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Even the Pittsburgh Pirates played video games this year.
Knock on wood, you guys, but I managed to get through 2012 without having all my video games stolen from my house while I was sleeping [EDITOR'S NOTE: It's 2013 now, you dummy. You don't need to knock on wood]. Should that even be an achievement?
2012 seems to be a shift in the status quo. Perhaps it's because the new console generation hasn't yet kicked off, but I feel like fewer and fewer AAA, big budget titles have been grabbing my attention lately. Of the 56 games on this list I feel like very few (about 12) were big, huge landmark games. Maybe that's not all that different, but it feels different…
Also, like last year I do count games on this list that did not launch in 2012, but that I played, started, or beat in 2012.
Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective – The weirdest thing about my time with this game was that I chose to play it in Spanish. It was fine practice and, off the top of my head, it taught me two Spanish words I had no use for before playing it (sotano and cachorro, meaning basement and puppy/cub/kitten, respectively), but it also featured very funny writing by Phoenix Wright's creator and a bizarrely complicated story for such a slight-looking game. In fact, 2012 was kind of a year of interactive fiction, as you'll see, so it's appropriate to see GT get top billing. It's also worth mentioning that the animation in this game is spectacular.
Rayman: Origins – Also known as the game where Min and I attained Super Saiyan level for the first time. No lie, guys, the treasure chest levels and the final Level of the Dead or whatever it was called was a zen-like achievement for the pair of us. If New Super Mario Bros. isn't your bag, but you think you might still love platformers then you absolutely need to try this game out.
Chrono Trigger DS – Yeah, I played this in the 90s. Yep, it was my first RPG. The DS port added some marginal sections, including an epilogue that sets up for Chrono Cross in the most depressing way possible, but it also came with a new translation that I thought was interesting and brought some freshness to an otherwise "solved" game for me.
Earthbound – I wish I'd spent more time trying to replay Earthbound, but I just didn't. Heck, I don't think I got too far past meeting Buzz Buzz…Still love this game.
Cave Story + – How I long for dynamic difficulty level changing! Cave Story + is a fantastic Metroidvania-style pixel shooter, but my hubris determined I would play on the hardest difficulty, which means I'm stuck on Monster X until I can get my skills down pat.
Final Fantasy XIII-2 – Remember how everyone's favorite character in FF XIII was Lightning's sister and some guy no one ever saw in FF XIII? Wait…those weren't your favorite characters? You don't want to play another 40 hours as those chuckleheads and watch Snow, Hope, and Sazh from afar while playing a nearly incomprehensible story? Too bad!
Saints Row: The Third – I feel bad for you if you've never played Saints Row: The Third. I felt bad for myself for not having played it sooner than I did. For maximum awesomeness be sure to give your boss the Latina voice. It's priceless. Seriously though, this game is the best open world game I have ever played. Period. It's absurd, ridiculous, and nonsensical, but it's winking every step of the way and I'm right there with it.
Rhythm Heaven Fever – When I first started writing this list I forgot that this little gem came out in 2012. Can you believe it?! Min, I know you don't understand the appeal here, but this is honestly among my favorite game of this year. Did I spend $80 importing the soundtrack from Japan? You betcha. Goddammit this game is so good. It's a must play for anyone with a Wii (or a Wii U). Seriously, go buy it. It's incredible.
Devil Survivor 2 – Man, the Megrez fight is so stupid and I'm not properly equipped, demon-wise, to tackle it, which is why I never beat this game. It's better than DS1, mechanically, but I just need to sit down and grind my way out of this and I really don't want to have to do that…Bonus points for also pretty much being Evangelion
Mass Effect 3 – Hoo boy…What a shitshow this game's release was…I wish I'd beaten it faster than I had because by the time I reached the ending, well, the internet had practically exploded with criticism. I spent more time wading in comments sections and forums defending the artistic integrity of a game that I honestly didn't find that impressive compared to the rest of the year's releases, but it just rubbed me the wrong way to see the fanboys demand changes from Bioware. I mean, whine all you want, but so long as Bioware doesn't cave– What's that? You say they did cave? They did change the ending as a response to fan whining? My respect for Bioware and this game flew out the window the second that happened. As far as I'm concerned, I played the real Mass Effect 3, but I never got the chance to enjoy it. Now that the doctors are gone from Bioware and the company is soliciting advice on what direction to take Dragon Age III, I find myself thinking, "Man, what happened to Bioware?" It's a real shame because Mass Effect 3 was actually quite good.
Shadow Complex – Way late to the party on this one, but I was feeling that Metroidvania itch and, well, this game kind of scratches it. I hate the third dimension they added to the gun because it makes aiming a pain. Other than that it's fine. Serviceable, really, but it also gets credit for being the first "autolog" type game that I can think of.
Jamestown – I don't play a lot of vertical/horizontal shooters. Jamestown just happened to be out in a lull and I owned it from a Humble Bundle. It's enjoyable enough and I dig playing it with multiple people, but it's not going to set the world on fire. Playing the story in "funny" mode is fun too because the alternative is almost obnoxiously self-serious.
Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP – Cool music and a cool aesthetic, but it controls weird on the PC. I wish I had an iPad for stuff like this and that I put more time into this game.
The Walking Dead – I thought about separating this out into episodes across the series, but it seems cleaner to talk about this game in one fell swoop even though I started it in April and finished it in November. I know I said that Rhythm Heaven Fever was the best game of this year, but The Walking Dead is actually the best thing to have come out this year. I'll grant you that it's more interactive fiction than game, but even that's not that important, really. I mean, would putting more puzzles in this adventure game make it any better? Of course not! The Walking Dead is the success it is because it's a character-driven story of the likes we haven't seen before. Lee Everett may not be making the galaxy-defining choices that Commander Shepard makes on a daily basis, but the stakes always seem higher as he does his best to shepherd young Clementine through a world that only gets worse and worse for everyone. That last scene in the jewelry store as Lee coaches Clem to safety…It touched me (and I'm sure most anyone who played it) in a way that nothing else this year could. I'm not being hyperbolic when I say that everyone should play this game. It's brilliant.
Fez – Speaking of brilliant, Fez has that in spades. We're talking about a game where every detail feels deliberate and mysterious. That's not an exaggeration either. With maybe one exception, there's not a single puzzle in Fez that you couldn't necessarily figure out in some way from clues in the world. They might be obscure, difficult to interpret clues, but they're there. Add in a soundtrack that is hauntingly beautiful and a rotating mechanic that is as fun as anything else you've ever done and you've got the most interesting experience of 2012. I can still pull up intense memories of the empty solitude of some of the screens and the fitting music that made me feel isolated, alone, a little scared, and a little excited to discover a cube or an anticube. Fez was awesome, guys.
Diablo 3 – I've had this talk with Min so many times, but maybe I didn't understand what Diablo was before I played D3. I'd only ever played D2 with my brother or a few friends. It was a small-scale endeavor and Torchlight, its closest analogue for me, was a single-player affair. There was no Auction House there to circumvent loot drops or other players to set up trades with on forums. There was the purity of the RNG and the thrill of the hunt. Diablo 3 awakened that feeling inside me that activates when I feel like I've been cheated. It was like I took the red pill and I saw the Matrix of the game for the first time when I realized what I'd have to do to beat the game on Inferno. I've never felt like a game's systems were so transparently evil before (I don't play Facebook games) and Diablo 3 soured me on Blizzard as a developer. Maybe next year you'll see an entry about Heart of the Swarm, but as of right now, thanks to Diablo 3, I plan on never spending another cent on a Blizzard game (unless a new Warcraft RTS comes out. I actually like those).
Tropico 4 – Min likes to tease me about being an evil dictator when I play this game, but it's much more complicated for me. When I play Tropico I don't exercise my ability to rig elections or execute citizens at will. I do my best to be a benevolent leader and resist the control/interference of the US or USSR. I do my best to make the tropical paradise that I feel my people have been denied. It's a deeply (and weirdly) personal experience for me. Plus the music is pretty sweet.
The Binding of Isaac: Wrath of the Lamb – Yeah, yeah, expansion pack for a game that I played relentlessly last year. I don't care, guys, it was almost a new game with how much it added. If you read my blog and you tried/enjoyed FTL, you really should check this out.
No More Heroes: Paradise – I think I'm at assassin #7 or #6? It's got its purposefully tedious parts in it and it's so stylized that it's hilarious, but it lost some steam with me and I never finished it. Whoops.
Spelunky – Forget what that other guy said about the best game of this year because Spelunky is awesome. It's so sharp in the way that it plays. Die and it's almost 100% your fault. Brutally difficult, endearingly fun and funny, and tightly controlled. I only wish I had more friends to play local multiplayer with.
Penny Arcade 2 – Not as funny as PA1 and not as fun as PA3
Penny Arcade 3 – PA goes 16-bit RPG. The combat is frighteningly difficult, but the game is tons of fun because of it. These new classes are super neat. It's like they figured out all the boundaries to RPG combat and sharpened them to a knife's edge. Really interesting, but easy to bone yourself with bad class selection.
Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion – Each game takes forever, but playing a few matches with Min was tons of fun.
Greed Corp – Did not like. Sorry, Eric.
Puzzle Agent – Tried this before I went down the Professor Layton rabbit's hole. Surprisingly funny and surprisingly well-written. I'm fairly certain that these didn't sell well enough to keep making them, but I really enjoyed the setting and the story. Very cute.
Max Payne 3 – I'm the guy who's never played a Max Payne game before so when I play this grimy, glitzy, greasy shooter I'm unburdened by Payne's history. There's no comparison to the way it used to be or the way I wanted a sequel to be. It's just an awesome shooter with a dumb, but neat story. Brazil is here to stay as a setting and even though Rockstar characters are all deplorable assholes who I hate, I had a soft spot for Max and Giovanna. Pretty solid shooter.
Sonic Generations – Modern Sonic games suck. All of them. Everyone who thinks Generations is "not that bad" or "good" is wrong. You're wrong.
BIT.TRIP.RUNNER – A rhythm game! I didn't realize it before I tried it. The first boss fight sucks and I stopped playing after it. I hear that was a mistake.
