More than anything else about my trip to Austin, I've been asked where my traveling companion, Alejandro Gomez, and I parked the minivan that we slept in for most of a week. The answer is right about here, near the State Cemetery in an adjacent deadend road.
It was perfect for our needs. A few pedestrians wandered by late at night, and only one morning were we awoken by a crying woman who said she needed a ride. Gomez told her there were a bunch of people hanging out at a record store down the road, and she might be able to get a ride from one of them.
Neither of us paid for a single drink at a bar in Austin. Wi-Fi is free all over the city, though the government-sponsored bandwidth is slow to the point of allowing only the grittiest video uploads. Bringing our own bikes made getting around town fun. And regardless, Texas gas is cheap - under $3.25 per gallon. There were too many free shows at any given time to comprehend, leaving no cause for worry about missing official-wristband-purchaser-exclusive events.
We were denied attendance at only one show because I chose to opt out of buying credentials. It was the live-streamed Boiler Room DJ blowout sponsored by Ray-Ban, and I got turned away at the door after waiting in line for more than two hours. It was a brutal, never-before-experienced sensation. But spending that time queued up with a throng of happenstance acquaintances, sucking a pint of Wild Irish Rose and sipping Bud Light through straws in Styrofoam McDonald’s cups indubitably clued me into SXSW’s legitimate nature at least as much attending any concert.
My hope was that by attending the festival, I could learn about the nature of this liminal music performance period as an economic and social force. Short of that, the goal was to learn how this festival happens, and what it means for the town of Austin. The latter part of the question is probably better answered by the documentary Echotone, which deals with how this festival affects Austin's culture and creates complications.
During our last night in town, we met Tina Phan, a journalist I got to know through the Poynter Institute in 2010. She’s covered SXSW for the last three years as a reporter for the "Austin American Statesman." With her experience covering the festival, she astutely diverted my attention to people with even more experienced than herself when I asked her to describe what the festival is all about.
What she underscored was that, even as it’s become one of the utmost globally prestigious organizations of its kind, SXSW flies by the seat of its pants. A yard of congregated food trucks near the northeast bank of the Colorado River, Phan said, only got put together a week before the festival began. Her plan to spend the week of the music festival focusing on international artists fell through when the acts she planned on filming for in-depth features got bounced back at customs.
She also reiterated how important it is to think about the festival based on all its components, including the Interactive experience the week before the music side of the festival. When things end, she said the cleanup effort begins “that night.” After that, life goes on for Austinians pretty much as usual. After turning around her material in a quick, professional manner, Phan went back to photographing pug puppies for the "Statesman" the next day. People in her city appreciated the festival as a break from drudgery and, in a most significant way, an influx of outsider cash.
"It was such an incredible experience," Hopkins said. "And I feel extremely lucky to have been given the opportunity to use SXSW as the platform by which to launch House of Card." Surpassing any immediate sales, she said the biggest payoff was the buzz generated by the venture. "The greatest reward for me was the amazing people I encountered, and the wonderful connections I made," Hopkins said.
In a post uploaded hours ago, Anthony Fantano attempted to dissect the importance of popular attention in generating phenomenal musical trajectories with the help of his YouTube audience. “It’s just one hype cycle after another, and it seems like right now in the music industry this is the most profitable model,” Fantano said. Musical names blowing up on one or two hits could mean artists with a propensity for success and great artistry are being acknowledged and supported with newly officious momentum.
The ascription of industry forces as being “too big to fail” has such a queasly laffable catchiness because it implicates that massive retooling or downright disintegration is the reasonable next step. The demand for forthright innovation is at least as high as ever, and, in this "American" tradition, requires people out of doors. That’s a reference to Austin and why this festival is more important than ever, why it keeps attracting more people, money and attention.
I also stood one afternoon like a sap for 25 minutes outside Viceland, the media conglomerate’s central pavilion. That followed failed attempts to squeeze in by means of secondhand wristbands, one found in the trashcan of a liquor store and another given to me from Lakutis, a rapper we encountered exiting the area on a pink mini skateboard.
On the south side of Viceland’s tent, some hundred people stood and sat, biding their time in the blazing Texan afternoon sunlight starting at noon to see a Kendrick Lamar show. SXSW activities are accessible to people free of charge is an extremely cool, extremely encouraging component of the experience. It led some people to act insane while demonstrating their ability to hold out for no-cost entertainment. When I made it through the venue’s barbed-wire palisade, I got a complementary drink containing Bullitt Bourbon, red wine and a frozen cherry as well as the chance to see “They Die By Dawn.” Karen Ahre occupied the seat next to mine and introduced herself as a friend of the director’s girlfriend. She flew in from St. Paul for the week, largely to attend the screening.
While exuding purely admirational enthusiasm for the filmmaker’s success in funding production and distribution, “The bourbon,” Ahre said, gesturing to one of Bullit’s dramatic illuminated installations, “has kind of overshadowed the movie.”
Monday, March 25, 2013
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Micromax A89 Ninja review
The Micromax A89 Ninja is a budget Android smartphone that first made an appearance on the company's website in late-January, though the listing was without a price tag. It started retailing online a few days following the listing for Rs. 6,490. This dual-SIM phone is one among Micromax's wide range of low-priced Android phones, but is it worth picking over a similarly priced feature phone? We try to find out.
On first look, the phone doesn't evoke any emotion. It more or less follows the same design language that we've seen in other budget Android phones from Micromax. It has rounded corners, a chrome frame and a plastic back cover.
The front features a 4-inch screen, three capacitive touch buttons - Menu, Home and Back, for navigation, and a light sensor.
The glossy back features a 3-megapixel-camera lens surrounded by a chrome ring, towards the top and a speaker grill near the bottom. The back also sports Micromax branding. The power/screen lock key sits on the right side, while the volume rocker is located at the left. All buttons also sport the chrome finish. The micro-USB port and 3.5mm headset jack is at the top of the phone. Build wise, the phone feels sturdy and durable.
The Micromax Ninja A89 is a dual-SIM smartphone and supports GSM SIM card in both the slots. The SIM Card slots and a slot for the microSD card hide behind the back cover just above the battery slot. Unfortunately, the SIM cards are not hot swappable and you'll have to take the battery out if you want to replace either one of them. The microSD card is hot swappable though.
The Micromax Ninja A89 comes with a 4-inch 262k-colour capacitive touch screen sporting a resolution of 480x800 pixels. We found the screen resolution to be decent for a device of this size, and the graphics and text appeared fine. The viewing angles looked good, and the under-sun visibility on the phone was decent, though we found the screen to be pretty reflective.
The handset sports three capacitive buttons - a Menu key, Home button and a Back key. Long pressing the Home key opens the app-switcher for switching between open/previously accessed apps. To be honest, we find the menu button redundant. Perhaps, Micromax could allow users to use the menu button exclusively as the app-switcher, on the lines of newer HTC phones. We're glad that the phone features stock icons, unlike the A110 Canvas 2.
During our use of the phone we noticed some minor lag, especially while playing games, but other than that, we'd rate our overall experience as above average. We expected a bit more from a phone that runs on a dual-core processor. We're not sure if the phone would get updated to Jelly Bean, which offers a smoother user experience compared to ICS.
The phone is powered by a 1GHz dual-core processor that is a MediaTek chip, and has 512MB of RAM on board. We did not encounter any crashes while working on the phone and multitasking was comfortable. We did notice some lag while navigating through the menu, and while playing some games. We were not able to play 1020p HD video clips, and 720p clips also stuttered. The phone also doesn't support .mov videos natively, but that can be easily fixed by downloading third-party video players.
The phone comes with the native Android browser and renders all webpages well. It doesn't come with Adobe Flash. The speaker on the phone delivers good quality sound with average volume levels. Also, since the speaker is located at the back, the volume levels further decrease when the phone lies on its back.
Call quality was good. The phone is a dual-SIM GSM phone with support for one active and the other in active-standby mode.
The Micromax A89 Ninja comes with a 1450mAh battery and it's one of the major pain points of this phone. With intermediate usage during the day, including playing games, an hour of phone calls, and e-mail and Twitter notifications turned on, the phone just lasted half a day, or just 7-8 hours on a single charge, which is very disappointing. But it's worth mentioning that we had turned off Wi-Fi and the phone was hooked on to a 3G network, with brightness set to the highest level, during our use.
The 24-year-old also trains on her own with renowned Brazilian jiu-jitsu fighter Romulo Barral at Gracie Barra in Northridge - a choice Rousey fully endorses.
"I think it's good she has a little separate from me, her own jiu-jitsu place that she goes to and her own group of guys that are her friends," Rousey said. "You come into a new city and you don't really know one person, sometimes the only people you know are who they know. So she's really branching out and settling in in L.A. She's doing fantastic."
When Shafir isn't training with Rousey - like when she went with the camp to Big Bear to help the champ train for her first title defense against Liz Carmouche last month at UFC 157 - she's quick to defend her.
"She's done a lot for the sport, but that's what Miesha Tate and all these girls are hating on her game. Like, you need to appreciate!" she said. "She may have only been doing MMA two or three years, but hard work has been put in since she was 11. Who are you? Who ARE you? You have no leverage. I'm sorry. Not in my eyes, you don't."
And not lost on the native of Moldova, who moved with her parents to Albany when she was 5, is the incredible opportunity.
"It means the world to me. I was saying, the transition from Albany, New York, to here, one thing I really like is it's still very family-based. You've got family values still here," Shafir said. "Everybody carries themselves here like they're family. The loyalty's there and that means a lot to me. Because that's what I was raised on. That's what I know. It means a lot to me. I can show them what I know is also in their game plan. That's why we get a long so well and are moving forward and going in the right direction."
