It seems the politicking has gone into full swing election campaigning now …
https://theisland.mt/reel/general-elections-the-buzzing-vibe-is-were-looking-at-october-2021/
Am also thinking how this post pandemic state of affairs will handle mass rallies or other political gatherings,…
Here’s hoping we aren’t all transformed into zombies or brain washed stooges with all the drugs administered, abused of or other buzz words like ‘herd immunity’, and other techno-medical jibber jabber,…
Malta Drone Centre with Hawk Aerospace Limited, has concluded its first drone Pilot Flight Training sessions in Malta. Three candidate drone pilots attended this Basic Flight Training course led by experience drone instructors.
Skills required to fly multi-rotor drones start from basic flight skills to more advanced drone handling , flying missions and operational/ site/risk assessments that are all required for carrying out drone flying and drone operations safely.
The new EASA Drone Regulation introduced and local drone requirements as defined by the local aviation authorities (TM-CAD), require appropriate flight and operations training now. Having drone pilots who are formally trained with a drone competence certification can open up new doors in the drone services industry. Many EU countries and in the US see certified drone pilots and operating procedures as a mandatory requirement when drone flights are commissioned, especially when they engage third party drone service providers.
Anyone interested in the Drone Flying and Operations Training available from MDC can find further information on URL https://lnkd.in/dbj7skJ or can contact MDC on info@maltadronecentre.com.
Prince Harry’s attendance at his grandfather’s funeral on Saturday will visibly mark his change of status within the royal family.
Following his decision with wife Meghan Markle to step away from their roles as working royals, Harry lost his honorary military titles, including that of Captain General of the Royal Marines, and as such is likely to wear a suit rather than a military uniform.
WATCH: Prince Philip’s best family moments
Protocol states that retired service personnel are allowed to wear their medals – but not their uniform – at official engagements once they have left the military. Furthermore, only those wearing a military headdress can salute, meaning that Harry is also not entitled to salute at the funeral, unlike his brother and his father.
Prince Philip’s funeral on Saturday is a ceremonial event, and it is thought that Prince Charles, Prince William, Princess Anne and the Earl of Wessex will all attend in military uniform.
Prince Harry pictured at the funeral of the Queen Mother in 2002
Having been forced to step back from public life “for the foreseeable future” over his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, Prince Andrew – who served with the Royal Navy for 22 years – is also prevented from wearing military dress.
It comes after Prince Harry released a personal tribute to his late grandfather. The 36-year-old – who is currently self-isolating at Frogmore Cottage after returning to London from California for the funeral service – said in his statement: “My grandfather was a man of service, honour and great humour. He was authentically himself, with a seriously sharp wit, and could hold the attention of any room due to his charm—and also because you never knew what he might say next.
Prince Philip with his grandsons, Prince William and Prince Harry
“He will be remembered as the longest reigning consort to the Monarch, a decorated serviceman, a Prince and a Duke. But to me, like many of you who have lost a loved one or grandparent over the pain of this past year, he was my grandpa: master of the barbecue, legend of banter, and cheeky right ’til the end.
“He has been a rock for Her Majesty The Queen with unparalleled devotion, by her side for 73 years of marriage, and while I could go on, I know that right now he would say to all of us, beer in hand, ‘Oh do get on with it!’
Harry described his grandpa as ‘legend of banter’ in his tribute
“So, on that note, Grandpa, thank you for your service, your dedication to Granny, and for always being yourself. You will be sorely missed, but always remembered – by the nation and the world. Meghan, Archie, and I (as well as your future great-granddaughter) will always hold a special place for you in our hearts. The message concluded, ‘Per Mare, Per Terram’ – which means ‘By Sea, By Land’ in Latin.
People mourning the death of Prince Philip are being urged to lay flowers this Saturday on the steps of the Maltese house he once called home.
The event at Villa Guardamangia is being organised by the Malta George Cross Movement.
Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, died last week aged 99. He and Queen Elizabeth II, at the time a princess, lived in the Guardamangia property between 1949 and 1951, while he was a naval officer stationed in Malta.
Peole who wish to pay their respects will be able to lay flowers at the villa’s steps until 12pm on Saturday. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, lingering will not be permitted.
The Malta George Cross Movement said it hoped the flower-laying event would provide the Queen and royal family “with a degree of relief and compassion at what is presently a very sorrowful time for the royals as well being a way of standing with the royals and the British public during their trial to mark the many happy years enjoyed between the Maltese and the British people.”
Philip’s funeral will be held on Saturday afternoon and televised by national broadcaster TVM.
So, came across this article (in Italian) on synthetic meat, lab grown chow, and it immediately reminded me of Star Trek food replicators, of Captain Jeanluc Piccard ordering his earl grey tea, and so many other episode plot lines of their scifi stories.
New data is confirming a baby boom that some doctors expected was actually a “baby bust”. Health departments in more than two dozen states in the U.S. provided records to CBS News, showing a 7% drop in births in December — nine months after the first lockdowns began.
