Forget Camus or even Heidegger; Pierce Brosnan just conquered nihilism with an outfit so dark it made Nietzsche look like a court jester. In doing so he put the rest of Paris to shame, issuing a challenge to gallic men (and graphic designers) everywhere: the rest of the world is onto you.

What is he onto? The laziest style hack in the history of fashion: wearing all (or mostly all) black. Specifically, in Pierces case, this involved wearing dark trousers, a black crew neck tee shirt, black dress shoes and a Harrington style navy jacketas he left his Paris hotel on Wednesday evening.

It may have kept off the cold but it couldnt stop the Paparazzi, who snapped Brosnan walking from the hotel foyer to his car, as he continues a month-long trip with his wife of 18 years, Keely Shaye Smith.

Image: Daily Mail via Spread Pictures

Walking with Keely, Pierce sauntered the 20-yard dash, even throwing a peace sign on his way. The retired 007 then (presumably) re-embarked upon the Paris leg of his European jaunt, which has so far included such jealousy-inducing locations as Italys Portofino and Icelands blue lagoon.

Image: Daily Mail via Spread Pictures

So, style implications for men? The first is this: as long as you wear well-fitted garments, and carry yourself with a bit of esteem (a la Brosnan) then it is possible to rock black on black (or dark on dark) without looking like a teenager.

The second point is a warning: unless you purchase a hero piece like Brosnans navy jacket from the hotel to car shot (which, judging by his impeccable taste, we guess is a Barbour, Proof or Grayers creation) and have a couple of Hollywood blockbusters under your belt, you wont be considered a style icon.

But hey, Brosnans more recent Montparnasse outfit (which he posted to Instagram yesterday), is something we can all aspire to, as is his version of the basic tourist getup (see: above).

Regular jeans, black tee and well fitted black zip-up jacket: here we come.

Read this article:
Pierce Brosnan Is At It Again & This Time He Outdressed All Of Paris - D'Marge

Meng Wanzhous birthday wishes to her father RenZhengfei.Twitter/Huawei

It was a heart-warming message, speaking of a daughters affection for her parent and cherished family traditions now indefinitely on hold.

A fathers love is like the mountains, towering and strong, Meng Wanzhou gushed on the WeChat social-media site, wishing father Ren Zhengfei well as he turned 75 a few days ago.

It was no ordinary birthday card. The note was written from house arrest in Vancouver, where the Huawei chief financial officer is battling a U.S. extradition request, to a father who is also CEO of the telecom behemoth.

I cant be there with you, eating the food you make, listening to you chitchat, touching your wrinkles or kissing your smiling face, said the handwritten note. And I cant be there to take your critical advice. Remember, you owe me this. Please make it up after I get back home.

But it was not just who sent and received the message posted by Huawei on its Twitter feed and reported by Communist Party-owned Global Times that made it unusual. The heartfelt greeting, accompanied by a photo of Meng wearing her court-mandated ankle bracelet, also seemed at odds with a complicated father-daughter relationship, part of an intriguing family history.

Meng Wanzhou and Ren Zhengfei had a complicated father-daughter relationship, with the Huawei founder admitting he neglected his children.Postmedia

Ren has said in recent months that he missed his daughter very much. But he also admitted largely neglecting his children as he built up one of the worlds largest tech companies, that he doesnt think Meng is CEO material, and that she was on the verge of quitting just before her arrest.

The reason we are not close is that when she was little, I joined the military. For 11 months out of a year, I couldnt be with my kids, he told a news conference in January. I was close to none of my three children So all I can say is, as a father, I feel I owe them.

Ren has been long divorced from Mengs mother, Meng Jun a commissar of Maos fanatical Red Guards when they first met and has since remarried. A company spokesman said media reports of a third wife are false.

His daughter from the second spouse, 25 years younger than the Huawei executive, burst into the limelight about the same time her half sister was arrested, for much different reasons. Annabel Yao was featured in Paris Match, Vogue and other media when she took part in Pariss Bal des Dbutantes, an exclusive coming-of-age gala.

