I dropped in on the Superinendent and told him that we would like to skip classes and go fishing. He said, "Sounds like a good idea to me. You have my permission to go." We did! I don't remember if we caught fish, but we surely loved the superintendent after that." -- Jerry Crenshaw 4/24/2008 -- POW Camp at Alva, OK... "I am attempting to get information on this subject. My father was stationed at the camp at the time of his marriage to my mother. Any info would be greatly appreciated." -- Patricia Allen - Email: [email protected] 4/24/2008 -- Chester, OK... "I attended the Chester Grade School and lived 1 mile West and 1/2 mile North of Chester." -- Larry D. Classen - Email: [email protected] 4/23/2008 -- Ingersol, OK... "I have been looking for this town for a long time. My father was born in Ingersoll its nice to know it acctually exited." -- LINDA TUTTLE - Email: [email protected] 4/22/2008 -- Dixie Sherman... "Unfortunately, the Dixie Sherman hotel in Panama City, Florida was destroyed in 1970. There had been other plans for a building on that site but they were not realized and now it's a bank parking lot. The person in charge of that decision is said to have "been sick" about how things turned out. 4/20/2008 -- Oscar Weathers... "Hi! Thanks for your website. I am looking for information on my great-grandfather, Oscar Weathers. He was a barber in Ames in the early part of 20th century. Many thanks." -- Sasha Pringle, Ontario, Canada - Email: [email protected] 4/7/2008 -- Geneology... "My mother was Osage, Cheyenne and Arapaho." -- Lynnie Taylor - Email: [email protected] 4/4/2008 -- Outstanding Website... "Just an outstanding and adorable site. I am an Okie by birth and I love the state. Thanks." -- Nelda Gregory - Email: [email protected] In Walter T. Eason's bio for the northwest history book, we ran across the following mention of early stores in Alva, Oklahoma such as: "The Wagner Grocery, Eutsler Grocery, The Tea Store, Sears Bootery, Meixner Bakery, Howard Grocery, Sonderys Livery Stable, Crowell Lumber and Coal Yard, Shaefers Leather Shop, Reed's Poultry and Cream. Eason, Jr., who wrote the bio for the pioneer footprints history book, mentioned some of the people he would never forget. Such as: "Bob Kirkbride, Cliff Ward, Herb Gold, Elisha Barker, Scott Cummins (the Pilgrim Bard), Scotty Schroff and Karl Sanderson." He also wrote, "I think people were happier and more contented in those days. I know they had more time for each other." I was letting myself ramble through the Woods County history book published in 1986, Pioneer Footprints Across Woods County. I was gathering some information on Herb Gold, an Alva, Oklahoma pioneer. On page 432, there was a bio of Willard Marsh and what I found interesting was a description of highway 281 that lead into Alva, Oklahoma from the North. It goes something like this: "Those who have traveled Highway 281 north from Alva know the hill about two miles north of town. When the Cherokee Strip was opened for settlement that hill was much bigger and steeper and it was very, very heavy sand from the top of the hill to the corner south, and possibly to the railraod crossing." I know of that steep hill going north out of Alva on hwy 281, just about a mile north of the railroad overpass. At the top if you turn west, there is a blacktop road today that takes you to the country club & golf course. Anyway... back to the pioneer footprints story and the description of highway 281 leading to Alva, Oklahoma. As you head south on highway 281 going down the steep hill you come to a railroad bridge. It was just south of this railroad bridge that the main road to Alva turned west and followed around near the track to the bridge over Salt Fork River. Today that road leads to Rhodes Salvage, but I have never checked it out to see where or if the rest of the road still leads to another bridge over the Salt Fork River. This earlier bridge was one-half mile west and south of the bridge being used today. This was the early main road to Alva. Is that earlier bridge still standing? Or... is it a dead end at Rhodes Salvage? Have you ever wondered what newspaper cartoons your folks were reading way back when? Well! Back in the Winter of 1958, the image to the left gives you a glimpse of what the newspaper cartoons were back then. Let's see... There was Sparky Watts, Virgil, Regular Fellers, Pop - men or Beasts, Raising Kane and Private Buck that showed up in this February 16, 1958 Issue of the Alva Review Courier. "There was a grocery store on Barnes Avenue on the south side and it was owned by the Magnuson family. It was right cross the street from our Lynn's Restaurant and a bit west of Monforts. There were two other grocers, both on Flynn Street, I believe, Safeway and a tiny individual owned store not too far up - down the street. May have been in the building that became the Golden Krust Pastry Shop. I went to see The Thing at the Ritz Theatre and had to walk home on that dark night. I lived on Davis Street south of the college. I stayed for all the movie. Probably A.J. Wood accompanied me to the showing as we went mostly everywhere together. Walking across that campus and athletic field was pretty frightening, so I whistled all the way and of course nothing can get you if you are