Happy birthday, Anoop! This is a birthday gift from us, your fans. Your fans all over the world submitted videos and photo messages, and Diana (@diananoop on Twitter) put them all together into this video montage with a help from Anne Marie (@amc1988) and Brooklyn (@brooklynoop). You will also see that a few of your American Idol friends (Kris Allen, Michael Sarver, Alexis Grace, David Hernandez, Gina Glocksen) and your little clay creature pal wanted to wish you a happy birthday as well.

We are a creative, funny, and good looking bunch, aren’t we? ;-p

We hope you have a great birthday with people you love. This is going to be a great year!

Love,
Your fans all over the globe

A few scenes from the video montage include:

ETA: There have been quite a few birthday wishes for Anoop on Twitter. Here are a few examples:

David Cook is also celebrating his birthday today He asked his fans to donate to the National Brain Tumor Community instead of any birthday gift.

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I NEED YOU HELP!!!

I need your help, I’m on a mission to connect 1,000,000 people with 1,000,000 cars, I have recently partnered with a few companies in the tri-state area that have an OVER STOCK of vehicles that need drivers, yes these cars need drivers. They range from bank repossessions to trade ins, these vehicles range from 6 months old to 25 years old, manufactures from AM General to Yugo, trucks to motorcycles, forklifts to bulldozers, what ever you are looking for I can offer at a discount to any advertised retail price. The inventory changes daily, I come across many vehicles.

I am working mostly in the New York, New Jersey area, this does not make a difference, even if you are in a different state or country I can still ship and/or export you the car you are looking for.

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I’m not looking for anyone to sell anything all I’m asking is if you know someone looking for any kind of car THAT DOES NOT WANT TO PAY FULL RETAIL PRICE, forward this e-mail and my phone number and this is what I will do for you and anyone that buys a vehicle.

I’m going to give away 10% on the purchase price of any vehicle up to $1000 to your favorite non-profit charity in your name. I’m not only going to give the store away, I’m going to give it away in someone else’s name. What is he crazy! No I just know if I help others help others, life is better for all. This means if you or someone buys a car or light truck for $2500 I will give $250, buy for $4000 I give $400, buy for $6,000 I give $600.00, etc on up to $1000.00

Listen to what I am saying I am going to give away most if not all of my profit in your name to YOUR charity this is a win win for all. We all know someone who needs a car or wants to upgrade to a newer model and wants to save some money. You get a tax deductible donation that did not come out of your pocket, and your charity gets the help it desperately needs, if that’s not giving I don’t know what is.

That’s all I’m asking this in not a joke I am very very serious. Please read all attachments, if you have any questions you can call between 8am-6pm. At 631 671 9779 You can e-mail questions and vehicle request at ejacksoniaia@gmail.com, I will need to talk to you to verify all emailed info so don’t forget the best phone number to call you back

Posted by Audiegrl

Tom Joyner’s Falsely Executed Relatives Cleared – 94 Years Later

Syndicated Radio Host Tom Joyner

BlackAmericaWeb.com/Jackie Jones—The South Carolina Parole and Pardons Board has unanimously granted Tom Joyner a posthumous pardon for his great-uncles, Thomas and Meeks Griffin, who were executed in 1915 for a crime they didn’t commit.

Officials believe the men are the first in the state to be posthumously pardoned in a capital murder case.

Joyner, his brother, Albert, and two sons, Thomas and Oscar, were joined by Harvard scholar Henry Louis “Skip” Gates and his legal team in presenting their case. The host of “The Tom Joyner Morning Show” called in to the program right after the decision came down shortly after 9:30 a.m. to inform co-hosts Sybil Wilkes and J. Anthony Brown, along with his nationwide listening audience, who’d been texting their well-wishes for the family all morning.

Tom Joyner and Henry Louis Gates (at left) embrace after being granted posthumous pardons for Joyner's great-uncles.

“They did give my uncles a posthumous pardon,” Joyner said. “We’re getting ready to go now for the signing of the pardon letter.”

Joyner had been on a quest to clear his uncles’ names after learning of their story when Gates announced the results of genealogy research conducted on Joyner’s family as part of the 2008 PBS special, “African American Lives II.”

Joyner, with help from Gates and South Carolina attorney Stephen K. Benjamin, put together the case petitioning the state to exonerate his maternal great-uncles.

Joyner holds up the signed pardon

The brothers were executed with two other black men for the April 1913 shooting death of John Lewis, 73, a wealthy Confederate veteran living in a town 40 miles north of Columbia.

The Griffin brothers were indicted in July 1913 and given just two days to prepare the case. The family was forced to sell 130 acres of land to finance the defense. Their lawyer sought a delay but the request was denied, leaving just one day to get ready. Later, the state Supreme Court said the denial was insignificant to the outcome of the case.

More @

African-American Lives 2 – Tom Joyner

The video clip below is poignant moment from the documentary where Dr. Gates stuns Joyner by telling him that his great-uncles were electrocuted by the State of South Carolina, for a murder they didn’t commit. Historically, of the 47 people who were put to death in South Carolina between 1912 and 1920, 44 were Black.

Albany Law School professor Dr. Paul Finkelman, who helped with the research on the case, says he’s never seen a case in which so many white public officials and sentences came forward to try to help black men who had been convicted.

“The Griffin brothers stand for the thousands of people who are unjustly accused, unjustly convicted,“ he said after the pardon was granted. “It’s not just Tom Joyner’s family. This is a much bigger story and there are other stories that need to be told.”

Related Articles

Put Tom Joyner’s life and ancestry in historical context with the PBS Interactive Historical Timeline

Tom Joyner’s Falsely Executed Relatives Cleared – 94 Years Too Late

SC Board Pardons 2 Black Men Executed 94 Years Ago

Pic: AP Photo/Mary Ann Chastain

“This won’t bring them back, but this will bring closure. I hope now that they rest in peace,” Joyner said. “This is a good day.”

Wow! I didn’t believe it when I hear this story, but I’m glad that Tom Joyners family can finally rest knowing that they recieved some type of justice… even though it is EXTREMELY late. (Havard Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. was also there to take in the moment.)

