The guitar scale exercise in this article is a fun way of practicing scales in a musical and interesting way.

This guitar scale exercise can be applied to any chord progression or combination of scales in the practice room.

To begin with, the guitar scale exercise is applied over a major ii-V-I chord progression in the key of C.

A popular substitution which is used over the V chord in this example is tritone substitution.

To outline this chord sequence the following scales will be used

D-7 â€“ D Dorian Scale

Db7 â€“ Db Mixolydian

Cmaj7 â€“ C major scale

Most jazz guitarists tend to practice scales from the root upwards as seen in this example.

guitar scale exercise example 1guitar scale exercise example 1

The 1 guitar scale exercise every guitarist should know has helped students break out of this by voicing leading the scales from different degrees.

Guitar Scale Exercise Example 1

The first example is great for initially learning scales.

Once scales for chords can be played fluenty from the root, practice voice leading them.

This guitar scale exercise shows how you can practice scales by going to the nearest available note of the next chord scale.

This exercise is the basis for the 1 scale exercise every guitarist should know as it smoothly connects between the chord changes.

Connecting scales smoothly is particularly effective in jazz for longer flowing lines.

There are countless variations for this one guitar scale exercise which will be discussed throughout the article.

guitar scale exercise example 2guitar scale exercise example 2

Guitar Scale Exercise Example 2

The next example shows how a line can be created by adding a few embellishments to the scale exercise.

A triplet has been added in the first bar to add some rhythmical interest.

Note that this triplet does not affect the rest of the line because the 6th note of the scale is still on beat 2.

In the last bar, the major scale starts on the second degree so that the last two notes of the Mixolydian scale form an enclosure.

The line in C major is also more arpeggio based to break up the scales in the rest of the lick.

guitar scale exercise example 3guitar scale exercise example 3

Guitar Scale Exercise Example 3

The next guitar scale exercise is applied to a short ii-V-I.

When practicing this guitar scale exercise, you do not have to start the first scale on the root.

This example starts on the 7th of the Dorian scale.

A chromatic passing note is added in the pickup to create more rhythmical interest.

guitar scale exercise example 4guitar scale exercise example 4

Guitar Scale Exercise Example 4

The final example shows how the 1 guitar scale exercise every guitarist should know can be used in situation with dense harmony.

The chord progression used in this example is a III VI II V in the key of C.

There are no rhythmic tricks added to this example. It is the exercise in its original form and already sounds like a legitimate rhythm changes lick.

guitar scale exercise example 5guitar scale exercise example 5

I hope that you have enjoyed playing and working through each these jazz guitar scale exercise examples.

Personally, I tend to use the exercise to navigate over trickier progressions such as ii-V’s that are move in semi-tones or rhythm changes.

But you can use them over any tune that you are working on.

What do you think of this jazz guitar scale exercise?

Share your thoughts in the comment section below.

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Jamie Holroyd Guitar Frequently Asked Questions


Shoulder Dislocation & Instability Fracture

The shoulder joint (glenohumeral joint) is made up of a ball and socket joint. The flat bone of the socket has surrounding tissue called the labrum. The labrum gives it the extra depth it needs to help hold the ball in the socket. Ligaments of the joint capsule provide additional support. When the ball comes out of the socket during a dislocation, a portion of the labrum is torn or separated from the socket. Depending on the location of the tear, this is called a Bankart tear or SLAP (Superior Labral tear from Anterior Posterior Lesion). In addition, the capsule may become stretched.

A dislocated shoulder happens when a strong force or extreme shoulder rotation pulls the "ball" of the upper arm bone right out of the socket. About 90% of all shoulder dislocations are this form of injury, called "anterior dislocation".

If the dislocation is partial, it's called subluxation. The joint is loose and may slide partially out of place. In this case, the labrum may still be attached, but the capsule is stretched out.

Diagnosis of a shoulder dislocation is usually quite apparent just by talking to a patient and examining their joint. Patients must be examined to determine if there is any nerve or blood vessel damage. This should be done prior to reduction (repositioning) of the shoulder dislocation. X-rays should be obtained to check for any fracture around the joint, and to determine the pattern of the shoulder dislocation.

There are several manoeuvres which can be used to reposition a shoulder dislocation. In general, the goal is to manipulate the bones to allow them to slide back into position without causing further damage to the shoulder joint.

Once the shoulder dislocation is back in place, repeat x-rays are performed to ensure it is indeed in the correct position, and to evaluate for other injuries such as fractures.

Patients who sustain a shoulder dislocation are much more likely to have another shoulder dislocation. The reason is that when a shoulder dislocation occurs, ligaments within the shoulder are torn and the shoulder joint becomes less stable. If you dislocate again and again, and if you find that your shoulder problem is interfering with your lifestyle, it may advisable to proceed to surgery.

This may be especially important if you normally enjoy participating in sports.


Power Distance

The degree to which a culture allows the unequal distribution of power.  High power distance cultures value social status, birth order, and occupation or political rank.  Low power distance cultures value equality and minimize the importance of power and status differences among members (Hurme, 2001).

An example of a high power distance culture includes England, who places a large emphasis on birth order, especially when it comes to King and Queen.


Types of Body Fat and the Dangers of Visceral Fat

Why all body fat is NOT created equal...

This has been established by researchers, medicine, and sports performance labs around the world. But its accuracy is not the main reason for DXA’s adoption by professionals as the gold standard.

Discovering exactly how much of your body mass is made up of fat—and where that fat is stored on your body—is one of the main reasons. It’s the complete picture of your body composition distribution (including lean mass, fat mass, and bone mass) that gets the medicine and research geeks so jazzed.

This information empowers you to take the necessary steps to avoid many of the diseases plaguing so many of us today.

This knowledge of your body’s specific fat distribution tips  you off to potentially serious health challenges in your future. To illustrate this point better, let’s examine two common body shapes found on the street today: the “apple” and the “pear.”

First up, Apple Shapes:

Android fat, the leading cause of ‘apple bellies’ and popped pant buttons,  is the fat stored in the midsection of the body: predominantly in the abdomen, but also the fat stored in the chest and upper arms.

Why is this?

Because of the nature of the fat in this region of your body. It’s your visceral fat.

Some are surprised to learn body fat comes in different varieties…

Subcutaneous fat: The noticeable layer of fat just below our skin. The kind that jiggles, dimples, causes cellulite, and preferred fat of mosquitoes, no-seeums, and horse flies.

Visceral fat: Found deeper inside our abs, under our six packs and around our organs like the liver, pancreas, and intestines, our visceral fat is linked to all those diseases listed above.

The danger of visceral fat is related to the release of proteins and hormones that trigger inflammation in our bodies, which in turn damages arteries, invades our organs, and affects all the vital processes they carry out every minute of the day.

So yes. This is a region we want to track regularly and make sure we’re giving it some love and keeping it happy.

Another important marker measured by DXA is Gynoid fat:

Since a DXA scan directly measures the different types of fat stored in every region of your body, we will know how to take action that limits and loses your fat, and reduces your risk for disease.

Determining the ratio of android to gynoid fat (the A/G ratio)—and monitoring that ratio (you want it below 1.0 btw)—is critical because it’s directly correlated to the prevalence of visceral fat.

And remember, this fat storage is a result of organs insulating themselves from toxins by encapsulating the toxins in fat. Ironically, it’s a survival strategy that may impede organ function and ultimately increase your risk for disease.  Ideally your android fat will always be lower than your gynoid fat.

If you don’t have access to DXA or a nearby DexaFit, a common way to measure the A/G ratio is using the waist-to-hip ratio where the waist measurement is divided by the hip measurement.

However, this method won’t tell the whole story, since it’s limited to ‘topical’ measurements only and can’t take a look ‘under the hood’ so to speak.

What’s even more powerful now is the direct measurement of your visceral fat, using the VAT software available at all DexaFit locations.

Not only do you get the Android and Gynoid measurements, you have a straightforward number and overview of how much fat you store in this vital chamber of health in your body!

The factors that influence fat distribution are partially controllable by you, and even the genetic factors can be mitigated to some extent. It’s important to remember that fat distribution is influenced by hormones; genetics; race; presence of toxins; physical activity (type and amount); malnutrition; and stress.

Of these, you have complete control over the last four—toxins, physical activity, nutrition and stress management.

If you possess the relevant information; if you know where you want to go; and if you command the knowledge of the means to get there; the problem which remains is one of execution.

But knowledge in the realm of fitness, nutrition, and health never exists in concentrated or integrated forms but as dispersed bits of incomplete and frequently subjective knowledge (a.k.a., educated guessing).

