The Fairwater entrance to Birdies Lane

Birdies Lane in Ely, Cardiff has witnessed an array of crimes over the years, crimes ranging from minor criminal damage to near-fatal assaults.

Centuries ago Irish politician Edmund Burke said: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” However, on a small footpath in West Cardiff it seems even with police intervention the actions of these good men may not have been enough to save the lane from breeding evil and violence.

Birdies Lane river-crossing

The small footpath, about 200 metres in length, joins the districts of Ely and Fairwater together, crossing over the River Ely and under a railway line. The lane is regularly used by many people to cross between the two regions.

But at night, as the lane falls into darkness, the walkway transforms in the shadows into a sinister place, a dark breeding ground that attracts suspicious characters, an area that harbours crime night after night.

Birdies Lane walkway

Section Inspector Andy Smith, South Wales Police, explained during Ely’s November PACT meeting (Police And Community Together) that many weapons were constantly being recovered from the area, weapons including baseball bats and pieces of wood with nails in.

The Section Inspector also said gangs, sometimes numbering up to a hundred, gather round the lane looking for trouble. He said: “It is a shame really, the groups usually consist of a core of five or so kids set on causing trouble and they then pressure the rest of the kids, who generally come from good homes, to come with them. Yet when they are all running past you in the street it can be quite frightening.”

Problems in the lane came to a head on March 14 this year when 17-year-old Lewis Jones of Fairwater was stabbed by Elliot Bowley of the same age from Ely. As a result of the attack Jones spent six days in intensive care after being stabbed in the chest, whilst Bowley was jailed indefinitely after pleading guilty to grievous bodily harm.

David Elias, the prosecutor in the case against Bowley, said: “It is a situation which has recently been escalating and has resulted in numerous calls to the police about rival groups, mainly young males, arguing and fighting.”

PCSO Will Evans, South Wales Police, backed up the prosecutor’s claims. He said: “We were receiving call-outs to the lane on a daily basis, something had to be done.”

Something was done.

Police closed the lane for a six-month trial period between 7pm to 5am everyday. The police have called the trial closure a huge success and canvassed opinion for a permanent closure at Ely’s November PACT meeting. The meeting raised mixed responses.

One notable opposition to the lane’s permanent closure was one of Ely’s Labour councillors, Susan Goddard. This week she gave an interview about the Lanes’s closure:

Councillor Goddard acknowledges the problems in the lane before the closure. She said: “At night there was a lot of drinking, drugs, dealing and taking.”

She also believes police exaggerated the lane’s problems to ease their own workload by closing the lane rather than trying different policing methods. She said: “The most serious thing that happened, not on the lane, it happened about, well, a good quarter of a mile to half a mile from the lane. In Ely an Ely boy did stab a Fairwater boy and that was used as the catalyst to close the lane.”

Archer Road

Police have used Lewis Jones’s stabbing as the cornerstone of their operation to close the lane.  However, Councillor Goddard rightly points out that Jones was stabbed in Archer Road, not Birdies Lane. The map below shows this:

View Larger Map Birdies Lane

It is fair to say evil actions occurred in the lane before the closure. However, contrary to the police she believes the closure has done nothing to stop crime in the area. She was asked if she had seen any difference in crime since the gates were fitted. She responded: “Personally no, I have seen no difference whatsoever.

“I think what should have happened, instead of closure and I did make the point and so did my colleagues that there should be more lighting, there should be a camera, there is a camera on the Fairwater side of Birdies Lane and there should be one on the Ely side. I think they’ve used closing the lane as a cheap option”

Police say the number of calls to the area have dropped since the closure. Local residents say there has been little change in crime levels and with less police in the area the potential for the more serious crimes to happen is as high as ever. It seems the police may not have killed evil at the roots, instead they have merely trimmed the leaves.

Clara, Bathsheba, Bedelia, Caroline, Celeste, Cecily, Celia, Daisy, Eloise, Eulalie, Flora, Fenella, Genevieve, Hazel, Georgina, Helene, Imogen, Juniper, Jessamine, Louella, Lillian, Magnolia, Marigold, Olive, Orlantha, Polly, Penelope, Primrose, Rose, Tallulah, Violet.

Benjamin, Barnabas, Beckett, Barry, Cassius, Dashiell, Darcy, Edmund, Fletcher, Felix, Gabriel, Gideon, Harvey, Isaac, Ira, Jay, Jonah, Lucian, Leonardo, Orlando, Oxford, Octavius, Preston, Quentin, Raphael, Samson, Theodore, Tennyson, Willoughby.

I realize there’s no blog due today, but I just got done with a bunch of homework and I decided I needed a break. So I drew out the map of Faerie Land. Or rather, how I perceived Faerie Land when reading Spenser’s The Faerie Queene.

