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Daily Archives: June 1, 2017
Latest ‘Pirates’ sequel rides on high seas – Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal
Posted: June 1, 2017 at 10:54 pm
Anyone who respects the Law of Diminishing Returns mustve wondered if the world needed another Pirates of the Caribbean movie.
Theyd lost their snap and sparkle in recent outings, and Johnny Depps turn as Captain Jack Sparrow became forced.
My hopes werent high for Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, and the reviews werent good.
But the movie, the fifth one of the series, turns out to be an unexpected return to form. By that, I mean its fun, the actions over the top and the laughs often come straight from the belly.
Brenton Thwaites plays Henry Turner, whos trying to break the curse on his father, Will Turner (Orlando Bloom). Along the way, he runs into the fetching Carina Smyth (Kaya Scodelario), who also has unresolved issues with her father.
Its clear the newcomers have feelings for each other, even if they cant see. Luckily, Sparrow is there to point it out. Hes also there to make sure things work out in his drunken, haphazard way.
But this isnt exactly the old Jack. Henry and Carina find him in the dumps. His old enemy Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) makes an alliance with another old enemy, Salazar (Javier Bardem), and they have Jack in their sights.
Because this is a Pirates of the Caribbean movie, Salazar and his crew are cursed. They all resemble the mangled corpses they became after their first run-in with Jack. The filmmakers do an excellent job of mixing makeup and computer effects to render the characters in a believable way.
There are some problems. A crucial part of the story contradicts the way things happened in an earlier installment. Another inconsistency isnt as important, but it is distracting. Im sure a close watching of the movie would reveal other logical lapses.
But, hey, nobody expects consistency from a Jerry Bruckheimer production. What they expect are fight scenes, daring escapes and explosions not necessarily in that order. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales delivers all three, along with plenty of laughs.
Captain Jack Sparrow has his mojo back, and thats probably because the film doesnt rest on Depps performance. Henry and Carina have missions to complete and falling in love to do; Salazar needs his long-sought revenge; and Barbossa shows a side of his character hes never revealed before.
The filmmakers have a question to ask before they decide to make another sequel and tempt the Law of Diminishing Returns: Wouldnt it be better to end on a high note?
Because Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales is frothy fun on the high seas. I give it a B plus.
Its showing at Malcos in Tupelo, Oxford, Corinth and Columbus, as well as Hollywood Premier Cinemas in Starkville and Movie Reel 4 in New Albany.
Look for movie reviews in Scene on Thursdays, and listen each Tuesday on Wizard 106.7 between 4:30 and 5 p.m.
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Latest 'Pirates' sequel rides on high seas - Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal
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LEARNING ON THE HIGH SEAS – Jamestown Press
Posted: at 10:54 pm
SIXTH-GRADERS SET SAIL DURING SCIENCE CLASS
ABOVE: Students in Charlene Tuttles sixth-grade science class sail past the Dutch Island Light on a privately owned sailboat. The West Passage field trip was part of their study of forces. Never has science class been such a breeze.
Lawn School students from Charlene Tuttles sixth-grade class sailed through Dutch Harbor last week aboard Hobie catamarans to learn about force and forward motion. The fledgling skippers were tasked with translating lessons they learned in the classroom into a circumnavigation of Dutch Island, located about one-third of a mile from West Ferry. Not only did the students heed Tuttles instructions, Meg Myles from the Conanicut Island Sailing Foundation led dry runs in the schools courtyard. The classmates took turns sailing on the pavement to get used to the boats controls.
Myles and the foundation supervised the May 25 live exercises and also provided the boats. Crews of four students with an instructor onboard set sail from Dutch Harbor Boat Yard while the remainder joined Tuttle on a privately owned yacht.
BELOW: Eva Junge, instructor Haley Barber, Reese Montoya, Polina Wright and Maren Kalberer, left to right, sail toward the Jamestown bridge aboard a Hobie Cat during the science lesson. PHOTOS BY ANDREA VON HOHENLEITEN Theyre learning aerodynamics, where the wind is coming from and how sailboats work, Tuttle said. We live on an island and the world is seventh-eighths water, so its important to know how to sail and be on the water.
The idea sprung from a discussion between Tuttle and Myles late last year.
It was a really beautiful stroke of luck, Tuttle said. We were looking ahead at upcoming units, and we were talking about the potential to maybe go sailing as part of the forces unit.
Before setting sail on Dutch Harbor, students learned the basics of sailing in the Lawn School courtyard. Meg Myles from the Conanicut Island Sailing Foundation led the lessons. PHOTO BY ANDREA VON HOHENLEITEN Incorporating the sport not only would teach the class how forces affected real-life situations, Myles said, but it would be a memorable way to learn. After the idea was approved by the schools administration, two dry sailing lessons were added to Tuttles agenda, one in the morning and the other in the early afternoon. Both of her classes participated.
The first sailing lesson was May 22, when the students completed dry-land drills aboard a wooden pram and a Hobie, a small double-hulled sailboat typically used by beginners. Following a crash course on the basics of sailing, the classes were taught science concepts that tied into their adventure.
We talked about how sails work and how they work together, and how air hits the sail and moves from high to low pressure, Myles said. It was a great example of science in real life.