Yao also revealed a love of ballet, which she still performs while chasing a computer science degree at Harvard University.

Rens son, Ren Ping, is an executive at a Huawei subsidiary. All three siblings have taken their mothers family names for large stretches of their lives.

In a March interview with CTV, the father said Meng was not happy working here and wanted to quit, though he later said she had changed her mind. But the father suggested his daughter would never replace him as chief executive.

She has always been a manager and a manager is good at managing a wide span of issues, Ren told CTV. But for a leader, you need to have a strong vertical ability. You need to be able to see things happening in 10 or 20 years She wont be a successor because she doesnt have this background.

As for languishing on bail in a multi-million-dollar Vancouver mansion Ren seemed to invoke Nietzsche in suggesting it would only make his daughter stronger.

Cuts and bruises toughen her up, and even since ancient times, heroes were born of hardship, he told CNBC in April. I think this challenge will be good for my daughter.

See the article here:
Huawei CFOs loving house-arrest card to CEO father belies complicated relationship - The Province

Over the years it took me time to not view myself from a stigmatic vantage point. I had learned many false notions from popular culture, conversations throughout my life, and from medical staff as well. Getting rid of the stigma I had towards myself has been a big step in improving my mental health.

When I made my first in-patient stay at a local hospital I was absolutely terrified of the doctor. He was stern and cold and in my mind he represented doctors who I had seen in movies and TV. He had no personability and I wasnt able to make a connection to him.

His decision to intentionally disconnect from me fed into my belief that I was less human at that moment. It fed into the feeling of being an other and inferior and being a unit that needed treatment as opposed to a person who needed to get his life back. From the start of care there was a seed planted in my mind that he was the doctor, I was the patient, and that I was a problem that needed to be solved. I began viewing myself as a problem that needed to be solved which was a difficult way to go through the world.

Hearing the diagnosis that I had schizophrenia was even more terrifying. I pushed it away at first because of all the stigma surrounding the word. In later years I figured out that schizophrenia was a word to encompass the symptoms I had already experienced and nothing additional was going to happen. Realizing this was a major relief but it took about two years.

These symptoms came in the form of having disorganized thinking, some obsessive-compulsive behaviors, occasionally seeing and hearing things, sleeplessness, extreme highs and lows emotionally, and experiencing a multitude of anxiety that made me unable to speak, think, and process language at times. For me, schizoaffective disorder has been nothing more than these things. Originally hearing the word schizophrenia associated with my identity worried me that I would become like people I had seen in the movies and on television. Over time I figured out that I wasnt anything like those people and no one with psychosis really is.

Not viewing myself as a problem to be solved took even more years of work to unravel. I had read Nietzsche and deep within my mind was the will to power also known as the will to truth. I believed my ability to find the truth was going to lead me out of the depths of my schizophrenia symptoms which was partially true.

However, over the years I developed a rigid belief system that was solely focused on finding the deepest truth within any and every situation which was damaging. This became a major barrier in connecting to others and being able to have a good social life. I had some individual friends but I was in a lot of pain.

I originally thought I was in a lot of pain because of the traumatic experiences that caused the illness but I learned the illness is a series of judgments and fears interconnected with pain from traumatic experiences. To break down these thought webs I couldnt get rid of my will to truth necessarily but I had to learn some better social skills and priorities surrounding my will to truth and the purpose for it as well. When working on getting healthier I still had to give myself absolute truths but I had to learn the time and place to do so in conversations with others.

I had to learn to put everyone elses health and well-being as well as my own before my desire to know the truth and my desire for others to know the truth. There were many instances I should have let things go and I should have allowed people to say and do the wrong things however I was correcting everything everyone was saying. I also learned that there are many truths about a situation that can be shared and you dont have to give someone an absolute truth to get through a conversation where you are in disagreement. I thought I only had to ingest good information to get to the absolute deepest truths so that I could recover from schizoaffective disorder. I also thought that other people needed the truth all the time so that they could improve as well.

The irony of the situation was that in some instances I needed the truth, but my will to truth was a source of pain and suffering. It kept me distant from everyone in my life. Once I began figuring out that Im a human being first who is allowed to should enjoy life and that solving problems comes afterward I began connecting to others much better.