I realize its kind of empty, but that’s because that’s all of Faerie Land that I have read…so far. This was physically and emotionally exhausting. I have a whole new respect for Tolkien.

Bigger image here: http://img189.imageshack.us/img189/2118/faerieland.jpg

Four Days Later

Dear Reader, I began this portion of my Journal with a heavy heart; not only was I faced with having to leave Town and having the care of Great Aunt Louisa at Stodgington Hall, but I had not seen nor heard anything of or from the Hon Edmund.  My spirits, enervated as they were, were brought to their lowest in these days of waiting.  Indeed, Great Uncle expects us at the Hall in Three Days time.  However, yesterday, I received a most welcome surprise.

I was in the Blue Drawing Room attempting to chase away my cares by embroidering some pretty handkerchieves intended for my Cousin Ella’s daughter, when the footman showed in The Hon Edmund!  Oh, Reader, how I did not stop myself from rushing to him, I hardly knew!  He advanced toward me, an expression of such compassion on his face, that I needed to turn away to hide my joy.

‘Sarah!’  Edmund took my hand and led me to one of the chairs near the fire; he sat in the opposite seat.  He spoke once more, his voice urgent and yet full of encouragement.  ‘Sarah, please look at me.  I think I may have a solution to your’ he paused ‘your problem.’

‘Sir.’  I was forestalled by his look which was a little admonitory.  ‘Did we not agree that you should call me ‘Edmund’ when we were alone?’  He smiled before continuing:’Your Great Aunt is proving to be a problem – my Uncle, as I have already intimated, is of a similar nature.  He does not come to Town often, but is due to stay with my parents any day now.  Why do we not introduce your Great Aunt to my Uncle and see how they get along?  If they suit, who knows? This would mean that she would be of less trouble – then, there would be no reason to go to the country.  What is more, if they were to decide to marry …’  Edmund smiled once more, well pleased with his strategy.

For a moment, one beautiful, wonderful instant, I felt myself fill with joy.  What a prospect!  Great Aunt Louisa’s need for companionship met, my own responsibilities lightened – and – as Edmund had said, there would be no need to go to Great Uncle’s.  I regarded Edmund with something approaching awe … what a gentleman he was to consider helping me to such an extent!  Perhaps he had some feelings for me other than friendship? I opened my lips to say something to that effect before the reality of my situation hit me with full force.  In less than the blink of an eye all hope was dashed, all dreams were ashes.  Edmund obviously saw something in my aspect:

‘What is to do?  Surely it is a perfect answer?  There is, to be sure, an element of humour in it all – your Great Aunt Louisa, a very, er …  lively, lady being paired with my Uncle who is equally disposed.  They would suit admirably.’  I hardly dared look him full in the face; I did not wish to seem ungrateful, but I had to speak.  ‘Edmund, there is something you have to know.  My Great Aunt’s last husband made provision for her in his Will.  She has a handsome annuity, but this dies with her.  We all understand that.  However, her husband also made the conditions that should she marry again, or be cared for by anyone other than members of our family, then the annuity would immediately stop.’  I felt the tears come to my eyes then.  ‘It is hopeless.  She cannot do without this annuity as her children refuse to help her.  They are too ashamed of her behaviour.  All of her immediate family other than my Great Uncle have died, as have my own parents.  I am the only other family member left.’

For some moments Edmund seemed perplexed.  ‘You have cousins?  I have heard Maria talk of them.’  I nodded in agreement.  ‘They also refuse to take on the responsibity.  Oh, if she would only stop scandalising Society and our acquaintances!  And, importuning my staff!’  I felt a spark of indignation when I observed  Edmund stifle a laugh, then even in these dire circumstances I saw some strange humour in it all and managed to smile.  He immediately took my hands in his own.  ‘Sarah – we will make it right – somehow.’  ‘I fear not, Edmund, but I thank you for your concern.  It is most kind of you, especially as we are but acquaintances.’  Edmund eyed me with some warmth.  ‘I had hoped we were friends, Sarah.  Indeed, I had called to take you out driving again.  Perhaps the fresh air may clear the troubles from your mind for a little time.  Also, there is someone I wish you to meet.’

He was so enigmatic!  I was on the brink of questioning him when – of course – Great Aunt Louisa entered the room.  ‘Ah, hello, young man.  Come to woo Sarah again, eh?  By gad, in my day they weren’t so tardy.  Wedded already you’d have been.  See if you can’t bring some sense into her head.  A plague on that brother of mine!  He’s not taking me away from Town and that’s that!’  She returned from whence she had come, the uproar in the hallway attesting to the fact that she had come across one of the footmen.