T.J. Coleman, a student in Tuttles class, said the practice helped him prepare for the real deal two days later.
I didnt know how to sail before, but now Im more experienced than I used to be, he said. When youre learning to sail, youre learning to do new things.
Apart from one Hobie venturing off track toward the Jamestown bridge, the excursions were a success. As they were sailing on open water, the students took turns steering their boats and operating the sails. After circling Dutch Island, the students returned to the boatyard with 90 minutes of sailing under their belts.
Stephanie Holland said she has a newfound knowledge about how pressure affects sailing vessels. I learned that a lot of the pressure is from the wind, the water and the current, she said.
It was really helpful to see how all the difference forces are used together, especially out there in the environment where we actually do things for real, not just in class, added classmate
McKenzie Gardner.
Although Gardner had sailed before, she had never circumnavigated Dutch Island. She said that the experience varied in its difficulty.
It was a little bit hard, she said. We had to sail against the current because it was stronger out in the front of Dutch, but once we got around, it was easier.
Jackson Fortenberry, who was one of the students that manned the private yacht, said he learned how the wind affected the boats movement.
There were some points where we were really slow, and there was no real wind there, he said. And then there were some points where there was a lot of wind and we were going really fast.
Fortenberry also got a chance to steer the yacht, an experience he called one of a kind.
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BWW Review: Stratford Festival’s HMS PINAFORE Hits the High Seas, High Notes, and High Marks – Broadway World
Posted: at 10:54 pm
Gilbert and Sullivan's HMS PINAFORE is gracing the Stratford Festival stage for the first time in 25 years and only the fourth time in the history of the festival. Mounted at the Avon Theatre, directed by Lezlie Wade, and choreographed by Kerry Gage, this production possesses the perfect balance of fun, ridiculousness and sentiment. The music is gorgeous, the company is brilliant and as a whole, it is simply delightful.
The musical opens as guests and staff at a 1917 Manor Home prepares to put on a New Year's Eve production of HMS PINAFORE. We are introduced to all the key players during this overture, albeit in different attire and some of different social rank than the characters they are about to portray. The commentary on social rank and the irrationality of it is a major theme and it is rightfully ever present.
As the play within the play begins, we to witness Douglas Paraschuk's beautiful and clever Set Design to its full extent. As a stairwell turns and reveals the cabin and cockpit of a ship, and the well-choreographed ensemble adds ladders and ropes as they fluidly move about, the Manor-Home transforms into a ship and the audience is immediately transported aboard the Pinafore. At the core of HMS PINAFORE is a love story between a clever yet lowly Seaman, Ralph Rackstraw (the charismatic Mark Uhre) and Josephine, the Captain's daughter (the exquisite Jennifer Rider-Shaw). Josephine's father, Captain Corcoran, played by the always hilarious Steve Ross wants her to marry above her station, not below it, and has arranged for her to meet and hopefully marry Sir Joseph Porter The First Lord of the Admiralty, played by the incredibly entertaining Laurie Murdoch. Meanwhile, Little Buttercup (the fantastic Lisa Horner), a bumboat woman with a wee bit of a crush on the Captain, has a long kept secret that is inevitably going to turn everything upside down, and Brad Rudy's Dick Deadeye is determined to prevent anyone from having a happy ending if he cannot have his own.
What makes this show so delightful is that its sources of humour come from incredibly clever and subversive lyrics and themes as well as incredibly silly melodrama and physical comedy. In a sense, there is 'something for everyone'-which is one of the reasons wHy Gilbert and Sullivan productions have been so successful, but for those who happen to appreciate both types of humour, this production is an absolute gift.
The two leads give stunning performances and are both true stars. Rider-Shaw has a golden voice and a commanding presence when she takes the stage alone for her performances of Sorry Her Lot and The Hours Creep On Apace. She is also fantastic when matched up with Ross and Murdoch for the best rendition of Never Mind the Why and Wherefore that I've seen. She is graceful and funny and can immediately win the audience over with a knowing glance or a well-timed glare or eye roll. Uhre is charming and funny with a knack for physical comedy and gorgeous singing voice. His energy seems boundless and his chemistry with Rider-Shaw is terrific. The love story between the two is intentionally over-the-top (to great effect) but at the same time, it is genuinely touching and honest. That has got to be a tough balance to strike, but they have certainly done it.
What helps to steer this ship (I made it further than anticipated without making an inevitable pun) is the beautiful music, performed by a live orchestra led by Music Director Franklin Brasz, and the outstanding ensemble of sailors and lasses who captivate the audience with their song and dance. The female ensemble members (Sir Joseph's sisters and cousin and aunts) are involved in more of the ensemble numbers than has been the case in some other productions of this musical. This undoubtedly elevates the entire production both from a visual standpoint because there are more performers on the stage and more movement and choreography to see, but also from an auditory perspective, because of the range and variety of voices that are singing the fabulous music. Each ensemble member almost has his or her own subtle story, and I noticed in the program, that the Swings (who cover ensemble parts if someone cannot go on) even have their own separate characters to be inserted if needed. It is clear that a great deal care went into making each and every member of the company, a full and thought-out character. This is the type of show that is worth seeing more than once, just to focus on a different ensemble member's performance each time.