The problem of body transformations in particular is not merely deciding what to eat and how to workout; it’s a problem of how to secure the best use of information that provides a framework of knowledge you can use to provide honest and outcome-based feedback while following a plan.

A DexaFit DXA scan empowers you with accurate and outcome-based feedback. It helps you discover where you store fat, so you can use the information along with other markers to tailor a training and nutrition program that’s appropriate for your body type, physiology, and goals.

>>> Amy is one of our most exciting transformations of late.

Definitely read her story!

Stay Fit : )


• Cross-Stitch Commissions Open

    Someone named LabbyDragon is doing commissions on these cross-stitch ponies.  The price structure is pretty simple:

    Conbage/pin/keychian- $5

    2x3= $10

    4x6= $20

    5x5= $20

    5X7= $25

    If you are interested, feel free to email her at [email protected]

    You can also find her website/more examples here!


Like air, the internet is an invisible force surrounding us all. Although while we cannot see it, the vast majority of us rely on it with just the same amount of urgency as we do with those precious molecules of oxygen which keeps us all alive.

And just like air, we all have this blind trust in it. A trust that slowly and peacefully masks reality to us all. As most of us hold so much trust in it, civilization on a whole is now based on these invisible and fragile strings that tie us all together. Waking up with it no longer there is simply not an option.

In fact, as human beings we have managed to create our very own parallel universe. A place where communication, trade, entertainment and sharing information all take place.

Each day we all constantly live on the very edge between these two worlds, jumping back and forth between the physical and the digital, slowly blurring the lines between the two.

This exhibition is an attempt to shed light on this particular transition which we have all become so familiar with.


What are the properties of valence electrons?

Quick Answer

The properties of valence electrons are determined by the total number of electrons in an atom's outer shell. Atoms with similar numbers of valence electrons are classified into a specific group of elements, which may then combine electrons with other elements to form ionic or covalent bonds.

Continue Reading

Full Answer

In an atom's outermost shell, valence electrons may be acquired or lost during chemical reactions if the atom is categorized as a main group element. Atoms of transition metals, however, may contain valence electrons within their innermost shells. These electrons are additionally shared and transferred between atoms when bonding, with halogens and metals being the most reactive during the electron exchange.

Learn more about Atoms & Molecules

Related Questions


Ask Questions, Get Answers

Home  >>  JEEMAIN and NEET  >>  Chemistry  >>  Hydrogen

$CO+H_2$ is known as

$\begin{array}{1 1}(a)\;\text{Water and syn gas}\\(b)\;\text{Syn gas}\\(c)\;\text{Producer gas}\\(d)\;\text{Semi water gas}\end{array}$

1 Answer

Solution :
Once the produced gas has been cleaned , it can now undergo the gas -to - liquid step .
This gap is made up of carbon monoxide $(CO)$ and hydrogen $(H_2)$
$CO+H_2$ is known as water and syn gas
Hence (a) is the correct answer.
answered Jan 23, 2014 by sreemathi.v
edited Oct 26 by meena.p


Plant Part Used

Ginkgo is among the oldest living plant species on earth and has been used extensively as a medicinal agent worldwide for centuries. Today, it is the most frequently prescribed medicinal herb in Europe. Ginkgo has been the subject of hundreds of scientific studies that have reported positive effects in a wide range of health areas. The remedy has been popularized for its use in the support of mental function. There are many other, less publicized, applications. The leaf of the ginkgo tree is used to derive a standardized extract.

Interactions and Depletions

Dosage Info

Dosage Range

40-80mg (standardized extract), 3 times a day.

Most Common Dosage

40mg (standardized extract), 3 times a day.

The most current available medical and scientific literature indicates that this dietary supplement should be standardized to 24% ginkgo flavoglycosides and 6% triterpenes per dose; also standardized to 27% flavoglycosides 7% triterpenes per dose.

Reported Uses

Ginkgo has been extensively researched for its possible benefits to the elderly. Studies indicate ginkgo has the ability to increase circulation which can lead to enhanced memory. (1) , (2) This effect can in turn delay the onset of Alzheimers and reduce the effects of senile dementia, tinnitus, and vertigo. (3) , (4) , (5) , (6) Studies indicate that ginkgo’s support of healthy brain function is related to its ability to increase blood flow to the brain, thus improving delivery of nutrients and disposal of waste products. (7)

The effectiveness of ginkgo in treating dementia is debated. Numerous studies have been completed evaluating numerous patients with various types of demetia, including Alzheimer's disease. These studies have had very differing results. In a study involving over 200 patients, a standardized ginkgo preparation (40mg three times a day) was compared to placebo. The ginkgo was reported safe and capable of stabilizing and improving mental and social functioning for up to a year. (8) Another trial involving over 200 patients, compared the same ginkgo preparation with placebo and reported no advantage with the gingko when used for 24 weeks. (9) A third trial compared 115 people over 60 years old using ginkgo to 115 people over 60 years old using placebo. The study evaluated these participants using 15 different tests for memory and learning. The results of this study showed no improvement in the tests for both the ginkgo and the placebo group. (10)

Four commonly used medications for dementia (tacrine, donepezil, rivastigmine, and metrifonate) were compared to a standardized ginkgo extract and a placebo for their use in Alzheimer's disease. The authors concluded that second-generation cholinesterase inhibitors (donepezil, rivastigmine, and metrifonate) and the standardized ginkgo extract should be considered equally effective in the treatment of mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease. (11)

Because of its effects on the circulatory system, ginkgo may also ease the leg pain that arises from intermittent claudication and similar disorders. (12) , (13) One study even found that ginkgo performed as well as a leading prescription medication for treating intermittent claudication.

Ginkgo’s ability to support healthy circulation and brain function has applications in younger populations as well. Disorders it may improve include diabetes and various circulatory conditions including cyanosis and Raynaud’s Syndrome. (14)

Ginkgo has also been used to treat impotence, especially when associated with antidepressant therapy. (15) , (16) Ginkgo may also be involved in a chemical process that reduces the potential for clot formation in the blood by inhibiting platelet activating factor (PAF). (17) Scientists think this function, along with a potential ability to dilate blood vessels, accounts for its record of use in treating asthma in China for thousands of years.

Finally, ginkgo is an antioxidant, giving it the ability to help rid the body of free radicals and thus lessen the risk of chronic degenerative diseases. (18) Also due to the antioxidant activity of ginkgo, it may help treat macular degeneration (19) and decrease the damaging effects of radiation, chemotherapy, (20) and certain medications. (21)

Toxicities & Precautions

Fresh seeds of the ginkgo tree should not be eaten because they may be toxic.

Some individuals experience an allergic skin reaction when taking this dietary supplement. Although extremely rare, call your doctor or seek medical attention if you have fast or irregular breathing, skin rash, hives or itching. (23)

Health Conditions

If you have a bleeding disorder, talk to your doctor before taking this dietary supplement. (24)

Side Effects

Side effects are possible with any dietary supplement. Although extremely rare, this dietary supplement may cause gastrointestinal distress or headache. (25) Tell your doctor if these side effects become severe or do not go away.

Pregnancy/ Breast Feeding

To date, the medical literature has not reported any adverse effects related to fetal development during pregnancy or to infants who are breast-fed. Yet limited information exists regarding the use of this dietary supplement while pregnant or breast-feeding. Therefore, it is recommended that you inform your healthcare practitioner of any dietary supplements you are using while pregnant or breast-feeding. (26)

Age Limitations


When I heard that the beloved Peanuts characters would be on the big screen for the first time ever in 2015, I was happy as I was one of the millions of kids who watched their television specials every year.  I also couldn't believe it took this long to happen.

While the movie won't be out until 2015, they have released a teaser trailer to get fans of all ages excited.  Will you see this when it's released?


Removing unnecessary companies from a multinational group – France

This article is very kindly contributed by our friends and colleagues in France.

In France, the most common type of subsidiary company within a multinational group is a simplified joint stock company (“SAS”).

This article provides an overview of the two most common procedures for removing a French subsidiary which is an SAS, namely:

  • Simplified merger – which involves the drafting of a merger agreement
  • Dissolution without liquidation also called Universal Transmission of Assets (or “TUP”).

In both cases the assumption is that the French subsidiary is wholly-owned by the foreign parent company. If this is not the case then regrouping the shareholding will be dealt as a preliminary step. In cases where this is not possible a dissolution followed by a liquidation may be envisaged, although this is not common practice in an intra-group operation.

The key legal differences between a cross-border simplified merger and a TUP are summarized in the following table.

