Pirates notebook: Cardinals visit again with plenty at stake

Source: Pittsburgh Post-GazetteAug.迷你倉 30–Get ready for the biggest series in PNC Park history, Part 2.OK, so this three-game series against the St. Louis Cardinals isn’t quite as awe-inspiring as the five-game series the two teams played a month ago at PNC Park. But it’s every bit as meaningful, as the series winner will own at least a share of first place in the National League Central Division.The Cardinals and Pirates have played eight games in the past month, and the Pirates are 5-3 in that span. Neither team has been able to gain much separation from the other in this division race, while the Cincinnati Reds aren’t far behind.But the Pirates are approaching this upcoming series — their last at home against the Cardinals this season — with a low-key attitude.”To see how much emphasis is being put on a day-to-day basis and a series-to-series basis, it’s partially humorous to us,” second baseman Neil Walker said. “The days aren’t different for us. It’s a different pitcher on the mound, it’s maybe a [different] lineup for us. But we’re just going out there trying to compete and win.”The Pirates have learned in the past month that they don’t shrink in a marquee series, which wasn’t the case the past two seasons. An August series against the Reds last year was the start of a second-half collapse. In 2011, it was back-to-back series against the Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies — two of the top teams in the NL East — that did in the Pirates.”There are a lot of guys here with experience that have been to the postseason, deep in the postseason and have been in pennant races,” reliever Tony Watson said. “We can lean on those guys.”Walker stressed that the way the Pirates follow this head-to-head series could be just as important as the way they handle the Cardinals the next three days.In this case, that’s especially true; the Pirates and Cardinals meet again next week in St. Louis.Roster maneuveringThe Pirates will approach September roster expansions a little differently, manager Clint Hurdle said, to help the team prepare for a playoff run.The front office had an exercise in playoff roster management last season, when the Pirates climbed 16 games above .500 in August. But by the end of the month, the team had already started its collapse.While they haven’t played well文件倉this month, they still have a good grasp on a playoff spot.”There are more roots to that thinking last year,” Hurdle said. “There are more roots to the thinking of what you need to add, competitively, for your potential [opponents].”The Pirates anticipate increasing their active roster to 34 or 35 players in September, when MLB active rosters can grow as large as 40 players, Hurdle said.Some will join the roster Sunday, some will join Tuesday after Class AA Altoona’s season ends and others will join when Class AAA Indianapolis finishes its playoff run.But the process is a little different this season because the playoffs are a very real possibility.Locke plans to “step back”Starter Jeff Locke, who was optioned to Class AA Altoona Wednesday, will keep his spot in the rotation, Hurdle said.The left-hander will use this week away from the Pirates as a chance to get some physical and mental rest.”It’s just a blow to get away from the field for a little bit,” Locke said. “I’ll just step back.”Locke will miss one start, but he will still be eligible for the postseason. He said he is OK with the team’s decision to option him, but he would rather not take a break.”I don’t think I need one, but I hope everybody would say the same thing,” he said.Marte updateStarling Marte (right hand contusion) took one-handed swings with his left hand in the batting cage Wednesday. If healing in his right hand continues to progress, he could take two-handed swings as soon as this weekend — a little less than two weeks after being injured.Marte was instructed by doctors to take two weeks away from swinging.If there are no complications, the Pirates hope to send Marte on a rehabilitation assignment late next week.Black headed to MetsThe Pirates sent reliever Vic Black to the New York Mets as the final piece in the four-player trade that brought Marlon Byrd and John Buck to Pittsburgh, the team announced.Black, 25, spent most of the season in Indianapolis but made his major league debut earlier this year. He made three appearances in the majors, posting a 4.50 ERA.Michael Sanserino: msanserino@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1722 and Twitter @msanserino.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Visit the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette at .post-gazette.com Distributed by MCT Information Services存倉

TV搖搖樂今日全新升級搖手機，就有機會贏取一輛汽車

信息來源於四川新聞網 / Cited from .newssc.org/成都商報訊（記者 張世豪）記者從成都電視台第二頻道（CDTV2）獲悉：從今天開始，迷你倉其獨家研發的新媒體游樂軟件———TV搖搖樂全新改版，並將推出一系列大動作，還可以通過TV搖搖樂贏取汽車大獎！據介紹，TV搖搖樂自7月上線以來，下載用戶已經超過15萬。據瞭解，“搖神送汽車”活動從今天到9月28日止，每個TV搖搖樂新註冊用戶都可以免費得到一個抽獎號，老用戶也可以用5枚金幣換一個抽獎號。9月28日晚，CDTV2將直播“搖神送汽車”抽獎過程。據介紹，此次活動設大獎一名，獎品為一輛汽車使用權；幸運獎十名，獎品為智能手機一部。TV搖搖樂相關人士介紹說，除了推出刺激的“搖神送汽車”活動之外，TV搖搖樂最新功能“快成都”也在今天火熱上線。“快成都”上除了隨時發佈成都本地和全國乃儲存倉全世界的最新重大新聞外，還有當下最熱門話題的討論區，用戶可以在討論區互動評論，評論成功TV搖搖樂將送上金幣獎勵。此外，“快成都”還設置了爆料區，用戶可以隨時隨地把身邊新聞事件或者好吃好玩的事情通過文字、圖片、音頻上傳，同樣，上傳成功也有數額不等的金幣獎勵。同時改版的還有“搖神爭霸”賽制，現推出“車輪戰”“三搖贏”“一招勝”三種方式，玩起來更省時更刺激。本屆成都國際車展，TV搖搖樂也在展場上設立專門展位，供參觀車展的市民體驗和下載。在車展現場下載TV搖搖樂，不僅可以免費獲得金幣、大米、礦泉水和“搖神送汽車”抽獎號等，還可以和“搖神”現場投骰子一決高低，無論輸贏，都有驚喜獎品相贈。“TV搖搖樂”下載很簡單：短信發送116至10669588116，或者掃描本文所配的二維碼，即可免費下載。或者掃描CDTV-2屏幕右上角的二維碼，也可免費下載。迷你倉價錢