Persona 4 Arena – I got a little bogged down by being forced to play other perspectives before finishing the main narrative, but the continuation of the Persona story was solid enough to make me interested in the game, even if I didn't really care for the fighting mechanic. Guys, who knew a fighting game could have a sweet story?
Driver: San Francisco – Didn't get enough in to say anything definitive, but I don't really like the car mechanics.
Trine 2 – I don't think either of these Trine games are for me, but I've only ever played 5 hours of a Trine game ever. It's the physics model. I don't like the imprecision in a platformer. I had the same issue with Little Big Planet.
Iron Brigade – The most frustrating networking experience of 2012. It's a shame too because Min, Lee, and I should have loved playing this.
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive – Goddammit I love me some Counter-Strike. I didn't put that many hours into this, but playing it with Simon and some of the old War Cry guys was awesome. If you have any interest in shooters, but you don't play this…well I don't understand you.
Orcs Must Die 2 – Not the best tower defense game, but I think I'm under 10 hrs with it so maybe it picks up?
The Last Story – Got so bogged down writing about this with David (remember that feature?) that I never continued it. Lots of promise there with characters that seem deeper than your usual anime bullshit, but I need to give it another 20 hours to be sure.
Mark of the Ninja – The tightest stealth game (mechanics-wise) you will ever play. Seriously, man. It's pretty boss. The story is fairly dumb, but playing it is so much fun that you can't help but smile. A solid win in my book.
FTL: Faster Than Light – I've recorded 31.5 hours of me playing this game as of when I write this sentence. A game that has such tight mechanics that you can't help but love it. This was the year of roguelikes for me. FTL plays like the space sim you always wish you had. I don't see myself getting bored of this game until I unlock all the ships. That won't be for a while because I'm somewhat terrible with some of the ships, but I do love me this game.
New Super Mario Bros. 2 – More Mario platforming. Not the most inspired Mario game, but it has its moments. Not gonna set the world on fire and, like the first one, not my favorite Mario game.
Torchlight 2 – I can't really claim to have played this game since the first day was a clusterfuck and I didn't get past the menu screen. Had tons of fun chatting with Min and his cousin though.
Borderlands 2 – Until the very end of December I was the only one of my close video gaming friends who had this game. As a solo affair (and even as a group affair), the early parts of this game are pretty terrible/boring/tedious. In a group I've enjoyed playing this tons more. It's just fun to have three friends rolling around Pandora with you. I hope we keep playing.
Theatrhythm: Final Fantasy – I love rhythm games. I love Final Fantasy music. This game is beautiful and perfect and could only be made better with more FF VI music.
Kirby's Dream Collection – Picked it up to own Kirby Super Star. Played a bit of that with Min. Lots of fun, but not gonna set the world on fire.
Professor Layton and the Last Specter – Played it for a few minutes because it was the only sequel I could find in the store. Based on those few minutes I bought the rest of the franchise.
Pokemon White Version 2 – I wish I hadn't pushed Min and David to get Black and White because the Version 2s are so much better. There has never been a better put together Pokemon game. I've sunk over a hundred hours into this game playing it Nuzlocke style and I still have yet to defeat the Elite Four or Team Plasma. I'm not kidding, guys, this is the closest you can come to a perfect Pokemon game.
XCOM: Enemy Unknown – Ok, for realsies now, guys. This is the best game of the year. Just so much fun to play in Classic Ironman mode where every mistake is locked in place and humanity hangs in the balance. Tactical, turn-based combat has never been better implemented and every system works well. My only gripe is that you "can't fail" the final mission in the sense that losing it sends you to the start. Losing an Ironman run in the final mission would be brilliant (and sadistic), wouldn't it?
Professor Layton and the Curious Village – It has a fairly ridiculous plot twist that almost makes zero sense and doesn't hit with any oomph, but you're supposed to be here for the puzzles anyway. They're fun and the characters are charming enough that I'm more than happy to spend hours upon hours just completing brain teasers.
Need for Speed: Most Wanted – I wish this was more Burnout Paradise instead. I don't like the way the "campaign" is laid out with the unlocks for all the cars. I hate how I have to earn nitro every time I swap cars. It's just not as good as the Burnout stuff. I'm sorry. That said, it's so much fun to race at top speed in real-world automobiles. Super fun.
Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask – The 365 puzzles (one a day) and the fact that I bought it digitally are what keeps me coming back to this game over and over again since I haven't yet beaten the previous iterations. Solid puzzle work and a great 3DS package, but I can't wait to actually see the narrative.
Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box – More Layton, but on a train!
To the Moon – The Walking Dead kind of ruined this game for me. Everyone was lauding it as this grand, mature narrative, but then The Walking Dead goes and does something truly spectacular while To the Moon failed to really hit with me. The twist was neat and I dug the story, but I didn't find it to be as amazing as I'd heard. It's solid storytelling in a mediocre engine package, but it's worth checking out for sure.
Hotline Miami – Certainly the game that's inspired the most cackling laughter in me. Just brutal, ugly, sleazy, and weird. Hotline Miami has a kickass soundtrack and relentless gameplay. The bosses are kind of obnoxious, but it plays fairly sharply and I'd recommend it to almost anyone.
Nintendo Land – Fantastic in group settings, but somewhat lacking as a solo endeavor. I'm happy to own it and I think asynchronous information/capabilities makes for way more interesting games than the same old stuff we're used to, but without a group to play this it can get a little boring.
New Super Mario Bros. U – Haven't put a lot of time in it, but the course design is definitely superior to the DS version. Can't wait to beat this with Min, but I'm not breaking down any doors to play it.
Donkey Kong Country Returns – I'm only two worlds in, but it feels slighter/weaker than the old DKCs. We'll see how it pans out, I guess.
Sleeping Dogs – I'm getting open world fatigue pretty early in this one. Unlike Saints Row: The Third, this is more serious and I feel like not being ridiculous is to its detriment. Sleeping Dogs' dating system is ridiculous and the cop story is fairly predictable, but I'm in love with the Hong Kong setting and the fact that this is a game not taking place in LA, NY, or Miami. Also really nice to see non-white protagonists. The Batman fighting style is neat, but, like I said, already hitting open world fatigue.
999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors – I'm glad I played and finished this before the end of the year because it's absolutely brilliant. Any game that uses the mechanics of the system its on is an instant plus for me and the final puzzle/revelation is brilliant. How many games make you think about morphic resonance and information transfer like this one? Just the fact that I found myself thinking about philosophical questions like Locke's Socks/The Ship of Theseus and that it ALL MADE SENSE was really brilliant. Look, visual novels are divisive, but you shouldn't let that get in your way. 999 has one of the neatest stories of the year (2010) and it's easily one of my favorite games this year.
Robert Downy, Jr. was definitely the MVP of the movie. (Photo courtesy JakesplacePS)
Readership assemble! Min and I made the great sacrifice of seeing The Avengers for you. Our verdict? It's excellent. Go see it, y'all. Seriously.
The Avengers – It does precisely what I thought was impossible by focusing on each individual character for a bit and giving them all arcs. Granted, most of the groundwork was laid in all the other Marvel movies, but it's still tough to do. High props to Mark Ruffalo for his portrayal of the Hulk. His barely contained anger was chilling and, most importantly, awesome. Joss Whedon's writing also gels quite nicely with the movie, RDJ version of Iron Man.
The Five-Year Engagement – It's a little long, but it's also very funny and definitely well acted. This movie gave roles to all kinds of hilarious guys like Mindy Kaling, Chris Parnell, Brian Posehn, and Kevin Hart. Not to mention the supporting roles for Alison Brie and Chris Pratt. Emily Blunt remains charming and Jason Segel is his usual lovable oaf self. Don't expect anything amazing and you'll enjoy this light romantic comedy.
Mad Men – I have no idea where this season is headed, but man am I just stoked to be on the journey. Last week had all-star performances all around. Can't wait to see what happened last night.
Girls – Best line: "Ok, American History X." Awkward humor is where it's at now, huh? Not complaining, but it's interesting how that's the norm now. This show continues to surprise me week to week. It's better than you might think.
Veep – Another solid, solid episode. I wasn't sure if the show would be able to maintain its awesomeness, but it has met and exceeded expectations. I really do love this show.
Parks and Recreation – I read one reviewer call the campaign bus running over the Sweetums guy overkill, but I thought it was hilarious. Great work by the cast, but I'm ready for the election storyline to finish.
New Girl – From week to week you're the one show that really gives me pause, New Girl. You're really not the best hang-out comedy out there, but you put in work that is passable and regularly funny. I feel like you get more credit than you deserve, but I do enjoy watching you, I guess. At least you name dropped Coach this week. I know you couldn't bring him back to prevent confusion and because you had to build Winston up from scratch, but I hope you bring back Coach for an episode one day.
Community – Starburns is dead. The study group is expelled. I liked that they rallied from that dark moment thanks to Troy. Makes me wonder what's coming up at the end of the season. Will they succeed in taking him to the A/C Annex or will the group rally in his support? Does it matter if they're not all taking classes together any more? This season certainly deviated from that…
The Fez soundtrack deserves special mention. It is a joy to listen to in the background thanks to its ambient nature, but it doesn't let the listener get too comfortable. The dissonance creates an uneasy feeling that I'm perhaps pairing with my game experience too much, but I think it's still absolutely worth listening to. Especially for you, Min. It's got no words.
Eh, nope. I gotta get back into reading soon. I almost bought a book this weekend, but physical books feel so expensive to me now!
Video Games
Fez – Certainly the best downloadable console game I've played this year. We're talking Grade A awesomeness in its simultaneous simplicity and complexity. Figuring out a puzzle will make you feel like a genius. Turns into a bit of a pain to navigate as the number of secrets narrows down, but still a game that everyone should play as soon as it's out on PC, I guess, since none of my readers have an Xbox (that I can think of)
Mass Effect 3 – Played a couple of levels from the Resurgence Pack. They seem big and/or complicated, but I like them. If only they'd vary the enemy types or game modes I'd be happier spending a ton more time in this game. Oh well.
