Category Archives: Humorous Essays

Is This Just Mercy?

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I grew up trusting the police, the courts and the justice system. In elementary and high school civics classes, I learned a lot about the American system of justice, the importance of telling the truth and that everyone is innocent until proven guilty.

I loved watching court dramas on TV. Some of my favorites were Dragnet, Judd for the Defense and Perry Mason. I believed the police always told the truth, the lawyers did their best for their clients and the innocent always went free.

Fast forward to today. I just finished reading Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson* which was published in 2014. Bryan wrote about his experiences defending death penalty cases in Alabama from the 1980s until now. The stories he tells are heartbreaking.

For the most part, his clients are sitting on Death Row because they are poor, African-American and have had bad to abysmal representation in court. If they weren’t so poor, they could have afforded a lawyer who would have attempted to represent them, if for no other reason than to keep getting paid. And, if they weren’t African-American, having an all-white jury in Alabama might have been a plus.

In Just Mercy, the author doesn’t just talk about legal motions so much as tell stories. And the stories are heart breaking. There’s Walter McMillian, who was on death row for six years after being convicted of murdering eighteen-year-old Ronda Morrison, a clerk, working in a dry cleaners. It didn’t matter that he had numerous witnesses, one of whom was a police officer, to the fact he had been attending a church fish-fry many miles away at the exact same time. In Walter’s case, Sheriff Tom Tate and other law enforcement officials and witnesses were so determined to convict him that they committed perjury and fabricated evidence.

At one point, when Walter protested his innocence, Sherriff Tate replied, “I don’t give a damn what you say or what you do. I don’t give a damn what your people say either. I’m going to put twelve people on a jury who are going to find your goddamn black ass guilty.”**

Then there’s the story of Michael Lindsey. In the spring of 1989, several other of Mr. Stevenson’s Death Row clients asked him to help Michael. He was scheduled for execution in May. After that execution, they asked that he help Horace Dunkins, who, even though he was mentally retarded, was scheduled to be executed in July and then Herbert Richardson, who had gotten P.T.S.D. in Vietnam, and who was scheduled for August. Everything was happening so fast—so many executions and not enough time for good defenses.

There are also a number of stories of people who were exonerated and freed from prison after tremendous amounts of work. This would have never happened without both the resources Mr. Stevenson was able to bring to bear, such as first-class criminal investigations, and his own brilliance in presenting the evidence so convincingly that courts could only decide in favor of his clients.

If you’re interested in how our justice system really works and like sitting on the edge of your seat until you find out the verdict, this is the book for you!

* Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson, 2014, Spiegel & Grau, New York.

**Wikipedia: McCarthy, Colman (October 10, 1995). “A Matter of Death and Life”. Review of Circumstantial Evidence: Death, Life, and Justice in a Southern Town by Pete Earley Bantam. Retrieved December 14, 2017.

First Impressions of Not a Hero & End of Zoe

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I’ve been waiting a long time to play Not A Hero, an expansion pack, or DLC, to Resident Evil 7.  Not a Hero was originally scheduled to be released in spring 2017, but the add-on got pushed back to December because the production crew felt the game wouldn’t meet the expectations of the fans.  While I was anxious for answers to mysteries presented at the end of Resident Evil 7, I was also patient enough to wait for them.

My most burning questions centered around the soldier who claimed to be Chris Redfield, a veteran hero of the Resident Evil series.  Was it really him?  If so, why would he be working for a company calling itself Umbrella — the corrupt pharmaceutical company responsible for creating genetic-altering viruses and horrific monstrosities?  What was the meaning behind the DLC title, Not a Hero?

Early on December 12, I loaded up Resident Evil 7, eager to play the DLC that I expected had been automatically downloaded the day before.  I was surprised when I didn’t find Not a Hero listed among the menu options.  The only new title present was End of Zoe, a secondary DLC title scheduled to be released the same day.  I immediately shut down the game and searched for Not a Hero on my main gaming hub, the Steam Network.  It wasn’t listed there either.

I searched for answers online, and found one forum that seemed to indicate the add-on would only become available upon completion of the main game.  Not seeing any other option, I proceeded to play through Resident Evil 7 in its entirety.  This took almost the whole day because I kept taking breaks at various points.  The last thing I wanted to see after the closing credits was an ad for Not a Hero explaining how to download and install the DLC.

