#columns & capitals

[wondermilk]

Driveway in Santa Barbara

[valaaia]

Driveway in Santa Barbara

[greatinterest]

Driveway in Santa Barbara

[sjzavala]

Driveway in Santa Barbara

[inventivaindia]

When building a startup, think like a buyer

When building a startup, think like a buyer

  “Never run a dual-track process.”

You’ll probably hear this advice if you ask an investor about raising money and selling a business concurrently, and it’s good advice. The two processes are so different, so all-consuming and require such different priorities that it is nearly impossible to do both well. Running a sale process, though, is much different from positioning your company for…

[managermint]

TechCrunch: Who are the major revenue-based investing VCs?

TechCrunch: Who are the major revenue-based investing VCs?

David Teten Contributor

More posts by this contributor

How To Run Your Company Based On Metrics

This guest post was written by David Teten, Venture Partner, HOF Capital. You can follow him at teten.com and @dteten. This is part of an ongoing series on Revenue-Based Investing VC that will hit on:

So you’re interested in raising capital from a Revenue-Based Investor VC. Which VCs are…

[virtualcurrencyspace]

Bitcoin Stealing Golds Share As An Inflation Hedge

Precious metal investors have faced a grueling year as gold prices contracted after two years of gains.

In recent days, however, gold and silver prices reached their highest levels since the sharp selloff in November. They remain a good alternative asset to invest in, Stephen “Sarge” Guilfoyle wrote in a recent Real Money Pro column.

“Now with consumer inflation spiking to a 7% annual rate, and wages rising just 4.7% annually, investors are waking up to one of the yellow metal's perceived functions, that of being an inflation hedge...,” Guilfoyle wrote recently on Real Money.

These days, though, cryptocurrencies have received some of the capital that investors would have sunk into gold or silver previously.

“There is no doubt in my mind that Bitcoin or Ethereum have taken share away from Gold or Silver where alternative (ex-fiat money supply) investment is concerned,” he wrote. “While folks of a certain age (mine) rely on precious metals as a way to circumvent the system, that is precisely how those younger than I look at cryptos.”

https://www.thestreet.com/.amp/investing/bitcoin-gold-silver-and-ethereum-can-all-serve-as-inflation-hedges

[bloglumfia]

Easy embroidery alignment for custom patch maker

Allow's state you just ended up a needlework work-- a left-chest logo sewed on tee shirts and hats-- and also currently the consumer desires jackets. What's more, he desires the exact same logo design on a coat back.

As it stands, the logo measures 3.5 inches large, but now have to be 17 inches wide. To top all of it off, the client wants the finished coat "yesterday.".

As a custom patch maker, you need to be cautious. If you prepared for such an upsell, you will certainly be great. If not, you may have to redigitize the logo due to the fact that it can not be bigger without distortion, overly long stitches and loss of high quality. You must change stitch types-- column stitches must come to be fills, run stitches should come to be columns as well as fills up will require extra paddings and pull compensation click here.

Transforming stitch types & lengths.

The most convenient thing to do is originally digitize your layouts to make sure that they can immediately be adjusted to fulfill any kind of need or dimension demand. If you have actually not digitized expecting an upsell, running stitches-- made use of as a synopsis-- should be transformed to column stitches. A lot of needlework software consists of automatic attributes that will allow you to click a team of stitches and also change them to fit a larger design. After that, you can expand or reduce that column to fit. Make sure any underlying fill has an edge-run rug, as well as remember that the column stitches should be offset sufficient to catch the rug to ensure that the new summary does not pull away.

In resizing a layout to be embroidered on a coat back, the existing column stitches in the smaller variation need to be longer in the larger version. However if they are too long, such stitches quickly can be altered to fills up and also can shine much like a standard column stitch; the trick is sew size. Lengthy stitches that would pull in a bigger column-stitch letter can be utilized in the fill and also be stable.

The arbitrary needle infiltrations allow you to use longer stitches to develop the sheen you require without the stitches taking out, which sheen will adhere to the contour of the letters. So for the bigger columns developed by scaling up the design, assume fill instead of split satin stitches.

Adjusting underlay.

History loads, when set the conventional method, will certainly be misshaped when you increase the layout's dimension unless you add padding and also deal with the additional pull payment. The longer stitch in the resized fill will draw more than the shorter one in the initial fill or tatami stitch.