國產智能手機大賣的�示

馬志剛最近國產智能手機銷量大增、市場占位靠前的消息傳來，存倉令人振奮。聯想到一批昔日手機“巨頭”的沒落和相當多企業遭遇經營壓力的實際，國產品牌手機企業的“風光”足以給我們兩個重要�示：一是轉型升級對企業來說是挑戰更是機遇，乘勢而為才能有所作為；二是自主創新是企業生存壯大的根本出路，堅持走創新之路才能把握機遇、贏得主動。近年來，在全球手機行業大洗牌中，一些國產品牌手機企業成為“疾風勁草”，由弱到強不斷發展壯大，產銷量躋身全球前列。據中國電子信息產業發展研究院統計，今年上半年，國產品牌智能手機銷量達到1.3億台，較2012年同期大漲115%，在國內智能手機市場的占比超過60%，聯想、宇龍、華為、中興進入國內市場智能手機銷量前五，另一位是三星。國產智能手機大賣、市場占位靠前原因有很多，但根子在於企業抓住了信息消費升溫和手機應用轉型的機遇，苦練內功，不斷提高自主創新能力，推出了一批符合國情、適應市場需求的智能手機品牌和產品。這幾年，隨著信息技術和移動互聯網的快速發展，信息消費進入發展的黃金期，以即時通信、音視頻、電子商務、移動支付等為代表的移動智能應用和服務快速崛起，帶動手機種類從功能機向智能機全面轉型，成為互聯網業務的關鍵入口和信息消費的重要載體。按照中國互聯網絡信息中心的數據，截至6月底，我國手機網民規模已達4.64億，網民中使用手機上網的人群占比提升至78.5%。面對巨大的財富蛋糕和誘人的市場前景，國產品牌手機企業牢牢把握契機，實現了從功能機到智能機的轉型，才收穫了今天的碩果。機迷你倉總是垂青勇於創新、善於創新的企業。我國創新驅動戰略的深入推進和企業自主創新能力的不斷提升，是國產品牌手機得以降低成本、提升品質、把握機遇的關鍵。有這樣一組數據可以說明問題：去年中國研發投入超過1萬億元，達中等發達國家水平；國產智能手機核心芯片研發和產業化取得突破，多核應用處理器性能達到國際主流水平，智能手機顯示屏自給率達到60%；華為用于研究開發的費用高達300億元，同比增長近30%，在全球電子高科技企業中處於領先地位。反觀一些昔日的手機巨頭，恰恰因為在創新上裹足不前，與手機行業轉型的機遇失之交臂。諾基亞的例子最為典型。它曾是手機行業當之無愧的最強品牌，但最近幾年裡，從諾基亞傳出的幾乎只有壞消息，利潤率、手機平均售價和市場份額均萎縮，究其原因主要在於這家創新企業中的典範在智能手機時代“落伍”了，缺少“推倒重來”的創新膽識和勇氣，在關鍵時點未能及時向智能手機全面轉型，未能創造出讓消費者興奮的新產品，最終“一步落後，步步落後”。客觀地講，目前國產智能手機企業在創新能力、產品利潤率等方面，與三星、蘋果等知名企業仍存在較大差距，但路子是對的，它們已經在創新驅動的“萬里長征路”上邁出了重要一步。廣大企業特別是那些仍在轉型十字路口徘徊的企業，應該以此為研究、借鑒的樣板，順應本行業轉型發展大勢，緊緊抓住提高自主創新能力這個中心環節，抓住推動產業結構優化升級這個主攻方向，走上創新驅動的發展道路。這是企業有效化解經濟轉型期各種風險和挑戰的法寶，也是培育新優勢、把握主動權的“單行道”，別無他路。自存倉

