#Gil Zimmermann

[eretzyisrael]

“The Boston Israeli community is very talented and accomplished,” says Dan Trajman, president and CEO of the New England Israel Business Council. He estimates that roughly 25,000 Israelis live in the Boston area.

“Most Israelis who come to Boston are coming to study at the top universities in the area, to do research, to start a company or because they are being relocated by their company. It started in the 1960s and grew since then. There are several generations of successful Israelis, some already retired and some in their prime right now,” Trajman tells ISRAEL21c.

Israelis are active in Boston-area academia, healthcare, retail and other fields. In high-tech alone, about 250 Israeli-founded companies have set up shop here.

Read More: Israel21c

[justlookfrightened]

Houston Chronicles, Part 7

Read the beginning here. Read the last installment here. 

 Jack stripped out of his gear quickly and headed for the shower. Bitty was going to bring his friends down to meet him, and he wanted to be ready.

Not in the dressing room, Bitty said. That might be a bit much for non-athletes, especially since two of them were girls. Young women, really.

But Jack wanted to be ready to step into the hallway the moment the guard knocked.

Jack could only stay a minute, anyway. He was due for the post-game workout with the rest of the team. He knew the conditioning coach wouldn’t make him go too hard -- a concession to his advanced age -- but he would have to stretch and lift a little bit, fighting the perennial losing battle to keep muscle mass on as the season wound to a close.

So he drank the shake that was left in his locker -- definitely protein, plus fluids, electrolytes, God only knew what else -- and washed off as quickly as he could before redressing in shorts and a clean T-shirt.

He had just tied his sneakers when the door opened and the guard called his name.

“Zimmermann, some people to see you.”

Jack knew Bitty’s friends had gone all out with the rainbows and the glitter -- he saw them watching from the box he’d gotten for them. Given the theme of the night, they’d even appeared on the Jumbotron during one of the TV timeouts.

At the time, no one had known they were Jack’s guests, but chances were at least some of his teammates would pass by on their way to the conditioning room. And that much color and glitter -- there really was no missing them.

Behind Quinn (whose hair was still purple) and the two girls, Bitty was almost invisible in an Aeros jersey and black jeans. Jack approached them with a smile, holding out a hand for the first young woman to shake.

“Hi,” he said. “I’m Jack.”

“Emily,” the girl said. “This is my girlfriend, Alex.”

Jack shook her hand as well. “Pleased to meet you,” he said.

He nodded to Quinn, who was hanging back for some reason, and tried to ignore the grin that was splitting Bitty’s face. There was a chirp coming, that he knew, but he wasn’t sure about what and he wasn’t going to ask.

“Are you guys hockey fans?” he asked. “Or were you, before Bitty -- er, Eric forced it on you?”

Quinn was mouthing “Bitty?” while Emily said, “I used to play. I was a goalie through high school. Girls and boys.”

“Cool,” Jack said. “Want me to see if I can get Sully out here? He might need another minute to be ready.”

“You don’t think he’d mind?”

“No,” Jack said. “He’s always happy to meet other goalies.”

Then he -- finally -- turned to face Bitty properly. The jersey was Foxy’s number 21, complete with the C on the chest. That just looked wrong to Jack, but he couldn’t expect Bitty to have one of his Aeros jerseys. They’d only been available for a couple of weeks.

Bitty, he saw, was staring at his shoes.

“Oh my God, Jack, you never change,” he said. “Did you buy every pair of those yellow sneakers ever made so you’d have a lifetime supply?”

“That’s right,” Alex said. “Eric said he played with you in college?”

Quinn sniffed behind her, but Bitty just agreed. “And he wore those godawful shoes the whole time I knew him.”

“I like them,” Jack said simply. “Bits, you want me to see if I can get Foxy to sign your jersey, too?”

“You don’t have to do that,” Bitty said.

“It’s no problem,” Jack said. “He’d probably like to meet you guys, too.”

Because if Sulander met Bitty, it would get back to Foxy, and why not just get this over with?

Jack stepped back in the dressing room and took a deep breath.

“Sully! Foxy! You guys got a minute for my friends?”

“Only a minute,” Foxy said. “We need to be on the bus in less than an hour.”

“Like the bus would leave without you, Cap,” Sulander said.

“No need to make the coaches mad,” Foxy said.

“Just for a minute,” Jack said. “I was hoping you could sign my friend’s jersey, Gil. He’s wearing your number. And one of the girls he brought played goalie for like 10 years of youth hockey and wanted to meet you, Raino. Maybe take a selfie?”

“A goalie?” Sully said. “Of course.”

Jack followed Foxy and Sully to the corridor to make introductions.

“Sully, this is Emily -- she’s the one who played goalie -- and her girlfriend, Alex. And Quinn and my friend Eric. We played in college together.”

Foxy did very well at containing his reaction to Eric’s name. Jack wouldn’t have caught the blink if he wasn’t looking for it.

“You have excellent taste in jerseys,” Foxy said. “Jack said you might want me to sign it?”

“If you don’t mind,” Eric said. “You guys played a good game tonight.”

“Thanks,” Foxy said. “Having Jack has really helped.”

“He was always great to play with,” Eric agreed.

Then there were a series of photos -- Eric with Foxy, Emily with Sully, the whole group together -- before Foxy said, “It was great to meet you all, but we’re due for conditioning. Maybe you’ll make it to another game?”

“I’d love that!” Emily said, and Eric laughed. “Looks like I have a hockey companion then.”

As soon the door to the conditioning room closed behind them, Foxy turned to Jack.

“Was that who I think it was?” he asked in a low voice.

Jack nodded. “I really hadn’t seen him for five years,” he said. “I didn’t know he was in Houston until a couple weeks after I got here.”

“Is this going to be a distraction?”

“No,” Jack said. “The team comes first.”

********************

Read the next installment here.

[samanthabrambillaarts]

GRAMADO RECEBE MINIARTE ENIGMA COM 115 ARTISTAS INTERNACIONAIS Inauguração é dia 8 de junho, às 11 horas. Veja toda a programação: Sob a chancela da Secretaria da Cultura de Gramado, a artista visual Clara Pechansky mais uma vez traz a Gramado uma edição inédita do PROJETO MINIARTE INTERNACIONAL, que ela fundou em 2003, e que já está na sua 36ª edição. Desta vez o Centro Municipal de Cultura estará mostrando MINIARTE ENIGMA, com obras de 115 artistas do Brasil, Argentina, Colômbia, México e Estados Unidos. COORDENADORES INTERNACIONAIS: Andréa Beatriz Garcia e Carolina Villa (Argentina), César Rincón e Jorge Torres (Colômbia), Ernesto Ríos Rocha e Jorge Luis Hurtado Reyes (México). ARTISTAS VISITANTES: Bruce Buckley, Marise Zimmermann e Paula Goldstein (Estados Unidos), Mauricio Mayorga (Colômbia) e Salvador Verna (Argentina). Na mesma ocasião, será lançado o livro “O traço afetuoso”, que fala sobre a obra de Clara, de autoria da artista visual e escritora Liana Timm. PROGRAMAÇÃO: A abertura da exposição Miniarte Enigma acontece às 11 horas, com o Coral Bocalis. A seguir, a consagrada pintora gaúcha Esther Bianco receberá uma homenagem, por sua trajetória artística, e Liana Timm estará autografando o livro. A programação segue à tarde, às 16h30, na Livraria Mania de Ler, na Rua Coberta Largo da Borges, onde o público terá um encontro com Clara e Liana, que discorrerão sobre o processo de criação do livro. Serviço: Exposição Miniarte Enigma Abertura dia 8 de junho de 2019, às 11 horas Local: Centro Municipal de Cultura Arno Michaelsen Rua Leopoldo Rosenfeld, 818 – Lago Joaquina Bier Tarde de autógrafos: às 16h30 Livraria Mania de Ler – Rua Coberta Largo da Borges/ loja 23 Informações adicionais: Rita Gil (54)999122325, Patrícia Viale (54)999255761, Clara Pechansky (51)98443 8884. #samanthabrambilla #exposicaodeartes #inst #criatividade #galleries #artistas (em Gramado - Serra Gaúcha/RS) https://www.instagram.com/p/Byc4ltpnlj8/?igshid=sjcvpv9hk5tb

[juniperpublishers-etoaj]

Total Costs in The Brazilian Efficiency Model of Distribution System Operators: An Analysis - Juniper Publishers

Juniper Publishers - Open Access Journal of Engineering Technology

Abstract

This study analyses the efficiency of electricity distributors in Brazil by considering total costs. The impact of the inclusion of total costs is evaluated with four different efficiency models using Data Envelopment Analysis and Stochastic Frontier Analysis. The analyses are conducted using a sample of 60 companies over two periods of time. The years 2008 to 2010 are used to calculate the efficiency frontier, and the years 2011 to 2012 are used to validate the methodology. The results show that, on average, the total costs estimated by benchmarking methods are approximately 7% lower than those observed in 2011 and 2012, that is, utilities need to reduce their total annual costs by approximately R$40 million on average.

Keywords: Efficiency; Electricity distributors; Methodologies; Electricity sector; Competitive; Environment; Incentive regulations; Operating costs; Distribution system operators; Territorial extension; Efficiency scores; Environmental variables; Tariff reviews; Remuneration; Minor components costs

Abbrevations: DSOs: Distribution System Operators; CR: Capital Remuneration; RD: Regulatory Depreciation; MC: Minor Components Costs; AC: Additional Costs; DEA: Data Envelopment Analysis; CRS: Constant Returns to Scale; VRS: Variable Returns to Scale

    Introduction

Since 1990, number of infrastructure sectors around the world, including the electricity sector, have initiated long reform processes, replacing rate of return regulation with incentive regulation. Although the structures and methodologies adopted by the electricity sector have changed since the reforms, the main objective of efficiency improvement has been maintained [1].