I was a bit aggravated to see that the desired title was now listed on the Steam Network.  I don’t know if it was made available at some point during the day or if my playthrough of Resident Evil 7 unlocked it.  In either case, I proceeded to install it with the intention of playing it the next day.

I woke up around 2AM on December 13.  Rather than try to get back to bed, I chose to begin playing Not a Hero.  I learned in the first few minutes of gameplay the main character is indeed Chris; he is voluntarily working with a new company called Blue Umbrella dedicated to fighting the horrors created by its namesake.

Not a Hero largely has Chris pursuing Lucas Baker, a sadistic madman and budding bioterrorist who had escaped capture during Resident Evil 7.  The DLC, as with the base game, is told from a first-person perspective, with the player experiencing the world through Chris’ eyes.  Despite checking out trailers and tidbits on what to expect, I went into the game largely blind.  I was very eager to uncover whatever mysteries and dangers awaited me.

Unfortunately, the lack of knowledge worked against me in several instances.  I acted like such a noob during the first few hours of my playthrough, it’s a wonder I didn’t get killed more than four times.

I believed I had a pretty good arsenal at my disposal to begin with.  A pistol, combat knife, shotgun, and several grenades seemed like they would be a good defense against the creatures lurking in the mines.  I changed my mind when I first encountered a variant of the monster that could regenerate and wouldn’t go down so easily.  I initially ran from it, then realized I had to go back in to retrieve a key needed to get to a soldier that Lucas had captured.

Trying to rescue said soldier didn’t go so well.  I unlocked the cell door and approached him.  The cave soon filled with poisoned air and started a death trap that Lucas had put together specifically for his prisoner.  Rather than take an air filter that the doomed soldier offered to Chris, I stupidly tried to make a run for it even though my oxygen reserves had fallen to 5%.  I was pretty much dead in an instant.

Once I retrieved the air filter and installed it, I was left with the problem of how to take out the regenerating monster in the cave where the key had been.  After futilely trying to find special ammo that would stop the creature from healing, I cheated and looked online for tips.  The answer was simple: go back to the main cavern and go through the green door to find a night vision filter and the needed ammo.

Upon going through what I thought was the right door, I found myself in a pitch-black tunnel.  But I didn’t let that deter me, nor did I think I was in the wrong place.  I blindly stumbled through the tunnel and proceeded to set off a variety of pressure-plate traps and tripwires.  Surprisingly, I didn’t get killed during this determined search for items.  I had just enough healing items to make it through in one piece.

I don’t know how long it took me to determine that the door I’d gone through was blue, not green.  Once I figured that out, finding the items I needed was a cinch.  The next challenge was to find my way back to the main cavern.  I found that turrets had been set up in the tunnels I’d used to get to this point.  Initially, I tried shooting the turrets to take them out — which didn’t work — and inadvertently used up the special ammo I’d collected.  My answer on how to conquer the turret obstacle was to run past them to minimize the damage.  Death #2.

When I loaded the last save point, I was given a tip on the loading screen to find an alternate route back to the main cavern.  Once I got through that segment, I returned to the blue door.  Finding my way through these tunnels went much smoother.  At least until I reached a room where another soldier had been taken prisoner by Lucas.  This area was loaded with laser tripwires and explosives.  My first not-so-brilliant idea was to lob a grenade into the room to neutralize the bombs.  Death #3.

Upon closer inspection, I found that it was possible to get through the room without setting off the tripwires.  I carefully navigated my way to the imprisoned soldier and initiated a conversation with him.  The next thing I knew, I heard Lucas taunting Chris over the intercom before the tripwires started rotating in my direction.  Death #4.

On my third try at this, I discovered that I needed to cut the power for the room before talking to the soldier.  This still didn’t save the guy, as he’d been outfitted with a collar bomb that was shortly detonated remotely.  Soon after the soldier was killed, Lucas activated an explosive he’d strapped to Chris’ arm at an earlier point in the game.  I was given a time limit to find some liquid nitrogen canisters to temporarily neutralize the bomb and remove it.  Death #5 occurred because I didn’t make it before the clock ran out.

Similar follies plagued me through the remainder of the game, and I believe I died a total of nine times.  While I was happy to make it through Not a Hero, I was left to reflect on my disappointment with the story.

