Last Train Home

Last Train Home may refer to:

Last Train

Last Train refers to a bid just below game level in the agreed suit. A Last Train bid is typically made in a bidding sequence in which one of the partners has already indicated slam interest.

A survey in the magazine The Bridge World showed a strong consensus approving the Last Train convention, with the following definition:

The convention was both devised by Jeff Meckstroth and named by him after the Monkees song "Last Train to Clarksville".

Because Last Train is a bidding convention with a special meaning under a partnership agreement, subject to National Regulatory Authority rules it must be alerted. In the absence of any partnership agreement, most players would interpret the Last Train bid as a control bid, showing a high card value in the suit named.

Examples

1♥ - 3♥
4♣ - 4♦

The 4♣ bid shows a club control and slam interest. If the partnership has agreed to use Last Train, the 4♦ bid indicates extra values (i.e., responder's hand is at the upper end of the strength range indicated by the 3♥ bid), and invites partner to continue exploring slam. 4♦ does not show a diamond control, although of course responder might have one.

Train Home

Train Home is an album by American singer/songwriter Chris Smither, released in 2003. Guest Bonnie Raitt provides slide guitar and backup vocals on "Desolation Row".

Reception

Writing for Allmusic, critic Hal Horowitz called the release "a quiet gem" and wrote of the album "Chris Smither settles into his distinctive combination of folk and blues with this excellent release. Although not pushing established boundaries, his rich, velvety voice and mature spoken-sung vocals convey a sense of truth and add depth to these introspective compositions." Music critic Robert Christgau gave the album a choice cut for "Let It Go".

Track listing

All songs by Chris Smither unless otherwise noted.

Still life

A still life (plural still lifes) is a work of art depicting mostly inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which may be either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, or shells) or man-made (drinking glasses, books, vases, jewelry, coins, pipes, and so on). With origins in the Middle Ages and Ancient Graeco-Roman art, still-life painting emerged as a distinct genre and professional specialization in Western painting by the late 16th century, and has remained significant since then. Still life gives the artist more freedom in the arrangement of elements within a composition than do paintings of other types of subjects such as landscape or portraiture. Early still-life paintings, particularly before 1700, often contained religious and allegorical symbolism relating to the objects depicted. Some modern still life breaks the two-dimensional barrier and employs three-dimensional mixed media, and uses found objects, photography, computer graphics, as well as video and sound.

Last

A last is a mechanical form that has a shape similar to that of a human foot. It is used by shoemakers and cordwainers in the manufacture and repair of shoes. Lasts typically come in pairs and have been made from various materials, including hardwoods, cast iron, and high-density plastics.

Production

Lasts come in many styles and sizes, depending on the exact job they are designed for. Common variations include simple one-size lasts used for repairing soles and heels, durable lasts used in modern mass production, and custom-made lasts used in the making of bespoke footwear. Though a last is made approximately in the shape of a human foot, the precise shape is tailored to the kind of footwear being made. For example, a boot last would be designed to hug the instep for a close fit. Modern last shapes are typically designed using dedicated computer-aided design software.

Historically, lasts were typically made from hardwoods and cast iron because these materials retain their shape, even when in contact with wet materials (like leather) and subjected to the mechanical stresses of stretching and shaping shoes on them. Today, wooden lasts are generally used only for bespoke shoemaking, particularly in Europe and North America.