This is what AP had to say…..

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Two great-uncles of syndicated radio host Tom Joyner, sent to the electric chair for the 1913 murder of a Confederate Army veteran, were unanimously pardoned Wednesday by South Carolina.

Officials believe the men are the first in the state to be posthumously pardoned in a capital murder case.

Black landowners Thomas and Meeks Griffin were executed 94 years ago after a jury convicted them of killing 73-year-old John Lewis, a wealthy white veteran living in Blackstock, a Chester County town 40 miles north of Columbia. Two other black men were also put to death for the crime.

“This won’t bring them back, but this will bring closure. I hope now that they rest in peace,” Joyner said. “This is a good day.”

Keep Reading….

Joyner, who lives in Dallas, and his attorney made a presentation to the state parole and probation board on Wednesday, then left the room while the board voted. Family members who flew in for the hearing included his wife and sons, of Dallas, and brother and his family, from Jackson, Miss.

Though he talks to roughly 8 million listeners on the radio daily, Joyner said facing the seven board members “scared me to death.” When he was told how they voted, he said he waved his hands and hugged family members in a flood of relief and joy. He also called in to his radio show.

Joyner learned about his uncles’ fate two years ago during filming of the PBS documentary “African American Lives 2,” which traced his lineage and 11 others’ through the research of Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr.

The talk show host, Gates and legal historian Paul Finkelman then began to work to clear the Griffins’ names because records indicated they were framed by another man who was linked to the victim’s stolen pistol, but claimed he was only the lookout.

“These were hardworking, outstanding community citizens,” Joyner said, noting the family owned about 130 acres. “Out of nowhere it seems, they were accused of murder.”

John “Monk” Stevenson, who was known to be a small-time thief, testified against the others in exchange for a life sentence. According to sworn statements, he later told fellow inmates and a detective the four men had nothing to do with the crime, but he pointed his finger at them to save himself.

Stevenson told at least one inmate he chose the Griffin brothers because he thought they were wealthy and could afford a lawyer.

The Griffins had to sell their land to pay for their defense. After the execution, Joyner’s grandmother fled to Florida, but did not say why. Joyner said even his father knew nothing of his uncles until Gates uncovered the family secret.

The case was about class and economics as much as race, Gates said.

“They were framed because they were the richest black people in the county,” he said. “I as a historian am honored to see something rectified in the present.”

Gates believes an illicit affair and the desire to protect the elderly veteran’s reputation also played roles in his uncles’ indictment.

Records show police initially focused on Anna Davis, a black woman Lewis was reportedly intimate with. Anna and her husband Bart Davis were arrested with their suitcases packed. A neighbor and an employee of Lewis said they saw Bart Davis at Lewis’ home the morning of his death, and Stevenson initially said he got the gun from Bart Davis’ brother.

The four were indicted July 6, 1913, and the trial began two days later. With only a day to prepare, defense attorney W.H. Newbold asked for a delay, but the request was denied. The state Supreme Court later deemed that denial insignificant.

When appeals failed, Newbold asked the governor for a pardon hearing. Some white residents in Chester County agreed.

More than 120 people signed a petition asking then-Gov. Richard Manning to commute the men’s sentence, including Blackstock’s mayor, a former sheriff, two trial jurors and the grand jury foreman. Manning gave the four a temporary reprieve while he considered it, but ultimately the four were sent to the death chamber.

The pardon is not only a family victory, but a step toward the healing of racism nationally, Joyner said. Finkelman, an Albany Law School professor, said the Griffin brothers stand for thousands unjustly convicted. He plans to do more research on the case and possibly write a book.

Gates said it’s exciting that an interracial coalition existed in both the 1915 effort to save the Griffins’ life and in their pardon Wednesday.

“Racism is alive,” Joyner said. “We can’t move forward until we confront the past.”

Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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One of the perks of enduring the endless bore that is Missions Week aka Two Month Fundraising Period is that one catches gems like this: God TV’s Budget has gone up from doubling from £12.5m to £25m to an astonishing and mindnumbing £36m.

What are they doing? Rory Alec gathers Projects like one possessed. God TV has a vision for ”thousands of Churches” in the African region linked to the de facto Water well, assuming they hit sufficient water to justify Water Vats and that the Government hasn’t abandoned the Region due to geophysical factors (LSE public lecture on Geophycists or other University Channel).

God TV has not provided costings of the latest brainswaves such as the Archeologists one in Negev, Million Trees in Israel, costs of groundwork etc and actual breakdown of cost of Tree Donations. Nor cost of errecting a Church building as well as build Clinics, etc, in effect central infrastructure in an african Village; so one is having to estimate costs on visual appearance and imagined scales ie rough shell composed of red bricks and standard corrugated tin roof.

God TV also does not show us WHO ELSE is bearing the load. ‘Friends’? Suppliers, Ministries they are working with to share the cost in Transmitter builds and how much bullying they did to get Crown House a multi Company building to change it to ‘Angel House’ after God TV i’ts struggling failing nemesis. ( I imagine bloods is boiling at the aforementioned place anyone there spill the beans!)

Bloggers watching God TV and it’s Pals JOYNER , NAR, ICA, 7 Mountains* need to factor in God TV into their analysis and do a lot of the work in estimation etc.

In lieu of these astounding figure and the 2 yearly Financial Crises of the Ministry. Which Financial Crisis will finally kill them?

Mrs. Plane remarked of late that she would like another small side table, so I undertook to produce one. I thumbed through a few books for inspiration and we both decided on a cricket table of one form or another.

‘Cricket’, a variation of the word cracket (the first recorded use, in 1635), describes a low three-legged stool.

1643 W. Cartwright Lady Errant v. i. (1651) 69 I’ll stand upon a crickit, and there make Fluent Orations to ‘em.
1665 Ibid. 332 For a crackett for the reading pew, 1s.
1691 Shadwell Scowrers, I went thither (to Westminster Hall), expecting to find you upon a cricket, civilly taking Reports.
1694 S. Johnson Notes on Lett. Bp. Burnet i. 104 (She) threw her cricket-stool at his Head.
1713 Guardian No. 91 That he hath privily conveyed any large book, cricket, or other device under him, to exalt him on his seat.