It hit me, once I finished the game, that Chris is starting to develop a reputation for failing to save the team members he’s working alongside.  The same premise was used in Resident Evil 6 and the recent anime film, Vendetta.  At the very least, I would have liked to see this point addressed in Not a Hero — either through some inner monologue from Chris or through a philosophical debate between him and Lucas.

I feel that Chris’ failings is the meaning behind the DLC title.  It is possible that on some level he no longer views himself as heroic.  I have to wonder if this storyline is building toward something big.  I see two possible outcomes to this scenario: either Chris decides to throw in the towel and retire out of shame, or he encounters a situation that redeems him and possibly has him sacrificing himself for the greater good.

My dissatisfaction with Not a Hero was surpassed by the other DLC, End of Zoe.  The secondary game focused on Lucas’ sister, Zoe, who is infected with the virus present in Resident Evil 7.  The basic plot is that her Uncle Joe – an ex-marine – finds her and strives to locate a cure for her.

Joe is essentially a character who relies largely on his fists to take down the creatures standing between him and the means to save his niece.  My main nitpick with this scenario is the excessive number of locations where you can save the game.  In one area, I could barely take twenty steps before coming to another room where I could save my progress.

As with Not a Hero, I played End of Zoe on the easiest difficulty but didn’t find it nearly as much of a challenge.  Despite playing as a character whose specialty is unarmed combat, I didn’t die once during my first playthrough.  I feel that perhaps the easy mode was made too easy.  I hope that the medium and hard difficulty settings will put End of Zoe on par with the other DLC.  I would hold the secondary game in higher regard if that’s the case.

Overall, I feel that Resident Evil 7 and its add-ons opens up some interesting doors for the future of the franchise.  I look forward to whatever story comes next.

My $624 Necklace!!!

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I love Mexico for a lot of reasons—its people, the music, the food and its beautiful silver jewelry. This November my husband and I took a seven day Princess Cruise from Los Angeles down to Mexico. There were two days at sea and then we turned around stopping in Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlán, Cabo San Lucas, another day at sea and back to L.A.

It was a lot of fun and one of the best things was my $624 silver necklace from Mazatlán. After the ship docked there, we had breakfast and took a tour to see the place. The first stop was a jewelry store. The guide told us on the way that we could buy whatever we wanted with confidence that it was the real thing because all their silver jewelry was 95% pure. Princess Cruises had vetted the store because they didn’t want any passengers coming back to the ship and complaining that they’d been cheated.

So while I felt confident we wouldn’t be cheated, I also realized we probably wouldn’t be buying anything. Why? Because, in a situation like this, the jewelry is real and very beautiful, frequently gorgeous, but also very, very expensive.

The guide then passed out round yellow stickers with “Juan Carlos” written on them in black letters. He said all the sales people spoke English and if we showed the stickers, they would lower the price by 30%.

When Michael and I heard that, our faces lit up. That meant we could bargain. We always had a good time bargaining in Mexico even if, in the end, we couldn’t get the price down enough to actually buy anything.

The way we do it is, I wander around until I find something I’m interested in. Then Michael plays the straight man and I negotiate.

“Michael, why don’t we just go in and look around but not plan to buy anything?” I said.

“Well, I would like to get you something.” He responded.

“If Princess Cruises stands behind their jewelry, it’s probably going to be really beautiful and very expensive. How about we agree now on how much to spend? If we get our price, fine. But if not, let’s just walk away?”

“O.k.”

We walked into the store and to the very back where they were serving complimentary Margaritas at 10:00 in the morning. The Margaritas were good, probably the best ones we had on the whole trip!

We both started walking around the store, drinks in hand. The walls were floor to ceiling mirrors with clear glass shelves and waist high glass counters running along the sides and down the center. Every inch of glass was covered with silver: silver necklaces, earrings, watches, pendants, etc. I don’t think I’ve seen so much silver in one place since the last time I came to Mexico. And it was beautiful, artistic, gorgeous! I felt swept away as I knew I would.

I immediately found a necklace I did want so I tried it on as well as two or three others so that I didn’t appear too interested in the first one. Within a few seconds, a sales woman approached. I sensed that I wouldn’t do too well negotiating with her so I told her the jewelry was lovely but I was just looking.

I went looking for Michael and told him I had found something but was pretty sure it was going to be too expensive. None of the jewelry had prices which was a big sign that you could bargain and it was expensive.