whistling. I did increase my footspeed by increments all the way from the Ritz to 1421 Davis Street. We had open lunch at Alva High and the school cafeteria was at Washington school. Some of us would rush through lunch at the cafeteria and head off to Brands Sporting Goods for a game of snooker before going back to classes. Our favorite treat at Brands was a Pepsi with a sack of Planters peanuts poured in on top. Things change. One fine Spring day Austin Traverse and I decided at lunch that we would like to go fishing. Mr. Geis, the superintendent, was taking Mr. Korn's place for the day and occupied the principal's office. Austin and I dropped in on the Superinendent and told him that we would like to skip classes and go fishing. He said, "Sounds like a good idea to me. You have my permission to go." We did! I don't remember if we caught fish, but we surely loved the superintendent after that." -- Jerry Crenshaw May Day 2008 brought many things to different parts of our world this week. Most of all it brought strong winds blowing a cold front through the San Juan mountains and dropping some snow in the higher elevations and blowing dust from a lake bed. It was downright chilly the first of May 2008 around these parts in the southwest Colorado valley, South of Bayfield, Colorado. BUT... the hummingbirds weren't scared off. We now have a couple of hummingbirds ... or more. One is more aggressive, protective of its feeder and chases the others away. May Day Windy Weather... May Day Winds blew a cold front across Colorado, eventually meeting up with a warm, wet front on the prairies and plains -- creating, keeping the local weathermen busy with tornado warnings, watches and flood warnings across parts of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas and Missouri before it moved on to the East and Northeast. Friends Passing... That wasn't the only thing that May Day brought! I received an email from a Waynokanite that a dear, sweet friend and lady from the old days around Waynoka, Oklahoma had passed away. That lady was Celinda Kelsey, wife of deceased Roscoe Kelsey and mother to Bill Dean (deceased) and Diane. Celinda died May 1, 2008. I am told that the service will be at the Methodist Church in Waynoka (Oklahoma), but I understand that the day and time have not been set. My heart goes out to Celinda's daughter, Diane, and her family. I still look back at those special moments, visits to Waynoka and the Kelsey's home there. There are lots of memories between the Kelsey and McGill's during that time. I especially remember the picnics we had out at the East lake of my dad's ranch a few miles north of Waynoka. Also... I experienced eating my first taco at Roscoe & Celinda Kelsey's home when they still lived in Waynoka, Oklahoma. Celinda was a very special sweet lady and friend of the McGill family as was her husband, Roscoe, who preceded her in death in 2002. I shall hold dear all the good memories of Celinda & Roscoe Kelsey and the family get togethers we had at the ranch, Waynoka and Alva Homecoming parades. Celinda, you may be gone, BUT... you will never be forgotten! Your memories live on in our hearts with those whose path you have crossed! I can see Roscoe standing in the light waiting to take your hand and guide you to one of the family gatherings above. Say "Hello" to Mom & Dad and catch a huge fish ... watch out for the heavenly rattlesnakes, though! Yep! There was Gold in them "thar hills" of Northwest Oklahoma! It wasn't the sparkling gold, though. It was the Gold Brothers who settled in Woods County, Oklahoma Territory in 1898. Herb & Frank Gold were born in Moravia, in the Austrian Empire, now Czechoslovakia. They came to the United States with their mother and stepfather in 1887, and settled in Barton County, Kansas near Albert and Olmitz, where the stepfather engaged in farming. After the parents died, the Gold Brothers made their way to Woods County, in the Northwest Oklahoma Territory. This is where, in 1898, Frank Gold contested a claim in the Fritzlen township, NE/4, Section 22-28N-14WIM, 6 miles North of Alva on Grimes road. Frank Gold, born February 10, 1879, was a simple man, upright, honest, gentleman. He was interested and active in community activities, politics and believed the right to vote was a privilege and duty. Frank's true love was for the one and only woman in his life, but it was not returned. We aren't quite sure who that one and only was, but Frank never married. He was a bachelor for 40 years in his dugout he constructed at time he acquired his land in the Fritzlen township. A longtime friend and neighbor, Merle Cunningham, went to Frank's home on Sunday, February 6, 1938, to take Frank home with him for Sunday dinner and a visit. The Sunday dinner never happened, though. Merle could not get any response by knocking on Frank's door that day. Merle sensed something wrong when he heard heavy breathing inside. Merle and his brothers found Frank on his bed unconscious. Frank died 4 days short of his 59 birthday. Since Frank never married, his land went to his older brother, Herb Gold. Herb Gold, born the oldest son, March 22, 1874, at Langesdorf, Moravia, Austria. Herb was known as a unique and wonderful character around Northwest Oklahoma Territory. Herb was a veteran