The etymology of the word is unclear for in the fifteenth century; the word ‘buffet’ was in common usage to describe a three-legged stool¹.

The appeal of early three-legged furniture is not explicable by aesthetics, thriftiness or poverty, but simply that three legs were more stable than four on the uneven clay and stone flag floors in the cottages, inns and taverns of the day.

Crackets were items of household furniture, not milking stools as so often mislabelled by antiques dealers (no doubt looking to capitalise on everything bucolic). The low stance of crackets is said to enable the sitter to remain below the pall of smoke from the open fires in meagre dwellings without chimneys or smokeholes².

An engraving from The Military Adventures of Johnny Newcombe, illustrated by Thomas Rowlandson (1756-1827)

Cricket tables date from around the same period and were made, like their lowly rustic counterparts, with three turned (or shaved) legs tennoned into a solid plank top. Early joyned examples were constructed in much the same manner as joyners made stools and other tables of the day – without glue, and their mortises and tennons were draw-pegged together.

A seventeenth century joyned oak cricket table, the circular top above a frieze drawer, on turned and block legs united by peripheral stretchers.

A cricket table laid out for taking tea. From the painting A Cottage Interior, by William Redmore Bigg.

A late eighteenth century cricket table with three-board top and shaped aprons.

We already have a turned Ash and Elm cracket in the living room, so I was drawn to a simple, late eighteenth style of table with shaped aprons and straight legs with just a small amount of turned detail on the lower regions. The final design is not a copy of a particular table, but an amalgamation of strict elements borrowed from several tables which were made within the last twenty years of the eighteenth century.

Timbers commonly used for British vernacular furniture were Ash, Beech, Elm, fruitwoods (including Apple, Cherry, Damson, Pear and Plum), Oak, Sweet Chestnut, Sycamore and Walnut. I happened to have some rather nice Ash at the time and when I resawed it, I was pleasantly surprised to see areas of Olive Ash. The ‘Olive’ occurrence is akin to spalting in Spalted Beech and the ‘Brown’ in Brown Oak. It’s caused by fungal attack and is purely a discolouration of the wood and not a structural defect. Any rural British joyner would have exploited the appearance of Olive Ash and, in keeping with the soul of the table, so did I.

The olive staining revealed.

The most challenging part of the table is the cutting of the legs which are kite shaped with only two adjacent faces at right angles to each other. Before turning the lower leg sections, I chopped out the mortices, using a specially made cradle to support the mortice faces of the awkwardly shaped legs horizontal.

The leg cradle.

The ends of the aprons/rails are cut at an angle so as to splay the legs outwards at the bottom, thereby affording the table a wider stance and increased stability. I drew the ogee profile onto the lower edges of the aprons, cut them out and tidied them up with a spokeshave. Holes were drilled in the legs for the draw-pegs and then I dry assembled the table frame. I marked the hole centres through the legs and onto the tennons, dismantled the frame again and drilled the off-centre holes in the tennons.

I assembled the first apron and its respective legs and hammered in the draw-pegs, drawing the tennon shoulders tightly against the legs. Before proceeding with the remaining two aprons, I took a hammer and knocked the ends off the protruding pegs on the inside of the legs. This may sound drastic and somewhat uncouth, but examination of the interior of early joyned furniture often reveals the broken ends of pegs where they might otherwise have impeded the installation of adjacent rails. With the second assembly stage of a triangular table frame, the remaining aprons/rails and leg are joined in unison and one has to be precise with the lengths of the remaining draw-pegs.

The frame assembled and draw-pegged.

Leg detail showing some of the olive staining.

Cricket table tops were invariably made from three jointed boards (sometimes glued together).  Occasionally one sees a single piece top (usually Elm due to its resistance to splitting), but they are customarily warped or cupped.

To reduce waste, I cut the three boards for the top roughly to shape from a single board. The first board was clamped in the vice, some horse sauce was applied to its edge and that of the adjacent board. The two boards were then rubbed back and forth until the glue began to gel and I made sure I finished rubbing with the chalk alignment marks coincided. Most of the horse sauce is squeezed out (the feint brown line visible in the picture). The process was repeated with the third board.

The three table top boards rub-jointed together.

Immediately the boards are rubbed together in this manner with horse sauce, they can actually be picked up and held horizontally without fear of the whole lot falling apart. It makes for a very strong assembly.

Those thinking ahead will have realised that the three boards of the top will be well supported at one end (where they cross one of the rails at ninety degrees), however, at their opposite ends, only the centre board will be wholly supported and the ends of the two outside boards will be left tentatively detached from the frame. The solution is to let in a bearer, the same width as the base of the triangle and equidistant from the table centre as the base of the triangle.

The bearer in situ.

The bearer is a common feature of ‘three-board’ triangular tables and adds rigidity to the otherwise unsupported ends of the side boards³. Such bearers’ ends were normally radiused and tapered, making them less obtrusive.

Radiused and tapered bearer end.

The bearer was nailed to the underside of the top with hand made nails after the top was attached to the table frame with more pegs.

The table top pegged in place…

... and nailed on.

The completed table in-the-white.

The table was coloured with a combination of dye and pigments. Ash was usually given a fairly reddish finish, so I mixed up a red concoction and brushed it on.

The base stain emphasised some rather beautiful quilting in the legs.

The 'patina' was then built up with oil, resins and wax.

The table top received subtle fading and ageing too.

The draw-pegs were left slightly proud to imitate the effects of shrinkage in the legs.

Highlights exhibit more wear than the lowlights.

1. English Country Furniture 1500-1900, David Knell, second edition, printed 2000, p. 255.
2. Irish Country Furniture 1700-1950, Claudia Kinmonth, printed 1993, p.30 with reference to Contributions to the Study of the Irish House: Smokehole and Chimney, A.T. Lucas.
3. Oak Furniture The British Tradition, Victor Chinnery, printed 1979, p. 296-297, plate 3:182b.

