The judging panel consists of five industry experts namely Albert Cheng, Managing Director of the World Gold Council -- Far East (WGC); James Courage, Chief Executive of Platinum Guild International (PGI); Lin Qiang, President and Managing Director of the Shanghai Diamond Exchange (SDE); Nirupa Bhatt, Managing Director of GIA in India and the Middle East; and Vichian Veerasaksri, Director of the World Jewellery Federation (CIBJO) and Advisor to the Thai Gem and Jewelry Traders Association (TGJTA).
This year, close to 90 highly qualified entries were received from 13 countries and regions, including mainland China, Hong Kong, India, Israel, Japan, the Philippines, Russia, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Tahiti, Taiwan, Thailand, and United Arab Emirates.
"We are very proud to announce the JNA Awards 2013 Honourees. Our list of Honourees serves as a testament to the fact that Asia's jewellery industry is full of thriving and innovative businesses and individuals with diverse talents. The quality of the entries has been outstanding, and it is an honour for UBM Asia to work closely with them to further develop the jewellery industry and market in Asia. We are delighted to extend our congratulations to them all," says Wolfram Diener, Senior Vice President of UBM Asia.
Letitia Chow, Chair of the JNA Awards 2013 Judging Panel, who is the Founder of JNA and Director of Business Development -- Jewellery Group of UBM Asia, adds, "The JNA Awards provides an invaluable platform to recognise and celebrate the outstanding performance and achievements of enterprises and individuals in the jewellery industry. Due to the exceptionally high quality of entries in 2013, the judges found the process to establish a short list of Honourees both exciting and challenging. It was certainly a lot of hard work for the five judges. I am really very grateful to them for their efforts and contributions."
"We are delighted with the entries to the 2013 JNA Awards, a reflection of the global appeal of this important industry initiative. Rio Tinto congratulates this year's Honourees, and we look forward to the Awards ceremony in September," says Rita Maltez, Manager of the Greater China Representative Office, Diamonds Sales and Marketing, at Rio Tinto Diamonds.
Kent Wong, Managing Director of Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group Limited, says, "Chow Tai Fook is proud to be a headline partner of the JNA Awards for the second year in a row. These awards highlight the importance of innovative designs, successful branding campaigns, sustainability, and international competitiveness. We believe the Awards will motivate Asian jewellery practitioners to adopt world class practices for the long term development of the jewellery industry. We're happy to see the growing number of entries this year and commend the finalists for their achievements."
Rio Tinto Diamonds and Chow Tai Fook are Headline Partners of the Awards for the second consecutive year.
WGC's Albert Cheng, a member of the judging panel for the second year, says, "This year, we see more entrants and participants coming from different countries, bringing a more diverse background with them. Within each category, there is also an increase in the number of participants, which is very encouraging, particularly from China."
PGI's James Courage, who also served on the judging panel last year, adds, "It is good to see a mix of small and large enterprises joining the JNA Awards 2013, and they are in general of very high standard. Having more award categories this year also allows greater focus in new areas. I also noticed that there is a strong emphasis on social responsibilities and looking after employees' interest among the entries."
"It is very exciting for me to join the judging panel for the first time. The JNA Awards helps companies raise their standards and make continuous improvements. By organising the JNA Awards, UBM is helping industry participants realise this objective, and this is the only way to grow the industry," comments GIA's Nirupa Bhatt.
Vichian Veerasaksri of CIBJO adds, "This marks the first time that I have played a part in the JNA Awards, and I find it interesting and exciting to serve as a judge for such an important and prestigious event. I am looking forward to contributing to the JNA Awards in the years to come."
Read the full story at wwww.beralleshoes.com!
2013年6月20日星期四
2013年6月2日星期日
The clan offered their only available
In the corner, a pair of dinosaurs print keychains. And if that weren't strange enough, the keychains are graphs.
In eight cities, analysts, developers and interested others gathered to vie for glory and prize money in the nation's largest ''hackathon''.
Paul Taylor from science education provider Quantum Victoria and his partner Kim Tinson, who works in childcare, used a 3D printer to create keychains and rings graphing asylum seeker boat arrivals to Australia since 1976. ''We decided we wanted to make data fun, meaningful and engaging to the general public. We want people to enjoy data,'' Mr Taylor said.
Previously the event was held only in Canberra and Sydney, but this year it expanded to Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, Brisbane, the Gold Coast and Tasmania.
About 150 people attended the Melbourne event, which was held at Fairfax Media's Melbourne headquarters.
Data analyst Andrew Grealy and his team devised a tool to download NSW crime data going back 17 years and turn it into an interactive dashboard allowing people to track offences by area.
He said the biggest issue his team faced was the way the data was presented, as they had to spend a lot of time converting the information into a form that they could analyse.
Other projects at GovHack Melbourne included visualisations of census data, an app for discovering the native flora and fauna in an area, and a tool for translating government data websites into other languages.
Organiser Pia Waugh said about 150 teams from across the country had entered GovHack in the hope of competing for a slice of $170,000 in prizes.
''GovHack is all about trying to bring together government people along with industry, academia and developers - the fairly awesome technical community we have in Australia - to do some pretty cool stuff,'' she said. ''It's about getting better transparency,'' she said.
As a child in rural Bangladesh, Orola Dalbot, 30, enjoyed growing up around her stepfather, Noten. Her father died when she was small, and her mother remarried soon after. Noten was handsome and energetic, with curly dark hair and a broad smile. "I thought my mother was lucky," Orola says when we meet in the dusty, sun-baked courtyard of her family home in the central forest region of Modhupur. "I hoped I'd find a husband like him one day." When she reached puberty, however, Orola learned the truth she least expected: she was already Noten's wife.
Her wedding had taken place when she was three years old in a joint ceremony with her mother. Following tradition in the matrilineal Mandi tribe, an ethnic group of about two million people spread across hill regions of Bangladesh and India, mother and daughter had married the same man. "I wanted to escape when I found out," says Orola. "I was shaking with disbelief."
Disbelief was more or less my reaction a few days earlier when, by chance, I'd first heard about this marriage custom. I was visiting the remote Modhupur region to report a story about Mandi women fighting deforestation. My travelling companion was an eminent Bangladeshi environmentalist called Philip Gain, who had been studying the area for more than 20 years. As we drove through the khaki- coloured hills, we talked generally about how Mandi women were the property-owning heads of their households. Gain, 50, a professorial man in a suit jacket and tie who runs the Dhaka-based activist organisation Society for Environment and Human Development (SEHD), told me how they shared power with men and had far more independence than women in the majority Bengali population.
Then Gain mentioned the mother-daughter joint marriages. He explained that among the Mandi, widows who wish to remarry must choose a man from the same clan as their dead husband to preserve the clan alliance. The only available single men, however, are often much younger men in their late teens. So the custom evolved: a widow would offer one of her daughters as a second bride to take over her marital duties – including sex and child-bearing – when the girl came of age. "It's not common these days," said Gain. "But it still exists among a few Mandi families."
Bangladesh is a deltaic country where most of the 160 million people are Bengali Muslims. It is better known for its flood plains and typhoon-lashed coasts, but its southeastern and central hills are home to ethnic minorities who mainly practised animism until Catholic missionaries arrived in the late 19th century. The Mandi, who number 25,000 in the Modhupur region, live a six-hour drive and a world away from the frenetic capital Dhaka.
Orola is cooking rice and lentils for breakfast on an open fire when we arrive at her hamlet, a cluster of mud houses flanked by scrubby fields. Her family members are all there: her 51-year-old mother Mittamoni, her stepfather and husband Noten, 42, her maternal grandmother and an assortment of children ranging from babies to teenagers, fathered by Noten with both his wives. Everyone is doing household chores in the weak morning sunlight.
The family's marital arrangement is an open secret in this small Modhupur community, but nobody, Orola says, ever mentions it. "For years I wanted to talk to someone about it because I was lonely. But people think it's un-Christian, so they ignore it." Missionaries have converted the majority of the tribe's local population. Traditional rituals, such as sacrificing goats to restore a sick person's health, are frowned on by the clergy and have waned. "Bridegroom kidnapping", another rare custom in which Mandi women abducted potential suitors and held them hostage until their wedding day, has also died out. A handful of mother-daughter joint marriages have most likely survived because, like most unions worldwide involving multiple spouses, they serve an economic purpose.
"My mother couldn't manage her land and household by herself when my father died of fever," explains Orola. "She was still in her mid-20s, so she was entitled to claim a new husband as a replacement from my father's clan." The clan offered their only available bachelor at the time, Noten, who was then aged 17, on the condition he marry Orola, too. Since Mandi marriages represent the consolidation of wealth between two clans, the second, younger wife is a trade to ensure the birth of more children to add to the family's overall wealth and power.
"I was too young to remember the wedding. I didn't know it had taken place," Orola tells me while she stirs her pots. Although such an arrangement is not considered incest or even child abuse in Mandi culture, where early marriage is the norm, she was distraught to discover she was forced to share her mother's husband. "The last thing I wanted was to be married to Noten. I wanted a husband of my own."
The situation was doubly unjust for her, she says, because ethnic Mandi women traditionally choose their own partners. It is women who make the first romantic move, and also propose marriage. Property is passed down the female line, and men live in their wife's household when they marry. She watched her female friends embark merrily on their love lives and felt so isolated that she considered suicide. "I felt trapped, like an animal."
In eight cities, analysts, developers and interested others gathered to vie for glory and prize money in the nation's largest ''hackathon''.
Paul Taylor from science education provider Quantum Victoria and his partner Kim Tinson, who works in childcare, used a 3D printer to create keychains and rings graphing asylum seeker boat arrivals to Australia since 1976. ''We decided we wanted to make data fun, meaningful and engaging to the general public. We want people to enjoy data,'' Mr Taylor said.
Previously the event was held only in Canberra and Sydney, but this year it expanded to Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, Brisbane, the Gold Coast and Tasmania.