Rate of return regulation, which was widely used before the reform process, had an adverse effect. Specifically, it encouraged companies to overinvest to obtain greater capital remuneration. This effect is known in the literature as the Averch-Johnson effect [2]. In this scenario, consumers are penalized by having to pay high tariffs.

Following the reform process, incentive regulation has become popular in the electricity transmission and distribution segments because it incentivizes companies to become more efficient [3]. Under this type of regulation, benchmarking techniques are applied to detect inefficiencies during the electricity transport process. In short, these techniques aim to compare similar companies in a competitive environment [4].

In Brazil, rate of return regulation is partially employed in the definition of capital costs, whereas incentive regulation is fully applied in the calculation of operating costs. However, economic regulation best practices follow a different trend: the adoption of incentive regulation for capital and operating costs. This practice is based on the existence of a potential trade-off between the two costs [1]. If they partially adopt rate of return regulations for capital costs and incentive regulations for operating costs, companies will simultaneously seek to raise the former and reduce the latter [5].

In this context, the present study proposes the use of total costs for the efficiency analysis of Brazilian distribution system operators (DSOs) from an incentive regulation perspective.

Several studies analyzing the efficiency of Brazilian DSOs have been published, but, to the best of our knowledge, no study has evaluated the economic effect of the adoption of total costs in the efficiency model. Xavier, Lima, Lima, and Lopes [6] propose an alternative form of efficiency analysis for Brazilian DSOs motivated by the great territorial extension. Despite the use of total costs with physical variables as a proxy, their study does not analyses the economic impact. Costa, Lopes, and Matos [7] evaluate operating cost models proposed by Brazilian regulators and discuss their main inconsistencies. Corton, Zimmermann, and Phillips [8] investigate the effect of incentive regulation on the operating costs of Brazilian DSOs, focusing on service quality. Altoé, Júnior, Lopes, Veloso, and Saurin [9] analyse the relationship between technical efficiency and some financial variables related to capital management using operating costs,  costs related to service quality, and non-technical losses. Gil, Costa, Lopes, and Mayrink [10] examine the statistical correlation between efficiency scores and environmental variables using operating costs as inputs.

Despite the previous research, studies that investigate the incentive regulation effects on the total costs of Brazilian electricity distributors are still necessary. At the moment, this proposal is subject to an internal study by Brazilian regulator. However, given the global trend, a shift towards total costs will become essential. Thus, this study provides empirical evidence of the impact of adopting total costs on efficiency analysis by comparing four different models.

    Brazilian Electricity Distribution Regulation

Since 2003, DSOs have been regulated by a price cap model, which specifies an average rate under which tariffs should be adjusted considering inflation and productivity targets (X factor). The electricity distribution segment has completed three tariff reviews (2003-2006, 2007-2010, and 2011-2014) and is completing the fourth (2015-2018). During a tariff review, capital and operating costs are redefined.

Capital Costs

Capital costs consist of capital remuneration (CR) and regulatory depreciation (RD). CR is the product of the remuneration rate and the net remuneration base, which corresponds to recognised investments and is not depreciated. RD is the product of the average depreciation rate and the gross remuneration base, which corresponds to total recognised investments.

In the fourth tariff review, the previous asset base was maintained and updated by the inflation index. New assets were valued according to the concept of the optimised and depreciated replacement cost, and a utilization index was applied to all accepted assets to reduce overinvestment.

A reference price base is used to calculate the average minor components costs (MC) and additional costs (AC), which make up the final fixed asset value (replacement new value-RNV), according to Equation 1:

RNV=ME+MC+AC   (1)

Where:

ME-main equipment, such as circuit breakers and current transformers;

MC-fixed components associated with a particular constructional standard, such as control cables and insulators;

AC-setting up the good, consisting of design, management, assembly, and freight costs.

ME is valued according to the company’s price base, whereas MC and AD are valued according to the reference price base, which has created an incentive mechanism within capital costs.

The reference price base is structured in a modular way such that a module is associated with each type of ME according to the company’s group. The regulator applies a clustering technique to segregate 63 DSOs into five groups to take into account different levels of investment in electricity distribution systems. Each company has an average group cost considering differences between the concession areas. Once the prices of the ME, MC, and AC are known, the RNV is calculated.

Operating Costs

The Brazilian regulator applies Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) as an efficiency analysis, with operating costs as an input. The outputs are the underground network, the over ground network, the high-voltage network, distributed energy, the number of consumers, non-technical losses, and service quality. The sample has 61 DSOs, with mean values for the variables during 2011, 2012, and 2013. The analysis preserves non-decreasing returns to scale and the input orientation. The regulator creates a confidence interval around efficiency scores because DEA has a deterministic aspect.

From these restrictions, an operating cost target is set to be reached over the regulatory period. At the time of review, the target is compared to real operating costs. The difference between real and target costs determines a regulatory trajectory. Part of the difference is incorporated at review time, and the remaining portion is considered in X Factor [11].

    International Electricity Distribution Regulation

Unlike in the early years of reform, when regulators were worried about operating costs, a current emerging question is how to ensure that utilities set efficient investment levels. Over the years, DSOs have improved their performances in response to incentive regulations. However, significant investment is needed over the next few years, and this need, combined with incentives to reduce costs, accentuates a new challenge between efficiency and investment [12].

This broad view of total costs has several motivations, including the trade-off between operating and capital costs, the freedom of companies to choose different strategies, and the trade-off between cost efficiency and quality.

An analysis that segregates operating, and capital costs encourages substitution between these cost categories [13]. Consider a benchmarking model in which operating costs are the only input and the distribution network is the only output. Utilities will increase investments by focusing on maximizing output and the return to capital, resulting in greater operational efficiency; however, tariffs will increase.

Companies can adopt different combinations of operating and capital costs to operate and improve their networks [1]. When total costs are considered, a DSO is free to choose an optimal cost composition.

In addition, total costs play an important role in service quality analysis. As more DSOs invest in network reliability, total costs and quality improvement marginal costs will be higher. Therefore, a total cost model is more appropriate to evaluate this possible trade-off [14].

Finally, a total cost model is considered one of the best regulatory practices, according to Haney and Pollitt [15]. A similar result is presented by Mesquita [16], who investigates aspects of the efficiency analyses currently employed by European and Latin American countries. The analysis considers ten European countries and eight Latin American countries and finds that most of the countries surveyed use total costs.

However, adopting total costs in efficiency models can also mean a strong incentive to reduce capital costs and may jeopardize long-term investments [17]. The possible adverse effect of discouraging investment and jeopardizing the future performance of energy distribution networks has been pointed out as one of the possible causes for the non-adoption of total costs by the Brazilian regulator. However, the regulator recognizes its use as an international trend:

‘Discussions like this point toward benchmark model based on total cost, which has been a trend in international regulatory experience. However, a breakthrough in this direction requires a much deeper study and certainly a space for methodological transition and adaptation of agents’ [18].

This adverse effect is not observed by Cullmann & Nieswand [19] when analyzing incentive regulation effects on the investment behavior of 109 German DSOs. The results show an increase in investments from 2009 for both public and private companies. The authors conclude that an analysis of investment decisions should include all institutional aspects of incentive regulation.

From a similar perspective, Poudineh & Jamasb [20] explore the determinants of the investment decisions of 129 Norwegian DSOs in the period from 2004 to 2010. The results show that the main factors influencing these decisions are the rate of return under the previous period’s investment, socio-economic costs, and the lifespan of useful assets.

Cambini, Fumagalli, & Rondi [21] investigate the relationship between incentives, service quality, and the investment levels of Italian DSOs. The results indicate a causal relationship between incentives and investment levels, and, in the process of performance improvement, penalties are more effective than rewards are.

    Benchmarking Methods

The most recent advances in the field of efficiency, microeconomics, and econometrics studies are focused on efficiency frontier analysis. Given the impossibility of observing theoretical efficiency frontiers, efficiency is determined by empirical boundaries, estimated by observing the minimum use of inputs given an output level or the maximum output given an input level. This study uses DEA and Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA) in estimating the efficiency of Brazilian DSOs.

Data Envelopment Analysis

DEA is a nonparametric methodology that uses real data to measure the relative efficiency of a DMU. It was proposed by Charnes, Cooper & Rhodes [22] to address the efficiencies of companies operating in constant returns to scale (CRS) and further extended by Banker, Charnes & Cooper [23] to variable returns to scale (VRS).

This efficiency analysis can be focused on input reduction or output expansion. The result from an input-oriented model is the maximum reduction possible in the inputs level for a given level of output. With an output-oriented focus, the model seeks the maximum output quantities that can be generated by the actual level of inputs used by the company. The efficiency scores can vary from 0 to 1, where 1 denotes the efficient company

The majority of the DEA models consider either CRS or VRS. For CRS model, outputs and inputs increase (or decrease) by the same proportion along the frontier. Where the technology exhibits increasing, constant or decreasing returns to scale along different segments of the frontier, the VRS model is indicated. The CRS model assesses the overall technical and scale efficiency, while a VRS model measures only the technical efficiency.

The efficiency score of the ith company of N companies in CRS models takes the form specified in Equation 2, where θ is a scalar (equal to the efficiency score) and λ is a Nx1 vector that represents the weight of each Decision-Making Unit in the construction of the reference company. Assuming that the companies use E inputs and M outputs, X and Y represent ExN input and MxN output matrices, respectively. The input and output column vectors for the ith company are represented by xi and yi respectively. In Equation 2, company i is compared to a linear combination of sample companies which produce at least as much of each output with the minimum possible amount of inputs. The Equation 2 is solved once for each company.

For VRS models, a convexity constraint Σλ = 1 is added that ensures that the company is compared against other companies of a similar size.

Stochastic Frontier Analysis

SFA, a parametric method, was originally developed by Aigner, Lovell, and Schmidt [24] and Meeusen and Broeck [25] and allows the estimation of the inefficiency associated with a production function or cost.

