“Casual elegance” is the phrase listing broker Anne Hollows uses to describe the gracious Colonial at 6 Spruce Lane, a home that manages to combine splendid architectural detail with a cozy family feel.
The four-bedroom, 3.5-bath home includes custom molding and millwork, hardwood floors, front and back stairs, high ceilings and oversize windows that fill this corner-lot home with natural light.
Marketed at $1,089,000 by Hollows of William Raveis Real Estate, the house offers 4,044 square feet of living space on a 1-acre lot.
The house is ready for immediate occupancy and is in immaculate condition.
“The thing that strikes you about this house is its youth,” said Hollows. “Built in 2004, it’s on a beautiful cul-de-sac of similar homes, and you couldn’t be in a better location in Sudbury.”
The house is just a quarter of a mile from the Assabet River National Wildlife Refuge, with its miles of biking and walking trails. The Haskell athletic fields, the Atkinson Pool, basketball courts and the town recreation center with programs including a summer camp, are less than a mile away and are accessible from a bike trail across Hudson Road.
A wide, covered front porch, complete with rocking chairs, gives a warm preview to the home. The elegant front door with a brass kickplate, side and transom windows, opens to a spacious foyer.
“What strikes you immediately when you first walk in is the millwork,” said Hollows. “I’ve been in real estate for a long time and I’ve never seen a double surround on a fireplace like the one in the family room, and also over the front door. The work is tasteful and beautiful, and much higher end than much of what is on the market now.”
The two-story foyer is anchored by a Palladian window. The foyers has a stately feel with double crown moldings and wainscoting which continues along the turned staircase with its decorative balusters and bannister which ends in a graceful volute.
Gleaming hardwood floors are a feature throughout the house.
A French door opens off the foyer to a study with a custom built-in cabinet with trim in an arch and keystone pattern, a finish design that is also used over the Palladian window in the foyer. The 13-by-12 room has a double window and recessed lighting.
The foyer includes a closet and half bath.
The dramatic 23-by-16 family room has a cathedral ceiling and is flooded with light from two skylights, double sliding doors to a patio and wide, triple-height windows which flank the fireplace. The wood-burning fireplace is the focal point of the room with its ornamental wood mantel and identical over-mantel. The home’s second graceful staircase is on one side of the room.
Ficarra Design Associates' licensed interior designer Pamela Novakovich has created an elegant yet comfortable classic interior with a well-traveled, collected look that incorporates treasures from around the world. Classic furnishings with foreign-inspired elements have been selected to serve as a backdrop for collected items.
Novakovich's color palette will consist of tan, cinnamon and navy blue with black accents and shadowing washes in the ceilings throughout the home that will highlight wall treatments that include a stone statement wall. A wood treatment on the ceiling in the secondary foyer will provide the first of several memory points in the design.
Novakovich has placed strong emphasis on textures and earth elements. The design's fabrics include several prints, including cheetah, a diamond, pressed leather and a French script pattern with passport stamp details set on top of a taupe linen background. Flooring throughout the home will be a stone tile.
A classically styled dining room off the secondary foyer will have a modern twist. The room will feature a classic crystal chandelier, a wood dining table with upholstered chairs, wall treatments and molding details. A long statement wall in the hallway leading to the great room will feature a three-dimensional stone application that will create an earthy, rustic texture. The great room will offer a large overstuffed sofa and other pieces that reflect the design's world traveler theme. Maple wood cabinetry in an off-white eggshell finish will contrast with black countertops. The Cipriani's master suite will have a clean-lined, New York boutique-style hotel feel achieved through the use of crisp white linens with contrasting piping and black accents.
The design includes a mix of materials and textures. Ficarra's color palette features soft whites, sophisticated grays, taupes, and Aegean blues with white trim. Flooring throughout the home will consist of porcelain tile with gray and taupe accents.
Ficarra has incorporated white and gray washes in the kitchen design. The clean look includes cabinetry with white Shaker-style doors and long polished chrome pulls, white granite countertops with gray accents, a backsplash with a horizontal glass tile mosaic that features stainless steel accents, and gray accent cabinetry at a desk area and in the butler's pantry. Soft Aegean and sea-glass blues will compliment off-whites and taupes to create an elegant, coastal feeling. Cabinetry in the bar area will be in a darker gray finish.
The powder room design offers a clean, contemporary look that features a suspended vanity cabinet with lighting underneath. The cabinet will have a slab front door finished with horizontal gray and taupe graining and long, stainless steel pulls that will play against a mitered edge countertop. Two guest baths will feature Pompeii quartz countertops and light styling on the cabinetry. Pompeii quartz countertops are repeated in the master bath.
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Fire-breathing fun
One can only take Sarah McCreanor's answer as a bit of an understatement, since the question is about what it's like to fly on the back of a dragon.
Not a real dragon, of course, but as close to the real thing as any living person ever has or perhaps ever will. As one of the young stars of the How To Train Your Dragon Live Spectacular, McCreanor spends part of every show night aboard the back of an 81/2-metre-long animatronic Night Fury named Toothless, soaring four storeys above the arena floor at speeds exceeding 30 km/h.
The 20-year-old native of Brisbane, Australia, is one of two performers who share the role of Astrid, the feisty young Viking girl who is both rival and friend to Hiccup, an unlikely teenage hero whose decision to befriend a wounded dragon causes the mythical ancient village of Berk to reconsider its reputation as the home of dragon slayers.
"In my role, I get to run around onstage, I get to do flips, I do flying, and I even get to fly on a dragon, so it's like a big circus," says McCreanor, during a break between afternoon rehearsal and evening performance at a tour stop in Saskatoon. "I love all the things I get to do, and I never get bored with it. It's really thrilling to do it every night.
"I never imagined I'd be doing something of this scale at any point in my life, let alone at 20 years old. It's overwhelming, and even a year into it, I'm still pinching myself."
The massive live adaptation of the 2010 Dreamworks Animation feature, based on a popular book by Cressida Cowell, opens a four-day run at MTS Centre that includes evening performances Thursday through Saturday and daytime shows (11 a.m. and 3 p.m.) on the weekend.
It's one of the most ambitious live entertainment shows on tour today, bringing 13 massive robotic creatures (representing nine different dragon species) to life in front of a projection screen that covers more than 1,900 square metres (the equivalent of nine full-sized movie screens combined).