George II Oak side table, standing on club legs. c.1740

The desire to make a copy of this table was one of the compelling reasons I took up my tools again; there are a great many pieces of furniture that I always said I was going to make and never got around to when I was fit, able and had a fully equipped workshop. The table is a present for one of my children who has a milestone birthday this year and my children are of an age now to appreciate good furniture and not give it away when they move house!

This original table c.1740 is typical of a form commonly made in the early to mid eighteenth century. The lower portions of the legs are round and tapered, terminating in pad feet. Together the tapered legs and pad feet are sometimes referred to as ‘club legs’.

There is a single long drawer in the front of the table above a shaped apron. The perimeter moulding on the drawer may be a later addition, but in any event, I will not be copying it. I’m also undecided about incorporating the narrow cleated ends on the table top as by this date, they were not archetypal.

The frame is usually flush with the legs at this date and the rails are secured with square pegs using the draw-boring technique whereby the peg holes in the tennons are off-set towards the shoulders so as the pegs are driven into the legs, they strain the shoulders of the tennons ever tighter into the faces of the mortices. The sharp corners of the pegs bite into the legs, deforming both pegs and legs, which affords unparalleled grip and prevents the pegs from working loose.

Oak was still the timber employed for the majority of furniture in this period, although in less fashionable towns and rural centres, any of the staple English furniture timbers (Ash, Elm, Chestnut – and to a lesser extent, Cherry, Pear and other fruitwoods) were employed.

I sourced some English Oak locally and after cleaning it up, the stuff for the legs turned out to be the loveliest Brown Oak and it all exhibits wonderful medullary rays.

I am normally a metric man, but when making period furniture, I revert to the old imperial system of measurement because small metric measurements just don’t quite cut it. For instance, a 6mm astragal moulding does not look correct; a trained eye can differentiate between 1/4″ (6.4mm) and 6mm. Alright, 6.5mm is close, but when the width of all my chisels are sized in fractions of inches, it seems futile intermixing the two systems.

Some fine cabinetmakers may raise an eyebrow at my selection of timber grade and cabinet making skills, so I’ll justify my choice and actions. Until just prior to the industrial revolution, sawn timber was very hard won (and even in rural areas well into the 19th century), as anyone who has seen pictures or film of a pit saw in action can imagine. Little timber was wasted and all but the highest paid city joyners could afford the prime cuts. To 17th and early 18th century joyners, a sound knot (one that is tight and unlikely to fall out) was immaterial as far as the integrity of the piece of furniture was concerned, but nonetheless, when second grade timber was used, it was normally for backboards in pieces of furniture whose common place was against a wall. To that end, I purposely used a board with a knot in it for the backboard of my copy.

As to my ability as a cabinetmaker; my skills have been sought after by the English trade for many years and I have won numerous prizes in competitions, so any appearance of sloppy joints in this copy is deliberate and calculated. As already mentioned, the rails of this table are flush with the legs, but timber is constantly on the move with the climate and ‘flush’ therefore becomes a relative term. I have made some of the tennons fractionally looser than others so as to allow the tension created by the draw boring process to slightly misalign the rails with the legs in a natural looking, moved-over-time manner. This creates very minor steps which will eventually show up as slight shadows when the table is ultimately antiqued and finished.

All surfaces will be hand planed, but not scraped or sanded as these were processes not widely practiced in the early eighteenth century. I’ve noticed that the freshly honed blade I used developed a miniscule nick within a few moments of planing the legs. This is good! If I need to resharpen the blade, then I will, but not specifically because of the nick.

The legs were turned using off-set centres to blend the taper to the pad foot.

The mortices were chopped out by hand.

Even using a brute 3/8″ pig sticker chisel, freshly honed to a steep 35 degrees, chopping the mortices in the Brown Oak was tough going.

I marked and cut the tennons on the rails and fitted them to their respective mortices and then began setting out the hole centres for the pegs which hold the whole table together.

The tennons matched to the mortices.

The midway point of each mortice was marked on the mortice faces of the legs and a square set at 3/8″ was used to transfer the hole centre marks to the adjacent outer faces of the legs. The holes were carefully drilled with a 1/4″ brad point bit.

Each rail was then refitted to its individual mortice(s) and the brad point drill bit was inserted into the peg holes and pressed into the tennons, thus leaving feint but visible marks.

The hole centres were marked onto the tennons…

… which were then withdrawn again and new centre marks were made 3/64" closer to the tennon shoulders.

The off-set holes were then drilled through with the same 1/4" bit.

I have read on the net of much larger off-sets being used in contemporary furniture, but I fail to see the purpose. It’s quite a struggle for a peg to draw even 3/64″ – not that the actual tennon shoulder moves that amount! Anything more than 3/64″ – using components of these dimensions (workbenches and roof frames are an entirely different matter) – will inevitably lead to damage. Either the peg will break when hammered home due to the unforgiving resistance caused by the large off-set, or the end of the tennon (to the outside of the peg hole), will break free and the drawing effect will be lost – not to mention the sheared bit of tennon will likely jam against the bottom of the mortice, thwarting all efforts to drive the tennons home.

A tennon shoulder need only be drawn slightly to effect the tightening mechanism and it appears, both historically and through my own implementation, that 3/64″ is realistically the minimum amount the holes can be successfully off-set in hardwoods such as Oak when drilling by hand – as would have been done several hundred years ago. Of course, with a drill press and modern tooling, finer tolerances are possible, but that’s not the objective, nor the point here.

The Oak pegs are riven to ensure straight grain.

One end of the peg is pared to an octagon using a chisel and then a lead is chiselled on the end to allow the peg to engage the off-set hole in the tennon. Without this lead, the peg would snag on the edge of the tennon hole and damage would ensue.

The relative size of peg point to hole diameter.

I knocked the table frame together and hammered in the draw-pegs. The pegs compress and roughly conform to the roundness of the holes in the legs.

The peg excesses are sawn off and trimmed almost flush.