The stochastic frontier consists of

(i) a deterministic component,

(ii) a stochastic component representing random error in the estimation of the frontier, and

(iii) an inefficiency component for each company. It is calculated, in most studies, using an input-oriented Cobb- Douglas functional form with stacked data, as in Equation 3.

The SFA model allows the error to be disaggregated into two independent components, vit and uit, and to be uncorrelated with the explanatory variables [26].

The component vit is random noise that represents deviations of the deterministic component from the frontier due to the non-inclusion of an explanatory variable or measurement error. We adopt the assumption that the error vit is independent and identically distributed and normally distributed with a zero mean and constant variance. This error term has all the characteristics of the error term used in the classical linear regression model.

The uit component is a positive error term that reflects the cost inefficiency of firms. This term indicates the cost excess relative to the stochastic frontier. When this component is null, the firm is at the efficiency frontier. Aigner, Lovell, and Schmidt [24] propose using the half-normal distribution as the probability distribution for this term, as in Equation 4:

This model is referred to as SFA-ALS. Even today, this is the most common specification used in SFA models found in the literature. Subsequently, other distributions have been proposed for the u term, the most common of which are the exponential, normal truncated, and gamma distributions [26].

    Methodology

Choice of variables

The choice of inputs and outputs is a crucial aspect of benchmarking methods, especially for DEA, as the discriminatory power of these methods decreases as the number of variables increases [27]. Therefore, a researcher needs to be parsimonious in choosing variables, opting for those that best describe the evaluated process.

There is no consensus on the best variables to describe the electricity distribution process. Jamasb and Pollitt [13] investigate the most frequently used variables in benchmarking studies. Among inputs, the following stand out: operating costs, number of employees, transformer capacity, and network extension. With regard to outputs, distributed energy and the number of consumers are the most common choices.

This study uses monetary and physical variables that are widely adopted in benchmarking studies as well as non-technical losses and service quality indicators. The monetary variables are operating and total costs. The physical variables are the same as those adopted by the Brazilian regulator in the current tariff cycle, namely, the underground network, the over ground network, the high-voltage network, distributed energy, and the number of consumers. Non-technical losses and the service quality indicators are also the same as those adopted by the Brazilian regulator that consider the difference between actual and expected values [18].

Data

An efficiency analysis is conducted using data from 60 Brazilian DSOs from 2008 to 2012. The dataset can be found at the website of the Brazilian regulator (www.aneel.gov.br) and was divided into two periods: 2008 to 2010 for the efficiency frontier calculation and 2011 to 2012 for the model validation.

The methodology used to calculate capital costs was the same as that used by the regulator in Technical Note 185/2014 from the Economic Regulation Superintendence [18]. Operating costs and outputs were the same as those from Technical Note 66/2015 from the Economic Regulation Superintendence database [11]. Table 1 shows sample descriptive statistics.

This data shows great variability between companies, especially for underground networks, which are only found in the capitals of large countries.

Models

Four distinct models are evaluated in Table 2: three DEA models and one SFA model. The first two models were selected to evaluate the impact of total costs on efficiency analysis. This choice was based on the literature review presented in Section 3. The last two models were included in the analysis to validate the DEA results using SFA, a guideline recommended by Bogetoft and Otto [28].

    Results

The proposed methodology was applied to the four models defined in Section 5.3 using data from sixty Brazilian DSOs from 2008 to 2010. Models 1, 2, and 3 were based on DEA using an input orientation and non-decreasing returns to scale. Model 4 applied SFA and was estimated using an input-oriented cost function. Table 3,4 shows the estimated results.

The results indicate that DSOs have average efficiency scores of 0.70, 0.84, 0.80, and 0.81 in Models 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively, which indicates room for improvement.

Model 1 considers ten utilities as efficient, including three small and seven large companies. Two of them, Eletropaulo and Light, are located in high consumer density areas. Others that have reached the frontier do not have such high densities, which implies relatively efficient input management. Other utilities have an average efficiency of 0.67. This inefficiency can be explained by low load densities and dispersed consumers, which make such areas expensive and challenging for energy distribution. Three CPFL Energia DSOs are considered efficient: Piratininga, CPFL Paulista, and RGE. These results suggest a possible advantage associated with holding characteristics, as Semolini [29] also concludes. Twenty-nine utilities have efficiency scores under 0.67, including AME, Ene. Paraíba, Ene. Sergipe, CEMIG, and CEEE. The first three are located in the Brazilian north or northeast, which are characterized as less urbanized regions with the lowest monthly income [30]. Analysis indicates that these companies should reduce operating costs by 55% on average.

Model 2, which considers total costs as inputs, indicates lower efficiency levels for three DSOs (Piratininga, CPFL Paulista, and Light). New companies are considered efficient, such as, for example, CEB, Coelce, and Cosern. Comparatively, these companies have partial productivities that are higher than their segment averages, especially for total costs and the highvoltage network ratio. Therefore, some companies’ efficiencies decrease under Model 2, whereas those of others increase, and the segment average efficiency rises from 0.70 to 0.84. The efficiency scores have a correlation of 0.76 with those of Model 1. Light is located at the efficiency frontier in Model 1. However, with total costs, the DSO receives a score of 0.90; a reduction of 10% in its efficiency. On the other hand, Cepisa achieves better results. Under Model 1, it has an efficiency of 0.59 compared to Celtins, Coelba, and João Cesa. Under Model 2, the company obtains a score of 0.88, and its peers are Celtins and Coelba. This evidence indicates that Model 1 can penalise companies that are efficient in total costs and can favour those that are efficient in operating costs.

Model 1 can distort the incentives given to companies. For example, Coelce obtains an efficiency of 0.80 in Model 1 and of 1.00 in Model 2. These results corroborate the existence of a possible trade-off between operating and capital costs. Therefore, models with total costs are more appropriate for efficiency analysis [1]. In fact, Model 1 does not capture the aspect of DSOs’ total costs.

In contrast with the previous models, Model 3 considers only seven companies to be efficient. CEB, Coelce, and Cosern have lower scores following the changes to the model, such as the exclusion of service quality and non-technical losses and the aggregation of the distribution network. Some companies, such as Coelba and RGE, remain on the frontier in all three models. The results of Model 3 results have a 0.89 correlation with those of Model 2. In addition, the efficiency of Light is considerably lower in Model 3, with a value of only 0.61. The company obtained scores of 1.00 and 0.90 in Models 1 and 2, respectively. This change can be explained by inclusion of the non-technical loss variable, given that difference between the expected and real values is minimal.

Model 4 estimates efficiency using SFA and estimates the cost function using the Cobb-Douglas functional form. An exponential probability distribution is used to estimate the inefficiency term of the u error. The coefficient on the logarithm of the products is shown in Table 5.

Table 5 shows that all estimates of the product coefficients are significant at the 5% level. The significance of the variance parameters of the error components, σ and λ, validate the use of the SFA stochastic model. We observe that the most important product is the distributed energy, which has an importance of almost 50% between the three products. The sum of the coefficients of the three products is 1.01, indicating the possibility of constant returns to scale. The results of the application of this model have a 0.76 correlation with those of Model 3, since Model 3 is constructed using the same inputs and products as this model is.

Of the sixty DSOs, thirteen companies have efficiencies greater than 0.95, and only two companies have efficiencies less than 0.5. Of these two DSOs, one is João Cesa, with a score of 0.45, but in Models 1, 2, and 3, this company is considered a benchmark. This company has the smallest outputs in the sample, and this fact may be distorting its efficiency.

    Discussion

To analyses the economic impacts of the different models, we calculate:

(1) the average segment efficiency for each model,

(2) each distributor’s score divided by the average segment efficiency,

(3) the product of the previous result and the average real total cost from 2008 to 2010, and

(4) the comparison of the previous result with the average real total cost from 2011 to 2012. The results can be seen in Table 6,7.

Comparing the total costs estimated by Model 2 and the real values, we find a necessary average reduction of R$37 million, which is approximately 7% of real total costs. A similar result was found by Yu, Jamasb, and Pollitt [29], who analyse the efficiency of twelve English DSOs from 1995 to 2003. Of the sixty companies evaluated, thirty-three exhibit total costs that are higher than those defined by DEA. According to Model 2, AME needs to reduce cost by R$166 million or, in percentage terms, 35% of its total costs. Another inefficient large company is Ampla, which spends R$331 million more relative to others. Other DSOs have lower real total costs; RGE is a member of this group, with a real total cost of R$575 million versus an expected cost of R$643 million.

Coelce also uses comparatively fewer inputs, about 12% fewer than expected. Some companies have real and expected values that are very close, requiring no decrease or increase. These companies include Coelba, CPFL Paulista, and Light.

Model 3 suggests an average reduction of R$49 million, or approximately 9% of real total costs. Giannakis et al. [1] make a similar diagnosis when evaluating UK utilities between 1991 and 1999. About half of companies need to reduce their costs. This model does not include the quality and non-technical losses variables, as in other studies [1,14,29-33,]. AME remains inefficient, needing to reduce costs by R$162 million, which is R$4 million less than in Model 2. Ampla needs to reduce costs by R$364 million. As in the previous model, some utilities prove to be efficient, such as, for example, RGE, which spent R$100 million less than expected. Coelce maintains its good performance in this model, and AES Sul has an appropriate level of total costs.

Model 4 presents the lowest required cost reduction, with a value of approximately R$34 million, or 6% of costs. This result is to be expected since SFA considers data error. This model does not include environmental variables since they were not significant. These results corroborate previous work, such as that by Yu et al. [29], who conclude that environmental factors do not have significant economic or statistical impacts on the overall performances of English DSOs. The model finds the sharpest reductions with respect to Boa Vista (58%) and João Cesa (51%). In the previous models, the latter is considered efficient, with opportunities to increase total costs by 3% and 8%, respectively, in Models 2 and 3. Another utility with a similar result is Eletropaulo, which can increase total costs by R$236 million in Model 2, can increase them by R$86 million in Model 3, and should reduce costs by R$172 million in Model 4. Elektro moved in the opposite direction, as it is evaluated positively by Model 4 but needs improvement in Models 2 and 3.