Edmund and I exchanged smiles.  He held out his hand.  ‘Come. Put on your warmest pelisse and we shall spend some time together.  Do not worry.’

My heart lightened considerably.  I did as he asked and was ready in a trice.  It is well that we do not know what is to befall us ….

]]> http://sepopculture.wordpress.com/2009/12/02/sons-of-anarchy-12109/ Wed, 02 Dec 2009 12:45:09 +0000 Sunshine http://sepopculture.wordpress.com/2009/12/02/sons-of-anarchy-12109/ http://teejaym.wordpress.com/2009/11/29/dt-stills/ Sun, 29 Nov 2009 00:23:31 +0000 Tee Jay http://teejaym.wordpress.com/2009/11/29/dt-stills/

Dawn Treader recently wrapped filming in Brisbane, Australia and is set to hit theaters December 2010. Can’t wait to see it! -JJ

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UNA HISTORIA QUE CAMBIÓ MI VIDA

¿ESTAS DISPUESTO A SUBIR A LA CUMBRE DEL EVEREST QUE SE PRESENTA EN TU VIDA?

NO HAY ÉXITO SIN FRACASOS
POR: FRANCISCO DE LA PEZA BERRÍOS.

No podemos hablar del éxito sin tener en cuenta los fracasos a los que tendremos que enfrentarnos. Son muy escasas las personas que logran el éxito en el primer intento por realizar lo que se proponen. Y de quienes lo logran,  la mayoría no puede mantenerse en él por muchos tiempo, ya que al lograrlo con la facilidad con la que lo hicieron, no aprenden a valorarlo.

ESTA FUE MI PRIMERA CUMBRE DEL EVEREST ¿CUAL ES LA TUYA?

El verdadero éxito se escribe con toda una historia. Son muy escasas aquellas historias de éxito que no se han escrito con grandes esfuerzos y quienes lo logran, muchas veces han tenido que probar la amargura de algunos fracasos.
La gran mayoría de las personas de éxito, sin duda alguna traen cargando a cuestas una larga historia de momentos amargos, dolorosos, y de muchos sufrimientos, de gran esfuerzo y sobre todo de una gran perseverancia.
Sir Edmund Hillary fue el primer hombre que logró conquistar la cumbre del Everest, el 29 de mayo de 1953, logrando escalar los casi 9000 metros de la montaña más alta del mundo.
Pero aquel no fue su primer intento, ya en 1952 había tratado de lograrlo, sin embargo había fracasado aquella primera vez, pero de ninguna manera se dio la vuelta y volvió a casa y se sentó a llorar las penas de su fracaso, al contrario, se empeñó en lograrlo.

NUNCA PODRAS LOGRAR AQUELLO QUE NO INTENTAS LOGRARLO

De hecho, tras su primera expedición fue invitado a una conferencia en Inglaterra, cuando llegó al estrado, se desató una fuerte y larga ovación, Sir Edmund se alejó del micrófono, se puso al pie del escenario, volvió la mirada hacia la fotografía de la imponente montaña, levantó la mano y señalándola le gritó. – ¡Everest! ¡Me venciste la primera ocasión, pero yo ganaré la próxima vez, porque tú ya creciste todo lo que podías… pero yo sigo creciendo!
La pregunta que quiero hacerle es ¿Usted sigue creciendo frente a los retos o ya se dio por vencido?
El éxito requiere de un proceso de desarrollo con perseverancia y dedicación. Nada se logra sólo con extender la mano, todo requiere de un esfuerzo.
Las personas de éxito denominan lecciones y enseñanzas a lo que todas las personas califican como “fracasos”.
Si usted quiere alcanzar el éxito, debe pensar que a cada paso que dé se encontrará con un Everest, y que tal vez, cada una de esas gigantescas montañas lo vencerán una, dos, tres o mil veces, sin embargo, usted tendrá la oportunidad de decirle: “¡Everest en esta ocasión tu venciste, pero la siguiente yo te voy a vencer!”. Pero para eso debe estar convencido que es más grande que los retos que se le presentan.
El éxito es la mezcla adecuada de una pasión incomparable por lo que quiere lograr, una seria determinación por alcanzar el objetivo deseado, un profundo convencimiento de que puede lograrlo, aunque para ello tenga que hacer el intento un millón de veces.

Before I continue, dear reader, I ought to point out that these stories are from my own confidential Journal. I shall therefore narrate in the past tense – unless, of course, there is a happening which interrupts proceedings – and with Great Aunt Louisa in the house that is a distinct possibility.