Additional underlay has to be utilized, normally a double tatami that is set 90 degrees unto itself, to create a latticework that holds the fill in place and avoids it from retreating from any kind of synopsis or other things in the style. The fill still must be bigger to compensate for the pull that takes place as a result of its standard settings.

If, on the other hand, you configure a layered fill from the beginning, there will be no demand for the added padding-- or any compensation-- due to the fact that there will certainly be no pull. This will reduce your stitch matter by about 30%, and also save you the frustration of thread breaks as well as a cardboard-like appearance.

To do a split fill, just minimize the stitches to 1⁄3 of the density, or the quantity utilized in the initial underlay. To reach that precise density setup, figure out the number of stitches that a full density fill or tatami things includes. As an example, if it contains 15,000 stitches, the split fill needs to consist of 5,000 stitches. Upon minimizing the stitch count, bear in mind the thickness setup for future use.

Digitize the background fill making use of the new density setting. Make certain the stitch angle is absolutely no, or horizontal. The item needs to begin on top and end at the bottom. Then, replicate that object twice. Alternate the beginning as well as stop settings in the 2nd layer by starting at the bottom and also stopping on top, then add an edge-run padding to that layer. The last layer will start where the second layer ended-- on top-- and finish near the bottom.

If there is a summary on this fill, include an edge-run padding to the second layer and counter the column stitch rundown to ensure that it overlaps the fill's underlay. This will protect against the synopsis from pulling away from the fill.

This split fill will run perfectly with no string breaks, and can be raised or lowered in dimension as required. It additionally will result in a fill that moves with the coat, easily approves detail and also doesn't cause any kind of push or pull. In addition, due to the fact that there is no demand for compensation, there also will be no distortion.

Structure adds interest.

When dealing with a larger layout, particular components can be included in spark interest. The history fill does not need to be plain; instead, it can be an embossed variation of your customer's logo. If you do this, include appearance only to the last of the three layers. These extras can include interest your designs that brings your customers back.

The last layer of the fill is what your eye will certainly see, to make sure that's where you can add either a longer sew for gloss, a shorter stitch for a matte coating, a formed loaded with your client's printed logo or any other ideal structure.

Conveniently adjusting a layout's size will certainly allow you to upsell tasks more effectively. Capitalizing on the jackets currently offered on the market will boost your shop's profits. Beginning with a layered fill will certainly make it easier to move from dimension to dimension and garment to garment.

Knowing that the split fill is a choice implies you can utilize the initial fill from the smaller styles, lower its thickness, replicate it three times, alter the starting and also stopping settings on the 2nd layer, and instantly prevent the issues connected to added padding and draw compensation.

These simple steps will ensure you can make use of the smaller sized layouts you might have previously sewn, while contributing to your shop's profits with a coat to match. Digitized properly, such styles will certainly be an enjoyment to embroider and even can be your primary advertising tool for drawing in more customers.

[chzenan]

2021 报税记

本文仅记录个人经历，不应作为任何税务建议

Introduction (TL;DR)

今天一天都是阴雨天，毫无生产力可言，适合报税。作为一个拿着低保的 Non-resident Alien F1 国际学生，一般有以下几个选项： 1. 学校提供的 Tax Clinic。例如 ISSS 就和 NVTAP 有合作，提供免费报税服务。 2. 寻求第三方软件。 3. 自己报。

去年我是通过 Tax Clinic 报税的，过程仍然略微繁琐。首先是学校和 Sprint Tax 有合作，可以免费生成 Federal Tax。生成 Federal Tax 之后，将文档提交给 NVTAP 的志愿者。虽然是 certified 的志愿者（并且我对此心怀感激），但是对把我的所有税务信息传到一个 Google Drive 文档这种事，我还是心有余悸的。

今年的 Tax Clinic ��乎有点不同，学校的与 SprintTax 合作的网页已经下线（虽然我还是通过 Wayback Machine 找到了 SprintTax 的入口）。这次 NVTAP 的网页也有所升级，改为通过 TaxSlayer 的服务而（似乎）无需志愿者的手工干预了。然而 TaxSlayer 听说不支持 Robinhood 的自动导入，于是我将 TaxSlayer 作为备选，开始寻找第三方软件，发现了 TaxAct。

TaxAct 有以下几个很重要的特点： 1. 支持 NRA 报税，并且支持 E-File。2. 支持 Treaty 3. 宣称支持 Robinhood 的导入。随后我发现 TaxAct 支持 IRS 针对低收入人群的免费报税计划 Free File。同时支持 Federal & State 的免费 E-File，入口链接在此。最后经过仔细考虑，选择了通过 TaxAct 进行报税。注册后就是波澜不惊而无趣的填表过程。然而，最让人头大的 Robinhood 1099-B，还在后头。