On first look, the phone doesn't evoke any emotion. It more or less follows the same design language that we've seen in other budget Android phones from Micromax. It has rounded corners, a chrome frame and a plastic back cover.
The front features a 4-inch screen, three capacitive touch buttons - Menu, Home and Back, for navigation, and a light sensor.
The glossy back features a 3-megapixel-camera lens surrounded by a chrome ring, towards the top and a speaker grill near the bottom. The back also sports Micromax branding. The power/screen lock key sits on the right side, while the volume rocker is located at the left. All buttons also sport the chrome finish. The micro-USB port and 3.5mm headset jack is at the top of the phone. Build wise, the phone feels sturdy and durable.
The Micromax Ninja A89 is a dual-SIM smartphone and supports GSM SIM card in both the slots. The SIM Card slots and a slot for the microSD card hide behind the back cover just above the battery slot. Unfortunately, the SIM cards are not hot swappable and you'll have to take the battery out if you want to replace either one of them. The microSD card is hot swappable though.
The Micromax Ninja A89 comes with a 4-inch 262k-colour capacitive touch screen sporting a resolution of 480x800 pixels. We found the screen resolution to be decent for a device of this size, and the graphics and text appeared fine. The viewing angles looked good, and the under-sun visibility on the phone was decent, though we found the screen to be pretty reflective.
The handset sports three capacitive buttons - a Menu key, Home button and a Back key. Long pressing the Home key opens the app-switcher for switching between open/previously accessed apps. To be honest, we find the menu button redundant. Perhaps, Micromax could allow users to use the menu button exclusively as the app-switcher, on the lines of newer HTC phones. We're glad that the phone features stock icons, unlike the A110 Canvas 2.
During our use of the phone we noticed some minor lag, especially while playing games, but other than that, we'd rate our overall experience as above average. We expected a bit more from a phone that runs on a dual-core processor. We're not sure if the phone would get updated to Jelly Bean, which offers a smoother user experience compared to ICS.
The phone is powered by a 1GHz dual-core processor that is a MediaTek chip, and has 512MB of RAM on board. We did not encounter any crashes while working on the phone and multitasking was comfortable. We did notice some lag while navigating through the menu, and while playing some games. We were not able to play 1020p HD video clips, and 720p clips also stuttered. The phone also doesn't support .mov videos natively, but that can be easily fixed by downloading third-party video players.
The phone comes with the native Android browser and renders all webpages well. It doesn't come with Adobe Flash. The speaker on the phone delivers good quality sound with average volume levels. Also, since the speaker is located at the back, the volume levels further decrease when the phone lies on its back.
Call quality was good. The phone is a dual-SIM GSM phone with support for one active and the other in active-standby mode.
The Micromax A89 Ninja comes with a 1450mAh battery and it's one of the major pain points of this phone. With intermediate usage during the day, including playing games, an hour of phone calls, and e-mail and Twitter notifications turned on, the phone just lasted half a day, or just 7-8 hours on a single charge, which is very disappointing. But it's worth mentioning that we had turned off Wi-Fi and the phone was hooked on to a 3G network, with brightness set to the highest level, during our use.
The 24-year-old also trains on her own with renowned Brazilian jiu-jitsu fighter Romulo Barral at Gracie Barra in Northridge - a choice Rousey fully endorses.
"I think it's good she has a little separate from me, her own jiu-jitsu place that she goes to and her own group of guys that are her friends," Rousey said. "You come into a new city and you don't really know one person, sometimes the only people you know are who they know. So she's really branching out and settling in in L.A. She's doing fantastic."
When Shafir isn't training with Rousey - like when she went with the camp to Big Bear to help the champ train for her first title defense against Liz Carmouche last month at UFC 157 - she's quick to defend her.
"She's done a lot for the sport, but that's what Miesha Tate and all these girls are hating on her game. Like, you need to appreciate!" she said. "She may have only been doing MMA two or three years, but hard work has been put in since she was 11. Who are you? Who ARE you? You have no leverage. I'm sorry. Not in my eyes, you don't."
And not lost on the native of Moldova, who moved with her parents to Albany when she was 5, is the incredible opportunity.
"It means the world to me. I was saying, the transition from Albany, New York, to here, one thing I really like is it's still very family-based. You've got family values still here," Shafir said. "Everybody carries themselves here like they're family. The loyalty's there and that means a lot to me. Because that's what I was raised on. That's what I know. It means a lot to me. I can show them what I know is also in their game plan. That's why we get a long so well and are moving forward and going in the right direction."
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Digital has Not Changed the Basic Principles
Digital photography with computerized innovations has not changed the basic rules of underwater photography. In some cases ability to take pictures in low light conditions then correct them with various computer software programs is a boon. Using film, a picture that was too dark or too light was always a discard. Cropping was a problem and recopying on film reduced the resolution. Editing had limits. The basic premise that a good photograph can be taken only once still applies. Digital does not mean sloppy.
Digital photographic equipment for underwater use is not inexpensive. There are housed units that cost thousands of dollars depending on the camera system. Some underwater cameras range from about $500 to $1200.
No matter what camera is selected, knowing its limitations is important. Read the instruction manual. Features that are not often used can be skipped over until the very macro-close up aspect of the flash, pictured with a rose, is wanted. There are important aspects and a learning curve that must be reached with every new piece of equipment. Do not wait until you are aboard the dive boat to try and figure out your new camera.
O rings and seals are priority inspection items. I have one digital camera that has a slight bend in the housing. That means the O ring becomes bent at an eccentric angle. Some manufacturers realize then disregard the plain fact that O rings provide integral seals for their units. O rings are round or oblong. Wild curves and bends enhance the chance of making a mistake or having a piece of the O ring miss the channel when the camera is closed.
One major film camera manufacturer brought out an underwater camera in its series that “improved” previous models. It was a nightmare. Divers often brought them up flooded. The reason was the bend in the O ring seal. In selecting an underwater camera and housing insure that O rings are intelligently designed so that they are perfectly round or oblong without bends. That is why they call them O rings. When SeaLife, one of the world’s major underwater camera manufacturers, brought out their new DC 1400 camera and housing, they used a perfectly oblong O ring. A great improvement over the bend in their DC 1200 housing that required special attention before closing. Kudos to their engineers.
O ring care and maintenance is very important. Check the O ring with your finger before every use. Be sure there are no grains of sand or foreign objects on it. Use O ring grease to improve the seal and enhance the O ring’s flexibility and suppleness. Check the O ring channel to be sure no sand grains, hairs or other objects have gotten into it that will disrupt the integrity of the seal once the camera or housing is closed.
Before sealing the unit check to be sure no hairs, dust or debris is on the camera lens or inside the camera housing’s port. Many great pictures have been ruined by hairs in front of the lens. I took a whole sequence of underwater footage with Mel Fisher, the late fabled underwater treasure diver, only to have the motion picture film come back from the lab with a hair across the frames. Grrrrr—I had just had the camera serviced and put it in use without checking the front housing port myself. Leave nothing to chance. Always check. Photo shop programs notwithstanding, a hair or dirt in front of the lens or on the housing’s port will ruin the image.
Dry packs come with many underwater digital cameras. Some are silica gel BBs, some are cylinders that fit into the housing. Moisture inside the port means it is fogged up. A fogged lens underwater ruins pictures. Remember that the little silica gel packets or BBs can flake off and put foreign matter in front of the lens so use them carefully. Some manufacturers recommend putting these drying packets into a microwave oven after use to rid them of moisture. Always be sure they do not leak the material inside before putting them into your housing.
Fogging occurs when temperature changes. Same principle as windows of an automobile. Anti-moisture packs inside the housing will help to some degree. Keep the camera out of the sun. All too often I see careless storage of cameras on dive boats. Some are left in the direct sun, lens up. When the camera is taken below the lens immediately fogs up. Temperatures can build up when a housed unit is left in the sun and the water is colder than the air. High temperatures and direct sun on cameras and housings are not compatible. Manufacturer’s instruction manuals make it clear: keep cameras and housings out of direct sunlight.
I use a plastic dive box for my gear. It fits under the seat on most dive boats. Not only does it keep my gear in order and out of the way, it provides protection for my camera and is out of the sun. My camera is less likely to be kicked or washed overboard in my box. The box is secured by a line or bungee cord to the boat’s bench supports. My box stays in place in rough seas. One hapless photographer put his camera in the tank holder next to him. Of course when a diver returned to his seat, his tank crushed it.
Innovate the way your camera is attached to you underwater. In two weeks four cameras were lost by divers on the dive boat I use. They were never found again. I use cameras that I can manage while doing other things underwater. That includes taking students and inexperienced divers below. I like to offer them photos of themselves after the dive. The ability to e-mail photographs makes that handy. It is a much easier process than when I shot only color slide film.
There are times when I must abandon my camera entirely and use both of my hands. I carry a flag below when drift-diving in the Gulf Stream on Florida’s Atlantic coast. One hand is therefore always occupied until I can hook the flag line safely into the reef. It takes a moment for me to find a spot and make sure the reef hook will not do any damage to coral. The digital camera system I use is perfectly suited for that. It does not interfere with nor detract from my instruction or dive guiding.
Digital photographic equipment for underwater use is not inexpensive. There are housed units that cost thousands of dollars depending on the camera system. Some underwater cameras range from about $500 to $1200.
No matter what camera is selected, knowing its limitations is important. Read the instruction manual. Features that are not often used can be skipped over until the very macro-close up aspect of the flash, pictured with a rose, is wanted. There are important aspects and a learning curve that must be reached with every new piece of equipment. Do not wait until you are aboard the dive boat to try and figure out your new camera.