Shadow Complex – It's funny how I find save rooms so antiquated now. Losing a bunch of progress and listening to the same dialogue over and over because I died isn't acceptable any more. Still scratches that Metroidvania itch and I dig that.
Devil Survivor 2 – Just unlocked the ability to transfer between Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya instantaneously. I wish the third region had been Sapporo, Hiroshima, or Okinawa. This is a sharp game. Very similar to DS1, but that was a sharp game too. I'm wondering where the story is going in this one, but not in a bad way. I really should play this more…
The Old Republic – The Trooper story continues to be interesting to me. I like the whole "Reassemble Havoc Squad" thing it's got going on. I even like the companions! Sergeant Dorne, the Imperial defector, seems like she'd add an interesting wrinkle to my game, especially since she disapproves of my character's rule-breaking habits. The storytelling in this game is absolutely superb. So glad that Min and I are playing this now, but we've only got a week before Diablo 3…
That's the second largest autographed baseball I've ever seen!
The last full day of the trip! Even though I was ready to go home, it still felt like I had unresolved business out in Japan. I wanted to go home and be back in my apartment and not traveling, but I also wanted to stay and watch more Japanese baseball and chow down on more curry.
After an early morning check-out from the Tokyo Garden Palace and a short taxi to the train station, we made our way deep into the station's bowels, down several storeys on our way to the station that housed the shinkansen bound for Sendai. Along the way I got my last taste of onigiri, only this time it finally looked like it normally did in the cartoons.
Finally, onigiri that lived up to the expectations and stereotypes I held.
Deep in the cavernous depths of the station, the stations were so tall that I saw my first double-decker trains. The Poke-craze continued down there too as I saw whole trains decorated with Pokemon characters.
A summer travel-themed Pokemon train.
The train ride to Sendai was rather uneventful. Once again I failed at napping, but I did get more Devil Survivor time in and achieved another of the six or so endings of the game, but this is all boring, so let's fast forward. Sendai is one of the major cities of the Northern part of Japan, but we didn't really have much time to explore. Our train arrived in what seemed like the heart of the city and we left the station to go to our hotel, a grueling 300 meters away. We were too early to check-in, but our bags remained while we all spread out to explore and I set out to get Min a gift.
Pictrued: What I should have got Min. Not pictured: The book of piano music that I actually did get him.
If you saw the spoiler above, you already know what I got Min. Thinking that I might see something cool in there and looking to kill time, I stepped into a music shop to see what kind of stock they had. Since an instrument was totally out of the question, I was about to head out of the shop when I noticed a huge shelf of music books. Inspiration struck and I remembered that Min is a pretty good piano player who plays both on a keyboard in his room and on a grand in a Hopkins practice room. Shelf browsing produced a book containing a "greatest hits" piano selection from the Final Fantasy series.
Unrelated: This public sink does everything. Soap dispenses from the left, water from the right, and holding your hands over the inside (closest to the handwasher) activates a hand dryer.
My next task was to find a replacement sake cup for the one I broke. Lucky for me, there was another Seibu Loft right next to the train station. After exploring the building with the music shop and seeing a convenience store and an anime/manga store, I went back to the station to explore the Seibu Loft, hoping that they would have the sake cup, unlike the one in Tokyo. Lucky for me, they not only had the same set, but an even better looking one. I decided to keep the more spartan one whose glass I replaced and get a new set for a gift.
I did see a ridiculous timepiece at the Seibu Loft that I have to share here:
When retro goes too far.
Another welcome surprise in Sendai was spotting some Eagles-themed vending machines. Like the Carp in Hiroshima, the Fighters in Hokkaido, and the Hawks out in Fukuoka, the Eagles are pretty much the only team in their region, allowing them to spread out and create an identity for the team, unlike the over-congestion of teams in the Tokyo area. This sight started to turn me to the Eagles, but for the time being I was still wearing my Marines jersey and looking to root for Chiba that night.
Looks like the lame crushed penny machines are on this side of the Pacific too...
Lunch that day was pretty cool too. I ordered a dish that was the "kitchen sink" of this omelet restaurant. It was complete with shrimp, crab croquettes, hamburger steak, a tempura shrimp, and the Japanese-style omelet that has rice nestled inside the egg.
Rice inside omelets...strange, but delicious.
Once enough time had elapsed, it was time to check-in and then hop on the train toward Kleenex Stadium.Miyagi. As I waited for my bags to be retrieved from the back room, I noticed a steady stream of surprisingly Marines-themed dress coming out of the elevators. It suddenly dawned on me that we were staying in the same hotel as the Chiba Lotte Marines. These were the players coming down to the lobby to head over to the stadium to prep for the game!
Instead of freaking out, I decided that I would play it cool. When one player walked by, I pointed at my jersey and then at him and nodded to show my support. Since I'd received my bags by then, I shot out a smooth ganbare as I passed by him. When the elevator discharged another Marines player, I said the same and headed upstairs to my room.
After dropping some stuff off and settling in, we met again downstairs to take the train to the JR station. Like other teams in good fan regions, the stadium station, nicknamed Baseball Station, was chock-full of Eagles decals, colors, and spirit. My kind of station.
The Baseball Station in Sendai has a lot of Eagles pride.
Kleenex Stadium Miyagi has a pretty unfortunate name thanks to the evils of corporate name sponsorship, but it's actually a really nice ballpark. Since the team is so new (started in 2005, I think), the stadium is filled with open hallways, bright colors, and a modern look.
It's unfortunate that thinking about this place makes me think of blowing my nose.
Outside the ballpark they had a stage with live music being played and a bunch of food stalls and games for kids. Also present were these go-karts that had the names of the mascots written on them…but there was something strange about the naming convention.
...and...Mr. Carrasco...? Where did he come from?
Since the Eagles were having a great year (they ended up finishing in second place), they were also advertising for the Climax Series and selling merchandise, but they chose a different phrase from the Lions and Hawks.
It's super different. Now it says "Go *TO* Climax"
The other great thing about the stadium was that all the employees were dressed like Gordon's fishermen.
They make fishsticks in between innings.
Before the game, I picked up a Masahiro Tanaka jersey, one of the two real ace pitchers for the Golden Eagles. When I noticed that he would be taking the mound for the game that night, I decided to switch allegiances and throw on my Tanaka jersey that night. It turned out to be a good choice for me, since the Eagles won 9-5 and I found myself drawn to the team, allowing them to become my Pacific League team.
Batting Practice at Kleenex Stadium Miyagi
The only real downside of the Golden Eagles is that they suffer from too many mascots. Aside from Clutch, Clutchina, and Mr. Carrasco, there were two walking cacti, a hawk-man with wings and talons, and three gnomes. Too many mascots…
You can see tons of the mascots in the distance.
Another great thing was this group of drunk salarymen whose boss had way too much to drink. All game long (that he was there for), he was yelling and rooting for Todd Linden, no matter who was up. It was hilarious and the crowd around him started to join in and scream about Linden too.
The outfield and the scoreboard.
The game was fun, but the most hilarious part was when I got back to the hotel. Right when I arrived, staff was setting up spaces for people to wait for the players to arrive, but I quickly noticed that all of the fans awaiting the players in the hotel were young ladies. I got to walk past a bunch of groupies who cared nothing about me on my way up to my room. Another crazy early morning was ahead of me. The last day…
The greatest sign I've ever seen anywhere in the world.
This was one of the days I was most looking forward to on the trip. The Hanshin Tigers may not have the raw popularity of the Yomiuri Giants, but they've definitely got the most rabid fanbase in the entire country. Beyond that, Koshien Stadium is said to be the "soul of Japanese baseball," most likely because, beyond the already crazy Tigers that play there, everything from college games to the high school championships are housed within Koshien. It's a storied stadium most often compared to Wrigley Field or Fenway Park here in the States.
A statue-type thing in the open-air vendor area outside of Koshien.
We're not ready to get too far into that yet, I've still got a little bit of Kyoto to cover before we got on the train to head for Nishinomiya. My morning was mostly occupied with wandering around the Kyoto station area to check some stuff out. I started out with going to the local Bic Camera to check out the games in stock. It turns out that quite a few others had the same idea, as there was a queue outside the shop just before the shop opened at 1000 that morning.
Maybe they're trying to get some shopping in before the work day starts?
Out of curiosity, I asked about the availability of the new Pokemon games that had come out the day before. They were predictably completely sold out. Browsing the shelves, I found a copy of a game I've been wanting to import since I played Elite Beat Agents, Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan. The sequel was nowhere to be found, but I definitely picked up the game to play during my downtime on the tour.
Not Ouendan, but the Japanese boxart of the game I played the most in Japan, Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor. The US boxart is near identical, the only difference is the placement of the title to accomodate the ESRB rating.
My need to browse video games now sated, I headed into The Cube to take a look around and grab breakfast. I spotted a Mister Donut, one of the more famous donut shops in Japan, and I decided that I would break my Western food boycott for the morning to sample this Japanese take on an American staple. Boy was I surprised when I spotted the donut you see below this text. Not only did the Japanese understand that donuts should be tasty and sweet, but here they were, out-American-ing the Americans with their chocolate donut, topped with powdered sugar, and filled with cream.
Just looking at that picture has probably raised your blood sugar to dangerous levels.
After taking about a week off of my life just by eating that donut, I decided to climb back up to the top of The Cube to see what it's like in the daylight and snap some shots for David.
A different sight in the daylight, this is The Cube. There are folks gathering for a concert that will begin in an hour or two.
At the top was the familiar Happy Terrace, which looks completely different without the ambient light and lovers seated at the benches.
Sorry folks, no creepy "happy" picture of me this time. I didn't have someone else to hold the camera.
Still, it's a completely relaxing rooftop to hang out on and I could see myself taking lunch breaks up there.
It's very peaceful.
Dave and I were excited about the prospect of taking pictures of the Kyoto skyline from the top of The Cube, but it turns out that the Kyoto skyline isn't really that interesting (to me).
Thanks to my amazing photographic skills, you also get to see my ghostly reflection in the glass as a bonus.