Twist on tradition

Is there room for yet another Italian eatery in Singapore? BT Weekend sniffs out four new Italian eateries that up the game by offering more than meets the eyeSopra Cucina and Bar#01-02 Pan Pacific Orchard, 10 Claymore RoadTel 6737-0811Hours: 11:30am-midnight (Mon-Wed), 11.新蒲崗迷你倉30am-2am (Thu-Sat)It’s hard to pull new tricks out of the overflowing bag that is the Italian dining scene in Singapore, so the people behind handsome new restaurant, Sopra, decided that the best way to compete is to simply bring something new to the table.Hence the spotlight is on the cuisine of Sardinia, a Mediterranean island just off the West coast of Italy known for its hearty, pastoral fare.”Most of the Italian food in Singapore is from Tuscany or Sicily, but people forget that there are 18 other regions in Italy, and each one with a completely different cuisine,” observes Sopra’s Italian restaurant manager, Mauro Serrajotto.Compatriot head chef Simone Depalmas is a native of Sassari in Sardinia, where he has worked as a chef for most of his life before moving to Singapore a few months ago – and being fresh off the boat, so to speak, has its advantages.”This is my first time working out of Italy, so I’m cooking as I do in Italy,” he explains, after waxing lyrical about the access to free-range meats and fish bought straight off a fisherman’s daily haul that he gets back home. Of the myriad Italian dishes he has sampled here, “some of them don’t even exist back home in Italy,” observes Depalmas. “My idea is to create the pure Italian taste, not something adapted for local tastebuds.”Bucking the stereotype of Italian food as creamy carbonara sauces and carb-laden pastas, Deplamas’ creations are largely free of heavy butter or cream-based sauces.Expect rarely seen but traditional pasta like the little knobby-shaped chewy Malloredus in meaty sauces or chewy pearls of fregola bathed in light seafood stew. All of Sopra’s pastas, breads and pizzas are made onsite in the restaurant’s sprawling 800 sq m premises.Specifically Sardinia-imported pecorino cheese also features liberally on the menu whether enveloped in crisp wafer thin Carasau bread and drizzled with honey, or stuffed in deep-fried fritters. The best way to sample all the regional specialities is to zoom in on the Sardo degustation menu ($98++ for a minimum of two, $158++ with wine pairing).Signature cocktails tastefully work in Italian amaro, or herbal liquer, for those not use to pounding them back as a digestif, while a range of Italian craft beers and Sardinian wines are also available by the glass ($9.50 to $26) and by the bottle (from $58).Unadventurous and still unconvinced? Classic pan-Italian dishes such as lasagne, burrata salad and fettucine bolognese are fail-proof Plan Bs, or go for the pizzas,which come in more than 20 flavours and three sizes (9″, 14″ and 20”), including a gourmet range folding in premium ingredients such as tuna bottarga, salmon caviar, wagyu beef and lobster salad ($52 to $59).By Debbie Yongdebyong@sph.com.sgTastes of Italy and Peru in one biteSupply & Demand8 Raffles Avenue #01-13Esplanade MallHours: 11.30am-11.30pm (Sun-Thu), 11.30am-2am (Fri-Sat) .facebook.com/supplydemandsinOpens mid-SeptemberWHAT do Italian food and Peruvian cooking have in common? To most people, the similarities may not be immediately obvious, but that hasn’t put off the team behind upcoming Italian-Peruvian restaurant, Supply & Demand, from trying to meld the two cuisines together.Set to open in a fortnight, the mammoth 200-seater takes over the former premises of Italian trattoria, Al Dente, at the Esplanade Mall and is a labour of love among five friends – Foong Yeap, Samdy Kan, Jacelyn and Joanne Ngo and Jeremy Tan – who had each dabbled in the F&B industry at some point in their lives.But their first restaurant venture together won’t be heading down the trite fusion food route. Instead, Supply & Demand will have classic Peruvian and Italian creations separately listed on its menu, with just a few dishes combining influences from both cultures. “Fusion is rarely done correctly and well, we want to stay true to the fundamental flavours of each cuisine,” explains Kan, an alumnus of Italian restaurants such as Senso and Barpazza and one of the restaurant’s two head chefs. Still, he’s confident that the two cuisines share many similarities – plenty of Italian food is consumed in Peru, and the Italian and Spanish languages are close cousins – hence there won’t be too large a cultural rift.Heading up the Peruvian half of the kitchen is Foong Yeap, a classmate of Kan’s from culinary academy, At-Sunrice, and who later cooked aboard a cruise ship in the United States. The latter is also where she met her Peruvian partner, with whom she spent six months eating her way through Peru earlier this year.Now back in Singapore, Foong hopes to recreate the flavours she’s tasted in her time abroad, including classics such as the aquadito de pollo or chicken soup, mashed potato-based causas, anticuchos (skewered meat) and of course, the ubiquitous ceviche and tiradito, or Peruvian raw fish salads.On the Italian side of things, expect crowd favourites such as starters of parma ham with melon, risotto rice balls, a range of pastas in three base sauces (tomato, cream or olive oil), seafoods such as fish and lobster done in various styles, and over 20 flavours of pizza.The group estimates spending about $800,000 doing up the gritty, industrial-chic space, thanks to co-founder Tan, who also runs an interior design business. Expansion is already on the cards, with a second 1,900 sq ft outlet set to open in Orchard Gateway next January.There’s even talk of eventually setting up a direct import company to bring in less commonly available South American ingredients such as maize, aji (chillis) in fresh and paste forms, and classic Peruvian hauncaina and rocotto sauces.Peruvian dishes will take up about 80 per cent of the menu at their second outlet, says Kan, while the third outlet will eventually be a full-fledged Peruvian restaurant.”Peruvian food is still so new in Singapore, we want to start with something safe and familiar first.”?By Debbie Yongdebyong@sph.com.sgChinese accent on Italian fareNo Menu Bar7 Boon Tat Street Tel 62240091Hours: 8-12am (Mon-Fri), 5.3mini storagepm-12am (Sat and Public Holidays), Closed on SundaysOpens Sept 9OSVALDO Forlino is one name you might trust to put homemade pasta on your dinner plate. But would you trust that same name if it were to serve you coffeeshop cai fan?It does seem a little unconventional for the Italian chef and owner behind No Menu restaurant to be including Chinese cuisine at his new venture, No Menu Bar, when it opens the following Monday. But Forlino has a simple and practical explanation – he just wants to satisfy the demand.”Before I took over, that corner shop used to sell Chinese food. And it was so busy. So I knew that is what people would want. If we sell Italian tapas, we probably won’t have business,” he explains. After all, No Menu restaurant already serves the clientele that prefers a sit-down Italian lunch, so his new eatery should provide a little variety, he adds.”I am just an Italian selling Chinese food, so I won’t design the menu. I know nothing. But I have Chinese chefs. So I’ll let them do it,” he promises. And according to executive chef Nelson Wong, 44, he intends to do a simple Chinese mixed rice selection, where the average plate of rice with one vegetable and two meat dishes will cost about $5 to $6.But it’s just one section that will be set aside during weekday lunch hour. The rest of No Menu Bar is made up of stripped-down takeaway counters that will sell pizza slices, sandwiches, pastas, etc that customers can quickly consume at the al fresco dining area. And much like a deli, there will be Italian products such as olive oil, parma ham, pasta and salami for sale.At night, Forlino intends to do away with the casual cafeteria style and have a full-service dinner with an a la carte menu of Italian food, and a cocktail and tapas bar. The selection of tapas includes a caprese salad of fresh tomatoes and mozzarella cheese, a roasted pork belly accompanied with a sweet apple sauce, or green asparagus wrapped in parma ham and topped with a poached egg, all to be priced at $7 each.”For lunch, people need fast, cheap, good quality food. So if we do fine-dining with waiters and a manager, nobody will come. It’s like if you go to the North Pole, you don’t sell ice. But in Singapore, you can. I have to sell what people need,” says Forlino.By Rachel Loirachloi@sph.com.sgItalian food that pushes the boundariesFratini La Trattoria10 Greenwood AvenueOpens mid-SeptWHEN Fratini La Trattoria opens along residential dining stretch Greenwood Avenue later next month, it won’t – like most Italian restaurants here – serve any pizza, burrata or even spaghetti vongole.Instead, you may be presented a plate of rigatoni, the pasta elegantly wrapped around a clump of meat sauce and oven-baked rather than smothered with sauce and saut?med in a pan.And in place of the traditional lasagne, the restaurant will dish out fagotto di lasagne, a double-layered pasta pouch plated in individual servings rather than sloppily carved out from a large platter.Not a new-fangled creation by any means, the latter is in fact a 25-year-old signature creation of Italian chef, Gabriel Fratini. After a decade-long hiatus from Singapore, the 55-year-old is back to leave his imprint in Singapore with Fratini La Trattoria.If that name sounds familiar, that’s because he’s done it all before. The native of Pescara, in Northern Italy, first came to Singapore in the late 1980s as the former head chef of Domvs at the Sheraton Towers, and later went on to open rustic Fratini La Trattoria in Neil Road and the slightly more upmarket Fratini II Ristorante in Ngee Ann City, before giving it all up to raise his children in Europe.Now the two kids – a 21-year-old daughter and 19-year-old son – are all grown-up and leaning towards building careers in Asia, Fratini and his Singaporean wife are back home to roost, too. “It’s the best time for me to prepare the path for their return,” he says.As for version 2.0 of Fratini La Trattoria, Fratini says: “What I want to do is traditional Italian food with a chef’s twist. I’m reconstructing the dishes to give them a modern look.”In his absence from Singapore, he’s been jetsetting around Europe as a private chef to a wide clasp of billionaires, European royalty and presidents – experiences that have collectively helped to refine and modernise his cooking, he says. “You just can’t go to them and do ‘Mama’s cooking.'”But can Italian food really be taken into the 21st century and beyond? Can food taste as good when not dished out by an aproned and rotund Italian woman?”The idea of Italian food being only ‘mama’s cooking’ is so decades ago. Today, we have three Michelin star restaurants in Italy and ‘mama’s cooking’ is hard to find even in small restaurants,” retorts Fratini. “Ten years ago, you were dressed differently, so why aren’t you wearing the same dress today? We have to move with the times.”Pass?m for Fratini, too, are heavy-set Italian menus offering everything from soup to dolce, and every course in between. Instead, he wants to keep things simple – and seasonal.The a la carte menu is kept small – three starters, three pastas and three mains at any one time – so that focus can be thrown onto the restaurant’s daily specials that will written on a chalkboard that flanks the entire 40-seater, 1,300 sq ft space.A wine cellar at the back of the restaurant doubles as a private room for 10 to 20 guests, and all wines on Fratini’s list will be available by the glass, including the highly prized Tignanello ($40 to $42 per glass), while bottle prices will start at $50. If you just want to kick back with a drink and some small bites, assagini – think of it as Italian tapas – will also be served, or go the whole hog with degustation menus spotlighting Fratini’s bespoke appetisers, a trio of pastas or main courses and dessert ($70 to $85).When operations stabilise, Fratini also hopes to launch lunch time cooking classes with a personal touch. Each session will be capped at four participants and the lessons will be devised according to what participants request to learn.As for the glut of Italian restaurants here, Fratini is not too bothered: “I’m doing something that no one else does, and I believe that as long as you are doing something good, there will always be room.”By Debbie Yongdebyong@sph.com.sgself storage