O rings and seals are priority inspection items. I have one digital camera that has a slight bend in the housing. That means the O ring becomes bent at an eccentric angle. Some manufacturers realize then disregard the plain fact that O rings provide integral seals for their units. O rings are round or oblong. Wild curves and bends enhance the chance of making a mistake or having a piece of the O ring miss the channel when the camera is closed.
One major film camera manufacturer brought out an underwater camera in its series that “improved” previous models. It was a nightmare. Divers often brought them up flooded. The reason was the bend in the O ring seal. In selecting an underwater camera and housing insure that O rings are intelligently designed so that they are perfectly round or oblong without bends. That is why they call them O rings. When SeaLife, one of the world’s major underwater camera manufacturers, brought out their new DC 1400 camera and housing, they used a perfectly oblong O ring. A great improvement over the bend in their DC 1200 housing that required special attention before closing. Kudos to their engineers.
O ring care and maintenance is very important. Check the O ring with your finger before every use. Be sure there are no grains of sand or foreign objects on it. Use O ring grease to improve the seal and enhance the O ring’s flexibility and suppleness. Check the O ring channel to be sure no sand grains, hairs or other objects have gotten into it that will disrupt the integrity of the seal once the camera or housing is closed.
Before sealing the unit check to be sure no hairs, dust or debris is on the camera lens or inside the camera housing’s port. Many great pictures have been ruined by hairs in front of the lens. I took a whole sequence of underwater footage with Mel Fisher, the late fabled underwater treasure diver, only to have the motion picture film come back from the lab with a hair across the frames. Grrrrr—I had just had the camera serviced and put it in use without checking the front housing port myself. Leave nothing to chance. Always check. Photo shop programs notwithstanding, a hair or dirt in front of the lens or on the housing’s port will ruin the image.
Dry packs come with many underwater digital cameras. Some are silica gel BBs, some are cylinders that fit into the housing. Moisture inside the port means it is fogged up. A fogged lens underwater ruins pictures. Remember that the little silica gel packets or BBs can flake off and put foreign matter in front of the lens so use them carefully. Some manufacturers recommend putting these drying packets into a microwave oven after use to rid them of moisture. Always be sure they do not leak the material inside before putting them into your housing.
Fogging occurs when temperature changes. Same principle as windows of an automobile. Anti-moisture packs inside the housing will help to some degree. Keep the camera out of the sun. All too often I see careless storage of cameras on dive boats. Some are left in the direct sun, lens up. When the camera is taken below the lens immediately fogs up. Temperatures can build up when a housed unit is left in the sun and the water is colder than the air. High temperatures and direct sun on cameras and housings are not compatible. Manufacturer’s instruction manuals make it clear: keep cameras and housings out of direct sunlight.
I use a plastic dive box for my gear. It fits under the seat on most dive boats. Not only does it keep my gear in order and out of the way, it provides protection for my camera and is out of the sun. My camera is less likely to be kicked or washed overboard in my box. The box is secured by a line or bungee cord to the boat’s bench supports. My box stays in place in rough seas. One hapless photographer put his camera in the tank holder next to him. Of course when a diver returned to his seat, his tank crushed it.
Innovate the way your camera is attached to you underwater. In two weeks four cameras were lost by divers on the dive boat I use. They were never found again. I use cameras that I can manage while doing other things underwater. That includes taking students and inexperienced divers below. I like to offer them photos of themselves after the dive. The ability to e-mail photographs makes that handy. It is a much easier process than when I shot only color slide film.
There are times when I must abandon my camera entirely and use both of my hands. I carry a flag below when drift-diving in the Gulf Stream on Florida’s Atlantic coast. One hand is therefore always occupied until I can hook the flag line safely into the reef. It takes a moment for me to find a spot and make sure the reef hook will not do any damage to coral. The digital camera system I use is perfectly suited for that. It does not interfere with nor detract from my instruction or dive guiding.
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Vinyl records have bigger sound than CDs or downloads
My wife thought (correctly, as it turned out) that some nostalgia might be in order to help me ease into a new decade. The question this raised in terms of the listening experience was whether old technology — circa 20th century — necessarily meant it was inferior to digital technology such as MP3s and CDs?
I posed the same question to Walter McKeever, who has taught for more than 10 years as an adjunct instructor of music and recording arts at Owens Community College, wondering if digital and analog technologies were all that different when it comes to the sound experience.
“For rock music, analog definitely has a certain sound,” McKeever said. “There’s just something about it. Somehow it has a little more depth.”
After a few months of listening in my basement, I could hear the difference for myself: a bigger, more vibrant sound from records versus CDs or download, but I wanted to be sure I wasn’t hearing things.
Paul Westerberg of the Replacements no longer sounded flat like the recording of “Skyway” did from “Pleased to Meet Me” on an iPod. Westerberg’s longing vocals now sounded like he was singing in a hallway, giving it that depth McKeever referenced. Nuanced layers of stinging guitars I didn’t know existed jumped out on “Can’t Hardly Wait.”
“Pleased to Meet Me” was recorded in 1987, but how would something more recent sound? Lucero’s “1372 Overton Park” (2009) seemed like it was up to the task, especially with the record’s blue plastic hue. On vinyl Ben Nichols’ whiskey-tinged and smoke-damaged voice on “Can’t Feel a Thing” hovers above a beating bass drum and piano riffs, a sound that seemed melded into one when I listen to the same song over the Internet.
McKeever said the better analog sound quality actually is related to how the songs are pressed onto the records.
“The fact the sound pressure waves are being recorded into grooves,” he said, means “the low-mid range sounds like there is a little more depth even though you might be missing some of the dynamic range. I think once someone has heard that on a good turntable and a decent piece of vinyl, you can really hear the difference versus a bunch of MP3s which are missing a lot of information, so they’re not really hearing everything.”
The convenience of iTunes and downloading songs onto an iPhone, iPod, iPad, or personal computer is still hard to beat, especially when you usually can buy individual songs for 99 cents.
But if you’re a stereophile, it is difficult to overlook that something is literally missing.
In order to save bandwidth for streaming and storage space on MP3 players, up to 90 percent of the information that’s on a CD is thrown out, McKeever said. To mask that issue, computer algorithms are used to try to synthesize what’s missing, which comes across as lacking for a music purists.
McKeever, 46, onetime member of the 1980s band Big Hunk O’Cheese, said he always refers to AC/DC’s anthem “Back in Black” when talking about the lack of sound quality when it comes to MP3 recordings.
“It sounds washy,” he said, making the wa-wa-wa sounds himself. “You can’t tell if it’s a tambourine, a high-hat [drum], or maybe even maracas. I can’t really tell.”
McKeever said that if you really love a band, getting its new album on a compact disc is a much more satisfying sound than downloading it off iTunes, but if money weren’t an issue, he’d be more inclined to buy vinyl. For example, a new vinyl record typically costs $13 to $17 compared to $13 to $15 for a compact disc, according to Laura Fredericks at Finders Records in Bowling Green. A typical album download on iTunes costs $9.99 to $13.99.
Padding your collection is when the costs can start to pile up, with reissues and remasterings of old albums because “making a record is expensive,” Fredericks said.
“I have so many vinyl albums from before CDs were in and I could get a bunch of stuff on vinyl for cheap, but it’s not convenient when you want to listen to your favorite music on your commute,” said McKeever, a Bowling Green resident.
“Vinyl can be great but if it’s not calibrated right or if your needle is really worn it actually can gouge your records.”
And vinyl seems to be the retro thing to do right now with sales up 16.3 percent in 2012 from 2011, which also increased 39 percent from the previous year, according to Digital Music News.
That’s good news for local record stores, which also host special-incentive shopping days such as Record Store Day, held this year on April 20. Plus, a lot of new vinyl albums come with a CD or download card — “so it’s like a two for one,” Fredericks said — so you don’t have to pick or choose when it comes to sound quality or portability.
“It’s definitely cool and I was surprised to see last year that 5 million records were sold,” said McKeever, who has more than 1,000 pressings on vinyl and dozens of box sets on CD. “It can get expensive with the Beatles’ latest box set with 14 LPs costing more than $300 — it’s definitely not a poor man’s game. If you’re a sandwich artist at Subway it’s going to be hard to pull off, but there’s definitely a cool factor to it for sure.”
The hesitation is not really about card-related costs, she said. There’s an ATM in the corner for those needing to turn plastic into cash. It’s more about messing with tradition and the throwback feeling customers seem to like about John G’s, the restaurant founded by former Detroit dry cleaner John Giragos in 1973. The menu rarely changes. Several of his children including Yarbrough have worked there most of their lives and it’s still very much a family-run business since his death in 2010.
For four decades, it’s been cash only, no credit cards. It’s open for breakfast and lunch, no evening meals.
But sometimes there’s no getting out of the way of change.
After reconstruction moved it out of its longtime Lake Worth coastal perch in 2011, the restaurant loaded up its wooden booths and Tiffany lamps and fish nets and old-Florida decor and set up shop in Manalapan — just in time for a major bridge closing there.
Despite the mostly rave reviews (“best breakfast in South Florida!”), Yarbrough made an “oh brother” face while hearing a summary. She typically stands at the front of the dining area during operating hours, helping get people seated and smoothing out any problems.
“Sorry you had soggy French toast,” she said, smiling at the thought of an anonymous Internet commenter dashing off to tap that out. “If you had said something instead of running off to your computer, I’d have fixed it.”
I posed the same question to Walter McKeever, who has taught for more than 10 years as an adjunct instructor of music and recording arts at Owens Community College, wondering if digital and analog technologies were all that different when it comes to the sound experience.
“For rock music, analog definitely has a certain sound,” McKeever said. “There’s just something about it. Somehow it has a little more depth.”
After a few months of listening in my basement, I could hear the difference for myself: a bigger, more vibrant sound from records versus CDs or download, but I wanted to be sure I wasn’t hearing things.