Researchers say it continues a much bigger plunge in fertility in recent decades.
The number of babies the average woman in the U.S. is expected to deliver has dropped from nearly four in the 1950s to less than two today.
Hi all, . . . this quick post is an apology for having been away from this niche of mine on the web.
Much has happened since my last post of 2019, but won’t go into much detail about it all, as many in the know are already aware of my current ongoing operations (or lack there of, rather!) through my active presence on Facebook.
The prevailing pandemic of COVD-19 hasn’t helped much, as a matter of fact. And have found myself to be more withdrawn and recollected, ever cautious of my errand trips outdoors to anywhere.
Tinkering with small projects has kept me active, and skills sharpened somewhat.
And new interests, capabilites and self developed talents have also come round to keep a reasonable level of sanity in the crazy world we are living in right now.
Have lost a couple of friends and dear ones along the way, not to COVID, and as one of my close school days’ chum said: “Another one bites the dust!”
Will again endeavour to populate this little nook of mine with some scribblings and other which catches my fancy, no promises though.
Stay safe and be strong, y’all !!
Clive Booth
Was today privileged to have been hosted by the Canon agents in Malta, Avantech Ltd., so as to meet their brand ambassador Clive Booth, for his presentation about filmmaking processes which covered from pre-production through post-production and delivery.
As a brand ambassador for Canon, Clive Booth has travelled far and wide and worked on countless projects, which over the years have made him a celebrated photographer and a filmmaker with tons of achievements under his belt.
Our afternoon with Clive today was his highlighting his latest project “McCullin in Kolkata”, which saw him and his team of collaborators following to India the world renowned and legendary octogenarian photographer Sir Don McCullin, on a trip to the Indian city of Kolkata. McCullin still revels in his craft, despite his 60-year career, and this was a last and unique opportunity for Clive Booth to chronicle a master at work, whose broad range of high quality work ranged from social documentary, war reportage, and portraiture, to landscape and still-life. Sir Don was knighted for services to photography in January 2017.
For this project in India, Clive Booth used the Canon EOS C300 Mark II to film Sir Don in action on the streets of a city which averages some 67,000 persons per square mile. Clive’s moviemaking also made this documentary the first-ever 4K high dynamic range (HDR) film for Canon Europe, and the world’s first project to use Adobe Team Projects for a documentary film. This usual partnership with Canon has yielded an awesome and stunning small gem of a production.
Directing and delivering McCullin in Kolkata was a task Clive took on with relish. Following Sir Don around the hot, vibrant streets of Kolkata – with its rich, contrasty colours and dark, dense shadows – was the perfect place to fully demonstrate how an HDR film could give the audience its most realistic viewing experience possible, without actually being there.
Clive Booth in action
Clive’s team returned from their four days of shooting in Kolkata with more than 15 hours of footage. The process of editing the film took around three weeks and was done by Clive and his editor, Tristram Edwards. They became the first people in the world to use a new ‘hosted collaboration service’, Adobe Team Projects. Working via Adobe Creative Cloud, Clive, in his Derbyshire home, was able to see Tristram’s screen in London. Tristram would upload the cuts and they could both view and work on them simultaneously. Talk about “long-distance editing”, what !!
The resulting 19-minute film is an insightful and revealing portrait of a master of photography in action, in an environment that really pushed him to the limit. This is less about the resulting images, and more about witnessing how Don has successfully captured some of the world’s most celebrated images.
For Clive, it’s been an all-consuming project and he’s delighted with the outcome. “There’s no single aspect of the film I’m not immensely proud of,” he says. “That includes the subject matter, the cinematography, the music and the editing. It’s really about showing Don in a way that most people won’t have seen him before and I’m grateful to Canon for giving us the room to do it as we wanted. For me, hand on heart, it’s the best piece of work I’ve ever done.”
The closing scene of the film is a poignant reminder of Don’s long career and journey as a photographer. “By shooting in HDR, you’re future-proofing your work,” says Clive Booth. © Clive Booth
Before rolling the short film, Clive gave a presentation which gave a quick step by step overview of his process used in the making this documentary film. He showed video clips and some still images of his work and commissions, touching on pre-production, project planning and preparation.
The audience had several local media students mingled in with industry professionals, so Clive really interacted well with these upcoming new prospective and junior players in the industry. Clive‘s unique style, along with constant experimentation with new technologies and techniques, has attracted numerous international clients. These include fashion brands House of Holland, Hackett London, Louis Vuitton, H&M and beauty brands Amouage, Shu Uemura, MAC Cosmetics and L’Oréal. He also works for corporate giants including Asus, Intel, Fiat, EY (formerly Ernst & Young), and Aston Martin.
(See his behind the scenes (BTS, as he called it!!) of his shoot with Henry Holland: https://vimeo.com/81616695 And the the teaser about “Who is Henry Holland”, https://vimeo.com/95392395
Those of us unfamiliar with his work quickly saw that over the years he had developed his own distinctive style of selective focus with natural, available, continuous, found light. This was the style which gives his work an atmospheric, ethereal quality.