About 150 people attended the Melbourne event, which was held at Fairfax Media's Melbourne headquarters.
Data analyst Andrew Grealy and his team devised a tool to download NSW crime data going back 17 years and turn it into an interactive dashboard allowing people to track offences by area.
He said the biggest issue his team faced was the way the data was presented, as they had to spend a lot of time converting the information into a form that they could analyse.
Other projects at GovHack Melbourne included visualisations of census data, an app for discovering the native flora and fauna in an area, and a tool for translating government data websites into other languages.
Organiser Pia Waugh said about 150 teams from across the country had entered GovHack in the hope of competing for a slice of $170,000 in prizes.
''GovHack is all about trying to bring together government people along with industry, academia and developers - the fairly awesome technical community we have in Australia - to do some pretty cool stuff,'' she said. ''It's about getting better transparency,'' she said.
As a child in rural Bangladesh, Orola Dalbot, 30, enjoyed growing up around her stepfather, Noten. Her father died when she was small, and her mother remarried soon after. Noten was handsome and energetic, with curly dark hair and a broad smile. "I thought my mother was lucky," Orola says when we meet in the dusty, sun-baked courtyard of her family home in the central forest region of Modhupur. "I hoped I'd find a husband like him one day." When she reached puberty, however, Orola learned the truth she least expected: she was already Noten's wife.
Her wedding had taken place when she was three years old in a joint ceremony with her mother. Following tradition in the matrilineal Mandi tribe, an ethnic group of about two million people spread across hill regions of Bangladesh and India, mother and daughter had married the same man. "I wanted to escape when I found out," says Orola. "I was shaking with disbelief."
Disbelief was more or less my reaction a few days earlier when, by chance, I'd first heard about this marriage custom. I was visiting the remote Modhupur region to report a story about Mandi women fighting deforestation. My travelling companion was an eminent Bangladeshi environmentalist called Philip Gain, who had been studying the area for more than 20 years. As we drove through the khaki- coloured hills, we talked generally about how Mandi women were the property-owning heads of their households. Gain, 50, a professorial man in a suit jacket and tie who runs the Dhaka-based activist organisation Society for Environment and Human Development (SEHD), told me how they shared power with men and had far more independence than women in the majority Bengali population.
Then Gain mentioned the mother-daughter joint marriages. He explained that among the Mandi, widows who wish to remarry must choose a man from the same clan as their dead husband to preserve the clan alliance. The only available single men, however, are often much younger men in their late teens. So the custom evolved: a widow would offer one of her daughters as a second bride to take over her marital duties – including sex and child-bearing – when the girl came of age. "It's not common these days," said Gain. "But it still exists among a few Mandi families."
Bangladesh is a deltaic country where most of the 160 million people are Bengali Muslims. It is better known for its flood plains and typhoon-lashed coasts, but its southeastern and central hills are home to ethnic minorities who mainly practised animism until Catholic missionaries arrived in the late 19th century. The Mandi, who number 25,000 in the Modhupur region, live a six-hour drive and a world away from the frenetic capital Dhaka.
Orola is cooking rice and lentils for breakfast on an open fire when we arrive at her hamlet, a cluster of mud houses flanked by scrubby fields. Her family members are all there: her 51-year-old mother Mittamoni, her stepfather and husband Noten, 42, her maternal grandmother and an assortment of children ranging from babies to teenagers, fathered by Noten with both his wives. Everyone is doing household chores in the weak morning sunlight.
The family's marital arrangement is an open secret in this small Modhupur community, but nobody, Orola says, ever mentions it. "For years I wanted to talk to someone about it because I was lonely. But people think it's un-Christian, so they ignore it." Missionaries have converted the majority of the tribe's local population. Traditional rituals, such as sacrificing goats to restore a sick person's health, are frowned on by the clergy and have waned. "Bridegroom kidnapping", another rare custom in which Mandi women abducted potential suitors and held them hostage until their wedding day, has also died out. A handful of mother-daughter joint marriages have most likely survived because, like most unions worldwide involving multiple spouses, they serve an economic purpose.
"My mother couldn't manage her land and household by herself when my father died of fever," explains Orola. "She was still in her mid-20s, so she was entitled to claim a new husband as a replacement from my father's clan." The clan offered their only available bachelor at the time, Noten, who was then aged 17, on the condition he marry Orola, too. Since Mandi marriages represent the consolidation of wealth between two clans, the second, younger wife is a trade to ensure the birth of more children to add to the family's overall wealth and power.
"I was too young to remember the wedding. I didn't know it had taken place," Orola tells me while she stirs her pots. Although such an arrangement is not considered incest or even child abuse in Mandi culture, where early marriage is the norm, she was distraught to discover she was forced to share her mother's husband. "The last thing I wanted was to be married to Noten. I wanted a husband of my own."
The situation was doubly unjust for her, she says, because ethnic Mandi women traditionally choose their own partners. It is women who make the first romantic move, and also propose marriage. Property is passed down the female line, and men live in their wife's household when they marry. She watched her female friends embark merrily on their love lives and felt so isolated that she considered suicide. "I felt trapped, like an animal."
2013年5月1日星期三
Police in neighbouring Chile had been seeking Castillo
A Chilean man accused of organizing the ritual bonfire killing of a 3-day-old boy hanged himself early Wednesday from a rope in an abandoned house in the highlands city of Cuzco, authorities said.
Ramon Castillo, 36, was found hanging from a beam on the second floor of the house, wearing jeans, a grey jacket, a cap, shoes and a backpack, Gen. Javier Avalos, the regional police chief, told reporters.
Chile's most-wanted man had placed four bricks in the backpack, the prosecutor in charge of the case, Miguel Astete, told The Associated Press.
The body was identified through fingerprints that Chile sent via Interpol. Astete said officials found two bus tickets for the Urubamba Valley in his pockets and were investigating whether he might have been travelling with someone else.
Police in neighbouring Chile had been seeking Castillo and other members of the sect that he led for their alleged participation in the baby's slaying on a hill in the town of Colliguay near the Chilean port of Valparaiso on Nov. 23.
The child's mother was arrested last week along with three other members of the sect. She allegedly approved the sacrifice.
Chilean police have said the baby was thrown onto a bonfire because Castillo and his followers believed the child was the antichrist.
Authorities said the 12-member sect was formed in 2005 and counted among its members professionals with university degrees.
Police said the group's rituals included using ayahuasca, a hallucinogenic plant that grows in Amazon forests.
Broward Sheriff’s Office deputies are investigating a burglary to the Southwest Ranches home of Miami Heat center Udonis Haslem.
According to the police report, on April 13, deputies were dispatched to the home after a burglary alarm was triggered from Haslem’s security company just before 10 p.m.
Twenty minutes after deputies arrived, Haslem, who shares the home with fiancee Faith Rein, returned home and told them no one was supposed to be inside. When he let deputies inside to investigate, an open suitcase was seen in the foyer with clothes strewn all over the floor. Haslem told investigators that the suitcase was not like that when he left.
During a walk through of the house, the report states that several drawers inside the master bedroom were pulled out and ransacked. Several pairs of shoes and purses were missing from the walk-in closet, but were later found to be stuffed into black trash bags on the side of the master bed. A safe in the closet appeared to be tampered with, but the thieves were not able to pry it open.
Deputies believe the point of entry was through the garage, after noticing damage to the lock and jamb of the door frame. Several siren alarm units had been pulled from the wall and left on the floor.
Authorities believe the burglars fled the home from the french doors in the master bedroom after a “look-out” alerted them to the arrival of police. BSO dispatched an aviation unit to conduct a search around the property, but no suspects were located.
According to the report, Haslem told investigators that just a day before, a technician from the security company had been called to the home to fix a faulty sensor on the garage door believed to be the burglar’s point of entry.
Just ten days earlier, the Miami Beach home of Haslem’s teammate Chris Bosh was robbed as he and his wife celebrated his birthday. More than $340,000 worth of jewelry and purses was taken in heist, which occurred while several children and a babysitter were inside.
“It’s unfortunate. Sometimes you get targeted,” Haslem told reporters after the Bosh incident. “Pissed me off. Man’s out enjoying his birthday with his family and friends and somebody takes advantage of that. To me there’s nothing worse than a thief.”
Ramon Castillo, 36, was found hanging from a beam on the second floor of the house, wearing jeans, a grey jacket, a cap, shoes and a backpack, Gen. Javier Avalos, the regional police chief, told reporters.
Chile's most-wanted man had placed four bricks in the backpack, the prosecutor in charge of the case, Miguel Astete, told The Associated Press.
The body was identified through fingerprints that Chile sent via Interpol. Astete said officials found two bus tickets for the Urubamba Valley in his pockets and were investigating whether he might have been travelling with someone else.
Police in neighbouring Chile had been seeking Castillo and other members of the sect that he led for their alleged participation in the baby's slaying on a hill in the town of Colliguay near the Chilean port of Valparaiso on Nov. 23.
The child's mother was arrested last week along with three other members of the sect. She allegedly approved the sacrifice.
Chilean police have said the baby was thrown onto a bonfire because Castillo and his followers believed the child was the antichrist.
Authorities said the 12-member sect was formed in 2005 and counted among its members professionals with university degrees.
Police said the group's rituals included using ayahuasca, a hallucinogenic plant that grows in Amazon forests.
Broward Sheriff’s Office deputies are investigating a burglary to the Southwest Ranches home of Miami Heat center Udonis Haslem.
According to the police report, on April 13, deputies were dispatched to the home after a burglary alarm was triggered from Haslem’s security company just before 10 p.m.
Twenty minutes after deputies arrived, Haslem, who shares the home with fiancee Faith Rein, returned home and told them no one was supposed to be inside. When he let deputies inside to investigate, an open suitcase was seen in the foyer with clothes strewn all over the floor. Haslem told investigators that the suitcase was not like that when he left.