The human cast provides the acrobatic heroics, but there's no question that it's the dragons that steal the show. Each of the massive (and, even close up, amazingly lifelike) creatures is controlled by a team of puppeteers -- some stationed inside the animatronic beasts, others working from a remote location -- responsible for everything from huge, sweeping head and wing movements to the most subtle of facial expressions.
"It's pretty awesome," says lead puppeteer Gavin Sainsbury, "because they're so huge, yet they're so responsive. It's not typical that a puppeteer gets control over so much on something so large. As lead puppeteer on this job, I have control of everything from the eyes moving left and right, and the blinks, to the head movements, neck movements, all the major body movements and the tail movements. That's a lot for one puppeteer to look after.
"And there's a person standing at my side, another puppeteer, who activates all the effects (including smoke and fire), all the sounds, the mouth, the wings and some of the trickier bits involved. It's pretty cool -- there aren't many other big puppet shows like this travelling around the world, so we consider ourselves to be pretty lucky."
In the case of the ground-bound dragons that move around on the arena floor, there's also a "driver" stationed inside a small, cleverly camouflaged chassis beneath the dragon's body.
"The driver is a crucial part of our team, responsible for the path and the speed of the creature," says Sainsbury. "So it's three people working very closely (or, in the case of Toothless, four, because of the added complexity of that creature's facial expressions); if any one of those people gets out of sync, it looks foul. We work very hard, constantly, to make sure it looks right."
How To Train Your Dragon builds on the technology developed by The Creature Technology Company for the Walking With Dinosaurs live show that toured the world a few years ago. What makes Dragon different, however, is that it's a fictional yarn filled with mythical creatures and a storyline that requires its human and robotic stars to create drama and emotion.
"It's a lot more fun, actually," says Sainsbury. "With Dinosaurs, we had to follow what the BBC had created (for television), and it had to be 'correct.' With this show, based on the Dreamworks film that had these great characters that are very funny and expressive, they've kind of let the director and us run riot with it to some degree.
"There's a lot of room for comedy, and we've actually discovered things during performances that we find that we can build on.... We can have a load of fun developing these characters as we go. Dinosaurs equals historical; Dragon equals mythical; it's a good step forward for us. Don't get me wrong, I loved Walking With Dinosaurs, but this is a step up on the fun level."
Clearly, both the puppeteer and the actor agree that the How To Train Your Dragon Live Spectacular is providing an experience that they won't soon forget. And they're confident that Winnipeg audiences will leave the MTS Centre feeling that they've seen something pretty special.
"We all love it," says Sainsbury. "I think we all really enjoy it every time we do it. ... They are very cool toys, and to have it be your job to perform with them is highly desirable, in my eyes. I get to brag about what a cool job I have."
Not a real dragon, of course, but as close to the real thing as any living person ever has or perhaps ever will. As one of the young stars of the How To Train Your Dragon Live Spectacular, McCreanor spends part of every show night aboard the back of an 81/2-metre-long animatronic Night Fury named Toothless, soaring four storeys above the arena floor at speeds exceeding 30 km/h.
The 20-year-old native of Brisbane, Australia, is one of two performers who share the role of Astrid, the feisty young Viking girl who is both rival and friend to Hiccup, an unlikely teenage hero whose decision to befriend a wounded dragon causes the mythical ancient village of Berk to reconsider its reputation as the home of dragon slayers.
"In my role, I get to run around onstage, I get to do flips, I do flying, and I even get to fly on a dragon, so it's like a big circus," says McCreanor, during a break between afternoon rehearsal and evening performance at a tour stop in Saskatoon. "I love all the things I get to do, and I never get bored with it. It's really thrilling to do it every night.
"I never imagined I'd be doing something of this scale at any point in my life, let alone at 20 years old. It's overwhelming, and even a year into it, I'm still pinching myself."
The massive live adaptation of the 2010 Dreamworks Animation feature, based on a popular book by Cressida Cowell, opens a four-day run at MTS Centre that includes evening performances Thursday through Saturday and daytime shows (11 a.m. and 3 p.m.) on the weekend.
It's one of the most ambitious live entertainment shows on tour today, bringing 13 massive robotic creatures (representing nine different dragon species) to life in front of a projection screen that covers more than 1,900 square metres (the equivalent of nine full-sized movie screens combined).
The human cast provides the acrobatic heroics, but there's no question that it's the dragons that steal the show. Each of the massive (and, even close up, amazingly lifelike) creatures is controlled by a team of puppeteers -- some stationed inside the animatronic beasts, others working from a remote location -- responsible for everything from huge, sweeping head and wing movements to the most subtle of facial expressions.
"It's pretty awesome," says lead puppeteer Gavin Sainsbury, "because they're so huge, yet they're so responsive. It's not typical that a puppeteer gets control over so much on something so large. As lead puppeteer on this job, I have control of everything from the eyes moving left and right, and the blinks, to the head movements, neck movements, all the major body movements and the tail movements. That's a lot for one puppeteer to look after.
"And there's a person standing at my side, another puppeteer, who activates all the effects (including smoke and fire), all the sounds, the mouth, the wings and some of the trickier bits involved. It's pretty cool -- there aren't many other big puppet shows like this travelling around the world, so we consider ourselves to be pretty lucky."
In the case of the ground-bound dragons that move around on the arena floor, there's also a "driver" stationed inside a small, cleverly camouflaged chassis beneath the dragon's body.
"The driver is a crucial part of our team, responsible for the path and the speed of the creature," says Sainsbury. "So it's three people working very closely (or, in the case of Toothless, four, because of the added complexity of that creature's facial expressions); if any one of those people gets out of sync, it looks foul. We work very hard, constantly, to make sure it looks right."
How To Train Your Dragon builds on the technology developed by The Creature Technology Company for the Walking With Dinosaurs live show that toured the world a few years ago. What makes Dragon different, however, is that it's a fictional yarn filled with mythical creatures and a storyline that requires its human and robotic stars to create drama and emotion.
"It's a lot more fun, actually," says Sainsbury. "With Dinosaurs, we had to follow what the BBC had created (for television), and it had to be 'correct.' With this show, based on the Dreamworks film that had these great characters that are very funny and expressive, they've kind of let the director and us run riot with it to some degree.