news columnist and was not only widely known, but his comments were widely read. His greatest interest was in people and his great fund of information about them was a source of wonder to his many friends. Herb was a member of the Sacred Heart Catholic church at Alva, and was a naturalized citizen of the US by order of the district court of Grant County, Oklahoma, on September 18, 1906. He was active in county and state politics for many years and his column carried comments on trends of the times from a local to international level. He was exceedingly well informed of European affairs and conditions and was also a diligent student of American history, current events and affairs, by reading magazines and periodicals from several countries. Herb Gold knew more people personally than anyone else at that time, including present and former residents in Woods County. From reading the bio's in the Northwest Oklahoma history book, Pioneer Footprints Across Woods County, we find out that Herb Gold took part in many debates and was one of many northwest Oklahoma debaters from the Fritzlen township. Among those he debated with were: Dave Harrington, William Knox, Fred Gallon and Pete Lawson. Herb's friends would often coax Herb to sing, Who Put the Overalls In Mrs. Murphy's Chowder, after one of their debates at Fritzlen. Herb Gold died Feb. 14, 1953 in Alva leaving no immediate relatives, never marrying and no one surviving him in either the US or Europe. At Herb's death Frank and Herb's land went back to the State of Oklahoma and was sold. [Information concerning Frank & Herb Gold was found in Pioneer Footprints Across Woods County, pages 247-248, 64, 187.] While I was thumbing through the Pioneer Footprints 1886-1986 history of Northwest Oklahoma, I came upon an interesting bio for Benjamin Berry that had a comment taken from one of Herb Gold's columns, entitled "Street Pickups," dated December, 1937, after Benjamin Berry's death. This was also shortly after our Great-Grandfather, John R. Warwick, had passed away. That's why this Gold comment was of interest to this NW Okie. Gold's Street Pickups comment went like this: "Jacob Achenbach, John Warwick and Milt Berry, three good friends gone in three days; I have known each of them 35 years or more. I'll have to make new acquaintances else at this rate I'll soon be a stranger here. In the Spring of 1901 I helped Trustee Harry Hall, make up the assessment list of Fritzlen Township. Harry read off the names: Ben Berry, Joe Berry and Milt Berry. I remarked to Harry that with so many Berries there should be a bush about. Sure enough the next name was James M. Bush. Milt's passing removed the last member of the family on the Fritzlen tax roll. Ben Berry was Milt's father, a crippled Union veteran and was one of the best 'Old Time Fiddlers' I ever heard play." So... from that piece of Gold's column I learned that he was a friend of my Great-Grandfather John R. Warwick. Maybe there are some other descendants out there who have heard more stories and read other comments from Herb Gold's Street Pickups Columns in the early Woods County News of Northwest Oklahoma. We would love to share them here in our OkieLegacy ezine/tabloid. "Linda, last week in the Woods County News items that you reprinted, there was a note about my cousin, Craig Barker, who was reported missing over France. I sent the item to his widow, Ann. (Craig died several years ago.) Craig was captured and became a POW in Germany. Ann sent the following additional information: Craig was shot down on the 19th of June of 1944. He had participated in the D-Day raids over Normandy ?- and that was the 6th of June. He was on his 11th raid over Germany when he was shot down. We have a new coffee table sized book that was just published last year about the 8th Air Force?which was the division that did all the bombing in Europe. It has a list of all the planes that were shot down in that division and the names of the crews. He was a prisoner until May of 1945 ?- but because the final camp where they were held -- was down close to Munich ? it was a while before they could fly the prisoners out of that lower part of Germany. General Patton came through their camp and liberated it. Craig actually saw him and his pearl handle pistols. They finally took the released prisoners to a port on the north shore of France ? They called this base ? Lucky Strike ? and they kept them there for a couple of weeks to feed them up ? and check to see that they were able to travel. He was put on a cargo type ship ? that was supposed to go right to New York ? but it got diverted and sent clear to Trinidad in the Caribbean. It was sometime in the first part of June before he finally got home ? I remember - because we were having Vacation Bible School at the time." Sandie Olson "Linda, Interesting to note that you would come up with something on Herb Gold. In at least partial answer to your question "Who was Herb Gold?", I offer the following columns that I wroter fairly recently. This is about all I know about him, but I have seen his picture. Article One... "Herb Gold, whom I never knew, has been described to me as a man who almost daily walked about the square with a small notebook and the stub of a pencil in hand gleaning information from what