Robinhood 1099-B

之所以放弃 SprintTax，主要是因为 Robinhood 上每次股票操作都需要单独填写一份 1099-B，极为繁琐。然而虽然 TaxAct 宣称支持 Robinhood，实际上却并完全无法导入。首先是并没有直接使用 Robinhood 登陆的入口，TaxAct 虽然支持 CSV 导入，Robinhood 却没有提供 CSV 导出的选项。

好在 TaxAct 还支持用 Form 8949 和 SCHEDULE NEC 完成股票这部分的报税。具体步骤如下：

TaxAct 中选择使用 Form 8949。

Robinhood 提供的 PDF 第一页下半部分应有：SUMMARY OF PROCEEDS, GAINS & LOSSES, ADJUSTMENTS AND WITHHOLDING 这个 section，底下就是 Form 8949 相关的信息。

在 TaxAct 上按行逐条输入。比如 Short A、Short B，等等。

接下来在 Schedule NEC 中，将 1099 DIV 中的 Dividend 填入 10% 的 column 中，将上述 8949 中的 capital gain 填入 30% （真高）的 column 中。

最后将 Robinhood 提供的 PDF 作为附件上传。

P.S. 其实最好不要开 Robinhood，血亏。要投资就直接 WeBull。或者像我一样，从今天开始卸载 Robinhood，等变成 Resident Alien 再卖出。

收尾

还有几点注意事项：

在 MN 的同学记得问房东要 Certificate of Rent Paid。TaxAct 算下来大约能 refund 一个月的房租。

PhD 等有奖学金的同学，记得在 MyU 里找到你今年交的学费，在 TaxAct 中作为 tuition 填进去。这部分在 1042-S 中有报告，否则你将倒欠 $2000 的 federal tax。

从下午四点开始，一直折腾到晚上快八点，跌跌撞撞，终于算是填完了。遂饿着肚子作此文，希望对各位领低保的朋友们有所帮助。

[inventivaindia]

Negotiate for ‘better’ stock in equity-funded acquisitions

Negotiate for ‘better’ stock in equity-funded acquisitions

Timothy R. Bowers Contributor

Timothy R. Bowers is the Managing Partner of VLP Law Group LLP.

Andrew P. Dixon

Contributor

Andrew P. Dixon serves as Counsel with VLP Law Group LLP.

For many founders, building and selling a successful venture-backed company for cash is the ultimate goal. However, the reality is that some companies will instead receive an equity-funded acquisition proposal…

[managermint]

TechCrunch: What seed-stage dilution tells us about changing investor expectations

TechCrunch: What seed-stage dilution tells us about changing investor expectations

A little-noticed startup financing trend has big implications for how VC firms evaluate companies raising Series A and B rounds

Dale Chang 7 hours

Dale Chang Contributor

More posts by this contributor

Why startups can’t afford to ignore customer retention

How startups can use data to grow smarter

Round sizes are up. Valuations are up. There are more investors than ever hunting…

[thefeministherald]

The 2018 Sundance Film Festival has passed, and a quiet year for deals and buzz led some to speculate films focused on people of color and women were the reason for fewer acquisitions. “Who are these movies for?” griped an influential distributor to Variety. On Twitter, “Blindspotting” producer Keith Calder perfectly summed up the fallacy in that question: “White male privilege is thinking a movie that doesn’t appeal to you is a movie that doesn’t appeal to anyone. If you are a film executive attending Sundance… at least have the class and self-respect to not anonymously trash those movies in the press.” (“Blindspotting” eventually sold to Lionsgate at the end of the festival.)

The anonymous buyer’s comments — and Calder’s subsequent rebuke — highlight underlying growing pains for a festival angling for more diverse programming, but lacking sufficient voices to champion such work.

Hollywood is an industry dominated by white men, and so’s the media, but the ethos of this year’s Sundance programming was clear: We are the outsiders, the unsung, the uncelebrated, and the marginalized. “The Tale,” “Damsel,” “Sorry to Bother You,” “The Miseducation of Cameron Post,” “Blindspotting,” “Monsters and Men” and “Monster” all centered on socially conscious messages. This year more than any other, I saw films that spoke to me on a deeply personal level. I found characters I recognized and identified with, rather than de facto representations. I did not have to choose between the white female characters or the black male characters that did not fully speak to me as a black woman.