Are you going to the Utah State Fair

Source: Standard-Examiner, Ogden, UtahAug.迷你倉 30–Let’s face it. If you spend much time with Utah State Fair food — funnel cakes stuffed with fruit and cream, deep-fried whatnots, fresh golden corn dripping with butter — you’ll need to shake a tail feather to burn off a few calories.You don’t even have to leave the fair to do it, with lots of entertainment events to watch and even participate in this year.There are a lot of new additions this year, including a newly opened TRAX line to make getting there a parking-free cinch.And then there is the new interactive aspect on the Grandstand stage, said Jeff Kooring, the fair’s director of sales and marketing.”Concerts are fun, and we have some good ones,” Kooring said, “but it is also nice to get a little more involved.”One such act will be American Pickers, the gang from the History Channel show who find treasures in the strangest places. The Pickers are at the fair on Sept. 7.”Audience members will have to register in advance, and then they can bring their trash or treasure for inspection,” said Kooring. “The guys will take a look, and if they like it, they’ll try to buy it.”Another interactive show coming to the Grandstand is “The Price Is Right” Live, on Sept. 12.”Just like the TV show, certain audience members will be chosen to come on down and play the game,” said Kooring. “There are prizes, even a car.”On Sept. 14, the Grandstand turns into a sand dune when Kahuna Beach Party, a Denver-based Beach Boys tribute, takes the stage — twice.”There will be dancing and a surfboard contest and other events for people to enjoy. This is one we are hoping will become an annual event if all goes well.”The fairgrounds entertainment also includes two new events this year — one showing skills and strength, and one purely whimsical.”We are having the Paul Bunyan Lumberjack Show,” said Kooring. “That will be really cool — log-rolling, tree-chopping and climbing. It is a big one, and I think people will be fascinated. We also have the Great American Duck Race. These are live ducks that race down water courses.”As for musical acts, Kooring said, organizers went with a diverse mix. For many years, Fiesta Mexicana, an organization outside the festival, presented on the festival’s final Sunday. The group has left the fair this year to present its own event, said Kooring.文件倉nstead, as the closer, the fair brings Ramon Ayala, known as the King of the Accordion in Norteno and Conjunto music circles.”We will always book at least one Latin act, because we love that element. Ramon is huge and we expect that one to sell out, so get tickets now if you want to see him.”Another twist, also with a Latin element, is Caleb Chapman’s Crescent Super Band, with international Latin star Poncho Sanchez. Kooring hopes to draw people who might not normally attend the fair with that show — but he hopes they’ll stay for more than music.”I guess my real question is, what do people need from the fair? We do have these new events, but is that what they need? When we ask them straight out, it is usually about crazy food, animals and rides. I have to agree — when I go to the fair, I really like to see a great big pig, or eat a deep-fried Snicker, or play games.”Grandstand acts* 7:30 p.m. Sept. 5 — Plain White T’s, $20/advance $26/day of* 7:30 p.m. Sept. 6 — Amy Grant, $24/advance, $29/day of* 7:30 p.m. Sept. 7 — American Pickers, “Treasure or Trash,” free with fair admission* 7:30 p.m. Sept. 8 — Love and Theft, free with fair admission* 7:30 p.m. Sept. 9 — Bridgit Mendler, $22/advance, $27/day of* 7:30 p.m. Sept. 10 — .38 Special, $22/advance, $27/day of* 7:30 p.m. Sept. 11 — Caleb Chapman’s Crescent Super Band, with Poncho Sanchez, free with fair admission* 5 p.m. Sept. 12 — “The Price Is Right” Live, $22-$37/advance, $27-$42/day of* 7 p.m. Sept. 13 — Texaco Country Showdown state finals, free with fair admission.* 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. Sept. 14 — Kahuna Beach Party, $15/adults, children 12 and under admitted free with fair admission.* 7:30 p.m. Sept. 15 — Ramon Ayala, $22/advance, $27/day of.For further detail, go to .utahstatefair.com.PREVIEW* WHAT: Utah State Fair* WHEN: 10 a.m.-10 p.m., Sept. 5-15, extended to 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays* WHERE: Utah State Fairpark, 155 N. 1000 West, Salt Lake City* TICKETS: $10, $7/age 62 and older and 6 to 12, free/age 5 and younger. Adult tickets are $7 if purchased through Smith’s grocery store checkout. Ride wristbands are $18-$25. Other discounts may apply. .utahstatefair.comCopyright: ___ (c)2013 the Standard-Examiner (Ogden, Utah) Visit the Standard-Examiner (Ogden, Utah) at .standard.net Distributed by MCT Information Services存倉