Sunday Evening

The Hon. Edmund DeLacy stood just inside the doorway. The butler, as was proper, left the door ajar. This fact barely registered upon my brain. All I could see was the gentleman in question, dressed formally in a black evening coat and matching breeches. He had evidently called upon me while travelling to, or from, an engagement. In his hand he held a sheet of paper.

He regarded me with a serious gaze and did not speak for many moments. I was truly discomposed. Was he angry, amused, indifferent? I hardly knew. If he felt any of these emotions surely he would not call at my house? My mind was in a turmoil, but I endeavoured to speak:
‘Sir, can I be of assistance?’

Edmund DeLacy approached, a gentle smile in his eyes. ‘I believe you sent this, Madam’. The paper was placed in my unresisting hand. He continued: ‘Please, do not torture yourself. It is true that many laughed about your Aunt’s remarks to me. Indeed, my sister Maria has not ceased to tease me all day.’

I listened in wonderment. With difficulty I replied: ‘Then … your sister – and you – will not ostracise me? I would have been sorry indeed to lose Maria’s regard. I have always valued her friendship.’
‘Indeed no, Miss Sarah.’ Edmund’s voice was warm. ‘I must tell you that Maria and I – we have an uncle who is the perfect counterpart to your aunt. We dread his arrival in Town for we know he will cause as much disruption as an elephant in a tent.’

I was engulfed in a great tumult of relief and happiness. For a little while I savoured the feeling before recollecting myself.
‘I thank you most heartily sir. Your words have cheered me immeasurably. But I cannot detain you. You obviously have an engagement.’

The Hon. Edmund lifted my hand, bowed and kissed my fingers. ‘Yes, regrettably I must go. But I would rather bid you ‘Au Revoir’ than ‘Goodbye’. He paused. ‘May I call again tomorrow?’
Before I could reply the door opened to its fullest extent.
‘Great Niece! What are you about? What is this man … Ah good evening, m’boy! We met this afternoon did we not?’ Great Aunt Louisa swept The Hon. Edmund with an approving gaze. ‘Yes! I knew I was right about the breeches. Like a man who doesn’t run to fat. Not like m’ second husband …’ I interposed:
‘Great Aunt, Mr DeLacy was about to leave. He has another engagement’.

Great Aunt looked at me suspiciously. ‘Hmm. I may be nine and ninety years old, but I’m not ready to cock m’ toes yet; I like th’ company of a handsome man. Bring a brandy, and another one for our guest’. She bestowed a brilliantly toothless smile upon the Hon. Edmund who was trying not to laugh. My heart sank, until I saw him wink at me.
‘That, Miss Sarah, is an excellent idea, and then Madam’, this last to Great Aunt Louisa, ‘I do recommend you have a good night’s sleep. I believe that all the beautiful ladies in Town swear upon it. ‘Tis better than any lotion or potion.’

A quarter of an hour later, the maid had taken Great Aunt Louisa to her chamber. The Hon. Edmund donned his cape and hat which had been placed on the hall stand. We made arrangements to go driving in Hyde Park the next day. An instant later he was gone.

I do believe that five years after my come-out, I may be falling victim to the Hon. Edmund’s charm. However, I cannot be sanguine, not until Great Uncle Reginald or my cousins take responsibility for my Great Aunt.

And now I must say ‘Goodnight’. Unless Great Aunt Louisa decrees otherwise, my dreams will be sweet tonight!

English, German, Polish:Means “rich protector” from Old English ead “rich, blessed” and mund “protector”. This was the name of two Anglo-Saxon kings of England. It was also borne by twosaints, including a 9th-century king of East Anglia who, according to tradition, was shot to death with arrows after refusing to divide his Christian kingdom with an invading pagan Danish leader. This Old English name remained in use after the Norman conquest (even being used by king Henry III for one of his sons), though it became less common after the 15th century.

Famous bearers of the name include the English poet Edmund Spenser (1552-1599), the German-Czech philosopher Edmund Husserl (1859-1938) and New Zealand mountaineer Sir Edmund Hillary (1919-2008), the first person to climb Mount Everest. (Behindthename.com)

Radcliffe + Pattinson

O que Harry Potter, Crepúsculo e Os Simpsons têm em comum ? Só em 2010 os espectadores poderão descobrir, quando o astro de “Harry Potter”, Daniel Radcliffe, terá sua voz emprestada, em episódio de “Os Simpsons”, a um… vampiro:

O ator Daniel Radcliffe, astro da saga “Harry Potter”, emprestará sua voz para um episódio do seriado “Simpsons” que irá satirizar “Crepúsculo”, série de filmes sobre vampiros baseada nos livros de Stephanie Meyer.

De acordo com informações da “Entertainment Weekly”, Radcliffe fará Edmund, um jovem vampiro pelo qual a personagem Lisa se apaixona. O pai de Edmund e Homer tentarão então dar fim ao romance.

