Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/259499293?client_source=feed&format=rss
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Thursday, November 1, 2012
The Netherlands: Shell Sells 4.97 Million Tonnes ... - LNG World News
Royal Dutch Shell plc released its third quarter results.
Key features of the Third quarter 2012
- Third quarter 2012 CCS earnings were $6,127 million, 15% lower than in the same quarter a year ago.
- Third quarter 2012 CCS earnings, excluding identified items, were $6,559 million compared with $7,001 million in the third quarter 2011, a decrease of 6%.
- Basic CCS earnings per share decreased by 16% versus the same quarter a year ago.
- Basic CCS earnings per share excluding identified items decreased by 6% versus the same quarter a year ago.
- Cash flow from operating activities for the third quarter 2012 was $9.5 billion, compared with $11.6 billion in the same quarter last year. Excluding movements in working capital, cash flow from operating activities in the third quarter 2012 was $11.7 billion, compared with $10.6 billion in the same quarter last year.
- Net capital investment for the third quarter 2012 was $8.0 billion. Capital investment for the third quarter 2012 was some $8.8 billion and proceeds from divestments were $0.8 billion.
- Total dividends distributed in the third quarter 2012 were $2.8 billion, of which some $0.8 billion were settled by issuing some 22.3 million Class A shares under the Scrip Dividend Programme for the second quarter 2012. Under the company?s share buyback programme some 4.3 million Class B shares were bought back for cancellation during the quarter for a consideration of some $0.1 billion.
- Return on average capital employed on a reported income basis was 12.9% at the end of the third quarter 2012.
- Gearing was 8.6% at the end of the third quarter 2012 versus 10.8% at the end of the third quarter 2011.
- Oil and gas production for the third quarter 2012 was 2,982 thousand boe/d. Excluding the impact of divestments, exits, PSC price effects and security impacts onshore Nigeria, third quarter 2012 production volumes were 1% higher compared with the same period last year.
- LNG sales volumes of 4.97 million tonnes in the third quarter 2012 were 4% higher than in the same quarter a year ago.
- Oil products sales volumes in the third quarter 2012 were 1% lower compared with the third quarter 2011.
- Chemicals product sales volumes in the third quarter 2012 decreased by 3% compared with the same quarter a year ago.
Royal Dutch Shell Chief Executive Officer Peter Voser commented: ?Shell is driving a long-term and consistent strategy, against a backdrop of volatile energy markets. Our profits pay for substantial investments in new energy supplies, and they pay dividends for our shareholders.
?Our earnings were driven by lower oil and gas prices, and lower chemicals margins, which offset the benefits of our operating performance, underlying growth in oil and gas production, and higher results in Integrated Gas and Oil Products.
?We?ve made progress with our Alaska exploration programme, commencing drilling operations in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas, as the industry continues to assess offshore potential there. This will be a multi-year exploration programme, demonstrating Shell?s commitments to high standards on sustainable development and safety.
?We continue to refresh our portfolio, launching new oil and gas developments, making new exploration discoveries, purchasing new liquids-rich shale acreage and increasing our positions in oil and gas fields where we can add value with our innovation and scale. We are also continuing with our capital efficiency drive, selling down positions where others can add more value. We have announced around $6 billion of acquisitions and new acreage and also around $6 billion of asset sales in 2012, which will better position Shell for growth.
?I am pleased with our progress in a difficult industry environment. There is more to come from Shell.?
LNG World News Staff, November 01, 2012; Image: Shell
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Source: http://www.lngworldnews.com/the-netherlands-shell-sells-4-97-million-tonnes-of-lng-in-q3/
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HTC One X+ review: it's the One X, and then some (video) -- Engadget
A spec bump in the middle of a product cycle? All the cool cats do it these days, even if they risk alienating customers who just bought what they thought was this year's flagship device. HTC has actually played this game for a while, first with the Sensation XE, which acted as a mid-term replacement for the original Sensation and now, with the One X+ which treads all over the One X's toes. However, with this latest handset, the manufacturer has some justification: the One X+ comes with 32GB or 64GB of internal storage, whereas the global One X maxed out at 32GB and the AT&T version was only 16GB. Since there's no microSD expansion on these phones, it's possible to argue that the One X+ is a sensible addition, which caters specifically to storage-hungry power users and audiophiles. (Note: We'll be reviewing the HSPA+ UK version of this handset here, and comparing it mainly to the HSPA+ One X. We'll test the US-destined LTE variant very soon.)
There are other improvements aside from the bigger storage option, of course. The NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor has had a speed bump to 1.7GHz -- perhaps in an effort to challenge the Galaxy S III's benchmarking might. There's a larger 2,100mAh battery to stay in step with that more power-hungry silicon; the front camera module has been replaced with a higher-res chip and better image processing; and, there's also some new audio circuitry to improve the speaker's sound quality. The One X+ also runs HTC's updated Sense 4+ skin, based on Jelly Bean, which will eventually arrive on older One-series phones as well. As for the rest of the spec sheet, all the good and not-so-good stuff from the One X has carried over -- the stunning 4.7-inch, 1,280 x 720 Super LCD2 display is still here, thank goodness, and so is the 8-megapixel f/2.0 rear camera. However, there's still only 1GB of RAM (LG and Samsung flagships boast double that). So, what's needed here is an upshot: if you haven't made the leap to a 2012 superphone just yet, how does the One X+ carry itself relative to its cheaper predecessor and the latest competition? Read on and we'll endeavor to find out.