Port Richey councilman wants O’Neill to resign

Source: Tampa Tribune, Fla.迷你倉Aug. 30–PORT RICHEY — A Port Richey city councilman has called for City Manager Tom O’Neill’s resignation in light of O’Neill’s pending DUI charge and the revelation that his blood alcohol content was more than four times the legal limit.”I believe I was lied to — we all were lied to — when he led us to believe he was having a medical condition,” Councilman Terrence Rowe said. “I don’t have trust in my city manager anymore.”He attempted to call a special meeting to deal with the matter, but three other council members declined to second his motion and the fourth, Councilman Steve O’Neill, didn’t return phone calls from the city clerk. “This is going to have to lay for two weeks until we have our next council meeting,” Rowe said. “I’m very upset.”The next City Council meeting is Sept. 10 at 7:30 p.m.Councilwoman Nancy Britton accused Rowe of sensationalizing the matter. “Do I think this is a serious matter? Absolutely,” she said. “But there’s no reason it can’t wait for 10 days until our next meeting.”She said she didn’t feel a sense of urgency because O’Neill wasn’t drinking on the job and wasn’t driving a city vehicle. “I mean, he’s not stealing money,” she said. “He didn’t do something unethical. He did something stupid.”Councilman Bill Colombo said he still trusts O’Neill. “Do I feel like he was forthcoming? Yes,” he said.Pasco State Attorney Bernie McCabe charged O’Neill Thursday with a single misdemeanor count of DUI for the July 13 incident that New Port Richey police initially classified as a “welfare check.” O’Neill’s blood alcohol content was .367, according to an affidavit filed by the officer who found him shortly before midnight, unconscious and slumped behind the wheel of his SUV with the motor running.New Port Richey Cpl. William Phillips did not charge O’Neill or impound his vehicle at the time. Instead, he was taken to North Bay Hospital for treatment, accompanied by Port Richey Police Chief Dave Brown. Port Richey police drove the car to his house, and Phillips returned his keys to him at the hospital.New Port Richey Police Chief Kim Bogart said Brown did not make an overt attempt to influence the investigation. “But I don’t think the chief took a passive role, either,” he said. “I think his presence at the scene comp儲存倉icated the situation unnecessarily.”In his sworn statement, Phillips said he learned that O’Neill has consumed “large amounts of alcohol” that night and displayed “telltale signs of intoxication.” He had bloodshot eyes, slurred speech, and he couldn’t stand without assistance from paramedics.Rowe said O’Neill was “a danger to the public that night.” O’Neill was hired as city manager in 2011 after a 35-year career at the city of New Port Richey, which included a short stint as city manager. He works at the discretion of the council and can be fired without cause, according to his contract.”This may have happened on his personal time, but his actions reflect back on the city,” Rowe said. “At the very least, I would like to place him on administrative leave until the case is resolved.”O’Neill’s arraignment is scheduled for Sept. 12. O’Neill told the Tribune he was in the process of hiring an attorney and would not comment until the case was resolved.Rowe also had strong words for Brown, who he believes influenced the investigation, but stopped short of calling for his ouster. Brown, who is close friends with O’Neill, told Phillips his boss was taking medication for a medical condition.”It looks like there was interference there,” Rowe said. “I know he wishes he hadn’t been there that night.”Still, he said New Port Richey Police should have followed through with a DUI investigation that night. “They didn’t follow procedure — it stopped somewhere along the line,” Rowe said.Bogart agreed that Phillips “could have done more” and said the department “has learned a great deal as a result of the incident.” Ultimately, it was Phillips’ signature on the DUI citation.Bogart said Phillips also erred by not briefing him immediately and by withholding information, such as the presence of the dashboard video. He didn’t learn about the incident until two days later, when he overheard some of his officers discussing it and he found out about the video from media reports. “I should have been notified,” he said. But he insisted “there was no cover-up on our agency’s part.”lkinsler@tampatrib.com(813) 371-1852Twitter @LKinslerTBOCopyright: ___ (c)2013 the Tampa Tribune (Tampa, Fla.) Visit the Tampa Tribune (Tampa, Fla.) at .tampatrib.com Distributed by MCT Information Services迷你倉價錢

