Author and his dad working on a second book with some familiar faces

Josh Goudie, at 29 years old and with one published book for kids, has already learned the secret of being a successful childrens author.

Forget the hours and hours of work that have gone into his projects; the time researching, writing, rewriting, and working with his editor and his illustrator (who is his dad, by the way). Theres one thing children want, and Josh knows what it is.

Underwear.

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If you put that word in your book, they will love it, Josh says, laughing. From now on, every book I write Im working the word underwear in there somewhere, until its just Jack and the Underwear, when I run out of ideas.

In Jack and the Hurricane, Joshs main character is definitely wearing underwear, and gets soaked right through to them, as hes intent on braving the weather to deliver cupcakes to his cousin for her birthday party.

The story is sweet, and Joshs ability clearly goes far beyond a single silly word, lying in his cadence and storytelling. Like Robert Munsch, Josh incorporates the right amount of repetition to engage young children.

The rest is here:
Jack to the rescue

Edward Snowden will be making an appearance in Portland well, sort of.

The Portland Oregon Womens Film Festival will be held this week, and organizers announced a few additions (after the Tribunes story on the festival), including Citizenfour, the real-life thriller made when filmmaker Laura Poitras and journalist Glenn Greenwald encountered whistleblower Snowden in Hong Kong as Snowden handed over classified documents providing evidence of mass invasion of privacy by the National Security Agency.

Itll screen at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, March 14, at the Hollywood Theatre, 4122 N.E. Sandy Blvd., site of POWFest, March 12 through 15 (powfest.com).

Poitras had been working on a movie about surveillance for two years when Snowden contacted her, using the name Citizenfour in January 2013; Snowden admired Poitras, who had long been the target of government surveillance and refused to be intimidated.

The other POWFest addition is a bit different I Believe in Unicorns, a debut film by Leah Meyerhoff and a story about troubled young love in a stunning and complex landscape. Itll be shown at 9 p.m. Saturday, March 14.

The Great Love Debate

The national tour will stop in Portland, as 100 eligible bachelors and 100 dynamic women will be seated opposite of one another to dish, dissect, discuss and debate the question, Why am I still single?

It happens at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 18, at Imago Theatre, 17 S.E. Eighth Ave. Tickets are $40 per person and available at eventbrite.com. For info: http://www.GreatLoveDebate.com.

August Wilson winners

The August Wilson Monologue Project produced three winners recently, and theyll be competing in the national competition, May 2 through 5 in New York City. They are Hailey Kilgore of Clackamas High, Quinci Freeman-Lytle of Grant and Isaiah Sims of Putnam, each of them proving to be the best in delivering stories from the late, great playwright Wilson.

Original post:
Bits & Pieces: Snowden and Poitras

by Mark Walton on March 10, 2015

What a difference a frame rate makes. Say what you will about just how much people actually notice frame rate and resolution, but for games that value split-second timing, those extra 30 frames are essential. It's partly why I spent more time with the hack 'n' slash classic DmC: Devil May Cry on PC than with its slower console counterparts, the sharper visuals and general feeling of superiority being a nice added bonus. So here we are, two years on, and console owners can finally get a taste of that sweet 60fps action, courtesy of the Definitive Edition--and it's a fantastic thing. DmC is fiercely creative, and with its new features in tow, so much better than before.

Oddly, it's the story that's surpassed expectations here (excluding the still dire effort in the included Vergil's Downfall DLC)--not because it was ever bad, but it was always overshadowed by the stellar combat. Playing through it again, though, it's amazing to see just how ambitious and, at times, rather clever, it is. Let's not forget that, as a series, Devil May Cry didn't exactly set the world on fire with its schlocky tales of adolescent fantasy. But with DmC, Ninja Theory crafted a story with depth, (mostly) believable characters, and an ambitious assault on commercialism and modern media. The game's savage satirization of organisations like Fox News with the demonic Bob Barbas' Raptor News Network and Coca-Cola with the bile-infested and thoroughly deadly soft drink Virility is a great touch.