Clive also touched on several other topics, namely subject matter, crew selection, location finding, shot lists and shoot challenges. He provided his own experience’s input when it came to choosing the right equipment for the shoot, camera and lens choice. All this ties in to what goes on in post-production workflow, edit, sound, grade and, subsequently, the final delivery to one’s clients. With new modern technologies, there are obviously many benefits and challenges by using a 4K HDR workflow, but Clive underlined future-proofing your project.
See the Behind the scenes of his Hackett/Aston Martin advert’s shoot
We could all grasp that he remains hugely passionate about the art of photography and filmmaking. Clive’s deep level of understanding, along with his keenness to always be at the forefront of technological change and advancing processes and equipment, has meant that he has been one of the first in Europe to shoot stills and films using (to just mention a couple in passing here !!) the Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Canon EOS C300, Canon EOS C300 Mark II, Canon EOS C500 in 4K, Canon EOS 5D Mark III, Canon EOS-1D X Mark II, Canon EOS 5DS, Canon EOS 5DS R, Canon EOS 5D Mark IV and Canon EOS R.
Agents who believe in your work are key, Clive stressed, as they would support your claims and creative needs, not just the basic common commercial ones. That’s when he touched all about own project promotion, teasers, trailers and social media in today’s society.
Avantech spoiled us rotten then also, by providing on site their technical staff and Canon product experts who showcased a wide variety of Canon Cinema cameras and lenses, which were available for those in the audience to touch and try including, the brand new Canon EOS C500 Mark II. View Canon’s range on web URL: https://www.avantech.com.mt/cinema-eos/
For more from and about Clive Booth, visit:
Twitter: @cliveboothphoto
Website: clivebooth.com
Basically, over recent years, the number of scout members has actually increased, yet adult leaders have become a rare and scarce prized human resource commodity.
The Chief Commissioner, Anton Pisani (right), chatting with Attard Scout Group Leader (GSL) Emanuel Cremona (centre), and Assistant GSL Benjamin Micallef
The question that came to mind after the discussion with my chums was: how come scout member numbers are up when more adult leaders are lacking? The answer to this question could be a host of reasons.
I would attribute this to the perpetuated value which Scouting continues to have in our society. I view Scouting in our communities through this such lens. The value Scouting aims to inject in every youth is directly in line with what parents everywhere want for their child. Yet, there remain a lot of people who remain unfamiliar with the values of the Scouting Method.
The Chief Scout, Capt. Reuben Lanfranco (right), and Victoria Scout Group GSL Lorry Saliba (centre) catch up on times gone by.
Many recognize the brand, of course; on the other hand they are unaware that Scouting is for character development, citizenship, and physical fitness (and citizenship begins at home, the example of which is taking care of your home, your community then country). Because if they did, they will volunteer to be an adult leaders, or a member of a scout group’s council of parents, etc.
Why? Because their values are directly align with the values of Scouting.
Part of my job as the District Commissioner at the Scouts Association of Malta’s Central District is to communicate and showcase the value of Scouting in our communities; it is building awareness; it is building long lasting relationships.
FESTA SCOUTS 2019:
Showcasing the fun of Scouting and its values
The Scouting Method is turning young people wordwide into great citizens with strong moral values; Duty to God, Country, People, and Self, as well as the values listed in the Scout law, motto, slogan and its environment-respecting outdoor codes.
Internally, within the Scouts Association of Malta, much reflection is quietly done on today’s “Values of Scouting”. In turn, this encourages self-reflection, promotes recognition, drives recruitment, urges more volunteerism, and satisfies with gift-giving to all those in need.
Festa Scouts is one such outdoor activity event which gives the local Scout Groups an opportunity to share the VALUES they have learned. It is another opportunity for Scouts to show their leadership skills, their planing talents, but not just to invited family, but also to other invited friends and the general public.
It is always urged to Scouts to share that Scouting isn’t just about camping, but that it’s also about learning self-reliance skills in all areas of their life; physically, mentally, and spiritually. They not only rely on each other during their activities, but they embrace the Scouting Method and its Values while doing hard things.
“… It is always urged to Scouts to share that Scouting isn’t just about camping…”
The Scout Association of Malta, through the National Events Committee, organised the Festa Scouts 2019 edition between 31 October and 1 November, 2015 at Ta’ Qali National Park.
This edition was held with the collaboration of different Scout Groups, and the general public had the opportunity to experience different Scouting activities, whilst sharing with them through several amazing activities their Scouting Adventure.
Festa Scouts was funded by the Small Initiative Support Scheme (SIS), which is managed by the Malta Council for the Voluntary Sector (MCVS).
A rope and wood spar lashing display (image by Luca Tufigno of SAC Rovers)
This year, some 25 scout groups participated through setting up several innovative games and educational workshops
Three-legged soccer (image by Luca Tufigno of SAC Rovers)
#SharingOurAdventure #MaltaScouts
The Cons's Nook: www.ivanmconsiglio.com 