Virginia Tech’s AgTech program puts students ahead of the herd

Source: The Roanoke Times, Va.迷你倉出租Aug. 30–BLACKSBURG — The eyes, and then the wide, bony head of the Charolais cow moved to follow five Virginia Tech students as they walked past her stall at the university’s Beef Center on Monday, the first day of fall semester classes.The 1,500-pound cow stepped forward slightly, signaling that nobody should consider messing with the small, bright white calf snuggled in the hay behind her.But the students paid the hulking mother no mind. They had all grown up around cows, and at least three of them plan to go home after graduation to work in their family cattle operations.These students are just starting their second year at Tech, b ut if all goes as planned, they will graduate in May with a two-year degree in agricultural technology, Virginia Tech’s only associate degree program.If averages hold, those students all will be employed soon after commencement at an average $31,000 starting salary — about the same, administrators say, as their four-year counterparts.Since its inception in the 1980s, the program has graduated more than 1,000 students. One of them is Chad Joines, now agricultural supervisor at the Beef Center.”I grew up on a farm and always wanted to go home,” said Joines, a 1993 graduate .Joines said he developed a love for cattle breeding and genetics during his course work, and he wanted to stay in Virginia. He got a job as a herdsman at Tech right out of school and worked his way up.Today, he helps with the breeding of Tech’s beef research and teaching herd, and the teaching of some of the animal science labs — after spending half as much time and half as much money as a four-year graduate.Joines said he “definitely got the bang for my buck.”Established in 1987 with help from the Virginia Farm Bureau and Virginia Agribusiness Council, Tech’s Agricultural Technology Program is one of fewer than a dozen such two-year degrees offered at land-grant universities across the United States, director Pavli Mykerezi said.Students may earn one of two diplomas in applied agriculture management or landscape/turf grass management. Graduates go on to run farms and businesses and work in agriculture and sports field management.The program comprises 61 credit hours of classroom instruction and extensive hands-on learning meant to produce entrepreneurial graduates for the agricultural and turf grass industries. Students also must complete a 10-week internship, for a total of 64 credit hours.Four-year graduates, in contrast, must complete 120 credit hours, including liberal arts and math and science courses not required by the AgTech program.The program’s mission harks back to the very beginnings of the university in the 1870s, when it was called Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College. VAMC drew students from around the region with the promise that higher education could boost the productivity and profitability of the state’s families and farms.Today the AgTech program is “very, very close to the original intent and the clientele of the original land-grant institution,” said Jim McKenna, professor emeritus of agronomy and an instructor in the program.McKenna has been involved with AgTech since discussions about its formation began in the mid-1980s.”I could see then we were beginning to develop a gap between students coming from smaller, rural schools” and those from urban and suburban areas, McKenna said.It was becoming harder for rural students to gain admission to Tech and even to afford a four-year degree. A two-year program seemed a good way to bring more of these students into the land-grant system and prepare them for the work force, McKenna said.While community colleges fill work force needs and allow more higher education access, “no community college could possibly have the resources we have to teach applied agriculture,” McKenna said.Today a dedicated core of eight full- and part-time instructors are assigned to the program, and 10 affiliated faculty also pitch in. The students do intensi迷你倉e hands-on work, and are exposed to the latest in research, Mykerezi said.To be admitted, students are required to have a high school diploma or equivalent and a 2.5 grade point average.Students with lower GPAs may be accepted if they show a strong connection to the agriculture or turf grass industries and a high level of motivation, Mykerezi said.Students who complete the two-year program are automatically accepted into an agriculture bachelor’s degree program. That path requires five years of course work, however.This semester, the students enrolled in AgTech instructor Rachel Kohl’s beef and sheep management class will spend a lot of time with Joines and the beef center cows.In the field and in the classroom, they’ll learn about herd health, reproduction and nutrition, as well as farm management, said Kohl, a Tech graduate with a master’s degree in animal reproductive physiology and a small herd of cattle of her own at home in Catawba.Anybody can learn how to give a farm animal an injection, Kohl said. The purpose of the AgTech program “is teaching them why they need to give the injection, teaching them the science behind it.”The AgTech program also emphasizes a business and marketing curriculum meant to prepare students to run farms and companies, or to start their own.They learn labor management, financial management and risk management, Kohl said.That aspect of the program has been particularly helpful to Mitchell Stinespring, 20, who grew up on a beef farm in Bath County.When he graduates, Stinespring said he hopes to go back and help expand his family farm from about 80 head of beef cattle to 150. To do that, Stinespring said, he needs the business classes offered in the AgTech program. He didn’t need English and some of the other classes required for a four-year degree.”I thought, why not learn about something I want to do, instead of something I wasn’t going to pay attention to?” he said.Up to 40 percent of the program’s graduates go home to take over their family farms, serving the state’s need to replace its aging farmers, Mykerezi said.The program is also serving communities outside the U.S.Over the past four years, Mykerezi said, the program has been working to establish hands-on agricultural education programs in South Sudan and other developing countries.There, 30 years of civil unrest has kept people off the land and eroded the country’s capacity to grow its own food.”These countries really need this kind of education,” Pavli said.In addition to serving agricultural needs, the AgTech program serves nontraditional students interested in careers outside of traditional agriculture.David Callahand was 25 years old in 2005 when he had finally figured out what career he wanted: golf course superintendent. He was working at a course and studying widely to learn all he could about the job.When a superintendent position came open, Callahand said, he was passed over for the job. His boss said he’d be stuck on the crew u ntil he got a degree .Callahand’s grades and SAT scores had not been high enough to enroll in Tech’s four-year program, however. Furthermore, he said he didn’t want to be 30 years old and just finishing college.Then a co-worker told him about the AgTech program. After his first year of course work, Callahand did an internship at a nationally recognized golf course in Richmond. That experience and his access to instructors and the turf grass research center helped him understand the job at the highest levels, Callahand said.Before he graduated he already had received job offers in New York and Washington. He went to D.C. for a couple of years, then decided to move back to Roanoke. Today he’s assistant golf course superintendent at Hidden Valley Country Club.If not for the AgTech program, Callahand said, “I don’t know if I would have gone to college at all.”Copyright: ___ (c)2013 The Roanoke Times (Roanoke, Va.) Visit The Roanoke Times (Roanoke, Va.) at .roanoke.com Distributed by MCT Information Services儲存倉

18 charged in Wilkinsburg heroin ring

Source: Pittsburgh Post-GazetteAug.self storage 30–Detectives had known about the Wilkinsburg Crew for quite some time when they met with a confidential informant on Oct. 8, 2012, searched him for drugs and cash and then asked him to call a number operated by the violent heroin dealers.There was no answer. Almost immediately, the informant received a call back. The man on the other line had two bundles — or 20 stamp bags — of heroin called Daily Dosage. It was less powerful than the kind the informant had requested, but it could be his for $140.The informant got into a car, drove down winding McNary Boulevard in Wilkinsburg and parked in an agreed-upon location.A boy, about 13 years old, walked up to him and passed him 56 bags of heroin. The informant handed the boy cash and the two parted ways.A short time later, the informant met the boy again and gave him more money to account for the extra bags of heroin he received.That transaction resembled others outlined in a statewide grand jury presentment supporting charges filed Thursday against 18 people investigators have arrested in association with a group called the Wilkinsburg Crew.”Wilkinsburg has been a center for heroin distribution for many years,” according to the presentment. “What has changed over time is the individuals doing the distribution. The dealers have gotten younger, often in their late teens or early twenties, as have the runners.”They draw customers from Westmoreland County — where the number of fatal heroin overdoses has risen in recent years — and other locations in part because the drug is cheaper in Allegheny County than elsewhere. The members of this group, investigators said, preferred marijuana to heroin and were in the trade only to make money.Several groups sell heroin in Wilkinsburg but the Wilkinsburg Crew is “one of the big ones,” Wilkinsburg police Chief Ophelia Coleman said. “I just feel that it’s a great thing that we have law enforcement entities that work together to combat this crime.”Investigators have said the group is connected to several shootings and possibly also to homicides but would not go into further detail, saying they did not want to jeopardize future proceedings. The presentment outlines one instance in which two men plotted to rob and kill a third man charged alongside them so they could maintain control over the heroin trade.”This bust underscores many of the grave consequences associated with heroin and the drug trade,” state Attorney General Kathleen Kane said in a statement.This investigation was run primarily by the attorney general’s office and the Allegheny County police, whose detectives made several arrests in the fall of 2012 after receiving information that recent shootings might be connected to the heroin trade.Stringing together information they gathered using court-ordered wire taps, electronic surveillance and confidential informants, they determined that Garnett Long-Parham, 27, of Monroeville, traveled about once a month to Newark, N.J., and obtained an average of 1,500 bricks — or 75,000 bags — each time, according to the attorney general’s office. Investigators s迷你倉id Mr. Long-Parham sold to several dealers, including Julian Thompson, 20, of Wilkinsburg, who they described as a “central figure” in the Wilkinsburg Crew.At one point, according to the presentment, investigators listened to a conversation in which they thought Mr. Thompson and another man, later identified as Greg Nash, 33, of Garfield, were making plans to rob and kill Mr. Long-Parham when he returned from one of his trips to New Jersey, but later discovered the target was instead Tyree Young, 22, of Wilmerding, who also sold heroin.Charged in connection with “Operation Wilkinsburg Crew” are:–Julian Thompson, 20, of Wilkinsburg, charged with criminal conspiracy, participating in a corrupt organization and delivery of heroin.–Garnett Long-Parham, 27, of Monroeville, charged with criminal conspiracy, participating in a corrupt organization, delivery of heroin and one count of possession with attempt to deliver heroin.–Gregory Nash, 33, of Garfield, charged with conspiracy–Jasmine Carter, 23, no known address, charged with delivery and possession of heroin–Gregory Nash, 33, of Garfield, charged with conspiracy–James Shanks, 23, of Penn Hills, charged with participating in a corrupt organization, criminal conspiracy, delivery and possession of heroin–Andre Brown, 21, of Lawrenceville, charged with delivery and possession of heroin–Vadol Lewis, 20, no address listed, charged with participating in a corrupt organization, conspiracy, delivery of heroin and possession of heroin–Kyland Napper, 20, of Wilkinsburg, charged with delivery of heroin and possession of heroin–Kyle Wilson, 19, of Wilkinsburg, charged with participating in a corrupt organization, criminal conspiracy, delivery of heroin and possession of heroin–Eric Newsome, 21, of Plum, charged with delivery of heroin and possession of heroin–Emmett Wilson, 21, of Wilkinsburg, charged with participating in a corrupt organization, conspiracy, delivery of heroin and possession of heroin–Jonas Gillespie, 20, of Wilkinsburg, charged with participating in a corrupt organization, conspiracy, delivery of heroin and possession of heroin–Dalemar Satchell, 20, of Penn Hills, charged with participating in a corrupt organization, conspiracy, delivery of heroin and possession of heroin–Reginald Freeman, 21, of Penn Hills, charged with participating in a corrupt organization, conspiracy, delivery of heroin and possession of heroin–Tyree Young, 22, of Wilmerding, charged with participating in a corrupt organization, conspiracy, delivery of heroin and possession of heroin–Michael Barr, 25, of Lincoln-Lemington, charged with participating in a corrupt organization, conspiracy, delivery of heroin and possession of heroin–Nicholas Beck, 29, of Greensburg, charged with participating in a corrupt organization and criminal conspiracy–Khiry Thomas, 23,of Wilkinsburg, charged with possessing heroinLiz Navratil: lnavratil@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1438 or on Twitter @LizNavratil.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Visit the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette at .post-gazette.com Distributed by MCT Information Services文件倉