As someone lucky enough to call Stratford home, each season there seems to be a production that I find myself attending multiple times, simply because of the way it makes me feel. This is that production. It has so much heart, is constantly funny, and boasts phenomenal performances. It also provides a social commentary that though specific to a certain time and place, is remarkably relatable even still.
HMS PINAFORE runs in repertory at the Avon Theatre until October 21st.
Photo Credit: Cylla von Tiedemann
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"Capturing the Quintessential Miami Water Views" Ross100 Condo Reports: What That Miami View Is Worth – PR Newswire (press release)
Posted: at 10:53 pm
MIAMI, June 1, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but exactly how much is that water view worth, and why are property owners willing to pay so much to have it? More than just something pleasant to look at, water views give condo owners the true Miami lifestyle experience.
According to a new Ross100Condo Report by Ross Milroy, Miami's luxury condo expert who specializes in properties $2M and above, some condos that feature a direct 'water view' sell for as much as twice that of a comparable unit with a 'city view.'
Not surprising, the biggest price discrepancy was found on South Beach where condos with a direct view of the ocean or bay bring $1,950 per square foot while the same unit that overlooks the city sells for $970 per square foot; a difference of 101%.
"Property owners in South Florida are looking to immerse themselves in everything Miami has to offer," said Milroy, who has worked with luxury condo buyers in Miami for nearly 20 years. "They are looking to escape the stresses and confines of everyday life by living in a home that gives them the open-feeling and vast views that never end. One of the best ways to do this is to come home to the tranquility and dynamism that water views provide."
People's desire to live near the water is nothing new; while we are no longer reliant on the sea to provide life resources, the feeling of well being that views of water provide is long entrenched into our subconscious.
Water view premiums can be found throughout Miami at buildings adjacent to the ocean, Biscayne Bay and even the Miami River. Buildings in downtown Miami including The Epic, 50 Biscayne and 900 Biscayne all show a wide price gap between condos with views and those without. At Ten Museum Park, the 50-story luxury downtown condo development, comparable condos are listed for sale at $1.1M for water view, and $759k for city view, a 49% difference to overlook the bay.
Although the water is not for everyone's taste or budget, the majority of those buying in Miami seek to immerse themselves into what is quintessentially Miami, a tropical beach paradise. "Buyers want to see the ocean, hear the water, feel the ocean breeze, and have a seamless experience of bringing the outdoors in and the indoors out," said Milroy.
Some want to take daily walks on the beach while others rest easy knowing their view will never be interrupted by new developments, but overwhelmingly, buyers seek water views for a better quality of life. They are drawn to, and are willing to pay for, views of the water that eases everyday stress and allows them to immerse themselves in the Miami lifestyle.
It was once a common saying about waterfront real estate: "when it's gone, it's gone." But new feats of engineering and ever-creative developers are breathing new life into the insatiable appetite for man to be near the water. In addition to man-made barrier islands in places like Dubai, ambitious projects are currently underway to offer custom floating man-made private islands in the UAE, Maldives and yes, even in Miami.
For more information or to schedule an interview with Ross Milroy, please contact James Goll, 305-577-3806, 162373@email4pr.com
Media and other services are granted permission to reuse, host, or report the information and images in this article. When doing so, we ask that you kindly attribute the author by linking to RossMiami.com. High resolution image available here: http://bit.ly/Waterviews
To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/capturing-the-quintessential-miami-water-views-ross100-condo-reports-what-that-miami-view-is-worth-300466901.html
SOURCE Ross Milroy Realty, LLC
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Pippa Middleton and James Matthews spotted honeymooning in Sydney – Camden Haven Courier
Posted: at 10:53 pm
31 May 2017, 12:44 p.m.
The travelling festival that is Pippa Middleton's honeymoon has arrived in Australia.
Pippa Middleton and James Matthews in Sydney on Wednesday morning. Photo: Janie Barrett
Pippa Middleton on a water taxi in Sydney on Wednesday. Photo: Janie Barrett
Pippa Middleton and James Matthews travelled on a water taxi with friends in Sydney on Wednesday. Photo: Janie Barrett
Pippa Middleton and James Matthews on a water taxi with friends in Sydney on Wednesday. Photo: Janie Barrett
Pippa Middleton and James Matthews kiss after their wedding at St Mark's Church. Photo: Getty Images
Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge speaks to Princess Charlotte and Prince George. Photo: Getty Images
Photo: Getty Images
Photo: Getty Images
The travelling festival that isPippa Middleton'shoneymoon has arrived in Australia.
The sister of the Duchess of Cambridge, and aunt to the third and fourth in line to the British throne, is enjoying some down time in Sydney with her new husband, financier James Matthews.
The pair were spotted by waiting paparazzi at Sydney Airport late on Tuesday night as they, reportedly, disembarked from a flight from New Zealand.
Photos of them touching down have since been snapped up by publications in Britain.
Sydney resident Steven Beale spotted the couple, who were incognito in large sunglasses and baseball caps, on Wednesday as he was walking to work just after 8am.