Small plot holes and a few heavy-handed moments of satire aside, DmC's story does a great job of crafting a foreboding atmosphere to back up its balls-to-the-wall action, especially when coupled with the excellent voice acting and effortless dialogue. The demon king Mundus and his mistress Lilith are particular highlights, their ruthless, profanity-filled crusade to enslave humankind being a hackneyed, yet effective way of adding a compelling goal to your hack 'n' slash antics.

DmC throws you from one action set piece to the next at a breakneck pace, only giving you time to stop and think during its tedious (but thankfully short-lived) platforming sections. But even in those sections and through its crumbling blood-red cityscapes, cavernous tunnels lined with a viscous green ooze and searing neon discos, it's hard to ignore DmC's stylistic triumphs. Its colorful, oversaturated look is not only visually stunning in its new 1080p guise but also strangely prescient of the direction that later Xbox One and PlayStation 4 games would take.

While it's hindsight that has made DmC's story more impressive, the already excellent combat has improved by a significant overhaul. Naturally, the move from 30 to 60 frames per second makes for a smoother, more responsive experience. With Dante's trifecta of light, medium, and heavy weapon types in tow, as well as guns for ranged shots, spectacular combos fly off the fingers with less effort than before. That's not to say that things are easier this time around: you still need to put in the effort in practice mode, carefully studying the command list, in order to graduate from simple button mashing. But it's worthwhile, and before long, staccato stabbing motions are replaced with elegant swipes, dodges, and uppercuts that chain together for near-endless combos in the air and on the ground.

60fps is only part of the story. One of the best additions is the optional turbo mode (a nod to Capcom's flagship franchise Street Fighter), which boosts game speed by a substantial 20 percent. It's not for the faint-hearted, but the additional speed makes for some furious and thoroughly enjoyable combat. There's also the optional Hardcore mode--which can be activated on any difficulty level--that rebalances the game. Some of the changes include a tweaked style system that quickly deteriorates, increased enemy damage, adjusted parry and evade windows, and a shorter devil trigger. The differences aren't drastic enough to be immediately noticeable, but soon, levels that might not have tested you in the past become far more difficult to beat. Annoyingly, if you've played through the game before on an older console and have already unlocked the harder difficulty levels, you can't transfer your save and skip, and youll have to play through the easier ones again.

Serious masochists can opt to turn on the Must Style modifier, which makes it so that you can't damage enemies until you've achieved an S or higher style ranking by pulling off sweet combos. Stack all the modes and modifiers together (Must Style, Hardcore, and Turbo Mode), then whack the game on the new Gods Must Die difficulty setting where enemies deal 2.5x damage and no items are allowed, and the game turns into a challenge worthy of even the most skilled of hack 'n' slash players. There's also the new Vergil's Bloody Palace mode, which eschews the easier difficulty levels of Dante's Bloody Palace and gives you 60 levels of hardcore arena battles. Veteran Devil May Cry fans can even choose to use manual lock-on throughout, which is a nice touch. Frankly, that level of challenge goes far beyond my own manual dexterity with a controller, even after buying new combos and weapon upgrades, but at least now, no one can cry foul about DmC not being as challenging as its predecessors.

Otherwise, DmC remains largely unchanged, which is no bad thing. The enemies remain neatly animated, drooling and sputtering with a grizzly black ooze as they wander through each level. Their varying attacks mean that you can't just sit back and hammer buttons to win. Some enemies have shields that can only be broken with a heavy weapon, while others need the gentler touch of a fast-paced scythe. Deformed cherubs that fling down explosive bombs are perhaps the most irritating of all of the enemies, but they're integral to maintaining the balance of combat. They also give you a good excuse to yank them down to Earth with a whip of your chain before sending them back to hell with a mighty swing of your axe.

Time has been kind to DmC's boss battles, too. They're still formulaic, making you learn a boss's repetitive movements in order to land an attack, but they're seriously impressive--both visually and narratively. An early encounter with the squishy succubus is a treat--not because of the basic platforming required to defeat her but because of her incredibly foul-mouthed tirades and involuntary neon vomiting. Then there's the battle against a holographic Bob Barbas, a fight that sees you transported to the heart of the Raptor News Network and directly into its live news reports, complete with the requisite TV commentary and helicopter shots. DmC's keen sense of style overcomes much of the boss battles' shortcomings, adding to the heady atmosphere of its brightly coloured world.