I tried on several necklaces but told him it was the first one that I really wanted. A salesman approached. He seemed friendly and wanted to talk.

“Your jewelry is lovely,” I said.

“Yes,” he responded. “It’s 95% pure. You don’t have to polish it.”

“Really? Even if you put it in a drawer,” I said.

“No, never. Which one are you interested in?” he asked.

I showed him and asked how much it was. He looked at it, raised it to the light, looked at it again, “624”.

Now the exchange rate is 18 pesos to $1.00 U.S. That would make it around $35.00 dollars U.S., very affordable.

“Oh, 624 pesos?” I said.

“No, no! U.S. dollars. $624.”

“Oh. By the way, Juan Carlos, the Tour Guide, said to show you this.” I opened my hand so he could see the yellow sticker in my palm. “He said that would bring the price down by 30%.”

Out of the corner of my eye I could see Juan Carlos approaching us. He quietly joined our group.

“Yes! Yes.” He took his calculator out. “436.80.”

“Pesos?” I smiled.

“No! no. U.S. dollars.”

“Demasiado! Demasiado (too much).” I responded and tried to look sad. “Can you give us a better price?”

“I am giving you a better price. I just took 30% off the top.”

“I know. And the necklace is very beautiful. But it’s too expensive. Demasiado. Thank you,” and we started wandering around the store followed by the salesman and Juan Carlos.

“How much do you want to pay?” the salesman asked.

“Hmmmm,” I said, trying to gain time to think of what to say. Michael and I looked at each other. “Well, mmmmmm, what if we paid you 100 U.S. dollars cash, no credit card?”

“Hmmmmm,” he said. “100 U.S. dollars from you.” He pointed to Michael. “And, 100 U.S. dollars from you.” He pointed to me.

“No, no. Too much! Demasiado! 100 U.S. dollars solamente (only).” I said.

He paused to take a breath.

Juan Carlos spoke up, “Tomorrow we go to Cabo San Lucas. The jewelry there will be much more expensive. He’s really giving you a good price.”

The salesman smiled.

“Yes, you’re right, “I responded. “The jewelry is more expensive in Cabo. But, I have beautiful jewelry at home. I don’t need any more. We just stopped in here to look and the necklace caught my eye. But I don’t really need it. Actually, if we don’t buy this, we won’t be buying any jewelry on this trip.”

Juan Carlos said nothing but I noticed a few seconds later that he had wandered off.

That’s when the straight man came in. Michael said, “You know if you sell the necklace for 100 U.S. dollars, it’s sold. And, you have the money. But, if you don’t sell it, it stays on the counter, just sitting there, and who knows how long before you find another buyer?”

“Wait here.” The salesman said. He walked over to another counter, stopped and appeared deep in thought. He punched some numbers into his calculator. He paused. Finally he returned.

“O.k.” he said, 100 U.S. dollars cash.”

Twenty Games I’d Like to See Get a Sequel

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If there is one thing I like best about video game sequels, it would be the continuation of a story or enhancement of a casual game. While I love hearing news of an upcoming installment that will add to a series I enjoy, there are many games I’ve played in my lifetime that sadly never got a follow-up.

Below is my list of twenty games, including some obscure titles, I would like to see a sequel for.

1) Phantasmagoria (1995)\Puzzle of Flesh (1996) – An interactive horror game series that filmed actors against a blue screen, Phantasmagoria was quite innovative for the technology of its time. While the original entry and its sequel, Puzzle of Flesh, told stories unrelated to each other, they were the most suspenseful and goriest games I’d ever played up to that point. If the company that produced them hadn’t gone out of business, it would have been interesting to see the series evolve with the times.

2) Portal 2 (2011) — I love the Portal series for its interesting blend of logistical puzzles and humorous stories. It centers around a mute girl named Chell who is being used as a test subject in an underground facility run by a sadistic artificial intelligence called Glados. While Chell is let out into the surface world at the end of Portal 2, it shouldn’t necessarily mean the series is over. I feel that there are other stories that could be told – maybe even with a different protagonist. I hold out hope for news of a third game on the horizon.