Hardware
The key selling point of the original One X has never been in doubt. It has a design flair that many other Android phones before and after have lacked, and although the One X+ is marginally heavier (at 135 grams versus 130 grams) it's still the same classy phone. A Gorilla Glass panel -- here upgraded to version 2 -- blends seamlessly into the curved, matte polycarbonate unibody and the overall effect is beautiful and durable in equal measure. Yes, the one-piece build precludes expandable storage and a switchable battery, which are major sacrifices for many users, but in return it rewards you with pleasant vibes every time you pick it up in the morning.
"The ratio of black to red is high enough that the phone never looks garish"
But even by this slightly superficial measure, the One X+ is not perfect. That's because it only comes in one color: matte black, with glimmers of red on the navigation buttons (especially when they light up), the camera ring and the Beats logo. The AT&T model is slightly sexier perhaps, with black accents instead of red, but there's still no sign of multi-hued love HTC has showered on its latest Windows Phones. If you're the fastidious type, you may also notice that this darker variant is slightly more smudge-prone than the lighter grey and white colors, and also the glossy black HTC logo at the back is something of a dirt trap. In case it helps, we've added some comparison photos from our previous hands-on session below.
In terms of the device's physical layout, there are no surprises. The face is adorned by three capacitive hardware buttons along the bottom (back, home and multitasking) plus the front camera and earpiece, with a somewhat discreet HTC logo just above the display. (Take note, Verizon, you fiends.) On the right-hand edge we have a good-sized volume rocker, while the power button sits on top beside the 3.5mm jack and the micro-USB port is the sole occupant of the left-hand edge. It's a good and functional layout, but folks with smaller hands may wish there was an easier-to-reach power button on the side instead of on the top (as with the Galaxy S III, for example). Shifting your grip to turn the phone on does become a habit, but it takes a while.
On the rear side, we find the protruding camera, which has become symbolic of HTC's top-end line, but which is still prone to scratching, with a small and not especially powerful LED flash to the side. There are charging points on the lower right for compatibility with a range of existing One X docks, and finally the loudspeaker at the very bottom. HTC tells us that a feedback amplifier has been added to this speaker to improve its sound output versus the One X, and indeed we found the speaker to be less prone to distortion when set to maximum volume. As our video review shows, the difference isn't huge, so don't go expecting miracles or hosting house parties without proper audio equipment.
Beats Audio
We need to deal with that other big aspect of this phone's audio output: Beats. If you ever read our review of the HTC Sensation XE, which was the first phone to come with Beats Audio, then you'll know we didn't think much of it. As far as our tests showed back in 2011, it was basically an S-shaped EQ setting; it exaggerated certain bass and vocal frequencies and slightly boosted overall volume. This was enough to give listeners a wow effect with the right type of music, but the same effect (or better) could readily be achieved with any decent music player for Android.
But times have changed and the Beats we see on the One X+ is very different. For starters, it can be enabled or disabled regardless of what headphones you plug into the 3.5mm jack, so the old pretense of only coming to life with Dr. Dre-approved cans has been quietly forgotten. The marketing has improved slightly too. There's still plenty of misleading babble, such as the unfathomable claim that Beats delivers "studio-quality sound," but at least HTC doesn't put so much emphasis on Beats as a selling point any more, and it also gives slightly more clarity on what Beats actually provides -- e.g., a "deeper bass" and "crisper vocals."
The most ironic thing about Beats actually has to be this: despite the mellowed marketing, it's probably more useful on the One X+ than it ever has been. This is because it now comes with a really hefty increase in volume: in other words, max volume is substantially higher with Beats enabled, whereas in the past (for example on the One X) it increased by a much smaller proportion. So long as you can tolerate the exaggerated frequencies that come with it, this can be a big help if you want to play music through over-ear cans with above-average impedance.
Camera
The biggest photographic improvement with the One X+ is undoubtedly its front-facing camera. It's not the higher resolution (1.6 megapixels) that makes the difference -- in fact the final output image is still 1,280 x 720. The power of this shooter actually lies in the quality of the sensor and in the image processing hardware, which together make it a great tool for video chats and self-portraits. The image above speaks for itself, and not only is the shot on the right much clearer and more detailed, it also has a more natural pose thanks to the One X+'s new 3-2-1 countdown feature.
"There's still no ability to lock exposure and focus before re-framing a shot"
According to HTC, the rear camera hasn't evolved at all -- we're looking at exactly the same module as the One X. But having taken a number of shots and videos side by side with the two phones, we reckon the One X+ has a slight advantage thanks to its faster processor. In burst shot mode, the One X+ snapped 20 pictures in just three seconds, whereas the One X took five seconds. When starting a video recording, the One X+ got going a whole second faster, and its auto-focus seemed to respond quicker too.