he observed and who he talked to. One never knew what he would come up with, as he was quite secretive about his business. But his ramblings ranged from the mundane to the interesting, as he reported on who was in town shopping, making comments on construction projects, the government and politics, and almost anything else that came to mind. In the mid-?30s and the heart of the depression, you can imagine that he had plenty of food for comment. But considering today?s political climate, here?s a little paragraph that perhaps we should all keep in mind. After making a comment or two regarding the dangers of voting party politics regardless of whether their platform items were good or bad, he wrote the following paragraph: ?I let the Republican caucus get plumb by me this time. Hope the Lincoln democrats were not as sleepy as I, but that they turned out in full force and chose the best they have on the Board of Directors. It behooves the citizenship to be alert. To achieve success we must be wide awake. Political success in its final analysis means the welfare and well-being of community, state and nation. Unselfish devotion to the country?s interest is the criterion of party service.? Article Two... When I first began writing this column, several old-timers around town mentioned that they thought it was similar in some respects to those of Herb Gold. Gold lived a few miles north of Alva, but came to town and went about the square talking to people, visiting city and county offices, and checking in various businesses, gathering information for a column entitled Street Pickups. I never knew Mr. Gold, but he has been described to me as somewhat small in stature and always handy with a notepad and a stub of a pencil. Some of his columns were in the material given to me by Eleanor Ring some time ago, and I offer some of his gleanings here. All of the writings are from the early to mid-thirties. Come in, Herb: --0-- ?Waynoka was left plumb ?lawless? yesterday. Among the visitors from that town were Mayor Walter Cope, Marshalls Billy Patton and Frank Clemons, Lawyer Everett Wellborn, Editor Gene Hilton, Dan Bolar and Elmer Bixler. ?B. H. Bicknell has a letter from his old home town in Vermont, telling of the terrible winter they?ve had back there. The ground is frozen to a depth of six feet and all the water pipes in town are frozen solid. People are in constant fear of fire.? Note: (B. H. Bicknell was the father of Brooks Bicknell, former Alva Review Courier editor. Ben once owned the Bicknell Department Store on the southwest corner of the square and spent his latter years as a salesman for Tyree?s Mens? Wear. He worked well into his eighties.) ?Looked into the sheriff?s office yesterday as Dewey Randall opened the morning mail. He got several checques to pay back taxes. I was astonished at the brevity of the delinquent list; most of the accounts were small. I believe Woods County is making a record in tax-paying. Our folks are a pretty good bunch.? (Note: The year of this publication is 1931, two years after the ?Black Friday? market crash of 1929.) ?Harvey McGreevey grew reminiscent on the school question. In his day teachers were glad to get $30.00 a month and rode six miles to and from school on horseback. But times have changed since. Then an eighth grader was allowed to teach. Now a teacher has at least two thousand dollars invested in his or her education. Then board only cost $2.50 per week! Now few farmers care to board the teacher. It is well for the taxpayer, who sports a limousine, to remember that the school teacher, too, is human. I am glad sensible liberality toward schools is coming into fashion again. ?One trouble with this time of the year is that the Summers are short and the Winters are too numerous. ?The world do move. I recall that almost 20 years ago Dr. Osler in a speech declared that no man deserves to live beyond 40. After that he might as well be knocked in the head or chloroformed for all the good he could do. Osler was even then a hopeless back number himself. There was a time when it was deemed proper for people to grow old. When men reached the age of 50, they thought they had done enough. They then sat down and let the children and women do the work. They grew long beards, looked wise and expected others to call them Mister. Sitting around idle, like an old cultivator in a fence corner, they soon rusted out and, ere they reached the 60 mark, were carried out feet first. ?Not so now. Men nowadays are ashamed to be idle. Are ashamed to be dependent on the kids. They scorn being fawned upon, preferring to be met on even terms by their fellow men. They?ve learnt that they can keep fit by doing useful work, that rust rather than wear is the bane of mankind. Note: (Hmmmmm,... Maybe I?ll keep working for a while.)" -- Submitted by Jim Barker "Who is Herb Gold? Did you know that was not his real name? He was Hubert Heidenbright, Heidenbrecht or something like that. I remember when dad used to read his column and then would say his name. Is this right, or am I dreaming this up? Thank you so much for the info on Herb Gold. Hey, maybe since he was from Austria maybe my dad just gave him that name as that is a possibility, but I know you say Herb Gold and I can hear dad calling him Hubert Hooever. Never would have thought of him had you not mentioned him but my dad loved reading what he wrote. Enjoyed reading what you had to say about him." -- A.T.