Much of my illness was structured around my desire to write, help others, and to keep improving. I had to learn peoples feelings, emotions, and wellbeing always come before the truth. I learned that our health and well-being is the purpose for the truth and this set me free from my self-destructing desire to constantly find truth.

The truth is an instrument to help us become healthier, not to constrain us and trap us within obsessive rituals. The more I deconstructed the thought webs of striving towards intellectual excellence the healthier I became and as I became healthier my writing improved in ways it otherwise wouldnt have been able to.

This created a paradigm shift in seeing myself in a more human way as opposed to a problem that needed to be solved. I decided my life has to come before my writing and my work. Before this, I had been living a lifestyle of efficiency, minimalism, perfectionism, and conditioning myself with behavioral and cognitive practices just for the sake of improving my writing.

Unlearning this was incredibly helpful to feeling better and getting healthier and when I learned that everyones health and wellness come first, including my own, it alleviated the mental restraints I had self-imposed upon myself. I had to unlearn what I thought was self-help to liberate my mind.

Shutterstock

Read more:
The Will to Truth - Existentialism and Psychosis - The Good Men Project

WE HAVE ALL experienced stress in the workplace at one time or another. Even when were lucky enough to love what we do, its normal to experience some level of stress throughout the day.

In todays busy world, the workplace can sometimes feel like an emotional roller coaster. Long hours, tight deadlines, and ever-increasing demands can leave us feeling worried, drained, and overwhelmed.

When stress exceeds our ability to cope, it stops being helpful and starts causing damage to our mind. It can make us feel anxious and overwhelmed, dampening our job satisfaction and productivity.

If stress on the job is interfering with your work performance, health, or personal life, its time to take action.

We encourage all our clients, customers, staff and students to take regular booster breaks 15 minutes, or whatever you can spare, to unwind, away from phone calls, computers, TVs, and smartphones. Whether that time is spent reconnecting with colleagues, taking a walk, reading a book or listening to music.

No matter what you do for a living, or how stressful your job is, there are plenty of things you can do to reduce your overall stress levels and regain a sense of control at work.

Implementing some of the following practices will help:

Take care of your body

Eating well is key to overall health, including your mental well-being. Be sure to eat nutritious meals, drink plenty of water and get enough sleep. Getting too little or too much sleep can have a big impact on how you feel.

Stay active

Exercise offers many benefits and when you exercise; your brain releases the feel-good chemicals, endorphins, giving you an instant mood boost. From going for a long walk and participating in outdoors sports to taking a fitness class, there are hundreds of ways you can be active.

Regardless of your age and fitness level, exercise can make you feel good about yourself, as well as protect you from all kinds of health problems. Even 10 minutes of exercise every day can have a positive impact on both your physical and mental health.

Connect with family, friends and colleagues

Have people around you that matter and enrich your life. Build relationships with the people around you and invest time connecting with people at home, work and in your community.

A great level of social support and encouragement is essential for your happiness and emotional health, even if its just from a handful of people.

Value yourself

Treat yourself with kindness and respect, and avoid self-criticism. Make time for your hobbies and do something you enjoy. Whether its taking a long walk, doing a daily crossword or going to the cinema, its positive for your wellbeing to do something that makes you feel good.

Set realistic goals

Aim high, but be realistic. Create realistic goals and take steps to achieve them. Even small steps are a sign of progress. Keep moving forward.

Dont be a hero

If you over-commit by taking on too many projects with unrealistic deadlines, you will not only lose credibility at work but you will also stress yourself out unnecessarily. If you can delegate or share the responsibility for some projects, go ahead.

Take your 15

Booster breaks, whether they are 15 minutes or five, have been proven to reduce stress, fatigue and mental pressure. Making time for regular breaks, regardless of how busy you are, will make a real difference to your productivity, job satisfaction and overall well-being.

Get help when you need it

Seeking help is a sign of strength not a weakness. Dont think that youre wasting someones time; its always OK to accept that youre not always able to cope. We all need help and support from time to time.