Of course, extra speed in and of itself isn't going to give you better image quality, and it's in this area where we found the One X+ to be most disappointing, simply because it hasn't fixed any of the quirks present on the One X. For one, there's still no ability to lock exposure and focus before re-framing a shot. This is a big deal because it makes for erratic exposures that are largely outside of your control -- in fact, when trying to take an identical side-by-side shot with the One X and One X+ we found it virtually impossible to get the same exposure and focus on both cameras, not because one is better than the other but because they both seem to work primarily on luck.
Another problem: the video data rate hasn't been improved at 1080p, even though we now have a more capable processor, along with more storage to fill up. We captured a high-detail scene above just to prove the point -- it's riven with compression artefacts. The Galaxy S III has a higher video data rate, not to mention two-stage stills shooting, and as a result we'd still say that phone (along with the Note II) has the all-round superior camera. The HTC's saving grace is its low-light performance, which benefits greatly from that fast f/2.0 lens, but which is slightly marred by HTC's detail-destroying anti-noise filter.
Performance and battery life
So much for the outside -- it's the internals that HTC is really relying on to get this handset into people's pockets, and most notably that 64GB of internal storage. On our review device, this yielded around 56GB of usable space, which ought to be enough for most. We plugged the phone into a PC and it automatically switched into storage mode and made swift work of swallowing up an entire 50GB collection of high-quality recordings -- a nice feeling that was never previously possible.
The handset was predictably capable with voice call reception and sound quality, and in terms of mobile data it behaved identically to both the One X and the Galaxy S III on Vodafone UK's HSPA+ network in London. Speeds varied wildly depending on signal, but no more so than with other devices, and they generally hovered somewhere between 1-3 Mbps down and 1-2 Mbps up. Wireless tethering worked flawlessly and was very stable. As mentioned earlier, our review device was 3G only, which is strange considering that LTE is about to take off in the UK in a big way -- if you're contemplating switching to an LTE carrier like EE in the next year or so, then you should probably bear this mind. EE already offers the One XL (the Qualcomm-powered, LTE version of the One X) as part of its LTE launch lineup.
"Why didn't HTC go for the S4 Pro here, rather than a souped-up Tegra 3?"
The engine in this handset is the AP37 variant of NVIDIA's Tegra 3 chip, which consists of four main cores plus a low-power companion core, with a maximum single-core clock speed of 1.7GHz. This compares to the AP33 silicon in the One X, which maxed out a 1.5GHz. The newer GPU also gets a boost, from 416MHz to 520MHz. The improvement is visible in daily operation simply because everything happens quicker -- often with a half- to one-second edge over the One X -- although we're comparing jelly beans with ice creams here, so its hard to know how much of this difference is solely due to the hardware rather than the updated OS. It's worth pointing out that Vodafone UK's HTC One X recently got a major update that made it much snappier (as you'll see in the benchmark table below). When the One X gets its Sense 4+ refresh, the gap may be reduced even further.
Overall, our new suite of benchmarks resulted in some mixed scores, which hint at this Tegra 3 being a very capable, but also slightly lopsided, processor. What do we mean by that? Well, in those scores where it shines -- such as AnTuTu -- this is mostly due to its fast CPU and RAM, rather than any particular graphical prowess. In fact, the purely visual GLBenchmark test puts the One X+ miles behind the Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro-powered LG Optimus G, which also has better battery life. One can't escape the question: is HTC holding this expensive S4 Pro processor back for its real next-gen flagship and fobbing us off with a clock speed bump in the meantime? For the sake of perspective, though, the GLBenchmark test is almost unrealistically taxing. Pick a game from the Tegra Zone store front -- like Shadowgun: Deadzone -- and you'll likely be more than pleased with the graphical quality and frame rates.
| One X+ | Optimus G (Sprint) | Galaxy Note II | Global Galaxy S III | Global HTC One X | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quadrant Advanced | 7,457 | 7,628 | 6,819 | 5,189 (5,842) | 5,935 (4,906) |
| Vellamo 2 HTML5 | 1,897 | 1,710 | 1,831 | 1,565 | 1,663 (1,364) |
| AnTuTu | 13,591 | 11,284 | 13,539 | 11,960 | 12,479 (11,030) |
| SunSpider 0.9.1 (ms) | 1,345 | 1,283 | 1,023 | 1,460 | 1,773 |
| GLBenchmark 2.5 Egypt HD C24Z16 Offscreen (fps) | 12 | 31 | 17 | 15 | 9.7 (7.5) |
| CF-Bench | 14,558 | 14,398 | 15,267 | 13,110 | 13,928 (13,233) |
| Battery life | 7:32 | 8:43 | 10:45 | 9:02 | 7:58 (6:00) |
| Lower SunSpider scores are better. One X scores in brackets are pre-update. | |||||
And so we arrive at that other crucial area of imbalance with the One X+. Although its clock speed has been increased, we're still looking at basically the same 40-nanometer silicon from which the old AP33 chip was carved. The latest 28nm and 32nm chips from Qualcomm and Samsung are just inherently more efficient, and while the Tegra 3 may be a great choice for a device like the Nexus 7, with its low price and big battery, we're not sure it belongs in a late-2012 flagship smartphone. The problem isn't with regular use or standby, but with processor-hungry tasks like gaming and multi-tasking, which made the phone warm and seemed to drain the battery slightly too quickly.