Finally, when analyzing the results of all models, we find that, in average percentage terms, the total costs estimated by the benchmarking methods are not considerably smaller than those defined by the Brazilian regulator.

    Conclusion

Efficiency analysis is receiving considerable attention from regulators in the electricity sector, especially in the distribution segment. Due to the natural monopoly characteristics of the electricity distribution process, utilities are not subject to market forces.

This study simulated a virtual competitive scenario among Brazilian utilities. DEA and SFA were used for efficiency analysis. Both methods calculate an efficiency frontier based on the evaluated company’s inputs and outputs to evaluate the impact of total costs.

The novelty of this study is in the use of total costs as inputs in efficiency models, specifically in the Brazilian case. Although total costs have already been evaluated by other studies, mainly in European countries, they have not been applied in a country with a considerable distribution segment growth rate, such as Brazil.

Four different models were studied. Comparing Model 1 and Model 2 allowed us to evaluate the impact of total costs on efficiency, whereas the comparison between Model 3 and Model 4 was useful to understand the robustness of the results. In the first comparison, 88% of utilities had a higher efficiency score in Model 2, with a mean difference of 0.14. In the second comparison, the efficiencies of 39 companies increased with SFA, with a correlation between the results of 0.76.

When evaluating the impact of the use of incentive regulations in total costs, we find that DSOs need to reduce their costs by an average of R$ 40 million per year, which is around 7% of total costs. This efficiency gain will affect consumers, who will pay lower tariffs.

This study evaluated the efficiency of Brazilian DSOs using total costs as an input; future studies could focus on superefficient Brazilian companies.

For more Open Access Journals in Juniper Publishers please click on:  https://juniperpublishers.com

For more articles in Open Access Journal of Engineering Technology please click on: https://juniperpublishers.com/etoaj/index.php

For more Open Access Journals please click on:  https://juniperpublishers.com

[americanfreighttrucking]

Capitalizing on Explosive Demand, Axonius Appoints Lenny Zeltser as VP of Product, Launches Channel Program, Adds New Advisor

Capitalizing on Explosive Demand, Axonius Appoints Lenny Zeltser as VP of Product, Launches Channel Program, Adds New Advisor

Senior Cybersecurity Leaders Join Axonius to Accelerate Product, Customer, and Channel Growth

NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–#IoT–Cybersecurity asset management company Axoniustoday announced that Lenny Zeltser has joined the company as vice president of product, John McCabe was appointed as senior director of worldwide channels and alliances, and Gil Zimmermann has joined the company’s advisory…

[burlveneer-music]

Tony Allen - Wolf Eats Wolf ft. Daniel Zimmerman (trombone)

On September 8, Afrobeat legend Tony Allen will release The Source, the Nigerian-born Paris-based drummer's debut full-length album for Blue Note Records, following the tantalizing 4-track EP release A Tribute to Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. The album pre-order launched today along with the release of the lead single “Wolf Eats Wolf,” which is available now to stream or download.

The Source is the next step in Allen’s musical and spiritual voyage, and a further exploration of his early jazz influences. To share writing tasks and take care of the arrangements, he called on saxophonist Yann Jankielewicz, with whom he has worked since 2009 and the album Secret Agent. They began by getting together to listen to and exchange their favorite jazz records: Lester Bowie, Charles Mingus, Art Blakey, Gil Evans… albums that served as a compass to guide them on their way.

“Tony has never played drums as well as this,” says Jankielewicz. “He's never had as much freedom, never had as much power as he does today.”

Surrounding Allen are some of the best musicians on a Paris scene that is difficult to call “jazz” due to its highly changeable nature: Jankielewicz alongside saxophonists Rémi Sciuto and Jean-Jacques Elangue, trumpeter Nicolas Giraud, trombonist Daniel Zimmermann, bassist Mathias Allamane, pianist Jean-Philippe Dary, and keyboardist Vincent Taurelle, who produced the album with Bertrand Fresel… a French cast to begin with, but with the addition of guitarist Indy Dibongue from Cameroon who, like Allen, contributes an indispensable African sound to this palette. 11 excellent players in total would finally deliver The Source, including one notable guest: Damon Albarn, who adds an ethereal piano part to “Cool Cats.”

[battleofthebits]

Won’t You Get Me Bodied

Check, Please! and Yuri!!! on Ice crossover fic. 4.2 K, minor Jack/Bitty and Victor/Yuuri. I promise there’s YoI characters despite the opening scene being 100% Check Please. Read it on Ao3 here. 

“Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh, my god.”

Jack stopped in the doorway and went through his mental tally of Reasons Bittle Is Having A Minor Breakdown. Bitty was hunched over his laptop, staring at it with awed disbelief, but — as Jack checked every month — there were no upcoming concerts or awards shows of the kind that usually merited this sort of a response. Bitty used his phone for email, so he couldn’t have gotten an offer to collab with anyone, and nobody had molested any of his pies recently.

That left only one tactic: direct questioning. “Is something wrong, Bits?” Jack asked, fully aware that if something important was going on, he would trigger another meltdown like the fiasco back in 2013.

“Wrong? Are you crazy?” Bittle said, catapulting up from the bed and shoving his laptop in Jack’s face.

The laptop, as far as Jack could tell, was showing nothing more important than some bird-boned ice dancers. “Uh?” Jack managed.

“Jack, Four Continents is in Boston this year!” Bitty said, in the exact same tone that he used when Beyonce did… well, anything… and the Great Phelps-Bittle Jam Feud was settled in Suzanne’s favor. Jack might have no idea what Four Continents was, or why it was so important to Bittle, but by God, he was going to learn.

“Sounds like it’s pretty important to you,” Jack said. Active listening; Lardo would be proud.

“It is, yeah. Do you know anybody who could get us tickets? I don’t wanna ask for much, but it used to be my dream to compete there, and it’s so close…”

“Yeah, definitely,” Jack said. “One of Dad’s friends’ wives is pretty pally with the ISU, and she should be able to hook us up.”

“And this friend’s wife wouldn’t happen to be an international figure skating champ you’ve never told me you know, would she?”

“A figure skating champion who can get you the tickets you want, Bits,” Jack said. “Maybe even rinkside.”

@omgcheckplease

OH MY GOD

8:23 PM · Jan 14, 2016

@omgcheckplease

SWEET MOTHER MARY FOUR CONTINENTS IS RIGHT NEXT DOOR

8:24 PM · Jan 14, 2016

@omgcheckplease

AND GUESS WHOSE AMAZING BOYFRIEND HAS TIX

8:47 PM · Jan 14, 2016

@omgcheckplease

I know, I have a French exam that Monday but WHATEVER I can do my homework in the Uber

8:47 PM · Jan 14, 2016

@omgcheckplease

And congrats to @leodelhielo on making it in! Us Southern boys gotta stick together!

8:49 PM · Jan 14, 2016

Leo made a habit of keeping up with his old competitors. Some people just faded out of the sport and didn’t do anything of note, but others went to college or pursued interesting careers. He figured it was a good way to get a look at his options post-figure skating, and besides, some of those guys had been cool. It was nice to keep in touch, or at least stalk their social media. He hadn’t been expecting a nostalgia follow to @ him, though.

He remembered following this account. He’d been Googling a list of boys who’d made it to regionals, and found not only a college and major but a Twitter, attached to one Eric Bittle. Leo dimly remembered him: won Southern Junior Regionals 2010, peppy as anything. The guy had brought tiny pies to the party afterwards, pissed off at least three skaters’ nutritionists, and then vanished from the sport despite what every announcer had said was astounding potential. And had apparently ended up in Boston, attached to a hockey team.

It couldn’t hurt to acknowledge an old acquaintance, and Leo didn’t have anybody managing his social media anyway. He dashed off a quick tweet.

@leodelhielo

@omgcheckplease thanks! we should totally catch up sometime.

9:17 PM · Jan 14, 2016

@omgcheckplease

Sweet! @leodelhielo I was actually planning a party that weekend, so…

9:21 PM · Jan 14, 2016

Jack heard a piercing screech from the kitchen and ran in to check that Bitty hadn’t gotten hurt and another surprise album hadn’t dropped. “What’s going on, bud?”

“Leo de la Iglesia just @-ed me. Leo de la Iglesia is in my DMs. Leo de la Iglesia thinks it would be totally swawesome to come to the Haus after Four Continents and bring his skater friends.” Bitty looked up from his phone with reverence in his eyes. “Jack. He used the word ‘swawesome.’”

“Sounds cool,” Jack offered.

“It is so not cool, Mister Zimmermann. I have to make plans! I have to figure out who all is coming, email their nutritionists so I can set up an appropriate menu, do a deep-clean of the Haus — what if one of them gets a virus from the couch? — and let the boys know to give them their privacy. There’s so much work to do, oh my god.”

“And you’ll love every minute of it.”

Agreeing to bring Leo’s friends to a college town forty minutes from the rink right after Four Continents was far more difficult than firing off a promise to do so. Seung-Gil hated loud noises, alcohol, and fun, so he was right out. Guang-hong might be down, but would be just about impossible to sneak into a frat party when he looked twelve on a good day. Otabek… was Otabek.  Leo was planning on asking JJ, because Leo was a nice person, dammit, but that invite might make the night sound more boring than JJ would ever stand for. Phichit would be much easier to lure in with the promise of a genuine American frat party. And if Leo played his cards right, and was very, very lucky, through persuading Phichit he might get to Yuuri.