Elbha Purcell is head of dietetics and well-being at Aramark Northern Europe, which is running its TAKE15 campaign during the month of October.

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If stress at work is interfering with your performance or personal life, take action - Fora.ie

A performance bond is a financial instrument that helps ensure the successful completion of a large project in areas like road construction or real estate development.

A performance bond is issued by one party to contract to the other party as a guarantee against the issuing party's failure to meet their obligations under the contract, or to delivery on the level of performance specified in the agreement. Performance bonds are typically provided by a financial institution such as a bank or an insurance company. The bond would be paid for by the party providing the services under the agreement.

Performance bonds are common in industries like construction and real estate development. A performance bond may also be required for some commodities transactions. The performance bond in that case is to ensure that the commodity being sold is actually available and will be delivered if the buyer indeed wants to take delivery.

There are three parties to a performance bond:

A performance bond is not insurance. If there is a claim against the bond by the obligee, the surety will pay the amount of the bond to the obligee, but they will look to the principal to make good on the amount paid out. Performance bonds are only given to financially stable firms.

A payment bond is often obtained along with a performance bond. A payment bond is essentially an agreement between the obligee, the principal and the surety to ensure that laborers on the project get paid. This also extends to any sub-contractors used, as well as suppliers of materials.

Private sector companies or governmental entities who hire contractors for major projects should, of course, be sure the contractor has proper insurance coverage in addition to any type of performance or surety bond coverage they might provide. This would include various types of liability coverage and other applicable types of business insurance.

Performance bonds are usually required for government-related projects such as building a bridge or for road constructions. They are common for private sector construction projects as well.

The performance bond protects against a contractor failing to deliver the work as specified in the contract. The contract must be specific about the work to be performed, the results expected and the timing.

A performance bond can also protect against a situation in which the contractor declares bankruptcy or encounters other financial issues that would preclude the contractor from completing the work.

Payment of the performance bond can only be made to the obligee, such as a property owner orgovernmental entity who commissioned the work, in the case of road construction or other public-works type project.

When applying for a performance bond, the surety will require information from the contractor such as:

Overall, the surety will want to ensure that the principal of the bond is financially stable. Again, a performance bond is not insurance.

In the event the contractor does not complete the work, the surety may either cover the cost of hiring a new contractor to complete the project or provide compensation to the obligee and allow them to use the money to complete the project as they deem fit.

Typically, a performance bond will be required by law or by rule for major public construction projects. Private construction projects may also require a performance bond, this will depend on the terms of the contract and the preferences of the party commissioning the work.

A performance bond has both benefits and drawbacks.

Benefits of using a performance bond can include:

There are some potential drawbacks that can be associated with a performance bond as well:

The cost of a performance bond can vary, but in general it tends to be about 1% of the value of the contract. On larger contracts in excess of $1 million, the cost mightgo up to 1.5% or even 2%. Every surety's terms will be a bit different. The creditworthiness and financial strength of the principal will also be a factor in the ultimate cost.

Continue reading here:
What Is a Performance Bond and How Does It Work? - TheStreet.com

BORIS Johnson has surged into a 17-point lead over Labour's Jeremy Corbyn - on the first full day of election campaigning.

The first poll of the campaign put the Conservatives on 41 points, with Labour trailing on just 24.

The Ipsos Mori poll shows the Tories have soared eight points in a month and reveals the public has a scathing view of Mr Corbyn's leadership.

The leftie Labour leader's personal ratings remain at rock bottom, with just 15 per cent of voters happy with his performance and 75 per cent unhappy - delivering a devastating net score of minus 60.

Eight in ten voters think he has done "a bad job" at handling Brexit with neither Remain nor Leave voters backing his performance.

And over half of Labour supporters think Mr Corbyn has dealt with Brexit badly.

In contrast, eight in 10 Tory backers say Mr Johnson is doing a good job on Brexit.

And the survey found the Tory leader enjoys the best personal ratings of any party leader for two years.

Some 46 are happy against 44 who are unhappy - a net score of plus two.