The phone easily lasted for a day of very light use, with 30 percent of its juice left over after 12 hours, but that particular day included nothing more strenuous than 30 minutes of camera work and a few calls and emails. In our regular looped-video test, the phone last seven hours and 32 minutes, which is slightly worse than the almost eight-hour duration we recorded on the post-update One X and still far, far below the nine-hour threshold set by the Qualcomm-powered AT&T One X and the Samsung Galaxy S III.
Software
To get the measure of the user experience on the One X+, you really need to check out our full reviews of both Sense 4 and Jelly Bean. Merge the two and you get Sense 4+, which is the same friendly, relatively lightweight skin as before, but with some fundamental improvements that mainly come from the shift to Android 4.1.
What does that all mean in practice? Well, here's a list of the most useful additions, in order of decreasing relevance to the way we at Engadget live our lives:
2. Voice search. This is part of Google Now, and it's quite powerful. Unlike Apple's Siri and Samsung's S Voice, it can handle speech recognition offline, which makes it very fast. It can perform complex Google searches but also handle basic personal assistant tasks like starting a text message or setting an alarm or creating a note to self. (Correction: we initially reported that it's not possible search locally-stored music with your voice, but such searches are possible with the "listen to" or "play" command. Thanks, jadeboy7.)
3. Project Butter. We can't pretend that this makes a huge difference, but it's certainly noticeable if you look out for it. It involves Jelly Bean ramping up system resources whenever you touch the screen to navigate, such that all animations and transitions and movements on the screen are able to run at a clean 60 fps. Even during our brief hands-on we noticed that the notification pull-down moved more cleanly across the home screen, and now it just feels weird to go back to the original One X.
4. A new, aggregated gallery app. This is an HTC addition which organizes photos by event and location, resulting in somewhat handier presentation -- even if your photos tend to all be taken near your home. It also gives you quicker access to your local and cloud-stored photos bringing all those icons (Facebook, SkyDrive, etc.) together in one place. You could access your photos individually through each associated app, but over time we found it made sense to collect images together in this way.
5. HTC Getting Started. This is an app that lets you use a PC to configure your phone more quickly, since you can type out your credentials on a full-sized keyboard. We used it to set up Hotmail and Dropbox, and to set up a gallery picture as wallpaper, but that's about it. The choice of accounts is too limited -- we still spent ages setting up Facebook, Twitter, Netflix, Evernote and everything else from the phone itself.
"PlayStation Mobile? It still doesn't work."
And some stuff that didn't make the earth move for us, and so doesn't deserve to be anywhere on the upper section of the list:
5. HTC's Music app, which works in a similar way to the Gallery in attempting to bring together local and cloud-based content. The problem here is that you can't make playlists across different sources, which renders it pointless -- you might as well access each music source through its own app.
6. HTC's Sense keyboard. HTC has never been great at onscreen keyboards and the One X+ maintains the trend. We instantly switched it out for SwiftKey, which meant losing the new Google-powered word prediction that comes in Jelly Bean.
7. PlayStation Mobile. Guess what? The app still doesn't work -- which rather takes the meaning out of PlayStation Certification.
Wrap-up
There's no question that with the One X+, HTC is offering more to Android power users outside of the US. What's less clear is whether it brings more in the areas that actually matter to you. The answer is "yes" -- but only if you meet some rather narrow criteria. If you loved the physical design and excellent display on the original global One X but were put off by its 32GB storage cap and second-best performance, then this new flagship is definitely worthy of consideration. It's extremely snappy, beating rivals phones on certain computation-heavy tests, and its graphics engine delivers a perfectly smooth experience even on the most visually-demanding tasks and games. What's more, the phone achieves all of this without making battery life any worse than it was before.
On the other hand, if you weren't particularly drawn to the global One X in the first place, and if you make more mainstream demands on your phone, then you should be more circumspect about this proposition. At the top of the top end, the Padfone 2 and Nexus 4 (along with its cousin, the Optimus G) have dented a lot of egos with their shockingly powerful and well-rounded S4 Pro chip -- and this new souped-up One X+ just can't keep up. Meanwhile, the Samsung GS III and Note II come with better cameras and longer battery life. And if you peer over the platform divide you'll see that the iPhone 5 does so too. Compared to these phones, the HTC One X+ is a missed opportunity. It could have been an S4 Pro-powered phone. It could have been tweaked to deliver superior stills and video recording, and it could have come in more colors. But instead HTC has decided to play it safe -- at least for now.
In fact, one of the biggest impressions left over by the One X+ is that it highlights all the continuing strengths of the regular One X. This device has benefited from extremely positive updates since we first reviewed it, with great improvements to all-round performance and battery life, and it's due to get Sense 4+ within the next couple of months too. If you don't mind taking out a contract on a phone that is already seven months into its cycle, and if you can find the One X at a bargain price as a result of the One X+ weighing down at the top of the HTC stack, then it's perhaps a more savvy purchase than its newer, flashier big brother.
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/31/htc-one-x-plus-review/
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The Complete Creative Part 3 : Chuck Close, Alice Munro, & Jack ...