I wasn’t inundated with a host of films that capitalized on black pain. “Precious,” a Sundance 2009 breakout, was a brilliant film — but words cannot express my joy leaving the theater last year after the quirky and carefree “The Incredible Jessica James,” one of the few movies in the 2017 lineup to have that effect. This year, I saw myself equally responsive to the female companionship of “Skate Kitchen,” and the ferocious satire of race relations in “Sorry To Bother You.”

As I (and other people of color) celebrated this year’s films and reveled in this watershed moment, I found it disquieting to hear industry colleagues and fellow critics complain that they didn’t “get” it. It was comical to hear people who live for Edgar Wright’s Cornetto Trilogyremaining lukewarm on “Blindspotting.” Carlos Lopez Estrada‘s stylized buddy comedy clearly draws from Wright’s work; in fact, if Wright were born black and grew up in the Bay Area, he would probably have made something a lot like “Blindspotting.” Furthermore, people who loved Spike Jonze’s “Being John Malkovich” or Michel Gondry’s Eternal “Sunshine of The Spotless Mind” dismissed Boots Riley’s “Sorry to Bother You” as “scattershot” or “too weird,” even though Riley channeled their surrealist storytelling methods for an all-too-timely story.

I was especially astonished to witness the backlash to “The Tale.” The movie’s central drama revolves around a disturbingly accurate scene of sexual abuse. Fandango journalist Alicia Malone confided that she overheard two men deriding the movie minutes after the premiere, with one admitting, “I didn’t need to see that.” Another added, “Why would you want to put that out there?”

I’m sure any sexual assault survivor — including Jennifer Fox, the film’s director — would argue that such discomfort is precisely why the movie needed to be made. Another column posted midway through the festival lamented, “Where are all the masterpieces?” There are actually several answers.

“Sorry to Bother You” is a satirical masterpiece that addresses our age of racial confusion. In “Sorry to Bother You,” Lakeith Stanfield’s character uses his “white voice�� for career advancement, and it’s a laser-focused dagger into the heart of modern-day racial identity politics. And I would dub “Blindspotting” a near-perfect political musical without melody, but with a undeniable beat. When leads Collin (Daveed Diggs) and Miles (Rafael Casal) break into freestyle rap conversations, they’re woven into the plot as seamlessly as musical numbers, with Collin’s freestyle breakdown of institutionalized racism sustaining the movie’s themes.

However, while Sundance can program these breakthroughs, it hasn’t done the same for its audience. The festival’s moviegoers are largely comprised of white, well-to-do industry insiders, critics from major publications, and a few dedicated freelancers and cinephiles who can afford the costly trek to Park City. (Then there are the Utah locals.) I’m blessed to work for a major outlet, and my sisters at BlackGirlNerds.com were supported by private sponsorship to add our voice to the conversation. To be fair, the festival has always worked to promote female filmmakers, filmmakers of color, and marginalized voices, but even a casual observer would argue that this year was different.

Behind the numbers lies a hidden truth: Sundance can shake up its programming, but that’s not enough to stimulate broader conversations about a more inclusive film community. The festival made a visible effort to increase the diversity of the lineup; insiders called it “a down year,” “a political statement”, or, worse yet, “boring.” Two of the highest-dollar acquisitions — “Assassination Nation,” which sold to Neon for $10 million, and the brilliantly divisive “Sorry To Bother You,” which was acquired by Annapurna — both featured women and people of color in fresh takes on genre filmmaking.

However, the films had very few critics of color commenting on them, a long-running problem in film criticism. The predominately minority films “Blindspotting” (90%) and “Sorry to Bother You” (83%) are rated fresh on Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer, but critics of color comprise only 25% of the total reviews submitted. How might the averages of these films shift if the critic demographics reflected the general audience?

This year saw more critics of color in Park City, but as Shadow and Act’s Aramide A. Tinubu pointed out, the turnout was far from sufficient. “The representation of the Black press is abysmal,” she wrote. “Black press simply isn’t as valued in the entertainment space. Though we are constantly writing about and trying to get through the door to speak with artists of color, our phone calls and emails often go unanswered.”