But Mr Corbyn played down his poor poll ratings when asked about them at his election campaign launch in Battersea, south London.

He said: "It's not about me. It is not about any individual on this platform. It's not a presidential election."

The poll shows Mr Johnson has increased the Tory party's lead over Labour by an extra seven points since becoming PM.

In July the Tories enjoyed a ten point lead.

WHAT A BERC Retiring Speaker John Bercow 'demands 1MILLION to appear on I'm A Celebrity'

Live Blog

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DEAL PLEA Tory MPs urge Nigel Farage to stand candidates AGAINST them to help win election

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DISGRACE Fury as top Corbynista says its sickening that Brits wear 'racist' poppies

The Ipsos Mori poll put the Lib Dems on 20 per cent, the Brexit party down on 7 points and the Greens on 3.

1

Link:
Boris Johnson surges into a 17-point lead over Jeremy Corbyn on the first full day of General Election - The Sun

Our guide to dance performances happening this weekend and in the week ahead.

EPHRAT ASHERIE DANCE at the Joyce Theater (Nov. 5-6, 7:30 p.m.; Nov. 7, 8 p.m.). Asherie, a choreographer and B-girl, is infectiously charismatic: Her nickname, Bounce, aptly describes both her physical buoyancy and her lightness of spirit. In Odeon, her companys official Joyce debut, Asherie engages with the music of the early-20th-century Brazilian composer Ernesto Nazareth, whose creative mix of musical styles, from waltzes to tangos to ragtime, reflects Asheries own blend of dance, from street and house dance to vogueing to concert dance. Adding to the charm of this production, the live music is overseen by Ehud Asherie, Ephrats brother, an accomplished jazz pianist. 212-242-0800, joyce.org

NAIRY BAGHRAMIAN AND MARIA HASSABI at 1014 Fifth Avenue (Nov. 6-8, 7 p.m.; through Nov. 10). A stately townhouse, built in 1906 and facing the Metropolitan Museum of Art, becomes a muse for Baghramian and Hassabi in Entre Deux Actes (Mnage Quatre). Presented by the Kitchen, a Chelsea-based arts organization, the work is a dialogue between dance and architecture and an examination of the inherent theatricality of domestic space. The influence of furniture designer Janette Laverrire, a friend of Baghramians who died in 2011, is present in the piece, as are erotic photographs by Carlo Mollino. The four lovers referred to in the title are those two artists and Baghramian and Hassabi. Currently all tickets have sold out, but more may be released closer to the performance dates. A waiting list will be available at the box office one hour before each show.212-255-5793, thekitchen.org

MARLENE MONTEIRO FREITAS at BAM Harvey Theater (Nov. 7-9, 7:30 p.m.). The great tragedy The Bacchae, by Euripides, centers on the hedonistic god Dionysus quest for revenge, famously told with the help of a lively Greek chorus. In Bacchae: Prelude to a Purge, Freitas, born in Cape Verde, takes that tale as her starting point and gives it a surreal spin with a chorus of eight dancers and five trumpeters whose funky moves and eccentric music making conjure an unpredictable theatrical world. In her bacchanal, Freitas dispenses with narrative, using dark, wacky humor and a cheeky take on Ravels Bolero to present a society of the absurd. 718-636-4100, bam.org

[Read about the events that our other critics have chosen for the week ahead.]

FROM THE HORSES MOUTH at the 14th Street Y (Nov. 7-8, 7:30 p.m.; through Nov. 10). For 21 years, Tina Croll and Jamie Cunningham have celebrated important personalities and milestones of modern dance with this series, a unique fusion of performance, storytelling and history. This iteration focuses on the 75th anniversary of the Jerome Robbins Dance Division, located at the New York Public Librarys Performing Arts branch in Lincoln Center, an invaluable archive that has been protected and expanded over the years by a fiercely dedicated staff. Dance luminaries writers, historians, dancers and choreographers among them have lined up for this production to honor the collections legacy. Supplementary programming includes a critics panel on Wednesday and a lecture-demonstration on Nov. 8.14streety.org/fthm