Read more:
DmC: Devil May Cry Definitive Edition Review

by Mark Walton on March 10, 2015

What a difference a frame rate makes. Say what you will about just how much people actually notice frame rate and resolution, but for games that value split-second timing, those extra 30 frames are essential. It's partly why I spent more time with the hack 'n' slash classic DmC: Devil May Cry on PC than with its slower console counterparts, the sharper visuals and general feeling of superiority being a nice added bonus. So here we are, two years on, and console owners can finally get a taste of that sweet 60fps action, courtesy of the Definitive Edition--and it's a fantastic thing. DmC is fiercely creative, and with its new features in tow, so much better than before.

Oddly, it's the story that's surpassed expectations here (excluding the still dire effort in the included Vergil's Downfall DLC)--not because it was ever bad, but it was always overshadowed by the stellar combat. Playing through it again, though, it's amazing to see just how ambitious and, at times, rather clever, it is. Let's not forget that, as a series, Devil May Cry didn't exactly set the world on fire with its schlocky tales of adolescent fantasy. But with DmC, Ninja Theory crafted a story with depth, (mostly) believable characters, and an ambitious assault on commercialism and modern media. The game's savage satirization of organisations like Fox News with the demonic Bob Barbas' Raptor News Network and Coca-Cola with the bile-infested and thoroughly deadly soft drink Virility is a great touch.

Small plot holes and a few heavy-handed moments of satire aside, DmC's story does a great job of crafting a foreboding atmosphere to back up its balls-to-the-wall action, especially when coupled with the excellent voice acting and effortless dialogue. The demon king Mundus and his mistress Lilith are particular highlights, their ruthless, profanity-filled crusade to enslave humankind being a hackneyed, yet effective way of adding a compelling goal to your hack 'n' slash antics.

DmC throws you from one action set piece to the next at a breakneck pace, only giving you time to stop and think during its tedious (but thankfully short-lived) platforming sections. But even in those sections and through its crumbling blood-red cityscapes, cavernous tunnels lined with a viscous green ooze and searing neon discos, it's hard to ignore DmC's stylistic triumphs. Its colorful, oversaturated look is not only visually stunning in its new 1080p guise but also strangely prescient of the direction that later Xbox One and PlayStation 4 games would take.

While it's hindsight that has made DmC's story more impressive, the already excellent combat has improved by a significant overhaul. Naturally, the move from 30 to 60 frames per second makes for a smoother, more responsive experience. With Dante's trifecta of light, medium, and heavy weapon types in tow, as well as guns for ranged shots, spectacular combos fly off the fingers with less effort than before. That's not to say that things are easier this time around: you still need to put in the effort in practice mode, carefully studying the command list, in order to graduate from simple button mashing. But it's worthwhile, and before long, staccato stabbing motions are replaced with elegant swipes, dodges, and uppercuts that chain together for near-endless combos in the air and on the ground.

60fps is only part of the story. One of the best additions is the optional turbo mode (a nod to Capcom's flagship franchise Street Fighter), which boosts game speed by a substantial 20 percent. It's not for the faint-hearted, but the additional speed makes for some furious and thoroughly enjoyable combat. There's also the optional Hardcore mode--which can be activated on any difficulty level--that rebalances the game. Some of the changes include a tweaked style system that quickly deteriorates, increased enemy damage, adjusted parry and evade windows, and a shorter devil trigger. The differences aren't drastic enough to be immediately noticeable, but soon, levels that might not have tested you in the past become far more difficult to beat. Annoyingly, if you've played through the game before on an older console and have already unlocked the harder difficulty levels, you can't transfer your save and skip, and youll have to play through the easier ones again.