Leo had seen rather too much of Yuuri with drunks, but he’d never actually seen Yuuri get hammered, and there were all kinds of rumors. Yuuri had reportedly barely touched the champagne at the GPF banquet this year, claiming he wanted to actually remember this night, thanks, which as far as Leo was concerned might as well be an invitation to get him blackout drunk. All he had to do was handle the situation with care.

Me

hey, you doing anything after Four Continents?

Phichit

not yet

you got any ideas?

Me

yeah, this guy I know from juniors lives in a frat house and makes amazing pie

he invited us all to dinner and a frat party

You in?

Phichit

you bet ur ass I am

Me

sweet, can you bring yuuri with you?

Phichit

uhhhhh

maybe

Me

think about it

this is a chance to get him totally wasted

see if the rumors are true

*and* get photographic evidence

all for the cost of an Uber to Samwell

Phichit

well when you put it like that

I’ll see what I can do

Yuuri had no idea why he was here. Getting his first real gold of the year had felt pretty nice, but after the win all he’d wanted to do was cuddle with his fiancé. Instead, Hurricane Phichit had burst into his room, said only, “Yuuri! We’re headed out in ten minutes! Grab your best party outfit!” and dragged him into an Uber while Victor was distracted by a crowd of fans. Apparently there was some kind of party, somewhere, and Phichit’s radar for a good, Yuuri-embarrassing time was just as strong as it had been in Detroit.

“Don’t you have a leg injury?” Yuuri asked.

“A of all, this sprain has been healing for a week; second of B, I just won bronze with it; and thirdly, you don’t need your legs when you’re doing a kegstand,” Phichit grinned.

Yuuri was doomed.

The house was… well. Yuuri would have liked to say it was nice enough, but that would have been a lie against God and architecture. It looked, frankly, like a crack den. With very spiffy curtains. “You’re sure this is the place?”

“Yeah, number 151.” Phichit carefully did not hobble up to the door.

A tall guy with a bemused look on his face was sitting on a chair on the roof above the porch. “Bitty!” he yelled into the house. “There’s more short guys showing up! Did you invite a gymnastics team over?”

A blond a little taller than Phichit opened the door in oven mitts. “Hi there,” he said, “ignore Tango, he’s, uh, special. Everyone else is ready to eat, unless JJ shows up out of the blue, and I’ve been instructed not to tweet about this party until Uber rush pricing starts, so that’s not very likely.”

“Uh, thanks?” Yuuri said.

“No problem! We’ve had some problems in the past with big personalities ruining the ambience, and I wouldn’t want that to happen tonight. Now, I’ve stuck to healthier food than I normally would, so you don’t have to worry too much about portion control. After dinner, we’re going to be pre-gaming and setting up for about an hour, and then the full-on kegster starts. No judgement if either of you want to leave before then. Any questions?”

“You’re Eric, right?” Phichit asked. “The guy Leo knew from Juniors?”

“Oh, where are my manners?” said Eric. “Yeah, that’s my name, but you can call me Bitty; everyone does around here. Pleased to meet you two!”

Bitty led them inside to a veritable buffet line and half of the men’s singles competitors, along with a decent number of jocks and, inexplicably, a tiny Southeast Asian girl. He introduced Phichit and Yuuri to his teammates, but the names were indistinguishable: everyone was called something random like Birker or Dexy.

“I know,” said a tall Black guy with killer cheekbones, “we’ve all got weird nicknames. It’s all a long and storied hockey tradition, like weird pre-game superstitions or everyone hating the Flyers.” And then he and a loud, blond, giant white guy launched a full-on Powerpoint presentation about the history of hockey names and how to make your own.

“So my hockey name would be what, Chiter?” Phichit asked, when he thought he had the hang of it.

Some dude with a mustache stared into his soul for a second and said,“Bruh, no. Cheetah.”

“Yeah, figure skaters are speedy little fuckers, right?” Loud Guy said around a mouthful of chicken breast. “Bitty beats everyone in suicides. Now, the rest of you guys gotta make your own nicknames, Shitty’s genius won’t stick around. Do your names sound like anything cool in your own language? Animals or weapons or something?”

“Oh my god,” Phichit said. “Yuuri. Katsudon. Plisetsky was right about you all along!” Yuuri was flailing and making the usual panicky noises that indicated Phichit was onto something.

“That’s not really—” Yuuri started to say, but Phichit interrupted him.

“Katsudon and Cheetah,” he mused. “Cheetah and Katsudon.” It was only natural at that point to force Yuuri into a selfie, captioned, “Me and katsukiyuuri at an #Epikegster pregame! #cheetah #katsudon #nameamoreepicduo #illwait #hockeynicknames #makeyourown!”  

After the last bite of souffle had been eaten — “don’t worry,” Eric had said, “they’re actually pretty low in sugar and you get a ton of protein!” ― and the dishes had been heaped in the sink to ignore, the older jocks and the tiny girl went out to grab beer and… well, nobody was sure what Tiny Girl was up to, but it had something to do with pregaming.

“Okay,” Loud Guy said, after Tiny Girl returned with a projector from somewhere and the skaters had been assembled on a revoltingly filthy green couch. “In honor of Cheetah, here, who says he’s seen every figure skating movie ever made but never fucking got to Blades of Glory—”

“Like you’ve ever seen Shall We Skate?” Phichit fired back.

“Dude,” said Cheekbones, “that movie’s in Thai and Holtzy can barely manage English.”

“What, and subtitles aren’t a thing in America?”

“We are doing a very special pregame today,” Mustache said, barrelling over the incipient movie argument. “The Blades of Glory drinking game: drink every time Chazz and Jimmy get in a fight, every time Chazz mentions his sex addiction, and every time figure skating just doesn’t work like that. Two drinks for every outdated cringey gay joke, and finish your drink every time the parents’ death gets mentioned. If we notice any slow-sipping, you’ll have to finish your drink on the spot. Ready?”

“How many lines am I gonna be able to quote out of context and embarrass Yuuri?” Phichit asked.

“He’s skating with another dude in exhibitions, right? Started in Detroit?” Loud Guy said.

“Yup.”

“Oh, around half the movie.”

And Loud Guy was right. Phichit ended up elbowing Yuuri when the announcers talked about Chazz’ upbringing in Detroit’s sewer skating scene, groaning at the hideous excuses for choreography, and whispering, “Look, it’s you and Yurio! He’s even got the haircut!” every time Jimmy and Chazz laid into each other. By the time the Iron Lotus subplot came up, he was buzzed enough to genuinely consider the physics of a bullshit movie-magic pairs skating move.

“I don’t think they would actually have been able to cut her head off,” Phichit said to nobody in particular. “Cut her throat, yeah, but there’s not enough momentum to cut through the spine. What do you think, Yuuri?” he asked, and turned to his friend, who was looking a little green.

“I think I’m gonna help the jocks set up,” Yuuri said, and fled the room.

Different strokes for different folks, Phichit figured, and took another drink— Chazz and Jimmy were fighting again.

It didn’t take long after that for the kegster to start in earnest. Students filed into the house, Loud Guy and Cheekbones brought in a keg, and before Phichit knew it, D.R.A.M. was blaring at full volume. But as Phichit got his ass kicked at flip cup, he couldn’t help but wonder where Yuuri had gone off to.

It wasn’t that Yuuri was having a bad night. Everyone was incredibly friendly and it barely mattered that he couldn’t socialize when the entire point of the night was getting hammered in creative ways. He didn’t so much greet people as slide between different drinking games. But an hour or so later and five drinks in, he was beginning to question the contents of whatever “tub juice” was.

He shambled towards the kitchen — which was blocked off with CAUTION tape and a sign reading “absolutely NO puking on appliances- ERB” — and found that somebody else had had the same idea. Somebody else looked a little like a much taller and ripped JJ, and was sitting at the table contemplating a can of root beer. Yuuri took a sip of the tub juice and tried to look as if he were neither drunk off his ass nor interested in conversation.

A few moments passed in mutually-appreciated silence.

“It’s a lot sometimes, isn’t it?” Root Beer Guy said, finally. “All the people and the socializing, and the compulsory drinking.”

“It’s not like I mind all that much,” Yuuri said. “The drinking helps with the people.”

“You’re one of the figure skaters Bittle invited, right? Katsuki?”

“The captains told me I’m supposed to call myself Katsudon now, but yeah.”

“They would. Well, I heard from Bittle that one of the reasons your friends wanted you to come tonight is to get you black-out wasted. Apparently they want to take pictures, maybe put a video on Youtube. You weren’t in on this, I’m guessing?”

“Oh God no.”

Root Beer Guy sighed. “That’s what I thought. Well, Shits is always going on about how the Haus is supposed to be a safer space, and we have to be part of consent culture and everything. I guess part of that is not forcing booze down people’s throats. Anyone tries to get you to drink when you aren’t feeling it, I’ll be here with my root beer.”

“Thanks, I guess? But I’m pretty awful at interacting without getting drunk.”

“Fair. One thing, though. You might wanna lay off the tub juice, that stuff’s basically Hi-C and Everclear.”

Yuuri squinted at his cup’s contents. “Really? I’m on my third cup and it doesn’t seem like it’s doing anything.”

“If tub juice doesn’t get you drunk, nothing will,” said Root Beer Guy. “Just keep it in mind, eh? I’d be a shitty ex-captain if I let guests get forced into situations they weren’t comfortable with.”

“I guess I will,” Yuuri said, and made his way out of the room. If tub juice wasn’t working for him, maybe beer would.

Phichit was having the time of his life. The music was pounding, his friends were dancing, and two gorgeous hockey players were helping him out of a kegstand. “Alright,” said Cheekbones, “pong table’s open! You got a partner?”

“Sure,” Phichit said. “Anybody know where Yuuri is?”

“Cute Japanese kid? Just came out of the kitchen with Jack,” Tiny Girl said from the table. “You sure you want to go with him? He looks pretty sloshed.”

“Dude, Yuuri is the best pong partner. He’s, like, a Hoover for booze and he never loses his coordination. He’s a freak of nature or something.”