"There's a lot of room for comedy, and we've actually discovered things during performances that we find that we can build on.... We can have a load of fun developing these characters as we go. Dinosaurs equals historical; Dragon equals mythical; it's a good step forward for us. Don't get me wrong, I loved Walking With Dinosaurs, but this is a step up on the fun level."
Clearly, both the puppeteer and the actor agree that the How To Train Your Dragon Live Spectacular is providing an experience that they won't soon forget. And they're confident that Winnipeg audiences will leave the MTS Centre feeling that they've seen something pretty special.
"We all love it," says Sainsbury. "I think we all really enjoy it every time we do it. ... They are very cool toys, and to have it be your job to perform with them is highly desirable, in my eyes. I get to brag about what a cool job I have."
Monday, November 19, 2012
Next Hurdle With Superstorm Sandy Is Mold
Some are year ’round and others are purely for vacations. They are wood and vinyl, comfy and beachy. They are made to withstand our excessive winds. They shade us from the summer blaze, and keep us toasty during winter’s snowstorms. But the houses on Long Beach Island were incubators for mold spores long before Superstorm Sandy rammed into our coast.
Molds, fungal growths that require moisture to thrive, are a common element of household dust. But when they multiply, they tend to kick off allergies. But the effects can be much greater than sneezing and watery eyes. At high levels, they can cause respiratory and even digestive tract infections. The elderly and young children are especially susceptible in homes with mold.
Jeremy Sparks of the Sparks Consulting Group in Princeton specializes in air quality consulting. However, since the devastation of the superstorm, he has turned his business from consulting to remediation: the service of professional remedies for mold.
“I’ve been all around the Island and a lot of the Beach Haven West, and it’s pretty serious,” he said on Sunday during an inspection of a residence in Ship Bottom.
With an unprecedented storm surge of 9 feet, areas of the Island and the mainland that have never seen flooding were several feet underwater, and folks who have never had mold issues could potentially face a new danger now that the storm is gone.
In the case of Long Beach Island, which was closed to residents for weeks after the storm because of natural gas dangers, most of the flooded houses couldn’t be addressed for two weeks. The festering homes and businesses left elected officials with some tough choices.
“The other matters of life and safety took precedence over mold,” said Dan Krupinski of the Long Beach Island Health Department, “Unfortunately, that’s just how it worked out.”
In homes with little airflow, the mold growth can change the scope of the cleanup every 24 hours.
“Our homes are essentially built out of paper and designed to trap air,” said Sparks, “Certain common, but toxic, secondary-growth molds, such as Chaetomium and Stachybotrys, can continue to grow in a person’s lungs, spine and even brain, making rapid source removal an important step before inhabiting a space with mold growth in what we call the ‘secondary-growth colonizing’ stage.”
He explained that fiberglass insulation, drywall and carpeting are prime feeding grounds for molds to grow. And then there is more-aggressive mold that feeds on the first mold. In an an area as damp as a barrier island, homes should be built differently than in drier areas.
“Wall-to-wall carpet is essentially a sponge,” he added.
Most people are somewhat aware that mold growth is a problem. But there is also misinformation, and many are not aware of long-term effects. Most of the lists of needs posted by shelters and volunteer groups include bleach. The thought is that water with bleach or painting over will kill mold. But that doesn’t solve the problem
Sparks doesn’t believe in killing mold either way. If anything, the acid of vinegar kills bacteria, but overall it’s bigger than that.
“You have to get rid of the condition that is causing the mold to grow. When you kill something, it releases gas. In this case, volatile organic compounds. Even dead mold is just asking for more problems. I don’t like using chemicals that emit more VOCs.”
Sparks’ background is in building science. Normally his business is recommending changes to homes of people with chronic respiratory illnesses. But Sandy has been a whole new challenge for him, and he wants to get as much information out as possible to coastal areas, free of charge.
Living through the storm, being displaced for weeks and returning to water-damaged homes is daunting enough. For those who have not yet opened summer houses, mold could be thriving.
“That’s more of an issue for the homeowner. It’s going to be a greater scope of work,” Krupinski said. “If it’s sealed up, it won’t be a public hazard. It might be out of the realm of the homeowner doing repairs themselves if it was really inundated. The longer you wait, the greater the scope of the work.”
For homeowners dealing with mold, Sparks suggests, “Opening trapped wall and floor cavities in areas where sustained and high levels of moisture were introduced while employing industrial dehumidification is very important and will freeze the moisture damage process, buying yourself more time. Isolating seemingly unaffected areas or house levels from the areas most affected by a water event with heavy plastic sheeting will reduce the spread of contaminating mold spores and greatly reduce the cost of a proper cleanup or remediation.”
Molds, fungal growths that require moisture to thrive, are a common element of household dust. But when they multiply, they tend to kick off allergies. But the effects can be much greater than sneezing and watery eyes. At high levels, they can cause respiratory and even digestive tract infections. The elderly and young children are especially susceptible in homes with mold.
Jeremy Sparks of the Sparks Consulting Group in Princeton specializes in air quality consulting. However, since the devastation of the superstorm, he has turned his business from consulting to remediation: the service of professional remedies for mold.
“I’ve been all around the Island and a lot of the Beach Haven West, and it’s pretty serious,” he said on Sunday during an inspection of a residence in Ship Bottom.
With an unprecedented storm surge of 9 feet, areas of the Island and the mainland that have never seen flooding were several feet underwater, and folks who have never had mold issues could potentially face a new danger now that the storm is gone.
In the case of Long Beach Island, which was closed to residents for weeks after the storm because of natural gas dangers, most of the flooded houses couldn’t be addressed for two weeks. The festering homes and businesses left elected officials with some tough choices.
“The other matters of life and safety took precedence over mold,” said Dan Krupinski of the Long Beach Island Health Department, “Unfortunately, that’s just how it worked out.”
In homes with little airflow, the mold growth can change the scope of the cleanup every 24 hours.
“Our homes are essentially built out of paper and designed to trap air,” said Sparks, “Certain common, but toxic, secondary-growth molds, such as Chaetomium and Stachybotrys, can continue to grow in a person’s lungs, spine and even brain, making rapid source removal an important step before inhabiting a space with mold growth in what we call the ‘secondary-growth colonizing’ stage.”