Serious masochists can opt to turn on the Must Style modifier, which makes it so that you can't damage enemies until you've achieved an S or higher style ranking by pulling off sweet combos. Stack all the modes and modifiers together (Must Style, Hardcore, and Turbo Mode), then whack the game on the new Gods Must Die difficulty setting where enemies deal 2.5x damage and no items are allowed, and the game turns into a challenge worthy of even the most skilled of hack 'n' slash players. There's also the new Vergil's Bloody Palace mode, which eschews the easier difficulty levels of Dante's Bloody Palace and gives you 60 levels of hardcore arena battles. Veteran Devil May Cry fans can even choose to use manual lock-on throughout, which is a nice touch. Frankly, that level of challenge goes far beyond my own manual dexterity with a controller, even after buying new combos and weapon upgrades, but at least now, no one can cry foul about DmC not being as challenging as its predecessors.

Otherwise, DmC remains largely unchanged, which is no bad thing. The enemies remain neatly animated, drooling and sputtering with a grizzly black ooze as they wander through each level. Their varying attacks mean that you can't just sit back and hammer buttons to win. Some enemies have shields that can only be broken with a heavy weapon, while others need the gentler touch of a fast-paced scythe. Deformed cherubs that fling down explosive bombs are perhaps the most irritating of all of the enemies, but they're integral to maintaining the balance of combat. They also give you a good excuse to yank them down to Earth with a whip of your chain before sending them back to hell with a mighty swing of your axe.

Time has been kind to DmC's boss battles, too. They're still formulaic, making you learn a boss's repetitive movements in order to land an attack, but they're seriously impressive--both visually and narratively. An early encounter with the squishy succubus is a treat--not because of the basic platforming required to defeat her but because of her incredibly foul-mouthed tirades and involuntary neon vomiting. Then there's the battle against a holographic Bob Barbas, a fight that sees you transported to the heart of the Raptor News Network and directly into its live news reports, complete with the requisite TV commentary and helicopter shots. DmC's keen sense of style overcomes much of the boss battles' shortcomings, adding to the heady atmosphere of its brightly coloured world.

Visit link:
DmC: Devil May Cry Definitive Edition Video Review

The Rockets did not get the star point guard they sought, but completed a pair of deals to bolster their backcourt off the bench at the trade deadline with additions of rookie KJ McDaniels and veteran Pablo Prigioni.

The Rockets agreed to send second-year guard Isaiah Canaan along with the Denver Nuggets second-round pick to Philadelphia to get McDaniel, an athletic 6-6 guard taken with the 32nd pick in last seasons draft.

The Rockets also sent Alexey Shved and two late second-round picks to New York for Pablo Prigioni, a 37-year-old point guard that has been an outstanding shooter in his three NBA seasons, but had little role with the Knicks rebuilding.

The Rockets had tried to get involved in talks for Suns point guard Goran Dragic, who went to Miami for a much larger package of players and picks than the Rockets could match, a move that triggered a flurry of deals in which the Suns acquired Brandon Knight from the Bucks with Milwaukee getting Michael Carter-Williams, Miles Plumlee and Tyler Ennis.

Oklahoma City dramatically retooled its bench, trading Reggie Jackson to Detroit, with the Thunder adding D.J. Augustin and Kyle Singler and then picking up Enes Kanter from Utah for Kendrick Perkins.

See more here:
Rockets acquire Pablo Prigioni, KJ McDaniels

After teasing some more additions to the roster of NetherRealms upcoming brawler earlier in the week, director Ed Boon has made good on his word with a new story trailer thats bursting with faces young and old. Making their MK debut are second-generation fighters Jacqueline Briggs (the daughter of Jax), Kung Jin (a descendant of Kung Lao) and Takeshi Takeda (the son of blind ninja Kenshi). They join fellow young upstart with famous parents candidate Cassie Cage (the daughter of Sonya and Johnny Cage, for all you lore lovers).

The trailer also features a few hints to some familiar faces making a return to bone-crunching halls of MK. Keep your eyes peeled for surly elder god Shinnok, Shao Kahns big haired (and big tempered) wife Sindel and a ninja that looks suspiciously like Rain. That brings the official roster to a total of 18 confirmed fighters (not including the pre-order-locked Goro) - heres hoping all those cameos turn to be more than fan-baiting teases.

So what about all those story deets? Well, the campaign is set to be the franchises grandest and most explosive yet, with Outworld forces preparing to invade Earth Realm and destroy it once and for all. Theres also a glimpse of Kitana-clone Mileena getting a beefier role, with the search for a powerful talisman that could turn the tide of the conflict. Its a very corny and classic, silly MK down to a tee - but hey, we wouldnt have it any other way.