KIA LABEIJA at Performance Space New York (Nov. 7-9, 7 p.m.). To many, LaBeija is a formidable presence on the vogueing scene, a dynamite dancer and a respected activist. Shes also an insightful photographer and a performance artist in conversation with dance history. This week, she presents Untitled, the Black Act, which responds to the modernist ballet Das Triadische Ballett, made over 100 years ago by Oskar Schlemmer, a choreographer and designer associated with the Bauhaus school. LaBeija zeros in on the dances third part, set on a black stage and infused with an otherworldly mysticism. She maintains the sense of wonder but makes it more personal, reimagining Schlemmers restrictive costumes in her quest for freedom. 212-477-5829, performancespacenewyork.org

PAUL MAHEKE AND MELIKA NGOMBE KOLONGO at Abrons Arts Center (Nov. 7-9, 7 p.m.). Maheke, a choreographer and performer of Congolese descent working in video and sound, explores identity, memory and history in his work; Ngombe Kolongo, also known as Nkisi, is an experimental musician, born in Congo, who is doing the same. Their work Snsa, a Performa biennial commission, takes inspiration from African Cosmology of the Bantu-Kongo: Principles of Life and Living, a 1991 book about the religious and philosophical principles of the Bantu-Kongo people of Central Africa. One meaning of the Bantu word snsa is to reveal, and Maheke and Nkisi use gesture, sound and light to create a work meditating on visibility and invisibility. 866-811-4111, abronsartscenter.org

Read the original:
6 Dance Performances to See in N.Y.C. This Weekend - The New York Times

By: Erin Williams

Muncie, INPlySpace, an artist-in-residence program of the Muncie Arts and Culture Council, welcomes the Fall 2019 residents: Dana Harper, Sarah Trad, and Sydney Pursel. The visiting artists will be in Muncie for a period of four to twelve weeks this fall and will be leading public, collaborative art projects throughout the city until early December.

Dana Lynn Harper (Columbus, OH) joins PlySpace as the Fall Resident Fellow. While in Muncie, Harper will work with the Art Education Department at the Ball State University School of Art to engage students in a public Wand Making Workshop focusing on creative play. The Wand Making Workshop will be hosted at Minnetrista on November 2nd, from 2-4 PM. Details about this workshop can be found on the PlySpace.org website and social media. As part of her fellowship, Harper will also speak about her work at the Ball State University School of Art on October 29th from 6-7 PM in the Arts & Journalism Building, room 225. This lecture is open to the public.

In addition, Harper will exhibit a new series of work, Field Guides, at the PlySpace Gallery on November 7th from 5-8 PM, during the First Thursday gallery walk in November. Field Guides is a playful and boisterous sculptural exhibition exploring the artists belief in spirit guides. Spirit guides are believed to be supernatural beings that provide support, guidance, and love when we need it most. This abstract idea is translated into hanging sculptures made up of layers of texture, pattern, and color, and utilizing textiles, paper, and plastics. Harper holds a BFA from The Ohio State University in 2009 and an MFA from Penn State University in 2013. Harper was awarded an ArtPrize Seed Grant, ArtFile Emerging Artist Grant and a Ringholz Foundation Award. In addition, Harper was awarded an NEA studio grant to attend an artist residency at Womens Studio Workshop. She has had solo exhibitions at Front/Space Gallery & Museum, Manifest Gallery and ROY G BIV among many others.

Sarah Trad (Philadelphia, PA) is a video artist and curator. She joins PlySpace as a Resident Co-Fellow in November. Trad will work with the Islamic community in Muncie, and with the Ball State University School of Art, to teach community centered workshops on traditional Middle Eastern design using the nuno felting technique. Samples completed during these workshops will be exhibited in a public exhibition. Trad will also produce new work while at PlySpace, focusing on her own Middle Eastern heritage. She has participated in multiple artist residencies including the 77Art Residency in Rutland, Vermont and is a recipient of the Carol N. Schmuckler Award for Outstanding Achievement in Film. Sarahs work has been shown at The Warehouse Gallery (Syracuse, NY), Kitchen Table Gallery (Philadelphia, PA), Gravy Studio and Gallery (Philadelphia, PA) and the Everson Museum of Art (Syracuse, NY). She is currently a part of the Philadelphia artist-run gallery, Little Berlin.