“Your funeral,” said Tiny Girl. “Now, Haus rules are as follows. No smacking the ball away if it bounces, blowing and fingering are forbidden, and shots before the last cup are mandatory. Got it?”

“Yeah, but are we playing singles or doubles?” Phichit asked.

“Two of you, one of me,” Tiny Girl grinned. “If I can handle Kent Parson and half the Falconers, I can take a couple figure skaters.”

Yuuri wandered over, finished his cup of tub juice, and the game began. In short order, Tiny Girl had changed her tune.

“Aight, that’s a bounce off the ceiling, you drink four cups,” she said, and then, “The fuck, Katsuki? You’re allowed to alternate those, you’ve already been drinking half of Cheetah’s.”

“I’m fine, thanks,” Yuuri said, and chugged all of them. “Phichit’s got the alcohol tolerance of one of his hamsters, we’ve been playing pong like this for years. We end up equally wasted, so it’s not like I’m cheating.”

The game went on like that for a while, Yuuri and Tiny Girl landing all their shots, to the point where Phichit ducked out in favor of filming the legend unfolding in front of him. Finally, Tiny Girl and Yuuri had one cup left each. It was Yuuri’s turn. Somehow he managed to down the shot and bounce the ball into Tiny Girl's cup at the very edge of the table, and the room exploded.

“Holy shit!” Loud Guy said, “somebody just fucking beat Lardo at pong.”

“Barely,” Yuuri said, somehow managing to be self-defeating and plastered at the same time.

"Are you kidding me?" Mustache chipped in. "I never thought I'd see the goddamn day."

“His aim gets better when he gets drunker,” Phichit said. “I tried to warn you.”

“I’m still the undisputed Haus flip-cup champ,” said Tiny Girl.

“Really? Let’s see about that,” Yuuri said. Drunk Yuuri was finally coming out of his modest megane shell, and Phichit was going to be around to film every second.

“Hey,” Guang-hong asked Phichit around 1 AM, “has anybody seen Leo around?”

“I lost track of him after they started playing “Vivir Mi Vida” and he freaked out,” Phichit said. “How come?”

“Eric’s totally wasted and we need a translator.”

Phichit thought for a second. “From English? We’re using English right now.”

“No,” Guang-hong said, “from Southerner. He’s slurring all his words and allergic to consonants and the last phrase I heard from him was ‘Y’all boutta git sum.’ Leo’s from Houston, he knows that accent.”

“She like music, she from Houuu-ston, like Auntie Yonce,” a familiar voice warbled from Phichit’s seven. He reached out and grabbed Leo from the mass of partiers around them.

“Leo,” Guang-hong said with a valiant attempt at sobriety, “we need you to translate what Bitty’s saying. He’s getting up in Yuuri’s face and I just heard him saying everyone was gonna get something.”

“We don’t need to worry about a fight, Yuuri’s not a fighty drunk,” Phichit added, “but he might cry all over the host and that would just be embarrassing for everyone.”

Leo squinted at Phichit as if his eyes weren’t quite focusing right. “Wouldn’t you want that?” he asked. “You could film it and add it to your Yuuri Blackmail Stash.”

“It’s not a blackmail stash, it’s just a thing friends— look, we don’t have time for this!”

“Aight,” Leo said, “lemme at ‘im and I’ll do my best.”

They elbowed their way over to the circle of onlookers surrounding a slurring Bittle and confused Yuuri, both drunk off their asses. “Aintcha never done no dance-offs b’fore?” Eric said.

“Have you ever been in a dance-off?” Leo translated, enunciating carefully and swaying slightly.

“‘S rumors. Like, tons of ‘em, ‘n’ all of ‘em gotcha winnin’ ‘gainst some miiiiiiighty tough competition,” Eric continued.

“Many rumors claim that you’ve won previous dance-offs against very tough opponents,” said Leo, deadpan.

“An’ I’m thinkin’, how ‘bout it, huh? You an’ me, here ‘n’ now, mano a mano,” Eric concluded.

“And I think we should have a dance-off here and now,” Leo said.

Yuuri blinked. “Thass wha’ he’s sayin’?” he asked. Drunk Yuuri was its own dialect, heavy with slurs and sobbing and the Saga-Ben he never quite scrubbed from his accent. Luckily, Phichit was fluent.

“Yep,” he confirmed. “You down?”

It was a foregone conclusion; between the tub juice and the pong and the kegstands, Yuuri was a good eight drinks in, and eight-drinks Yuuri was a walking bad decision. “Am I down?” Yuuri said, looking like he was about to laugh, or maybe fall over. “Phichit, ‘m a gold medalist, gonna kick ass at Worlds. I think I can take an American who doesn’ even know how t’ breakdance.”

“Famous last words, buddy,” Phichit said, but he stepped back. If this disaster happened, somebody had better preserve it for posterity, and that somebody was going to be him.

“Hey, Cheetah!” Eric hollered, and hurled his phone at Phichit. “Use my phone, I gotta Youtube channel that’s gonna wanna see this.”

The phone was already set to record, so Phichit had nothing to do but stand in a clear spot, press a button, and hold on for the ride.

“Get Me Bodied” blasted through the speakers and Phichit had no adequate words to describe what came next. There was quite a bit of breakdancing on Yuuri’s part— Phichit thought he could recognize that K-kick from the banquet photos— and Eric was shaking his ass like the world was ending and twirling around like a bizarre headbanging ballerina. Between the two of them, Phichit thought they’d used a bit of every kind of dance Phichit knew, and a few he didn’t. As the music ended, Eric came out of a giant spin and… fell? On purpose? He didn’t look hurt, and it had been timed to the music, so probably it was deliberate.

“That’s a death drop, what Bittle ended with. Although I don’t know what you call the spin he did going into it,” said Otabek from behind Phichit’s shoulder, and since when had Otabek even been at this party?

“I’ve been here all night, you just haven’t noticed because I’m not a rowdy drunk like some people,” Otabek said. “I DJ on the side, and there’s always somebody asking for the latest American hits. I figured it would be field research.”

“Okay,” said Yuuri from where he was draped against the banister, “so who won?”

Phichit pressed STOP and the recording cut out. “Everybody who just witnessed that. Maaaybe Eric, by a tiny margin? But most of all, Eric’s twitter followers,” he said, and uploaded the video.

“I’m so gonna regret that tomorrow,” Eric said, accepting a bottle of water from his boyfriend.

“I’m regretting it already,” Yuuri said. As Yuuri was tragically boyfriend-less until Victor tracked them down, Phichit grabbed some water for him.

“But oh my god, Eric, that move you did at the end? You have to teach us!” Guang-hong piped up.

“Yeah,” Phichit chirped, “Yuuri can fall on purpose for once.”

“I really hate you sometimes, Phichit, “ said Yuuri.

“Hate me later, it’s time for a podium selfie!” Phichit said, throwing Eric’s phone back to him.

Eric carefully took a photo with Yuuri, and Phichit wrote the caption for him: “4CC gold medalist katsukiyuuri and the reigning Haus Dance-Off Champion! #Epikegster #danceoffroyalty #yourfavescouldnever” The party wound down after that, and around 2 AM everybody headed back to their hotels after extracting a deal: Eric would teach them how to do a death drop someday if Yuuri helped him land a quad loop.

Bitty woke up in the middle of the night with an enormous headache, aching joints, and several thousand new followers. His phone had apparently alerted him to all of them at once, and didn’t stop buzzing for the five minutes it took Bitty to scroll to the source of the problem. Sure, the dance-off video accounted for his new Twitter followers, but why on earth was his Instagram blowing up?

And then he saw the selfie, and more importantly, the top comment.

“Jack. Jack, if you love me at all, you have to see this.”

“Bits, it’s four in the morning.”

“Look at this. Look at it. Viktor. Nikiforov. Just. Liked. My. Photo. He complimented my selfie prowess, Jack!”

“...Who?”

“I’m divorcing you.”

“We’re not even engaged!”

[aegphotosuk]

Inside Lighting Photography Non Profit Has Deadly Refugees Take Photographs

As a photographer, Sevilay Maria van Dorst relies on pictures from around the globe to stay on top of information events. But earlier this season, she found that despite all the harrowing pictures coming from this Syrian refugee crisis in Europe, she did not feel like she had a good grasp of what was unfolding out there. “I honestly was not sure what to think,” van Dorst, 32, says. “I thought, You know what? I’m likely to find myself what is going on. “

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So in early February, van Dorst packed her bags and left her home in Amsterdam to get Lesvos, Greece, an island broadly regarded as a ground zero for the crisis because of its place as a gateway to the rest of the continent. (Roughly 30,000 migrants came in there in February alone.) She made her way to the Moria refugee camp, which at the time had been home to about 4,000 refugees, in which the seriousness of the crisis was palpable. “In an instant, I knew things were worse than I had anticipated,” she states. “You notice their dread and a complete lack of understanding of what is going to occur. They have been moving from smuggler to smuggler, treated like creatures and another amount. But when I looked in their eyes, I realized they’d names, families, hopes, and fantasies. I thought, Oh, my God, you are not out of another world. You are me, and I’m you. “

“Once I looked in their eyes, I realized they’d names, families, hopes, and fantasies.”

Moved to assist in any way she could, van Dorst began teaching English to some of the kids through the camp’s chain-link fence, together with flip cards. (She had not obtained permission to work within the camp.) She had a handful of students on the very first day; over 70 people, including adults, also showed on the second. Eventually, the English courses evolved to photography courses. “I’m a photographer and an artist, therefore I look for answers through artwork,” says van Dorst. Soon, she had met with two other photographers, Oliver Zimmermann and Sebastian Gil Miranda, who’d also traveled to Lesvos to watch the crisis for themselves. Together, together with a translator, Amir Asadi, who had lately come to Greece as a refugee in Iran, they founded Inside Light, a project to educate young refugees photography as a way of boosting their sin.