I've paid tribute before on this blog to Alice Cooper and the pre-Alice trio of performers who actually began the “shock rock” concept. But I left one act out and will now rectify that error by talking about the very first “Satanic” rock band, their incredible stage show, their hard rock/psych/pop-rock trio of albums, and their talented and devilishly sexy lead singer. The name Coven is known by all folk of a certain age for the massive early Seventies hit “One Tin Soldier,” from the one really great Billy Jack film. That song wasn't a Coven recording at all, but was instead the selfsame talented and sexy lead singer, Jinx Dawson, performing with an orchestra for the movie's soundtrack. Coven was a Chicago group formed in the late Sixties that truly was a seminal act, one that influenced a number of other rock performers of the time, but which suffered from mismanagement, record companies that signed them and then worked against them, and the simple fact that they were just too ahead of their time. To give you an idea of just how radical the group was for its time, listen to this radio ad (yes, this was intended to be played on good ol' American rock 'n' roll radio) promoting their first LP in 1969: A few years later parents still would've been outraged, but the band would've been headlining arena shows like the Alice Cooper group and Black Sabbath. Coven came early on the scene, laid the groundwork, and in fact got in trouble several times (from promoters, police, and record labels) while the aforementioned acts were still honing their craft. The three albums they made indicate they were talented and very eclectic in their approach, but their showmanship is lost to the ages, as there appears to be no live footage of the band. And what exactly are we missing? Well, Coven performed throughout 1968 and '69, doing the songs that wound up on their first album, with a little something extra – a stage show that included excerpts from the Satanic mass, the first known appearance in a rock show of “the sign of the horns,” and a finale that included a Jesus-looking roadie who had been upon a crucifix for the entire show coming down off the cross to turn it upside down as lead singer Jinx hailed Satan. Yes, not exactly your average “peace-and-love era” performance, but it did predate all of the shock rock spectacles that were to come. In the one informal and friendly group interview that can be found on the Internet – in which Coven members Jinx, drummer Steve Ross, and keyboardist Rick Durrett spoke with deejay “Baron Saturday” on WNYU – Coven's live act was discussed fleetingly, but enough to intrigue. One wishes there was video or film footage of one of these shows so we could see how truly bizarre and blasphemous the band got in its late Sixties heyday. In the WNYU interview, Dawson and her bandmates describe how their act had such a reputation that, when the band played Detroit, they had to do an afternoon run-through for the mayor (!), who deemed that they could perform their songs but could say nothing in English. That sounds insane – and is – but the band did speak in Latin onstage during their black mass segment; one assumes the mayor didn’t get that the dialogue in Latin was far more “dangerous” than whatever the band might’ve said in English…. To contextualize this, I should note that Coven played on the same bill with major acts of the time, the acts that were themselves deemed subversive at one time or another. Among them were Pink Floyd, the Yardbirds, Deep Purple, Small Faces, the MC5, Iggy and the Stooges, and a group from Detroit called “Alice Cooper” (Jinx declares that the gents in the Cooper group “were “scared” of Coven). So here we have the stuff of rock legend. While there is apparently no footage of Coven onstage (but there are a few photos), there are various places online where you can read the vivid memories of the fans who saw their act and were amazed by it (or offended, which really is just as good).  One YouTube poster has taken it upon him/herself to share the group's music and has included among the stash a few rare glimpses at Jinx Dawson in different incarnations. The first and most important (since it seems to stand as Coven's only TV appearance that has survived) is this clip of them doing a spirited lip-synch on an unidentified TV show to their single “Wicked Woman” (which was written by the band). Although that seems to be about it in terms of footage of the band in their prime (hopefully someone will come up with something else) there is one jarring artifact of Coven at their most extreme, namely their first LP, Witchcraft Destroys Minds and Reaps Souls. The album is a hard rock celebration of all things Satanic, with some tunes that are catchy pop-rock, others pre-metal (which hadn't yet officially begun when the record came out). They have also been hailed as forerunners of “prog.” My favorite hook-driven number is “The White Witch of Rose Hall,” which was one of several songs written for the album by Jim Donlinger, later a member of the band Lovecraft (who much later became a born-again Christian and who summarized his work with Coven thusly: “It was dark, and it contributed nothing to the world”): Providing further evidence that some weird and fascinating decisions were made by corporate moguls in the late Sixties and early Seventies, one should consider the fact that this record was released by Mercury Records with a trifold which depicts a Satanic mass, with a naked blonde (who many websites claim is Jinx, but others say is not) lying on an altar as the members of the band conduct a Satanic ritual.     