He explained that fiberglass insulation, drywall and carpeting are prime feeding grounds for molds to grow. And then there is more-aggressive mold that feeds on the first mold. In an an area as damp as a barrier island, homes should be built differently than in drier areas.
“Wall-to-wall carpet is essentially a sponge,” he added.
Most people are somewhat aware that mold growth is a problem. But there is also misinformation, and many are not aware of long-term effects. Most of the lists of needs posted by shelters and volunteer groups include bleach. The thought is that water with bleach or painting over will kill mold. But that doesn’t solve the problem
Sparks doesn’t believe in killing mold either way. If anything, the acid of vinegar kills bacteria, but overall it’s bigger than that.
“You have to get rid of the condition that is causing the mold to grow. When you kill something, it releases gas. In this case, volatile organic compounds. Even dead mold is just asking for more problems. I don’t like using chemicals that emit more VOCs.”
Sparks’ background is in building science. Normally his business is recommending changes to homes of people with chronic respiratory illnesses. But Sandy has been a whole new challenge for him, and he wants to get as much information out as possible to coastal areas, free of charge.
Living through the storm, being displaced for weeks and returning to water-damaged homes is daunting enough. For those who have not yet opened summer houses, mold could be thriving.
“That’s more of an issue for the homeowner. It’s going to be a greater scope of work,” Krupinski said. “If it’s sealed up, it won’t be a public hazard. It might be out of the realm of the homeowner doing repairs themselves if it was really inundated. The longer you wait, the greater the scope of the work.”
For homeowners dealing with mold, Sparks suggests, “Opening trapped wall and floor cavities in areas where sustained and high levels of moisture were introduced while employing industrial dehumidification is very important and will freeze the moisture damage process, buying yourself more time. Isolating seemingly unaffected areas or house levels from the areas most affected by a water event with heavy plastic sheeting will reduce the spread of contaminating mold spores and greatly reduce the cost of a proper cleanup or remediation.”
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Hydraulic road disc brakes systems inch forward
Since showing its first set of hydraulic road disc brakes on Colnago’s C59 road bike at this year’s Taipei Cycle show, Formula has been fielding a nearly endless stream of inquiries from potential OEM customers.
“It’s incredible, you can’t imagine,” said Theo-Josef Sandu, CEO of Formula’s Germany subsidiary. Just before Eurobike, Sandu got calls from 15 to 20 interested OEs.
But Formula is in a delicate situation. Colnago approached the fellow Italian brand to develop the brakes, and paid for many of the molds. As such, Colnago has the exclusive on the system until March 1, so although Formula is in close conversations with several OEs to spec disc brakes, nothing can happen until after that date.
In the mean time, Shimano has reportedly fast-tracked its fully hydraulic disc brake development. Several product managers here at Taichung Bike Week have said they have already tested Shimano’s system. SRAM has also apparently sent out the first samples of its version made for its mechanical Red group.
Formula's levers integrate with Campagnolo's EPS drivetrain. The company ended development of a lever that worked with Shimano's Di2 drivetrain after Shimano changed its wiring harness system for its new 11-speed Di2 Dura-Ace group.
Sandu thought that Shimano would not release its brakes until model year 2015, but now expects to see spec on 2014 road bikes.
“Shimano will be right from the beginning the leader of the market,” he said.
Even if the initial hydraulic road disc systems hit the market next year, Sandu said it would be two to three years before all the moving pieces are solidified. For instance, thru axles could make the most sense for compatibility with the system, but that will require wheel and frame manufacturers to tweak their designs. Disc size is another unknown. Larger discs cool down quicker, but are heavier and not as visibly appealing on a road bike as smaller discs. That’s a challenge because there are lingering safety concerns about the discs overheating with heavy use. Formula used a 140-millimeter disc on the Colnago C59, and Sandu thinks 160-millimeter discs is the maximum for a road application. The boiling point of the type of oil used is also a factor.
Some have voiced concerns over the power of disc brakes on the road, especially with riders who aren’t used to such responsive stopping, but Sandu believes that’s merely a matter of riders getting used to disc brakes. The real key, he said, will be strengthening frames to support a stronger brake system.
He thinks the advantages of hydraulic road disc brakes far outweigh some of the technical questions that may still need answering, and predicts that in five years the set up will be standard on road bikes.
“It’s incredible, you can’t imagine,” said Theo-Josef Sandu, CEO of Formula’s Germany subsidiary. Just before Eurobike, Sandu got calls from 15 to 20 interested OEs.
But Formula is in a delicate situation. Colnago approached the fellow Italian brand to develop the brakes, and paid for many of the molds. As such, Colnago has the exclusive on the system until March 1, so although Formula is in close conversations with several OEs to spec disc brakes, nothing can happen until after that date.
In the mean time, Shimano has reportedly fast-tracked its fully hydraulic disc brake development. Several product managers here at Taichung Bike Week have said they have already tested Shimano’s system. SRAM has also apparently sent out the first samples of its version made for its mechanical Red group.
Formula's levers integrate with Campagnolo's EPS drivetrain. The company ended development of a lever that worked with Shimano's Di2 drivetrain after Shimano changed its wiring harness system for its new 11-speed Di2 Dura-Ace group.
Sandu thought that Shimano would not release its brakes until model year 2015, but now expects to see spec on 2014 road bikes.
“Shimano will be right from the beginning the leader of the market,” he said.
Even if the initial hydraulic road disc systems hit the market next year, Sandu said it would be two to three years before all the moving pieces are solidified. For instance, thru axles could make the most sense for compatibility with the system, but that will require wheel and frame manufacturers to tweak their designs. Disc size is another unknown. Larger discs cool down quicker, but are heavier and not as visibly appealing on a road bike as smaller discs. That’s a challenge because there are lingering safety concerns about the discs overheating with heavy use. Formula used a 140-millimeter disc on the Colnago C59, and Sandu thinks 160-millimeter discs is the maximum for a road application. The boiling point of the type of oil used is also a factor.
Some have voiced concerns over the power of disc brakes on the road, especially with riders who aren’t used to such responsive stopping, but Sandu believes that’s merely a matter of riders getting used to disc brakes. The real key, he said, will be strengthening frames to support a stronger brake system.