Paul Westerberg of the Replacements no longer sounded flat like the recording of “Skyway” did from “Pleased to Meet Me” on an iPod. Westerberg’s longing vocals now sounded like he was singing in a hallway, giving it that depth McKeever referenced. Nuanced layers of stinging guitars I didn’t know existed jumped out on “Can’t Hardly Wait.”
“Pleased to Meet Me” was recorded in 1987, but how would something more recent sound? Lucero’s “1372 Overton Park” (2009) seemed like it was up to the task, especially with the record’s blue plastic hue. On vinyl Ben Nichols’ whiskey-tinged and smoke-damaged voice on “Can’t Feel a Thing” hovers above a beating bass drum and piano riffs, a sound that seemed melded into one when I listen to the same song over the Internet.
McKeever said the better analog sound quality actually is related to how the songs are pressed onto the records.
“The fact the sound pressure waves are being recorded into grooves,” he said, means “the low-mid range sounds like there is a little more depth even though you might be missing some of the dynamic range. I think once someone has heard that on a good turntable and a decent piece of vinyl, you can really hear the difference versus a bunch of MP3s which are missing a lot of information, so they’re not really hearing everything.”
The convenience of iTunes and downloading songs onto an iPhone, iPod, iPad, or personal computer is still hard to beat, especially when you usually can buy individual songs for 99 cents.
But if you’re a stereophile, it is difficult to overlook that something is literally missing.
In order to save bandwidth for streaming and storage space on MP3 players, up to 90 percent of the information that’s on a CD is thrown out, McKeever said. To mask that issue, computer algorithms are used to try to synthesize what’s missing, which comes across as lacking for a music purists.
McKeever, 46, onetime member of the 1980s band Big Hunk O’Cheese, said he always refers to AC/DC’s anthem “Back in Black” when talking about the lack of sound quality when it comes to MP3 recordings.
“It sounds washy,” he said, making the wa-wa-wa sounds himself. “You can’t tell if it’s a tambourine, a high-hat [drum], or maybe even maracas. I can’t really tell.”
McKeever said that if you really love a band, getting its new album on a compact disc is a much more satisfying sound than downloading it off iTunes, but if money weren’t an issue, he’d be more inclined to buy vinyl. For example, a new vinyl record typically costs $13 to $17 compared to $13 to $15 for a compact disc, according to Laura Fredericks at Finders Records in Bowling Green. A typical album download on iTunes costs $9.99 to $13.99.
Padding your collection is when the costs can start to pile up, with reissues and remasterings of old albums because “making a record is expensive,” Fredericks said.
“I have so many vinyl albums from before CDs were in and I could get a bunch of stuff on vinyl for cheap, but it’s not convenient when you want to listen to your favorite music on your commute,” said McKeever, a Bowling Green resident.
“Vinyl can be great but if it’s not calibrated right or if your needle is really worn it actually can gouge your records.”
And vinyl seems to be the retro thing to do right now with sales up 16.3 percent in 2012 from 2011, which also increased 39 percent from the previous year, according to Digital Music News.
That’s good news for local record stores, which also host special-incentive shopping days such as Record Store Day, held this year on April 20. Plus, a lot of new vinyl albums come with a CD or download card — “so it’s like a two for one,” Fredericks said — so you don’t have to pick or choose when it comes to sound quality or portability.
“It’s definitely cool and I was surprised to see last year that 5 million records were sold,” said McKeever, who has more than 1,000 pressings on vinyl and dozens of box sets on CD. “It can get expensive with the Beatles’ latest box set with 14 LPs costing more than $300 — it’s definitely not a poor man’s game. If you’re a sandwich artist at Subway it’s going to be hard to pull off, but there’s definitely a cool factor to it for sure.”
The hesitation is not really about card-related costs, she said. There’s an ATM in the corner for those needing to turn plastic into cash. It’s more about messing with tradition and the throwback feeling customers seem to like about John G’s, the restaurant founded by former Detroit dry cleaner John Giragos in 1973. The menu rarely changes. Several of his children including Yarbrough have worked there most of their lives and it’s still very much a family-run business since his death in 2010.
For four decades, it’s been cash only, no credit cards. It’s open for breakfast and lunch, no evening meals.
But sometimes there’s no getting out of the way of change.
After reconstruction moved it out of its longtime Lake Worth coastal perch in 2011, the restaurant loaded up its wooden booths and Tiffany lamps and fish nets and old-Florida decor and set up shop in Manalapan — just in time for a major bridge closing there.
Despite the mostly rave reviews (“best breakfast in South Florida!”), Yarbrough made an “oh brother” face while hearing a summary. She typically stands at the front of the dining area during operating hours, helping get people seated and smoothing out any problems.
“Sorry you had soggy French toast,” she said, smiling at the thought of an anonymous Internet commenter dashing off to tap that out. “If you had said something instead of running off to your computer, I’d have fixed it.”
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Heat streak at 20 after 98-94 win over 76ers
All of Miami's talent wasn't enough put away a Sixers team revved up like it was a playoff game. The Heat had a 10-point lead early in the fourth, but it wasn't enough, at least not yet.
Jrue Holiday, the 76ers' All-Star point guard, showed no fear of the moment when he dunked on a leaping James for the tying bucket.
James came right back and made one of two free throws for a 92-91 lead. Holiday dribbled the ball into Chris Bosh's leg, then off his own foot, leading to Wade's tip for a three-point lead after James missed twice at the rim. James drove from beyond the arc and missed from the right side, he put up his own rebound off the back of the rim, and Wade slid in underneath two Sixers defenders for the bucket.
"I miss two gimmes and D-Wade was able to tip 'em home," James said. "It was just great of him not giving up on the play and putting us up."
Wade scored 21 as the Heat needed big baskets over the final 2 minutes to top the Sixers for the milestone win. He stuck with the ball on James' misses and scored the clutch tip that made it a three-point lead with 29 seconds left that squashed the Sixers' upset bid.
"It shows you he, like many of our guys, are just willing to make winning plays at the end," coach Erik Spoelstra said.
James and the Heat have started to acknowledge just how special this winning streak is in a season that has them running away with the Eastern Conference.
They opened a five-game road trip as 8?-point favorites over the slumping Sixers, a team they've defeated three times during the streak. They beat Atlanta on Tuesday for streak win No. 19, then made the flight to Philadelphia that put them in just before dawn.
"You get sleep when you can and do your job," center Chris Bosh said.
Maybe fatigue played a bit of a role in Miami's inability to truly put away the Sixers. Led by Thaddeus Young, the Sixers opened the third quarter on a 16-8 run that helped slice the lead to four. Miami led 71-66 at the end of the quarter.
The Sixers hung around in the fourth, too. Dorell Wright hit a 3-pointer to make it a six-point game and he followed with a steal and fast-break dunk to cut it 82-78. Sixers fans coming to see a slice of history were suddenly rooting for history denied. Philadelphia's fans started going wild to the "Make Some Noise!" sign on the video board and started singing the catchy anthem, "1-2-3-4-5-Sixers!"
"At the end, we just couldn't come up with that one rebound," coach Doug Collins said. "I thought we executed, got some shots at the end, and just couldn't quite find a way to get over the top."
Fans in Heat jerseys dotted the arena and dozens packed the baseline three rows deep snapping pictures of Miami's pregame drills. James wowed them with some around-the-back reverses that served as a sneak peek for what was ahead.
James, the reigning MVP, turned the second quarter into his own dunk contest. It helped that he didn't have any competition.
With flair, James threw down thunderous dunks about every time he touched the ball. His best came on a reverse he brought between the legs that had the sellout crowd of 20,398 "Oooohhhh!" in amazement. His dunk capped a 17-2 run that put the Heat up 10 and helped them cruise toward a 51-39 halftime lead.
But the first half wasn't all about James' dazzling dunks. The Heat had 14 assists on 19 baskets and Shane Battier came off the bench to hit a pair of lead-stretching 3-pointers. It's the kind of teamwork that has the Heat rolling.
"You have to have a unique group that are willing to sacrifice, a unique group willing to keep perspective of what we're playing for and not get caught up in all the noise outside," Spoelstra said. "There are so many distractions, not only in this league, but everyday life."
The Lions responded well and were soon deep in Civil Service territory where they were awarded a penalty which outside centre Doz Ward duly converted.
In earlier games, Claverdon have sat back on an early lead but this was not to be the case and they soaked up everything that Service could throw at them and returned it with interest.
The visitors tried to kick their way through but when they aimed for the corner winger Tom Johnson picked up the ball and darted 30 metres up field.
Fly-half James Williams expertly kicked for the corner and when Service failed to defend it properly, a loose ball was pounced on by flanker Andy Wenborn for the opening try of the match.
Ward slotted the extra two points from out wide and the Lions led 10-0 at half time.
Civil Service hit back strongly in the second half but Claverdon defended superbly to keep them at bay.
Constant infringements saw the referee warn Claverdon to be on the best behaviour but when second row Scott Conduit gave away another penalty the referee showed him a yellow card.
This was exactly the kick-start that Service needed and shortly after they burst through to score a converted try.
The sides were evened up when a Service player was shown yellow for indiscipline but the visitors scored the next points.
With the backs not lined up properly, a chip to the corner found the Service outside centre first to the ball to give them the lead. A failed conversion meant that there was only two points in this encounter with ten minutes remaining.
The crowd were still in good voice and this spurred Claverdon to exert constant pressure on the tired Civil Service defence.
When a Service player was deemed to go off his feet it was set up perfectly for Doz Ward who just found his mark with the penalty which bounced off the inside of the post and over to regain the lead.
Jrue Holiday, the 76ers' All-Star point guard, showed no fear of the moment when he dunked on a leaping James for the tying bucket.
