With her winter concert tour having recently been launched and a new album, Broadway musical and several books in the works, it seems clear that self-described “happy workaholic” Judy Collins has absolutely no intention of slowing down at the age of 85. But don’t take our word for it. “I’m never retiring!” declared the constantly active singer, songwriter, activist, author, podcast host, Wildflower Records label co-founder and mental health advocate. “Not if I can help it.” Collins’ overflowing schedule and constant touring — except for March, she has performed concerts every month this year — leave no doubt she relishes being out on the road. The fact that artists half her age or younger often complain about the rigors of touring don’t faze this Seattle-born troubadour, who will perform at The Magnolia in El Cajon on Feb. 12. It’s a make-up date for her Thursday. “Holidays & Hits” tour date at the same venue, which was pushed back Friday afternoon because of a family emergency. She credits her zeal for being constantly on the move to her late dad, Chuck Collins. He was a blind radio host who often went from city to city to perform as a singer and pianist. “I grew up in the backseat of a Buick when my father was traveling in the northwest, and it seems to be where I belong. I love being in a new place. I love being in a hotel room,” she said, speaking from a late November tour stop in Spokane. Accordingly, Collins’ seven-decade music career and her drive to continue working long past an age when many people retire is a source of purpose and pride for her. “I have to prove the point — somebody has to prove the point — and I guess it’s me,” she said. “I’m sort of like the Betty White of the folk-music era!” White was 99 when she died in 2021. Her TV acting career lasted a remarkable 73 years, which means Collins has another 8 years to go to match it. But were she to move to a tropical island next month and become a hermit, Collins’ legacy would speak for itself. Her 1961 debut album, “A Maid of Constant Sorrow,” came out after only 13 months after Joan Baez’s first album was released. The two, along with fellow troubadour Odetta, helped create a vital template for folk singers in the 1960s and well beyond. Collins also was instrumental in exposing the work of Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen and Randy Newman to a broader audience. She recorded songs by all three when they were toiling in obscurity, and she championed their music — and that of other gifted but then little-known young talents — on her albums and at her concerts and TV appearances. Symphony debut at 13 A classically trained pianist, Collins made her debut as a soloist with the Denver Symphony when she was just 13. She soon switched to folk music because it offered more artistic freedom, launching her professional career at the age of 20. Collins earned success quickly, thanks to her soaring soprano voice and her tireless work ethic. Equally pivotal was her ability to make any song her own, be it Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now” and “Chelsea Morning,” Cohen’s Suzanne” and “Bird on a Wire,” or Stephen Sondheim’s “Send in the Clowns.” The title of her 2011 memoir, “Sweet Judy Blue Eyes: My Life in Music,” was inspired by “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes,” the classic 1969 song by Crosby, Stills & Nash. It was written by her then-boyfriend, Stephen Stills, in the hope of salvaging their star-crossed love affair. “The song was so beautiful. But it was also clear that our relationship was not going to work,” she recalled in a 2017 San Diego Union-Tribune interview that previewed her joint concert tour that year with Stills. For her recently concluded “Holidays & Hits” tour, Collins performed with different musical configurations in different cities, the better to keep her music fresh for her and audiences alike. “It all happens when it happens,” she said told the San Diego Union-Tribune in an interview on Monday, four days before the announcement that her concert here was being postponed. “It’s a holiday show, so that means I’ll be doing some of those wonderful old songs that we don’t hear until Christmas.” Collins spoke to the Union-Tribune for nearly an hour. The conversation has been lightly edited for space and clarity. Q: Your first Christmas-themed album came out in 1993, 32 years after your debut album, and you have since made two more Christmas albums. What prompted you to make “Come Rejoice: A Judy Collins Christmas” in 1993? A: It was because I had written songs for it. That’s the trick. You have to be able to write some songs that are appropriate, and I was able to do that. I love Christmas and I’m inspired by the classic songs. I like to think about those early times in my life when I was young and going home to celebrate Christmas with my family. Q: How easy or difficult is it to inject fresh vigor and meaning into songs that are so often sung by so many people on stages and in countless homes? A: The whole point about being a singer is to make it sound like you’ve never heard it before. That’s what the pleasure is and what the challenge is. You do it because you love it and because it holds so many special memories that you filter into the song. That can have a valuable resonance for young performers, to learn that (weathered songs) don’t need to be boring. Q: Your singing and piano playing on your 2022 album, “Spellbound,” both sound terrific, and its the first album to exclusively feature songs you wrote yourself. Do you have the same practice regimen you’ve always had? Or has it changed over the years, and if so, how? A: I have a certain amount of exercises I do, so that I can stay in the moment and have the flexibility in my hands. You have to do that. Last night, I was playing a Chopin piece because I haven’t played it in a long time. Doing piano exercises allows me to sit down and come up with new melodies. I’ve just written a whole bunch of new songs for a Broadway musical; they invited me to write 14 new songs. I said: ‘Sure!’ So, I sat down and wrote them. Q: What about your vocal regimen? A: It’s very hard to be a singer. You must have the good fortune, as I have had, to have a great voice teacher. And you have to strive to be on the level of people who sang all their lives, like Pavarotti and Frank Sinatra. Frank was a drinker. When I went to see him perform at the end of his career, he’d be fine at the beginning of the show. Then, he’d drink during the show and his voice would crack. I don’t drink anymore, thank god. But if you have a great teacher and decide to follow the regimen. you do it — no matter what — in sun or rain, when you’re well and when you’re sick. Being a singer, there are certain kinds of demands that go with it. I’m writing a new book called “Singing,” and I’m having a very happy time doing it. Q: On your “Spellbound” album, the lyrics to your song “So Alive” reference your drinking whiskey. And your song, “Hell on Wheels,” is a gripping, true-life story about how your drinking and driving as a teenager almost resulted in a fatal car accident. You stopped drinking in 1988. Do you think you’d be here now if you hadn’t gotten sober? A: No. I would be dead. There’s absolutely no question about it. I would have been dead a long time ago. Q: What was your wake-up call? A: I was dying. I was dying. I was coming apart at the seams. I had no choice; I literally didn’t. I mean, I did (have a choice). Sometimes, I’d think: “I don’t know how it ever happened that I’m still here.” I’m lucky. Many people are not here anymore. Q: How cathartic was it for you to write and sing “Hell on Wheels?” A: Well, it took me years. And the person I finally worked with on the song, Ari Hest, helped me. I said: “I can’t figure this out; I don’t know what I’m doing here. So, he pulled it out of me and helped. He was very encouraging and it was wonderful. I’m going back into the studio soon to make a new album, and Ari will be working with me. I’m doing a couple of his new songs, which are fabulous, so that’s exciting. I’ve already recorded a great (2014) David Crosby song with Graham Nash, called “Radio.” Q: In the wake of the November election... A: Oh. let’s not talk about that. Q: My question is about music, not politics. Given the state of the world at large, does music mean more — or something different — to you than it did a decade or 60 years ago? A: Music means everything to me, not just now, but always. It’s always part of the fabric of recovery, always, no matter what’s going on. And, honest to god, this whole situation now is not so terrible. I mean, it scares the sh-t out of me. But in the light of history, we got through the dark ages... Q: You took part in the 1968 Yippie press conference in New York at which Abbie Hoffmann, Jerry Rubin and other members of the Chicago 7 announced their plans to stage a mass protest at that summer’s Democratic National Convention in Chicago. What are your memories of the Yippies and of testifying at the Chicago 7 trial? A: When I stood up there in court and began to sing “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?”, and the clerk came and put his hand over my mouth, I thought time had stopped in that moment. Of course, it didn’t, but I was in shock. I thought (my testimony) ended right there. But it didn’t and I can see in the trial transcripts how long it went on. It was quite a devastating experience. I remember there were a lot of discussions, apologies, a kind of a mass movement in the court room. It was a conversation about my singing and my life. The various people on the prosecution side were talking, and it went on for quite a long time. What was shocking to me, decades later, was that (film director and screenwriter) Aaron Sorkin did not put that episode in the court hearing in his 2020 move, “The Trial of the Chicago 7.” I think that was a real loss for that story. I was the only woman in the room and I was singing. It was a moment of real drama and it would have been a wonderful moment for a young actress to have portrayed that. Q: Judge Julius Hoffman presided over the Chicago 7 trial, and he was the one who ordered the clerk to stop you from singing during your testimony. Did you ever send him one of your albums? A: Ah, no. I didn’t have time for that. He was a smart man; he could have found one himself. Q: Do you ever think about President Nixon? A: Never. I was on his “Enemies List,” and I was proud to be on it. Q: You and I have done a number of interviews over the years. In 2001, when you were 61, you told me: “I always intended to be around as long as possible. I knew I wouldn’t get good enough to do what I’d intended to until I’d been around long enough and done enough things creatively. I’m in this for the long haul.” A: Oh, yeah! I’m in it for the long haul. And it’s really a challenging and wonderful position to be in, because I’m not too famous. That would be trouble! But I don’t have that kind of trouble and am glad I don’t. I gave myself stability. I have work. I have dreams. I have possibilities and Ii work on them. That’s a real privilege to have. I keep strong. I eat well, I exercise and do my 10,000 steps a day. You keep working and having ideas and looking forward. You keep getting up in the morning with bright eyes and new things to do. If you stop doing that, you stop living and stop having a vital life. And I want, most of all, to have a vital life, to have fun and move forward. Judy Collins ‘Holiday & Hits’ When: Feb. 12 (replaces her originally scheduled Thursday, Dec. 5, concert here) Where: The Magnolia Performing Arts Center, 210 East Main St., El Cajon Tickets: $38.50-$94.40 Online: livenation.com ©2024 The San Diego Union-Tribune. Visit sandiegouniontribune.com . Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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By Michelle Marchante, Miami Herald (TNS) MIAMI — As her students finished their online exam, Arlet Lara got up to make a cafe con leche . Her 16-year-old son found her on the kitchen floor. First, he called Dad in a panic. Then 911. “I had a stroke and my life made a 180-degree turn,” Lara told the Miami Herald, recalling the medical scare she experienced in May 2020 in the early months of the COVID pandemic. “The stroke affected my left side of the body,” the North Miami woman and former high school math teacher said. Lara, an avid runner and gym goer, couldn’t even walk. “It was hard,” the 50-year-old mom said. After years of rehabilitation therapy and a foot surgery, Lara can walk again. But she still struggles with moving. This summer, she became the first patient in South Florida to get an implant of a new and only FDA-approved nerve stimulation device designed to help ischemic stroke survivors regain movement in their arms and hands. This first procedure was at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami. Lara’s rehab was at at the Christine E. Lynn Rehabilitation Center for The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, part of a partnership between Jackson Health System and UHealth. Every year, thousands in the United States have a stroke , with one occurring every 40 seconds, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The majority of strokes are ischemic, often caused by blood clots that obstruct blood flow to the brain. For survivors, most of whom are left with some level of disability, the Vivistim Paired VNS System, the device implanted in Lara’s chest, could be a game changer in recovery, said Dr. Robert Starke, a UHealth neurosurgeon and interventional neuroradiologist. He also serves as co-director of endovascular neurosurgery at Jackson Memorial Hospital, part of Miami-Dade’s public hospital system. Arlet Lara, the first patient in South Florida to get an FDA-approved nerve stimulation implant, right, runs into her rehabilitation neurology physician Dr. Gemayaret Alvarez, before her physical therapy appointment on Monday, Sept. 9, 2024, at Lynn Rehabilitation Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital. The implant is designed to help stroke survivors regain function in their arms. (Alie Skowronski/Miami Herald/TNS) Arlet Lara, the first patient in South Florida to get an FDA-approved nerve stimulation implant designed to help stroke survivors regain function in their arms, goes through exercises while her therapist activates the device during her physical therapy appointment on Monday, Sept. 9, 2024, at Lynn Rehabilitation Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital. The activation works as positive reinforcement to her muscles when she completes the exercise correctly. (Alie Skowronski/Miami Herald/TNS) Arlet Lara, the first patient in South Florida to get an FDA-approved nerve stimulation implant, does an exercise while Neil Batungbakal, rehabilitation therapist, activates the implant with the black trigger during her physical therapy appointment on Monday, Sept. 9, 2024, at Lynn Rehabilitation Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital. The implant is designed to help stroke survivors regain function in their arms. The activation works as positive reinforcement to her muscles when she completes the exercise correctly. (Alie Skowronski/Miami Herald/TNS) Arlet Lara, the first patient in South Florida to get an FDA- approved nerve stimulation implant, does an exercise while Neil Batungbakal, rehabilitation therapist, activates the implant with the black trigger during her physical therapy appointment on Monday, Sept. 9, 2024, at Lynn Rehabilitation Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital. Arlet Lara, the first patient in South Florida to get an FDA-approved nerve stimulation implant, right, runs into her rehabilitation neurology physician Dr. Gemayaret Alvarez, before her physical therapy appointment on Monday, Sept. 9, 2024, at Lynn Rehabilitation Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital. The implant is designed to help stroke survivors regain function in their arms. (Alie Skowronski/Miami Herald/TNS) The Vivistim Paired VNS System is a small pacemaker-like device implanted in the upper chest and neck area. Patients can go home the same day. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the stroke rehabilitation system in 2021 to be used alongside post-ischemic stroke rehabilitation therapy to treat moderate to severe mobility issues in hands and arms. Lara’s occupational therapist can activate the device during rehabilitation sessions to electrically stimulate the vagus nerve, which runs from the brain down to the abdomen and regulates various parts of the body’s nervous system. The electrical stimulation rewires the brain to improve a stroke survivor’s ability to move their arms and hands. Lara also has a magnet she can use to activate the device when she wants to practice at home. Her therapy consists of repetitive tasks, including coloring, pinching cubes and grabbing and releasing cylindrical shapes. After several weeks of rehabilitation therapy with the device, Lara has seen improvement. “Little by little, I’m noticing that my hand is getting stronger. I am already able to brush my teeth with the left hand,” she told the Miami Herald in September. Since then, Lara has finished the initial six-week Vivitism therapy program, and is continuing to use the device in her rehabilitation therapy. She continues to improve and can now eat better with her left hand and can brush her hair with less difficulty, according to her occupational therapist, Neil Batungbakal. Lara learned about the device through an online group for stroke survivors and contacted the company to inquire. She then connected them with her Jackson medical team. Now a year later, the device is available to Jackson patients. So far, four patients have received the implant at Jackson. Starke sees the device as an opportunity to help bring survivors one step closer to regaining full mobility. Strokes are a leading cause of disability worldwide. While most stroke survivors can usually recover some function through treatment and rehabilitation, they tend to hit a “major plateau” after the first six months of recovery, he said. Vivistim, when paired with rehabilitation therapy, could change that. Jackson Health said results of a clinical trial published in the peer-reviewed medical journal The Lancet in 2021 showed that the device, “when paired with high-repetition, task-specific occupational or physical therapy, helps generate two to three times more hand and arm function for stroke survivors than rehabilitation therapy alone.” The device has even shown to benefit patients 20 years from their original stroke, according to Starke. “So now a lot of these patients that had strokes 10-15 years ago that thought that they would never be able to use their arm in any sort of real functional way are now able to have a real meaningful function, which is pretty tremendous,” Starke said. Vivistim’s vagus-nerve stimulation technology was developed by researchers at the University of Texas at Dallas’ Texas Biomedical Device Center and is being sold commercially by Austin-based MicroTransponder, a company started by university graduates. Similar devices are used to treat epilepsy and depression . For Lara, the device is a new tool to help her recovery journey. “Everything becomes a challenge so we are working with small things every day because I want to get back as many functions as possible,” Lara said. Patients interested in Vivistim should speak with their doctor to check their eligibility. The FDA said patients should make sure to discuss any prior medical history, including concurrent forms of brain stimulation, current diathermy treatment, previous brain surgery, depression, respiratory diseases and disorders such as asthma, and cardiac abnormalities. “Adverse events included but were not limited to dysphonia (difficulty speaking), bruising, falling, general hoarseness, general pain, hoarseness after surgery, low mood, muscle pain, fracture, headache, rash, dizziness, throat irritation, urinary tract infection and fatigue,” the FDA said. MicroTransponder says the device is “covered by Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurance with prior authorization on a case-by-case basis.” To learn more about the device, visit vivistim.com. ©2024 Miami Herald. Visit at miamiherald.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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SOMERVILLE, N.J. , Nov. 23, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Specified Technologies Inc. has announced their latest Firestop Clash Management (FCM) and Firestop Locator (FSL) releases. FCM automates the process of locating and assigning firestop solutions to conditions within Autodesk ® Revit ® , enabling firestop novices to find firestop solutions like a firestop expert. In this latest release, STI has further expanded the capabilities of FCM by integrating it with their firestop documentation and compliance tool, Firestop Locator (FSL). FSL enables contractors and facilities' teams to document the status, location, and products used for any and all fire life safety services across a building. In the latest update for FSL, teams can now create custom items to track any service on their project beyond the base six (Penetration, Joint, Extinguisher, Door, Damper, and Barrier). Teams can also modify the base six items to include project specific inspection and maintenance requirements and any other details that they would like to be tracked. With this new integration, decisions made during the design phase of a building using FCM are seamlessly passed into FSL during the construction phase, giving implementation teams a jump start on work to be done. This integration also improves data integrity and eliminates the guesswork in the field of determining what firestop systems and products are to be used where. "We're proud of the latest releases of FCM and FSL and look forward to continuing to support the fire life safety community," says Justin Pine, Sr. Manager of Software & Services. Specified Technologies Inc. promotes life and building safety by developing innovative fire protection systems and accompanying digital tools that help stop the spread of fire, smoke, and hot gases. Our SpecSeal® and EZ Path® product lines are engineered for easy installation and deliver powerful performance, often resulting in lower installed costs. Since firestopping is our only business, we concentrate all our resources on providing the highest quality, fully tested, innovative firestopping solutions. Contact: Jess Bern ; jbern@stifirestop.com View original content to download multimedia: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/specified-technologies-inc-unveils-firestop-clash-management-and-locator-updates-302314629.html SOURCE Specified Technologies, Inc.