He thinks the advantages of hydraulic road disc brakes far outweigh some of the technical questions that may still need answering, and predicts that in five years the set up will be standard on road bikes.
Monday, November 12, 2012
Notre Dame moves to scrap out-of-tune bells
Their names sound pretty enough – Angelique-Fran?oise, Antoinette-Charlotte, Hyacinthe-Jeanne and Denise-David – but the noise they make together has been described as "discordant" and enough to drive Quasimodo deaf all over again.
Thus, there were expected to be few tears shed when the four bells, whose tolling has marked the march of time and a funereal adieu for the great and good at Notre Dame cathedral for 156 years, were taken from their belfry and consigned to the scrapheap.
Made and hung in 1856 to replace those torn from the cathedral during the French Revolution and melted down to make cannon – a fate that befell 80% of France's church bells at the time – they were, declared the French campanologist and music expert Herve Gouriou, "one of the most dreadful sets of bells in France … damaged and badly tuned".
To mark the cathedral's 850th anniversary next year, a new set of eight bells, intended to recreate the sound of the 18th-century bells made famous by Victor Hugo's fictional Hunchback of Notre Dame, are being struck at a foundry in Normandy.
Now, however, dozens of cultural associations from France and abroad and at least one religious group have been going like the proverbial clappers to stop the bells being destroyed.
Father Alain Hocquemiller, the prior of a religious community in Normandy, went as far as to bring in the bailiffs to serve a legal notice to save them. He claims he was prompted to act after learning of plans to declassify the bells and melt them down for scrap.
Under a law dating back to 1905, Notre Dame belongs to the French government, which gives the Catholic church the exclusive right to use it, so the bells, which weigh between 767kg and 1.91 tonnes each, belong to the state.
"I consulted a lawyer who told me it was the gratuitous destruction of France's religious heritage and that's not allowed by law," Hocquemiller told reporters.
The four grandes dames are currently at the French bell foundry Cornille-Havard, which is making the new bells using medieval methods, including pouring bronze into moulds made from clay, horse manure and horsehair. They will be named after eight important figures in French history, with the design reflecting their namesakes.
Notre Dame's great south tower bell, the 13-tonne Emmanuel installed in 1685 and widely considered the most remarkable in Europe – which rang for the coronation of kings and to mark the end of the two world wars – was cut down by revolutionaries, but escaped destruction and was rehung on the orders of the Emperor Napoleon in 1802.
Father Patrick Jacquin, rector and archpriest at Notre Dame, told Le Parisien newspaper: "Forty cultural organisations have requested the dilapidated bells, but they don't belong to the church. End of story.
"The bells are not for sale, not for destruction, not for melting down. On 2 February 2013 we will unveil eight new bells that will be blessed. Everything we have done has been in the open, nothing is hidden."
He added: "This isn't the first time the cathedral is the theatre for stories and fantasies, but given the choice, I prefer those of Victor Hugo."
Hamilton coroner Gordon Matenga made five recommendations to the Corrections Department after the death of corrections officer Jason Clint Martin Palmer, who died following an incident at Springhill Prison in May 2010.
The recommendations included having a clear policy around the transfer of prisoners, formally adopting an alternative unlocking procedure for maximum security prisoners, reinforcing the training of staff around the reporting and recording of threats, and a "control and restraint stance" to be adopted by staff when unlocking a prisoner.
The call is just one of a raft of ideas from Robert and Linda Barlow in their submission to Courts Minister Chester Borrows as part of a targeted review of the coronial system and the Coroners Act 2006.
The Barlows have spent three years trying to ensure that lessons are learned from the preventable death of their son Adam, and near-death of Linda, following a prolonged labour in 2009.
Earlier this year Coroner Gordon Matenga ruled that a "series of failures in care" by the Barlows' midwife, Jennifer Rowan, now known as Jennifer Campbell, contributed to the death of baby Adam.
But the inquest only took place at the insistence of Adam's father, Robert, who discovered his son, deemed to be stillborn, had shown signs of life after birth.
Thus, there were expected to be few tears shed when the four bells, whose tolling has marked the march of time and a funereal adieu for the great and good at Notre Dame cathedral for 156 years, were taken from their belfry and consigned to the scrapheap.
Made and hung in 1856 to replace those torn from the cathedral during the French Revolution and melted down to make cannon – a fate that befell 80% of France's church bells at the time – they were, declared the French campanologist and music expert Herve Gouriou, "one of the most dreadful sets of bells in France … damaged and badly tuned".
To mark the cathedral's 850th anniversary next year, a new set of eight bells, intended to recreate the sound of the 18th-century bells made famous by Victor Hugo's fictional Hunchback of Notre Dame, are being struck at a foundry in Normandy.
Now, however, dozens of cultural associations from France and abroad and at least one religious group have been going like the proverbial clappers to stop the bells being destroyed.
Father Alain Hocquemiller, the prior of a religious community in Normandy, went as far as to bring in the bailiffs to serve a legal notice to save them. He claims he was prompted to act after learning of plans to declassify the bells and melt them down for scrap.
Under a law dating back to 1905, Notre Dame belongs to the French government, which gives the Catholic church the exclusive right to use it, so the bells, which weigh between 767kg and 1.91 tonnes each, belong to the state.
"I consulted a lawyer who told me it was the gratuitous destruction of France's religious heritage and that's not allowed by law," Hocquemiller told reporters.
The four grandes dames are currently at the French bell foundry Cornille-Havard, which is making the new bells using medieval methods, including pouring bronze into moulds made from clay, horse manure and horsehair. They will be named after eight important figures in French history, with the design reflecting their namesakes.
Notre Dame's great south tower bell, the 13-tonne Emmanuel installed in 1685 and widely considered the most remarkable in Europe – which rang for the coronation of kings and to mark the end of the two world wars – was cut down by revolutionaries, but escaped destruction and was rehung on the orders of the Emperor Napoleon in 1802.
Father Patrick Jacquin, rector and archpriest at Notre Dame, told Le Parisien newspaper: "Forty cultural organisations have requested the dilapidated bells, but they don't belong to the church. End of story.