Pippa Middleton on a water taxi in Sydney on Wednesday. Photo: Janie Barrett
"I walked past her at the foot of the Harbour Bridge with her husband and, I think, a personal trainer," he told Fairfax Media as the couple ran toward North Sydney.
"[She] looked such a pro in her active wear," fellow Sydneysider Anna Frilingos told Fairfax Media, who also walked past them on her usual commute to work across the bridge.
"She was impressively keeping up with her husband and trainer, or guard dude. They seemed like they were loving running across the bridge and looking around."
Scroll through those wedding potos again. Just hit the image above.
Middleton, 33, is no stranger to rigorous work outs.
As an active runner and cyclist, she regularly competes in fun runs and ultra marathon events for charity. She completedher first marathonin the 30 degree heat in Kenya in 2015 and was the seventh female finisher. A week before that she rode about 87 kilometres from London to Brighton to raise awareness for the British Heart Foundation.
Prince George and Princess Charlotte served as page boy and page girl respectively.
The Duchess of Cambridge was in charge of wrangling the children, while princes William and Harry arrived at the ceremony together.
Harry's girlfriend,Suitsstar Meghan Markle, attended the receptionthat was hosted inside a glass marquee shipped in from Belgium.
The newlyweds have been holidaying since their nuptials on May 20.
They were spotted walking on the sand and paddle-boarding inTetiaroa a cluster of private islands in French Polynesia while enjoying the hospitality of The Brando, an exclusive $4000-a-night resort once owned by Marlon Brando.
The pair have arrived in Sydney at just the right time.
Their waterfront hotel, where suites cost about $2000 per night, will give them uninterrupted views of Sydney's Vivid Festival.
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Pippa Middleton and James Matthews spotted honeymooning in Sydney - Camden Haven Courier
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A Justin Option? Justin Martyr and the Ben-Op – National Catholic Register (blog)
Posted: at 10:52 pm
Blogs | Jun. 1, 2017
Christians must be countercultural but our countercultural stance must be balanced by two principles a lot of Benedict Option enthusiasts arent big on.
Oh please.
Not another option.
Not another half-thought-out Benedict Option alternative to add to the heap, along with theFrancis Option, theDominic Option, theAugustine Option, theGregorian Option, the David option and even theCatholic option.
Now, along with the Ben-Op, were going to talk about a Justin option? A Just-Op, as in Just Stop? (There, I said it first.)
Believe me, I get it.
Ive read a number of critiques of Rod Dreher and the Benedict Option, and Ive read a number of defenses. I appreciate the moral seriousness with which Dreher has approached and tried to address the problems facing serious Christians in the world today.
I find the whole Ben-Op debate fascinating, and in the end I have no particular brief either for or against the Ben-Op in itself partly because, for all Ive read about it, the concept is still somewhat fuzzy to me. (This may, indeed, be part of the point: that we are in a new situation and dont yet know exactly what to do.)
Insofar as I may have a critique, or at least a contrasting or supplementary point, its not so much aimed at anything in particular Ben-Op advocates or enthusiasts say aswhat I dont see them saying, at least not a lot.
I admit up front my reading has not been exhaustive, and I could be missing a great deal. But the relative silence that concerns me is clearly a feature of a lot of conservative dialogue among what could be called the Ben-Op constituencyat least, and today seems like the perfect day to address this.
Thats because today is the memorial of Saint Justin Martyr, best known for his First Apology (or Apologia), addressed to the Roman emperor Antoninus Pius, and his Second Apology, addressed to the Roman senate.
Among Justins briefs for the authorities of his day is the contentionthat Christians are not enemies of the state or the civil authorities. On the contrary, he maintains that good Christians are good citizens though Justin frankly admits that not all Christians are good Christians, and urges authorities to punish wrongdoers but not to blame Christians as a group.
Justin advocates a vision of Christianity as a fundamentally rational philosophy that puts Christians in accord with all reasonable men; in fact, to the extent that men have spoken or acted in accordance with reason, that is, the Logos, that is incarnate in Jesus Christ, they can be considered Christian in a way, even if they lived before Christ.
I think its instructive to consider Justins approach in light of what many Christians today seem to experience as a dilemma between Benedict Option and culture war.
I think I agree with Dreher on two points: First, culture war is no longer (if it ever was) a viable or helpful approach for Christians living in the world today. Insofar as Christians, particularly Christian conservatives, have defined our mode of engagement in terms of culture war, weve lost.
Second, Im in favor of intentional communities that foster a consciously countercultural ethos and a critique of the mainstream culture.(My parish is one, or rather there are intentional communitiesat our parish.)
Yet insofar as the Ben-Op is understood to entail, or at least correlates with, a strategic retreat or withdrawal from engagement with mainstream culture, I have concerns about where it leads.
I understand that Dreher has been at pains to deny that the withdrawal he has in mind means a head for the hills physical withdrawal. Well and good.
From what Ive read of Dreher and othe Ben-Op, though, I think I can speak of what might be called a Ben-Op mindset characterized by a) a lot of engagement with the likeminded, among whom b) mainstream culture is invoked primarily in a polemical mode, in terms of whats wrong with those outside the fold and the world they want.