During a walk through of the house, the report states that several drawers inside the master bedroom were pulled out and ransacked. Several pairs of shoes and purses were missing from the walk-in closet, but were later found to be stuffed into black trash bags on the side of the master bed. A safe in the closet appeared to be tampered with, but the thieves were not able to pry it open.
Deputies believe the point of entry was through the garage, after noticing damage to the lock and jamb of the door frame. Several siren alarm units had been pulled from the wall and left on the floor.
Authorities believe the burglars fled the home from the french doors in the master bedroom after a “look-out” alerted them to the arrival of police. BSO dispatched an aviation unit to conduct a search around the property, but no suspects were located.
According to the report, Haslem told investigators that just a day before, a technician from the security company had been called to the home to fix a faulty sensor on the garage door believed to be the burglar’s point of entry.
Just ten days earlier, the Miami Beach home of Haslem’s teammate Chris Bosh was robbed as he and his wife celebrated his birthday. More than $340,000 worth of jewelry and purses was taken in heist, which occurred while several children and a babysitter were inside.
“It’s unfortunate. Sometimes you get targeted,” Haslem told reporters after the Bosh incident. “Pissed me off. Man’s out enjoying his birthday with his family and friends and somebody takes advantage of that. To me there’s nothing worse than a thief.”
2013年4月11日星期四
court for giving tips on stocks in return for cash
As investors Carl Icahn and William Ackman bickered loudly on TV earlier this year about their opposing bets on Herbalife, two other men were discussing the company in a different context: getting non-public information to trade ahead of the stock's next move.
Referring to Icahn's announcement that he had purchased a large stake in the nutritional products company, one of the men said: "I wish you would've known that he was going to release that and we could've made some money."
The other replied: "Yeah, that would've been nice."
The conversation was part of a call California jeweller Bryan Shaw recorded and later shared with the Federal Bureau of Investigation to help in their investigation of his long-time golf partner, Scott London. At the time, London was a senior KPMG auditor who had been leaking inside information about his corporate clients to Shaw.
U.S. authorities filed criminal and civil charges on Thursday against London, who is accused of passing Shaw non-public information about five of KPMG's clients.
According to prosecutors, Shaw made about $1 million (649,688 pounds) trading on the tips and gave London roughly 10 percent of his profits on each of the trades in the form of cash, jewellery, concert tickets and free meals.
One gift for London was a Rolex Daytona Cosmograph watch valued in 2011 at $12,000. Another, $10,000 wrapped into a bundle of $100 bills. Shaw told the FBI he believed he spent between $25,000 and $45,000 in concert tickets for the two of them, including a Bruce Springsteen event.
Prosecutors charged London, a Los Angeles-based auditor, with one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud for giving Shaw information about public companies, including, Herbalife Ltd, Skechers USA Inc and Deckers Outdoor Corp.
Deckers did not respond to multiple calls and emails seeking comment. Herbalife and footwear maker Skechers disclosed earlier this week that KPMG had quit as their auditors in response to the matter.
According to the complaint filed in federal court in Los Angeles, London also advised Shaw on the best ways to trade on the information.
For instance, he told Shaw about a merger between KPMG client RSC Holdings and United Rentals Inc and reassured his friend about trading on the takeover because "regulators were not looking for 'small fish,'" according to the complaint.
United Rentals spokesman Fred Bratman told Reuters by phone: "We are not a party to this case, but we will obviously cooperate and provide any assistance that we can to the appropriate authorities."
He did not confirm or deny that KPMG was the auditor of RSC Holdings.
London also told Shaw about a takeover of Pacific Capital Bancorp by Union Bank, according to the charges. Tom Taggart, the spokesman for Pacific Capital's current parent, Union Bank, declined to comment.
The case has already cost London his job. It has also prompted some public confessions rarely seen in insider trading cases. Soon after news of the case broke earlier this week, London admitted to the Wall Street Journal that he passed on information to his friend, but did not know his he would trade on it.
London's lawyer, Harland Braun, told Reuters on Wednesday that London's statements to the press were incorrect and ill-advised. Braun said on Thursday that he was eager to have his client appear in court, where he would be arraigned but would not enter a plea.
Legal experts said it was rare for insider trading suspects such as London to make public statements and it could cause more problems for him.
C. Evan Stewart, partner at Zuckerman Spaeder in New York, who routinely represents clients charged with insider trading and who is not involved in the case, said it was hard to see a reason for London's statements.
"I've never seen anything like this in 36 years of practice," he said. "That's certainly not a strategy I would be employing under these circumstances."
Shaw, through his lawyer, also spoke to the press. In a statement that lawyer Nathan Hochman emailed to Reuters on Thursday, Shaw admitted he received non-public information from London during a two-year period ending in 2012.
"I expect that my actions will result in significant civil and criminal consequences, but I realize that this is the painful price I will pay for my transgressions," he added.
Of the two sets of comments, it is London's that have potential to do more damage, according to Stewart.
"Mr. London was a very senior KPMG guy who had been counselled by very experienced lawyers on this subject, I'm sure on numerous occasions, and then to be out there chatting with the Wall Street Journal about this, it's a very significant setback for his now former firm."
Referring to Icahn's announcement that he had purchased a large stake in the nutritional products company, one of the men said: "I wish you would've known that he was going to release that and we could've made some money."
The other replied: "Yeah, that would've been nice."
The conversation was part of a call California jeweller Bryan Shaw recorded and later shared with the Federal Bureau of Investigation to help in their investigation of his long-time golf partner, Scott London. At the time, London was a senior KPMG auditor who had been leaking inside information about his corporate clients to Shaw.
U.S. authorities filed criminal and civil charges on Thursday against London, who is accused of passing Shaw non-public information about five of KPMG's clients.
According to prosecutors, Shaw made about $1 million (649,688 pounds) trading on the tips and gave London roughly 10 percent of his profits on each of the trades in the form of cash, jewellery, concert tickets and free meals.
One gift for London was a Rolex Daytona Cosmograph watch valued in 2011 at $12,000. Another, $10,000 wrapped into a bundle of $100 bills. Shaw told the FBI he believed he spent between $25,000 and $45,000 in concert tickets for the two of them, including a Bruce Springsteen event.
Prosecutors charged London, a Los Angeles-based auditor, with one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud for giving Shaw information about public companies, including, Herbalife Ltd, Skechers USA Inc and Deckers Outdoor Corp.
Deckers did not respond to multiple calls and emails seeking comment. Herbalife and footwear maker Skechers disclosed earlier this week that KPMG had quit as their auditors in response to the matter.
According to the complaint filed in federal court in Los Angeles, London also advised Shaw on the best ways to trade on the information.
For instance, he told Shaw about a merger between KPMG client RSC Holdings and United Rentals Inc and reassured his friend about trading on the takeover because "regulators were not looking for 'small fish,'" according to the complaint.
United Rentals spokesman Fred Bratman told Reuters by phone: "We are not a party to this case, but we will obviously cooperate and provide any assistance that we can to the appropriate authorities."
He did not confirm or deny that KPMG was the auditor of RSC Holdings.
London also told Shaw about a takeover of Pacific Capital Bancorp by Union Bank, according to the charges. Tom Taggart, the spokesman for Pacific Capital's current parent, Union Bank, declined to comment.
The case has already cost London his job. It has also prompted some public confessions rarely seen in insider trading cases. Soon after news of the case broke earlier this week, London admitted to the Wall Street Journal that he passed on information to his friend, but did not know his he would trade on it.
London's lawyer, Harland Braun, told Reuters on Wednesday that London's statements to the press were incorrect and ill-advised. Braun said on Thursday that he was eager to have his client appear in court, where he would be arraigned but would not enter a plea.
Legal experts said it was rare for insider trading suspects such as London to make public statements and it could cause more problems for him.
C. Evan Stewart, partner at Zuckerman Spaeder in New York, who routinely represents clients charged with insider trading and who is not involved in the case, said it was hard to see a reason for London's statements.
"I've never seen anything like this in 36 years of practice," he said. "That's certainly not a strategy I would be employing under these circumstances."
Shaw, through his lawyer, also spoke to the press. In a statement that lawyer Nathan Hochman emailed to Reuters on Thursday, Shaw admitted he received non-public information from London during a two-year period ending in 2012.
"I expect that my actions will result in significant civil and criminal consequences, but I realize that this is the painful price I will pay for my transgressions," he added.
Of the two sets of comments, it is London's that have potential to do more damage, according to Stewart.
"Mr. London was a very senior KPMG guy who had been counselled by very experienced lawyers on this subject, I'm sure on numerous occasions, and then to be out there chatting with the Wall Street Journal about this, it's a very significant setback for his now former firm."
2013年3月19日星期二
Indian officials say there is no need for alarm
Danish tourist Judith Jensen has a long list of don’ts to help her feel safe during her holiday in India.
She won’t hail a taxi off the street, she won’t stay in an obscure hotel and she won’t go out after dark—all decisions made in response to the growing reporting of sexual crime in the country.
“I have read and heard so much about rape in India that now I feel this persistent sense of danger,” Jensen, 42, told AFP as she walked through a popular market in downtown Delhi.
The tourism ministry’s ubiquitous Incredible India marketing campaign has helped raise the number of foreign visitors over the past decade to around 6.6 million a year—albeit still way behind the likes of China and Malaysia.
But that push is now hampered by a growing sense that India is simply not a safe destination, particularly for women.
The fatal gang-rape of an Indian student in December shone a disturbing light on the level of sexual violence and a series of subsequent attacks on foreigners has added to the sense of unease.
A British holidaymaker in the northern city of Agra, home to the Taj Mahal, suffered a leg injury when she jumped out of a hotel window before dawn on Tuesday.
Police said she feared a sex attack after two men tried to enter her room.