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?I can remember very well writing ?Thanks for the Ride? because my first baby was lying in the crib beside me?I was twenty-two.?(Photo: Alice Munro by Derek Shapton)
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The Challenges of Motherhood
Alice Ann Laidlaw was born in the rural town of Wingham, Ontario, the daughter of a fox and mink farmer and a schoolteacher. While writing fiction and studying English at the University of Western Ontario?she worked as a tobacco picker, a waitress, and library clerk.
?I had no chance to be anything else [but a writer] because I had no money,? Alice told The Paris Review many years later. ?I knew I would only be at university two years because the scholarships available at that time lasted only two years?I had been in charge of the house at home when I was in my teens, so university was about the only time in my life that I haven?t had to do housework.?
In 1951, she left the university to marry James Munro.?Alice Munro?s daughters Sheila, Catherine, and Jenny were born in 1953, 1955, and 1957 respectively; Catherine died just fifteen hours after her birth.
?I got married right after the second year,? Munro explains. ?I was twenty. We went to Vancouver. That was the big thing about getting married?this huge adventure, moving. As far away as we could get and stay in the country. We were only twenty and twenty-two?We were thinking of getting a house and having a baby, and we promptly did these things. I had my first baby at twenty-one.?
?The Day of the Butterfly? (from the collection Dance of the Happy Shades) was one of Munro?s earliest stories. ?That was probably written when I was about twenty-one. And I can remember very well writing ?Thanks for the Ride? because my first baby was lying in the crib beside me. So I was twenty-two.?
?I was writing desperately all the time I was pregnant because I thought I would never be able to write afterwards. Each pregnancy spurred me to get something big done before the baby was born. Actually I didn?t get anything big done.?
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?I used to work until maybe one o?clock in the morning and then get up at six,? says writer Alice Munro. ?And I remember thinking, You know, maybe I?ll?die, this is terrible, I?ll have a heart attack. I was only about thirty-nine or so???(Photo: Alice Munro in 1979. Image by Reg Innell courtesy the Toronto Star)
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For almost two decades Munro juggled writing, motherhood, being a wife, and running a business with her husband:
When the kids were little, my time was as soon as they left for school. So I worked very hard in those years. My husband and I owned a bookstore, and even when I was working there, I stayed at home until noon. I was supposed to be doing housework, and I would also do my writing then. Later on, when I wasn?t working everyday in the store, I would write until everybody came home for lunch and then after they went back, probably till about two-thirty, and then I would have a quick cup of coffee and start doing the housework, trying to get it all done before late afternoon.
Before her children attended school, Munro had no choice but to write during her children?s nap time:
Yes. [I wrote] from one to three in the afternoon. I wrote a lot of stuff that wasn?t any good, but I was fairly productive. The year I wrote my second book,?Lives of Girls and Women, I was enormously productive. I had four kids because one of the girls? friends was living with us, and I worked in the store two days a week. I used to work until maybe one o?clock in the morning and then get up at six. And I remember thinking, You know, maybe I?ll?die, this is terrible, I?ll have a heart attack. I was only about thirty-nine or so, but I was thinking this; then I thought, Well even if I do, I?ve got that many pages written now. They can see how it?s going to come out. It was a kind of desperate, desperate race. I don?t have that kind of energy now?
I remember the day I started to write?[Lives]. It was in January, a Sunday. I went down to the bookstore, which wasn?t open Sundays, and locked myself in. My husband had said he would get dinner, so I had the afternoon. I remember looking around at all the great literature that was around me and thinking, You fool! What are you doing here? But then I went up to the office and started to write the section called ?Princess Ida,? which is about my mother. The material about my mother is my central material in life, and it always comes the most readily to me. If I just relax, that?s what will come up. So, once I started to write that, I was off. Then I made a big mistake. I tried to make it a regular novel, an ordinary sort of childhood adolescence novel. About March I saw it wasn?t working. It didn?t feel right to me, and I thought I would have to abandon it. I was very depressed. Then it came to me that what I had to do was pull it apart and put it in the story form. Then I could handle it. That?s when I learned that I was never going to write a real novel because I could not think that way.
Alice Munro?s first book was published at the age of 36. Today, she?s considered one of the world?s foremost fiction writers. She has published 17 books, publishes regularly in?The New Yorker, The Paris Review, and The Atlantic Monthly, and is still writing at the age of 81.?Munro has also received the Man Booker Prize, the Edward MacDowell Medal, and is a perennial contender for the Nobel Prize.
Short stories remain her medium of choice, not only for stylistic reasons, but also because it?s the medium that has worked best with Munro?s busy schedule.
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Limitation & If-Only Syndrome
Munro?s story is a familiar one. My own grandparents lived in the mountains of North Georgia and had eighth-grade educations. My grandmother was one of twelve children growing up on a small farm, where they buried meat in saltboxes and made lard and cracklings in iron pots. They milked cows, canned vegetables for winter, churned butter, and made syrup with a sugar cane mill powered by a donkey.?I?m the first person in my family to graduate from a four-year university, after thirteen years attending a Christian fundamentalist school.
But I?m not alone. We all have a story like Alice Munro?s. Each and every one of us is constrained by something?by our upbringing, our education, our busy schedules, our health, our finances, our geography, our skills, our materials, our community, our politics or religion. These physical, social, and intellectual constraints are very, very real. We push up against them every single day, and the experience isn?t always pleasant.