O episódio, intitulado “Treehouse of Horror 21″, deve ir ao ar somente no ano que vem.

Leia mais clicando aqui.

Just learned about this cool Web site. I put in the full text of a final paper I wrote in a class I took on Shakespeare during undergrad. The paper focused on the villains Iago and Edmund in the plays Othello and King Lear, respectively. Cool Stuff.

Cassius Barnaby James

Cassius Bradley

Cassius Bendigo

Cassius Branigan

Cassius Edmund Bede

Cassius Fabian

Cassius Edward John

Cassius Franklin

Cassius Gatsby

Cassius Grover

Cassius Finley

Cassius Homer

Cassius Jack

Cassius Jude

Cassius Marley

Cassius Noah/Noam

Cassius Orlando

Cassius Pablo

Cassius Quinn

Cassius Steven

Cassius Allan

Cassius Roan

Cassius Reuben

Cassius Roy

Cassius Rex

Cassius Ryo

Cassius Saul

Cassius Scott

Cassius Toby

Cassius Valentine

Cassius Willoughby

Cassius York

Cassius Zavier

I am writing to inform the relevant parties that while attempting to peruse Edmund Spenser’s “The Faerie Queene”, a work reproduced and remediated by Vanderbilt University for the use of its students in its English 115F ”Worlds of Wordcraft” seminar, I found numerous errors that make the work incredibly hard to read and therefore difficult to utilize.  This difficulty ultimately lead to the spending of more time than necessary reading what this university seemingly deems “a poem”.  The time lost by Tyler Gilcrest U.G.S. (Undergraduate Student) relates directly to future dollars and cents in an exponential, but indeterminate, relationship (fig. A) and is due to the fact that he was forced to spend undue amounts of time with your organization’s product.

One error encountered during the use of your product was the presence of numerous and grievous spelling errors.  Spellings such as “gealous”, “farre” and “raine” (for the word “reign”, not “rain”, mind you) are clearly gross oversights in your efforts for remediation for the use of Vanderbilt students such as my client.  one particularly atrocious example, ”dreryhedd”, can only be speculated as to its actual meaning.  Not only do such examples occur, but they do so with such egregious abundance that it begs us to question who you employ for editing service, or whether you request that he take off his winter gloves when he types.  Such simple errors like said spelling errors reflects poorly on your efforts at this remediation.

Another problem with the product lies in the sheer length of the remediation.  The work is supposed to be a “poem”.   A poem implies a short work of fiction.  However this published version is longer than most novels.  In fact, our research indicates that this is the longest poem in the English language.  The length of this poem severely increases the amount of reading time.  And much of the excess is merely fluff.  The first stanza of Book III, Canto I, for instance, can be summarized the following way:  “The Briton Prince and Fairy Knight rested and were healed so that they could continue their adventures”.  Instead the author decides to take an inordinate amount of lines to explain this simple statement.  Again, the amount of money this has cost my client is inexcusable.

The following are suggestions to improve the remediation of the product so as to make it a more efficient and therefore desirable read:

1. Use spell check.  This functionality comes in most modern word processors.  Comprehension of the material increases greatly with such a tool.
2. Use a different format other than portable document format.  Not only does this limit the amount of mutability in remediation but it also limits the ability to perform suggestion 1.
3. Fire your editor.
4. Shorten the length of the work, add some visuals and/or vibrant flash animation, and make sure the final product can be understood by most 11th grade students.  Tyler Gilcrest cannot be bothered to think over allusions, archaic constructs or difficult vocabulary words.

With these changes implemented, both parties will undoubtedly be happier.  Any questions, comments or concerns can be returned along with explanation to this office and will be forwarded accordingly to Tyler Gilcrest U.G.S.  We appreciate your future compliance.

Regards,

Samuel Thompson

Office of Wrongly Assigned Students

Thompson and French P.A.

Min Första dag

Hej,det första som hände på min prao var att jag fick träffa några personer på min arbetsplats vid garvargatan 3 , rådhuset. Sedan fick jag en grundutbildning i saker att tänka på inom internet-marknadsföring. På eftermiddagen fick jag min första uppgift som blev att gå igenom en lista på företagets annons platser och redigera dessa enligt önskemål. Första dagen var kul, det kändes som att gå till skolan. Mottagandet var bra.

just got home…

met up with Mund at One Utama, Delicious by Ms Read for lunch. had the Classic Rueben. then sat there n talk talk talk like we usually do. Evie, Agnes n Jing Shern joined us after a while. sat there n talk with all of them, hear story, everything till abt 4pm then i balik n they went to watch movie.

bummed around till 6pm then mummy tried to teach me a lil Corporate Finance. then at 8.30pm Kenneth came to fetch me we went to Euro Deli so he could have his dinner. at 10pm Edmund n Jing Shern joined us then Agnes n Santa arrived a lil later. talk talk talk, then finally left at 12.30am. Kenneth dropped me home.

i’m gonna miss everyone

think i’m gonna write some posts soon. summer post.

cheers!