As the festival director for Blackgirlnerds.com, I can confirm that the struggle is real—even more so when a person of color is not featured in the main cast. If Sundance 2018 is the tip of the spear, the follow-through must include gender and racial parity in film criticism and access to match. The conversation around films in the “Park City bubble” is as meaningful as the films themselves. As “Sorry to Bother You” star Tessa Thompson pointed out during the film’s panel at the MACRO lounge: “There is a real responsibility to make sure that the people who get to talk about our work also look like us—the gatekeepers cannot all be white cis males.”

A monolithic voice in film criticism can also negatively impact the box office. Films like “Get Out” and “Wonder Woman” show how representation can drive ticket sales. Conversely, if an audience is not provided new stories that inspire a trip to the theater, box office numbers will continue to decline. Quiet buzz around films at Sundance could depress expectations for distribution, and some of the more visionary films from the festival may fail to gather an audience. Providing racial and gender parity in the conversation can help foster these new filmmakers. Each group provides a unique perspective, and the film community should reflect that if we want to accurately evaluate new storytellers.

[aaronmblevin]

100 Awesome Folkways LPs

Back in 2005 I had just dropped out of graduate school and returned to Edmonton, Alberta. I was waiting for the semester to start so I could begin my journey as a mathematician. I'm indebted to my friend Christopher Bateman (co-author of In Fine Style) who told me that there was a collection of Folkways Records at the University of Alberta. An entire collection?! Wow! The only other complete collection was at the Smithsonian Museum! And I had nothing to do all day (except for my string of terrible minnimum wage jobs)!

I started visiting folkwaysAlive!, the small Folkways centre (photos below), regularly and digging through their collection. Most of the knowledge about Folkways at the time was centred on their incredible collection of ethnographic recordings. However, as I began looking through the catalog I was finding all kinds of weird and amusing records. There was one titled Speach After the Removal of the Larynx and another called Sounds of the Junkyard. Even more, there were famous composers of electronic music who had published LPs on folkways. What were those doing there? It turns out that Folkways founder Moses Asch was determined to capture all "sound" and that in the pure pursuit of this philosophy several LPs of collateral damage would delight the catalog.

Some years later I had a radio show on CJSR where I played music entirely from the Folkways collection (the show was appropriately titled The Sounds of Folkways). At the same time I was trying to capitalize on my newfound knowledge and tried to pitch a book and/or column to various people titled 100 Weird and Wonderful LPs on Folkways. I wasn't successful, but in the process I had made a "list of weird Folkways LPs" and that's what I'd like to share today.

Here is my list. It's not complete. It's not a list of "the best folkways LPs." It's just a list of Folkways records I happen to like and think weird or cool. Thus, there are large omissions in categories like Blues and Ethnomusicology, which contain many of the most incredible Folkways records.

You can find music clips for most of these LPs on YouTube. This list is a decade old, so there's probably some errata and some of the catalog numbers aren't likely correct.

I hope you enjoy.

PS - I still need a copy of Speach After the Removal of the Layrnx!

PPS - I'm forward thankful to Lorna Arndt who so graciously let me hang out in the folkwaysAlive! office!

Avant-Garde / Electronic

FW 34006 – Music of Ann McMillan - Whale-Wail, In Peace, En Paix

FW 33451 – Gateway Summer Sound – Abstracted Animal & Other Sounds Composed by Ann McMillan

FW 33855 – Reelizations – Composed and Preformed by Barton Smith

FW 33856 – Reelizations Vol. 2 – Composed and Preformed by Barton Smith

FW 37464 – Dariush Dolat-Shahi – Electronic Music Tar and Setar

FW 37467 – Dariush Dolat-Shahi – Ostashagah

FW 03434 – Eight Electronic Pieces – Todd Dockstader

FTQ 33951 - Ilhan Mimaroglu - To Kill a Sunrise and La Ruche

FW 31313 – Gamelan in the New World Vol.1

FW 31312 – Gamelan in the New World Vol. 2

FSS 33878 - Israeli Electroacoustic Music

FS 003861 – Radio Programme No. 1 Audio Collage / Henry Jacob’s Music & FolkloreFT 03704? – Indeterminacy (John Cage Reading and David Tudor Music)

FW 47902 – Invocations – Richard Kostelanetz

FX 06250 - Science Fiction Sound Effects Record

FW 06160 – Sounds of New Music

FW 06241 – Travelon Gamelon – Music for Bicycles – Richard Lerman

FW 33440 – Outer Space Music by Vaclav Nelhybel

FW 33436 – Electronic Music

FW 06253 – Futuribile the Life to Come – Gianni safred and his Electronic Instruments