The band are also depicted on the back cover giving “the sign of the horns,” and the album's final track is a mini-black mass (written by producer Bill Traut), performed as if in a creepy radio play (think “Lights Out” or “Inner Sanctum”). Thus all of the Seventies and Eighties bands that claimed adherence to the church of Satan were preceded by Coven, and their records continued to be sold in stores and through the mail – the Witchcraft... LP was pulled by Mercury after it was mentioned in an article in the March 1970 issue of Esquire about the Manson murders and the new “craze” for Satanism called “Evil Lurks in California.” The album was never officially issued on CD, but is available from Jinx's own label, Nevoc, on eBay (strike that – reverse it...), and the original LP now goes for hefty prices (even in crappy condition). You can hear the album on all the usual platforms before rendering unto Nevoc what is Nevoc's. Then there's the matter of the band from Birmingham that usually gets credit for bringing the Horned One into rock 'n' roll. This gets debated endlessly on the Internet, with Black Sabbath fans claiming that they took nothing from Coven, while others with a sense of chronology argue that they did. Suffice it to say that Coven was doing a black mass as part of their live shows for months before the band Earth became Black Sabbath. The two bands later toured together, and it is noted in various places online that in Memphis in 1970 the members of Coven painted inverted crosses in blood on Sabbath's dressing room door (that's one way of dealing with someone who stole your image). Did I forget to mention that, bizarrely enough, one of the founding members of Coven is a bass player named Oz Osborne? In Rolling Stone, Lester Bangs noted that Sabbath was “something like England's answer to Coven” (adding, with his usual acid sarcasm, “well, they're not that bad, but that's all the credit you can give them”). Here is Sabbath stalwart Tommy Iommi on MTV denying any knowledge of Coven. And, just to make the coincidences even stronger, the first song on the Witchcraft... album (released when Ozzy and company were still called Earth) is called “Black Sabbath.” (Maybe everyone involved were just gigantic fans of Karloff and Mario Bava?) Here is a fan-made music-video using images from Benjamin Christensen's still-startling 1922 film Haxan. Now, the question of course is whether Coven really was into Satanism, or had they just discovered a good way to shock the public. In the interview on WNYU, the band maintains that “we lived the whole thing. It wasn’t shtick — we were a practicing coven.” When asked to clarify, it’s noted by Rick Durrett that the band wasn’t Satanic per se, but they were performing magic(k) rituals at the time that they lived together in Chicago and L.A. (they were “definitely” into sex magick, he adds).  In an earlier solo interview, Dawson told WNYU’S Baron Saturday that she currently has “no religious affiliations.” She is “neither Wiccan nor Satanist,” but is “a ceremonial magician of the left-hand path,” who was initially exposed to this kind of magic from her great-aunt and great-grandfather. She confirmed that the band actively practiced magic all during the recording of the albums, and that the other key members “still practice magic, except for one.” ***** If Coven were just a gimmick band I wouldn't be writing about them at any length. What's most interesting about them is not only that they staked out new territory that effectively got them banned and drubbed at every turn, but that they made two great albums and one good one. Sure, the black mass included on the Witchcraft... album sounds like a radio play (or, to put it in a more contemporary vein, “performance art”), but the songs written by the band and Jim Donlinger are memorable, and the vocals by Jinx are terrific. Dawson is a mysterious figure in show business. She was in and out of it for something like three decades (see below), and has reappeared in the last few years as a cult figure, described by many fans on the Net as “the goth metal goddess.” Her cred as a rock vocalist is unquestionable – one or two of the songs on Witchcraft find her sounding a bit like Grace Slick, but by the second album she has her own style and a voice that works beautifully in a number of genres, from hard rock to pop to new wave and syntho-pop, and even country. Ann Wilson has never claimed her as a heroine, but Jinx's rock vocals surely laid the groundwork for what Heart did in the Seventies and Eighties. She also happens to have remained a stunning looking woman. If the recent pictures posted of her are of a woman who should be 62 or so in human years (and who survived a major heart attack a few years ago), she truly must have a portrait melting somewhere in the attic. The greatest curiosity about her career, besides the fact that Coven never became an arena-sized act, is that she never became well known as an actress or a model. The “goth” part of her goddess label in fact relates to her glamorous “witchy” look – not many blondes are “goth chicks,” but Dawson seemed to have the look down several decades ago (despite sporting L.A.