To be sure, we need engagement with the likeminded. And, since our faith is countercultural, we must be clear both what we believe and where we think the culture has gone wrong.
But we must also be doing two other things that I dont see a lot of from Ben-Op advocates, and certainly from many among the Ben-Op constituency.
First, like Justin Martyr, we must be directly engaged not only with each other but with the mainstream culture. We need to talk a lot to people with outlooks very different from ours.
Whats more, our engagement must not be dominated by counterculturalpolemics and negativity. We must be countercultural, but we must balance our countercultural stance with positive engagement.
We must be able to step out of our comfort zones and recognize when and where those outside the fold (even people we may consider ideological opponents, and who may return the favor) have been touched by the light that lightens every man and arrived at valid insights and reasonable views. (I dont imagine Dreher would deny this, but with notable exceptions I dont see him doing a lot of it myself, and certainly there are a lot of Ben-Op enthusiasts who dont seem interested in doing it at all.)
Second, inseparably connected from the first, we need to do something else that has become far more pressing today than it was in Justins time: We must acknowledge frankly, both among ourselves and to the world, the extent to which individual Christians and even Christian leaders, organizations and communities have been part of whats wrong with the world instead of the solution to it.
Justin admitted to the emperor that there were bad Christians but he lived just a few decades from the age of apostles, at a time when Christians were powerless, often despised, and occasionally persecuted. Times have changed.
A lot of water has gone under the Milvian Bridge since Constantine legitimized Christianity in A.D. 313 and Theodosius made it the official religion of the Roman Empire in 380. Christians have much to be proud of in our 2,000-year history, but also much to be grieved over and to make amends for. Justin could afford to suppose that the odium fidei of his time was inspired by demons. We no longer have that luxury, alas.
Its true that Christian history has often been painted overly black by the Churchs critics and by critics of Western culture generally, particularly in academia. Its also true that Christians, particularly Christian conservatives, tend to err in the opposite direction.
We must recognize that sometimes the problem isnt them, or not just them.Sometimes the problem is us. Not just those Christians over there bad Christians but our own communities (yes, even our intentional Ben-Op communities!) andpotentially even our own hearts.
We must balance our countercultural stance with ongoing self-critical frankness. (Once again, Dreher wouldnt deny this, and on some topics he is more than willing to critique the failings of Christian communities and leadersnotably, and rightly, on the Catholic clerical sex-abuse scandal. But I dont see him emphasizing the need for this self-critical spirit in the Ben-Op communities he advocates. And, again, many Ben-Op enthusiasts are completely uninterested in anything of this sort.)
If we cant do these two things if we cant balance our countercultural stance with positive engagement and self-critical frankness then what we call our countercultural stance will devolve into mere tribalism.
We must transcend tribalism to make the case to our culture, as Justin did in his, that good Christians are good citizens, and a world that makes room for Christians will be a better world than one that crushes us underfoot.
Frankly, even this involves what has become in some ways an uphill battle. There are some who will never accept us. It may be tempting to focus on our most implacable opponents, shrug our shoulders, and say, No sense even trying.
But this would be a disastrous mistake. Progress is possible. If we cannot reach all, we can still reach many beginning, perhaps, with our own children.
In the long run, I suspect, our children will be less likely to keep the faith we wish to impart to them if they grow up with a one-sidedly countercultural, negative view of the world outside the fold and an insufficiently self-critical view of ourselves.
Reality itself will educate them as they learn that the people we taught them to think of as ideological enemies could be more reasonable than we allowed. And they will certainly discover the flaws in ourselves, and in the intentional communities in which we raised them, that we didnt want to acknowledge or think about.
Saint Justin Martyr, ora pro nobis.
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A Justin Option? Justin Martyr and the Ben-Op - National Catholic Register (blog)
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Curating Community through Intentional Placemaking – Urban Land
Posted: at 10:52 pm
Decades ago, who would have thought that the graffiti-covered walls of deteriorated industrial buildings would catalyze the regeneration of an entire urban community? The 2016 ULI Global Award for Excellence presented to Miamis Wynwood Walls underscores how all types of art can become the foundation for economically successful placemaking.
A panel at ULI Washingtons recent Trends Conference explored strategies for strengthening communities identity and economic vitality with arts programming and local institutions. The session was moderated by Andy Shallal, proprietor of Busboys and Poets, a combined bookstore, restaurant, and performance venue with several locations in the Washington, D.C., area.
Shallal pointed out that creative placemaking can lead to gentrification, which, in turn, can cause displacement. Successfully regenerating urban neighborhoods can quickly become too expensive for the artists and longtime residents who created their communities allure to begin with. Displacement is an unintended consequence, but we keep doing it, he said.
Displacement does not always occur, argued Jim Brooks of City Solutions. It happens in strong markets, but not necessarily in weaker ones. It can be avoided by building in affordability over the long term, he noted, through land trusts, covenants, and similar measures. He also cited the success of a number of HOPE VI projects, which preserved affordable housing for many longtime residents. There is always pressure to build for the market rate, he warned.