Let NGOs do more for disaster response

Governments rightly admitted flaws after criticism of how they handled recent floods, but keep charities from giving help to people who need itAs once-in-a-century floods ravaged the nation’s northeast this month, abnormally heavy rain also struck the southeast.儲存倉 In the Guangdong city of Shantou , 350 kilometres east of Hong Kong, flash floods trapped many people in rural areas in a 24-hour period.Photos taken by those trapped and posted online showed water reaching the second floors of main street buildings in the suburbs of Xiashan and Chendian.On August 17, rainfall in Chaonan district, where Xiashan is located, reached a record high of 55.5cm overnight, leaving four dead and affecting more than 800,000 residents.By August 19, residents of Chendian complained that they were still trapped and there was no sign of rescuers. They had been left to their own devices to escape, using rubber dinghies, dragon boats and even inflatable mattresses.Internet users also accused officials of covering up the extent of the floods, saying that government-owned media neither mentioned the floods nor the dire conditions facing residents in the following days .Local officials were not prepared for the storm. In a news release on August 18, they admitted that moving stranded people was “very difficult” and that residents were encouraged to “save themselves” – in short, there were not enough rescue service resources to handle the crisis in a timely manner.While the public had to deal with officials’ slow reaction, they were dealt a double insult when a government-backed newspaper said the casualties were partly caused by people’s lack of survival skills.The Global Times, a conservative Beijing-based tabloid, ran an editorial on August 20 saying that placating online complaints was as important as saving disaster victims.It was wrong to only blame local officials, the paper said, when individuals’ preparedness was also a key factor in coping with such disasters.“Developing countries often suffered high casualties in disasters,” the Global Times’ said. “Individuals’ insufficient ability to help themselves is a major factor, while insufficient government capacity is just one of the factors of these kinds of tragedies.”Many felt it was shameful for the government-backed media to say such迷你倉價錢things when thousands of ordinary people had not only lost their homes and belongings, but were still in danger. Authorities should not shift the blame to those who they should protect, but were unable to.Global Times is owned by the People’s Daily, the Communist Party’s leading mouthpiece.Furthermore, the comments made by the Global Times not only tainted the mainland propaganda machine responsible for polishing the government’s image, but also showed the paradox facing the central government.On one hand, authorities have admitted they are not almighty. China has long followed a model of omnipotent government where everything should be under its control.Though many officials are still accustomed to playing key roles in different day-to-day matters, in more cases, especially unexpected disasters, they are learning that flexible responses by groups and individuals are more efficient and can muster greater resources in a very short time.That was why in some disasters, such as the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake, the 2010 Yushu quake, and this month’s floods, people were “encouraged” to save themselves and non-government organisations were allowed to help with rescue efforts.But on the other hand, mainland officials are still reluctant to loosen their reins on the authority they are trying so hard to command, and only cede limited control to individuals and NGOs under special circumstances.Other than during large natural disasters, governments continue to keep a close eye on NGOs and contain their growth out of fear they may become too influential. NGOs are required to register with authorities and struggle to raise funds.When NGOs become too large, governments become suspicious of their activities – whether such fears are founded or not – and clamp down on their movements. There are many examples where NGOs and individuals who help vulnerable groups such as Aids patients, migrant workers and petitioners facing harassment or are even ordered to close down.The Global Times’ article was right in one respect: that the best way to deal with natural disasters is by government and individuals working together. But, without giving civil society the room it needs to grow, how can governments expect NGOs to play a larger role come the time that they really need them?ivan.zhai@scmp.com迷你倉