James came right back and made one of two free throws for a 92-91 lead. Holiday dribbled the ball into Chris Bosh's leg, then off his own foot, leading to Wade's tip for a three-point lead after James missed twice at the rim. James drove from beyond the arc and missed from the right side, he put up his own rebound off the back of the rim, and Wade slid in underneath two Sixers defenders for the bucket.
"I miss two gimmes and D-Wade was able to tip 'em home," James said. "It was just great of him not giving up on the play and putting us up."
Wade scored 21 as the Heat needed big baskets over the final 2 minutes to top the Sixers for the milestone win. He stuck with the ball on James' misses and scored the clutch tip that made it a three-point lead with 29 seconds left that squashed the Sixers' upset bid.
"It shows you he, like many of our guys, are just willing to make winning plays at the end," coach Erik Spoelstra said.
James and the Heat have started to acknowledge just how special this winning streak is in a season that has them running away with the Eastern Conference.
They opened a five-game road trip as 8?-point favorites over the slumping Sixers, a team they've defeated three times during the streak. They beat Atlanta on Tuesday for streak win No. 19, then made the flight to Philadelphia that put them in just before dawn.
"You get sleep when you can and do your job," center Chris Bosh said.
Maybe fatigue played a bit of a role in Miami's inability to truly put away the Sixers. Led by Thaddeus Young, the Sixers opened the third quarter on a 16-8 run that helped slice the lead to four. Miami led 71-66 at the end of the quarter.
The Sixers hung around in the fourth, too. Dorell Wright hit a 3-pointer to make it a six-point game and he followed with a steal and fast-break dunk to cut it 82-78. Sixers fans coming to see a slice of history were suddenly rooting for history denied. Philadelphia's fans started going wild to the "Make Some Noise!" sign on the video board and started singing the catchy anthem, "1-2-3-4-5-Sixers!"
"At the end, we just couldn't come up with that one rebound," coach Doug Collins said. "I thought we executed, got some shots at the end, and just couldn't quite find a way to get over the top."
Fans in Heat jerseys dotted the arena and dozens packed the baseline three rows deep snapping pictures of Miami's pregame drills. James wowed them with some around-the-back reverses that served as a sneak peek for what was ahead.
James, the reigning MVP, turned the second quarter into his own dunk contest. It helped that he didn't have any competition.
With flair, James threw down thunderous dunks about every time he touched the ball. His best came on a reverse he brought between the legs that had the sellout crowd of 20,398 "Oooohhhh!" in amazement. His dunk capped a 17-2 run that put the Heat up 10 and helped them cruise toward a 51-39 halftime lead.
But the first half wasn't all about James' dazzling dunks. The Heat had 14 assists on 19 baskets and Shane Battier came off the bench to hit a pair of lead-stretching 3-pointers. It's the kind of teamwork that has the Heat rolling.
"You have to have a unique group that are willing to sacrifice, a unique group willing to keep perspective of what we're playing for and not get caught up in all the noise outside," Spoelstra said. "There are so many distractions, not only in this league, but everyday life."
The Lions responded well and were soon deep in Civil Service territory where they were awarded a penalty which outside centre Doz Ward duly converted.
In earlier games, Claverdon have sat back on an early lead but this was not to be the case and they soaked up everything that Service could throw at them and returned it with interest.
The visitors tried to kick their way through but when they aimed for the corner winger Tom Johnson picked up the ball and darted 30 metres up field.
Fly-half James Williams expertly kicked for the corner and when Service failed to defend it properly, a loose ball was pounced on by flanker Andy Wenborn for the opening try of the match.
Ward slotted the extra two points from out wide and the Lions led 10-0 at half time.
Civil Service hit back strongly in the second half but Claverdon defended superbly to keep them at bay.
Constant infringements saw the referee warn Claverdon to be on the best behaviour but when second row Scott Conduit gave away another penalty the referee showed him a yellow card.
This was exactly the kick-start that Service needed and shortly after they burst through to score a converted try.
The sides were evened up when a Service player was shown yellow for indiscipline but the visitors scored the next points.
With the backs not lined up properly, a chip to the corner found the Service outside centre first to the ball to give them the lead. A failed conversion meant that there was only two points in this encounter with ten minutes remaining.
The crowd were still in good voice and this spurred Claverdon to exert constant pressure on the tired Civil Service defence.
When a Service player was deemed to go off his feet it was set up perfectly for Doz Ward who just found his mark with the penalty which bounced off the inside of the post and over to regain the lead.
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Dell Inspiron 15 laptop with Windows
Let’s be honest here, we’re all geeks of one type or another: we love the latest and greatest, the neatest features, the fastest and sleekest gadgets and other technology out there. But such machines usually carry a matching price tag.
That spiffy new quad-core processor will add a few hundred dollars to your computer. Oh, you like that super-thin chassis with carbon-fiber reinforced composite and magnesium alloy? You won’t find that on the a budget machine. However, I bet if we step back and ask ourselves just how much performance someone really needs for day-to-day web and office-esque tasks, then we might able to forgo that Extreme Edition processor.
Instead, models like this dirt-cheap Dell Inspiron 15 can more than handle the average user and, despite its $299 price tag, comes very well configured. Gone are the days of laptops that had stripped down motherboards, missing ports, or could barely run the operating system it came with.
This Inspiron 15, a recently refreshed model 3521, is far from stripped. It starts with a dual-core Celeron 1007U processor; don’t let the Celeron name fool you though, this chip is actually somewhat impressive. It’s based on the same Ivy Bridge core as all the other 3rd gen CPUs, supports 64-bit, has the HD graphics GPU built-in, and is even a low-voltage chip coming out with a max TDP (Thermal Design Power) of 17W. It isn’t the go-to choice for media encoding, due to its 1.5GHz clock speed, but still has plenty of performance and battery life.
This model 3521 also comes equipped with 4GB of RAM and a 320GB hard drive, ensuring you’ll have a smooth experience running the preloaded Windows 8 operating system. The list of standard features includes Wireless-N, Bluetooth 4.0, HD webcam, two USB 3.0 ports, two USB 2.0 ports, Ethernet, media card reader, and HDMI video output. The ports and connectivity on this $299 laptop are equal or better than anything else you’ll find under $600 these days.
A few days ago, two little boys and their donkeys were scavenging for firewood in Afghanistan. For undisclosed reasons, Australian troops in the locality summoned assistance from a US helicopter, which promptly appeared and blew the little boys and their donkeys to pieces (''A 'few hundred' the price paid for two dead boys'', March 9, p11). At the same time, hundreds of totally innocent children are being imprisoned in tropical hell holes in Nauru and Papua New Guinea. These offshore prisons are euphemistically referred to as ''processing centres'', but no one is ever processed there and the children can expect to be imprisoned indefinitely.
I have never met an Australian who would willingly cause harm to any child, but in our name our morally bankrupt politicians of both major parties are authorising policies that see hundreds of children slaughtered and even greater numbers imprisoned indefinitely in our 20th-century versions of concentration camps.
Surely it is time for decent Australians to tell our politicians that enough is enough. Our troops should be withdrawn from Afghanistan immediately and all children should be freed from prison into what I believe will be a deeply caring community.
So, two small boys gathering firewood in a field in faraway Afghanistan are apparently slaughtered by Australian troops and the issue that captures our attention is not the tragedy of innocent young lives lost but just the question of how much their lives were worth.
What does it say about us that no one can bother to explain why they were killed, any more than they can explain why those who allegedly killed them were there in the first place?
It's a worthwhile exercise to rate the current (and previous) Assembly according to potential salary. How many MLAs could win a role as a departmental head on merit? How many would be worthy of an SES salary? But it is from this pretty shallow talent pool that we have to draw the ministers that tell departmental heads how to do their job.
As Evans points out, Canberra is very poorly served by ''the sterile game of government versus opposition, with a shadow government under the imperative to oppose everything and their tiny backbench faithfully following''. Any reforms that would enable all MLAs to positively contribute to the business of government would be welcome.
It would appear that the Australian War Memorial's new director, Brendan Nelson, seemingly with the imprimatur of the memorial's governing council, is intent on transforming the Anzac dawn service into some form of entertainment event otherwise seen at theme parks such as Disneyland. Dr Nelson, who confesses to having never been to a Canberra dawn service or Anzac Day march (ABC 666 interview of Thursday, March 7) has failed to come to understand that the growing numbers that attend the dawn service do not participate to be entertained.
Rather, they attend to contemplate in silence and with personal dignity the service and sacrifice that all service men and women have made over many years. His plans for the dawn service as outlined in the article ''Walls will come alive this Anzac Day'' (March 9, p1) fly in the face of the purpose and charter of the War Memorial as it was originally conceived. It is, in simplistic terms, a place for solemn reflection. It was never intended to be a place of entertainment or theatre.
To see the ''staged theatre'' of Friday, March 8, when Dr Nelson and Corporal Ben Roberts-Smith arrived at the memorial in an army vehicle to announce the dawn service plans was more in keeping with his previous life when resident in the big house on the south side of the lake.
Political theatre of the ilk of last Friday is neither befitting nor appropriate for the operation of the War Memorial and should be roundly condemned by its council.
That spiffy new quad-core processor will add a few hundred dollars to your computer. Oh, you like that super-thin chassis with carbon-fiber reinforced composite and magnesium alloy? You won’t find that on the a budget machine. However, I bet if we step back and ask ourselves just how much performance someone really needs for day-to-day web and office-esque tasks, then we might able to forgo that Extreme Edition processor.
Instead, models like this dirt-cheap Dell Inspiron 15 can more than handle the average user and, despite its $299 price tag, comes very well configured. Gone are the days of laptops that had stripped down motherboards, missing ports, or could barely run the operating system it came with.