Can you spot the mistake?

The rear right leg is 90 degrees out of kilter! I always identify the top of each leg yet I still cocked it up! I’ve noticed lately I’ve been making stupid, simple mistakes in virtually everything I do. I don’t know whether it’s down to medication or old age.

The rogue leg annoys me because I made a mistake, but it’s tempered by my having seen the same mistake on antique furniture. While it’s no excuse, I may actually leave it! On the other hand, I may rectify it. There’s no more stock for an entirely new leg, so that rules that option out. I’ll leave it until closer to the finishing stage before I make a decision on what action to take.

I prepared the drawer stuff and cut the front blind dovetails and the rear through dovetails.

The hand cut dovetails.

A dado was cut in the inside of the drawer front to accept the drawer bottom and rebates were cut into the bottoms of the drawer sides for the same purpose. The drawer was then glued together. I also rubbed the edges of the drawer bottom boards together and when the bottom board was dry, I squared it up.

The 1/4" thick drawer bottom.

The boards for the table top were glued together and the thumbnail moulding planed around three edges.

The drawer bottom was slid into the drawer rebates/dado and secured with a couple of small cut nails partially driven through it and into the underside of the drawer back. The drawer runners were then glued in place.

The runners are slightly proud of the rest of the drawer to allow for final fitting.

The drawer guides were rubbed together and then rubbed into the table. Drawer guides were often done this way with no actual joints to locate them in the table frame.

Sometimes rubbed drawer guides were nailed with a single hand cut nail at each end for security. I didn’t notice the dog’s derrière in the frame until I uploaded the pictures, but at least her tail’s down!

The drawer stops at this date were simple wooden blocks.

I aligned the table top with the frame and drilled the holes for the pegs that attach the top to the table in line with the rail. The pegs achieve immense grip on their own, though the slight inclination virtually guarantees the table top will never lift off. If the pegs are inclined, then the angle is alternated with each peg.

Inclining the pegs achieves tremendous holding power.

The pegs are accurately sized to the holes, but just the material in the corners of the pegs can make them quite stubborn to drive home. They can sometimes stop short of their desired depth due to friction, so I usually put the pointed end of each peg into my mouth to wet it immediately before hammering it in.

This peg, though wet, still hung up, but there’s sufficient length extending into the rail to be of little concern. You may notice that this peg has made the round hole perfectly square. The peg is made from heart wood, but this area of the table top is immature wood and therefore the harder peg has determined the shape of the hole.

By comparison, the same heartwood pegs that were used to draw-bore the rails to the legs were no match for the extremely dense Brown Oak of the legs and the resultant shape of the pegs there are virtually round where they protrude.

A square peg in a round hole!

An aside: My first workshop in England was shared with another furniture restorer who at one time was working on a large c.1680 Charles II Oak table. The top necessitated removal for some reason or other and I recall this chap, with the table laying on its side, belting the living suitcase out of the underside of the inch-thick top with a padded sledge hammer in an effort to release it from the frame. He eventually tortured it sufficiently to enable him to slide a keyhole saw blade between the top and the frame and sever the reluctant pegs.

I lightly planed the drawer runners to make the drawer slide smoothly yet ensure the drawer front didn’t catch on the apron rail, nor rub on the underside of the table top.

The brass handle castings were cleaned up, the bevelled edges filed and subsequently buffed. I was careful to leave the faintest hint of file marks in areas where they wouldn’t receive much wear even from the most ardent housekeeper.

The handles filed and buffed.

The handles, pins and staples were mounted on a piece of MDF in preparation for chemical colouring. The brasses were aged in stages to simulate the balance between natural oxidization and highlights created by numerous hands wearing the oxidation away. The result is a convincing layered greenish colour, due to the use of authentic (for the eighteenth century) brass alloy.

The handles following the ageing process.

The highlights aren’t easily visible in this state, but once the surface of the brass has been clarified in the next process, all will be apparent.

While I was waiting for the brasses to do their thing, I made up some ‘iron’ nails to help secure the drawer guides. Wrought iron is much easier to fashion, but alas, it’s no longer readily available, so I had some mild steel sheet guillotined into the appropriate square section and chopped it into random short lengths with a cold chisel. I roughly tapered the shanks and with a few more hammer blows, pounded the heads into shape. The nails too were subjected to heat treatment and chemical ageing to impart an authentic looking rusted surface. They’re not as convincing as genuine iron nails, because the modern mild steel composition has more cohesion than flaky old wrought iron, but they’re adequate.

Pre and post-rusted nails.

One of the nails securing the right drawer guide to the front right leg (table upside-down).

I attached the handles and then waxed the drawer front...

...and then the whole table.

It seems…

… the rogue back leg righted itself.

Charles W Joyner, Down by the Riverside: A South Carolina Slave Community, (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1984). 

O livro de Charles Joyner imediatamente remete, por seu subtítulo, ao clássico de John Blassingame (1). Como o último, Joyner mistura diversas fontes mas dá atenção especial àquelas produzidas pelos próprios ex-escravos. Uma das coisas mais incríveis da era Roosevelt nos EUA foi o Federal Writers  Project, estabelecido em 1935. Parte do projeto foi voltada à entrevistas com milhares de ex-escravos. Uma parte considerável de tais entrevistas pode ser acessada on-line neste endereço, acompanhada de fotos incríveis. Vou até colocar umas para estimular uma visita. Vale a pena.

Mas voltando ao Down By the Riverside, o autor faz uma análise histórica mesclando fontes habituais como inventários e censos com as citadas entrevistas e elementos folclóricos mantidos vivos nas tradições orais. Ele explora diversos aspectos do cotidiano dos escravos de All Saints, distrito de Georgetown, South Carolina. A opção do autor em estudar um lugar específico visa analisar a fundo as características da cultura escrava ligadas à tal localidade, em contraposição à análises tratando da cultura escrava como um todo homogêneo em todo o Sul dos EUA. Utilizando o conceito de criolização, o autor explora religião, transformações linguísticas (o famoso Gullah, até hoje vivo em partes do litoral de South Carolina e Georgia), atividades de lazer, cotidiano de trabalho e por aí vai.