After that it was about time to start taking trains to head to Nishinomiya, so I made my way down to the platform and eventually hopped on a local line. It was reassuring to see the number of Tigers fans increase the closer we got to Koshien, especially since some of them have very elaborately decorated clothing.
An example of an extremely customized jersey. The name, number, and other patches on his jersey were all hand-sewn (or ironed) on. Not content with what he already has, he seems to be shopping for more patches.
We eventually reached Nishinomiya and swapped onto the Hanshin train line that conveniently (and coincidentally!) ran to Koshien where we were immediately greeted by a sea of yellow and black jerseys and merchandise, both on display and on the tons of fans in the area. I don't think I saw a single Baystars fan in the area. I made my way around and eventually bought a Takashi Toritani jersey and an awesome super deformed patch to eventually iron or sew on at home.
The area just outside the subway platform is lined with stalls selling all kinds of Tigers gear.
One of the most interesting things about Koshien Stadium is that there is a shrine just next door. Even more interesting is that this shrine seems to cater to baseball-related prayers.
A baseball-themed statue housed within the shrine.
For those unfamiliar with Shinto traditions (as I am), worshippers are able to go to shrines, purchase ema, wooden plaques for prayers and wishes, and pin them to the prayer/wish board. I'm oversimplifying, but that's the basic idea (you can learn more from the wiki link I put up earlier or through your own research).
Most of the ema for sale at this shrine are baseball and/or Tigers-related.
I've been told that many of these boards are prayers for the Tigers to succeed. I think that's way cool.
I don't think I can spot a single non-baseball-related ema.
If there's one thing I absolutely love about Tigers fans, its those loose, flowing pants they love to wear. They're typically yellow, white with pinstripes, or black, and they also typically feature pictures of Tigers or sewn on patches. The Tigers definitely have my favorite fans in all of Japan.
It's a long-distance shot, but you can see a few pairs of Tigers pants in this shot.
While it's not totally unheard of to see a rival mascot at a ballpark (see the Buffaloes game for reference), I don't think I've ever seen the rival mascots posing for pictures around the rabid fans of the home squad.
I'm hoping that I missed the part where they all boo him and throw fruit at him.
Worse still, I saw the opposing mascots hanging out together!
Now here's a couple of Benedict Arnolds. Shameful.
For all their rabid love for the team, the Tigers haven't won a Japan Series or really come all that close (aside from a loss in the 2003 Japan Series) since their only win in 1985 thanks to the Curse of the Colonel! :cue scary music:
This is the scariest picture of the Colonel I've ever seen.
There are a few American fast food franchises that have made it big in Japan and Kentucky Fried Chicken is one of the bigger ones. While locations in America have all but abandoned the Colonel statue as a fixture of their stores, just about every KFC I've ever seen in Japan has themselves a statue of the famous Colonel Sanders, sometimes dressed up for whatever location he's occupying.
One such Colonel Sanders, lightly decorated in Lions garb.
The story goes like this: After finally winning their first Japan Series (the Tigers were founded in 1935) in 1985, the fans, already rabid without a reason to celebrate, went absolutely crazy to celebrate the victory. As the mob made its way to Ebisubashi Bridge, they began a pretty cool ritual where they called out a player's name and a member of the mob who looked like him would jump into the canal the bridge spanned. Unfortunately for the Tigers, not one of the Japanese fans looked like one of the key components to their championship team, Randy Bass. Since all gaijin look alike anyway and, more importantly, the Colonel had a beard, one rabid fan grabbed a Sanders statue from a local KFC and tossed it into the canal in place of an actual person. Little did he know that this casual disregard for the property of a KFC would anger the spirit of Colonel Harland Sanders, cursing the team to failure until the day they finally recovered the statue.
You know, he doesn't seem all that much like a vindictive evil spirit to me.
As I said earlier, the team has really only come close to even approaching a Japan Series title once in 24 years, with most of the other seasons ending in last or near-last place. The moral of the story, never anger the spirit of a chicken-loving Southern gentleman.
You can dress him up in your team's colors all you want, but that won't guarantee he'll come around.
There is hope for Tigers fans who actually believe in curses. Just this year, on 10 March, the upper-body of the cursed Colonel statue was located while completing a beautification project on the Dōtonbori River. The right hand and the lower-body were located the next day, but his glasses and left hand remain at large. What does this mean for Tigers fans hoping for a return to glory after 24 years? So far, nothing. Despite a weak start to the season, the Tigers were in serious contention for the Climax Series up until their last game with the Swallows. Unfortunately, the Swallows were able to knock the Tigers out of the playoffs, but perhaps next year the curse will be lifted and the Tigers can once again win a series.
After spending 24 years in the drink, this Colonel statue looks surprisingly...who am I kidding, it looks disgusting.
Koshien Stadium is, thankfully, one of three ballparks with actual grass growing in them (Skymark and Mazda are the other two) and it features an all-dirt infield that it seems like they over-water before the game.
You can tell it's real because it's patchy. Don't they have groundskeepers to take care of that?
The fans at Koshien are definitely dominant and so rabid, but I was legitimately shocked at how tiny the cheer section that was allotted to the Baystars was. Unlike other ballparks which give whole sections of the outfield, these guys were relegated to a small section. I don't know if this is just because the Baystars are a marginal team or if this is a legitimate action by the Tigers. If it's the latter, it just seems contrary to the Japanese culture of polite fairness.
The most pathetic (in size) cheer section we saw on the trip. The flag is being waved by a random Baystars fan in a closer section.
That night's game featured some solid, National League-style baseball with low scoring and plenty of small ball. The final score was 2-1 and the ever-famous Japanese closer, Kyuji Fujikawa, came out to finish the game.
Getting to see a legendary pitcher close out a game is always a plus.
One post-game celebration later, we were on our way back to Kyoto!…Except that the trains were furiously backed up thanks to all the post-game traffic. Our eight-man crew braved the line for about a half hour before even getting down to the platform. The train ride was fairly uneventful, but I was told by Ken that the gaggle of women on the train to Kyoto to go out that night were not interested in me because I "wasn't tall enough." I hate to set these girls up for disappointment, but I'm pretty sure that I'm well over the average height for the entire country. Them's the breaks, I guess.
After we arrived in Kyoto, we all headed back to our rooms. The next day would be spent flying to Sapporo, so we had to get our rest to be up in time catch the proper trains and make our flight. It was also the final day that Jill and Nora would be on the tour, since they had to get back to their jobs at the university they worked at. Our group was down to six, but we were definitely going strong. Only four games to go.
Can they finally break the curse and win the Japan Series this year? Nope. Maybe next year.
Today's post brought to you by Coca-Cola (Not really! Please don't sue me!)
Ok, so I'm being a little dramatic in the title, but with David gone and most of the day occupied by riding bullet trains across Japan, the day was definitely on the dull side.
The thrilling remains of a lunch eaten on an exciting train ride to Fukuoka.
Most of the train ride was spent playing Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor, an SRPG whose setting is within the JR Yamanote line of Tokyo. The coolest part of the ride was the fact that we had to take an underwater tunnel to get to Fukuoka, since it is on Kyūshū, one of the four major islands of Japan. There was one other major event that occurred: the bullet train, shining example of punctuality, was ten minutes late to Fukuoka. So jarring was this tardiness that I almost got off at the wrong stop anyway because we it was time, we had to be there. I'm sure it's not the first time the Shinkansen has been late, but it was the first (and last) time any train anywhere in Japan was late when I was there.
Station, taxi, hotel. Hoo boy…the Tokyo Garden Palace, The Official JapanBall Tokyo Hotel of Choice, had a decent-sized single that they put me in. This hotel, the Fukuoka Garden Palace, put me in a hotel room single smaller than the smallest single dorm room. Funny thing is, this wouldn't be the smallest hotel room, by any means, that I'd stay in on the trip. That title goes to the room in Kyoto, but I'm getting ahead of myself.
My spacious room in Fukuoka.
Most of the group decided to head to the local Hard Rock Cafe, but I opted not to go because I was doing my best to avoid as much Western food as I could while I was out in Japan. Beyond that, I'm not even a fan of the HRC when I am in the states thanks to its overpriced, mediocre food. Instead I hung out in the room and watched tv/uploaded pictures for a bit before catching a cab to the the Fukuoka Yahoo! Japan Dome.
This idol was on tv giving a concert. I think she's famous from anime, because she sang the theme songs from Neon Genesis Evangelion, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Pokemon, Sailor Moon, and many others in her set. I have no idea who she is
The taxi dropped me off near the stadium, but it was far too early to start to get to my seat, so I decided to investigate the nearby "Hawks Town."
Nothing like team branding to get people in a shopping mood!
The shopping mall wasn't too huge and it contained the usual Japanese staples: clothing stores, restaurants, an arcade, and a toy store. Looking to kill some time, I entered the Toys R Us and was reminded that Pokemon is still king in this country.
Pokemon and Doraemon, that is.
The toy store had its share of toys from other anime and video game series, but Pokemon dominated the list by far. Whether it was the arcade machines near the door, the figurines, the plush toys, or the other merchandise, Pikachu and his pals were the most represented in the store. I also found a great, kind of creepy looking Woody mask.
It's both awesome and kind of creepy the way those empty eyes seem to stare into your very soul.
After successfully killing the aforementioned time, I decided to make my way to the stadium to take some photos and complete by jersey-buying ritual. Corporate name sponsorship is nothing new to baseball. From Tropicana Field to LandShark Stadium and Citi Field, there are tons of examples of MLB ballparks with corporate sponsors. Even Japan has its share of them, so I initially thought nothing of the fact that the Hawks played in a Yahoo!-branded ballpark, assuming that the corporate representation would be fairly standard when compared to other stadiums. Note the foreshadowing…
Not to mention that Yahoo! is an increasingly irrelevant brand out here in America. I have a feeling this ballpark may change names soon.
I kind of liked Hawks Town and the surrounding area because it seemed to show team spirit. The escalator up to the ballpark was specially painted to show pictures of the mascots, which was also pretty cool. I started to notice a problem when I saw a sign showing what you couldn't bring into the stadium.