Removing French Companies Table

Universal transfer of assets

The main consequence of the cross-border merger, as in the case of the TUP, is to entail the automatic transmission of all the assets and liabilities of the wholly owned absorbed company to the benefit of the absorbing company, without the liquidation of the absorbed company. From a legal standpoint, the TUP is similar to a merger into the sole shareholder where the sole shareholder directly acquires all the assets of the company but also the responsibility of paying the entirety of the liabilities of this company (tax and any other debts).

It is nevertheless recommended to check whether or not there exist specific constraints relating, for example, to the assignment of certain contracts entered into on an intuitu personae basis (i.e. the transfer of these contracts may be subject to the prior consent of the counterparty).

In short: using a cross-border simplified merger is more expensive and slower, than the TUP. They both have the advantage that assets and liabilities are automatically transferred by operation of law. However, under certain circumstances, a cross border simplified merger is the only possible legal route.

Group Reorganization Planning Form

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Children's Books

Little Bond Around the World

My Novel

By Michael Hartigan

College senior Augustine Shaw broke his best friend’s heart, played a role in an accidental death, killed a classmate in cold blood – and kept it all secret. For years, Shaw’s conscience was poisoned from the inside out but now, with the end of college life teetering on the horizon, the lies are crumbling.

Hoping to leave his troubles behind, Shaw and his three closest friends escape on their last spring break trip to Key West, Florida, where hedonism is an art form and sage advice comes from old salts. But amidst the sun, sex and insobriety Shaw’s sins find him. By the time he embarks on the long journey back to school in Providence, Rhode Island, Shaw makes a life-changing decision to stop the lies and confess everything.

THE CONFESSION is a 95,000 word general fiction book about a young man consumed by guilt. The story examines the social and personal interactions that define the twenty-something generation and how one young man’s extreme guilt causes their chaotic deterioration.

A full manuscript is available upon request.


Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Andrea Centazzo - 2006 - The Complete Recording Box Set (1979-1983)

Andrea Centazzo Mitteleuropa Orchestra
The Complete Recording Box Set

CD1: The Complete Recording Vol. 1

1. Echoes for Large Ensemble: I Movement - 21:43
2. Echoes for Large Ensemble: II Movement - 07:08
3. Echoes for Large Ensemble: III Movement - 22:59

CD2: The Complete Recording Vol. 2

1. Satori for Large Ensemble: I Movement - 19:44
2. Satori for Large Ensemble: II Movement - 30:32

CD3: The Complete Recording Vol. 3

1. The Radio Session #1 - 17:24
2. The Radio Session #2 - 08:04
3. The Radio Session #3 - 14:32
4. The Radio Session #4 - 12:42

CD4: The Complete Recording Vol. 4

1. The Orchestral Dharma: I Movement - 15:30
2. The Orchestral Dharma: II Movement - 17:51
3. The Orchestral Dharma: III Movement - 18:03

CD5: The Complete Recording Vol. 5

1. Samudaya: I Movement - 08:30
2. Samudaya: II Movement - 07:04
3. Samudaya: III Movement - 14:01
4. Samudaya: IV Movement - 08:14
5. Samudaya: V Movement - 13:29

CD6: The Complete Recording Vol. 6

1. In the Daisy Garden Suite: I Movement - 17:20
2. In the Daisy Garden Suite: II Movement - 06:35
3. In the Daisy Garden Suite: III Movement - 11:12
4. In the Daisy Garden Suite: IV Movement - 18:20
5. In the Daisy Garden Suite: V Movement - 05:18
6. Jazz Suite for Duke: I Movement - 03:54
7. Jazz Suite for Duke: II Movement - 07:24

Recorded live in Rome, Bologna, Alassio, Sassuolo, Torino, Ravenna, Italy between June 1979 and July 1983
All tracks digitally remastered & edited by Andrea Centazzo, 2006
Produced by Andrea Centazzo

Franz Koglmann - flugelhorn, trumpet
Carlos Zingaro - violin
Gianluigi Trovesi - bass clarinet, alto sax
Theo Jorgensmann - clarinet
Radu Malfatti - trombone
Gino Commisso - trumpet
Carlo Actis Dato - bass clarinet, baritone sax
Roberto Ottaviano - soprano saxes
Sauro D'Angelo - clarinet, alto sax
Roberto Manuzzi - soprano & alto saxes
Andrea Anzola - French horn
Stefano Stagni - French horn
Roberto Bartoli - bass
Stefano Ferri - bass
Franco Feruglio - bass
Bruno Cabassi - percussion
Gianpaolo Salbego - percussion
Guido Vianello - percussion
Paolo Zanella - percussion
Piero Bertelli - percussion
Andrea Centazzo - drums, percussion, conductor