-ready long blonde hair). As I noted at the outset of this piece, the reason most of us know her voice is from a track she did as a stray assignment outside of Coven, the Billy Jack theme song “One Tin Soldier.” She got the job because of her connection to Bizarre Productions, a company run by Frank Zappa's manager Herb Cohen (the cousin of Funhouse guest and former Mother of Invention Howard Kaylan!). The song was written and first recorded by a Canadian band called the Original Caste (snappy!) in 1969. Someone associated with Billy Jack (1971), perhaps Tom Laughlin himself, chose the song and wound up with a theme tune that was a top 10 hit in two separate years ('71 and '73) thanks to the catchiness of the melody and Jinx's powerful vocals. “One Tin Soldier” was a gigantic fucking hit, and it should've made Jinx Dawson a household name. Instead it spawned a second Coven album that is good, but isn't as powerful as Witchcraft or as earworm-ish as the following LP, Blood on the Snow. The album found them backing away from the Satanic image – although there still is a not-too-hidden “sign of the horns” on the cover. Whatever transpired, the band did their best to craft a mainstream pop-rock album (with, again, terrific vocals from Jinx). But the people who produced and released the record – who may or may not have included Tom Laughlin himself, since the album is co-produced by someone named “Frank Laughlin,” and that was Tom's onscreen pseudonym as the director of The Trial of Billy Jack – decided to totally “erase” the band from their own record's packaging. They are not identified by name anywhere on the cover, and their faces were “whited out” on the cover. A commenter who claims to have known one of the band's guitarists insists they were indeed contracted to Laughlin and had to break the contract in order to keep performing here. For her part, Jinx noted here that the band had a “financial arrangement” with the renegade indie filmmaker (whose recent spate of YouTube videos must be seen to be believed). And the last item I discovered online were pics of the band performing outside a movie theater showing Billy Jack in Milwaukee – if Laughlin was indeed managing their career at this point, he certainly got them some great gigs.... That said, there still are some catchy tracks on the record. Here is one of them, “Lonely Lover." At this juncture, when talking about Dawson as a performer and person rather than as “the goddess,” I should note that there is one very interesting, touching interview with her that appears on the website for the Indianapolis alternative paper Nuvo. Since so many of the sources on the Internet repeat the same information (or mythology) about Jinx and Coven, this article is enlightening, in that it paints a picture of the real woman behind the “goth metal” image. She reveals that she studied opera at age 9, joined her brother's band (called "Him, Her and Them") at 13, and worked on the Coven stage show as a way to use her opera background in a rock context. Her family was quite well-known in Indianapolis in the early to mid-20th century, and she in fact moved back to Indy in the late Seventies to work on a “private event and concert venue” situated on “the Dawson Lake and Lodge property” in town. She then worked with her father on the creation of a gated suburban community, but the centerpiece of the article is surprisingly not her landmark work with Coven, but the experience she had as a caregiver for her father when he got sick with cancer. She lost hundreds of thousands of dollars while caring for him, and the house she lived in (located on Dawson Lake) was lost in a sheriff's auction. This sobering aspect of her life makes the prospect of a memoir (which she has talked about writing for the last few years) even more interesting. She's spoken in other interviews about her affairs with different rockers, from Jim Morrison to Roger Taylor of Queen, and has even mentioned a fling with Charlie Chaplin (now that really should be chronicled, since “Le petit Charlot” would've been pretty damned old when he met Jinx). Another article (actually a chapter from what looks to be an independently published book) that paints a very human portrait of the “metal goddess” is this item from the website of Franklin College in Indiana. She talks about the ups and downs of show business, discussing the different moments where she and the band were on the precipice of major fame – including the moment that they turned down producer Neil Bogart's offer to become a made-up, costumed band (an ensemble of “four Alice Coopers” named KISS took up that offer). She talks about her work as a studio singer (her vocal range is indeed incredible) and how she became a designer of clothing and jewelry for such disparate acts as Led Zeppelin and Barbra Streisand (not forgetting Liza with a Z and Motely Crue); it should be noted that she currently sells magic- and Satanic-related jewelry on eBay. Reflecting on her fortunes and that of the band she declares "I've made some major-league mistakes in my career – at least three of 'em... It seems we were always a little bit early on everything, or a little bit late."  