Joyner endossa os trabalhos de Peter Wood e Daniel Littlefield, que  atribuíram um papel central dos africanos no cultivo de arroz na região (2). Recentemente tal perspectiva recebeu novos defensores e críticos, a serem tratados mais adiante aqui no blog quando fizer a resenha do livro de Judith Carney (3). É indiscutível, no entanto, a existência de métodos de cultivo trazidos da África, todos muito bem descritos por Joyner. Também é importante notar  que o livro demonstra que a utilização do conceito de criolização não exclui persistências africanas, como alguns dos mais recentes críticos do modelo parecem acreditar (também vou deixar essa discussão mais para frente).

Joyner descreve ainda como africanos foram capazes de transformar o task system (sistema de trabalho baseado na distribuição de tarefas e de uma certa autonomia dos escravos para realizar as mesmas). Segundo o autor, os escravos impuseram um esquema baseado no passado africano, marcado por uma orientação cooperativa ao invés do caráter individualista inerente ao sistema. “This syncretic achievement exemplified cultural continuity with Africa at a deeper and more fundamental level than did simple African retentions. Here the slaves adapted a basic African work orientation to a vastly different labor system and, in the process, adapted the masters’ labor system to their own sense of appropriateness.” Só não sei se “imposição” seria o termo correto aqui, já que tenho minhas dúvidas sobre quão resistentes seriam os senhores se no fim do dia estivesse tudo feito.

Um excelente estudo para todos os interessados no estudo da(s) cultura(s) escrava(s). Infelizmente o Brasil não teve um negócio como o FWP na década de 30 que registrasse depoimentos dos milhares de ex-escravos então vivos. Ainda assim o pessoal se vira e consegue elaborar uns estudos que não deixam nada a dever (um dia vou postar umas resenhas dos meus livros de cabeceira da historiografia da escravidão brasileira).

Para fechar, um videozinho da Rosetta, cantora muito apreciada pela minha esposa e pelo Bob Dylan. Olha essa mulher arregaçando na guitarra enquanto canta maravilhosamente a música DOWN BY THE RIVERSIDE.

Notas

1. John Blassingame, The Slave Community: Plantation Life in the Antebellum South (Oxford University Press, 1976).
2. Peter H Wood, Black Majority: Negroes in Colonial South Carolina from 1670 H the Stono Rebellion (New York: Norton, 1975); Daniel C Littlefield, Rice and Slaves: Ethnicity and the Slave Trade in Colonial South Na (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1981). 
   
3. Judith Ann Carney, Black Rice: The African Origins of Rice Cultivation in the Americas Ith A. Carney (Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 2001). 
   

Been busy since Leanna left.

Went for Pink’s Concert with the girls. That was pretty cool!!

On Sunday, we celebrated Singapore’s National Day by watching the parade, wearing red, playing taboo and eating pizza. (nothing very singaporean about it) but it was just the chilling and hanging out with the Singaporeans.

Monday I had work, and tried to get started on my Literature Review, which I have not clue about. Remind why I’m taking Human Resource Management again??

Tuesday was quiet, but I got a call to go for a job trial at Burger Bistro on Wednesday.
So i’m back to waitressing, this time at a gourmet burger bistro. Bosses are nice and people are friendly.
It is so much more fun to be a waitress here than in Singapore. Customers are so understanding and nice, unlike the cheapo fussy Singaporeans.

Thursday was work at Kumon again, and this time I didn’t work with kids, but was helping with moving stuff to the new centre. Sarah says I work more hours than I go to uni.

Friday was interesting. Sarah, Jade, Sherlyn and I headed to RDA (Riding for the Disabled Association of Australia). We are volunteering every fortnight at RDA (to complete our 15 hours of community service), but I must say this is a very interesting volunteering program.

We didnt get to work with the disabled this time as it was raining and the programs got canceled. But we were taught to groom the horses and to walk them (without the riders)

Friday night we celebrated Marian’s 20th Birthday in her room!!

We cancelled her saturday work, and instead had a picnic for her by the river

I went for a game of squash with luke in the afternoon. Man that sport stretches every muscle in my body.

I started to ache the next day, but I had to play for intercollege (and lost like crazy).

So now i feel like an old woman, struggling to squat, aching in every muscle.

But I’m quite glad I manage to start playing this game again. I’m finally exercising again. Will definately be going to play more squash with luke!!

And I’m taking up a class in basic ballroom dancing.

I’m filling up my emtpy timetable!!! yay yay yay! I like when I get busy (not with school work though)

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Not looking forward to cross country run tomorrow, brings back memories…

Can’t wait for Cafe Crawl this thursday

Can’t wait for another squash game

Can’t wait to get tomorrow’s mid sem exam over and done with

Can’t wait for MELBOURNE SYDNEY TRIP

Can’t wait to SKYDIVE!!!

Can’t wait for Perth Royal Show!

Can’t wait for luke to come to Singapore. Flight booked for 10th January!!! weeeeeeee

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hmmm… i really want to know what i’m gonna do once i graduate.

Joyner, be my business partner? and make our dream come true!?!?

Leanna has planned since April to come to Perth and not let Sarah know about it.

Everyone was in on it, Sarah’s Parents, Sarah’s Boyfriend, Sarah’s Bestfriend and other friends too.

Despite the numerous slip ups, Sarah never suspected, or even thought that she would ever see her bestfriend in her room. It was as if skype-ing came to LIVE.

Leanna’s flight on the way to Perth.

I picked Leanna from the airport and she dropped off her stuff in my Room.

She went onto MSN to talk to Sarah, acting as if she was still in Singapore using MSN.

And then Leanna went to Sarah’s room to surprise her.

Sarah’s reaction to Leanna standing outside her door!

It took her 15 seconds to actually react to it.

Finally! Reunited once again after a Year.

Glad to have you in my room Leanna!