This Inspiron 15, a recently refreshed model 3521, is far from stripped. It starts with a dual-core Celeron 1007U processor; don’t let the Celeron name fool you though, this chip is actually somewhat impressive. It’s based on the same Ivy Bridge core as all the other 3rd gen CPUs, supports 64-bit, has the HD graphics GPU built-in, and is even a low-voltage chip coming out with a max TDP (Thermal Design Power) of 17W. It isn’t the go-to choice for media encoding, due to its 1.5GHz clock speed, but still has plenty of performance and battery life.
This model 3521 also comes equipped with 4GB of RAM and a 320GB hard drive, ensuring you’ll have a smooth experience running the preloaded Windows 8 operating system. The list of standard features includes Wireless-N, Bluetooth 4.0, HD webcam, two USB 3.0 ports, two USB 2.0 ports, Ethernet, media card reader, and HDMI video output. The ports and connectivity on this $299 laptop are equal or better than anything else you’ll find under $600 these days.
A few days ago, two little boys and their donkeys were scavenging for firewood in Afghanistan. For undisclosed reasons, Australian troops in the locality summoned assistance from a US helicopter, which promptly appeared and blew the little boys and their donkeys to pieces (''A 'few hundred' the price paid for two dead boys'', March 9, p11). At the same time, hundreds of totally innocent children are being imprisoned in tropical hell holes in Nauru and Papua New Guinea. These offshore prisons are euphemistically referred to as ''processing centres'', but no one is ever processed there and the children can expect to be imprisoned indefinitely.
I have never met an Australian who would willingly cause harm to any child, but in our name our morally bankrupt politicians of both major parties are authorising policies that see hundreds of children slaughtered and even greater numbers imprisoned indefinitely in our 20th-century versions of concentration camps.
Surely it is time for decent Australians to tell our politicians that enough is enough. Our troops should be withdrawn from Afghanistan immediately and all children should be freed from prison into what I believe will be a deeply caring community.
So, two small boys gathering firewood in a field in faraway Afghanistan are apparently slaughtered by Australian troops and the issue that captures our attention is not the tragedy of innocent young lives lost but just the question of how much their lives were worth.
What does it say about us that no one can bother to explain why they were killed, any more than they can explain why those who allegedly killed them were there in the first place?
It's a worthwhile exercise to rate the current (and previous) Assembly according to potential salary. How many MLAs could win a role as a departmental head on merit? How many would be worthy of an SES salary? But it is from this pretty shallow talent pool that we have to draw the ministers that tell departmental heads how to do their job.
As Evans points out, Canberra is very poorly served by ''the sterile game of government versus opposition, with a shadow government under the imperative to oppose everything and their tiny backbench faithfully following''. Any reforms that would enable all MLAs to positively contribute to the business of government would be welcome.
It would appear that the Australian War Memorial's new director, Brendan Nelson, seemingly with the imprimatur of the memorial's governing council, is intent on transforming the Anzac dawn service into some form of entertainment event otherwise seen at theme parks such as Disneyland. Dr Nelson, who confesses to having never been to a Canberra dawn service or Anzac Day march (ABC 666 interview of Thursday, March 7) has failed to come to understand that the growing numbers that attend the dawn service do not participate to be entertained.
Rather, they attend to contemplate in silence and with personal dignity the service and sacrifice that all service men and women have made over many years. His plans for the dawn service as outlined in the article ''Walls will come alive this Anzac Day'' (March 9, p1) fly in the face of the purpose and charter of the War Memorial as it was originally conceived. It is, in simplistic terms, a place for solemn reflection. It was never intended to be a place of entertainment or theatre.
To see the ''staged theatre'' of Friday, March 8, when Dr Nelson and Corporal Ben Roberts-Smith arrived at the memorial in an army vehicle to announce the dawn service plans was more in keeping with his previous life when resident in the big house on the south side of the lake.
Political theatre of the ilk of last Friday is neither befitting nor appropriate for the operation of the War Memorial and should be roundly condemned by its council.
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Transit Windsor rides away with big budget boost
The buses, some of them old with huge numbers on the odometer, can arrive late and often overcrowded, and passengers gripe about long waits along sometimes inconvenient routes.
And yet the number of Windsorites choosing Transit Windsor as their local mode of transportation continues to climb.
“Me, my son and my fiance, we use it daily,” Jennifer Clark said Thursday between transferring buses at the downtown depot. The young west-side mother, five-year-old son holding her hand, were on their way to a doctor’s appointment.
Transit Windsor carried six million passengers in 2012, up 3.5 per cent from the previous year. City council appears to have recognized the growing importance of the local bus service with Monday’s budget injecting $2.4 million in new funds into it.
“It’s a transit system that wants to burst — there is a desire by this community to see an enhanced service,” said Coun. Bill Marra, chairman of the Transit Windsor board. “I think our city is ready for public transit to be taken to the next level.”
The biggest chunk of the new funds — $1.7 million — is to start implementation of a GPS-guided vehicle location system. Dispatchers will soon know the exact location and passenger load of each bus, with dispatchers able to keep track of what’s running behind schedule and add buses where needed.
The new system will include a transit trip planner, enabling those with smartphones or computer access to view in real time where their bus is and when it should arrive at their stop. There will be on-board security cameras to improve safety for drivers and passengers.
“Elsewhere, they’ve served as a very good deterrent,” said Marra. Automated stop announcements will provide verbal assistance to passengers both inside the bus and waiting at the stops outside.
“We envision having info centres, with screens where you can track bus locations, at key community locations like the college and university,” said Marra.
Crosstown 2 and Transway 1C, two routes with heavy ridership, will see more frequent buses and enhanced service levels under the plan, which begins Sept. 1. The Lauzon 10 will add service to the WFCU Centre, in part to accommodate the wishes of seniors who have their east-side community centre there.
Bus advocates came prepared for Monday’s city budget meeting. Representatives of local youth, seniors and environmental groups all appeared as delegations to lobby council for the service enhancements Transit Windsor was seeking.
Going into the budget session, Mayor Eddie Francis, siding with an administration tasked with finding every possible savings, said he wasn’t in favour of additional dollars going into Transit Windsor’s operational budget, but Marra indicated he had the majority of his colleagues on-side. Any political showdown was avoided, however, when the mayor introduced his enhanced capital budget that included $2.4 million in new transit spending.
While the regular capital budget included nothing for new buses in 2013, council also approved lifting a freeze on such spending, that had previously been allocated, in the 2012 budget. Transit Windsor general manager Penny Williams said the approximately $1.8 million freed up will translate into four new “clean-diesel” buses she hopes to have in service before the end of the year.
Going into Monday’s budget session, administration had recommended a million dollar cut (3.5-per-cent cut) in Transit Windsor spending for 2013, down to $28.8 million, with a total taxpayer contribution of $12.4 million (the rest is made up of fares, fuel tax and other grants).
“We’ve got $2.4 million that was not contemplated before … this is a leap of faith, but an incredibly important one,” Marra told his colleagues. There was also a $400,000 boost to Transit Windsor’s fleet maintenance budget to help with the higher cost of keeping some of the older buses on the street.
“This certainly was good news,” said Williams. The new money also meant Transit Windsor could forgo a planned fare hike.
Williams said Transit Windsor has 104 buses, with between 86 and 89 on the road on any given day. Twelve of those buses have an average of 921,000 kilometres on the odometer.
The extra funds for fleet maintenance and route service improvements — a total of $700,000 — are only for this year, but Marra said he’s confident the service enhancements coming should boost ridership numbers and revenue. The new investments also trigger additional fuel tax grants from the province, he said.
“There’s a huge potential for revenue development,” Trevor Fairlie, a member of the mayor’s youth advisory committee, told council this week. He said 40 per cent of Transit Windsor’s users are youths and that segment of the ridership is increasing at triple the overall rate.
“Transit and youth are a key component of the downtown (transformation),” Fairlie said.
Waiting for his bus Thursday, Blake Gracka, who came to Windsor from Ottawa to study film and media at the University of Windsor, responded with enthusiasm at the news of what was coming. He said overcrowding in the day and safety concerns at night, as well as lack of convenience, see him often preferring to walk the up to five kilometres to his classes.
It’s been a rough winter for Hollywood. Usually, at least a few films break out of the grey January and February doldrums to become hits. This year, so far, the biggest film has been Identity Thief, which earned horrible reviews but $110 million at the global box office. Misses include Broken City, Beautiful Creatures and The Last Stand. According to Box Office Mojo, the winter box office was down 39% from 2012.
Hollywood is hoping things will take a turn this weekend with Disney’s Oz The Great And Powerful. The movies stars James Franco as Oz, a magician from Kansas who lands in the land of Oz and befriends three witches played by Mila Kunis, Michelle Williams and Rachael Weisz. It’s a sort of prequel to the 1939 classic and it could earn as much as $85 million at the box office this weekend, according to Exhibitor Relations.
And yet the number of Windsorites choosing Transit Windsor as their local mode of transportation continues to climb.
“Me, my son and my fiance, we use it daily,” Jennifer Clark said Thursday between transferring buses at the downtown depot. The young west-side mother, five-year-old son holding her hand, were on their way to a doctor’s appointment.
Transit Windsor carried six million passengers in 2012, up 3.5 per cent from the previous year. City council appears to have recognized the growing importance of the local bus service with Monday’s budget injecting $2.4 million in new funds into it.
“It’s a transit system that wants to burst — there is a desire by this community to see an enhanced service,” said Coun. Bill Marra, chairman of the Transit Windsor board. “I think our city is ready for public transit to be taken to the next level.”
The biggest chunk of the new funds — $1.7 million — is to start implementation of a GPS-guided vehicle location system. Dispatchers will soon know the exact location and passenger load of each bus, with dispatchers able to keep track of what’s running behind schedule and add buses where needed.