Last Friday a Swiss woman was gang-raped while on a cycling holiday in central India. Her husband was tied up by the gang, which is also accused of stealing a laptop, a mobile phone and 10,000 rupees ($185).
On the same night a group of men in a city near Delhi briefly kidnapped an Indian male executive working for the French engineering giant Alstom.
Other incidents reported since the December gang-rape include that of a South Korean student who said she had been raped and drugged by the son of the owner of the hotel where she stayed during a holiday in January.
A Chinese woman working in Gurgaon, a town bordering the Indian capital, was also reportedly raped by an acquaintance last month.
Indian officials say there is no need for alarm, pointing out that foreigners are victims of crime the world over and the vast majority of visitors experience no safety problems.
But travel advice from a host of countries stresses the need for visitors to take care.
An advisory from the Swiss foreign ministry, issued before Friday’s attack, urged men and women visiting India to travel in large groups and with guides.
The US State Department’s website asks female travelers to “observe stringent security precautions” and “avoid traveling alone in hired taxis, especially at night.”
Britain’s foreign office updated its advisory for India on Tuesday, warning female tourists to “exercise caution when traveling in India even if they are traveling in a group.”
In a notorious case five years ago, 15-year-old British schoolgirl Scarlett Keeling was raped and left to die on a beach in the tourist resort of Goa.
Jensen, who stands out in an Indian crowd with her blonde hair, recalled how she spent a carefree week backpacking around southern India a decade ago.
But now, traveling with her 10-year-old daughter, it is a different story and her husband texts her several times a day to check on their safety.
“There is no question that these stories will have an impact on foreign visitors,” she said.
“Women will prefer to visit other places like Singapore or Bali or Thailand, where safety is not such a big concern.”
At the Delhi office of the Indian Association of Tour Operators, executive director Gour Kanjilal said it was unfair to portray India as dangerous.
“Our industry is the first casualty when crime against foreigners is reported in India, but the reporting does not always reflect the truth,” he told AFP.
“Tourists should be responsible. They should follow some do’s and don’ts.”
A state minister in Madhya Pradesh, where the attacks on the Swiss and South Korean tourists took place, told reporters on Sunday that travelers must inform local police officials whenever they move from one town to the next.
That suggestion is hardly realistic for most tourists like 26-year-old Peruvian Marilu Labarthe, who squeezed in visits to seven cities during a two-week trip to the country.
Labarthe, shopping for ethnic trinkets in Delhi on the last day of her vacation, traveled to the country with 11 other women.
She won’t hail a taxi off the street, she won’t stay in an obscure hotel and she won’t go out after dark—all decisions made in response to the growing reporting of sexual crime in the country.
“I have read and heard so much about rape in India that now I feel this persistent sense of danger,” Jensen, 42, told AFP as she walked through a popular market in downtown Delhi.
The tourism ministry’s ubiquitous Incredible India marketing campaign has helped raise the number of foreign visitors over the past decade to around 6.6 million a year—albeit still way behind the likes of China and Malaysia.
But that push is now hampered by a growing sense that India is simply not a safe destination, particularly for women.
The fatal gang-rape of an Indian student in December shone a disturbing light on the level of sexual violence and a series of subsequent attacks on foreigners has added to the sense of unease.
A British holidaymaker in the northern city of Agra, home to the Taj Mahal, suffered a leg injury when she jumped out of a hotel window before dawn on Tuesday.
Police said she feared a sex attack after two men tried to enter her room.
Last Friday a Swiss woman was gang-raped while on a cycling holiday in central India. Her husband was tied up by the gang, which is also accused of stealing a laptop, a mobile phone and 10,000 rupees ($185).
On the same night a group of men in a city near Delhi briefly kidnapped an Indian male executive working for the French engineering giant Alstom.
Other incidents reported since the December gang-rape include that of a South Korean student who said she had been raped and drugged by the son of the owner of the hotel where she stayed during a holiday in January.
A Chinese woman working in Gurgaon, a town bordering the Indian capital, was also reportedly raped by an acquaintance last month.
Indian officials say there is no need for alarm, pointing out that foreigners are victims of crime the world over and the vast majority of visitors experience no safety problems.
But travel advice from a host of countries stresses the need for visitors to take care.
An advisory from the Swiss foreign ministry, issued before Friday’s attack, urged men and women visiting India to travel in large groups and with guides.
The US State Department’s website asks female travelers to “observe stringent security precautions” and “avoid traveling alone in hired taxis, especially at night.”
Britain’s foreign office updated its advisory for India on Tuesday, warning female tourists to “exercise caution when traveling in India even if they are traveling in a group.”
In a notorious case five years ago, 15-year-old British schoolgirl Scarlett Keeling was raped and left to die on a beach in the tourist resort of Goa.
Jensen, who stands out in an Indian crowd with her blonde hair, recalled how she spent a carefree week backpacking around southern India a decade ago.
But now, traveling with her 10-year-old daughter, it is a different story and her husband texts her several times a day to check on their safety.
“There is no question that these stories will have an impact on foreign visitors,” she said.
“Women will prefer to visit other places like Singapore or Bali or Thailand, where safety is not such a big concern.”
At the Delhi office of the Indian Association of Tour Operators, executive director Gour Kanjilal said it was unfair to portray India as dangerous.
“Our industry is the first casualty when crime against foreigners is reported in India, but the reporting does not always reflect the truth,” he told AFP.
“Tourists should be responsible. They should follow some do’s and don’ts.”
A state minister in Madhya Pradesh, where the attacks on the Swiss and South Korean tourists took place, told reporters on Sunday that travelers must inform local police officials whenever they move from one town to the next.
That suggestion is hardly realistic for most tourists like 26-year-old Peruvian Marilu Labarthe, who squeezed in visits to seven cities during a two-week trip to the country.
Labarthe, shopping for ethnic trinkets in Delhi on the last day of her vacation, traveled to the country with 11 other women.
2013年2月25日星期一
stretched across many different types of racing
When Makayla Smith was first dragged along to the Invercargill Velodrome as a 12-year-old she wasn't all that fussed about what she saw.
The track was a daunting sight and she admits to initially putting a halt to any prospect of hopping on a bike and riding around the wooden boards.
Smith had first ventured along to the velodrome as part of the Community Breakout programme at Southland Girls' High School.
Her teacher, Shona Skelt, had kept at her about having a go at cycling and it led to her first day at the track.
"I remember it very clearly, I wasn't going to do it, I wasn't too keen. The teacher said ‘Come and sit here and watch' and I did. Eventually I got on [the track] and it was awesome, I love it," she said.
Three years on from that daunting first taste of track cycling, Makayla is part of a strong group of junior Southland track cyclists bracing themselves for the New Zealand age-group championships starting in Invercargill today.
It will be the 15-year-old's third shot at a national age-group event and one she is excited about.
It will also be her second year in the under-17 grade.
"Previously in under-15 I've always been pretty consistent. I was fourth in every event in under-15 and nearly 9th in every event in under-17 last year."
Smith will be spotted in almost every under-17 event this week as she tries her hand at a host of disciplines - but she does have some favourites.
"I really enjoy the points race, purely because they're strategic and exciting but I think the scratch race could be good as well."
Cycling Southland coaching co-ordinator Dayle Tye said Smith had shown impressive development in her short time in the sport.
"She's taken massive, massive strides in improvement in the last couple of years. She's a force to be reckoned with now, I guess, in the under-17 girls. She goes up to under-19 next year so there's opportunities at under-19 age-group for junior worlds."
Tye agreed with Makayla's assessment that the points race was a strong point but said her skills stretched across many different types of racing.
"She's a really good all-rounder, but I think strategically she can ride a very good points race," he said.
"She's also got a great turn of speed and she can ride really consistently in a pursuit as well.
The track was a daunting sight and she admits to initially putting a halt to any prospect of hopping on a bike and riding around the wooden boards.
Smith had first ventured along to the velodrome as part of the Community Breakout programme at Southland Girls' High School.
Her teacher, Shona Skelt, had kept at her about having a go at cycling and it led to her first day at the track.
"I remember it very clearly, I wasn't going to do it, I wasn't too keen. The teacher said ‘Come and sit here and watch' and I did. Eventually I got on [the track] and it was awesome, I love it," she said.
Three years on from that daunting first taste of track cycling, Makayla is part of a strong group of junior Southland track cyclists bracing themselves for the New Zealand age-group championships starting in Invercargill today.
It will be the 15-year-old's third shot at a national age-group event and one she is excited about.
It will also be her second year in the under-17 grade.
"Previously in under-15 I've always been pretty consistent. I was fourth in every event in under-15 and nearly 9th in every event in under-17 last year."
Smith will be spotted in almost every under-17 event this week as she tries her hand at a host of disciplines - but she does have some favourites.
"I really enjoy the points race, purely because they're strategic and exciting but I think the scratch race could be good as well."
Cycling Southland coaching co-ordinator Dayle Tye said Smith had shown impressive development in her short time in the sport.
"She's taken massive, massive strides in improvement in the last couple of years. She's a force to be reckoned with now, I guess, in the under-17 girls. She goes up to under-19 next year so there's opportunities at under-19 age-group for junior worlds."
Tye agreed with Makayla's assessment that the points race was a strong point but said her skills stretched across many different types of racing.
"She's a really good all-rounder, but I think strategically she can ride a very good points race," he said.
"She's also got a great turn of speed and she can ride really consistently in a pursuit as well.
2012年12月20日星期四
The assumption therefore is that most of the travel
Majority of Kenyans feel that they will spend more during 2012 Christmas holiday celebrations as most people close offices and their businesses for pleasant festivities starting next week, a newly published survey said on Thursday.
According to a nationwide survey conducted by Ipsos Synovate between Dec. 6 and Dec. 11, which polled 1,625 respondents, 66 percent of Kenyans stated that they will spend more, 24 percent felt that they will spend less, 5 percent the same as 2011 and only 5 percent were not sure about their spending.