Is it just me or does it look like the final picture is saying "No burgers with cigarettes inside!"
It's not immediately obvious from the picture, but I was concerned about the number of mascots populating the bottom of the sign. Wow, I thought, there sure do seem to be a lot of them. Most of the ballparks had multiple mascots, but I'd say the average count was three. The Giants had four space bunnies (mom, dad, two kids), the Swallows had three (dad, boy, and girl), the Buffaloes, Tigers, and Marines had two each, and the Carp had one on-field and one for merchandise (the Phanatic knockoff is the former and the young boy is the latter). Represented in this picture were six Hawks. I realized why when I got up to the stands set up outside the ballpark: merchandising.
Gotta collect all the mascots!
Say you're a team located in a country that trends toward owning complete collections of things. Say you're a team that wants to make money. Why not have a ton of mascots so that, while some will only collect the ones they like, plenty will try and complete the whole set. Release limited editions with different costumes or even uniforms and you've earned yourself quite a bit of cash. It's brilliant marketing.
Also brilliant marketing.
You already know about my hatred for domed stadiums, so I won't retread old ground, but the Yahoo! Dome's youth works toward correcting some of those problems. Unlike other domes in Japan, the Yahoo! Dome has a retractable roof, so fair weather can be enjoyed when it's there while too hot days and rain can be bypassed. There was an ever-present threat of rain that day, so the dome remained tortuously closed that night, bringing my Games in Dome count up to 2.5 (the Seibu Dome counts for half).
Another result of the dome's youth is newer, corporate food stalls.
As I made my way to my seat, the full stadium greeted me in all its ad-filled glory. Aside from the batter's eye, there was not one spot missed by the clever ad-space leasing crew.
Not a bad field, for a dome, buy why bother with artificial turf when you've got a retractable roof?
The upper sections of the stadium were filled with luxury boxes, something that was lacking in most of the smaller or older stadiums I'd been to on the trip before today.
Someone needed to tell the Yahoo! folks that there's such a thing as too much luxury.
There's no escape from the advertising, even the armrests were adspace.
Down to the armrests you can find ads in the Yahoo! Dome.
Worse than that was that between at bats the jumbotron even showed a commercial for whatever product they were hocking that day. There is no peace in Fukuoka Yahoo! Japan Dome to enjoy the game of baseball without an ad screaming at you.
Even the free fan they gave me was advertising a new piece of software.
There are two things which I will always associate with the Yahoo! Dome: ads and this guy.
If you couldn't tell, "this guy" is the white dude in the photo.
I'm not quite sure if he's a major part of every game or if he only comes out a few times, but this guy will always be the unofficial mascot of the Hawks. He knows Japanese well enough to speak it in a lame, cheesy, game show announcer voice and he appears in video segments before the game and during most of the between inning video segments. I'm not kidding when I say he's as corny as they come. There's just something about him that screams inauthentic, but it seems like the Hawks and the fans are totally into it.
Let's talk about the actual game. There was yet another rare instance of the Japanese national anthem being played. That's only the second occurrence in six games and all of them were in Pacific League games.
In six games we've only heard this twice. A far cry from the USA.
Another thing I noticed were the elaborate team introductions. Beyond just the usual name and number, they go and put up height, weight, hometown, and handedness. It's nothing beyond what you'd get on a typical baseball card, but it's more than I'd seen before on the trip, so I thought I'd snap a shot.
All that's missing is "Likes: Long walks on the beach"
This game also marked the first time I'd seen something kind of interesting for the kids. Instead of having the typical player introduction, a mascot and a kid went out to every position on the field (That's nine mascots, up from the six I mentioned early. That's right, there's some sort of grandfather hawk and an uncle hawk and something else). The cool part is that each of these kids is there when a player comes out on the field. I would have killed to be out on the field before a baseball game to meet a ballplayer as a kid. Hell, I'd kill to do it now!
Here we have some green, old Hawk mascot. It's like they're just making up Hawk variants.
The game itself was a solid affair. It was close for most of the game, but the Hawks were ahead 3-1 by the time the game entered the ninth inning. Some teams would give up, but they're not the Golden Eagles. Thanks to a pitiful performance by their closer, the Eagles were able to knock in six runs in the ninth, four of which came from a grand slam. For the rest of the trip, my fellow tourgoers and I would remark that a team was not yet safe in the ninth until it had passed beyond Grand Slam Range.
If only she knew what kind of heartbreak was awaiting her that night.
As a quick aside, at the ballgame I ate something I'd never had before and would absolutely love to have again. Tell me, would you trust a pizza from a place called Strawberry Cones?
Everyone knows that Strawberry Cones is synonymous with pizza!
I saw the stand and almost dismissed it off hand for being Western food in Japan, but then I saw a picture of one of the pizzas they offered, and I knew I had to try it. Only one problem, the guy in front of me got the last one. The only thing left to do was pray for symmetry and walk around the stadium searching for another stall.
The pizza in question. Yes, those are shrimp, calamari, and other miscellaneous seafoods.
I know what you're thinking. "Seafood pizza? Come on Dan, that can't be good…can it?"
Yes. Yes it can.
And that was all she wrote for the Hawks and Fukuoka. We took a cab back to the hotel and got set to head back to Kyoto the next day. It would be our home base as we went to see games in Nagoya (the Dragons) and Nishinomiya (the Tigers). I'll close with a picture of the hat of my favorite vendor at the Yahoo! Dome.
It's blurry, but it's the best I got. This is the hat of a takoyaki vendor at the Yahoo! Dome.


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9 Things People Can't Stop Talking About at InfoComm 2016
What's the one product category everyone at InfoComm 2016 wants to get into?
Photos & Slideshow
What's the buzz at InfoComm 2016?
Crestron and Kramer want to make control system programming easier, even for non-programmers. Planar is doubling down on the power of LED. Oh, and 4K is over. Stewart Filmscreen and Planar say so (without explicitly saying so).
Also, it's time to pay attention to smaller product categories. Assistive listening and power management might not be flashy technologies, but they are kind of a big deal.
The one word we heard in almost every InfoComm exhibitor booth — regardless of the product category we expected to find there — was collaboration. It's everywhere. Everyone wants a piece of the collaboration pie.
Find out what everyone is talking about.
Hear more from CI editors chatting on the show floor:
Go inside the slideshow to see the big product announcements and even a couple surprises from InfoComm 2016, or click here for more InfoComm 2016 coverage.

subset: commoncrawl


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The Creator, The Inspiration, The Brand
Fendi Oung is the Founder, CEO and Director of Education at THE LASH SHOP, and a Board Advisor for the National Association of Lash Artists. Fendi is multi-certified in Classic Lash Extensions, Volume Lash Extensions, Mega Volume Lash Extensions, Lash Lift & Tint, Brow Lamination and Tint, Microblading and Ombre Brows. She was one of the first to become an Accredited Lash Artist and Certified Educator in Canada.
Fendi graduated from Ryerson University, majoring in Biology and Chemistry; and Seneca College, obtaining her diploma in Pharmaceutical Regulatory Affairs. Upon graduation, she started her career working at Health Canada, and then moved on to work for an International Pharmaceutical Manufacturer. She has over 6 years of experience in the Professional Regulatory Environment, involving pharmaceutical licensing and auditing.
Back in 2013, Fendi experienced her first ever set of Lash Extensions - it was life changing. She couldn't believe how something so small could give her so much confidence. That was the moment that changed everything - she wanted to help other women bring out their inner beauty and change the way they feel about themselves, to empower them with the confidence that they were born with.
Her Lash Journey began in 2014, taking a Classic Eyelash Extension Course, which taught her no more than just "how to apply an extension". After her course, she craved for more knowledge, which led her searching for more. She created her own "Lash Lab Book" (inspired by her Biology and Chemistry Lab Books), which contained all her research findings. Education is very important to Fendi, as she believes a strong foundation will provide an individual with the ability to continue self-learning and to make educated decisions. With her educational background and her "Lash Lab Book", she created a never before seen curriculum in the industry. Her curriculum and teaching methods were inspired by her own academic experiences. The impact of her curriculum was evident, as she was one of the first to be an Accredited Academy by the National Association of Lash Artists.
As the Lash Industry was still in its infancy period ; lacking established fundamental theory... she then thought, there must be a quality gap in lash products too. She therefore conducted some R&D into the different brands of lash products and found that most specialize in only 1-2 products, and the rest of the product line was mediocre. Fendi wanted to create a Brand where every product would be "the one"; a place where Artist's would look no further. She researched and travelled to different countries around the world to learn the manufacturing processes, so she could select only the best manufacturers to source products from. Every product was tried and tested, just like a science experiment, to ensure that a very high quality standard was always met, which in turn would produce beautiful consistent results for every single Artist that uses the products.
Science, Simplicity and Transparency is the core of the Brand.
Science is used to back up all our products. Products are researched and tested just like a science experiment, so beautiful results can be replicated by every Artist - not just by fluke.
Simplicity in our Branding allows our products to "speak for themselves". Black and white are our core colours as it represents a "Blank Slate". We want our products to help Artist's create beautiful work, we want their work to be the centre of attention, not our products.
Transparency is something that is not commonly seen in the Industry. Most Brands are afraid to list their product ingredients in fear that other's may copy. We're not afraid - why? We create and formulate all our products, meaning that we hand picked our source materials and we know the exact formula for our products. Just because you have the cookie recipe, doesn't mean that your cookie is going to taste the same! We are the first Brand in the Industry to be so transparent with our products by having Directions, Ingredients and Safety Data Sheets readily available. We know our products are amazing and we have nothing to hide.
We are a Brand that is transparent and back up all our products with science.
We are a Brand that invests in our Artists, by building trust and long lasting relationships.
We are a Brand that strives to be there for Artist's when they need us, by offering support.
We are a Brand that believes in Education, by investing in all our Students to ensure they're successful.


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The Universe We Cannot See
The wonders of the universe continue to unfold with an ever-stronger array of telescopes and other devices for seeing into deep space.