Heidi Zimmers organization, ArtSpace, is devoted to creating, fostering, and preserving affordable space for artists and arts organizations. Financing usually combines state and federal low-income housing tax credits with a variety of other sources to maintain income-qualified housing and/or studio space for artists. The need for this type of housing became obvious in 2016 when a fire killed 36 people in an Oakland, California, warehouse that had been converted to an artists collective.
In 2006, the Washington, D.C., Department of Housing and Community Development asked ArtSpace to help expand and renovate Dance Place, which had helped generate a renaissance of development and investment in the citys Brookland neighborhood since 1986. ArtSpace and Dance Place formed a partnership to create a unique arts complex that is being built in two phases. Phase I, the mixed-use Brookland ArtSpace Lofts, is now in operation, while fundraising is underway for the complete renovation and expansion of Dance Places existing theater. Brooklands subsequently built $250 million mixed-use Monroe Street Market, using no public funding, includes 27 artists studios designated affordable in perpetuity.
Since its founding in 1979, ArtSpace has expanded to operate in 20 states across the United States. Its completed projects include nearly 2,000 live/work units and millions of square feet of nonresidential community and commercial space.
Juanita Hardy, ULIs senior visiting fellow for creative placemaking, believes that collaboration is the key to successful arts-focused community redevelopment with minimal displacement. ULIs Building Healthy Places Initiative, as part of a two-year creative placemaking project funded by the Kresge Foundation, has identified ten best practices in this area, summarized below and in her article in the March/April 2017 issue of Urban Land magazine:
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Curating Community through Intentional Placemaking - Urban Land
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What The Future Of Caregiving Looks Like – Forbes
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Forbes | What The Future Of Caregiving Looks Like Forbes Where families are scattered or don't exist, we'll create intentional communities like the village movement to stay connected, he says. The thing about the Jetsons is they lived in a world with lots of cool technology, but what we liked was the family ... |
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CMBS adds archival intern for summer – Hillsboro Free Press
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MBS Director Peggy Goertzen with summer intern Jordan Duerrstein. His focus will be Mennonite communal life, both theologically and practically.
Duerrstein, who has spent a week in Hillsboro, is a seminary student at Wycliffe College at the University of Toronto.
He was selected from several strong candidates at various universities and colleges in U.S. and Canada as part of the five-week binational archival internship program during May and June.
Duerrstein came to Hillsboro after spending the first leg of the internship in Fresno, Calif., and he will head next to Abbotsford, B.C. The final stop in the internship is Winnipeg, Man.
We are delighted with this opportunity to showcase our unique Mennonite culture and history here through our record collections, artifacts and historic sites, said Peggy Goertzen, CMBS director.
Duerrsteins focus of study is Mennonite communal life, the theology that shaped it initially, the ways it has changed over time, and the prospects for forming intentional communities of faith today.
Prior to this internship, Duerrstein was a pastoral intern at FreeChurch in downtown Toronto, Ont. This year he will continue part-time seminary studies while serving as an associate pastor for The Meeting Place in Toronto.
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The Physics of Interstellar Travel : Explorations in …
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To one day, reach the stars.
When discussing the possibility of interstellar travel, there is something called the giggle factor. Some scientists tend to scoff at the idea of interstellar travel because of the enormous distances that separate the stars. According to Special Relativity (1905), no usable information can travel faster than light locally, and hence it would take centuries to millennia for an extra-terrestrial civilization to travel between the stars. Even the familiar stars we see at night are about 50 to 100 light years from us, and our galaxy is 100,000 light years across. The nearest galaxy is 2 million light years from us. The critics say that the universe is simply too big for interstellar travel to be practical.
Similarly, investigations into UFOs that may originate from another planet are sometimes the third rail of someones scientific career. There is no funding for anyone seriously looking at unidentified objects in space, and ones reputation may suffer if one pursues an interest in these unorthodox matters. In addition, perhaps 99% of all sightings of UFOs can be dismissed as being caused by familiar phenomena, such as the planet Venus, swamp gas (which can glow in the dark under certain conditions), meteors, satellites, weather balloons, even radar echoes that bounce off mountains. (What is disturbing, to a physicist however, is the remaining 1% of these sightings, which are multiple sightings made by multiple methods of observations. Some of the most intriguing sightings have been made by seasoned pilots and passengers aboard air line flights which have also been tracked by radar and have been videotaped. Sightings like this are harder to dismiss.)
But to an astronomer, the existence of intelligent life in the universe is a compelling idea by itself, in which extra-terrestrial beings may exist on other stars who are centuries to millennia more advanced than ours. Within the Milky Way galaxy alone, there are over 100 billion stars, and there are an uncountable number of galaxies in the universe. About half of the stars we see in the heavens are double stars, probably making them unsuitable for intelligent life, but the remaining half probably have solar systems somewhat similar to ours. Although none of the over 100 extra-solar planets so far discovered in deep space resemble ours, it is inevitable, many scientists believe, that one day we will discover small, earth-like planets which have liquid water (the universal solvent which made possible the first DNA perhaps 3.5 billion years ago in the oceans). The discovery of earth-like planets may take place within 20 years, when NASA intends to launch the space interferometry satellite into orbit which may be sensitive enough to detect small planets orbiting other stars.