Here they are, the 2 first images of the 3rd episode of the Chronicles of Narnia, the images are about the Ship the Dawn Treader, directed by British filmmaker Michael Apted (Thunderheart, The World Is Not Enough, Amazing Grace)
The story follows the two youngest Pevensies siblings, Lucy (Georgie Henley) and Edmund (Skandar Keynes), as they travel with Prince Caspian (Ben Barnes) on a quest around the world in the Dawn Treader. Three years have passed since the events of Prince Caspian, peace has been established in Narnia, and Caspian has undertaken his oath to Aslan to find the seven lost Lords of Narnia. Lucy and Edmund are delighted to be back in Narnia. The talking mouse Reepicheep  is also on board, as he hopes to find Aslan’s country beyond the seas of the “utter East”

This movie will navigate to the cinemas the next  December 10th, 2010.

via: firstshowing

Edmonton. Day Three.

The five hour drive passed easily. It has been a long time since I have gone a long distance in one go; so it was easy to savour the poetry of the wondering skyline. We had a wide blue sky and long long rail-straight lengths of highway. It was the kind of journey in which one’s mind is easily stilled.

I can tell already that the inevitable meta-narrative of our tour will be a “Tale of Two Fringes.” Admittedly, this could be a self-fulfilling prophecy, but the differences between Edmonton and Saskatoon are palatable.

Primarily, Edmonton and the Edmonton Fringe feel big and busy, especially after the small-town sensibilities of Saskatoon.

More importantly, the Fringe seems to matter here.

The main Fringe area is still being built and it already feels like people know and care about the festival. There is an army of volunteers and free public transport for performers. There is a sense of anticipation and the program costs six dollars. Excitement is building.

We had our tech yesterday and it went very well. We are very pleased with our venue. It is the perfect size for our show and our two technicians — yes, two technicians — are friendly and skilled. In this venue, we are very confident we will be putting on a good show.

We are also going to hustle hard to ensure very-full to sold-out audiences is the norm. Even so, because we did so well in Saskatoon, it’s only gravy from here on. Whatever happens, we win.

As it turns out, we are sharing our venue with some of our favorite shows from the Saskatoon Fringe. We’ve got the Squid Kids, Team Edmund, The Lavender Ladies, and Magic Bange. These are all solid to great shows and they will help to put our venue on the map.

With any luck, we will connect with the other folks in our venue soon enough. There is no Off Broadway green room, but there are a few regular hang-outs and people still want to meet each other. Old friends are re-connecting and beer hall introductions are setting the groundwork for new friendships.

In Saskatoon, I think it is fair to say that there were only two or three overlapping and intersecting narratives. In Edmonton, there will be many many stories and many may never properly overlap. It will be a different kind of fun, but it will be fun nevertheless.

It will the best of times and the best of times — only differently.

The festival officially kicks off on Thursday for us. There will be six shows and then a long ride home. But that is later and this is now. Let the fun (and the hustle) begin.

For more posts like this, click here.

Summer has been much busier than I had anticipated. It hasn’t left me a lot of time to mull over names that I may or may not use.  It’s mostly been good busy, though, so I am not going to complain.

I’m not pregnant and won’t be for a minimum of 6 months at this point, so worrying about names isn’t exactly an emergency.

Unlike other people, my interest in names is a two-pronged thing: I am interested in names that I would use, and I am interested in creating fictional naming systems that fit my constructed languages.

I’ve given in to being a little snarky, but the truth is, I don’t care what people name their kids in general. If Mr. and Mrs. Christmas think it is a good idea to name their daughter Mary, that’s not really any of my business. And I don’t know that I’d even find it very surprising at this point.

So, anyway, on to my top picks as of today. Off the top of my head, I’m going to say that Edmund has moved up to #1 for a boy, and Tabitha is probably my #1 for a girl.

Jonah is really appealing to me right now. Malcolm remains a strong contender. Henry has probably fallen down below those. Kai is a favorite, and I’ll let that round out my picks, but I don’t know that it has what it takes to stand up to our 3-syllable last name.

I still like Wyatt, but saying it a few times with our last name, it doesn’t work so well. (It goes great with my maiden name though, which is just about useless.)  Jethro and maybe Jasper are possible replacements for Wyatt on my list.