One of the biggest hindrances to doing our best creative work and living a happy life arises from our inability to embrace these obstacles. Too often, we see such limitations as impediments, instead of seeing them as opportunities. We resent them, especially when we compare ourselves to others who appear to have had an easier life.
In this frame of mind, our obstacles become oppressive, undermining our self-worth and eroding our sense of possibility. We develop a mindset of scarcity, allowing ourselves to be overwhelmed by?If-Only Syndrome: ?If only I had more _________?(time, help, support from my boss, money, the latest technology, training, skill, etc.), then I could finally __________?(insert whatever passion project or life change is most important to you).?
But as I?ve discussed before, these perfect conditions we?re waiting for are never going to happen. These elusive, ideal circumstances are a myth.?Things are imperfect now, and they always will be. We will always have limited time, limited skill, limited knowledge, limited money, difficult co-workers and clients, limited physical capacity, etc. Unless we want to be continually blocked and dissatisfied, the only viable option is to make peace with this fact and embrace these constraints and imperfections.
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My grandparents Georgia and Mahlon Houseknecht in the North Georgia Mountains
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Style is a function of your limitations, more than a function of your skills
In order to do our best work, we need to learn to accept the limitations that can?t be changed. We need to find a way to work within these confines instead of constantly battling against them.
I?m not suggesting that we simply accept the status quo. Living a fulfilling, productive life is a collective responsibility, as well as an individual one. Not all people have the tools and resources they need to overcome oppressive circumstances. Creative pursuits and what we blithely refer to as ?self-improvement? are luxuries for many people. It?s only fair to acknowledge that some individuals are coping with more ?limitation? than they deserve. (This is one of the reasons that education, social policies and services, and community involvement are essential).
Acceptance doesn?t mean that we no longer have goals or no longer attempt to make changes in our communities or personal lives. Acceptance is about letting go of anger and resentment; it?s about making peace with the past and the uncertain future. Such acceptance allows us to stop wishing our lives were different. This frees up time and energy to focus on the present and the people and projects that matter most.
What stories are you clinging to right now? What obstacles make you feel most resentful and trapped? Is it your job? Your finances? Your ailing health? Your relationships? Your family history? Past injustices? Anxieties about the future? Demands on your time??Make a list. Only by recording these thoughts can you begin to make changes.
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A street art piece by Banksy
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Once you have a list, examine it closely. Do these circumstances really define who you are as a person? Are they really as bad as they seem? What items on your list concern the unchangeable past or unforeseeable future??What obstacles can you let go of entirely? Which ones can you accept (at least for the time being), and which one need to be changed as soon as possible in the interest of your health and happiness?
Now consider your creative assets. Make a list of your talents and skills. What tasks bring you the most pleasure and satisfaction? When do you lapse into a flow state with your work (a state that leaves you neither bored or anxious)? Who and what are you most grateful for? When do you feel most content?
Our creative work emerges from our limitations combined with these creative assets.?Art is a product of doing, a product of constraint combined with skill, vision, and personality. As Johnny Cash once said, ?Style is a function of your limitations, more so than a function of your skills.? In other words, constraint is just as important as skill. We need both. It?s this combination that creates a unique style. Johnny Cash?s version of ?Personal Jesus? will never sound the same as Depeche Mode?s version, even though the music and words are exactly the same. If you give Chuck Close and John Currin the same tubes of paint, the same canvas, and the same model, and ask them to paint a portrait, the results will look entirely different.
The choice of artistic medium often arises out of constraint, not just from technical experience and skill. The short story format was a natural fit for Alice Munro, just as making art out of twist ties, fruit stickers, and spam email made sense for?Rachel Perry Welty, when she was a working mother trying to create art at home during small windows in her busy schedule.
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?Style is a function of your limitations,? Johnny Cash once said, ?more so than a function of your skills.??(Photo: June Carter and Johnny Cash performing at Folsom Prison courtesy Sony BMG)
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If you give Chuck Close and John Currin the same tubes of paint, the same canvas, and the same model, and ask them to paint a portrait, the results will look entirely different.
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Too Much Opportunity Kills Creativity
But limitations don?t always come in the guise of personal hardships. Some artistic constraints are intentional.
Poet Robert Frost famously said,??Writing free verse is like playing tennis with the net down.??Many poets create artistic limitations for themselves by using a poetic form, such as a sonnet, haiku, villanelle,?tanka, or couplet. Composers do the same when they choose to work with a musical form like a canon, waltz, symphony, mass, sonata or motet.
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Many poets choose to create artistic limitations for themselves by using a poetic form, such as a sonnet, haiku, villanelle,?tanka, or couplet. Composers do the same when they choose to work with a musical form.
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Jack White understands the benefits of limitation better than any other rock musician I?ve come across. He knows that you don?t need 20 guitars and a huge band to make memorable music.??The whole point of [the duo] the White Stripes is the liberation of limiting yourself,? White told David Fricke at?Rolling Stone. ?A duo can only make so much music without tapes and samples. I?ve always centered the band around the number three. Everything was vocals, guitar and drums or vocals, piano and drums?I can only play one thing at a time?In my opinion, too much opportunity kills creativity.?