Mortal Kombat is set to uppercut its way onto PS4, Xbox One, PS3 and Xbox 360 on 14 April.

Read the original post:
Mortal Kombat X sheds some fresh blood with new characters and story details

QUEENSTOWN Queen Annes County has been home to a number of notable people over the years, but how many of us know that a former first lady lived in the county for 11 years?

The house, known as the Bryan-Preston House at Parks Point overlooking the Wye River, was home to Frances Folsom Cleveland Preston and her second husband from 1929 to 1940, according to information provided by Exit Gold Realty, which is currently listing the house for sale for $1.9 million. Her first husband was former President Grover Cleveland, who died in 1908.

It is a four-story, single family home with five bedrooms, three full baths, two partial baths, multiple slip dock, swimming pool, 1,500 feet of waterfront, and other amenities on 7.88 acres, the listing states.

Frances Folsom was born in 1864 and was the only First Lady to be married at the White House and give birth there, according to Exit Gold Realtys information. When she married Cleveland in 1886 in the White House Blue Room, he was 49 and she was 21. He served two non-consecutive terms as president the only person to have done so, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica.

In an effort to seek more privacy, the Clevelands lived most of the time during the two terms at a home outside of Washington, and were the only first couple to do so. They returned to the White House only for official functions, the encyclopedia states.

After Cleveland left office in 1897, the couple lived in Princeton, N.J., until his death in 1908. She married manufacturer, classicist, archaeologist and art history professor Thomas J. Preston Jr. in 1913, and they continued living in Princeton.

The house at Parks Point originally belonged to Valentine Bryan as part of his 752-acre Russell Dale estate, according to Exit Gold Realty. It said George L. Bryan bought part of the estate and built a farmhouse on it in 1860 and the property continued to be used for agricultural purposes until the Prestons acquired it in 1929. The couple used it as a second home, the realty company said.

Additions by the Prestons tripled the size of the farmhouse and included a 2-1/2 story addition. Exit Gold Realtys information states that much that was original to the house has been retained, including wide plank floors, moldings and four panel doors.

The Prestons sold the property in 1940 and the former first lady died in 1947 in Baltimore. The property is listed as a Maryland Historical Trust site.

Exit Gold Realty has scheduled an open house from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 15, at the property, 120 Parks Point.

See original here:
Former first lady's home in QA for sale

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - Major League Soccer wanted to have a memorable night in the first game for its two new teams.

Thanks to a late goal by one of the leagues biggest offseason additions, it got it.

Orlando Citys Kaka scored in extra time to give the Lions a 1-1 tie with New York City FC in front of an announced crowd of 62,510 at Citrus Bowl Stadium. It was the second-highest attendance for an MLS inaugural game, second only to the L.A. Galaxys 69,255 in the Rose Bowl in 1996.

The result wasnt what we wanted, but everything that happened today was really incredible, Kaka said. We have a lot to improve on and were going to improve, but it was a really special day for everyone on this team.

Kaka, the former AC Milan star who signed as Orlandos first designated player and is making a league-high $7.2 million this year, injected energy into the league and the Lions preseason Twitter #FillTheBowl campaign and Sundays opener for the citys second major professional sports franchise.

It led to a turnout and atmosphere that MLS Commissioner Don Garber called unbelievable after the league avoided its first-ever work stoppage with the signing of a new Collective Bargaining Agreement last week. It will add two more teams in Atlanta and Los Angeles in 2017, and Garber said a new round of expansion should be announced within 45 days.

We knew that there was a lot of excitement building in this city, Garber said. This city has been painted purple for a week. Its a great way to kick off our 20th season. It really gives you a bounce in your step after so many years to see 62,000 people here.

That excitement seemed to dimming for Orlandos fans late in the game.

New York appeared to be on its way to the victory in the 76th minute when Mix Diskerud took a pass from David Villa just outside 18-yard box, pushed it with one touch inside the box and rifled a curling shot that sneaked inside the far post.