The new system will include a transit trip planner, enabling those with smartphones or computer access to view in real time where their bus is and when it should arrive at their stop. There will be on-board security cameras to improve safety for drivers and passengers.
“Elsewhere, they’ve served as a very good deterrent,” said Marra. Automated stop announcements will provide verbal assistance to passengers both inside the bus and waiting at the stops outside.
“We envision having info centres, with screens where you can track bus locations, at key community locations like the college and university,” said Marra.
Crosstown 2 and Transway 1C, two routes with heavy ridership, will see more frequent buses and enhanced service levels under the plan, which begins Sept. 1. The Lauzon 10 will add service to the WFCU Centre, in part to accommodate the wishes of seniors who have their east-side community centre there.
Bus advocates came prepared for Monday’s city budget meeting. Representatives of local youth, seniors and environmental groups all appeared as delegations to lobby council for the service enhancements Transit Windsor was seeking.
Going into the budget session, Mayor Eddie Francis, siding with an administration tasked with finding every possible savings, said he wasn’t in favour of additional dollars going into Transit Windsor’s operational budget, but Marra indicated he had the majority of his colleagues on-side. Any political showdown was avoided, however, when the mayor introduced his enhanced capital budget that included $2.4 million in new transit spending.
While the regular capital budget included nothing for new buses in 2013, council also approved lifting a freeze on such spending, that had previously been allocated, in the 2012 budget. Transit Windsor general manager Penny Williams said the approximately $1.8 million freed up will translate into four new “clean-diesel” buses she hopes to have in service before the end of the year.
Going into Monday’s budget session, administration had recommended a million dollar cut (3.5-per-cent cut) in Transit Windsor spending for 2013, down to $28.8 million, with a total taxpayer contribution of $12.4 million (the rest is made up of fares, fuel tax and other grants).
“We’ve got $2.4 million that was not contemplated before … this is a leap of faith, but an incredibly important one,” Marra told his colleagues. There was also a $400,000 boost to Transit Windsor’s fleet maintenance budget to help with the higher cost of keeping some of the older buses on the street.
“This certainly was good news,” said Williams. The new money also meant Transit Windsor could forgo a planned fare hike.
Williams said Transit Windsor has 104 buses, with between 86 and 89 on the road on any given day. Twelve of those buses have an average of 921,000 kilometres on the odometer.
The extra funds for fleet maintenance and route service improvements — a total of $700,000 — are only for this year, but Marra said he’s confident the service enhancements coming should boost ridership numbers and revenue. The new investments also trigger additional fuel tax grants from the province, he said.
“There’s a huge potential for revenue development,” Trevor Fairlie, a member of the mayor’s youth advisory committee, told council this week. He said 40 per cent of Transit Windsor’s users are youths and that segment of the ridership is increasing at triple the overall rate.
“Transit and youth are a key component of the downtown (transformation),” Fairlie said.
Waiting for his bus Thursday, Blake Gracka, who came to Windsor from Ottawa to study film and media at the University of Windsor, responded with enthusiasm at the news of what was coming. He said overcrowding in the day and safety concerns at night, as well as lack of convenience, see him often preferring to walk the up to five kilometres to his classes.
It’s been a rough winter for Hollywood. Usually, at least a few films break out of the grey January and February doldrums to become hits. This year, so far, the biggest film has been Identity Thief, which earned horrible reviews but $110 million at the global box office. Misses include Broken City, Beautiful Creatures and The Last Stand. According to Box Office Mojo, the winter box office was down 39% from 2012.
Hollywood is hoping things will take a turn this weekend with Disney’s Oz The Great And Powerful. The movies stars James Franco as Oz, a magician from Kansas who lands in the land of Oz and befriends three witches played by Mila Kunis, Michelle Williams and Rachael Weisz. It’s a sort of prequel to the 1939 classic and it could earn as much as $85 million at the box office this weekend, according to Exhibitor Relations.
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Rock star Sting to open rare art auction in Jodhpur palace
The auction is likely to see celebrities from Mumbai’s glamour world and top international collectors flock to the Umaid Bhavan Palace, Dadha said.
The piece de resistance of the sale is a recently discovered watercolour by England’s most iconic water colour artist J.M.W Turner, known for his classical European landscapes. The art work on sale is from a rare documentary series of 18th century India on the siege of Seringapatnam during the reign of Tipu Sultan.
“The art work has been authenticated for provenance by Turner experts Andrew Wilton and Ian Warrell in the UK,” the auction house owner said. Painted in the impressionistic style that characterised Turner’s art practise, the work shows the Cullaly Deedy water gates in the outer ramparts of Seringapatnam where Tipu Sultan sought refuge during the siege.
On sale is a rare eight-panel “verre eglomise (reverse gilded glass to mirror finish) metal screen by French avant garde artist and designer Etienne Drian celebrating the arrival of the first black jazz band in Paris. The panel, depicting five black musicians playing in a concert, is said to have been inspired by a live band that initiated Parisians to the musical genre. It is estimated at $1.1 million.
Other collectibles of rare provenance include decorative art deco and baroque accessories by designers Reenee Lalique, Lorenzo and Gilbert along with miniatures from the Rajasthan, Bundh and asoli, Kangra and Deogarh schools of royal art. An embellished collection of ceremonial daggers from the royal arsenals dating to the 18th century stands out for its intricate craftsmanship and antique value.
The Indian art section includes a collection of paintings by iconic modernists like Bamapada Banerjee, M.F. Husain, Ram Kumar and Jogen Chowdhury.
Explaining the reason for choosing Umaid Bhavan Palace as the venue, Dadha said: “Auctions in India are moving away from gallery spaces to luxury venues to fit into the lifestyle segments of the upend buyers who make up the bulk of the collectors of rare art and antiquities in the country.”
It was life imitating reality television. When a woman recently arrived at a valuation day offered by international auctioneers and valuers Bonhams in Melbourne, she clutched a dish her parents had brought to Australia from China.
It was a family heirloom, but the number of fakes made in China mean that's no guarantee of value, says John Chong, Bonhams' Hong Kong-based Chinese paintings and ceramics specialist.
"Sometimes it might not be of historical value, but it is quite important to them in terms of feelings so it is important that we take care of their feelings," Chong says. "We tell them it would not be suitable for auction, and they understand."
This time the client was in for a shock. "She did not know what she had," says Jennifer Gibson, head of furniture and decorative arts for Bonhams, Australia. "She occasionally put things in the bowl and definitely used it, God forbid."
That dish, an imperial yellow, will now be featured in Bonhams' May sale in Hong Kong, where it is expected to fetch more than HK$60,000. Also consigned for sale will be a white glazed bowl, whose owner did know it was valuable and wanted to know what price it might fetch, along with several paintings and scrolls.
For Chong and Hong Kong colleague Vincent Wu, finding such treasures is one of the joys of valuation days. Bonhams' Hong Kong specialists have visited Australia twice yearly for two years. This year, with the recent opening of the London-based auction firm's Melbourne office, the pair spent two days there and two in Sydney.
There have been bigger surprises. A traditional Chinese painting by Wang Shimin (1592-1680) titled Stream, Mountain, Rain, Feeling (Landscape in the Manner of Huang Gongwang), sourced from Down Under in 2011, sold for HK$11.9 million, 10 times its estimate.
Chong and Gibson agree that with Australia's Chinese population growing, more buyers and collectors are based there, and there is a greater chance of finding choice items.
"There are a lot of Chinese migrants ... Naturally, their families brought quite a lot of their family collections with them when they emigrated to Australia," says Chong. "The younger generations probably inherited these items from their parents or grandparents and might not enjoy them as much and think maybe it's a good time to sell, so they come forward."
But half of the people who came to the office in Melbourne were Westerners, Gibson says. Some had family members who had travelled the world, buying from auctions. Others were downsizing and some from Britain had inherited from a family member with a military background.
Malaysian-born Chong, who studied in Britain, says he entered the field because of his passion for it: "For an Asian to pursue the arts is very different. A lot of parents want their children to be doctors or architects."
He says Chinese art and its valuation are "very delicate and very deep" topics. "You require a specialisation in the field, and we need to identify the fakes. In China a lot of people are making fakes that are very convincing, so we are providing this service to the public. We want to educate people and make sure they don't make rash decisions, because there are a lot of new buyers."
The piece de resistance of the sale is a recently discovered watercolour by England’s most iconic water colour artist J.M.W Turner, known for his classical European landscapes. The art work on sale is from a rare documentary series of 18th century India on the siege of Seringapatnam during the reign of Tipu Sultan.
“The art work has been authenticated for provenance by Turner experts Andrew Wilton and Ian Warrell in the UK,” the auction house owner said. Painted in the impressionistic style that characterised Turner’s art practise, the work shows the Cullaly Deedy water gates in the outer ramparts of Seringapatnam where Tipu Sultan sought refuge during the siege.
On sale is a rare eight-panel “verre eglomise (reverse gilded glass to mirror finish) metal screen by French avant garde artist and designer Etienne Drian celebrating the arrival of the first black jazz band in Paris. The panel, depicting five black musicians playing in a concert, is said to have been inspired by a live band that initiated Parisians to the musical genre. It is estimated at $1.1 million.
Other collectibles of rare provenance include decorative art deco and baroque accessories by designers Reenee Lalique, Lorenzo and Gilbert along with miniatures from the Rajasthan, Bundh and asoli, Kangra and Deogarh schools of royal art. An embellished collection of ceremonial daggers from the royal arsenals dating to the 18th century stands out for its intricate craftsmanship and antique value.
The Indian art section includes a collection of paintings by iconic modernists like Bamapada Banerjee, M.F. Husain, Ram Kumar and Jogen Chowdhury.