Then there's all that stuff we can't see, and that's what James Brau wants to talk about. Dr. Brau is the director of the University of Oregon Center for High Energy Physics, and an expert on the parts of the universe we can't see: dark matter.
He'll explain the theories in a public talk at the Eugene Library on Saturday (Jan. 18) and visit with us for this segment.


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Congrats to all the 2022 nominees!
On June 2, ex-Stanford swimmer Brock Turner was convicted of three felony counts of sexually assaulting an unconscious young woman. For those crimes, he received a prison sentence of six months, a punishment many people are protesting as too lenient. In response, Brock's dad wrote a letter that reduced his son's crime down to numbers, saying the punishment was actually too severe, and that "this is a steep price to pay for twenty minutes of action out of his twenty plus years of life."
Oh, you want to get numbers involved in this thing, Brock's dad? Let's do some word problems and see if we can justify your son's actions that way:
Question #1: If Brock Turner can swim five hundred meters of freestyle in a time of 4:25.22, does the fact that it only took him five times that long to sexually assault an unconscious young woman increase the probability that it was OK he did that?
Answer: No. That is not at all how probabilities work. Being good at swimming does not make it OK to sexually assault someone for 20 minutes. These two things are not related in any way.
Question #2: Brock Turner had to practice a lot to get into Stanford, which is an excellent school with a great swimming program. What is the ratio of time Brock spent at swim practice as compared to the amount of time he spent assaulting an unconscious young woman behind a dumpster?
Answer: Ratios, the quantitative relation between two amounts showing the number of times one value contains or is contained within the other, do not matter here. Matriculating at a well-known university bears no relationship to the amount of time spent committing a felony against another human being.
Question #3: If two bikes with male graduate students riding them are traveling at 13 miles per hour, and the riders witness Brock Turner sexually assaulting an unconscious woman behind a dumpster, and X is the reason they got off their bikes and ran to catch him as he fled the scene of the crime, what is X?
Answer: X is not a measurable numerical value. But for the sake of argument, let's say that X actually equals the weight of the human consciences that clearly reside inside those two men.
Question #4: If Brock Turner was at Stanford for five months prior to committing the three felonies he was convicted of--and given a sentence of six months in jail-- what does the correlation between those two numbers tell us?
Answer. There is literally no correlation in any way between these two numbers. They tell us nothing. Nothing, you idiot!
Question #5: If there are 10,512,000 minutes in twenty years, and Brock Turner only spent 20 of those minutes raping an unconscious young woman, should the fact that he only spent 0.00019025875190259% of his life exercising the "intent to commit rape" mean we should overlook it?
Answer: What? No. That's not how crimes, the legal system, or basic humanity function. I'm starting to think you don't understand anything of these things, Brock's dad.
Question #6: Brock Turner has been convicted by a jury of his peers of three felony sexual assault charges. If one felony + a second felony + a third felony = registering as a sex offender for the rest of your life, is that fair?
Answer: Whoa! Yes. That is how it works. You don't actually need math for this one at all.
Question #7: Let's just try a simple points system here. According to Brock's dad, "Brock can do so many positive things as a contributor to society." So if Brock gets +100 points for being a good swimmer, and +100 points for getting into Stanford, and +100 points just for fun, doesn't that cancel out the three felony sex assault convictions?
Answer: Are you fucking kidding me?
So unfortunately, it appears we were not able to use ratios, algebra, or a simple points system to explain away the rape Brock Turner committed. You might be able to argue with the heartbreaking letter written by the woman your son was convicted of assaulting, Brock's dad, but you can't argue with cold, hard math.
Caitlin Kunkel is a comedy writer, director, and producer based in Brooklyn, NY. She teaches screenwriting and satire at The Second City Training Center and takes off her pants as soon as she gets home. Read more of her musings @KunkelTron or at the more professionally-named www.caitlinkunkel.com.


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GALION — The Galion Fire and EMS Department received $151,096 in FEMA grant funds last fall, with a $7,554 local match.
Approximately a third of that money, $46,000, paid for health and wellness improvements to benefit the staff.
Since the award, firefighters have worked on building a weight room inside the garage where extra vehicles and equipment are stored. They built an interior room in order to separate the fitness equipment from fumes and keep it clean. All work was done in-house.
Old fitness equipment was replaced and the floor in the weight room has padding so they no longer need to work out on concrete. There is an overhead speaker and radio installed in the room so calls can be monitored. Off duty police officers are able to use the weight room as well.
Health and wellness initiatives will help the safety forces maintain their ability to perform their jobs and cut down on sick days and insurance claims.
Also, $111,000 of the grant was previously used to purchase three cardiac monitors to replace existing, out-dated monitors. They will improve patient diagnosis so the hospital can be notified of a specific condition and type of care needed. They also feature carbon monoxide monitoring for firefighters to test smoke exposure.
The final grant project is the installation of a second shower. Remaining funds will be spent on skin cancer screenings, physicals and vaccinations for the staff.


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I'm very excited to again this week to join a talented group of women bloggers in an online, unedited flash mob free write. This week, the word-prompt given to us by our fearless leader Kate Motaung (whose wonderful blog can be found at katemotaung.com) is "grow". My timer is set for 5 minutes; ready, set
Shhh . . . don't tell Kate or the rest of the Five Minute Friday ladies (they are all ladies, aren't they?), but I'm cheating this week.
When I first saw this week's prompt, my first thought was "uh-oh". Growth is not something I give much thought to. Determined to write, though, I set my timer and wrote a lovely (if I may say so myself) post about the beautiful flowers that greet my eye when I look out any window of my current home.
But truth be told, the post didn't feel authentic. It felt forced, fake. I deleted it. Every single word.
Instead, here's the unvarnished truth about my gut response to the prompt "growth".
I know, it's late Spring, so for most people "growth" conjures up thoughts of Spring flowers -- daffodils and lilies -- and new life and babies and a myriad of cute and wonderful things.
But I'm at a point in my life where "growth" can be an ugly thing. A very ugly thing.
Take, for example, my thighs. (Yes, I was very tempted to channel Henny Youngman, but I resisted -- you younger folks can google his name and "take my" to see what I'm referring to) Back to my thighs.
Early last week, I slipped on a pair of slim capris that I hadn't worn since last August or early September. I was shocked to see that my thighs had, without my knowledge, experienced some growth in the last 8 months. I'm not shocked because it happened -- my 16-hour a week commute this past semester has resulted in my being far more sedentary than usual -- but I'm surprised that I hadn't noticed before now.
Other than shorts and capris, I wear the same type of clothing in the Fall and Winter as I do in the Spring and Summer -- skirts, pants, an occasional dress -- and I get dressed and undressed at least twice a day. How could my thighs have grown without my being aware of it?
I thought perhaps that particular pair of capris had shrunk the last time I washed them, so I tried on another pair. Hmmm . . . and then I tried on a pair of shorts. Oh my! Well, no need to slip into -- or force myself into -- one of my swimsuits. It's not the capris. My thighs have experienced growth. Unwelcome, unwanted growth.
And here's another thing. Just the other day I was sitting in my car at an intersection, patiently (okay, not really so patiently) for the light to change. I slid open the covering to my sun roof and my front seat was bathed in gorgeous bright sunshine.
Just then, I looked at my face in my rear view mirror and gasped. Not only have the wrinkles I already had grown in length and depth, more than a few have joined them! When in the world did that happen?
And while I'm laying it all out here for anyone to read, I'll confess that when I was gently massaging my just-purchased coconut oil (supposedly *the* best thing for those nasty wrinkles) on my face, I felt something on my chin that I'd never felt before.
Oh my goodness! I can't. I thought I could, but it's too ghastly to share.
I'm thinking I shouldn't have deleted that cute little post about Spring and flowers and babies.


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CIO Millionaire Club -- Top 40 Highest Paid CIOs
To make this list CIOs had to get over $1,000,000 in annual compensation
CIO Millionaire Club -- Top 40 Highest Paid CIOs - The first CIO to make over a $1,000,000 a year was Duwane Peterson in 1987 at Merrill Lynch. Today there are at least 40 of these individuals who are in that club. In 1987 few knew what IT was and what the role of the CIO and CTO were. Today, there is even a TV series on cable with a CTO and those contending for that job embroiled with career progress and data security management - Mr. Robot on the USA network.
The role of Million Dollar CIOs and CTOs
The chief information officer's (CIO) role, responsibilities and influence is growing in today's boardroom. And the CIOs job itself is expanding as well. The CIOs of the next decade face many challenges. The CIOs who will succeed will have a common set of skills.
- CIOs both visionary and pragmatic - It is not enough to plan for innovation, the CIO needs to be perceptive and realistic. As an insightful manager, a CIO promotes broad technology agenda to help the business profit from leading-edge initiatives. At the same time as a pragmatist, a CIO deals with the realities of the business. The pragmatist also facilitates the productivity of current IT solutions. The CIO focuses on minimizing cost and maximizing results, in addition the CIO helps to increase the customer and product/service base of the enterprise.
- CIOs focus on ROI improvement of IT - CIOs will find new ways to help customers and the organization profit from how data is used while focusing on managing budgets and processes to eliminate or reduce costs.
- CIOs inspire the enterprise and expand the business impact of IT – CIOs will have proven expertise in both business and technical facets of their role. CIOs will interact with the enterprise and its executive team as enterprise leaders and drive new business initiatives and shifts jointly the other members of the executive team.
Role of the million dollar CIO is to be part of the overall enterprise executive management team. Responsibilities include:
- Aligning the IT objectives to meet the enterprise strategy and objectives
- Manage the overall technology budget
- Maximize ROI of technology
- Establish metrics that are based on the overall business objectives
- Report on performance of IT
Order CIO Concern Management Kit Order Components Order Update Service


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Iguanas are known to many as those animals as one would like to call them that have elongated leathery bodies, tails, four legs, and claws which over a given period they have become herbivorous. The lizards hold some characteristic features such as dewlaps that hang underneath their chins, spinal column, and sharp teeth whose aim is for tearing plants. Even though the species is referred to many as the green iguana, they might be a wide range of colors comprising pink, light blue, orange and even green itself. Green iguanas have their favorite meals just like we human being do, these foods include mosses, leafy leaves, and numerous fruits nonetheless, iguanas rarely eat insects and small animals, also. Iguanas infrequently enter houses, however, the animals regularly intrude on residential grasslands in the regions where they are vigorous. There are many features that charm iguanas to housing backyards such as tree concealment and different types of edible undergrowth that produce fruit, floras, or foliage. Pools frequently draw the green iguanas to private assets, as well.