WELCOME TO PERTH!!

ps. thanks Joyner for the lovely gift and thanks family for the stuff Leanna brought over

I am Jackie, steals galore! (Robinson)

I am Jackie, Jew to core! (Mason)

I am Jackie, roundhouse war! (Chan)

I am Jackie, track condor! (Joyner)

I am Jackie, bright decor! (Kennedy)

It’s been a while since i’ve updated!!!

Joyner came over to PERTH!!!! to meet urs truly!!! =) So she, me, Jared, Sarah, Jade, Cheryl, Marian, Wendy and Yvette headed up north for a road trip!

In total, we drove up for up and down for 1200km. We left on Sunday morning (12th Apr), first to Caversham Wildlife Park.

Joyner and I in Orange =)

Us Girls!!! (of course the boy had to take the photo)

So we got to touch kangaroos, see other australian animals like wombats and koalas

But all the animals were very lazy, mostly sleeping….

Then we headed off to Geraldton (a town up north where many of the people at college come from).

On the way up we stopped to fuel up and got a nice shot with the big windmill.

We arrived just in time for dinner at Luke’s place. His family was simply LOVELY.

(SMITH’S ADOPTED FAMILY)

Leigh (his mum) prepared a HUGE feast for us with sausages, pasta, RICE!!!, chicken wings, prawns and bacon, meatballs and many many many more yummy yummy food!!!

They were all so hospitable, and it was a very very nice cottage house with a swimming pool, a cute jack russel, a trampoline!!!! Always wanted to jump on one =)

They even made yummy yummy pancakes for breakfast!! =)

Then we headed out to the beach and to the war memorial.

The seagulls on the dome represent each soldier that died at war.

And we had lunch buy the green patch of grass next to the beach. Lovely day it was!

Then we headed off to Kalbarri, the next town up north (an hours drive away)

It had a lovely lovely sea view but very strong currents where the river mouth opened to the sea.

We arrived at our accommodation (a horse ranch), and got my front car wheel stuck in the sand. But anyways, had BBQ and sat by the campfire.

It was a really nice accommodation with the horses around, the beautiful sun setting, the swimming pool and the cute little doggies running around.

Woke up early the next morning, to start off the day with canoeing down the river.

Tiring, but it was all in good fun! =)

After canoeing, we went for a dip in the swimming pool with the floats and the chips.

In the evening was horse riding into the sunset by the beach across the river =) Awesome!

That night most of us headed to bed pretty early. And we left for home at about 9am the next morning (cos it was gonna be a 7hours drive back).

We stopped over at Hillary’s Harbour to just check out the unique shops and lovely place.

i <3 tommy more 2nd sem ‘08 freshers

i <3 Joyner

I brought her to the casino, and for MASSIVE SHOPPING!!!!! and to Fremantle, and to swan valley chocolate factory, wine tasting, cheese tasting, fruit tasting. Hope you had fun babe!!!

i HATE school work. All assignments due in a couple of weeks time. Should start getting down to it!

It’s getting abit colder now a days. Autumn is really setting in, days are Hot and Cold.

Yesterday I missed and thought of Azhar, Aslany, ZhenHui and my other BOYfriends from SGS.

Today, I missed and thought of Marie’s Cake. and I miss my childhood.

I MISS SIMUN… *hugs* babe… meet me for lunch soon…

As I was reading my new book tonight, In Search of Our Roots by Henry Louis Gates, I came across a Nashville relevant tidbit.  Radio host Tom Joyner had a grandfather that attended Meharry.  The book says that he graduated in 1908, but according to the Meharry catalogs online, he graduated in 1909.

Face To Face With Tongues

A Verse by Verse Examination and Exposition On the Subject of Tongues By Dr. Max D. Younce, Pastor

(By Pastor Max D. Younce.  Without a doubt, this is the best Biblical examination of tongues I have ever read.  Dr. Younce teaches about tongues, miracles and signs from a solid Biblical perspective.  You’ll be amazed and edified.)

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May I lovingly dedicate this book to…

The Good News Bible Church in Dora Lake, Minnesota, where I had the privilege to pastor early in my ministry. This church of believers have meant so much to us, as they truly are defenders of the “faith once delivered unto the saints.”

and…

The people of all the other churches I have been privileged to pastor, the congregations of which with their loving spirit and teachable attitude have contributed greatly to this writing. The many requests for study material about the subject of tongues have forced my “nose to the grindstone” during many a late night session. They made me aware of the need. Thank you!

FOREWORD

If tongues are for today, I want them. If tongues are not for today, I do not want to be deceived. The only way for any person to be convinced is if they are willing to take the Word of God, examine It honestly, and stand 100% on “Thus saith the Lord”! It can be stated no better than Isaiah 8:20, “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.”

Of all the tongues advocates I have talked with, they almost always credit speaking in tongues with their desire to witness, their enthusiasm, their love for the Lord … on and on it goes. It seems to supplement what they need to fulfill their Christian life, or make it complete.

I have never spoken in tongues. After examining the Scriptures, I am sure that I never will, because they are not for today. Isn’t it amazing? I have everything in Christ, and more, without speaking in tongues than those who claim tongues. The Christian life is exciting and fulfilling. There is nothing more thrilling than witnessing and leading people to Christ. Three things found in Ephesians 6:17-20 are responsible for the Christian’s motivation and enthusiasm:

Let God speak to You. “Take…the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.” (vs. 17)

Let us speak to God. “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit…” (vs. 18)

Let us speak to the lost. “…and for me…that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel.” (vs. 19)

This is all the “spiritual high” we will ever need. Tongues advocates are supplementing the speaking in tongues for something they are missing from Ephesians 6:17-20.

My motivation, encouragement, and enthusiasm comes from God speaking to me and my speaking to Him. The excitement of the Christian life is found in defending the faith, witnessing, and leading others to Christ. I am fully satisfied with this, and need nothing more. I have all I need in Christ … not tongues.