The other contenders in the feminine category are Phaedra, Daphne, Carmen and Claudia. I just like those best right now. Who knows how I’ll feel next month. Like I said, I’ve got all the time in the world.

And everything after this point is of little or no interest to baby name enthusiasts, but is intensely interesting to me, so I am going to post it anyway.

I had mentioned much earlier in this blog that I invent languages as a hobby, and part of that has been finding ways to adapt real world names to my fictional languages, and also inventing naming systems for my languages.

I have maybe 3.5 language projects that have developed into something more than a very preliminary sketch. One of those (Myjador) is dormant, one is semi-dormant (ea-luna), one is in active development (Teliya Nevashi) and one new one that hasn’t really been named yet and isn’t quite ready for its debut.

Of those, ea-luna probably had the most personal names floating around in my notes. Some were translations of “real” names, others were names just adapted to the sound system of ea-luna (often to the point of mangling– “Fred” would end up something like “Puredu” when adapted), and some were “native” to the fictional culture of the language (such as “Keawakadi”, which is actually a smooshed together phrase that could be translated as “Wintersoul”).

Myjador had a number of “native” feminine names, mostly referring to the time of day of the birth of the child. The only one I can think of without looking it up is “Shesari” (“Born In The Evening”). I think where I was going with that was that in that fictional culture, a person would have two given names– a very common one related to the circumstances of his/her birth (time of day, season, weather, war or peacetime status, etc), and then a more specific one picked just for them.

Teliya Nevashi is a newer project in very slow development. My plans for this one is to develop a list of naming elements that can be combined to create names with different meanings that mostly stand out from other words in the lexicon.  The only Nevashi name I can think of that has been used so far is Tajítsha, which means “Little Marigold”, and for better or worse, that’s really just a word with a diminutive suffix on it. That’s not the way I want to go for most names, though.

I’ll probably have a combination system for the unnamed language project, which I intend to be a collaborative project in the long run. Right now I am just building a framework and I need to get the online infrastructure in place for the collaborators to work and share in, but I do think it would be cool if people coming into the project could build their own names. We’ll see how that goes.

As I said much earlier in this blog, I don’t mind made-up names, as long as it means something to someone, somewhere. Lots of now-legit names (e.g., Wendy, Vanessa) were invented for literary purposes. On the other hand, I may not be so much a fan of “it doesn’t mean anything, it’s not a reference to anything, it just sounded pretty.”

(edmund)

“Young Master, are you all right?”
“Fine, Philip. Just a little bump on the head.”
“You’re sure, Sire? You hit the rock fairly hard. It made an awful sound.”
“I’m sure. What about you? Anything hurt besides your leg?”
“I might have lost some tail hairs, but other than that I am uninjured.”
“Good. But you’re leg’s bleeding pretty bad. We should get you to the healers.”

Edmund started to rise, but froze mid-stance, hand flying to brush his right ear.

“Are you okay, Sire?”

His ear. His ear was bleeding. When had he hit is ear? That didn’t make sense.

“Maybe you should sit down.”

His head was bleeding too. His head and his ear. So much blood on the outside. Was he bleeding inside as well?

“Someone will be along shortly. This is a heavily populated area.”

When had the woods started spinning? He had been so distracted by his ear that he hadn’t realized he had sat down until his hand dragged over a rock.

“Edmund, can you hear me?”

He was shaking. And the voice….it wasn’t Philip’s, but it was so familiar. He knew he would recognize it if he just opened his eyes. When had he closed them? He opened them slowly — they felt like lead weights — and blinked away the blurriness.

“Peter?”

His voice came out as little more than a croak.

“Edmund, listen to me. You passed out. A wood nymph found you and alerted us.”
“Where’s Philip? Is he okay?”

His throat strained to force the sound out of his mouth.

“Philip’s fine. Lucy’s taking care of him.”
“Lucy?”

The confusion was lost in the huskiness of his voice. She wasn’t here was she?

“They’re not here. They’re waiting for us at the castle. Speaking of which, can you stand?”
“I think so.”

Peter slid his arms under Edmund’s and hefted the younger boy to his feet. Edmund’s legs shook mercilessly; Peter holding his waist was the only thing keeping him vertical.

“Flisk’s waiting by the stream. It’s this way.”

Direction mattered little to Edmund. His attention had once again been drawn to his ear, which had resumed bleeding. Had it ever stopped?

“Peter….”
“Yeah, Ed?”
“Thanks.”
“For what?”
“For catching me.”

And just like that, he collapsed.