Property landlords possibly will employ exclusion techniques as a type of iguana control. By eradicating the reptile's access to shrubbery, persons could successfully repel iguanas from residential areas. Favored vegetation comprise roses, orchids, and turf lawns, whereas undergrowth that discourages the animals consist of citrus, milkweed, and oleanders. There are some nets explicitly designed for eradicating these kind pests and can be purchased, as well as several tree supplements that thwart iguanas from taking up houses in treetops. As iguanas might transmit salmonella, persons ought to avoid handling the reptiles and in its place call expert removal services. Several states have specialized in green iguana elimination and they are ready to progress eradication tactics unique to precise properties. One should take advantage of these technicians' widespread backgrounds in pest removal for the greatest probable outcomes.
Iguanas are predominantly a problematic in several states, where they breed in large numbers. There are a number of difficulties that persons who have iguanas utilizing or living in their garden possibly will experience. Green iguanas are believed to be naturally be feeding on plants, which suggests that if a person have a wide choice of foliage in his or her garden the green iguana will regularly find various of these plants to be very flavorsome. One of the methods of removing green iguanas might include trapping them and capturing them as well. In many occasion snares may be purchased online and in various stores, and will in general be retailed pre-loaded. The unsurpassed traps will be those that permit a certain sovereignty of movement both in terms of the writhing and twisting, nevertheless will still grasp them and inhibit them from being fugitive.


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If someone shows you who they really are, believe them.
Throughout his life, real estate mogul Donald Trump has given us countless opportunities to take to heart that piece of wisdom, originally imparted by Maya Angelou. He has spent the last 40-plus years in the public eye, developing and crafting his image through actions and words. Along the way, he's embraced roles as a brash businessman, a playboy and an entertainer, all while offering us a clear window into his psyche.
Trump's exposure has made him both respected and reviled. By now, you probably know his controversial comments about women or Latinos. Some people love him for them. Others despise him. But however you feel about what Trump has said, written or done, there's no denying that he's defined his own character ― and it's something never before seen on the presidential stage.
Decency, devotion and grace have been big themes at the Democratic National Convention this week, and it's no secret why. Democrats believe these are winning qualities, which exemplify key differences between Trump and Hillary Clinton ― or pretty much any other person who has endeavored to occupy the highest office in the nation. Whatever you think of Trump's fitness for the Oval Office, he has not exactly gone out of his way to convince the public that he would be a caring and thoughtful president fully devoted to the momentous task of leading the nation.
To get a better sense of what sets Trump apart from other presidents, we only need to take a look at the person he is seeking to replace. The quotes below don't say much about where President Barack Obama and Trump differ on specific policies. But they do paint contrasting portraits of two men. One evidently an articulate, intellectually curious leader who has given careful consideration to a variety of topics spanning politics and culture. The other … well, we'll just let his words speak for themselves.
Obama on his daughters and beauty:
In an interview with Time earlier this year, Obama gave his thoughts on unfair beauty standards for women, and how he and his wife Michelle deal with that as parents.
"When I was a kid I didn't realize … the enormous pressure that young women are placed under in terms of looking a certain way. And being cute in a certain way," Obama said. "Are you wearing the right clothes? And is your hair done the right way? And that pressure, I think, is historically always been harder on African American women than just about any other women. But it's part and parcel of a broader way in which we socialize and press women to constantly doubt themselves or define themselves in terms of a certain appearance. And so Michelle and I are always guarding against that. And the fact that they've got a tall gorgeous mom who has some curves, and that their father appreciates, I think is helpful."
Trump on his daughter and beauty:
During a 2006 appearance on "The View," Trump talked about how hot his daughter is. Then things quickly got weirder.
"I don't think Ivanka would do that [pose for nude photographs] inside the magazine," said Trump. "Although she does have a very nice figure. I've said that if Ivanka weren't my daughter, perhaps, I would be dating her. Is that terrible?"
Obama on his wife and being a partner:
Speaking with Parade in 2014, Obama reflected on the difficulties couples can face in successfully balancing work and home life.
We were talking earlier about the strains on the family with two parents working and young children at home. I want to be absolutely clear: Michelle bore far greater burdens than I did. But I think she'll also admit that I really love being a dad.
When men don't have work, when they don't feel good about being able to support their families, then often they detach themselves. The children then don't have a male presence in the home. And the mother, no matter how heroic she is, now is on her own, which puts more strain on her.
So, part of the challenge here is to say to young men, 'Take responsibility for your children.' But part of it is also, let's make sure we've got an economy in which they feel as if they're attached to the workplace, and bringing home a paycheck.
Trump on wives and being a partner:
Here's Trump's more cynical take from Trump: The Art of the Comeback.
"Often, I will tell friends whose wives are constantly nagging them about this or that that they're better off leaving and cutting their losses," he wrote. "I'm not a great believer in always trying to work things out, because it just doesn't happen that way. For a man to be successful he needs support at home, just like my father had from my mother, not someone who is always griping and bitching. When a man has to endure a woman who is not supportive and complains constantly about his not being home enough or not being attentive enough, he will not be very successful unless he is able to cut the cord."
Obama on being black in America:
In 2013, shortly after a jury acquitted George Zimmerman in the killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, Obama delivered candid remarks about the daily racism many black Americans face.
There are very few African American men in this country who haven't had the experience of being followed when they were shopping in a department store. That includes me. There are very few African American men who haven't had the experience of walking across the street and hearing the locks click on the doors of cars. That happens to me ― at least before I was a senator. There are very few African Americans who haven't had the experience of getting on an elevator and a woman clutching her purse nervously and holding her breath until she had a chance to get off. That happens often.
And I don't want to exaggerate this, but those sets of experiences inform how the African American community interprets what happened one night in Florida.
And it's inescapable for people to bring those experiences to bear. The African American community is also knowledgeable that there is a history of racial disparities in the application of our criminal laws ― everything from the death penalty to enforcement of our drug laws. And that ends up having an impact in terms of how people interpret the case.
Trump on being black in America:
Someone apparently decided it was necessary to include Trump in a 1989 NBC News special on race. This was his contribution.
"A well-educated black has a tremendous advantage over a well-educated white in terms of the job market," he said. "I think sometimes a black may think they don't have an advantage or this and that… I've said on one occasion, even about myself, if I were starting off today, I would love to be a well-educated black, because I believe they do have an actual advantage today.''
Here's a clip, via Mother Jones:
Obama on the arts:
Speaking in Vietnam earlier this year, the president fielded a question from a popular woman rapper who asked him about the role of arts and culture in a nation's progress.
The arts are important. Artistic expression is important. It's what I was just saying to the filmmaker about stories that we tell each other. Music, poetry, representations of life as it is and how it should be ― those are the things that inspire people. Life is a combination of very practical things, right? You got to eat, you got to work, you got to build roads and make sure that some dam isn't ruining a community. But it's also the spirit that we have inside of us, and how is that expressed, and what are our vision and what are our ideals for the future, and how do we want to live together, and how do we treat each other.
And one of the most important things about art is it teaches you to not just think about yourself, but it puts you in the head of other people. So you start realizing somebody else's pain, or somebody else's hopes. And you start realizing that we have more in common. So if I read a novel by somebody in Africa, now, suddenly, I understand more about how we are similar. And if I listen to a Vietnamese rap, and it connects to the things that I'm feeling, now I feel closer to a country on the other side of the world. And that's how we build understanding. And that's how we end up being able to work together and plan together and build a better future together.
Read the rest of Obama's comments here.
Trump on the arts:
It doesn't seem like Trump has thought quite as much about this topic.
"I punched my music teacher because I didn't think he knew anything about music and I almost got expelled," he ― or more likely his ghostwriter ― wrote in the 1987 book, The Art of the Deal.
While it's not entirely clear if that story is true, Trump voluntarily included the detail in his book. He later told a biographer why this all might still be significant.
"When I look at myself in the first grade and I look at myself now, I'm basically the same," said Trump, in the book, Never Enough: Donald Trump and the Pursuit of Success. "The temperament is not that different."
Obama on the military:
In the midst of his 2008 presidential campaign, Obama, who didn't serve in the military, delivered these remarks at a Memorial Day event in Las Cruces, New Mexico.
I speak to you today with deep humility. My grandfather marched in Patton's Army, but I cannot know what it is to walk into battle like so many of you. My grandmother worked on a bomber assembly line, but I cannot know what it is for a family to sacrifice like so many of yours have.
I am the father of two young girls, and I cannot imagine what it is to lose a child. My heart breaks for the families who've lost a loved one.
These are things I cannot know. But there are also some things I do know.
I know that our sadness today is mixed with pride; that those we've lost will be remembered by a grateful nation; and that our presence here today is only possible because your loved ones, America's patriots, were willing to give their lives to defend our nation.
Read the rest of Obama's prepared remarks here.
Trump on the military:
Like Obama, Trump never served in the military. But according to Michael D'Antonio's book The Truth About Trump, he's repeatedly lied about how he avoided the Vietnam War. Here's an excerpt:
"I actually got lucky because I had a very high draft number," [Trump] told a TV interviewer in 2011. "I'll never forget, that was an amazing period of time in my life." In fact the lottery was not a factor in his experience. It didn't occur until fourteen months after he received his medical exemption [for heel spurs], and eighteen months after he'd left Penn.
But Trump also insisted that he had actually known military life. In a separate conversation he said, "I always thought I was in the military." He said that in prep school he received more military training than most actual soldiers did, and he had been required to live under the command of men such as Ted Dobias who had been real officers and soldiers. "I felt like I was in the military in a true sense," added Trump, "Because I dealt with the people."