3) Gauntlet Legends (1998)\Dark Legacy (2000) – Gauntlet Legends and Dark Legacy both exist as bold, larger than life reimagining of the original two-dimensional game from 1985. Legends took the basic concept and made it a hundred times better with a three-dimensional environment and more resources to keep the player’s character alive. Legends and Dark Legacy were so enjoyable that they had me visiting the local arcade on a weekly basis. What’s even better is that the arcade game saved my progress and character level because I typed in a password on the machine. While I wish that there was a sequel to expand on the two existing games, they remain some of my all-time favorite dungeon-crawlers.

4) Command and Conquer: Renegade (2002) — While I am a fan of the Command and Conquer franchise in general, Renegade stands out for being the only game in the series to let you assume control of a single character rather than directing one army to fight another. In Renegade, you step into the shoes of a commando named Havoc who takes on missions to destabilize an evil organization. I spent countless hours playing and replaying levels on all difficulty settings. I would have liked to see another Command and Conquer game use the same formula. But since the production company went out of business a year later, it seems all I can do is dream.

5) Emperor: Battle for Dune (2001) — Though loosely derived from writer Frank Herbert’s Dune series, Emperor tells an equally intriguing story centered around a battle between three factions to seize control of a planet holding the galaxy’s most valuable resource. I spent countless hours with the roleplaying strategy game, sometimes spending half a day just trying to get through a single mission. The ending of the game remained the same no matter which faction was picked and was left very open-ended. I would have loved to see a follow-up that would answer some questions about the conclusion of Emperor. Unfortunately, the same company – Westwood Studios — behind Command and Conquer was also the one that produced Emperor: Battle for Dune. The closure of the company pretty much guaranteed that a sequel would never come.

6) Fable III (2010) – Though I don’t consider Fable III as the best PC game I’ve ever played, it still had good qualities I’d like to see improved upon in a fourth entry. In Fable III, you play as a young prince or princess – dependent on player preference – whose older brother is a cruel ruler who is asking for a revolution. The younger sibling escapes the palace and proceeds to forge alliances to take back the kingdom. The player decides if the main character will be a benevolent or downright evil ruler. But I feel there could have been better ways to exemplify the paths chosen. For me, it’s very off-putting to see the main character show his or her willingness for evil by farting in someone’s face. Sadly, the series hit a dead end following the release of a standalone game in 2012. Since the company behind the Fable series – Lionhead Studios – closed down in 2016, there may never be a Fable IV.

7) King’s Quest: Mask of Eternity (1998) – The only thing that this particular game has in common with the first seven entries in the King’s Quest series is the title. Mask of Eternity is a role-playing, dungeon-crawler game that hardly seems to fit with a series of point-and-click fantasy games. Nevertheless, Mask of Eternity is very enjoyable for what it is. While I never made it all the way to the end thanks to a game glitch that halted my progress, it would be nice to see a follow-up in the same vein.

8) Dead Island: Riptide (2013) – The Dead Island series consists of the most intense zombie survival horror games I’ve ever played. Both the original game and Riptide are hardcore enough to have me angrily cursing every five to ten minutes. There are also moments where I’ve felt like a total bad-ass with some of the zombie kills I got. The first two games are set on separate islands in an archipelago where an outbreak has occurred and both games allow you to play as one of 4 to 5 characters with different strengths. There was an announcement for a Dead Island 2 – to be set in California of all places – that was scheduled to be released in 2015. But production problems resulted in the sequel never seeing the light of day. Whether it will ever be released is anyone’s guess.

9) Oregon Trail 2 (1995) – Oregon Trail 2 is an excellent educational simulation game where the player strives to get pioneers safely from their starting point to a new life in the west. I can’t even count the number of times I attempted to traverse the trail, but most of my playthroughs ended with the wagons getting trapped in a mountain pass during the winter. I feel that a potential third game would be outstanding with today’s technology. I strongly hope to see Oregon Trail 3 become a reality someday.

10) Icebreaker (1995) – Of all the games I’ve played in my lifetime, Icebreaker wins top marks for being the most unique. It is an addictive arcade-type game where the player controls a 3D triangular icon that can shoot bullets or smash certain objects in the game by ramming them. The goal to beating each level is to completely destroy a grid of pyramids. Some examples of what makes it challenging are that the stationary pyramids require different methods to demolish, while the mobile pyramids can kill the player-controlled icon if they catch it. As if that didn’t ramp up the difficulty enough, there are also hidden traps or hazards to watch out for, such as a pit to fall into. I got so much enjoyment from Icebreaker that I’m sad it never got a bigger and better sequel.