FM 03349 – The Piano Music of Henry Cowell

FW 03438 – Electronic Music From Razor Blades to Moog – Produced & Composed by J.D. Robb

FW 33435 – J.D. Robb - Rhythmania & Other Electronic Compositions

FW 33439 – Music by Jean ivey for Voices, Instruments, and Tape

FW 33445 – Jon Appleton – Music for Synclavier and other Digital Systems

FW 33437 – The World Music Theatre of

FW 33442 – The Dartmouth Digital Synthesizer

FW 37461 – Jon Appleton – Four Fantasies for Synclavier

FW 33450 – McLean: Electro-Symphonic Landscapes

FW 36050 – Electronic Music from the Outside In

FW 37465 – Computer Music from the Outside In

FW 37475 – Computer Music

FSS 6301 – Highlights of Vortex

FW 33431 – Extended Piano (Elliot Schwartz)

FW 33901 – New American Music Vol. 1

FW 33902 – New American Music Vol. 2

FW 33903 – New American Music Vol. 3

FW 33904 – New American Music Vol. 4

FW 33441 – Tract: A Composition of Agitprop Music for Electromagnetic Tape by Ilhan Mimaroglu

Ethnographic

FW 31306 – The Nuru Taa African Musical Idiom: Played on the Mama-Likembi (Nadi Qamar)

FW 08975 - Mushroom Ceremoney of the Mazatec Indians of Mexico

FW 08512 – Music of Upper-Egypt

FW 04457 – The Pygmies of the Ituri Forest

FE 4377 - Modern Maya: The Indian Music of Chiapas, Mexico

FE 4379 - Modern Maya: The Indian Music of CHiapas, Mexico - Vol. 2

FC 7755 - Bilal Abdurahman – Echoes Of Timbuktu And Beyond

Folk

FG 3526 - Elizabeth Cotton - Folksongs And Instrumentals With Guitar

FTS 31003 - Elizabeth Cotton - Vol. 2: Shake Sugaree

FW 03537 - Elizabeth Cotton - Vol. 3: When I'm Gone

FW 07535 – Innovative Rythmic and Tonal Textures for developing Creative Motor Skill Activities (Bilal Abdurahman)

FW 07540 – Sound Rhythm Rhyme and Mime for Children (Bilal Abdurahman)

FW 03581 - Mike Hurley – First Songs

FW 07520 – Ghetto Reality (Nancy Dupree)

FW 32850 – Niss Puk Band – No More Nukes

FW 32852 – Roger Matura – The Outrage Grows

FW 32851 – Roger Matura – Times are Gonna Get Harder

BR 304 - The Village Fugs - Sing Ballads Of Contemporary Protest, Point Of Views, And General Dissatisfaction

PAR 01020 – A Grain of Sand: Music for the Struggle by Asians in America

FTS 31066 - Lucinda Williams - Ramblin' on My Mind

FTS 31067 - Lucinda Williams - Happy Woman Blues

FA 2951 - Anthology of American Folk Music Volume One: Ballads (Harry Smith)

FA 2951 - Anthology of American Folk Music Volume Two: Social Music (Harry Smith)

FA 2951 - Anthology of American Folk Music Volume Three: Songs (Harry Smith)

Jazz

FW 33867 – East New York Ensemble de Music at the Helm

FW 33866 – Entourage

FW 33870 – The Neptune Collection – The Entourage Music & Theatre Ensemble

FW 05403 – From the Cold Jaws of Prison

FW 09718 – Kenneth Patchen reads with Jazz in Canada

FW 02966 – Mary Lou Williams – The Asch Recordings 1944-1947

FW 02843 – Mary Lou Williams – Black Christ of the Andes

FSS 37462 - Bertram Turetzky - A Different View

New Age

FW 06195 – Clouds: New Music for Relaxation Vol. 1 (Craig Kupka)

FW 06916 – Crystals: New Music for Relxation Vol. 2 (Craig Kupka)

FW 37463 – Charles Compo – Seven Flute Solos

Soul / Funk / R&B

FW 32863 – Into Morning – Charles Cha-Cha Shaw

FW 32870 – Kingdom Come – Cha Cha Shaw

FW 31037 – Climbing High Mountains – Juanita Johnson & The Gospel Tones

FW 33868 – The Montgomery Movement featuring The Montgomery Express

FW 09723 – Underground Streets – Words and Original Music by Normal Riley

FW 09710 – Boss Soul – 12 Poems by Sarah Webster Fabio set to Drum Talk, Rhythms & Images