Van Dorst teaches families English through the fencing at Moria refugee camp, May 2016

Over the next seven weeks, the Inside Lighting team passed disposable cameras under the fence and told the students, ages 9 to 16, to take photographs of beautiful things. “They see this location in a really negative manner, but once we ask them to look for things that are special, they start to understand their environment otherwise,” van Dorst explains. “You start to provoke positive thinking instead of, Oh, this is really lousy.” After the kids finished shooting, the photographers acquired their own pictures at a local store and returned to converse with them about their preferred sodas, while offering basic tips on makeup, light, and other methods. But in return, the kids shared stories of their lives back home. “It is remarkable to me how these refugees don’t have anything, but nevertheless wish to supply you with something, to teach you anything about their countries,” van Dorst states. So far, Inside Light has worked with over 50 kids; it intends to expand to other refugee camps in Greece and elsewhere the next year, and has established a fundraising effort.

What the kids decide to picture sometimes surprises van Dorst. After, a young boy whose dad had abandoned his family years ago was so enthused about a picture he had taken he pushed to his chest for several moments. After he finally set it down, van Dorst recognized he had taken a selfie. “Was this a mistake?” She inquired. “No,” he responded. “It is not a mistake–I’m beautiful.” The response made van Dorst speechless: “To understand he’d felt unlikable because his dad left and then see him told me I had done my job.”

To find out more or to contribute, visit ngotiator.org/product/donation.

This Report appears in the December Problem of Marie Claire, on newsstands November 15.

from Find fantastic photographer aegphotos.co.uk http://www.aegphotos.co.uk/inside-lighting-photography-non-profit-has-deadly-refugees-take-photographs/

[daisyckinguk]

Inside Lighting Photography Non Profit Has Syrian Refugees Take Pictures

Sevilay Maria van Dorst relies on pictures from around the globe. But this year, she found that despite all of the pictures coming from the refugee crisis in Europe, she did not feel as though she had a grasp of what was found there. “I honestly wasn’t sure what to think,” van Dorst, 32, says. “I believed, You know everything? I’m going to see for myself what is going on. “

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So in February, van Dorst packed her bags and left her home to get Lesvos, Greece in Amsterdam, an island widely regarded as a ground zero . (Roughly 30,000 migrants came in there in February alone.) She made her way. “In a minute, I knew things were worse than I had ever expected,” she states. “You notice their fear and a complete lack of understanding to what is going to happen. They have been moving to smuggler, treated like another amount and creatures from smuggler. But when I looked into their eyes, then I realized they’d families names, hopes, and fantasies. I believed, Oh, my God, you are not out of a different world. You are me, and I’m you. “

“When I looked into their eyes, I realized they’d names, families, hopes, and fantasies.”

Moved to aid van Dorst began teaching English throughout the camp’s chain-link fence to a number of the kids, with flip cards. (She had not obtained permission to work in the camp.) She had a couple of pupils on the first day. Finally, the English classes evolved into photography lessons. “I am a photographer and an artist, therefore I always look for solutions through art,” says van Dorst. Soon, she’d met with Oliver Zimmermann two musicians and Sebastian Gil Miranda, who traveled to watch the catastrophe for themselves. Together, Inside moderate, they founded together with a translator, Amir Asadi, who had come as a refugee in Iran to Greece, a project to educate refugees photography as a means of boosting their sin.

Van Dorst teaches families English throughout the fencing in Moria refugee camp, May 2016

On the next seven months, the Inside Light crew told the pupils, ages 9 to 16, to take photos of beautiful things and handed cameras. “They see this location in a really negative way, but once we ask them to look for things that are special, they start to realize their environment differently,” van Dorst explains. “You start to stimulate positive thinking instead of, Oh, this is really terrible.” After the kids stopped shooting, while offering basic suggestions on light, makeup, and other methods, their pictures were developed by the photographers at a neighborhood store and returned to speak about their favorite snaps. But in return, the kids shared stories about their lives back home. “It is remarkable to me how these refugees do not have anything, but nevertheless want to give you some thing, to teach you anything about themselves or their states,” van Dorst states. So far, more than 50 kids have been worked with by Interior Light; it has launched a fundraising campaign, and plans to expand in Greece and elsewhere the next year.

Van Dorst occasionally shocks. Once was so excited about a film he’d taken that he pushed against . When he finally put it down, van Dorst understood he’d taken a selfie. “Can it be a mistake?” She asked. “No,” he responded. “It isn’t a mistake–I am beautiful.” The response made van Dorst speechless: “To understand that he’d felt so unlikable since his father left and to then watch him call himself beautiful told me I had done my job.”

To find out more or to donate, visit ngotiator.org/product/donation.

This article appears in the December issue of Marie Claire, on newsstands November 15.

from network 10 http://www.visagesphotography.co.uk/inside-lighting-photography-non-profit-has-syrian-refugees-take-pictures/

[visagesphotography]

Inside Lighting Photography Non Profit Has Syrian Refugees Take Pictures

Sevilay Maria van Dorst relies on pictures from around the globe. But this year, she found that despite all of the pictures coming from the refugee crisis in Europe, she did not feel as though she had a grasp of what was found there. “I honestly wasn’t sure what to think,” van Dorst, 32, says. “I believed, You know everything? I’m going to see for myself what is going on. “

Advertisement – Continue Reading Beneath

So in February, van Dorst packed her bags and left her home to get Lesvos, Greece in Amsterdam, an island widely regarded as a ground zero . (Roughly 30,000 migrants came in there in February alone.) She made her way. “In a minute, I knew things were worse than I had ever expected,” she states. “You notice their fear and a complete lack of understanding to what is going to happen. They have been moving to smuggler, treated like another amount and creatures from smuggler. But when I looked into their eyes, then I realized they’d families names, hopes, and fantasies. I believed, Oh, my God, you are not out of a different world. You are me, and I’m you. “

“When I looked into their eyes, I realized they’d names, families, hopes, and fantasies.”

Moved to aid van Dorst began teaching English throughout the camp’s chain-link fence to a number of the kids, with flip cards. (She had not obtained permission to work in the camp.) She had a couple of pupils on the first day. Finally, the English classes evolved into photography lessons. “I am a photographer and an artist, therefore I always look for solutions through art,” says van Dorst. Soon, she’d met with Oliver Zimmermann two musicians and Sebastian Gil Miranda, who traveled to watch the catastrophe for themselves. Together, Inside moderate, they founded together with a translator, Amir Asadi, who had come as a refugee in Iran to Greece, a project to educate refugees photography as a means of boosting their sin.

Van Dorst teaches families English throughout the fencing in Moria refugee camp, May 2016

On the next seven months, the Inside Light crew told the pupils, ages 9 to 16, to take photos of beautiful things and handed cameras. “They see this location in a really negative way, but once we ask them to look for things that are special, they start to realize their environment differently,” van Dorst explains. “You start to stimulate positive thinking instead of, Oh, this is really terrible.” After the kids stopped shooting, while offering basic suggestions on light, makeup, and other methods, their pictures were developed by the photographers at a neighborhood store and returned to speak about their favorite snaps. But in return, the kids shared stories about their lives back home. “It is remarkable to me how these refugees do not have anything, but nevertheless want to give you some thing, to teach you anything about themselves or their states,” van Dorst states. So far, more than 50 kids have been worked with by Interior Light; it has launched a fundraising campaign, and plans to expand in Greece and elsewhere the next year.

Van Dorst occasionally shocks. Once was so excited about a film he’d taken that he pushed against . When he finally put it down, van Dorst understood he’d taken a selfie. “Can it be a mistake?” She asked. “No,” he responded. “It isn’t a mistake–I am beautiful.” The response made van Dorst speechless: “To understand that he’d felt so unlikable since his father left and to then watch him call himself beautiful told me I had done my job.”

To find out more or to donate, visit ngotiator.org/product/donation.

This article appears in the December issue of Marie Claire, on newsstands November 15.

from visagesphotography.co.uk fat burners for women that work http://www.visagesphotography.co.uk/inside-lighting-photography-non-profit-has-syrian-refugees-take-pictures/

[studio77photouk]

Inside Lighting Photography Non Profit Has Deadly Refugees Take Pictures

Sevilay Maria van Dorst is based from all over the world. But this year, she discovered that despite all of the pictures coming from this refugee crisis in Europe, she did not feel as though she had a solid grasp of what unfolded there. “I honestly was not sure what to believe,” van Dorst, 32, claims. “I thought, You know what? I’m going to see for myself what is going on. “

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So in February, van Dorst packed her bags and left her home for Lesvos, Greece, an island widely seen as a ground zero into the rest of the continent. (Roughly 30,000 migrants came in there at February alone.) She made her way. “In a minute, I knew things were worse than I had ever anticipated,” she states. “You see their fear and also a complete lack of understanding regarding what is going to happen. They’ve been going into smuggler, treated like animals and another number from smuggler. But when I looked in their eyes, I realized they’d families, names, hopes, and dreams. I thought, Oh, my God, you are not from another world. You’re me, and I am you. “

“Once I looked in their eyes, I realized they’d names, families, hopes, and dreams.”

Moved to assist van Dorst began teaching English throughout the chain-link fence of the camp to a number of the kids, with cards. (She had not got permission to operate inside the camp.) She had a couple of students on the very first day; over 70 people, including adults, showed up on the second. Finally, the English courses evolved into photography lessons. “I’m a photographer and an artist, so I look for answers through art,” says van Dorst. Shortly, she’d met with two photographers, Oliver Zimmermann and Sebastian Gil Miranda, who’d also traveled to watch the catastrophe for themselves. Together, together with a translator, Amir Asadi, who had lately come to Greece they found Inside moderate, a project to teach photography as a means of boosting their sin to young refugees.