?Too much opportunity kills creativity?? That?s a radical idea. Many of us are more comfortable with the romantic notion of the free, liberated artist, beholden to no one, than we are with the idea of a disciplined, creative clock-puncher deliberately painting himself into a corner.
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?The whole point of the White Stripes is the liberation of limiting yourself,? Jack White told Rolling Stone. ?In my opinion, too much opportunity kills creativity.?
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?I?ve always thought that problem-solving is highly overrated and that problem creation is far more interesting.? -Chuck Close
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Problem-solving is overrated. Problem creation is far more interesting
No one exemplifies these ideas better than visual artist Chuck Close. The physical and personal obstacles he?s encountered over his lifetime have been numerous. But Close?shows us what can be accomplished creatively?in spite of and because of constraint.
Chuck Close went through a number of personal trials as a young man, which you?ll see in the below video, but he ended up studying art at Yale, along with Richard Serra and a number of other artists who would go onto to have successful careers.
?I tried to, with a series of self-imposed limitations, back myself into my own personal corner where nobody else?s answers would fit,? says Close. ?I?ve always thought that problem-solving is highly overrated and that problem creation is far more interesting.?
As a young man, Close also struggled with dyslexia and face blindness. Painting the faces of his family and close friends helped him cope with these illnesses.
Artist Chuck Close shows us that acceptance is better than resistance, and that we can actually create something remarkable and original, even under the worst and most limiting of conditions. As this video from CBS Sunday Morning shows, Close?s unique style is a byproduct of both his skill, his personal limitations, and his?decision to restrict his artistic medium to portraiture.
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(If you?re reading this in an email, and can?t see the video, click here to watch it on the Gwarlingo website).
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What are some of the limitations that are holding you back in your creative work? Is there a way to use these obstacles to your creative advantage? How could you use the constraint of time, medium, form, materials, or money in an innovative way??Your thoughts and feedback are welcome in the comments field.
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The Complete Creative?is a new series of articles, workshops, and talks for artists, designers, students, and creative thinkers. Over the next few months I?ll be covering topics like fear, procrastination, technology, time management, as well as?practical subjects like money, social media, deadlines, artist retreats, presenting yourself online, and grant writing. If you want to read the entire series, be sure to?sign up for a free email subscription to Gwarlingo. You can also follow Gwarlingo on?Twitter?and?Facebook.
Read Part One and Part Two of The Complete Creative Series.?
Also, don?t forget that the?Gwarlingo bookstore?has an assortment of book titles on my personal recommendation list, including poetry, fiction, art and photography books, and more. A portion of your purchases benefit Gwarlingo. You can also make purchases from your favorite independent bookstore through?IndieBound. A percentage of your purchases?made through this link also benefit Gwarlingo.
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10 Fitness Workouts to Try - Florida Fitness Retreat
I consistently hear the question, ?What should I do for my workouts?? from? our clients. My answer is always ?participate in what you love to do.? It is so? important to make fitness fun so that you actually want to workout. If I told? you that you have to cycle five times each week but you hate to cycle, most? likely you won?t go and you won?t work out. What good would that do? Sometimes? it is a matter of thinking outside the box and trying a workout that you may not? have thought to try. Whether you are an avid exerciser, a weekend warrior, or? sporadic with your workouts, trying these fitness classes may help add variety? and interest back into your routine.
1. Boot Camp Style Workouts ? Boot camp is a mix of high-intensity aerobics? and basic strength training based on the training style military recruits? receive. Most boot camp workouts provide great variety in the workout. Changing? the actual exercises you are performing grabs the attention of the participants? eliminating the chances of getting bored and uninterested.
2. Zumba Classes ? Do you love to dance? This class is high energy, heart? pumping fun! Zumba is an exhilarating, effective, Latin-inspired,? calorie-burning dance fitness-party that?s moving millions of people toward? weight loss and better cardio fitness. Classes vary slightly as each instructor? will add their own spin and creativity to each class.
3. TRX Suspension ? Training The TRX workout utilizes the method of? leveraged bodyweight exercise using long adjustable bands combining balance,? strength, and coordination. The great thing about TRX is that you can use it in? your home, at a park or where ever you can hook the suspension system up? safely.
4. Nia ? This uplifting workout blends the fun and funk of dance, the? precision and power of martial arts, and the peace of meditation. This class is? the perfect way to calm your inner self while moving and burning calories at the? same time.
5. Turbo Kick ? This is a fat-blasting, ab-defining cardio workout that? offers a mix of kickboxing and simple dance grooves set to heart pounding dance? music that will have you looking forward to your next workout.
6. Water Aerobics ? Take your aerobics class to the water by adding the? powerful resistance of the water, normal cardio routines become more challenging? but very easy on the joints. Water aerobics can burn a ton of calories as? virtually every muscle in the body will be used to perform the routine as well? as help stabilize your body in the water.
7. HIIT classes ? High intensity interval training classes keep the heart? rate up for short periods of time and bring it back down. This constant up and? down with the heart rate keeps you burning serious calories and sweating the? whole time. Not only will you burn calories during the class but your metabolism? will be boosted burning calories for a longer period throughout the day.