OUTLINE

Acts 2, 10, 19

PURPOSE OF TONGUES AS EVIDENCED TO THE MESSIAH (ACTS 2)

Time of the Holy Spirit’s Coming Defined
Tongues Defined
The Two Workings of the Holy Spirit Defined

PURPOSE OF TONGUES AS EVIDENCED TO THE JEWS (ACTS 10)

Preparation of Peter
Performance of Peter
Purpose of Tongues

PURPOSE OF TONGUES AS EVIDENCED TO THE MESSAGE AND APOSTLESHIP OF PAUL (ACTS 19)

The Background
The Meeting
The Message
The Messenger

I Corinthians 12, 13, 14

THE CONCENTRATION OF THE GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT (I CORINTHIANS 12)

God’s Gifts to the Individual (1-11)
God’s Gifts to the Church (12-31)

THE CONSUMMATION OF THE GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT (13)

The Concern of Love (1-7)
The Contrast of Gifts (8-13)

THE CONTROL OF THE GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT (14)

Church Is to Be Controlled by Edification (16)
Church Is to Be Controlled by Clarity (17-19)
Church Is to Be Controlled by Maturity (20-25)
Church Is to Be Controlled by Order (26-40)

Mark 16:14-20

THE COMMISSION
THE CONCERN
THE CONCLUSION

http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/BTP/Dr_Max_Younce/Tongues/toc.htm

LA UNIVERSIDAD 3DMX Tiene el agrado de invitarles a las conferencias impartidas por MAX SIMS Y JENNIFER JOYNER en las ciudades de Guadalajara y México D.F. Sin costo alguno.

“Latest computer technology, computer graphics and animation”, impartida por Max Sims, el creador de Iron Man y Beetlejuice.

“Real world perspectives on working in the digital animation and effects industry; what we look for”, impartida por Jennifer Joyner, representante de reclutamiento del Studio Rhythm and Hues, creadores de Noche en el Museo, La Brujula Dorada, Alvin y las Ardillas.

NO SE LAS PUEDEN PERDER CINEASTAS Y ANIMADORES

MAS INFORMACION: 3DMX BOLETIN OFICIAL DF     3DMX BOLETIN OFICIAL GUADALAJARA

UNIVERSIDAD 3DMX

http://tinyurl.com/5hw5wc

It appears maybe that the one thing God TV are afraid of IS TODD BENTLEY FALLING INTO THE WRONG HANDS WHERE THEIR SINS MIGHT BE EXPOSED. BECAUSE IF HE IS IN A NORMAL HEALING PASTORAL ENVIRONMENT, THEIR SINS WOULD BE EXPOSED GOOD AND PROPER AND THEY ARE KEEPING HIM? IN ORDER TO AVOID FURTHER SCANDAL  IE THE TINY DETAILS OF THE 100 DAYS WITH OUT REST, THE PRESSURES, GOD TV AND VIEWING FIGURES ETC ETC

I have a lot of readers who would agree with me on this.

I Know the Enemy comes because God TV stopped by via password protected exchange server and people try to attack this blog literally.

I also rely on God to provide legal validation for this blog only LEGAL VALIDATION IN THE HEAVENLIES can back up my/our blogs because the so called Shepherds have abandoned the flock to enemy forces and the sheep have to defend themselves as the flock did in the era of corupt kings.

163 word count

http://current.com/items/89358723/jordan_valley_withers_in_wilderness_of_mideast_politics.htm

If you look carefully the Desert does not look very capable of sustaining life. As it is near to the Red Sea it is near to a key symbolic location. Are God TV REALLY gonna plant any trees in this? Has the Israel Government given them a poor location because they are such pests and to show them a lesson?

Earlier I saw this link

http://www.armeniatree.org/whoweare/dd_dec04.htm

Amenia is quite big as a country, is Israel bigger or are they roughly similar.

400,000 trees ROUNDED take up most of land that would effectively reforest the desolate Armenia which is right to do what it does. If we consider that Israel is perhaps a bit bigger but of limited space then I would suggest that this project is not an environmental one but  a vain attempt to drum up support using the Israel platform of the viewers lost to God TV since the Lakeland Scandal.

If you look carefully this is JOYNER all over who is arrogant enough to suggest that one day Morning star might give to the Goverment (!!). This if you agree has Joyner all over it.

Word count 187

 NEWSFLASH:God TV called for $6m at the beginning of the year Spring 2008 where they wanted the full Annaul Fund of £12.5m!!!!

What is it about God TV  that they would remind us the watching Blogging Community that they needed bailing out when God TV launched it’s emergency $6m £3m MW Campaign?’ The Battle for the Airwaves’WHEN THEY ALSO NEEDED £12.5M IN THE ANNUAL ACCOUNT Have God TV truly lost it or do they wish to remind us that indeed the whole sum came in plus and they are still on air? Or that they failed to report off the record expenses such as overdue Satellite fees? Or that we can delight in seeing a sombre looking Rory Alec in black (appropriately) at a time when, if I recall the Alecs got their Night of the Living Dead Directors to dress up in colourful fashion? Munsey with his predictable Jewish Calender Theology, God TV with their bail out. They forget that MW blogging has been copied by other blogs thankfully and that the blogging community is far more aware of their financial situation than they would wish.

 I am not really taking an arrogant position. It is just really good to see how this awareness of God TV finances has caught hold of the blogging community and that others can add to the hard slog of many years to extract the facts out of a station that conducts it’s operations undercover and in secret-including finance.

 Now it seems with the ‘Million Trees’ Campaign or full nine yards of £12.5m !!! this is the second time I have seen it.

Over the years I have seen God TV repeatedly operate from deficit and plead constantly for viewers to make sacrifices because they view heeding Financial Directors advice as wordly. This in itself makes God TV unsatisfying to give too as you never see target met. Supporters are denied met targets and pastorally and ministerially sensitive financial treatment of viewers.

 I know of Ministries who are sustained because they adopt godly sensitive pastoral modus operandi to issue of finance.

 Readers need to study ministries and churches even TV stations like TBN who has a £300m budget and Daystar who at least run their ministries on sound financial and ministry basis.

(Word Count 385 COUNT POSTED WORDS FOR WORD COUNT PURPOSES Admin Note)