As with all of the interviews she's done, the Franklin College article not only sketches a fascinating life, but one that intersected with a bunch of different pop-culture movements from the rock-festival world of the late Sixties to the glam Seventies and the “new wave” Eighties. Hopefully Jinx will make good on her promise to write a memoir soon. In the meantime two clips from other Dawson incarnations. Here is a rare clip of Coven in its reincarnation as a “new wave” band called the Equalizers. With her trademark blonde locks hidden away, she looks like a sorta glam biker chick (and the voice, as ever, is terrific); the band is still an incredible amount of fun: And, updating this piece since it was initially written (ten years later!), I should note that the barely released horror film “Heaven Can Help” (1989) is now available in its entirety on YouTube. Jinx looks terrific in this film, but it's got a pretty mundane script. It most resembles entries in the Witchcraft franchise (naturally!) that was released straight-to-video in the Nineties: I want to close out with the best evidence that Coven was a talented band and could've overcome their Satanic image. Their third and final LP, Blood on the Snow (1974), is a terrific concoction produced by the legendary Shel Talmy (who worked with the Kinks, the Who, and the Creation in the Sixties).  The record includes the band playing in a number of different genres, from gentle pop-rock and country-rock to all-out Satanic harder sounds. Listening to it today one wonders what went wrong – did the record label just not promote it, was it dwarfed by other bigger releases of the time, or was the band just being too eclectic to score with any particular audience? Whatever the case may be, the record is terrific (though it seems to be out of print entirely on CD as I write this) and definitely qualifies for numerous re-listens (and yes, it arrived on the scene two years before Heart released their first LP). My favorite song from it isn't “hard” or Satanic at all, it's “This Song's For All Your Children,” a sweet, peace-and-love (gasp!) type of tune. It's a catchy recording that sounds a lot like the AM hits that Todd Rundgren had in the early Seventies, and it definitely demonstrates that Coven could've, and should've, had Top 40 hit singles. The third track on the album is another light, MOR tune that sounds positively country-fied. “Lady O” (not to be confused with the Judee Sill song recorded by the Turtles) offers another example of Jinx's vocal versatility. “I Need a Hundred of You” is another great pop song that foreshadows the kind of thing that was done by Stevie Nicks and Christine McVie in the “Buckingham Nicks” iteration of Fleetwood Mac – which began a year after “Blood on the Snow” was released. Here is the song accompanied by yet another great fan-made photo montage: It has been lamented by the present-day music critics who revisit the three Coven albums that the band was just shuffled too much from label to label (four labels in a half-dozen years, since the “One Tin Soldier” single was on a label, Warner, that never released a Coven album). They had a following at the time they were making records, as is evidenced by the folks online who fondly remember their live Satanic “rock opera” shows (Jinx's phrase), but aside from the Billy Jack single, massive fame eluded them. The upside of the cult that has arisen around the band online is that, according to Jinx's Facebook posts, the group is recording their first album in close to four decades. God knows (oops, Lucifer is aware) that Jinx still looks terrific and sounded wonderful in the one release that saw the light of day since Blood on the Sun, a CD (again, seemingly waaaay out of print) called Metal Goth Queen – Out of the Vault, which contained later Dawson tracks (including a synth dance number!). I will say I'm looking forward to the reappearance of Coven, whether they put on a blasphemous stage show or not. Here is track from that “Metal Goth Queen” collection, another earworm-ish item, called “Come Out of the Rain.” Since I write this on the week before Halloween, I embed this video not just because the song is catchy rock, but because the fan-made video is made up of images from the b&w “haunted nanny” years of Dark Shadows! The video I must close out his “survey” post with is the publicity film made for “Blood on the Snow.” Coven definitely loved “transgressing,” and so, even while they were releasing an album with several extremely radio-friendly tracks, they created a little film for the album's closing song that is purely Satanic. The band has spoken about how the film was funded somehow by Disney, and this early “music video” was, naturally enough, shelved and never seen on American TV – for the reasons why, just take a look (and try to place yourself back in 1974). Now we can rejoice in it 365 days a year, but it seems particularly appropriate on Halloween. UPDATE: My review of the new Coven album, Jinx, is here.