"The bells are not for sale, not for destruction, not for melting down. On 2 February 2013 we will unveil eight new bells that will be blessed. Everything we have done has been in the open, nothing is hidden."
He added: "This isn't the first time the cathedral is the theatre for stories and fantasies, but given the choice, I prefer those of Victor Hugo."
Hamilton coroner Gordon Matenga made five recommendations to the Corrections Department after the death of corrections officer Jason Clint Martin Palmer, who died following an incident at Springhill Prison in May 2010.
The recommendations included having a clear policy around the transfer of prisoners, formally adopting an alternative unlocking procedure for maximum security prisoners, reinforcing the training of staff around the reporting and recording of threats, and a "control and restraint stance" to be adopted by staff when unlocking a prisoner.
The call is just one of a raft of ideas from Robert and Linda Barlow in their submission to Courts Minister Chester Borrows as part of a targeted review of the coronial system and the Coroners Act 2006.
The Barlows have spent three years trying to ensure that lessons are learned from the preventable death of their son Adam, and near-death of Linda, following a prolonged labour in 2009.
Earlier this year Coroner Gordon Matenga ruled that a "series of failures in care" by the Barlows' midwife, Jennifer Rowan, now known as Jennifer Campbell, contributed to the death of baby Adam.
But the inquest only took place at the insistence of Adam's father, Robert, who discovered his son, deemed to be stillborn, had shown signs of life after birth.
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Butterfly wings inspire new high-tech surfaces
Researchers here have taken a new look at butterfly wings and rice leaves, and learned things about their microscopic texture that could improve a variety of products.
For example, the researchers were able to clean up to 85% of dust off a coated plastic surface that mimicked the texture of a butterfly wing, compared to only 70% off a flat surface.
In a recent issue of the journal Soft Matter, the Ohio State University engineers report that the textures enhance fluid flow and prevent surfaces from getting dirty—characteristics that could be mimicked in high-tech surfaces for aircraft and watercraft, pipelines, and medical equipment.
“Nature has evolved many surfaces that are self-cleaning or reduce drag,” said Bharat Bhushan, Ohio Eminent Scholar and Howard D. Winbigler Professor of mechanical engineering at Ohio State. “Reduced drag is desirable for industry, whether you’re trying to move a few drops of blood through a nano-channel or millions of gallons of crude oil through a pipeline. And self-cleaning surfaces would be useful for medical equipment—catheters, or anything that might harbor bacteria.”
Bhushan and doctoral student Gregory Bixler used an electron microscope and an optical profiler to study wings of the Giant Blue Morpho butterfly (Morpho didius) and leaves of the rice plant Oriza sativa. They cast plastic replicas of both microscopic textures, and compared their ability to repel dirt and water to replicas of fish scales, shark skin, and plain flat surfaces.
Common to Central and South America, the Blue Morpho is an iconic butterfly, prized for its brilliant blue color and iridescence. Beyond its beauty, it has the ability to cast off dirt and water with a flutter of its wings.
For a butterfly out in nature, staying clean is a critical issue, Bhushan explained.
“Their wings are so delicate that getting dirt or moisture on them makes it hard to fly,” he said. “Plus, males and females recognize each other by the color and patterns on their wings, and every species is unique. So they have to keep their wings bright and visible in order to reproduce.”
The electron microscope revealed that the Blue Morpho’s wings aren’t as smooth as they look to the naked eye. Instead, the surface texture resembles a clapboard roof with rows of overlapping shingles radiating out from the butterfly’s body, suggesting that water and dirt roll off the wings “like water off a roof,” Bhushan said.
The rice leaves provided a more surreal landscape under the microscope, with rows of micrometer- (millionths of a meter) sized grooves, each covered with even smaller, nanometer- (billionths of a meter) sized bumps—all angled to direct raindrops to the stem and down to the base of the plant. The leaf also had a slippery waxy coating, which keeps the water droplets flowing along.
After studying all the textures close up, the researchers made molds of them in silicone and cast plastic replicas. To emulate the waxy coating on the rice leaves and the slippery coating on shark skin (which in nature is actually mucous), they covered all the surfaces with a special coating consisting of nanoparticles.
In one test, they lined plastic pipes with the different coated textures and pushed water through them. The resulting water pressure drop in the pipe was an indication of fluid flow.
For a pipe about the size of a cocktail straw, a thin lining of shark skin texture coated with nanoparticles reduced water pressure drop by 29% compared to the non-coated surface. The coated rice leaf came in second, with 26%, and the butterfly wing came in third with around 15%.
Then they dusted the textures with silicon carbide powder—a common industrial powder that resembles natural dirt—and tested how easy the surfaces were to clean. They held the samples at a 45-degree angle and dripped water over them from a syringe for two minutes, so that about two tablespoons of water washed over them in total. Using software, they counted the number of silicon carbide particles on each texture before and after washing.
The shark skin came out the cleanest, with 98% of the particles washing off during the test. Next came the rice leaf, with 95%, and the butterfly wing with about 85% washing off. By comparison, only 70% washed off of the flat surface.
For example, the researchers were able to clean up to 85% of dust off a coated plastic surface that mimicked the texture of a butterfly wing, compared to only 70% off a flat surface.
In a recent issue of the journal Soft Matter, the Ohio State University engineers report that the textures enhance fluid flow and prevent surfaces from getting dirty—characteristics that could be mimicked in high-tech surfaces for aircraft and watercraft, pipelines, and medical equipment.
“Nature has evolved many surfaces that are self-cleaning or reduce drag,” said Bharat Bhushan, Ohio Eminent Scholar and Howard D. Winbigler Professor of mechanical engineering at Ohio State. “Reduced drag is desirable for industry, whether you’re trying to move a few drops of blood through a nano-channel or millions of gallons of crude oil through a pipeline. And self-cleaning surfaces would be useful for medical equipment—catheters, or anything that might harbor bacteria.”
Bhushan and doctoral student Gregory Bixler used an electron microscope and an optical profiler to study wings of the Giant Blue Morpho butterfly (Morpho didius) and leaves of the rice plant Oriza sativa. They cast plastic replicas of both microscopic textures, and compared their ability to repel dirt and water to replicas of fish scales, shark skin, and plain flat surfaces.