From the moment he embarked on his artistic career, Centazzo was performing a balancing act between improvisational and compositional structures. From the early '80s he began to move away from improvised music in order to dedicate himself to so-called contemporary music in the European classical tradition, and to music of ethnic inspiration, studying composition both intuitively and with the guidance of professors such as Armando Gentilucci.
Initially his approach to composition was something akin to a "dreamlike trance" in which he left aside technical considerations in order to leave space on the score for a creativity which drew its life force from his work as an instrumentalist. Being a self-taught composer takes on a particularly interesting aspect when one considers that his principle points of reference were Gentilucci and Bussotti. In the early '80s Centazzo composed principally for the Mitteleuropa Orchestra, an orchestral grouping born out of a commission from the City of Bologna and the local Music cooperatives, to give a series of concerts in the capital of Emilia Romagna.
The name for the ensemble came not only from the cultural background of its members but also from bc middle-European mold of the music written for it. In the Mitteleuropa Orchestra, Centazzo brought together the finest artists in the field of creative music on the European scene at that time: the Austrian trumpeter-Franz Koglmann, the Portuguese violinist-Carlo Zingaro, saxophonist-Roberto Ottaviano, multi-instrumentalist-Gianluigi Trovesi, and clarinetists-Carlo Actis Dato and Teo Jorgesmann, as well as occasional guest appearances from trombonist-Albert Mangellsdorf, bassist-Mark Dresser and french horn player-Martin Mayer.
The formation was flexible and variable, depending on the performance requirements, bar it retained its essential characteristics thanks to a fixed nucleus of musicians. The orchestra's physiognomy distanced it from the "classical" jazz big bands and aligned it more with contemporary chamber music formations. Using his experience of music making in small combinations, with strong tone-color characteristics, Centazzo achieved a fusion of diverse cultures, (western classical, orierital and Afro-American)in a rigorously controlled musical structure, integrating written orchestral passages with aleatoric sections, creating ample space in which soloists could improvise in "controlled" situations.
Within the orchestra the various personalities of the artists, interacted to create a particular stylistic mix which became the hallmark oft his ensemble. Mitteleuropa gave its debut concert in Bologna in the Summer of 1980, and in December of that same year recorded Mitteleuropa Live, an album taken from live recordings at the Testoni Theatre in Bologna. (A benefit concert for victims of the Irpinia earthquake.) The four extended compositions on the record use pulsating thematic inventions, collective multiphonics, long solo cadences, improvised chamber music initerludes over fixed frameworks; in trio, quartet and quintet, and in dialogues between percussion and soloists. This first performance was a precursor to many other concerts and recordings of material written and directed by Centazzo. The Italian Radio arid Television ("RAI") invited the orchestra to Rome to record the ensemble's repertoire live. In 1983, Centazzo conducted Mitteleuropa at the international festival "Ravenna Jazz " in a performance of Doctor Faustus, a suite which remains unpublished, written in honor of trombonist-Albert Mangellsdorf, who was a soloist with the orchestra for the performance.
A month prior to the festival, Centazzo had entrusted to Mitteleuropa the first performance of his Cjant-Concerto for Small Orchestra, which is preserved in a double album Ictus release.
Cjant is also a fully structured composition with precisely controlled opportunities for improvisation, and was commissioned by the town council of Udine for their 1000th anniversary celebrations. Despite the pompous, ceremonial function of the work, Cjant bas the freshness and enthusiasm of a spontaneous work. Centazzo fuses various influences: Mahlerian symphonic style, hypnotic minimalistic sequences, echoes of archaic fanfares and reminiscences of jazz, and percussion language from orientalisms through to the contemporary.
The instrumentation of Mitteleuropa in Cjant is enlarged with the addition of a string section, whereas for Omaggio a Pier Paolo Pasolini (Homage to Pier Paolo Pasolini), written in 1985, commissioned by the commemoration committee for the tenth anniversary of the poet's death, the orchestra is joined by a soprano singer and a narrator. In the latter, Centazzo paid homage with his music to Pasolini, an artist with whom he shared Friulian origins and a close connection with the city of Bologna. Centazzo's interest in Pasolini was not just the result of these circumstances, the composer had been inspired by the artistic and intellectual unquiet of Pasolini for some time and was intimately familiar with both the literary and cinematic works of Pasolini. Centazzo's study of Pasolini's poetry, in Friulian dialect, is very much part of the music. A provincial tongue which through Pasolini takes on a literary dignity. Prior to this time, "Friulano" had been practically limited to oral tradition.
"Pasolini said that to write a word that had never before been written, would give a new consistency to the sound, would move that sound toward the territory of meaning; a meaning of full bodied sounds, and a truly natural sensuality." Centazzo's music in Omaggio a Pier Paolo Pasolini is aimed at the recovery of that sound; he put to music seven lyrics in Friulian dialect taken from Poesie Dimenticate (forgotten poems) and from Tal Cur Di Un Frút, re-inventing traditional sonorities with "new" instruments, in a compositional tapestry which consciously balances minimalist episodes with echoes of the European contemporary orchestra, entrusting the texts to the narrator and the voice of the soprano.
This work has been presented outside of Italy in 1987: in Munich, Germany at the Gasteig, home of the Philharmonic Orchestra; and at the Expo in Seville, Spain in 1992, when Centazzo presented a re-organized Mitteleuropa enhanced by the presence of the finest soloists on the contemporary Italian scene. Omaggio a Pier Paolo Pasolini was performed in large part due to Roberto Manuzzi's zeal. This very gifted musician had performed as both a saxophone and keyboard soloist in nearly all Centazzo's productions since the formation of Mitteleuropa Orchestra. A fortuitous encounter which would provide Centazzo with no invaluable collaborator to this musical adventure. Summing up his activity as a composer Centazzo says, "I a truly happy that, as a composer, I have never suffered from the typical syndrome of the classical composer who writes only for ideal instrumental combinations, for ideal criteria, in ideal forms. My objective has always been to be able to hear my music performed immediately. This is why I have always written for specific musicians, for existing ensembles, with soloists I know. In some cases the ensemble has been formed first, and then the music to be performed created around it.
I have never felt this to be a limitation, on the contrary, it is a stimulus to obtain something new each time, mixing instrumental sounds in the most daring and unconventional ways possible. Even today, when my writings intentionally aimed at a rediscovery of the traditional values of harmony and melody, I am always striving for unusual tone colorings, and that stylistic touch which imparts a different value to the musical undertaking. The proof of this is that my music, despite its close conformations to conventions, is still considered today not commercially viable by many record companies."
The third of Centazzo's large scale works is Il Canto di un Giorno. The world premiere of this work was held at Lignano, at the Hemingway Convention, sponsored by the American Hemingway Society. In this work Centazzo confronts the tormented personality of Ernest Hemingway. The test written by Marco Maria Tosolini (music critic and author) takes us through the last twenty-four hours of Hemingway's life, ending with Hemingway's suicide.
In a series of rapid and vivid flashbacks, Hemingway's anxiety and obsession with life and death are represented, with the effect of giving his anguish a universal validity. Centazzo's music, the foundation of the entire performance, controls the sequence of narratons, sections sung by the soprano and baritone voices, and dance movements created by Luis Bernardo Ribeiro, (choreographer and dance teacher, who al that time was also a star in Roland Petit's company).
A work not limited by categorization bar one which embraces many modes of expression; recitation, song, music and dance. "This is not a performance come to life only on the stage but rather it is something that existed beforehand where every expressive element and compositional parameter has been preconceived, written into the score and integrated into the whole. The creative force of this compositional experience is due precisely to the influence of many branches of the great river of music; not intended to be, in itself a musical genre, but a stimulating, and I believe provocative experience. It would prove useless to try to classify this composition; a riverbed from which various currents flow, without musical allusions to other worlds, enrichment through gesture, movement, musical strains that search for a unifying form of expression Il Canto di un Giorno becomes a language which evolves from primitive research into the nature of sound to the more problematic one of the methodology of making art as a semantic experience." I Through the enrichment and expressive layering of the song, the music, and the dance, there comes into being that abstract mental condition in which Hemingway passed his last intimate arid secret hours. "A mad mosaic with the pieces all mixed up." Il Canto di un Giorno is an attempt at a synthesis of various musical and theatrical components, without imposing at the onset, a defined result. Throughout its single act, we find distinctive elements, or elements recognizably isolated, but the determining nature of the performance and the "historic" artistic material is never demonstrably resolved into a precise genre.
Centazzo gives rigorous support in his score to the emotive context of the text. Working on a level of refined melody-here expansive, there virtuosic, supported by an orchestral writing dominated by the use of primary colors (low stings, clarinet family, brass and percussion in which we hear highly refined roots, suggestions of and substantial passages of minimalism brought together in a tonal and rhythmic design of which the musical result is loaded with suggestiveness. This eclecticism, while not new to Centazzo, makes the writer's progress recognizable and brings it to the forefront in the visual aspects, nevertheless it provides a point of serious reflection along the way to connect various expressions of artistic communication with the desire to hold them together on a plane of absolute reciprocal biological equilibrium."
The catalog of Centazzo's first twenty years of work is completed by a considerable collection of small ensemble works, and other pieces for Mitteleuropa. A path of his progress can be observed from hi s earliest works in 1973 to the present concert pieces for strings, and works in progress for larger ensembles.
The early trios (for piano, percussion and double bass, and far trombone, clarinet and percussion are layered polymelodic structures, in which themes and counterpoints stimulate improvisation and give its development vibrant support. Then, too, there are more wide-ranging works, including Tagelied for brass quartet- noteworthy for its mixture of techniques of execution, Allarmi for flute and violin-full of quotations of and references to everyday noises, and Visita Al Cimitero Degli Ebrei - an effective monogram for trumpet and magnetic tape. The inspiration for this last work carne when Centazzo visited a small abandoned cemetery while filming the video Tiare. Works for Mitteleuropa, in addition to those already mentioned include Doctor Faustus, Suite For Duke, Musica Schema 1 & 2, Chirimia, First & Third Environments, and Situations. It is interesting to note that with the broadening of compositional technique comes the narrowing of improvisational space, signifying an ever greater control over the musical content, and an abandoning of old styles of expression and many life-styles.
Mention should also be given to the body of compositions for percussion, which are still performed today throughout the world. From the solo passages of Indian Tapes, Just Back, Tiare and Situations to the ensemble pieces Not alone, Trisaghion, Ifix-Action and others, we encounter a fantastic series of allusions, explorations into sounds from other cultures, a synthesis of languages from which the mannerisms of contemporary percussion embrace the rhythmic pulse of primordial drumming and the ethereal atmosphere of oriental gongs.

  1. http://www.filefactory.com/file/4cr925bszcd3/3106.part1.rar

  2. Many thanks for this magificent release, Centazzo is new territory for me

  3. Thank you for the Centazzo box! John


Quality Wordings you can trust

How to Print Arts

Prints Singapore

Printmaking is the printing of artworks on a piece of paper. Making prints often cover originality of a print rather than producing a photograph of the print. Printmaking produces many pieces of a same single piece called print. Each of this print is an original piece. The print image is not typically a photocopy of another work, but a unique model designed to express a technique of printmaking and also each print varies because of the variables intrinsic to the process of printmaking.

You transfer ink from the matrix through a made screen to a piece of paper or any other material to create prints. There are many matrices types including polymer plates, typically used for etching and engraving, plates of metal usually zinc or copper; polymer, aluminum, or stone for lithography; woodblocks for wood engravings and woodcuts; and lastly linoleum used for linocuts. Synthetic fabric or silk screens print screens.

There are many techniques of printing arts in Singapore divided into the following categories.

Where you apply the ink beneath the original surface of the matrix. Intaglio techniques include engraving, mezzotint, etching and aquatint.

Where you apply the ink to the original surface of the matrix. Relief techniques include woodblock or woodcut, linocut, wood engraving and cutting of metal.

Where you press paint or ink through a screen that is prepared, including pochoir and screen-printing.

Where you specially make or ink the matrix retaining its original surface to allow transfer of the image. Planographic techniques include mono typing, lithography, and techniques that are digital.

Other art printing techniques include viscosity printing and calligraphy. Calligraphy is an art printmaking technique where the material that is textured adheres to the printing matrix. You then transfer the texture to paper during the printing process. Contemporary printmaking includes photographic mediums, digital printing or a combination of photographic, digital, and traditional methods.