Sweet romance: Christian Sands wants you to fall in love with jazz

Source: The Santa Fe New MexicanAug.self storage 30–When drummer Ulysses Owens Jr.’s quartet appeared in Santa Fe in May 2012, the pre-gig buzz was all about the group’s bassist, Christian McBride. The chance to see McBride, one of the jazz world’s leading figures, playing as a sideman in an intimate, club-sized room was a rare opportunity outside of New York City. ?But the buzz after the performance was all about the group’s pianist, ?Christian Sands. Sands stole the show, working a mix of styles ranging from the most sophisticated hard-bop to ragtime into his play. A crowd surrounded him after the performance, as if wanting to rub elbows with someone they could later tell their jazz-loving grandchildren they’d heard well before he became a star. Even then, it might have been too late. Sands had famously played a duet with the great Oscar Peterson at the 2006 Salute to Jazz as part of that year’s Grammy festivities. He was 16. It was thought that Peterson, who had suffered a stroke, had retired from playing. But the evening’s festivities and the lure of a young, ?skilled musician sitting across from him was too much a temptation.”I’d sent in an audition tape to appear in the [Grammy] band,” Sands said in a phone call from his Connecticut home, “and they were honoring Oscar and Barry Harris and Hank Jones. Hank and Barry played with the big band after receiving their awards, but Oscar wasn’t scheduled to play. [Pianist] Yuma Sung and I were supposed to play a couple of Oscar’s tunes. But as I started to play all this applause and ruckus breaks out, and I’m young, sitting there thinking, They must like me. And I look up, and there’s Oscar standing up out of his wheelchair and sitting down at the piano and joining in. We must have played that blues for 15 minutes or so.” The event, documented on YouTube, shows Sands graciously paying the jazz ?master deference. But he also plays up a storm in something of Peterson’s style when ?given his turn.Sands’ ear and ability with a whole range of styles is what makes the still-young pianist so unusual. As a member of McBride’s trio and Inside Straight ensemble, he has an international platform for displaying his talents. Listening to his solo on “Hallelujah Time” on the McBride trio’s new Out Here recording, one can’t help but be taken by Sands’ enthusiasm or the way he swirls Latin, gospel, funk, and ragtime into a single improvisation. Unlike so many emerging musicians who employ a discretely contemporary style at the keys to the exclusion of everything else, Sands seems to embrace the entire history of jazz piano and beyond. Music lovers will get a chance to hear Sands on his own terms when he gives a solo concert at the Den (rechristened “The Blackhawk” for the event) on Friday, Aug. 30.He credits his mentor, the pianist and jazz scholar Billy Taylor, with instilling in him an interest in stride piano and encouraging him to apply it to his evolving style. Taylor, who did a long-running music segment on TV’s CBS Sunday Morning and died in 2010, cited Sands in his autobiography published earlier this year as a reason to have hope for the future of jazz. “If anyone has any doubts about the reservoir of talent among our youth, look at Christian Sands. … He not only has the work ethic and the technique, but he understands and communicates the language of jazz both in his playing and in his very articulate speaking.” Sands met the pianist when he attended Taylor’s Jazz in July camp at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. “I was 14 when my piano teacher at the time told me about the program and told my parents you really should put him in there with Dr. Taylor. I didn’t even know who he was. But when I got to the camp, he just kind of took to me, took me under his wing. It was unbelievable just watching him work, how he taught. His tutelage was more of an organic approach, ‘watch me do this, now you do it.’ It was amazing, and I really loved the man.”Sands claims he started to learn to play the piano about the time he learned to walk. “We had a friend of the family, and the story goes — I don’t remember, ?of course; I was too young —迷你倉that I was the only child she’d let play her piano. She’d put me in her lap and let me tinker around with the keys.” He started lessons at “3 or 4” and was playing student transcriptions of Chopin, Mozart, and Beethoven by the time he was 5. At home, he was exposed to all types of music. “We always had a lot of R & B playing around the house, the Temptations, lots of Motown stuff, and a lot of classical music. My mom was into jazz, so I got to hear a lot of that. My best friend was a girl from a family that listened to a lot of Latin jazz. Of course, growing up with kids from the inner city, we were listening to hip hop, Tupac, Biggie [Smalls]. There was even just a hint of country western from my mom, lots of Ray Charles, some Charley Pride.” When he was 10, Sands was invited to Dave Brubeck’s house after Brubeck’s doctor heard the young pianist play. “We played together and talked, and he asked me questions and I asked him questions. We spent the whole day together. He was very encouraging.”As a kid who was playing “cocktail gigs” while still in grade school and who wrote his first composition at 5, Sands was a prime candidate for being labeled a prodigy. “But I didn’t like the word. I’m just doing what I always do. I’m very blessed to have this gift, but I think everybody has some special gift. I just happened to find mine at a very early age. To me, it’s like breathing, natural. As long as I remember, I’ve always been around it. Even now, I have an upright piano right next to my kitchen. I can play and go right in to get something to eat and come right back to the piano.” He hasn’t taken his skill and gifts for granted, having spent the time earning a degree in jazz performance from the Manhattan School of Music. “To be effective, I need to know everything.”Sands has an interesting take on stride piano, one he said he learned from Taylor, that involves more than just the simple back-and-forth bass and harmony played by the left hand. “Stride is more than just a style. It has to do with using the whole piano; it’s a continuance of the instrument using both hands in this broad area, the whole left side of the piano. It’s like an extension of classical piano playing, because classical music uses the entire instrument. A lot of today’s [jazz] players just kind of keep the left hand doing one thing in a certain range. For me it’s important to use the whole piano, all 88 keys.”Sands spends some of his time working with Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Jazz for Young People program. He said that when he’s talking to kids about music, he’s working on his career goal: making the audience fall in love with the music. “Go back to Miles, back to Ellington, back all the way to the beginning of the music; everyone loved it. They didn’t just like it; they were in love with it. There was this strong, emotional relationship between the audience and the art form. Today, we have a tendency to be very scientific about the music. Everything has to be advanced, very intelligent. Somewhere along the line, this divide formed between the average audience member and the artist. Players today are like, I don’t care if you like this or not; I’m doing it for me. That makes sense; I understand that. But the whole point of jazz is the connection between the music and the listener. Think of that feeling you had when you first heard Miles playing ‘My Funny Valentine.’ It was inspiring; it was very poetic. Jazz can solve the world’s problems, because it involves everything that’s needed to solve them. It’s expression, it’s feeling, it’s religion, it’s happening on the spot, in the moment. That’s what I strive for. I want you to fall in love with it again. I want you to leave feeling a certain way, so that you go home and you can sleep peacefully knowing that’s the way it is.”details–Pianist Christian Sands–6 & 8 p.m. Friday, Aug. 30 (free concert for children 3:30 p.m.)–The Den, 132 W. Water St.–$55-$250; 670-6482Copyright: ___ (c)2013 The Santa Fe New Mexican (Santa Fe, N.M.) Visit The Santa Fe New Mexican (Santa Fe, N.M.) at .santafenewmexican.com Distributed by MCT Information Services文件倉