Common to Central and South America, the Blue Morpho is an iconic butterfly, prized for its brilliant blue color and iridescence. Beyond its beauty, it has the ability to cast off dirt and water with a flutter of its wings.
For a butterfly out in nature, staying clean is a critical issue, Bhushan explained.
“Their wings are so delicate that getting dirt or moisture on them makes it hard to fly,” he said. “Plus, males and females recognize each other by the color and patterns on their wings, and every species is unique. So they have to keep their wings bright and visible in order to reproduce.”
The electron microscope revealed that the Blue Morpho’s wings aren’t as smooth as they look to the naked eye. Instead, the surface texture resembles a clapboard roof with rows of overlapping shingles radiating out from the butterfly’s body, suggesting that water and dirt roll off the wings “like water off a roof,” Bhushan said.
The rice leaves provided a more surreal landscape under the microscope, with rows of micrometer- (millionths of a meter) sized grooves, each covered with even smaller, nanometer- (billionths of a meter) sized bumps—all angled to direct raindrops to the stem and down to the base of the plant. The leaf also had a slippery waxy coating, which keeps the water droplets flowing along.
After studying all the textures close up, the researchers made molds of them in silicone and cast plastic replicas. To emulate the waxy coating on the rice leaves and the slippery coating on shark skin (which in nature is actually mucous), they covered all the surfaces with a special coating consisting of nanoparticles.
In one test, they lined plastic pipes with the different coated textures and pushed water through them. The resulting water pressure drop in the pipe was an indication of fluid flow.
For a pipe about the size of a cocktail straw, a thin lining of shark skin texture coated with nanoparticles reduced water pressure drop by 29% compared to the non-coated surface. The coated rice leaf came in second, with 26%, and the butterfly wing came in third with around 15%.
Then they dusted the textures with silicon carbide powder—a common industrial powder that resembles natural dirt—and tested how easy the surfaces were to clean. They held the samples at a 45-degree angle and dripped water over them from a syringe for two minutes, so that about two tablespoons of water washed over them in total. Using software, they counted the number of silicon carbide particles on each texture before and after washing.
The shark skin came out the cleanest, with 98% of the particles washing off during the test. Next came the rice leaf, with 95%, and the butterfly wing with about 85% washing off. By comparison, only 70% washed off of the flat surface.
Digging batter out of a Cathedral with a toothpick
I get as excited over bakeware and cookware in the housewares department of a store as the average man probably does over power tools in a hardware or building supply shop. A KitchenAid stand mixer is, to me, a beautiful machine with infinite capabilities.
The weight of a heavy-gauge bake pan in my hand conjures up a host of delicious possibilities.
But that day, as I held the cake pan in my hand reading the description on the reverse side of the label, I was perplexed.
It read: “Cast aluminum. Premium non-stick interior for easy release.”
My kids had given me a Garland cake pan containing six one-cup cake molds: two Fleur de Lis; two Bavarian; and two Cathedrals.
But I couldn’t fathom why the pan wasn’t producing a perfect product. Not only were the six individual cakes not releasing easily from the pan; they were firmly imbedded in it. Even a knife and spoon couldn’t coax the cakes out of the pan onto the cooling rack.
In my experience, I’ve learned that the general rule for baking is: if the occasion demands a perfect cake, something is bound to fall flat. I stood at the counter with the pan of cakes upside down in my hand, even going so far as to bang them on the counter, but they wouldn’t budge.
Years ago, when all four kids were at home, I baked plenty of cookies and muffins. In my opinion muffins were perfect foods with all the essential ingredients for a good breakfast: warm from the oven and chock full of oatmeal, honey, eggs, milk, fruit and bran. One of their favourite morning muffins was prepared with eggs, bacon and cheese. A delicious lunchbox treat was a Chocolate Coma cookie concocted with slivered almonds, dried tart cherries, chocolate chips, rolled oats, brown sugar, butter and eggs (a top-of-the-line snack in my opinion).
But, back then, if I became distracted and the cookies burned, my oldest son Paul was always there to take care of my mistakes. He liked nothing better—especially in his late teens when his appetite was at an all-time high—than to sit down to a plate of overdone cookies, accompanied by a hot mug of tea, to finish them off.
And that’s why I was so fervently wishing he were home: he might have eaten the cakes right from the pan…all of them, leaving no evidence of my latest baking gaffe.
I thumbed through the bright new Bundt cookbook published by Nordic Ware, looking for directions on how to effectively release the pound cakes, and that’s when I realized my mistake (if in doubt, always read directions after the fact); I had neglected to grease and flour the pans...which made me wonder…what’s the point of calling premium bakeware ‘non-stick’ if you have to grease and flour it to keep it from sticking?
Well…it sounded impressive when she said it, but then it occurred to me: her Nan must have cooked the same recipes over and over for the past 50 years…perhaps even in the very same pans; no wonder she was an expert.
There is certainly something to be said for keeping all those recipes in your head…after all, isn’t that what culture is all about…maintaining the old customs and traditions? But, much as I love and appreciate home cooking in Newfoundland, I still think its great fun to look through a new cookbook, find a new recipe, trade a recipe with a friend, or browse Google for a new dish that has recently been publicized on Food TV.
Few men, when they purchase a new tool, are content with it forever; most are going to fall prey to the latest new gadget on the market. And so it is with me; finding a new recipe or a new way to create the latest dessert is what makes life so enormously exciting.
Next time I bake with my new Nordic Ware Garland Pan you can be sure the end result will be a little nearer to perfection and, although I may not have had all the recipes stored in my head like someone’s Nan, I certainly had a great time trying out the new cake pan, even if I did have to spend the whole evening digging cake batter out of the corners of the Cathedral with a toothpick.
The weight of a heavy-gauge bake pan in my hand conjures up a host of delicious possibilities.
But that day, as I held the cake pan in my hand reading the description on the reverse side of the label, I was perplexed.
It read: “Cast aluminum. Premium non-stick interior for easy release.”
My kids had given me a Garland cake pan containing six one-cup cake molds: two Fleur de Lis; two Bavarian; and two Cathedrals.
But I couldn’t fathom why the pan wasn’t producing a perfect product. Not only were the six individual cakes not releasing easily from the pan; they were firmly imbedded in it. Even a knife and spoon couldn’t coax the cakes out of the pan onto the cooling rack.