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SEO Writing Tips for Beginners

Due to the rapid development of technology, there are a lot of way to earn money from internet. One of them is freelance writing. Any freelance writer should be familiar with SEO writing. It is a type of writing that boosts websites to be more visible to main search engines such as Bing and Google. A website with good content and high visibility will appear on the first result pages, which will increase the traffic of the website. In this article we will give brief information about the SEO writing tips for beginners.

For any beginner SEO writers, here are some of the tips to better and improve your SEO writing skills:

• Using a checklist: creating a checklist of the keywords on another document where you are able to mark them while you are writing your article, and create notes on how many times you have used each keyword. Likewise, you can also bold or color the keywords while you spread them throughout the article. It will help you keep in track with the keywords you have used and how many times you have used it.

• Inserting keywords after or before writing: you need to pay attention to the list and style of the keywords before starting to write. Determine whether you can use the listed keywords in opening sentences or major headers. Those two are several of the easiest and more natural part where you can put the keyword phrases. Likewise, you can also put the keywords to the article after you finish your draft. Creating minor changes to some sentences in your draft may help to accommodate the keywords easily. You can try both and choose what is the most suitable for you.

Tips for Beginners

• Reading your writing out loud: before submitting your articles, you better try to read your writing out loud to find any part where the grammars or languages may sound weird or misplaced.

• Writing for the readers: common people should not know if you are putting any keyword within the article you write. You may vary your tone based on the assignment given to you. However, the article you write should always center on the reader’s needs, be engaging, and informative.

There are times where you get assignments that need to use unnatural or grammatically incorrect keyword phrases. This is not a mistake, it is because people or member of often type whatever pop up first to their mind into Google, and most of the time, it is in the simplest form possible. For instance, if someone looking for a travel agency in Florida, they will simply type “travel agency Florida”.

To make sure your articles stay engaging and natural, there are some different alternatives to handle these kinds of keywords. The first alternative is to put punctuation between the phrases. Google and other main search engines do not take most punctuation into account. You can also use articles and prepositions to connect these confusing phrases as they are also often ignored completely. However, the second alternative should not be used too much in the title tags.


Dr. Fred Writer's Links

Institute of Children's Literature Chat Transcript
Thursday, August 16, 2001

"Finding Your Niche in Children's Science Writing" with Alfred Bortz (aka Dr. Fred)

Moderator is Kristi Holl, web editor for this site and author of 24 books and 150+ articles. She also taught writing for children for 15 years.

Dr. Fred is Ph.D. physicist and children's writer Fred Bortz. For an extensive look at Dr. Fred's published work, explore his fascinating web site at www.fredbortz.com. Fred teaches writing in the Master of Arts in Children's and Adolescents' Writing (MACAW) program at Chatham College, Pittsburgh, PA, where he also teaches undergraduate physics and works with K-12 science teachers pursuing Master's degrees.

Names color coded in blue are viewers who had questions.

Interviews are held on Thursday nights for two hours beginning [9 CANADA/Atlantic], 8 Eastern, 7 Central, 6 Mountain, and 5 Pacific.

Moderator: Good evening, everyone! Great crowd tonight! Welcome to tonight's scheduled interview with Alfred Bortz, better known as Dr. Fred, who will be talking to us about finding your niche in science writing for young readers. I hope you've already checked out his web site. If not, you'll want to do that as soon as our interview is over. I'm Kristi Holl, your moderator, and it's my pleasure to introduce Dr. Fred. Welcome!

Dr. Fred: Hello, everybody. Kristi tells me that we have enough people that I might have to take my socks off to keep track!

Moderator: Yes, it's a good turnout! Fred, how did you get started writing, and how did you come to specialize in science writing?

Dr. Fred: I came to specialize in science writing for an obvious reason. I've been a professional scientist for a long time. But there's a less obvious reason, too. I've been a scientist all my life, probably from when I first began thinking about the world around me.

Moderator: With your science writing, did you "find a need and fill it"? Or do you fit into publishers' already established plans and series?

Dr. Fred: I've never been a find-a-need-and-fill-it person, although I must admit that's a surer way to get sales or assignments. I think most writers are more like me in that we write from a compelling interest for an audience we value enormously, and then we hope we can find editors who will buy our work.

Moderator: Anyone visiting your web site for kids is struck by your passion for your various subjects and projects. Is this passion for science important?

Dr. Fred: It is for me. The best writing derives from a passion. Sometimes I feel as if I'm so wrapped up in the passion that nothing else matters. Then I kick myself back to humanity because if my passion crowds out my humanity, it leaves no room to connect with my readers.

Moderator: Do we need degrees in the scientific field to write science or nature articles? Or would enthusiasm and a willingness to do research be sufficient?

Dr. Fred: Add knowledge of the field, however you have gained it, and I think you have the recipe right.

Moderator: How do you find time to stay "on top" of all the current scientific developments so you can write in the science field?

Dr. Fred: No one can stay "on top" of all current science, but I'm always on top of a few subjects that are most interesting, and I keep aware of others that I might want to read about to catch up if I have something to write. One of the advantages I have as a freelance writer is the opportunity to accept book review assignments. That always produces some surprises. If you live in the Milwaukee or Dallas area, you'll see a review of THE SECRET LIFE OF DUST. I never would have read it, but it has some interesting pieces of information -- and is ideal for my trademark addition, a limerick.

Steve: I'd like to write a science book for young readers, but every time I think I'm done with research, there's another discovery. By the time the book would come out, even if it sold today, wouldn't it be outdated? How do you handle that?

Dr. Fred: Hi, Steve. Great question. If you go to my web site, you'll notice that I have update areas for a couple of my books. But I also need to avoid writing something that will be completely overtaken by events. I try to include a forward looking section whenever I can. As an example that I'm particularly proud of, in CATASTROPHE! I have a chapter on nuclear reactor accidents. I point out that the argument is likely to pick up again if the world energy situation or the world political situation changes. That was written in 1994-5. Recently, with trouble in the Middle East and an energy crunch in California, the topic of nuclear energy popped up as predicted. Of course, it popped right back down again -- at least this time.

Leesid: Do you ever write science fiction?

Dr. Fred: Hi, Leesid. No, I don't, but not because I have anything against the genre. I just think the real world is full of amazing things to write about. Who could make up that stuff?

Moderator: Is your research on the Internet at all?

Dr. Fred: I used the Internet extensively in two ways. In MARTIAN FOSSILS ON EARTH?, I was writing about a topic -- possible signs of ancient fossils in a meteorite from Mars -- that was hot and new. My book came out 13 months after the NASA news conference. For that book and one other, COLLISION COURSE!, which came out this year, I also went looking for images. I found more than half of them by surfing, and the other half by tracking down images in books and magazines I had read.

christine collier: Dr. Fred, my family and I heard the meteor that went over a few weeks ago. I mean our house shook so badly we thought something had hit it! Would there be an article in that for me or have meteors been done too much now?

Dr. Fred: Hi, Christine! I was just in Corning speaking at the Museum of Glass and people were talking about it. In the scheme of things, that was really a pretty common event, so it is probably better for background in your writing. For instance, you could use it in a novel.

Andy1066: Hi, Dr. Fred. Do you think it's important for young readers to understand vocabulary such as hypothesis, independent variable, dependent variable and control?

Dr. Fred: Hi, Andy. I don't think it's necessary to teach the vocabulary of the scientific method. I usually speak of following questions and keeping an open mind about what you see or observe in other ways. I don't always get along with educational theorists, as you might guess from my comment, but I get along fine with teachers because we share the same objective for the kids.

SaraJ: What about science books for the very young? I have seen board books about insects and birds, or books with maybe 50 words or less. Is there a market for this type still?

Dr. Fred: Hi, Sara. I'm not sure what segments of the market have wider windows than others right now. As I said earlier, I don't try to fill a need that I see in a market announcement. I just write what I think needs to be written for an audience who I think wants to hear about it. If you can tell a story in 50 words, then you have a talent that people will probably pay for. The story can be true or made-up, but I prefer true ones.

AnneKelly: Dr. Fred, when writing articles, do you supply a glossary?

Dr. Fred: Hello, Anne. It depends on the publication. I have glossaries in my books, and I've had some magazine add little characters in the margins to define a word or phrase.

Granny Janny: Have you done any research on the crop circles or is that just a hoax?

Dr. Fred: Hi, Granny. This Grampa is sure that they are hoaxes.

ClaraRose: How much "story line" does a nonfiction science book need in order to sell?

Dr. Fred: Hello, ClaraRose. Again, the answer depends on the publication. I usually end up including a story, because that's my style. Although sometimes the protagonist is a bit abstract, like the Earth or ecology.

Jenny: Dr. Fred, when submitting an article do you always include or need a query?