“As Kenyans gear up for their Christmas shopping, beneficiaries of the planned expenditure are gift shops, outlets that retail airtime, clothing and shoes. The focus on these items could be as a result of the numerous Christmas offers from related retail outlets,” Margaret Ireri, MD Ipsos Synovate said in Nairobi.
The level of spending could be explained by findings from a previous study which was released in November on the Cost of Living, which indicated that only 39 percent of Kenyans mention high cost of living as a pressing issue.
This is despite the inflation has declined significantly from 19.72 percent in November 2011 to 3.25 percent in November this year.
The cost of food items in the East African nation has dropped significantly due to good harvests, decline in inflationary pressure and drop in fuel fuels.
This would be perhaps one of the most memorable Christmas periods in recent times for Kenyans, who will not have to grapple with increased cost of basic items as they seek to make merriment associated with the holiday.
In the current survey, Kenyans indicated will spend on airtime, clothes, foodstuff and beverages. Kenyans in the rural areas indicated that they will spend more (67%) compared to 64 percent of those in the urban areas.
Analyzed by age; 25-34 years and 35-44 years are likely to post higher spending at 72 percent and 68 percent respectively.
About 64 percent of the younger age group of 18 to 24 years will also spend more this Christmas; only 60 percent of those aged 45+ years feel that they will spend more.
Ireri said Kenyans aged between 25 and 44 years comprise the workforce of the nation and therefore have disposable income.
“They also have responsibilities of taking care of their spouses, children, parents and relatives and because they are also actively social, they will be looking forward to being generous towards their friends. It is therefore not surprising that they feel they will spend more,” she said.
According to the survey, there will be more shopping, less travel and church on Christmas day. It said gift shops, outlets that retail airtime will experience increase in sales.
Other items whose prices have gone down, noted KNBS while releasing inflation rate data recently, include housing, water, electricity and gas.
However, the survey says off the 39 percent who intend to travel, 96 percent will be travelling locally i.e. across towns within Kenya and only 4 percent likely to opt for out of the country.
According to the survey, 84 percent of the domestic travelers stated that they will be accommodated by relatives. The assumption therefore is that most of the travel will be upcountry.
“Some 6 percent will travel out of town or their usual location but still go back home at the end of the day while hotels and cottages will provide accommodation to only 11 percent of the travelers. Parents and children will be the biggest beneficiaries of gifts during this year’s festivities,” the study shows.
According to the survey, about 54 percent of the respondents stated that they will give gifts to their parents, 53 percent to their children and 43 percent to their spouses.
The list of gifts is dominated by shoes and clothes, and not surprisingly foodstuff and drinks.
“The presentation of gold, frankincense and myrrh by the three wise men became traditional symbols to remember those early Christmas gifts to Jesus. The Three Kings of Orient also became a symbol of kindness known by different names in different cultures and nations,” Ireri said.
She said going by the recent Ipsos Synovate poll, if the three wise men were living in Kenya today, they would have presented shoes, clothes and foodstuff to Jesus as gifts.
According to a nationwide survey conducted by Ipsos Synovate between Dec. 6 and Dec. 11, which polled 1,625 respondents, 66 percent of Kenyans stated that they will spend more, 24 percent felt that they will spend less, 5 percent the same as 2011 and only 5 percent were not sure about their spending.
“As Kenyans gear up for their Christmas shopping, beneficiaries of the planned expenditure are gift shops, outlets that retail airtime, clothing and shoes. The focus on these items could be as a result of the numerous Christmas offers from related retail outlets,” Margaret Ireri, MD Ipsos Synovate said in Nairobi.
The level of spending could be explained by findings from a previous study which was released in November on the Cost of Living, which indicated that only 39 percent of Kenyans mention high cost of living as a pressing issue.
This is despite the inflation has declined significantly from 19.72 percent in November 2011 to 3.25 percent in November this year.
The cost of food items in the East African nation has dropped significantly due to good harvests, decline in inflationary pressure and drop in fuel fuels.
This would be perhaps one of the most memorable Christmas periods in recent times for Kenyans, who will not have to grapple with increased cost of basic items as they seek to make merriment associated with the holiday.
In the current survey, Kenyans indicated will spend on airtime, clothes, foodstuff and beverages. Kenyans in the rural areas indicated that they will spend more (67%) compared to 64 percent of those in the urban areas.
Analyzed by age; 25-34 years and 35-44 years are likely to post higher spending at 72 percent and 68 percent respectively.
About 64 percent of the younger age group of 18 to 24 years will also spend more this Christmas; only 60 percent of those aged 45+ years feel that they will spend more.
Ireri said Kenyans aged between 25 and 44 years comprise the workforce of the nation and therefore have disposable income.
“They also have responsibilities of taking care of their spouses, children, parents and relatives and because they are also actively social, they will be looking forward to being generous towards their friends. It is therefore not surprising that they feel they will spend more,” she said.
According to the survey, there will be more shopping, less travel and church on Christmas day. It said gift shops, outlets that retail airtime will experience increase in sales.
Other items whose prices have gone down, noted KNBS while releasing inflation rate data recently, include housing, water, electricity and gas.
However, the survey says off the 39 percent who intend to travel, 96 percent will be travelling locally i.e. across towns within Kenya and only 4 percent likely to opt for out of the country.
According to the survey, 84 percent of the domestic travelers stated that they will be accommodated by relatives. The assumption therefore is that most of the travel will be upcountry.
“Some 6 percent will travel out of town or their usual location but still go back home at the end of the day while hotels and cottages will provide accommodation to only 11 percent of the travelers. Parents and children will be the biggest beneficiaries of gifts during this year’s festivities,” the study shows.
According to the survey, about 54 percent of the respondents stated that they will give gifts to their parents, 53 percent to their children and 43 percent to their spouses.
The list of gifts is dominated by shoes and clothes, and not surprisingly foodstuff and drinks.
“The presentation of gold, frankincense and myrrh by the three wise men became traditional symbols to remember those early Christmas gifts to Jesus. The Three Kings of Orient also became a symbol of kindness known by different names in different cultures and nations,” Ireri said.
She said going by the recent Ipsos Synovate poll, if the three wise men were living in Kenya today, they would have presented shoes, clothes and foodstuff to Jesus as gifts.
2012年11月29日星期四
his presentation of human kindness
When NYPD officer Lawrence DePrimo saw an older homeless man sitting outside a store on 42nd Street without shoes or socks on a freezing night, there was no hesitation on his part to help.
DePrimo was on counterterrorism patrol on November 14 in Times Square when he came across the man. He immediately went to a nearby Skechers shoe store, purchased socks and a $100 pair of boots out of his own money.
The officer's generous act of compassion was caught on camera unbeknownst to him by Jennifer Foster, a tourist from Arizona and also the Communications Director for the Pinal County Sheriff's Office.
Foster said she saw the man asking for change and just as she was about to approach him, the officer appeared. She took a photo of the interaction and then emailed it to the NYPD with a note commending the officer.
She wrote: “Right when I was about to approach, one of your officers came up behind him. The officer said, ‘I have these size 12 boots for you, they are all-weather. Let’s put them on and take care of you.’ The officer squatted down on the ground and proceeded to put
socks and the new boots on this man. The officer expected NOTHING in return and did not know I was watching. I have been in law enforcement for 17 years. I was never so impressed in my life. I did not get the officer’s name. It is important, I think, for all of us to remember the real reason we are in this line of work. The reminder this officer gave to our profession in his presentation of human kindness has not been lost on myself or any of the Arizona law enforcement officials with whom this story has been shared."
The NYPD posted the photo and Foster's note to their official Facebook page and it immediately went viral with over 425,000 "likes", 142,000 "shares" and generating 31,000 comments.
“I still have a grudge against law enforcement everywhere,” wrote one commenter on the police Facebook page. “But my respects to that fine officer.”
Officer DePrimo, 25, is a three year veteran of the NYPD , lives at home with his parents on Long Island said he was shocked at the attention and had no idea Foster was watching let alone taking a photo.
DePrimo said it was freezing that night and he could see the blisters on the man's feet. He went on to say he had two pairs of socks on himself and still was cold.
The man's face lit up when DePrima returned with the boots, knelt down beside him and put them on.
The officer said he never did get the homeless man's name but he was "the most polite gentleman he had met". DePrima even offered to buy the man a hot cup of coffee but as soon as the boots were on, the man declined and went on his way.
DePrimo was on counterterrorism patrol on November 14 in Times Square when he came across the man. He immediately went to a nearby Skechers shoe store, purchased socks and a $100 pair of boots out of his own money.
The officer's generous act of compassion was caught on camera unbeknownst to him by Jennifer Foster, a tourist from Arizona and also the Communications Director for the Pinal County Sheriff's Office.
Foster said she saw the man asking for change and just as she was about to approach him, the officer appeared. She took a photo of the interaction and then emailed it to the NYPD with a note commending the officer.
She wrote: “Right when I was about to approach, one of your officers came up behind him. The officer said, ‘I have these size 12 boots for you, they are all-weather. Let’s put them on and take care of you.’ The officer squatted down on the ground and proceeded to put
socks and the new boots on this man. The officer expected NOTHING in return and did not know I was watching. I have been in law enforcement for 17 years. I was never so impressed in my life. I did not get the officer’s name. It is important, I think, for all of us to remember the real reason we are in this line of work. The reminder this officer gave to our profession in his presentation of human kindness has not been lost on myself or any of the Arizona law enforcement officials with whom this story has been shared."
The NYPD posted the photo and Foster's note to their official Facebook page and it immediately went viral with over 425,000 "likes", 142,000 "shares" and generating 31,000 comments.
“I still have a grudge against law enforcement everywhere,” wrote one commenter on the police Facebook page. “But my respects to that fine officer.”