In my experience, I’ve learned that the general rule for baking is: if the occasion demands a perfect cake, something is bound to fall flat. I stood at the counter with the pan of cakes upside down in my hand, even going so far as to bang them on the counter, but they wouldn’t budge.
Years ago, when all four kids were at home, I baked plenty of cookies and muffins. In my opinion muffins were perfect foods with all the essential ingredients for a good breakfast: warm from the oven and chock full of oatmeal, honey, eggs, milk, fruit and bran. One of their favourite morning muffins was prepared with eggs, bacon and cheese. A delicious lunchbox treat was a Chocolate Coma cookie concocted with slivered almonds, dried tart cherries, chocolate chips, rolled oats, brown sugar, butter and eggs (a top-of-the-line snack in my opinion).
But, back then, if I became distracted and the cookies burned, my oldest son Paul was always there to take care of my mistakes. He liked nothing better—especially in his late teens when his appetite was at an all-time high—than to sit down to a plate of overdone cookies, accompanied by a hot mug of tea, to finish them off.
And that’s why I was so fervently wishing he were home: he might have eaten the cakes right from the pan…all of them, leaving no evidence of my latest baking gaffe.
I thumbed through the bright new Bundt cookbook published by Nordic Ware, looking for directions on how to effectively release the pound cakes, and that’s when I realized my mistake (if in doubt, always read directions after the fact); I had neglected to grease and flour the pans...which made me wonder…what’s the point of calling premium bakeware ‘non-stick’ if you have to grease and flour it to keep it from sticking?
Well…it sounded impressive when she said it, but then it occurred to me: her Nan must have cooked the same recipes over and over for the past 50 years…perhaps even in the very same pans; no wonder she was an expert.
There is certainly something to be said for keeping all those recipes in your head…after all, isn’t that what culture is all about…maintaining the old customs and traditions? But, much as I love and appreciate home cooking in Newfoundland, I still think its great fun to look through a new cookbook, find a new recipe, trade a recipe with a friend, or browse Google for a new dish that has recently been publicized on Food TV.
Few men, when they purchase a new tool, are content with it forever; most are going to fall prey to the latest new gadget on the market. And so it is with me; finding a new recipe or a new way to create the latest dessert is what makes life so enormously exciting.
Next time I bake with my new Nordic Ware Garland Pan you can be sure the end result will be a little nearer to perfection and, although I may not have had all the recipes stored in my head like someone’s Nan, I certainly had a great time trying out the new cake pan, even if I did have to spend the whole evening digging cake batter out of the corners of the Cathedral with a toothpick.
Monday, November 5, 2012
Fast reaction for biochip testing
The fast-turnaround tooling project was a critical to the scheduled launch of Randox’s new Evidence Evolution product, claimed to be the world’s first fully automated, random access biochip testing platform, which is anticipated to revolutionise current diagnostic testing.
For the debut of this new technology, Randox developed a visually impressive instrument casing, incorporating a range of colours and finishes. Making the tools for this was quite a challenge as the largest moulding measures 1668mm by 1191mm by 403mm, and all parts were specified to be cast in fully certified UL94 V0 flame retardant material to allow for full internal shipping and the obtaining of necessary approvals.
Altogether, the equipment casing incorporated a total of 26 reaction injection moulded (RIM) components, as well as numerous smaller injection moulded parts – and naturally the budget needed to be carefully managed on such a large scale project.
During its 20 years of specialisation in the creation of RIM tooling, Midas has developed its own trademarked tooling processes, MRIMTM, which enables the company to produce highly complex mouldings with little or no compromise on detail, in relatively low volumes, and in a wide range of finishes. This, together with Midas’ guarantee of 5000-off shots per tool, provided Randox with the production solution it required.
Midas worked with the client as an integral part of the tooling development team for the project to make sure that all parts considered for RIM were appropriately designed for the process. This time spent at the early design phases eliminated issues which could have occurred later in tool manufacture. In the event, no modifications were required to any of the 26 parts produced – demonstrating the effectiveness of the design for manufacture process.
A combination of face-to-face meetings, conference calls and email dialogues supported the necessary project management, which was necessary due to the significant geographic distance between the different locations. Embracing modern communication techniques reduced internal costs to both parties and also streamlined the development phase when time to manufacture was so critical.
All the tooling was produced on time during the phased released programme, allowing the client to check and release parts in stages which matched the build phase and also helped spread the tooling start times. Good project management was essential due to the number of parts involved and ensured that any mid-process changes that occurred were well managed and integrated and that correct issue levels and part details were being produced.
For the debut of this new technology, Randox developed a visually impressive instrument casing, incorporating a range of colours and finishes. Making the tools for this was quite a challenge as the largest moulding measures 1668mm by 1191mm by 403mm, and all parts were specified to be cast in fully certified UL94 V0 flame retardant material to allow for full internal shipping and the obtaining of necessary approvals.
Altogether, the equipment casing incorporated a total of 26 reaction injection moulded (RIM) components, as well as numerous smaller injection moulded parts – and naturally the budget needed to be carefully managed on such a large scale project.
During its 20 years of specialisation in the creation of RIM tooling, Midas has developed its own trademarked tooling processes, MRIMTM, which enables the company to produce highly complex mouldings with little or no compromise on detail, in relatively low volumes, and in a wide range of finishes. This, together with Midas’ guarantee of 5000-off shots per tool, provided Randox with the production solution it required.
Midas worked with the client as an integral part of the tooling development team for the project to make sure that all parts considered for RIM were appropriately designed for the process. This time spent at the early design phases eliminated issues which could have occurred later in tool manufacture. In the event, no modifications were required to any of the 26 parts produced – demonstrating the effectiveness of the design for manufacture process.
A combination of face-to-face meetings, conference calls and email dialogues supported the necessary project management, which was necessary due to the significant geographic distance between the different locations. Embracing modern communication techniques reduced internal costs to both parties and also streamlined the development phase when time to manufacture was so critical.
All the tooling was produced on time during the phased released programme, allowing the client to check and release parts in stages which matched the build phase and also helped spread the tooling start times. Good project management was essential due to the number of parts involved and ensured that any mid-process changes that occurred were well managed and integrated and that correct issue levels and part details were being produced.
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