8. Cycle-Yoga class ? Cycling and yoga unite in this head-to-toe, athletic? workout. Teachers combine 30 minutes of cycling with 30 minutes of Power Yoga? (lots of jump backs and Warrior poses) to optimize balance, flexibility and? strength. Combo classes like Cycle-Yoga provide high intensity training with the? power and flexibility of power yoga. It?s a perfect way to get the best of both? worlds and keep the workout interesting.
9. Kettlebell Training ? Kettlebells are used throughout the workout to? build strength, endurance, flexibility, and core strength. The Kettlebell is? easy to hold and moves with you as you perform different movements. It?s also a? great departure from the traditional way of strength training with dumb? bells.
10. Yoga Booty Ballet ? Move and groove with Yoga Booty Ballet! This East? meets West workout includes meditation, cardiovascular dance, ballet, Kundalini? and hatha yoga. This blended class helps with coordination, balance,? proprioception, flexibility and stress reduction.
Source: http://www.bvretreat.com/2012/10/31/10-fitness-workouts-to-try/
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Berkeley lawn bowling prodigy, 18, is national champ | Berkeleyside
Jon Burnoski, 18, at the 2012 National Championships: proving that lawn bowling is ?not just a pastime for old folks.? Photo: Jon Yee
By Jim Corr
Jon Burnoski, a member of the Berkeley Lawn Bowling Club, triumphed against top bowlers from across the nation at the US Lawn Bowling Association?s National Championships in San Diego on Sunday. In doing so, Jon, who is 18 years old and a freshman at Skyline College in San Bruno, became the youngest lawn bowls singles champion in US history and the first from Northern California to take the US crown in 14 years.
The four-day tournament pitted representatives from the USLBA?s eight regions against each other in a round robin format in which each bowler played one game against each of the other contenders. Jon represented the Pacific Inter-Mountain Division, which includes Northern California, and won six of his seven games. His final points differential of 39 edged out former national champion, Bob Schneider of the Central Division, by five points, a razor-thin margin in this tournament.
Jon (in blue shirt) eyes the position of his bowls in a championship game. Photo: Jon Yee
Jon has been bowling competitively for about 10 years, and this was his fourth time at the nationals. His brothers, Josh (15) and Matthew (12), are also successful at the sport, all of them trained by their dad, Tom. All are members of the Berkeley club. Not so coincidentally, on Sunday Tom was bowling one green away from Jon ? in the National Pairs Championship, with partner Jon Yee who comes from the Palo Alto Club. (Tom and Jon came in sixth?in their event.)
?This is a fantastic achievement,? said Geoff Chandler, President of the BLBC.? ?It?s a great boost for the club as well as a huge personal success for Jon. It illustrates what we have always said ? that far from being a pastime for ?old folks,? lawn bowling is truly a game for all ages.?
Jon is now being mentioned as a potential member of Team U.S.A., representing the U.S. in international lawn bowling competitions. ?It is a wonderful honor, of course,? his dad says, ?but the reality is that international tournaments involve considerable expense, well beyond the means of a college student. We will have to see whether there are individuals or organizations out there that would be willing to sponsor Jon?s international career.?
The Berkeley Lawn Bowling Club is located at the corner of Bancroft and Acton in West Berkeley. It offers free lessons on Wednesday and Saturday mornings from 10:00 a.m. to 12 noon. For details, call (510) 841-2174 or check out the club?s website.
Want a digest of all the day?s Berkeley news in your email inbox at the end of your working day??Click here to subscribe?to Berkeleyside?s free Daily Briefing.
Source: http://www.berkeleyside.com/2012/10/30/berkeley-lawn-bowling-prodigy-18-is-national-champ/
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Observatory: Beetles May Use Dung Balls to Cool Themselves, Researchers Find
Ball-rolling dung beetles in the savannas of South Africa roll their prizes away to safe, secure locations, away from competition. These fresh, moist balls of dung contain nutritious liquid that the beetles feed on, but researchers have discovered something more: They may also be keeping the beetles cool.
When their front legs and heads overheat as they traverse hot sand, the beetles pause and climb atop their dung balls. ?They touch their head with their front legs and use their mouth parts to also touch their legs,? said Jochen Smolka, a neuroethologist at Lund University in Sweden and one of the study?s authors. ?They are most likely regurgitating liquid to cool themselves with.?
The findings appear in the journal Current Biology.
The preening behavior occurs only during the hottest times of the day, Dr. Smolka said. His team found that beetles on hot ground climbed to the tops of their balls seven times as much as beetles on cooler ground.
The beetles followed a cycle of rolling the ball for about six to seven seconds, then climbing on top of it to perform the preening behavior for about six seconds, and then rolling again.
The ground temperature in the savannas can exceed 140 degrees Fahrenheit, and the beetles? front legs increased in temperature by about 10 degrees when it was very hot. The dung ball, however, stays cooler, usually between 86 and 95 degrees.
To conduct their study, Dr. Smolka and his colleagues applied silicone boots to some beetles? front legs to keep them cool and found that beetles with the boots were less likely to climb on top of the ball. The researchers were not able to verify that the beetles regurgitate liquid and apply it to themselves, but ?that?s the next step,? Dr. Smolka said.
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