So far, we see no hard evidence of signals from extra-terrestrial civilizations from any earth-like planet. The SETI project (the search for extra-terrestrial intelligence) has yet to produce any reproducible evidence of intelligent life in the universe from such earth-like planets, but the matter still deserves serious scientific analysis. The key is to reanalyze the objection to faster-than-light travel.
A critical look at this issue must necessary embrace two new observations. First, Special Relativity itself was superceded by Einsteins own more powerful General Relativity (1915), in which faster than light travel is possible under certain rare conditions. The principal difficulty is amassing enough energy of a certain type to break the light barrier. Second, one must therefore analyze extra-terrestrial civilizations on the basis of their total energy output and the laws of thermodynamics. In this respect, one must analyze civilizations which are perhaps thousands to millions of years ahead of ours.
The first realistic attempt to analyze extra-terrestrial civilizations from the point of view of the laws of physics and the laws of thermodynamics was by Russian astrophysicist Nicolai Kardashev. He based his ranking of possible civilizations on the basis of total energy output which could be quantified and used as a guide to explore the dynamics of advanced civilizations:
Type I: this civilization harnesses the energy output of an entire planet.
Type II: this civilization harnesses the energy output of a star, and generates about 10 billion times the energy output of a Type I civilization.
Type III: this civilization harnesses the energy output of a galaxy, or about 10 billion time the energy output of a Type II civilization.
A Type I civilization would be able to manipulate truly planetary energies. They might, for example, control or modify their weather. They would have the power to manipulate planetary phenomena, such as hurricanes, which can release the energy of hundreds of hydrogen bombs. Perhaps volcanoes or even earthquakes may be altered by such a civilization.
A Type II civilization may resemble the Federation of Planets seen on the TV program Star Trek (which is capable of igniting stars and has colonized a tiny fraction of the near-by stars in the galaxy). A Type II civilization might be able to manipulate the power of solar flares.
A Type III civilization may resemble the Borg, or perhaps the Empire found in the Star Wars saga. They have colonized the galaxy itself, extracting energy from hundreds of billions of stars.
By contrast, we are a Type 0 civilization, which extracts its energy from dead plants (oil and coal). Growing at the average rate of about 3% per year, however, one may calculate that our own civilization may attain Type I status in about 100-200 years, Type II status in a few thousand years, and Type III status in about 100,000 to a million years. These time scales are insignificant when compared with the universe itself.
On this scale, one may now rank the different propulsion systems available to different types of civilizations:
Type 0
Type I
Type II
Type III
Propulsion systems may be ranked by two quantities: their specific impulse, and final velocity of travel. Specific impulse equals thrust multiplied by the time over which the thrust acts. At present, almost all our rockets are based on chemical reactions. We see that chemical rockets have the smallest specific impulse, since they only operate for a few minutes. Their thrust may be measured in millions of pounds, but they operate for such a small duration that their specific impulse is quite small.
NASA is experimenting today with ion engines, which have a much larger specific impulse, since they can operate for months, but have an extremely low thrust. For example, an ion engine which ejects cesium ions may have the thrust of a few ounces, but in deep space they may reach great velocities over a period of time since they can operate continuously. They make up in time what they lose in thrust. Eventually, long-haul missions between planets may be conducted by ion engines.
For a Type I civilization, one can envision newer types of technologies emerging. Ram-jet fusion engines have an even larger specific impulse, operating for years by consuming the free hydrogen found in deep space. However, it may take decades before fusion power is harnessed commercially on earth, and the proton-proton fusion process of a ram-jet fusion engine may take even more time to develop, perhaps a century or more. Laser or photonic engines, because they might be propelled by laser beams inflating a gigantic sail, may have even larger specific impulses. One can envision huge laser batteries placed on the moon which generate large laser beams which then push a laser sail in outer space. This technology, which depends on operating large bases on the moon, is probably many centuries away.
For a Type II civilization, a new form of propulsion is possible: anti-matter drive. Matter-anti-matter collisions provide a 100% efficient way in which to extract energy from mater. However, anti-matter is an exotic form of matter which is extremely expensive to produce. The atom smasher at CERN, outside Geneva, is barely able to make tiny samples of anti-hydrogen gas (anti-electrons circling around anti-protons). It may take many centuries to millennia to bring down the cost so that it can be used for space flight.
Given the astronomical number of possible planets in the galaxy, a Type II civilization may try a more realistic approach than conventional rockets and use nano technology to build tiny, self-replicating robot probes which can proliferate through the galaxy in much the same way that a microscopic virus can self-replicate and colonize a human body within a week. Such a civilization might send tiny robot von Neumann probes to distant moons, where they will create large factories to reproduce millions of copies of themselves. Such a von Neumann probe need only be the size of bread-box, using sophisticated nano technology to make atomic-sized circuitry and computers. Then these copies take off to land on other distant moons and start the process all over again. Such probes may then wait on distant moons, waiting for a primitive Type 0 civilization to mature into a Type I civilization, which would then be interesting to them. (There is the small but distinct possibility that one such probe landed on our own moon billions of years ago by a passing space-faring civilization. This, in fact, is the basis of the movie 2001, perhaps the most realistic portrayal of contact with extra-terrrestrial intelligence.)