Dr. Fred: Hello, Jenny. Again, it depends on what the publishers request in their guidelines. I guess I'm sounding a bit like a broken record. (That's technology that predates most of you.)

AnneKelly: Do you write for children of all ages?

Dr. Fred: I have been gradually moving younger. My first books were for teens. Two of my last three were for upper elementary. I have a picture book under contract, but it may not make it (long story) and I just finished my first of what I hope will be a series of "Ask Dr. Fred" columns for the new ASK magazine for ages 7-10. You'll see that in the second issue of the magazine around March.

ClaraRose: How do you recognize when you are too passionate about a subject (not enough "human connection") and how do you fix it?

Dr. Fred: That's a toughie. I think I just recognize when I'm not talking to anyone but myself. When I'm visiting a school (http://www.fredbortz.com/daywith.htm) I can see it in the kids' eyes before it's too late.

AnneKelly: Do you base the age you write for on your subject? Do you think of a topic and then figure out which age group it would best fit?

Dr. Fred: That's a question that comes up in several guises. Is there an age for which a particular subject is best suited? I think it's possible to stretch the age range quite a bit. If the kids of a particular age are interested, then there is clearly a way to tell them more. Sometimes, a kid comes up to me after my talk and blows me away with the depth of his/her understanding. The harder thing is to convince an editor that the subject works for that age. I just went through that on my "Ask Dr. Fred" column, where I persuaded a skeptical editor that I could discuss the main point about the "ozone hole" and make it work for 7-year-olds. The trick was, I talked about how a good neighbor cleans up his/her mess, even when it happened unintentionally.

Nell: Is there an advantage to have the general science curriculum of the various age groups in mind when writing science articles/books, or are school curriculum topics overdone?

Dr. Fred: Hi, Nell. If you can do that, you have an advantage, especially for a particular market segment. I just have to follow my interests and let the editor define the match. I don't recommend that to others, but I do recommend being true to yourself, and that's just the way I work best, so I roll with it.

Moderator: Do you have your mss. critiqued? If so, by whom and for what? Do you recommend that science writers have their work critiqued before submitting?

Dr. Fred: Yes. I don't hire an outside expert like an editor would, but I usually allow the scientists I have contacted during my research check to see if I got the science right. If you have a major question, then you probably haven't finished your research, but you may need to clarify something. Most of the time, I'm pretty expert, but I still want the publisher to send it out to a fact checker or concept reader.

Moderator: How can you tell what scientific concepts are appropriate (and not too hard) for a particular age level? (Is it, perhaps, in the publisher's guidelines?)

Dr. Fred: I'm not very good at that. Some people claim they can match concept to age, but I've seen too many places where they are dead wrong. Those examples I cited a bit ago might tell you why.

red2: Would it be appropriate to write a science article on, say, a subject that interests my son, or should the science articles be left to the science experts?

Dr. Fred: Hi, Red. Are you saying that you haven't become expert enough to write about it? Or are you saying that you are UNABLE TO become expert enough to write about it? In the second case, leave the article to someone else, but in the first case, get out there and research it. If your son's interest sparks your passion and you are writing for him, you are probably also writing for a whole audience of kids like him, and an editor could recognize that in your query or manuscript.

Andy1066: Dr. Fred, what about writing about great scientific discoveries? Is that overdone?

Dr. Fred: There is often a fresh angle that fits the time or a bigger picture. In that case, the greatness of the discovery may only now be becoming apparent. In some books for adults, people are revisiting Mendel's peas and arguing over its greatness.

christine collier: Dr. Fred, have you ever had a true difference of opinion about some aspect of science with your editor or publisher?

Dr. Fred: Yes, and that's when the fun begins. I love the interplay between two people who each care about a manuscript and want to bring out its best. You'll see the result of a spirited but never acrimonious discussion in my first "Ask Dr. Fred" column in ASK next March.

spalted: An article on making music from many recorded sounds by my students is underway, but would it be considered scientific?

Dr. Fred: It could be. The best science articles touch on other areas, I think. Harmonies and rhythms, perception --- these are a few possibilities for science within the music.

Moderator: Among other things, there's an excellent weather site link at your personal web site where readers can find a LOT of extra information on that topic. How did that come about?

Dr. Fred: There's a human story behind that. I had a wonderful collaborator on DR. FRED'S WEATHER WATCH, Dr. Marshall Shepherd, a NASA meteorologist who finished second in the Georgia state science fair with a project like the one I have in the book when he was in sixth grade. Those are Marshall's links, with some updates as he and I discover them.

Moderator: How important is your personal web site to your niche in science writing?

Dr. Fred: I've been working on a "persona" that is an accurate reflection of who I am and how I think. The web site has brought "Dr. Fred" to life in a way that I never could have imagined. My bow ties are a bit of "shtick" that emerged, and I have great fun with them now. Kids pay attention better, I think, when they know I'm not overly serious about myself.

Moderator: Fred, I am very "science challenged," and in case any of our viewers are like me, I'd like to cover some BASIC basics. What exactly is science writing? Physics? Chemistry? Biology? Outer space? Earth science?

Dr. Fred: Well, I don't think we have enough space to define all the different branches of science. The best I can do is say that science is a frame of mind, a way of thinking and observing, a quest for understanding. I hesitate to say a quest for truth, because science needs to be open-minded about the meaning of new discoveries. Something can be true, as far as we understand it, but can be not quite true when we learn a little more.

Moderator: What if a writer loves a certain kind of science (natural, physical, chemical, whatever) but has no degrees. Can this science enthusiast or hobbyist find a niche in the science field of writing? If so, how?

Dr. Fred: Amateur science has a long tradition. David Levy, for example, is a science writer, but he is now known best as a comet hunter. I guess that happens when one of "your" comets just happens to smash into Jupiter. Levy was an amateur comet hunter. Amateur geologists and amateur paleontologists are responsible for many important discoveries. In short, you don't have to be a professional to be an expert. In fact, a professional doesn't always have the opportunity to pursue a passion like an amateur does. As a science writer, I'm exploring topics that I would never have been able to look at had I stayed in my "day job."

Moderator: Would you suggest writing on many topics, but stick to one specific age group, or taking a specific topic and writing many books and articles for various age groups?

Dr. Fred: That's a matter of personal inclination. I try not to go too far afield, but I certainly enjoy wandering away from my most recent path. I'm heading for the global warming these days, and I'm finding the political aspects almost as fascinating as the scientific ones.

Nell: If you have no post-secondary science training, would editors of science books take you seriously? Would they consider your manuscript on an equal footing with other ms., especially if the research and writing were strong?

Dr. Fred: Nell, I think we need to distinguish between FORMAL training and knowledge. One of my favorite children's science writers is Patricia Lauber, whose formal training is in English, but Pat is a superb researcher as well as a lyrical writer. No one will turn her down because of lack of knowledge. They know she'll research the topic and present it wonderfully.

Moderator: About selling in the scientific field: is it always with a query for articles and outline for books?

Dr. Fred: That's the usual pattern, but some magazines want the full article. I've reached the point that I can submit an annotated table of contents, but most book editors want writing samples from authors they don't know.

Moderator: Writers sometimes feel, after doing much research, that they are just rewriting someone else's information, almost plagiarizing. Is that true?

Dr. Fred: No, but I understand the feeling. If you find that one source dominates, then you need to worry about plagiarizing. Normally, you need to have a unique way of looking at the collected material. Then, you won't be plagiarizing, but rather interpreting the information for your readers.

Moderator: How do you blend the science facts so that you have an interesting "read" and not just dry facts?

Dr. Fred: I try to make the readers respond to the facts. For instance, when I speak to kids, I often ask them to remember the first time they saw elephants. I get them to think about the ears, the trunk, the tail, the gestation period, facts all, and then I add this question that they might not think of asking: How much poop do the zoo keepers have to clean up each day? Now that's a question of fact that gets a strong reaction!

Moderator: I can imagine! Fred, we hear a lot about "creative nonfiction," or using fictional story techniques to write more interesting nonfiction. Does that term apply to science writing? If so, how?

Dr. Fred: I suppose it does. I guess I even write it. But I'm never one for following the trends, so this is best addressed by others.

Moderator: I am thinking of books like your COLLISION COURSE: COSMIC IMPACTS AND LIFE ON EARTH, which to me is very suspenseful. I got caught up in the story of it.

Dr. Fred: Thanks! I guess I do set the tone with a true story of a very lucky Friday the thirteenth. I have that on my web site if viewers want to follow the links to the book and read the sample (Preface).

Moderator: Many people travel, visiting mountains and caves and the ocean, taking pictures along the way. Can these "travelogue" science trips sell to publishers?