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After hitting bottom post-pandemic, Bangkok's condo market is set to rebound next year, with projects in outer areas continuing to perform well as existing stock is depleted because of price reductions by developers. Sumitra Wongpakdee, managing director of property researcher Terra Media and Consulting, said the market across all price segments showed signs of recovery, though it is unlikely to reach pre-pandemic levels. "Absorption rates are bottoming out after hitting the low point in 2021–22," she said. "The primary factor driving this trend is the depletion of existing stock, as new supply in all segments has sharply declined." However, growth is expected to be gradual rather than steep as purchasing power remains weak, dampened by high mortgage rejection rates, said Ms Sumitra. The best-performing segment will be the mass market, with prices ranging between 80,000 and 150,000 baht per square metre, she said. This segment had the highest growth in average absorption rates from 2021 to the third quarter of 2024, increasing 7% per year. The absorption rate in the first nine months of 2024 for the mass segment rose to 11.6 units per project per month, up from 10.6 in 2023 and a low of 8.8 in 2022. The luxury segment, with prices of 200,000 baht per sq m and higher, had the second-largest growth rate, rising 6% annually. The absorption rate increased to 3.9 units per project per month in the first three quarters, up from 3.6 in 2023 and 3.0 in 2022, which was the lowest year for this segment. The economy segment, priced at 80,000 baht per sq m and lower, had a 5% annual increase in absorption rates. However, in the first nine months of 2024, the absorption rate dropped to 11.3 units per project per month from 12.8 in 2023, which rose from 10.4 in 2022. The premium segment, ranging between 150,000 and 200,000 baht per sq m, had the slowest growth, with an average absorption rate increase of only 1% per year. The absorption rate rebounded to 4.6 units per project per month in the first nine months of 2024, up from a low of 3.9 last year. This segment declined to 4.6 in 2021 from 6.4 in 2020 after peaking at 9.9 in 2019. "This trend, where the mass market outperforms other segments, will likely continue in 2025," Ms Sumitra said. "The majority of this segment will be in locations far from mass transit, but outer areas have affordable prices amid weak purchasing power." In the first nine months of 2024, new condo supply in the economy segment tallied 13,000 units, compared with 26,000 units in 2023 and 34,000 units in 2022. The lowest level in recent years was 16,000 units in 2021. The mass segment had 14,000 new units launched for the period, compared with 18,000 in 2023 and 20,000 in 2022. This segment expanded from only 8,000 units in 2021. The premium segment had the lowest new supply, with only 600 units launched in the first nine months of 2024, compared with 3,100 units in 2023. However, its low point was in 2020, with only 400 units introduced. "The decline in condo stock this year was driven by limited new supply and steady sales in certain segments," she said. "A key driver was developers' willingness to lower prices to meet revenue targets and maintain cash flow, at the expense of reduced profits."There’s never been a better time to get into a handheld gaming PC, and that’s all the more true with Best Buy’s Cyber Monday sale because the 1TB model of the Lenovo Legion Go is on sale for $200 off. If you had to pay the full price for this handheld, you’d be looking at $749.99. However, Best Buy has discounted it for Cyber Monday and that means you can pick it up for $549.99. This is a Cyber Monday-only deal, and Best Buy says it ends by midnight. So if you have been in the market handheld gaming PC, consider this in addition to other options. The ASUS ROG Ally X for example, is also currently on sale for Cyber Monday. What makes the Lenovo Legion Go so special compared to other handhelds is its removable controllers. These attach and detach very similar to the Nintendo Switch Joy-Con controllers. The right controller for the Legion Go also comes with a desk mount that turns it into a vertical mouse. If you play a lot of first-person or third-person shooter games, then this feature is pretty awesome. There’s a sensor on the bottom of the right controller that moves your weapon cursor around just like a mouse would. Alleviating any need to aim with the right thumbstick. The Legion Go also has a large 8.8-inch display. Most of the other handhelds have displays that are 7 inches and under. So there’s a nice advantage with the display size here. The display also has a 144Hz refresh rate, and it has 16GB of RAM, while being powered by the AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme chipset. Performance-wise, you can expect it to work like the ROG Ally and ROG Ally X. There are also a few remappable buttons, as well a few ports for charging, headphones, and the microSD card slot. Buy at Best BuyAmazon doubles down on AI startup Anthropic with another $4 bln
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