Top (L-R) Altered Beast, Phantasmagoria, Command and Conquer: Renegade
Middle (L-R) Plants vs. Zombies 2, Super Puzzle Fighter II, Maniac Mansion
Bottom (L-R) Battle Slots, Dead Island: Riptide, Icebreaker, Darkseed II (photo credits at end)

11) Plants vs. Zombies 2 (2013) – The Plants vs. Zombies series consists of games that are kid-friendly, but still very enjoyable. It is exactly what the title suggests and consists of the player picking a roster of eight to nine plants per level to ward off zombie attacks. When I first heard news of a sequel to the original game from 2009, I was ecstatic – until I found out it would only be playable on an Android device instead of a PC. I greatly hope that there will be a Plants vs. Zombies 3 someday and that it will be compatible with a device that I actually own.

12) Maniac Mansion (1987)\Day of the Tentacle (1993) – Maniac Mansion was a comical puzzle game series that was so challenging I had to frequently look at hints on how to get through it. While the plot was too bizarre to try to make sense of – a mad scientist kidnaps a college girl because he’s being mind-controlled by a meteor – the game greatly appealed to me at my young age. Day of the Tentacle brought back some of the characters from Maniac Mansion, but there’s no way I could summarize the plot in a way that would do it justice. I would have liked to see a continuation, but I guess there was only so much weirdness that the series’ production team could come up with.

13) Age of Mythology (2002) – Age of Mythology is one of the best strategic battle games I’ve played and features tons of elements from Greek, Egyptian, and Norse mythology. The game also has an epic story that sees heroes from each civilization band together to prevent the release of the imprisoned Titans. Most levels allow you to utilize God powers, such as summoning an earthquake, to help defeat the enemy armies. Good luck on figuring out how to get through the game on the hardest difficulty – I never could, but I still enjoyed playing it very much. I recently learned that there was an expansion pack – which focuses on Chinese mythology — developed last year for a remastered version of Age of Mythology. But I still would very much like to see a sequel made.

14) Origamo (1994) – Origamo is a casual puzzle game that’s similar to Tetris and consists largely of using polygonal shapes to fill in a given origami-like image for each level. While it might not have appealed to everyone – especially since it seemed impossible to beat the game on the hardest difficulty setting – it is one that holds a special place in my heart. Part of me will always wish it had been popular enough to warrant a sequel.

15) Altered Beast (1988) – A game I was frequently drawn to during trips to the arcade, Altered Beast is a side-scrolling fighting game that pits the generic main character against a wide variety of supernatural monsters. During each stage, the player can use power-ups to transform their character into a beast – such as a werewolf or were-tiger – to better decimate the monsters encountered. I loved this game so much when it was still around that I once spent an entire day feeding quarters into the machine just to get all the way through it. What I would love even more is to see a modernized version of it made available for gamers.

16) Darkseed II (1995) – The Darkseed games hold the distinction of being a showcase for the artwork of H.R. Giger, the artist who designed the title creature in the popular Alien film franchise. Aside from being visually stunning, this sci-fi PC series has some good stories. The basic plot for both games has a man named Mike Dawson striving to stop aliens – from a place called the Darkworld – from succeeding in a plot to destroy the Earth. It disappointed me that Mike was killed at the end of the second game. I often felt that the story shouldn’t have stopped there. I’ve seen many other video games come up with something creative to bring a supposedly dead character back to life. It’s doubtful that the Darkworld aliens would have stopped aiming for Armageddon. It would really be nice to see the series revitalized after all this time, but I won’t hold my breath.

17) Mystery P.I. (2007 – 2011) – Mystery P.I. is the collective title given to a series of hidden object games for the PC. Featuring elaborately designed levels, Mystery P.I. really made it a challenge to locate all the objects on the given list. It is a series that easily could have kept going, but sadly came to an end after the release of the eighth game.

18) SimCoaster (2001) – I know there are a lot of video games that allow the player to build their own theme park, but I regard SimCoaster as a personal favorite just for its simplicity. It is another game I never got to play all the way through thanks to some bugs in the code, but it is one I never tired of. If a more modern version should ever be released, I would snap it up in a second.

19) Battle Slots (2011) – Battle Slots is a highly creative video game that combines slot machines with a duel-to-the-death fighting game. Your victory in battle against your opponent is dependent on how many good spins you get on the slots. The concept is so original and innovative that I’m surprised a Battle Slots 2 never came to be. Fingers crossed that my hopes for a sequel will one day become a reality.