FW 09715 – Together to the tune of Coltranes “Equinox” (Sarah Webster Fabio)

FW 09714 – Jujus Alchemy of the Blues – Poems by Sarah Webster Fabio Read by Sarah Webster Fabio with Musical Background

Spoken Word

FC 7471 - Rev. Howard Finster - Man of Many Voices

FW 06134 – Speech After the Removal of the Larynx

FW 05401 – Angela Davis Speaks

FW 09871 – Dante: The Inferno

FW 06102 – Interview with Sir Edmun Hillary – Mountain Climbing

FW 09711 – Soul Ain’t Soul Is – Poems by Sarah Webster Fabio

FW 05404 – The End of the World

FW 09701 – The Psychedelic Experience (Timothy Leary)

FW 055338 – What If I am a Women? Black Women’s Speeches Narrate by Ruby Dee

Strange

FW 06118 – Playing Music With Animals – The Interspecies Communication of Jim Nollman with 300 Turkeys, 12 Wolves and 20 Orca Whales

FW 06143 – The Sounds of the Junk Yard

SFW 45060 – Sounds of North American Frogs

FW 06142 – Sounds of the Office

FW 06121 – Sounds of the Sea Vol. 1

FW 06122 – Sounds of the Sea Vol. 2

FW 05589 – Street and Gangland Rhythms

FW 05580 – A Dog’s Life (Tony Schwartz)

FW 05562 – The World in My Mailbox (Tony Schwartz)

FW 05581 – Music in the Streets (Tony Schwartz)

FW 06200 – Voices of Satellites

FW 06123 – Vox Humana

[theseadagiodays]

April 6, 2020

Travel at home

I have always been a passionate traveler, with an insatiable curiosity for new experiences, cultures and sensations.  But what also comes with all the titillation is a fair dose of unfamiliar, unsettling, and often challenging new circumstances every traveler must agily welcome if they are to thrive.  When you are served dinner with no cutlery in Kalkata, scooping sloppy curry with your hands has to do.  When you’re penniless and lose your companion, hours from home in Bangkok’s busy streets, you must ingratitate yourself to the kindness of strangers for bus fare to your hotel.  It strikes me that this same flexibility can serve us well as we navigate the unchartered territories of this new nation we all inhabit, called COVID.

But what moves me most as I wander the world is the way in which constant new sensory input elevates my present-minded attention so intensely.  My ears delight in a particularly evocative call to prayer in Morocco.  My mouth savors the sour sweetness of a Colombian maracuya (passionfruit).  And my nose even appreciates the cow dung furnaces on the side of the road in India. It is like meditation in motion.  After each journey, when I return home, I set the earnest intention to sustain such sensory focus at home.  But as the days pass, this consistently becomes increasingly difficult.  However now, with little opportunity to venture much more than metres from our door, we need new strategies to remain sane and stimulated.  So, I think we can all benefit from living like tourists at home. I believe there is a science to this. I’ve even coined a term for it. It came from a time when I heard education expert Ken Robinson define the word aesthetics.  Associated with beauty, most think of the definition as subjective.  But he simplified this by pointing out that the opposite of aesthetics is anaesthetics (that which numbs our senses).  So, aesthetics are those things which make us feel.  Since this revelation, I have come to call myself an aesthesiologist because I believe that all artists are in the business of making people feel.  And this is why I feel that sharing artistic resources on this blog is the best medicine I can offer as we all ride out this crisis together.

So, maybe today you can consiciously pay attention to some subtle new observation each of your senses notice in your environment.  The way the light hits your tea kettle at dawn.  The call of a returning bird at spring time.  The crunch of the potato chips that you’re binging on right now.  Lately, I’ve certainly learned to feel extra fortunate that I can taste or smell at all, because my husband completely lost his sense of smell 3 weeks ago.  Most have probably heard that this is an alarming and bizarre potential sign of COVID, particularly in people with no other symptoms.  So, having come thru full incubation period, we’re at least past the scare that it could have become worse or that he might have infected myself or others with whom he’d had contact prior to quarantine.  But he never thought he’d look so forward to the day he could smell my farts again.  (Meanwhile, I’m indulging in all the beans and garlic I want)