(peter)

Peter had, in fact, caught Edmund. Swept him up into his arms in one fluid motion, then took off running back to the stream, to Flisk, onto whom he loaded Edmund. With his brother’s limp body held securely between himself and the unicorn’s neck, Peter made the journey back to the castle, to Lucy and the cordial, to healing and answers.

written 27 September 2008

Earlier this week we took our annual summer trip to Lake Superior. This was the fifth trip we’ve made and we always go with the Bonetti family. I have been friends with Mark Bonetti since our school days, and as well as seeing the best freshwater lake in the world, it is good to renew our bonds of friendship. This year we decided to go to the far east in the UP to stay in the small town of Paradise, and explore the coast near Whitefish Point.

We are shown above at the Centenial Cranberry Farm. Although it looks nice, it was extremely cold with a sharp, northerly wind making us quite chilled. It was the first time I have been to a cranberry farm and learned how they are harvested. The cranberry is native to the UP and it is a small bush that likes acidic bogs. The glaciers made sure there are plenty of bogs in the UP. Our neighbor to the south, Wisconsin, is the number one producer of cranberries in the US. The Kralovecs are fruit fanatics as you can tell from some of my blog posts! Cranberries are traditionally eaten during American Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Owen And Lauren Collected Rocks at Whitefish

It was a long drive but well worth it. Lake Superior’s water temperature in mid-July was 57 F (14 C) and quite refreshing. We went swimming on Monday evening despite the cool winds. The tourists from Ohio thought we were crazy, but once you get in the water it is quite nice. On Tuesday we toured the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum and the Whitefish Point Bird Observatory. The area is a popular stop for birds on the flyway south because the point juts out into the lake, making it a short flight to and from Canada. We collected rocks and driftwood, played in the sand and really had a nice morning at the beach. Nadia and the boys at the Shipwreck Museum

Tahquamenon Falls

The museum was very interesting. Lake Superior gets huge storms in the autumn and many ships have gone down. Most were in the 1800’s and early 1900’s and mostly due to collisions or storms. The most fascinating story is of the Edmund Fitzgerald. This was an ore carrier that sank in 1975, the last ship to go down with lives lost. Gordon Lightfoot wrote a song about it. The event captures the essence of the beauty and danger of Superior. Many ships went down near Whitefish Point because it narrows as it approaches the Soo Locks.

Superior Sunset

By Cara Sulieman

MOTORISTS faced with long tailbacks whilst eight weeks of roadworks hit the M8 will be able to get text message updates on the jams.

Construction company Amey are refurbishing the Arkleston Bridge near Glasgow Airport and are offering road users the updates in a bid to reduce the chaos.

But while motoring groups welcome anything that will make road users lives easier, they are warning people not to check the updates whilst they are driving.

Starting tomorrow the motorway will be reduced to two small lanes with a 40mph speed limit.

The bridge itself will also be closed.

“Frustration”

The first commuter day of any roadworks is traditionally the worst for congestion, as people haven’t had time to work out alternative routes yet.

So the first message will be sent out on Sunday night telling people which parts of the M8 will be affected.

Colin Mackenzie, unit manager for Amey said: “Motorway maintenance works are very necessary but delays are often unavoidable and we understand that this can cause frustration.

“To help drivers plan their journeys, we always work hard to publicise major roadworks but we regularly find that the first commuter day of any project is the worst for congestion.

“We hope that the additional element of text communication will help improve journey times during these bridge works and we encourage road users to sign up by texting TRAVEL to 84880.”

“First I’ve heard”

And the AA have welcomed the move, saying that anything that will help reduce motorists travel time is a good thing.

Edmund King, president of the AA, said: “I don’t think this has been used before by a highways agency.

“There are a number of private commercial companies than monitor the roads and provide updates but this is the first I’ve heard of this.

“August is a popular time for roadworks to be carried out because people are on holiday, but this year there might even be more people on the roads because more and more are choosing to holiday in the UK because of the credit crunch.

“We applaud anything that tries to minimise the consequences of roadworks, and offering road users alternative routes and updates to their phone is a unique and interesting way to do this.

“The people of Scotland have paid for their road maintenance many times over in taxes, and this service is the sort of thing they deserve in return.”

“Illegal”

However he warned: “We would just urge people not to check the text message updates whilst they were driving.

“They should check before they start their journey, and remember that using their mobile whilst driving is illegal.”

The £1.2m work carried out on the bridge will increase the height by 150mm after a number of high vehicles have crashed into the bridge since it was first built in 1968.

Just last September a lorry being carried on a flatbed trailer smashed into the beams, causing chaos on the motorway.

Fewer incidents

Andrew Brodie, Senior Engineer at Transport Scotland said: “This is the first major overhaul of Arkleston Bridge in over 40 years and brings it into line with other bridges on the M8.

“This is a major programme of works which will bring long term benefits for road users as we anticipate fewer incidents once the height of the bridge is raised.”