Officer DePrimo, 25, is a three year veteran of the NYPD , lives at home with his parents on Long Island said he was shocked at the attention and had no idea Foster was watching let alone taking a photo.
DePrimo said it was freezing that night and he could see the blisters on the man's feet. He went on to say he had two pairs of socks on himself and still was cold.
The man's face lit up when DePrima returned with the boots, knelt down beside him and put them on.
The officer said he never did get the homeless man's name but he was "the most polite gentleman he had met". DePrima even offered to buy the man a hot cup of coffee but as soon as the boots were on, the man declined and went on his way.
2012年10月21日星期日
Even as other cobblers went out of business
In a matter of days, they'll take out the last of the heavy stitching, sanding and polishing machines that have been here as long as he has, since Dwight D. Eisenhower was president and the Baltimore Orioles were the newest thing in the American League. You don't have to ask how Insley feels about leaving the shop after 58 years. Just step in the door and he tells you.
"I loved every minute of it," says Insley. "I hate to go. But when you get to be 82, you got to go."
A few weeks ago, he posted signs in the window saying he was closing the place Oct. 31, asking customers to call his home to make arrangements to pick up their shoes or boots. He's at the shop now just a few hours a week, taking no new work except for repairs that can be done quickly and with the equipment he still has on hand.
"It's going to hurt bad" to leave, he says. "It ain't like I'm not going to see some of the people, but …"
Insley has worked since 1954 at the Shipley Linthicum Shopping Center, where his brother, Joseph, opened the shop in 1949. That was before throwaway shoes and sneakers that change styles in a flash. That was before their trade started to fade away, from about 100,000 shoe repair stores during the Great Depression to fewer than a tenth of that number today, according to the Shoe Service Institute of America.
Even as other cobblers went out of business, Insley says he became known as the "Mayor of Linthicum Shopping Center."
"He'll definitely be missed, that's for sure," says Kathy Williams, who stopped by the shop one recent morning with her husband, Dan, who grew up in the neighborhood and remembers bringing his shoes here when he was a teenager in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
"When I was going to school, the big thing was getting a pair of shoes and getting cleats put on them," Dan Williams says. He'd come here, to Billie.
Now living in Boiling Springs, S.C., the Williamses were in town for a family wedding at Michael's Eighth Avenue in Glen Burnie, where Kathy broke a tip off the spiky heel of a pair of black patent leather shoes. She immediately thought of Insley.
"In the 40 years we've been married, anytime we needed shoes repaired, we'd come here," she says.
The Williamses are headed back to South Carolina in a day, but they dropped off the shoes a little after 10 in the morning and went on their way, saying they'd be back about noon.
Insley quickly finds a couple of fresh heel tips, sets the shoe heels up one at a time on an iron stand and nails the tips home. He sands the sides smooth on a machine that takes up much of one wall — a contraption with many wheels and levers that looks suited for a museum exhibition on the Industrial Revolution. He finishes the job with dabs of black Fiebing's Leather Dye. All for $5.
"I call them my family," he says of his customers. "Anybody in this world who loves their job more," he says — well, it's hard to imagine. "It's always something different. The shoes have changed so much since 1947. Used to be wooden heels. Now everything is plastic."
Sometimes that means the heels and soles cannot be replaced, but, he says, "I like a good challenge."
He can repair a leather coat by slipping a matching swatch behind the tear, affixing it with leather cement and tamping it down so smooth that all you see is "teeny seams," he says.
"He's a cobbler, a true cobbler," says Jude Sklanka, a friend from the neighborhood who is helping Insley clean out the shop. "This area of Anne Arundel County is losing something it will never have again. It's sad. Now people are coming in and realizing we lost part of our community."
George Schneider, for instance, stops by after getting his hair cut next door.
"Who's going to be here as a shoe repair?" he asks Insley.
"Nobody," says Insley.
"Nobody?" says Schneider, who has been a customer of Insley's since 1968. "I'm going to miss you."
Sklanka dismantled the wooden shelves, bought all the stock and the equipment, and is taking everything out, piece by piece. Some stuff he has hauled to the county dump. Some supplies and equipment, he's selling to a shoemaker in Rockville. He's putting some of the equipment in storage, and then, he says, "I have no idea what I'm going to do with it."
A lifelong bachelor, Insley is not quite sure what he's going to do, either. He's been doing this work since another brother, who went by the initials L.J., asked him to join him in his shoe-repair shop in Glen Burnie in 1947. Years later, Insley was drafted and spent a couple of years in the Army, then returned to join Joseph here in Linthicum in 1954. Since 1957, he's been running the shop on his own.
"I loved every minute of it," says Insley. "I hate to go. But when you get to be 82, you got to go."
A few weeks ago, he posted signs in the window saying he was closing the place Oct. 31, asking customers to call his home to make arrangements to pick up their shoes or boots. He's at the shop now just a few hours a week, taking no new work except for repairs that can be done quickly and with the equipment he still has on hand.
"It's going to hurt bad" to leave, he says. "It ain't like I'm not going to see some of the people, but …"
Insley has worked since 1954 at the Shipley Linthicum Shopping Center, where his brother, Joseph, opened the shop in 1949. That was before throwaway shoes and sneakers that change styles in a flash. That was before their trade started to fade away, from about 100,000 shoe repair stores during the Great Depression to fewer than a tenth of that number today, according to the Shoe Service Institute of America.
Even as other cobblers went out of business, Insley says he became known as the "Mayor of Linthicum Shopping Center."
"He'll definitely be missed, that's for sure," says Kathy Williams, who stopped by the shop one recent morning with her husband, Dan, who grew up in the neighborhood and remembers bringing his shoes here when he was a teenager in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
"When I was going to school, the big thing was getting a pair of shoes and getting cleats put on them," Dan Williams says. He'd come here, to Billie.
Now living in Boiling Springs, S.C., the Williamses were in town for a family wedding at Michael's Eighth Avenue in Glen Burnie, where Kathy broke a tip off the spiky heel of a pair of black patent leather shoes. She immediately thought of Insley.
"In the 40 years we've been married, anytime we needed shoes repaired, we'd come here," she says.
The Williamses are headed back to South Carolina in a day, but they dropped off the shoes a little after 10 in the morning and went on their way, saying they'd be back about noon.
Insley quickly finds a couple of fresh heel tips, sets the shoe heels up one at a time on an iron stand and nails the tips home. He sands the sides smooth on a machine that takes up much of one wall — a contraption with many wheels and levers that looks suited for a museum exhibition on the Industrial Revolution. He finishes the job with dabs of black Fiebing's Leather Dye. All for $5.
"I call them my family," he says of his customers. "Anybody in this world who loves their job more," he says — well, it's hard to imagine. "It's always something different. The shoes have changed so much since 1947. Used to be wooden heels. Now everything is plastic."
Sometimes that means the heels and soles cannot be replaced, but, he says, "I like a good challenge."
He can repair a leather coat by slipping a matching swatch behind the tear, affixing it with leather cement and tamping it down so smooth that all you see is "teeny seams," he says.
"He's a cobbler, a true cobbler," says Jude Sklanka, a friend from the neighborhood who is helping Insley clean out the shop. "This area of Anne Arundel County is losing something it will never have again. It's sad. Now people are coming in and realizing we lost part of our community."
George Schneider, for instance, stops by after getting his hair cut next door.
"Who's going to be here as a shoe repair?" he asks Insley.
"Nobody," says Insley.
"Nobody?" says Schneider, who has been a customer of Insley's since 1968. "I'm going to miss you."
Sklanka dismantled the wooden shelves, bought all the stock and the equipment, and is taking everything out, piece by piece. Some stuff he has hauled to the county dump. Some supplies and equipment, he's selling to a shoemaker in Rockville. He's putting some of the equipment in storage, and then, he says, "I have no idea what I'm going to do with it."
A lifelong bachelor, Insley is not quite sure what he's going to do, either. He's been doing this work since another brother, who went by the initials L.J., asked him to join him in his shoe-repair shop in Glen Burnie in 1947. Years later, Insley was drafted and spent a couple of years in the Army, then returned to join Joseph here in Linthicum in 1954. Since 1957, he's been running the shop on his own.
2012年10月14日星期日
Chaos and squeaking shoes the gaming weekend
Well, I finished Dishonored over the weekend - thanks to the incredibly bad weather on Saturday - and what a single player campaign it was, but it wasn't the ending I was expecting.
No, it seems that the ending you get depends on how much chaos (read: death and destruction) you cause during your travels through the whale-oil-powered city of Dunwall. I now wish I'd played the game a little smarter (and a little less confrontational at times) and a little stealthier as my high chaos playthrough made for a less than desirable final scenario. Luckily, Dishonored is the type of game that is just perfect for a second playthrough, thanks to the multiple options to complete an objective. Note to self: play more stealthily next time.
Next on the gaming agenda is Xcom: Enemy Unknown, which I hear is getting rave reviews, but I like games like Dishonored that provide different endings depending on how you've played, or have events change based on decisions made earlier in the game. It makes a game that is much more open to repeat plays than one which has a strict one-ending-for-all policy, no matter how you play it.
I've also been mucking about with Kinect-enabled Fable: The Journey, and while not perfect, it could actually be the best use of Microsoft's motion-sensing device yet as it doesn't involve party games. In it you use your hands to control the reins of your horse Seren, flicking them as if you were holding real reins, and your right hand to cast spells at foes. Your left hand is used to push objects and foes out of the way and block incoming attacks. Many gamers will scoff at the inclusion of Kinect with a game in the Fable series but it works well, most of the time.
Elsewhere in the Game Junkie household, Master Game Junkie has been hitting the virtual basketball courts in NBA2k13 (I did an interview with producer Erick Boenisch which you can find here) and he's hooked, working his way through the game's My Career mode and the NBA's ranks. He was initially drafted to the Boston Celtics - a team he can't stand - but after discussions with the team manager (through the game's general manager sit-down feature) he has now been traded to the Los Angeles Lakers, a team he considers worthy of his basketball talents.