Dr. Fred: I think they need to be connected by a theme of some sort. You need to be guiding the readers to an intellectual destination, not just a physical one. I happen to love photo essays, so I would encourage our visitors to think about bringing their vacation to life.

SaraJ: What do you mean by "guiding the readers to an intellectual destination"?

Dr. Fred: Let me tell you about a story I heard on my last vacation. My wife and I visited Harpers Ferry WV, where there is a wonderful national park at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers. There, a park ranger told us the story of John Brown's raid, pointing in the direction of the various important sites. When he finished, we didn't know if John Brown was a hero, a zealot, a madman, or a murderer. The story left us with an open question, and that IS the story of John Brown. The questions live on until today. That was a wonderful intellectual destination, as we walked along the river shores.

Moderator: What about finding photos, Fred? Do you find them for your science books? Or does the publisher take care of that?

Dr. Fred: It depends. I generally leave the final selections to the publisher, unless I feel that I have a particular insight into the way I want the images to tell the story along with my text. In MARTIAN FOSSILS ON EARTH? and COLLISION COURSE!, I chose all the images except the covers, and I'm pleased to say that COLLISION COURSE! got superb reviews of both words and visual appearance!

Nell: Are there web sites which offer science photos as article illustrations? If so, does one need to get permission to use them?

Dr. Fred: I often use other published versions to point me to photos or drawings, but then I need to go to the same source that the other publication did. The biggie is Corbis, but they tend to be expensive for the ones you really want. In science, however, you can find great public domain images. NASA, USGS, NOAA, etc. If you send me an e-mail from my web site, I'll be able to find the URL of a particularly rich NASA site.

Moderator: Do you know of some good resources for (not too expensive) photos?

Dr. Fred: Is $0 cheap enough? The government sources are free with a few minor exceptions. In MARTIAN FOSSILS, some of the photos I want were prepared by contractors, and they were not quite free, but not too expensive. Others were published in SCIENCE, when then owned them and charged a modest sum.

Moderator: If you're not an expert in the field, but you know of a scientist or science instructor who could write your "Forward" or "Introduction," would that help sell your idea to a publisher?

Dr. Fred: I don't think it helps sell the proposal, but it might help sell books when it comes out. But it has to be a really big name before it matters.

Moderator: Should you have an expert in the field you're writing in read your ms. for errors (not a critique, but a fact checker) before submitting to a publisher?

Dr. Fred: No. The publisher will hire a fact checker. Your job is not to make a blunder so serious that it clearly demonstrates your poor grasp of the subject. Good research prevents the problem.

red2: I am also "science challenged". Are there any favorite books that you would suggest that might give some inspiration?

Dr. Fred: I have used one of mine in several different college courses. TO THE YOUNG SCIENTIST is a set of in-their-own-words profiles that helps my students understand how scientists think and how they integrate their life and their work. I've used that to set the tone in a course about science writing for kids and in a directed reading independent study to set the tone for how science really plays out in real people's lives.

DENENE: Dr. Fred, I am a Clinical Laboratory Scientist and Cytotechnologist, I can think of a million topics but seem to have trouble writing on a level that a child will enjoy. Any suggestions as to how to bring it to an enjoyable children's level?

Moderator: Note: Fred's book CATASTROPHE! GREAT ENGINEERING FAILURE -- AND SUCCESS was designated a "Selector's Choice" by the National Science Teachers Association and a Children's Book Council List of Outstanding Science Trade Books for Children for 1996. This is a good example of simplifying tough concepts for young readers.

Dr. Fred: Thanks, Kristi. Hi, Denene. I never think about writing for the fourth grade. I always think about writing for Susie and Jimmie and Jamal and Ngao and Jose. In other words, I imagine that I have a small group of eager kids reading as I write. If they start squirming, it's time to revise. If they say, "That's neat!', I know I'm on track. Does that make sense to you? I guess I put myself in the right (write) frame of mind when I keep my audience in the room with me. It's a trick I play on myself, perhaps, but it works.

Jenny: Dr. Fred, what exactly do editors look for in a query? It seems really hard to get their attention.

Dr. Fred: They look for something that will excite their readers and themselves, since they will be investing lots of time in a project they accept. You need to give them the "take away" point in the first two or three sentences.

Andy1066: How significant are the people you used to work with as a scientist to your writing now that you are retired?

Dr. Fred: Well, I'm hardly retired. I would say that the projects are more important than any one individual. I had a checkered career, in some people's minds, because I could never allow myself to follow a specialty as deeply as my colleagues would have liked. But I've got this wonderful variety of projects that I came to understand fairly well: how to make a computer behave like a real system, how a nuclear reactor works, how an automobile engine burns its fuel and produces pollution, how a disk drive can store so much information, and now I'm adding new areas with each new book. I love it, but it doesn't fit a normal scientific career.

Steve: In case you wouldn't mind talking about it, are there any scientific breakthroughs or mysteries you're working on now?

Dr. Fred: I'm hoping for a literary breakthrough. I have a seven-hundred word allegory that addresses the interface between knowledge and faith (different from science and religion). I think its the best thing I ever wrote, but I don't have the slightest idea whether any publisher would buy it -- especially for kids.

Moderator: Sounds fascinating to me! I'm sorry to interrupt now, but we're out of time. As always, Fred, it's great to have you. You always have such fascinating stories to share. We appreciate you taking the time to share with us about how we can turn our own science questions and curiosities into writing for children.

Dr. Fred: I've enjoyed it. As I always tell my readers: I hope you always follow your questions! Scientifically yours, Dr. Fred.

Moderator: Do come back in two weeks for our next interview. Look for information about it in upcoming newsletters. And now, good night, everyone!

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Table of Contents

The Merge

It's nearly time to merge all the changes that went into 1.7.3 after the fork that became the qt4 branch.

OLD TRUNK: stable_1_7/ NEW TRUNK: trunk/ ⇐ qt4/ ⇐ qt4-graphicsview

Revisions Remaining

I'm just listing revision numbers by design here, with the idea of encouraging the person doing each merge to do a bit of research before proceeding. There may be some revisions missing, but hopefully this list is thorough enough. It's extracted from the release note, which was extracted from the commit logs fairly methodically.

Note that we really should try to get Henrik back in here to merge his own ruler and matrix changes, if possible, and encourage him to continue the work he left undone when he realized we were in the middle of something big at the time. Hopefully he's still around, and will come back and look after his code.

Revisions Completed


I’ve gotten a decent way into Collapse without feeling the impule to add anything to the criticism I laid without reading the book. At the end of the seventh chapter (on Greenland at its peak) I felt I had enough negative thoughts to merit a post. Although I haven’t yet gotten to the chapter where the Inuit appear in Greenland, Diamond has already said that they play a significant role in the collapse of Norse Greenland civilization (he even explicitly says that without them it would not have happened). He has repeatedly noted the failure of the Norse to imitate the Inuit, who managed to survive the lean years that drove the Norse off. Diamond considers the conversion of the Vikings to Christianity to be responsible for this. To be fair, he also often pairs Christianity with Europeanness or Eurocentrism, indicating that Christianity bound them to continental Europe with its high living standards and gave them an aversion toward being at all like the Inuit. I think in order for that to make any sense he would have to argue that in a counterfactual in which they adhered to their traditional Norse religion they would have been more amenable to Inuit culture. He offers no such argument. It almost seems as if he’s lumping all non-Christian, or at least non-monotheist, religions together as sufficiently similar to him that they would seem similar to their adherents. I really don’t think that would be the case. At least by some standards the Hindu religion might seem “pagan”, but I think Hindu civilization is just as proud of its religion and resistant to imitation of even a conquering monotheism (whether the Muslim Moguls or Christian British) as any faith to its west. I would say the same about the Zoroastrians except that they were rather effectively smashed and driven to India to become Parsis. More importantly, it seems to me, the Vikings were primarily a settled agricultural people (though they were forced to rely to a significant extent on hunting) whereas the Inuit were hunter-gatherers still in the Stone Age. Presumably, like the failed Vinland colonists, the Greenlanders always had the option of sailing back where they came from when things got too rough, so they weren’t in the same position as many of the Polynesians Diamond discusses earlier.