Explaining the reason for choosing Umaid Bhavan Palace as the venue, Dadha said: “Auctions in India are moving away from gallery spaces to luxury venues to fit into the lifestyle segments of the upend buyers who make up the bulk of the collectors of rare art and antiquities in the country.”
It was life imitating reality television. When a woman recently arrived at a valuation day offered by international auctioneers and valuers Bonhams in Melbourne, she clutched a dish her parents had brought to Australia from China.
It was a family heirloom, but the number of fakes made in China mean that's no guarantee of value, says John Chong, Bonhams' Hong Kong-based Chinese paintings and ceramics specialist.
"Sometimes it might not be of historical value, but it is quite important to them in terms of feelings so it is important that we take care of their feelings," Chong says. "We tell them it would not be suitable for auction, and they understand."
This time the client was in for a shock. "She did not know what she had," says Jennifer Gibson, head of furniture and decorative arts for Bonhams, Australia. "She occasionally put things in the bowl and definitely used it, God forbid."
That dish, an imperial yellow, will now be featured in Bonhams' May sale in Hong Kong, where it is expected to fetch more than HK$60,000. Also consigned for sale will be a white glazed bowl, whose owner did know it was valuable and wanted to know what price it might fetch, along with several paintings and scrolls.
For Chong and Hong Kong colleague Vincent Wu, finding such treasures is one of the joys of valuation days. Bonhams' Hong Kong specialists have visited Australia twice yearly for two years. This year, with the recent opening of the London-based auction firm's Melbourne office, the pair spent two days there and two in Sydney.
There have been bigger surprises. A traditional Chinese painting by Wang Shimin (1592-1680) titled Stream, Mountain, Rain, Feeling (Landscape in the Manner of Huang Gongwang), sourced from Down Under in 2011, sold for HK$11.9 million, 10 times its estimate.
Chong and Gibson agree that with Australia's Chinese population growing, more buyers and collectors are based there, and there is a greater chance of finding choice items.
"There are a lot of Chinese migrants ... Naturally, their families brought quite a lot of their family collections with them when they emigrated to Australia," says Chong. "The younger generations probably inherited these items from their parents or grandparents and might not enjoy them as much and think maybe it's a good time to sell, so they come forward."
But half of the people who came to the office in Melbourne were Westerners, Gibson says. Some had family members who had travelled the world, buying from auctions. Others were downsizing and some from Britain had inherited from a family member with a military background.
Malaysian-born Chong, who studied in Britain, says he entered the field because of his passion for it: "For an Asian to pursue the arts is very different. A lot of parents want their children to be doctors or architects."
He says Chinese art and its valuation are "very delicate and very deep" topics. "You require a specialisation in the field, and we need to identify the fakes. In China a lot of people are making fakes that are very convincing, so we are providing this service to the public. We want to educate people and make sure they don't make rash decisions, because there are a lot of new buyers."
Sunday, March 3, 2013
From dance group to construction company
A number of dance groups, mainly hailing from Bulawayo, stormed the scene and had multitudes of followers across the country. Although there were many talented groups that included, Girls La Musica and Exotic Dancers, Mambokadzi was the most popular outfit for the better part of that period.
Founded by actress, dancer and choreographer Enisia Mashusha (formerly with Amavithikazi), Mambokadzi changed the face of the local dance scene in many ways.
Mambokadzi toured locally and regionally and made Mashusha a household name. However, with the fall of dance group popularity and rise of pole dancers, Mambokadzi folded in 2010.
Because of her passion for challenging tasks, Mashusha has taken the Mambokadzi brand into a completely different field, construction.
“I ventured into construction because I enjoy tackling challenging tasks. I teamed up with people with experience in the construction industry to form the new company,” said Mashusha.
“We have been busy since the company was formed and I am gaining experience in this new exciting field. At the moment we are doing light jobs. We are working on driveways, roof and floor tiles as well as precast walls. We also do painting, which I have mastered well.
“When I started Mambokadzi dance group, there were very few female dancers making it on big stages like we did. We inspired many other young women to take up dancing and within two years, there were various groups across the country taking after us.
“In the same way, I realised that there are few women in the construction business and decided to venture into this field. I know many other women will be inspired to pursue this challenging task if Mambokadzi Construction Company does well.”
“I fell in love with arts before anything else that I do now. I participated in various arts disciplines when I was at school before enrolling at Amakhosi Theatre for professional training.”
During her days at Amakhosi, Mashusha participated in a number of national productions. She majored in dance and theatre and toured regionally.
She has also done a number of film productions that include an outstanding role in a movie titled Sores of Emmanuel.
She has featured in a number of plays at Theatre in the Park and Harare International Festival of the Arts.
In 2009 Mashusha formed a band that released an album titled Ndotamba. However, the album was poorly marketed and the band did not do any live shows. Mashusha says she will soon revive the band.
One choice is to create this jaw-dropping penthouse in downtown Birmingham with nearly any embellishment you can conceive from fantasy painting on a ceiling, to a powder room of solid onyx, to arches, coves and 18-inch crown moldings, all built on site by hand.
This interior took 3 1/2 years and cost $3.5 million, says the developer, Casey Askar. That does not count the cost of the building, a new five-story condo building on a corner in downtown Birmingham.
"When you're dealing with artists, nothing is on time," Askar says. "Everything takes twice as long and costs twice as much."
Throughout the rooms, pillars, arches and deep crown molding were all crafted on site. Three fireplaces are all deeply carved stone. The large media room is all hand-crafted mahogany, not only the walls but the ceiling.
Walls of the powder room are lined with full slabs of onyx, as opposed to onyx tiles, Askar says. "It had been sitting on the bottom of the ocean for centuries." The mirror was built from Venetian glass.
The master bathroom is a Roman extravaganza -- arches and coves, a shower and steam room for two, a Roman tub in the center, walls again of onyx, this time as tiles.
The kitchen is 29-by-19 feet with Wolf, Sub-Zero and Bosch appliances, elaborate Italian cabinetry, a built-in espresso machine, and a full-sized wine storage area that holds different temperatures for reds and whites.
The house has between 64 and 68 sconces or chandeliers, Askar says. He's no longer sure of the count.
All floors are marble slabs, and Askar notes that the marble workers installed them with no visible lines of grout. Heat to the unit is radiated through these floors.
Built between 2000 and 2004, 180 Pierce is a five-story building with commercial space on the ground floor and four condos stacked above. Heated parking is underground with a private elevator to the residential floors.
Founded by actress, dancer and choreographer Enisia Mashusha (formerly with Amavithikazi), Mambokadzi changed the face of the local dance scene in many ways.
Mambokadzi toured locally and regionally and made Mashusha a household name. However, with the fall of dance group popularity and rise of pole dancers, Mambokadzi folded in 2010.
Because of her passion for challenging tasks, Mashusha has taken the Mambokadzi brand into a completely different field, construction.
“I ventured into construction because I enjoy tackling challenging tasks. I teamed up with people with experience in the construction industry to form the new company,” said Mashusha.
“We have been busy since the company was formed and I am gaining experience in this new exciting field. At the moment we are doing light jobs. We are working on driveways, roof and floor tiles as well as precast walls. We also do painting, which I have mastered well.
“When I started Mambokadzi dance group, there were very few female dancers making it on big stages like we did. We inspired many other young women to take up dancing and within two years, there were various groups across the country taking after us.
“In the same way, I realised that there are few women in the construction business and decided to venture into this field. I know many other women will be inspired to pursue this challenging task if Mambokadzi Construction Company does well.”
“I fell in love with arts before anything else that I do now. I participated in various arts disciplines when I was at school before enrolling at Amakhosi Theatre for professional training.”
During her days at Amakhosi, Mashusha participated in a number of national productions. She majored in dance and theatre and toured regionally.
She has also done a number of film productions that include an outstanding role in a movie titled Sores of Emmanuel.
She has featured in a number of plays at Theatre in the Park and Harare International Festival of the Arts.
In 2009 Mashusha formed a band that released an album titled Ndotamba. However, the album was poorly marketed and the band did not do any live shows. Mashusha says she will soon revive the band.
One choice is to create this jaw-dropping penthouse in downtown Birmingham with nearly any embellishment you can conceive from fantasy painting on a ceiling, to a powder room of solid onyx, to arches, coves and 18-inch crown moldings, all built on site by hand.
This interior took 3 1/2 years and cost $3.5 million, says the developer, Casey Askar. That does not count the cost of the building, a new five-story condo building on a corner in downtown Birmingham.
"When you're dealing with artists, nothing is on time," Askar says. "Everything takes twice as long and costs twice as much."
Throughout the rooms, pillars, arches and deep crown molding were all crafted on site. Three fireplaces are all deeply carved stone. The large media room is all hand-crafted mahogany, not only the walls but the ceiling.
Walls of the powder room are lined with full slabs of onyx, as opposed to onyx tiles, Askar says. "It had been sitting on the bottom of the ocean for centuries." The mirror was built from Venetian glass.
The master bathroom is a Roman extravaganza -- arches and coves, a shower and steam room for two, a Roman tub in the center, walls again of onyx, this time as tiles.
The kitchen is 29-by-19 feet with Wolf, Sub-Zero and Bosch appliances, elaborate Italian cabinetry, a built-in espresso machine, and a full-sized wine storage area that holds different temperatures for reds and whites.
The house has between 64 and 68 sconces or chandeliers, Askar says. He's no longer sure of the count.
All floors are marble slabs, and Askar notes that the marble workers installed them with no visible lines of grout. Heat to the unit is radiated through these floors.
Built between 2000 and 2004, 180 Pierce is a five-story building with commercial space on the ground floor and four condos stacked above. Heated parking is underground with a private elevator to the residential floors.
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