But enough about me, how was your gaming weekend? Did you travel stealthily through the streets and sewers of Dunwall? Did you take on the enemy invaders in Xcom: Enemy Unknown? Did you squeak your shoes in 2K's NBA2K13 or pound the turf in EA's Fifa 13? Or did you replay an old favourite?
No, it seems that the ending you get depends on how much chaos (read: death and destruction) you cause during your travels through the whale-oil-powered city of Dunwall. I now wish I'd played the game a little smarter (and a little less confrontational at times) and a little stealthier as my high chaos playthrough made for a less than desirable final scenario. Luckily, Dishonored is the type of game that is just perfect for a second playthrough, thanks to the multiple options to complete an objective. Note to self: play more stealthily next time.
Next on the gaming agenda is Xcom: Enemy Unknown, which I hear is getting rave reviews, but I like games like Dishonored that provide different endings depending on how you've played, or have events change based on decisions made earlier in the game. It makes a game that is much more open to repeat plays than one which has a strict one-ending-for-all policy, no matter how you play it.
I've also been mucking about with Kinect-enabled Fable: The Journey, and while not perfect, it could actually be the best use of Microsoft's motion-sensing device yet as it doesn't involve party games. In it you use your hands to control the reins of your horse Seren, flicking them as if you were holding real reins, and your right hand to cast spells at foes. Your left hand is used to push objects and foes out of the way and block incoming attacks. Many gamers will scoff at the inclusion of Kinect with a game in the Fable series but it works well, most of the time.
Elsewhere in the Game Junkie household, Master Game Junkie has been hitting the virtual basketball courts in NBA2k13 (I did an interview with producer Erick Boenisch which you can find here) and he's hooked, working his way through the game's My Career mode and the NBA's ranks. He was initially drafted to the Boston Celtics - a team he can't stand - but after discussions with the team manager (through the game's general manager sit-down feature) he has now been traded to the Los Angeles Lakers, a team he considers worthy of his basketball talents.
But enough about me, how was your gaming weekend? Did you travel stealthily through the streets and sewers of Dunwall? Did you take on the enemy invaders in Xcom: Enemy Unknown? Did you squeak your shoes in 2K's NBA2K13 or pound the turf in EA's Fifa 13? Or did you replay an old favourite?
2012年9月28日星期五
The salesman was lacing up my shoes
Chris Economaki, a journalist regarded as the authoritative voice in motorsports for decades, died Friday. He was 91.
National Speed Sport News, where Economaki worked as an editor for more than 60 years, announced his death Friday. It did not release a cause of death. Economaki was known as the "Dean of American Motorsports Journalism," and worked in TV for more than 40 years with stints at ABC, CBS and ESPN. He was part of ABC's first telecast from Daytona International Speedway in 1961.
His love of motorsports blossomed as a child and he sold copies of National Speed Sport News as a teenager.
"Many people consider Chris the greatest motorsports journalist of all time," NASCAR chairman Brian France said. "He was, indeed, `The Dean.' Chris was a fixture for years at NASCAR events, and played a huge role in growing NASCAR's popularity."
Economaki, who switched from ABC to CBS in 1984, watched stock car racing branch out from its Southern roots to become a national attraction. The watershed year, he said, was 1984.
"That was the year ABC did the closing ceremonies at the Winter Olympics in Sarajevo at the same time CBS was showing the Daytona 500 - and Daytona got the higher rating," Economaki said in the 1980s.
"It was also the year that President Reagan came to the Firecracker 400 and said, `Gentlemen, start your engines.' And the next day, there was a picture of him next to Richard Petty on the front page of The New York Times. After that, it seemed a lot of people discovered stock car racing."
Economaki told The Associated Press in 1991 that even if fans didn't recognize his face out in public, they sure knew him by the sound of his voice.
"I do have a distinctive voice. And it's nice to know that it registered somewhere along the line," he said.
"I remember I was getting a pair of shoes in Des Moines, Iowa, one time. The salesman was lacing up my shoes, and I'm looking at the bald spot on the back of his head, and he asks: `Aren't you on TV?' This guy's got his nose six inches from the floor and asks my shoes if I'm on TV. He doesn't recognize me, but he recognizes my voice."
In 2006, the Trackside Conference Room at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Media Center was renamed the Economaki Press Conference Room in his honor.
Four-time Indianapolis 500 winner A.J. Foyt remembered when Economaki pegged him early in his career as one of racing's next big stars.
"He saw the sport grow to where it is today and how it grew, including NASCAR," Foyt said. "And he contributed to that growth. I'd say when he was in his heyday of writing that more people would read his column than any column that's been written today by far. I know I did."
At Dover International Speedways, drivers remembered Economaki as a man who shaped the way they loved the sport.
"Speed Sport News is something that I read religiously," four-time Cup champion Jeff Gordon said. "Chris did a lot for that newspaper and for motorsports and he was passionate about all of it. The last time I saw him was earlier this year and, still, that is all he thought about was racing. And he cared so much about what was happening in this sport and wanted to make a difference and wanted to get those stories out there."
National Speed Sport News, where Economaki worked as an editor for more than 60 years, announced his death Friday. It did not release a cause of death. Economaki was known as the "Dean of American Motorsports Journalism," and worked in TV for more than 40 years with stints at ABC, CBS and ESPN. He was part of ABC's first telecast from Daytona International Speedway in 1961.
His love of motorsports blossomed as a child and he sold copies of National Speed Sport News as a teenager.
"Many people consider Chris the greatest motorsports journalist of all time," NASCAR chairman Brian France said. "He was, indeed, `The Dean.' Chris was a fixture for years at NASCAR events, and played a huge role in growing NASCAR's popularity."
Economaki, who switched from ABC to CBS in 1984, watched stock car racing branch out from its Southern roots to become a national attraction. The watershed year, he said, was 1984.
"That was the year ABC did the closing ceremonies at the Winter Olympics in Sarajevo at the same time CBS was showing the Daytona 500 - and Daytona got the higher rating," Economaki said in the 1980s.
"It was also the year that President Reagan came to the Firecracker 400 and said, `Gentlemen, start your engines.' And the next day, there was a picture of him next to Richard Petty on the front page of The New York Times. After that, it seemed a lot of people discovered stock car racing."
Economaki told The Associated Press in 1991 that even if fans didn't recognize his face out in public, they sure knew him by the sound of his voice.
"I do have a distinctive voice. And it's nice to know that it registered somewhere along the line," he said.
"I remember I was getting a pair of shoes in Des Moines, Iowa, one time. The salesman was lacing up my shoes, and I'm looking at the bald spot on the back of his head, and he asks: `Aren't you on TV?' This guy's got his nose six inches from the floor and asks my shoes if I'm on TV. He doesn't recognize me, but he recognizes my voice."
In 2006, the Trackside Conference Room at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Media Center was renamed the Economaki Press Conference Room in his honor.
Four-time Indianapolis 500 winner A.J. Foyt remembered when Economaki pegged him early in his career as one of racing's next big stars.
"He saw the sport grow to where it is today and how it grew, including NASCAR," Foyt said. "And he contributed to that growth. I'd say when he was in his heyday of writing that more people would read his column than any column that's been written today by far. I know I did."
At Dover International Speedways, drivers remembered Economaki as a man who shaped the way they loved the sport.
"Speed Sport News is something that I read religiously," four-time Cup champion Jeff Gordon said. "Chris did a lot for that newspaper and for motorsports and he was passionate about all of it. The last time I saw him was earlier this year and, still, that is all he thought about was racing. And he cared so much about what was happening in this sport and wanted to make a difference and wanted to get those stories out there."
2012年8月12日星期日
Cows drop a solution to Punjab's gas woes
Having only read on the subject, I do not know what to expect to see. Hamza, a recent graduate from the University of London and my guide on this assignment, briefs me about the Orange Processing Factory and the farm we are to visit. He himself has only visited Kot Momin once or twice, and is unsure of our exact destination. Jamal, our driver, a humble man of northern descent, has only a faint inkling.
We are headed for Pakistan’s largest citrus producing areas in the Sargodha District. Having never visited a farming community, I am eager. These are exciting times for farmers, I am told; their cows are quite literally keeping their stoves burning!
As we turn for the Kot Momin interchange, I wonder if these docile beasts ‘hold’ the answer to our gas problems. The Pipal trees grow thick, and a faint tang of citrus scents the air. The locals are obliging, and we are soon pointed in the right direction. A narrow road leads us to The Orange Processing Plant. An attendant greets us and invites us in. “Here, we process and package oranges and mandarins for export,” he explains as he ushers us to the main building. Inside, lofty conveyer belts and heavy machinery slumber away in a corner.
“If it wasn’t for the factory’s bio-gas plant, these machines wouldn’t be able to operate,” Hamza explains. “Methane produced by the plant is used in the generators that power the factory.”
Curious to see learn more I ask to be shown the plant. “It’s all faecal matter,” says the attendant casually, as he points towards the main gas tank. “Cow dung is scooped into the inlet tank and mixed with water.”
‘Sounds lovely,’ I think to myself. In a concrete tank, dung and water are mixed to a slurry; using what looks like a massive egg beater. The muck flows to an airtight underground tank, where, in the absence of oxygen, chemicals in the dung react – creating gas. The gas obviously has to be pumped, purified and pressurised before it can be used, but it’s a fairly simple process which requires minimal human interference. Once the purified methane is extracted, it can be used as a renewable substitute for CNG. In hindsight, this factory, like many others, is rationing a cow’s intestinal gases and turning them into free energy.
Impressed by this stroke of genius, we bid the attendant farewell and head out to another location: Sarfaraz Ranjha’s farm.