20) Super Puzzle Fighter II (1996) – Super Puzzle Fighter II, an arcade game that I frequently fed quarters to, was a combination of Tetris and Street Fighter. The primary goal was to clear rows on the Tetris board as quickly as possible to decimate the other player or computer A.I. controlled fighter. It is one game that I really miss playing, especially because I was particularly good at it.

I’m glad that I’ve lived long enough to have played so many different video games over an ever-changing landscape. It’s a far cry from the two-dimensional environment of Maniac Mansion to the realistic high definition characters and settings presented in Dead Island. For me, each of the games on this list deserves either a follow-up or modernization of a terrific concept. Whether or not a sequel comes to pass for each of them, the fond memories I hold for the games on this list will never go away.

Photo credits:

Phantasmagoria — https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/shacknews/assets/editorial/2016/04/phan2.jpg

Command and Conquer: Renegade — http://ilarge.lisimg.com/image/371631/800full-command-%26-conquer%3A-renegade-screenshot.jpg

Dead Island: Riptide — https://media.takealot.com/covers/covers/31999483/di6-zoom.jpg?1406707585

Icebreaker — http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ibEwDvznSZ4/VIcS0nERdII/AAAAAAAAMrw/xNLKn7XA97Y/s1600/Icebreaker_03.png

Plants vs. Zombies 2 — https://o.aolcdn.com/images/dims?quality=100&image_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.blogcdn.com%2Fwww.joystiq.com%2Fmedia%2F2013%2F06%2Fplantsvszombies2.jpg&client=cbc79c14efcebee57402&signature=82c0cf06949e670dfdd42e0f1facdf581563dd6a

Maniac Mansion — http://www.honestgamers.com/images/games/13/M/16468/16.jpg

Altered Beast — https://www.arcade-museum.com/images/118/11812416304.png

Darkseed II — https://www.cdh.cz/galerie/15503-6.jpg

Battle Slots — https://www.gamingnexus.com/Images/Article/kdxlyf3047/1.jpg

Super Puzzle Fighter II — http://static1.1.sqspcdn.com/static/f/271672/5816060/1266519736607/Super-Puzzle-Fighter-II-Turbo-HD-Remix-1.jpg?token=7iVN9WJB%2Bq9Ggza6oG9xUzNCHw0%3D

Celia Cruz, Afro-Cuban Star!

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I’ve always liked Cuban, Mexican and Latin American music. There’s something about the beat and melody that I connect to.

One night, years ago, in Grant Park in Chicago, I heard Celia Cruz sing. It was Labor Day Weekend and the Latin Music Festival went from Sunday, September 5, through Labor Day on Monday, September 6, 1993.

Celia sang on Monday night with the very popular Afro-Cuban band, La Sonora Mantancera. The night was hot and there was a warm breeze coming in from Lake Michigan.

Celia was 68 by that time and her looks had started to fade. But once she began to sing, time stood still. It was magical for me to hear her voice floating out over the crowd.

A few months ago I started watching the telenovela “Celia” on Netflix. It was produced in 2015 by Fox Telecolumbia for RNC Television and Telemundo. The actors spoke in Spanish. There were English subtitles so it was easy to follow.

My main reason for watching the series was to hear Celia sing. I was thrilled at all the times the director dubbed in recordings of the real Celia’s voice when the actress who played Celia began to sing. It was wonderful. And, even better, in almost every episode “Celia” sang my favorite pieces: “Como Fue”, “La Negra Tiene Tumbao”, “Guantanamera” and many more of her greatest hits.

There was a downside to this series. “Celia” is a telenovela after all. In some episodes, there were tears and more tears. Sometimes there were hysterics. And there was Celia’s sister, Noris. She was so evil… I don’t think she had a kind bone in her body. Neither did Simon, her father, who appeared to be as flawed a character as you could find. And, to make things more crazy, there was Lola and all her problems as well as Mario and Raquel.

To top it off, when I went on Wikipedia to check things out, I found that many of these characters didn’t exist in real life. Or, if they did, were actually very nice people. But that didn’t stop the writers from writing Celia’s story their way.

So, if you like Afro-Cuban music and a tear-jerker of a story, “Celia” is the series for you–all 80 episodes!!!