The problem, as one can see, is that none of these engines can exceed the speed of light. Hence, Type 0,I, and II civilizations probably can send probes or colonies only to within a few hundred light years of their home planet. Even with von Neumann probes, the best that a Type II civilization can achieve is to create a large sphere of billions of self-replicating probes expanding just below the speed of light. To break the light barrier, one must utilize General Relativity and the quantum theory. This requires energies which are available for very advanced Type II civilization or, more likely, a Type III civilization.
Special Relativity states that no usable information can travel locally faster than light. One may go faster than light, therefore, if one uses the possibility of globally warping space and time, i.e. General Relativity. In other words, in such a rocket, a passenger who is watching the motion of passing stars would say he is going slower than light. But once the rocket arrives at its destination and clocks are compared, it appears as if the rocket went faster than light because it warped space and time globally, either by taking a shortcut, or by stretching and contracting space.
There are at least two ways in which General Relativity may yield faster than light travel. The first is via wormholes, or multiply connected Riemann surfaces, which may give us a shortcut across space and time. One possible geometry for such a wormhole is to assemble stellar amounts of energy in a spinning ring (creating a Kerr black hole). Centrifugal force prevents the spinning ring from collapsing. Anyone passing through the ring would not be ripped apart, but would wind up on an entirely different part of the universe. This resembles the Looking Glass of Alice, with the rim of the Looking Glass being the black hole, and the mirror being the wormhole. Another method might be to tease apart a wormhole from the quantum foam which physicists believe makes up the fabric of space and time at the Planck length (10 to the minus 33 centimeters).
a) one version requires enormous amounts of positive energy, e.g. a black hole. Positive energy wormholes have an event horizon(s) and hence only give us a one way trip. One would need two black holes (one for the original trip, and one for the return trip) to make interstellar travel practical. Most likely only a Type III civilization would be able harness this power.
b) wormholes may be unstable, both classically or quantum mechanically. They may close up as soon as you try to enter them. Or radiation effects may soar as you entered them, killing you.
c) one version requires vast amounts of negative energy. Negative energy does exist (in the form of the Casimir effect) but huge quantities of negative energy will be beyond our technology, perhaps for millennia. The advantage of negative energy wormholes is that they do not have event horizons and hence are more easily transversable.
d) another version requires large amounts of negative matter. Unfortunately, negative matter has never been seen in nature (it would fall up, rather than down). Any negative matter on the earth would have fallen up billions of years ago, making the earth devoid of any negative matter.
The second possibility is to use large amounts of energy to continuously stretch space and time (i.e. contracting the space in front of you, and expanding the space behind you). Since only empty space is contracting or expanding, one may exceed the speed of light in this fashion. (Empty space can warp space faster than light. For example, the Big Bang expanded much faster than the speed of light.) The problem with this approach, again, is that vast amounts of energy are required, making it feasible for only a Type III civilization. Energy scales for all these proposals are on the order of the Planck energy (10 to the 19 billion electron volts, which is a quadrillion times larger than our most powerful atom smasher).
Lastly, there is the fundamental physics problem of whether topology change is possible within General Relativity (which would also make possible time machines, or closed time-like curves). General Relativity allows for closed time-like curves and wormholes (often called Einstein-Rosen bridges), but it unfortunately breaks down at the large energies found at the center of black holes or the instant of Creation. For these extreme energy domains, quantum effects will dominate over classical gravitational effects, and one must go to a unified field theory of quantum gravity.
At present, the most promising (and only) candidate for a theory of everything, including quantum gravity, is superstring theory or M-theory. It is the only theory in which quantum forces may be combined with gravity to yield finite results. No other theory can make this claim. With only mild assumptions, one may show that the theory allows for quarks arranged in much like the configuration found in the current Standard Model of sub-atomic physics. Because the theory is defined in 10 or 11 dimensional hyperspace, it introduces a new cosmological picture: that our universe is a bubble or membrane floating in a much larger multiverse or megaverse of bubble-universes.
Unfortunately, although black hole solutions have been found in string theory, the theory is not yet developed to answer basic questions about wormholes and their stability. Within the next few years or perhaps within a decade, many physicists believe that string theory will mature to the point where it can answer these fundamental questions about space and time. The problem is well-defined. Unfortunately, even though the leading scientists on the planet are working on the theory, no one on earth is smart enough to solve the superstring equations.
Most scientists doubt interstellar travel because the light barrier is so difficult to break. However, to go faster than light, one must go beyond Special Relativity to General Relativity and the quantum theory. Therefore, one cannot rule out interstellar travel if an advanced civilization can attain enough energy to destabilize space and time. Perhaps only a Type III civilization can harness the Planck energy, the energy at which space and time become unstable. Various proposals have been given to exceed the light barrier (including wormholes and stretched or warped space) but all of them require energies found only in Type III galactic civilizations. On a mathematical level, ultimately, we must wait for a fully quantum mechanical theory of gravity (such as superstring theory) to answer these fundamental questions, such as whether wormholes can be created and whether they are stable enough to allow for interstellar travel.
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