Once there, Khuram Shehzad, a young worker, gives us a walkthrough. “My job is the shovel manure from the cow shed into the inlet tank.” With a cringed nose, he adds: “We have 30 animals – you can imagine the workload.”
His might not be the most enriching of careers, but Khuram is nevertheless a part of a farming revolution in the country. Farms using similar systems are not only producing their own methane, they also end up with 100% natural, chemical free fertiliser that’s great for crops.
Initially, the manure needs to sit for eight days before methane is released, Khuram explains. “Any longer than eight days and the methane explodes!” he jests.
“Life’s easier, now that we don’t have to pay for our gas needs. Where the rest of the country suffers from gas shortages, our farm enjoys a surplus,” says Ranjha, our host. Our host’s voice has the authority, and his waist the measurement, of several men.
Ranjha invites us in for a demonstration of his home-brewed bio-gas. He explains that after an initial investment of around Rs400,000, his house and farm has enjoyed free gas (with adequate pressure) for a year without fail.
Ranjha even shows us his cooking utensils: “Bio-gas is environmentally friendly,” he explains as he points our attention to the spotless bottoms of his pots. They have no carbon deposits.
Over plates of succulent mangos and tart jamuns, the conversation steers towards the potentials of bio-gas as replacement for CNG.
“Bio-gas has the potential to completely replace CNG,” Hamza informs the gathering. “And many clients come to the Alternative Energy Development Board, seeking advice on the matter. It is definitely a great business opportunity.”
We are headed for Pakistan’s largest citrus producing areas in the Sargodha District. Having never visited a farming community, I am eager. These are exciting times for farmers, I am told; their cows are quite literally keeping their stoves burning!
As we turn for the Kot Momin interchange, I wonder if these docile beasts ‘hold’ the answer to our gas problems. The Pipal trees grow thick, and a faint tang of citrus scents the air. The locals are obliging, and we are soon pointed in the right direction. A narrow road leads us to The Orange Processing Plant. An attendant greets us and invites us in. “Here, we process and package oranges and mandarins for export,” he explains as he ushers us to the main building. Inside, lofty conveyer belts and heavy machinery slumber away in a corner.
“If it wasn’t for the factory’s bio-gas plant, these machines wouldn’t be able to operate,” Hamza explains. “Methane produced by the plant is used in the generators that power the factory.”
Curious to see learn more I ask to be shown the plant. “It’s all faecal matter,” says the attendant casually, as he points towards the main gas tank. “Cow dung is scooped into the inlet tank and mixed with water.”
‘Sounds lovely,’ I think to myself. In a concrete tank, dung and water are mixed to a slurry; using what looks like a massive egg beater. The muck flows to an airtight underground tank, where, in the absence of oxygen, chemicals in the dung react – creating gas. The gas obviously has to be pumped, purified and pressurised before it can be used, but it’s a fairly simple process which requires minimal human interference. Once the purified methane is extracted, it can be used as a renewable substitute for CNG. In hindsight, this factory, like many others, is rationing a cow’s intestinal gases and turning them into free energy.
Impressed by this stroke of genius, we bid the attendant farewell and head out to another location: Sarfaraz Ranjha’s farm.
Once there, Khuram Shehzad, a young worker, gives us a walkthrough. “My job is the shovel manure from the cow shed into the inlet tank.” With a cringed nose, he adds: “We have 30 animals – you can imagine the workload.”
His might not be the most enriching of careers, but Khuram is nevertheless a part of a farming revolution in the country. Farms using similar systems are not only producing their own methane, they also end up with 100% natural, chemical free fertiliser that’s great for crops.
Initially, the manure needs to sit for eight days before methane is released, Khuram explains. “Any longer than eight days and the methane explodes!” he jests.
“Life’s easier, now that we don’t have to pay for our gas needs. Where the rest of the country suffers from gas shortages, our farm enjoys a surplus,” says Ranjha, our host. Our host’s voice has the authority, and his waist the measurement, of several men.
Ranjha invites us in for a demonstration of his home-brewed bio-gas. He explains that after an initial investment of around Rs400,000, his house and farm has enjoyed free gas (with adequate pressure) for a year without fail.
Ranjha even shows us his cooking utensils: “Bio-gas is environmentally friendly,” he explains as he points our attention to the spotless bottoms of his pots. They have no carbon deposits.
Over plates of succulent mangos and tart jamuns, the conversation steers towards the potentials of bio-gas as replacement for CNG.
“Bio-gas has the potential to completely replace CNG,” Hamza informs the gathering. “And many clients come to the Alternative Energy Development Board, seeking advice on the matter. It is definitely a great business opportunity.”
2012年5月29日星期二
The Pond - The Pond Review
Kathryn Williams has already enjoyed a career than has spanned over a decade but her new collaboration with Simon Edwards and Ginny Clee sees her release album The Pond.
Carved is the opening track on the album and it’s a blend of folk elements that Williams is well known for but there is a pop feel at the core of this track.
And these two elements blend together perfectly, through a dash of electric guitar, and you have an opening track that is difficult to forget.
There is a real melodic feel to the track and there is also a very laid back sound to this opening track while Williams’ vocals ring out.
The laid back disposition that is on the opening track follow into Circle Round A tree, which is one of my favourite tracks on the album.
There is some intricate folk guitar work on this track and Williams’ sultry vocals go with it perfectly.
But not all the tracks have a sunny feel to them as The River is the first of the darker tracks on the album.
The River has quite an eerie feel to it as the instrumentation of the track is much harder and more prominent, almost masking the delicate vocals of Williams.
Memory Let Down is another of these darker tracks and there is real sense of foreboding with this song as the heavy piano notes really doe create quite an atmosphere, that couldn’t be more different to the opening couple of songs.
Williams is clearly an artist who is not afraid to experiment with different sounds as well as feelings and this is an album that is an assault on all the senses.
As the darker tracks really do have a visual impact as making the hairs on the back of you neck stand up - and it’s been a while since an album has done that for me.
The instrumentation on this record plays just as important part as the vocals and whether it be piano or acoustic guitar Williams always find the sound that compliments her vocals so beautifully.
And Williams has such an authentic folk and soul voice that she gets under you skin and really makes you feel every inch of the track.
While this may be the debut album for The Pond it is by a very experienced music maker and it is not to be missed.
Kathryn Williams presents The Pond is out now
Carved is the opening track on the album and it’s a blend of folk elements that Williams is well known for but there is a pop feel at the core of this track.
And these two elements blend together perfectly, through a dash of electric guitar, and you have an opening track that is difficult to forget.
There is a real melodic feel to the track and there is also a very laid back sound to this opening track while Williams’ vocals ring out.
The laid back disposition that is on the opening track follow into Circle Round A tree, which is one of my favourite tracks on the album.
There is some intricate folk guitar work on this track and Williams’ sultry vocals go with it perfectly.
But not all the tracks have a sunny feel to them as The River is the first of the darker tracks on the album.
The River has quite an eerie feel to it as the instrumentation of the track is much harder and more prominent, almost masking the delicate vocals of Williams.
Memory Let Down is another of these darker tracks and there is real sense of foreboding with this song as the heavy piano notes really doe create quite an atmosphere, that couldn’t be more different to the opening couple of songs.
Williams is clearly an artist who is not afraid to experiment with different sounds as well as feelings and this is an album that is an assault on all the senses.
As the darker tracks really do have a visual impact as making the hairs on the back of you neck stand up - and it’s been a while since an album has done that for me.
The instrumentation on this record plays just as important part as the vocals and whether it be piano or acoustic guitar Williams always find the sound that compliments her vocals so beautifully.
And Williams has such an authentic folk and soul voice that she gets under you skin and really makes you feel every inch of the track.
While this may be the debut album for The Pond it is by a very experienced music maker and it is not to be missed.
Kathryn Williams presents The Pond is out now
2011年6月14日星期二
Fitness PR: High Perfomance Running Shoes with BIOM by ECCO
The BIOM running shoe by ECCO is created using biomechanics and is developed by the University of Cologne. The concept of BIOM, inspired by barefoot runners, is perfect for someone looking for a high performance running shoe. ECCO spent three years of research and development to create the perfect design of the shoe. They scanned foot profiles of 2500 runners to create a replica of the human foot and BIOM is the only shoe on the market that uses direct-injection process (which increases the durability of your shoe.)
ECCO uses durable materials like PU which lasts 1.5 times longer than EVA, which is used in many other shoes. The shoe also has a wide toebox to ensure your toes can spread naturally (so important for a comfortable fit.) Moreover, the shoe has high-traction rubber outsole components, which improve grip and decrease the weight of the shoe allowing you to run fast and freely.
The BIOM project has A and B models of the shoe out already and are working on the C model. The BIOM A is produced using traditional textile mesh which allows for greater ventilation while BIOM B is produced using breakable yak leather which has a greater durability. The supply of Yak leather is very limited and ECCO spent two years to develop an efficient yak tanning method.
The BIOM Project provides us with a shoe that is unique in the running shoe market coming that is as close to the biomechanics of your foot and ankle as possible, allowing you to run as nature intended. It is truly for the athlete looking to push limits.
ECCO uses durable materials like PU which lasts 1.5 times longer than EVA, which is used in many other shoes. The shoe also has a wide toebox to ensure your toes can spread naturally (so important for a comfortable fit.) Moreover, the shoe has high-traction rubber outsole components, which improve grip and decrease the weight of the shoe allowing you to run fast and freely.
The BIOM project has A and B models of the shoe out already and are working on the C model. The BIOM A is produced using traditional textile mesh which allows for greater ventilation while BIOM B is produced using breakable yak leather which has a greater durability. The supply of Yak leather is very limited and ECCO spent two years to develop an efficient yak tanning method.
The BIOM Project provides us with a shoe that is unique in the running shoe market coming that is as close to the biomechanics of your foot and ankle as possible, allowing you to run as nature intended. It is truly for the athlete looking to push limits.
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