Sydney Jane Brooke Campbell Maybrier Pursel (Lawrence, KS) joins PlySpace as the second Resident Co-Fellow in November. While at PlySpace, Pursel will complete a rendition of her project, The Feast, an educational performance where she creates handmade plates and place settings that celebrate the many Native American tribes of the United States. Pursel will cook and serve Native American traditional foods from Native American-owned companies using her handcrafted plates. The event hopes to educate, bring awareness to, and spark dialogue surrounding issues affecting Indian Country, both historically and presently. More information about The Feast, including how to participate, will be announced on the PlySpace website (www.plyspace.org).

Pursel is an interdisciplinary artist specializing in interactive, socially engaged, and performance arts. Through art she explores personal identity drawing from her Indigenous and Irish Catholic roots. Her work has been shown at public parks, universities, galleries, and alternative spaces across the U.S. and Canada. Pursel received her MFA in Expanded Media at the University of Kansas and her BFA in Painting from the University of Missouri. She was the first recipient of the Ucross Fellowship for Native American Visual Artists, received a Rocket Grant through the Charlotte Street Foundation and the Spencer Museum of Art, was selected for the Indigenous Arts Initiative Residency program through the Kansas Creative Arts Industries Commission and the University of Kansas, was awarded a BeWildReWild Community Art Grant through the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation. Pursel is an enrolled member of the Ioway Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska.

Both Trad and Pursel will speak about their work during a special PlySpace panel discussion held November 14th from 6-8 PM at the Ball State University School of Art, Arts & Journalism Building, Rm 225. They will be joined by artist Toby Kaufmann-Buhler (Lafayette, IN) and moderator Tania Said (Muncie, IN), Director of Education for the David Owsley Museum of Art at Ball State University. Heritage in Practice: A Panel Discussion will ask the three interdisciplinary artists to reflect on their use of personal and cultural heritage in their artwork. Each panelist has a unique method for working within the sometimes sticky practice of uniting art, performance, and installation with personal family heritage, genealogy, or culture. The artists will share a short presentation about how they successfully use personal, family, and cultural heritage in their work and will discuss the complexities of heritage work as a panel.

More information about PlySpace Fall Term events can be found on the PlySpace website at http://www.PlySpace.org/events and the PlySpace Facebook page. Learn more about the residents by visiting http://www.PlySpace.org/our-residents. Questions or comments about the PlySpace Residency program, events, and community collaborations can be directed to the Residency Coordinator, Erin Williams, at hello@plyspace.org.

PlySpace is a program of Muncie Arts and Culture Council in partnership with the City of Muncie, Ball State University School of Art, and Sustainable Muncie Corporation. PlySpace is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.

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Muncie Arts and Culture Council Announces Fall 2019 PlySpace Residents and Events - munciejournal.com

Yesterday, two things happened at Apple that seem unrelated, but actually have more to do with one another than you might think. The company released a high-end version of its AirPods, now called the AirPods Pro. It did thison the same day it announced its third-quarter earnings. And while the two things aren't directly connected, the AirPods Pro represent Apple's best chance at turning around its financial performance as iPhone growth continues to slow.

We'll get to the financial results in a minute, but first, the new toys. The new AirPods Pro are, in my opinion, the best in-ear buds you can buy based on the combination of smart design, incredible sound, and top-notch noise cancellation. They're almost $100 more than the previous version ($50 more than the wireless charging case version), but that's worth it for the better fit, sweat-resistant design, and noise cancellation.

Here's my breakdown of why they're worth it, plus why they matter so much to Apple:

Design

The AirPods Pro are actually a little shorter, but stockier than the original AirPods. They also extend into the ear canal further than the non-pro version, which means they form a much better seal. You'll also notice that they have a flat area on the stem, which is where you can use tap controls to play or pause music, skip to the next song, or toggle through the various noise-cancellation settings (we'll get to that in a minute).