Van Dorst educates families English May 2016, throughout the fencing in Moria refugee camp

On the next seven weeks, disposable cameras were handed by the Inside Light team beneath the fence and informed the pupils to take photographs of things. “They see that this location in a really negative way, but once we ask them to look for things that are special, they start to see their environment otherwise,” van Dorst clarifies. “You begin to provoke positive thinking instead of, Oh, this is really bad.” After the children stopped shooting, while supplying tips on composition, light, and other techniques, their pictures were generated by the photographers at a local store and returned to speak about their favorite snaps. In return, the kids shared stories of their lives back home. “It’s remarkable to me how these refugees do not have anything, but still want to give you something, to teach you anything about themselves or their states,” van Dorst states. Thus far, over 50 children have been worked with by Inside Light; next year it intends to expand into additional refugee camps in Greece and everywhere, and has established a fundraising campaign.

What the kids decide to picture sometimes surprises van Dorst. After, a boy whose dad had left his family years back was so excited about a picture he had taken that he pressed it for several moments. Van Dorst recognized he had taken a selfie when he finally put it down. “Can it be a mistake?” She asked. “No,” he replied. “It’s not a mistake–I’m beautiful.” The response left van Dorst speechless: “To know that he’d felt so unlikable since his dad left and to then watch him call himself amazing told me I’d done my job.”

To find out more or to contribute, see ngotiator.org/product/donation.

This article appears in the December issue of Marie Claire, on newsstands November 15.

The post <p>Inside Lighting Photography Non Profit Has Deadly Refugees Take Pictures</p> appeared first on Studio 77 Photography Gwent Wedding Photographers.

from Studio 77 Photography Gwent Wedding Photographers http://www.studio77photography.co.uk/inside-lighting-photography-non-profit-has-deadly-refugees-take-pictures/

[jazzworldquest-blog]

NIGERIA:Tony Allen Nouvel album The Source Sortie le 08/09/17 chez Blue Note

Tony Allen

Nouvel album The Source

Sortie le 08/09/17 chez Blue Note

En concert à Jazz à la Villette le 09/09/17

The Source, le premier album de Tony Allen chez Blue Note !

Tony Allen vient de réaliser un rêve d’enfant. Il assure même qu’avec The Source, douzième opus de sa discographie, il a enregistré le disque de sa vie. Il n’est pas anodin qu’un musicien de 76 ans dont la carrière s’étale sur plus de 50 ans et dénombre des centaines d’enregistrements en studio, fasse un tel aveu.

Premier album du batteur nigérian pour le prestigieux label Blue Note, The Source symbolise peut-être mieux qu’aucune autre référence du catalogue à la fois l’âge classique du label et son présent innovant. L’enregistrement de l’album s’est fait sur bandes analogiques et autour de Tony Allen sont réunis quelques-uns des meilleurs musiciens d’une scène que l’on peine à étiqueter jazz tant elle se caractérise avant tout par sa mobilité et sa créativité.

Au total 11 pointures, dont 5 cuivres, ont participé à l’enregistrement de “The Source”. Plus un guest de marque, Damon Albarn.

Tony Allen, nouvel album The Source, sortie le 8 septembre 2017

Tony Allen vient de réaliser un rêve d’enfant. Il assure même qu’avec  The Source, douzième opus de sa discographie, il a enregistré le disque de sa vie. Le saxophoniste Yann  Jankielewicz  qui l’accompagne depuis 10 ans affirme pour sa part : «  Tony n’a jamais aussi bien joué de la batterie. Il n’a jamais été aussi libre et puissant qu’aujourd’hui. » Il n’est pas anodin qu’un musicien de 76 ans dont la carrière s’étale sur plus de 50 ans et dénombre des centaines d’enregistrements en studio, fasse un tel aveu. Il n’est pas fortuit qu’un autre musicien, de 35 ans moins âgé mais déjà doté d’une longue expérience, lui reconnaisse une telle aura.

The Source est le premier album du batteur nigérian pour Blue Note, label parmi les plus prestigieux de l’histoire du jazz qui a considérablement ouvert son champ d’action depuis sa renaissance dans les années 80. Et Source symbolise peut être mieux qu’aucune autre référence du catalogue à la fois l’âge classique du label et son présent innovant. Il répond par son esthétique sonore d’une totale intégrité, résultat d’une scrupuleuse transcription de la musique au moyen d’une technologie exclusivement analogique,  à la philosophie vertueuse dont se réclamaient ses fondateurs, Alfred Lion et Marx Margulis. Mais il rejoint aussi par sa nature hybride,  le jazz n’étant en réalité ici qu’un mode de navigation permettant de remonter à sa source africaine, une exigence de modernité qui en fait un objet à part totalement captivant.

Début 2017, après avoir sorti un EP en hommage à Art Blakey, Tony entame la préparation de The Source où il entend refléter de manière plus complète ce voyage intérieur, musical et spirituel, entre l’Afrique et l’Amérique. Il requiert pour en partager l’écriture, et en assumer les arrangements, le saxophoniste Yann Jankielewicz, avec qui il travaille depuis l’album Secret Agent de 2009.  Les 11 titres de The Source sont le fruit d’un patient travail qui débute lorsque les deux musiciens se réunissent pour écouter et échanger certains disques. Ceux de Lester Bowie, Charlie Mingus, Art Blakey ou Gil Evans vont servir de boussole, ou plutôt de constellation qu’ils scrutent comme jadis les navigateurs à bord des caravelles pour s’orienter.

Autour de Tony sont réunis quelques uns des meilleurs musiciens d’une scène que l’on peine à étiqueter jazz tant elle se caractérise avant tout par sa mobilité. Le tromboniste Daniel Zimmermann, le saxophoniste Rémi Sciuto, le contrebassiste Mathias Allamane ou le claviériste Vincent Taurelle, qui avec Bertrand Fresel a produit l’album, figurent dans un casting frenchy où le guitariste camerounais Indy Dibongue apporte, avec Tony, l’indispensable pigment africain. Au total 11 pointures, dont 5 cuivres,  vont participer à Source. Plus un guest de marque, Damon Albarn, au clavier sur Cool Cats.

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- TRACKLISTING - 01.    Moody Boy 02.    Bad Roads 03.    Cruising 04.    On Fire 05.    Woro Dance 06.    Tony’s Blues 07.    Wolf Eats Wolf 08.    Cool Cats 09.    Push And Pull 10.    Ewajo 11.    Life Is Beautiful

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[daisyckinguk]

Inside Light Photography Non Profit Has Syrian Refugees Take Photos

All over the world to remain along with information activities, Sevilay Karen van Dorst depends on pictures from like a shooter. But she unearthed that despite all the traumatic pictures appearing out of the refugee disaster in Europe, she did not feel just like she’d a good understanding of that which unfolded there. “I actually was not certain things to think,” 32, Dorst, claims. “I believed, guess what happens? I am likely to observe for myself what is happening.“

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Therefore in early February Dorst loaded her bags and quit her house for Portugal in Amsterdam, an area broadly seen as a ground-zero for that disaster due to the area like an entrance towards the remaining region. (Approximately 30,000 migrants appeared inside in Feb alone.) She created her method to the refugee camp, which to about 4 was house at that time,000 refugees, where the crisis’ intensity was palpable. “immediately, I understood issues were worse than I actually anticipated,” she claims. ” You observe a total insufficient comprehension along with their concern for what is likely to occur. They have been heading to smuggler, handled like creatures and yet another quantity from smuggler. Nevertheless when I investigated their eyes, I recognized they’d expectations, households, titles, and desires. I believed, Oh, my-God, you’re not from the diverse planet. You’re me.“

“When I investigated their eyes, I recognized they’d titles, households, expectations, and desires.”

Transferred to greatly help by any means she could Dorst started training Language through the campingis string-link fencing with a of the kids, applying cards that were switch. (She’dnot acquired authorization to function within the camping.) She’d a number of pupils about the first day. Fundamentally, photography classes were developed into by the courses. “I am an artisan and a shooter, so I usually look through artwork for options,” says Dorst. Quickly, she ‘d fulfilled Oliver Zimmermann two additional photographers and Gil Miranda, who traveled to see the disaster for themselves. Together, Inside Lighting, they started plus a translator Asadi, who’d lately arrived at Portugal like a refugee from Iran, a task to show small refugees photography of improving their comfort as a means.

Van Dorst shows households Language through the fencing at Moria refugee camp, Might 2016

Within the next eight weeks, the Interior Lighting group informed the students to consider pictures of gorgeous points and handed disposable cameras underneath the fencing. ” They observe this devote an extremely damaging method, nevertheless they start to observe their atmosphere differently when we question them to consider unique issues,” Dorst describes. “You begin to promote positive-thinking in the place of, Oh, this really is therefore poor.” Following the children completed firing, the photographers delivered to talk about a common photos with them, while providing fundamental tips about illumination structure, along with other methods and created their pictures in a nearby store. About their lives, the kids discussed tales in exchange home. “It’s amazing in my experience although these refugees do not have anything, but nonetheless wish to give something to you, to show you something about their nations or themselves,” Dorst claims. To date, increased than 50 children have been worked with by Inside Lighting; it it has released a fundraiser strategy, and plans to increase to other camps in Portugal and elsewhere year.

Dorst occasionally surprises. Once, a child whose dad had quit his household years back was thus thrilled of a image he’d obtained he pushed against it for all moments to his torso. Van Dorst recognized he’d obtained a selfie while he ultimately set it along. “Was this an error?” she requested. “No,” he responded. “it isn’t a mistake—Iam stunning.” The reaction left Dorst speechless: ” to understand since his dad quit he’d experienced so unlikable and also to subsequently observe him phone herself stunning explained I Would completed my work.”

To find out more or even to contribute, visit ngotiator.org/item/gift.

This short article seems within the Dec problem of Marieclaire, on newsstands November 15.

from network 10 http://www.online-digital-photography-course.com/inside-light-photography-non-profit-has-syrian-refugees-take-photos/