William Weir has referred to Normandy as the battle which determined whether England would be part of Greater Scandinavia (“Iceland, Greenland, the Orkneys, and Dublin, as well as Denmark, Norway, and Sweden”) or drawn closer to mainstream European (especially French) civilization. At that time some Scandinavian kings had become Christian, but they were viewed by some as still a pagan people of “the heathen North” separate from European Christian civilization. Keep this in mind when Diamond says the Greenlanders were “more European than Europeans” (his comment about the Britishness of Australia does remind me of Mencius Moldbug on Rhodesia). All his examples for how Greenlanders followed the fashions of Europe are things like changes in burial styles tracking those of Norway. But Greenland was a colony of Norway, and that presumably would have done so even if none of the Norse had converted to Christianity and they remained a distinct Greater Scandinavia. I’m not going to assert that the conversion changed nothing, Roderick Long makes a plausible case that it helped lead to the end of Iceland’s anarcho-capitalism.

One major puzzle about the Greenlanders is the apparent lack of fish in their diet, which Diamond attributes to a strong food taboo like the well known religious probitions on pork or beef (he also analogizes it to American distaste for horse or frog-meat, but Americans are an exceptionally highly-fed people and even then still contain rednecks that would each such food). That seems very odd as all the Viking peoples that the Greenlanders came from and stayed connected with were cuckoo for cod (as are present day Greenlanders). Diamond gives good arguments against other explanations, but his own about Erik the Red or someone else getting bad food poisoning and then insisting no one eat fish is just not convincing to me. It seemed difficult enough to order Norse colonists around, especially to end their traditional ways, that I doubt Erik could have pull that off. It is certainly doubtful that his own taste could dictate to the bishop sent by the King of Norway and other elites and/or newcomers. I admit that I can offer no good explanation either, but I just think Diamond’s is really weak. He often seems on quite shaky ground when speculating what people of the past were thinking. He says despite how implausible it seems to us today we should really imagine what went through the heads of Easter Islanders and they chopped down the last trees, when as I discuss in the first link of this post, it apparently due to rats who didn’t give it any thought at all. He imagines (obviously as an allegory for our time) that ancients may have thought technological advancement would save their collapsing civilization. One doesn’t have to go as far as Greg Clark to acknowledge that periods before the Industrial Revolution were seriously different in the pace of technological advancement so that it is doubtful such ancient people would have thought of it. As Diamond himself attests, they instead hoped their gods would save them, and when that didn’t happen they went after the priests and divine kings they had relied on.


S.F. subway system to launch double-stop feature at 3 stations

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Authority (SFMTA) said on Thursday that double stopping begins on Sunday, May 24, in select subway stations.

The double-stopping feature schedules two trains to make stops and pick up passengers simultaneously. SFMTA aims to use this method to alleviate congestion and improve rider safety on subway platforms. Inbound trains at Montgomery, Civic Center and Powell stations will offer the feature at the outset at peak hours on platforms that are long enough to handle two trains at the same time.

“Our crews have been working diligently preparing this upgrade of our train-control system to allow for safe double stopping,” Ed Reiskin, SFMTA's director of transportation, said. “Over the years, Muni riders have voiced a desire to be able to get off the train when it reaches their destination, rather than being held at the platform waiting for the train in front of them to clear the station. This new feature will help riders get to where they’re going faster and better manage congestion in the station.”

The first train will pull as far forward as possible to allow passengers to enter and exit the train, then the second train will pull directly behind and allow passengers to exit the train. As the first train departs, the second one will take its place and allow passengers to board.


€99.00 X

SAFE is a training program to enhance secure attachment between parents and children. It is designed for expecting parents (around the 6month mark) and offers 10 sessions in total in a group setting (4 during pregnancy, 6 after pregnancy), coupled with individual feedback to parents (Adult Attachment Interview).

“The development of a secure attachment between parents and child is the ideal foundation for the healthy physical, psychological, and social development of the child. It is therefore crucial that we make every effort to support parents as well as children in their earliest developmental phases to ensure that this important developmental step is successfully accomplished.” K.H. Brisch

Dear parents to be,

Pregnancy, birth & parenthood - a new, exciting phase of life with many happy moments! It also raises many questions.

Many parents feel overwhelmed and insecure and quite often differ in opinion as to what is the best for their baby. These days, parents are confronted with information from books, television, not to mention the well-intended opinions of friends, relatives, and grandparents. Unfortunately, the sometimes contradictory advice can be both overwhelming and confusing.

Perhaps you, like so many other parents-to-be, have asked yourself some of the following questions:

How do I become a good mother or a good father?
How can I build a good relationship with my child and get him or her on the right developmental path?
What should I do when my baby cries or can’t fall asleep despite my best efforts?
What should we as parents do when our needs are different from those of our baby?
Creche… Yes? No? When?
At what point am I spoiling my child, and when does my child need limits?
How can I avoid unconsciously transmitting my own unpleasant/ unhealthy childhood experiences to my child?
How can we best handle our change in status from couplehood to parenthood?

Participation in SAFE® enables you to perceive your child's emotional needs better, particularly with regard to the development of attachment, and to enhance a secure attachment through sensitive interaction.

The SAFE program consists of group day courses before and after childbirth; sensitivity training and a help line or hotline.

Please email us @ info@naturalnursery.ie to enquire about available places. We will take a deposit of €99.

Stephanie Burke is currently the only qualified SAFE Mentor in the Republic of Ireland (qualification gained under Dr. Brisch through the Department of Pediatric Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy at the Dr. von Hauner Children’s Hospital University of Munich)


Jobs & Economy
in Utah

A strong economy is one of the paramount contributors to Utahns’ high quality of life. Today, Utah’s economy is one of the strongest in the nation. The state has diverse industries and jobs and has consistently been ranked among the best states to grow a business. In addition, wages and jobs have increased, not only for high-income earners, but also for low- and middle-income workers.

But economic growth doesn’t happen in a vacuum. The future of the state’s economy will be determined by the decisions Utahns make regarding almost every issue facing the state, including air quality, water, disaster resilience, education, recreation, communities, transportation, energy, and agriculture. Poor air quality, for example, will discourage businesses and employees from locating to the state. Further, if Utahns do not wisely manage and prepare for future water needs, businesses will not have sufficient water to run effectively. And if Utahns do not prepare for catastrophic events, the economy could be diminished or destroyed by a single natural disaster. Providing a good education, on the other hand, will strengthen the economy because a highly educated workforce attracts employers and facilitates innovation. Ensuring easy access to world-class recreation will also attract jobs and talent, as well as tourists. In addition, Utah’s economy will run more efficiently and attract more employers if communities are designed to make it easy for Utahns to access shopping, jobs, and education and for businesses to move goods and provide services. And the success of Utah’s energy and agriculture industries will affect overall self-sufficiency and the economy, particularly for rural communities.

Not only is a strong economy the result of Utahns’ wise choices, but it also facilitates future good decisions. If Utahns have sufficient means to provide for their families, for instance, they are more likely to have the flexibility to implement technologies and other measures to reduce their water and energy consumption. And when they enjoy high employment rates with good wages and benefits, the state has more funding to invest in education, transportation, and other priorities.


BCS Fortran Special Interest Group, BCS Bedford Branch, The IET.

Fortran, alive and well at 59! (Inc. Branch AGM)

DateTuesday 20 Sep 2016

18:00 - 20:00

The Park Inn Hotel, Tavistock Suite, 2 St. Mary's Street, Bedford, MK42 0AR

SpeakerPeter Crouch

The talk will cover the history of Fortran from its inception in the 1950s to today, including its evolution through the standardisation of the language from the 1960s through to the 2010s and the Fortran Specialist Group's role in the UK and internationally in that evolution from 1970 to today. Some of the features of modern Fortran will be described together with examples of its current applications, including weather forecasting and climate prediction, computational chemistry and the design and maintenance of high performance cars and aircraft.

photoPeter Crouch joined the D and R Laboratory of International Nickel in Birmingham in 1968 to work on the technology of nickel electrodeposition after completing his PhD in inorganic coordination chemistry at the University of Reading. His involvement with computing began in the late 1970s when he started using early personal computers for the statistical analysis of his experimental results. Initially he used BASIC and Pascal but in the early 1980s he began to use Fortran. In 1985 he was offered the opportunity to work full time as a software developer on the computer aided design and manufacturing systems of Inco Engineered Products. He worked as a Fortran, and later C, programmer until 2001. In the early 1990s he joined the BCS and later the Birmingham Branch committee. He became Chairman of the branch in 1997.In the late 1990s he had joined the Fortran SG committee as Web Editor and became Chairman in 2002, within days of stepping down as Chairman of the Birmingham Branch!

6.00pm Registration, refreshments and networking
6.30pm Guest Speaker - Peter Crouch
7.20pm Opportunity to question the speaker
7.45pm Opportunity to network and talk to the speaker
8:00pm Bedford Branch AGM 2016 - Everyone is welcome to attend

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