I've long been a huge fan of the original AirPods, even more than I thought I would be. Overall, the Pro version seem a little more balanced in my ear, perhaps due to the fact that it feels like more of the weight is resting in your ear instead of hanging out.And, just like the AirPods, connecting them to your devices is simple and fast. In fact, the AirPods Pro seem to do an even better job of switching back and forth between different devices.

By the way, in addition to the noise cancellation, which we'll get to in a second, they have another ridiculously cool feature.They work with the "Find My" feature on the iPhone, meaning that if you lose them, they'll show up on a map.

And, even better, for the times when you realize that the map shows they're in your homeor office, or wherever, you can have them play a sound to help you find them in the seat cushion. It even lets you choose which earbud to play since it's not that helpful for the left earbud to be chirping if you're holding it in your hand while looking for the right.

Sound

Thanks to the audio-sharing feature, I was able to compare the AirPods Pro against both the AirPods and the PowerBeats Pro. While I'm not going to pretend my comparison was highly scientific, the AirPods Pro sound really good. They were fuller and clearer than the AirPods, and while the PowerBeats Pro have more deep punchy bass, the AirPods Pro have a more balanced tone throughout. Bottom line: they sound really, really good.

Part of that is because of all the technology Apple has packed into such a small piece of hardware. Apple says the AirPods Pro have an in-ear microphone that listens inside your ear, which not only helps with noise cancellation but also tunes the sound based on the shape of your ear.

Noise Cancellation

I imagine this is the reason you came to this party, and Apple doesn't disappoint. The active noise cancellation (ANC) is really good. In fact, I was sitting in my carwhen I first put them in my ears, and I actually thought my car had stopped running. If you love the simplicity of the AirPods butcrave the ability to shut out the outside world, say on an airplaneor in a busy office, the Pro version delivers.

But even more impressive, is the Transparency modewhich actually pipes in just a bit of ambient noise for those times when you need to be more aware of your surroundings. since the AirPods Pro form a seal, just turning off ANC doesn't necessarily let in much ambient noise, but in a totally Apple-way, the company solves that problem for when you're walking down a busy street, or just want to know what's happening around you while you work.

Why They Matter to Apple

The other release yesterday forApple was its quarterly earnings announcement. The big news is that while iPhone sales were down a little over 9 percent, the company actually increased its revenue by almost 2 percent, largely driven by wearables. In fact, Apple says its wearable category--made up of AirPods and Apple Watch--grew by 54 percent. Most of that growth was driven by AirPods, which are already Apple's second-best-selling product launch (after the original iPad).

That's not hard to believe when you see the ubiquitous white stems hanging out of every pair of ears on the subway or in a coffee shop.Apple's wearable products are easily its best growth driver over the next five years, largely because the smartphone market is already so saturated.

But even more importantly, wearables, and especially the AirPods, are a driver for growth because they are smart and personal, which is what Apple's brand has always represented. People love Apple's products because they have a personal connectionand because they just work.

In that regard, the AirPods Pro are the perfect Apple product. They sound amazing, are super simple to use, and they are designed to be worn. It doesn't get any more personal than that.

The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.

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The AirPods Pro Are the Best In-Ear Buds You Can Buy, and Apple's Most Important Product - Inc.

Muhammed Goolab, executive committee member of the South African Reward Association (Sara), answers frequently asked questions about your pay.

* Why do my friends get paid more than me if we do the same work? Several factors determine individual pay levels. Some industries pay more for a specific skill, or may even pay a premium for skills on which they place more value.

A company's financial performance, as well as the individual's performance, can also contribute to different salaries for the same skill.

* How do I get more cash out of my salary? Most organisations in South Africa offer cost-to-company packages which indicate the total direct and indirect (for example, pension and medical scheme benefits) pay that an employee receives in a year.

Cost-to-company packages generally allow employees to adjust some of the benefits of their package, such as pension fund and medical scheme contributions.

Excerpt from:
Understand how to get the best out of your pay - Independent Online