Obama on books and reading:
In 2005, as a junior U.S. senator from Illinois, Obama addressed the American Library Association Annual Conference to extol the virtues of giving children access to knowledge through literacy.
"At the dawn of the 21st century, where knowledge is literally power, where it unlocks the gates of opportunity and success, we all have responsibilities as parents, as librarians, as educators, as politicians, and as citizens to instill in our children a love of reading so that we can give them a chance to fulfill their dreams," he said.
Trump on books and reading:
Trump is reportedly not a very big fan of books. In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter earlier this year, he said he was reading a book written by an enemy of the Clintons, as well as a novel that most people read in middle school.
"I'm reading the Ed Klein book on Hillary Clinton," he said. "And I'm reading the book on Richard Nixon that was, well, I'll get you the exact information on it. I'm reading a book that I've read before, it's one of my favorite books, 'All Quiet on the Western Front,' which is one of the greatest books of all time."
Obama on climate change:
In 2014, Obama delivered a commencement address at the University of California, Irvine, in which he tore into the disturbing nature of the outright denial climate change skeptics often employ.
"Part of what's unique about climate change, though, is the nature of some of the opposition to action," he said. "It's pretty rare that you'll encounter somebody who says the problem you're trying to solve simply doesn't exist. When President Kennedy set us on a course for the moon, there were a number of people who made a serious case that it wouldn't be worth it; it was going to be too expensive, it was going to be too hard, it would take too long. But nobody ignored the science. I don't remember anybody saying that the moon wasn't there or that it was made of cheese."
Trump on climate change:
Obama might as well have been talking about Trump. Though perhaps that's a generous interpretation of the GOP presidential nominee's stance on the issue.
"[W]e've had times where the weather wasn't working out, so they changed it to extreme weather, and they have all different names, you know, so that it fits the bill. But the problem we have, and if you look at our energy costs, and all of the things that we're doing to solve a problem that I don't think in any major fashion exists," Trump said during a radio interview last year. "I mean, Obama thinks it's the number one problem of the world today. And I think it's very low on the list. So I am not a believer … unless somebody can prove something to me, I believe there's weather. I believe there's change, and I believe it goes up and it goes down, and it goes up again. And it changes depending on years and centuries, but I am not a believer, and we have much bigger problems."
Obama on political correctness:
Speaking at a town hall in 2015, the president weighed in on the issue of liberal political correctness and censorship, particularly regarding its ability to squelch free speech and expression on college campuses.
It's not just sometimes folks who are mad that colleges are too liberal that have a problem. Sometimes there are folks on college campuses who are liberal, and maybe even agree with me on a bunch of issues, who sometimes aren't listening to the other side, and that's a problem too. I've heard some college campuses where they don't want to have a guest speaker who is too conservative or they don't want to read a book if it has language that is offensive to African-Americans or somehow sends a demeaning signal towards women. I gotta tell you, I don't agree with that either.
I don't agree that you, when you become students at colleges, have to be coddled and protected from different points of view. think you should be able to — anybody who comes to speak to you and you disagree with, you should have an argument with 'em. But you shouldn't silence them by saying, 'You can't come because I'm too sensitive to hear what you have to say.' That's not the way we learn either.
Trump on political correctness:
Trump doesn't like political correctness because it is bad.
"I think the big problem this country has is being politically correct. I've been challenged by so many people, and I don't frankly have time for total political correctness," he said during a GOP presidential debate last year. "And to be honest with you, this country doesn't have time either. This country is in big trouble. We don't win anymore. We lose to China. We lose to Mexico both in trade and at the border. We lose to everybody."
Trump on handshakes:
Oh boy, does Trump hate shaking people's hands.
"One of the curses of American society is the simple act of shaking hands, and the more successful and famous one becomes the worse this terrible custom seems to get," he wrote in his 1997 book, The Art of the Comeback. "I happen to be a clean hands freak. I feel much better after I thoroughly wash my hands, which I do as much as possible."
Did we mention, he's not a big fan of the handshake?
"But, you know, I am not a big fan of the handshake. I think it's barbaric," he told "Dateline" in 1999. "They have medical reports all the time. Shaking hands, you catch colds, you catch the flu, you catch it, you catch all sorts of things. Who knows what you don't catch?"
Obama on handshakes:
As far we can tell, the president hasn't spoken publicly about his opinion on shaking people's hands, but we know he's familiar with a few different kinds of greetings.


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Jazz Society and Friends of Library add to Jazz Collection
The latest addition to the jazz project at the downtown Pensacola West Florida Public Library is a donation of approximately $2,000 worth of jazz books, CDs and videos. This year, the Friends of the Pensacola Public Library matched the Jazz Society of Pensacola's donation of $1,000. This brings the value of the total collection to approximately $19,000.
The 30 jazz DVDs added include performances by Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Anita O'Day, Bill Evans and Dave Brubeck.
Jazz books include classic jazz photographs by Herman Leonard and Duncan Schiedt. Jazz history books include authors Ted Gioia and Gunther Schuller. There are new biographies of Thelonious Monk, Louis Armstrong and Artie Shaw. The are several collections of jazz commentary including selections from seventy-five years of columns from Downbeat Magazine. There is an elegant coffee-table sized book with text and photographs entitled The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Jazz and Blues published in England. Veteran writer Nat Hentoff has selected columns for his book, At the Jazz Band Ball; Sixty Years on the Jazz Scene. These cover Hentoff's long experience in observing the jazz scene. He was the first non-musician to be selected as a Jazz Master by the National Endowment for the Arts.
CDs added to the collection include a collaboration of American singer/composer Willie Nelson and trumpeter/composer Wynton Marsalis. There are single CDs which include Miles Davis' Kind of Blue, and a number of other singles, some of which are not readily available elsewhere. There are CD collections from Mosaic Records including Bing Crosby, Louis Armstrong, Artie Shaw, Lester Young, Dizzy Gillespie and Oscar Peterson. These are definitive collections of limited issue which come with an informative historical booklet. Also in this year's donation is a CD from Arbors Records by trumpeter Randy Reinhardt, Jazz for Juniors.
Ralph Knowles and Norman Vickers are committee co-chairs for the Library Project. Knowles said, "We find that circulation of the jazz DVDs is about 50% at any time. Circulation for the jazz CDs is about 10 percent at any time. So, the addition of thirty jazz DVDs will help meet that interest. We also find that many middle and high school students use jazz materials for their educational projects. Additional material, especially the scholarly texts by Gioia and Schuller, should be helpful in that regard."
Vickers said, "Although the main collection of jazz materials is at the downtown library, these resources are available at all five branches. This year is the 50th anniversary of Miles Davis' recording, Kind of Blue; we thought it important to have in all branch libraries, so we obtained a copy for each. Similarly, we did so for the recording, Jazz for Juniors." Vickers continued, "We are especially appreciative of the matching gift from Friends of the Pensacola Public Library to extend this effort. We have obtained labels for this donation of books, DVDs and CDs which acknowledge the contribution of both Friends of the Library and the Jazz Society."
Library donations now searchable on library website
The library has added a "tag" for donations from the Jazz Society. To search from your computer: go to the library web site http://mywfpl.com, click Catalog, then Search our catalog, then Power search. Scroll down to Item category 1, click on the arrow beside it for a drop down list, then choose Jazz Society Gift; then Search. This will give you the books we recently donated and a few CDs. (Only the new items are listed for now as there hasn't been any retroactive work to include past items.)
For more information, email us at [email protected] or call (850) 433-8382 during office hours, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The F. Norman Vickers Artist in Residence Fund
On the thirtieth anniversary year of Jazz Pensacola, the Board of Directors announced the establishment of The F. Norman Vickers Artist In Residence Fund (VARF) in honor of our founder. This is the first permanent fund created by the Society, and it offers an exciting new avenue for your support.
The F. Norman Vickers Artist In Residence Fund is designated to further the long term mission of the Jazz Pensacola. It would support bringing noted jazz musicians and educators to Pensacola to provide instruction, performance and assistance to our membership and community constituents. The jazz artists selected would be made available for workshops and instruction to area schools and institutions of higher learning. The artist in residence would also provide special concerts that would augment the existing scheduled performances of Jazz Pensacola.
Contributions to, and earnings from the F. Norman Vickers Artist In Residence Fund, will be kept and reported on separately from other Jazz Pensacola finances and activities. Rules for fund administration and financial reports will be made available to members and donors upon request. As a designated fund, the F. Norman Vickers Artist in Residence Fund meets the requirements of the 501(c) (3) not for profit requirements, and expenditures from the Fund are restricted to its stated purposes.
Please consider contributing to the goals of this important and exciting venture, personally, or in honor of a birthday, anniversary, or in memory of a loved one. You may also find it an appropriate estate planning option. Make contributions payable to The F. Norman Vickers Artist in Residence Fund / VARF and mail your check to Jazz Pensacola, 3 West Garden St., Suite 418 • Pensacola, FL 32502-5633.


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As my regular readers know, I don't check the number of clicks on my posts during the year. It's for my own sanity, really. I don't want my creativity to be dictated by what people are clicking on.
At the end of the year, however, I make an exception and share the top ten posts of the year. I'm grateful that 2015 has been a good year for my writing. I got published at the Washington Post a couple of times, Fox News Opinion began regularly running my work, and I got the opportunity to be the interim editor for the Boundless blog (for those of you wondering where I find the time to do all of this writing, check out my post, "If You're Wondering How I Write So Much").
So without further ado, here are the most clicked-on posts of 2015:
- Before You Watch the Videos of the Virginia Murder
- What My Pastor Did About the Rowdy Kids at Our Church
- What if Autism Isn't the Problem?
- The Life-changing "Drop Box"
- We Can't Forget What We Saw Today
I hope you get a chance to check out these posts and some of the others I've written over the past year. Thanks to all of you who take the time to read what I write, share it on social media, and think about it after reading it. Happy new year!
If you'd like an email with a weekly recap of what I've written, click here. You can also keep up with my latest articles (and more) on Facebook or Twitter.