But in the 91st minute, Orlando (playing 10 on 11 after defender Aurelien Collin was sent off for a red card) was awarded a free kick after Kevin Molino was fouled 10 yards outside the box. On the ensuing play, Kaka got it past Josh Saunders on a deflection off New Yorks wall.

See the article here:
Kaka's late goal gives Orlando City 1-1 tie with NYCFC

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) -- At a downtown economic luncheon Wednesday, Wilmington Downtown Inc. leaders announced plans for a well-known Wrightsville Beach business to open a second location downtown.

The Redix Store plans to build the second store on Grace Street by the middle of May. Owner Daniel Reddick says the growing economy has created a whole new market for their store.

Wilmington Downtown Inc. CEO Ed Wolverton says those changes have already brought several new stores to Grace Street and they have big plans for the rest of the area.

"The influence of the hospitality industry and how that's changing the dynamic of not just this one street but all of downtown, and of course more hotels are on the way," Wolverton said. "So we're very excited about what that's going to mean for our continued progression in the retail offerings that we have."

Historic downtown Wilmington is a spot that native Joshua Jackson says brings the surrounding towns together.

"It's like a world in itself," Jackson said.

In the last 27 years, he's seen a lot of changes.

"They're always building something."

City leaders say 21 new businesses in 2014 alone.

Wilmington downtown incorporated CEO Ed Wolverton says with a new year and a growing economy that just means more.

Read this article:
Redix store coming to downtown

The ACC put out a news release Friday announcing that the league has been awarded the 2015 Naismith Legacy Award. According to the release, the award is given each year to individuals and organizations in basketball to honor their roles in furthering the values of honor, respect and integrity on and off the court.

The timing of the announcement was fascinating. On the same day, the NCAA came about as close to throwing the book at Syracuse now an ACC member as it ever comes when a big-time program is accused of breaking the rules.

Orange Coach Jim Boeheim woke up Friday morning second on the all-time Division I coaching list with 966 wins. By lunchtime, he was down to sixth after the NCAA stripped him of 108 wins, some of them dating from the 2004-05 season. (Of course, the NCAA has been known to loudly announce that it is vacating coaching wins and then quietly announce never mind a few years later. See Paterno, Joe.) And with or without those wins, Boeheim will have to sit out Syracuses first nine ACC games next season.

The school also will lose three scholarships per year through 2019 a fairly minor hit since most schools dont need more than 10 scholarship players and it will lose money from postseason play and be fined $500 for every game in which an ineligible player was on the court.

Syracuse already had announced last month that it was voluntarily banning itself from all postseason play this year, meaning it wont be around next weekend at the ACC tournament in Greensboro, N.C., when Commissioner John Swofford will accept the Naismith award.

When Syracuse announced its self-imposed ban, there were skeptics who saw the move as a preemptory move designed to bring the investigation to an end during a down year for the Orange. At best, Syracuse was an NCAA bubble team. More likely, it would have played in the NIT, which would have excited coaches, players and fans in Central New York almost as much as the prospect of a March snowstorm.

The move worked: The penalties are more embarrassing than substantive. Syracuse wont miss any TV time and will be eligible to play in next seasons NCAA tournament. And then again, it didnt work: The NCAA pompously concluded the school had to be penalized because it had failed to monitor its athletics program and its head basketball coach failed to monitor his program. In English, this means there were academic issues, drug-testing issues and an issue involving a booster who was passing out money he shouldnt have been passing out.

The real question is whether Boeheim, who turned 70 in November, wants to deal with all of this going forward. In recent years, he has finally been recognized as one of the deans of the sport. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2005 and has been Mike Krzyzewskis most trusted assistant with the U.S. national team for the past 10 years.

This certainly isnt the way he wants to go out. But the large blemishes of the recent past certainly have to blur his vision of the future.

But Syracuse isnt the only ACC team making news that might not quite live up to the Naismith Legacy Award. North Carolina is being investigated by the NCAA after an independent investigator hired by the school concluded there had been academic fraud involving athletes many of them basketball players from 1993 to 2011.

Original post:
Feinstein: Feinstein: ACC fluffs its past on a bad week for its present