At any rate, if home sensations don’t tickle you enough, there is always virtual travel.  And while that certainly risks inspiring a vicarious longing that may not serve you, for others, it can elicit some of the same wonders as adventures themselves.  So, if you’re craving sensory immersion into other worlds, New York Times can help you do this with their 13 recommended travel podcasts.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/09/travel/travel-podcasts.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage&contentCollection=AtHome

I know I have certainly spent many days in quarantine wallowing over my screensaver trip photos, longing for a time when I could journey further afield once more.  But I have also been swept away by the photographic brilliance of some of the work that the New York Times is featuring weekly, in their World Through a Lens column.  Marcus Westerberg’s shots of Zambian wildlife (https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/31/travel/zambia-safari.html) were particularly emotional for me, having just had one of the most meaningful travel experiences of my life there, last year, when I served as resident visiting artist at a music school in Lusaka.  In fact, I arrived exactly one year ago, today, and can’t wait to return to those magical people.  A girl has to dream, after all...

April 7, 2020

Creativity at Home

If any of you are variety-mongers like me, seeing only the same person or people, day in and day out, can have you dressing up your spouse in wigs or Hawaian skirts or bear costumes just to mix things up a bit.    But largely, I’ve been hearing that many parents and siblings are embracing ways to capitalize on their excessive togetherness. I think it’s why the show Survivor has been so successful all these years. Forced into small spaces and “tribes”, we tend to do whatever it takes to get along with our fellow captives.  Cooped up together for days on end, there is no limit to the clever activities some families have created to keep themselves occupied.  

This crew took a simple tube and board of wood to create some exercise apparatus that has kept them busy for hours:  https://www.google.ca/amp/s/www.cbc.ca/amp/1.5518064

Others are taking vicarious travel to the next level with some Photoshop fun - https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/07/travel/coronavirus-fake-travel.html

And the most impressive might be this 5-person brood, each with operatic quality voices, who belt out their rendition of One More Day, from Les Miserable.

https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-52106893/coronavirus-family-goes-viral-with-lockdown-les-mis-song-adaptation

But, if you happen to be stumped for ideas yourselves, here are a few ways you can kickstart your family’s creativity.  A bunch of resourceful theatre company’s have been commissioning playwrights to create short Plays at Home, designed for actors and amateurs alike to perform in their own living rooms.  Most are staged for 1-7 humans, with joyful themes, and participants are welcome to share video recordings of their readings.

https://www.playathome.org/?fbclid=IwAR3_Uib1GQV5134ZbF7IEI5F5lpt0HQdxYkd1HtiNeUFws1UKCvVV4_2KEQ

And right here in Vancouver, my friend Vanessa Richards is finding thoughtful ways to engage community in collaborative singing, by sustaining her weekly free choir sessions, now in Livestream, every Wednesday, from 6-7:30.  You can check out Van Van Song Society here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/togethersinging/

April 8, 2020

Quarantine Living - Al Yankovic style Some of you may be too young to recognize this reference to our favorite weasly moustached 80’s bard, who humorously bastardized everything from Queen’s Another One Rides the Bus to Michael Jakcson’s Eat It, with his own comic lyrics.  But lately, like our Les Miserable family, Weird Al Yancovic’s “wordsquatting” trend is spreading more virally than corona.

This original take on the Beatles, I gotta wash my hands is a classic.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxOJ7hh3H-I

For more potty humor, I adore this Philipino artists’ no-toilet paper campaign, I love tabo- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vzb98tQp53I

And certainly, the most high tech example has come from Vancouver’s own Phoenix Chamber Choir, in their rendition of the hugely popular Queen song, Coronavirus Rhapsody- https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/1720158275935?fbclid=IwAR3gEdqv95oX4KT_W4F4_naJyASRhUaGpr-T56Aux9k4tCStGvow9xgHIQw

April 9, 2020

Reading Respite Endless screentime has probably left many of us fatigued and squinting, with a need for stronger reading glass prescriptions that we can’t fill, because all the optometry shops have shut down.  So, these next suggestions are offered with that caveat. However, for me, the tactile experience of a book in my hand can still be a nourishing antidote to digital overload. Often just a page is capable of transporting my body, mind and soul away from news feeds, virus counts, and press conferences.  

Never a fan of e-readers, I have always passionately supported my local bookshops.  And thankfully, there is a current intiative intended to do the same, at a time when the threat of a certain Capital A behometh taking over global commerce is greater than ever.  So, you can actually feed your spirit and your neighborhood bookseller by purchasing any literary craving here. Thanks to the new site, bookshop.org, you can order what you’d like from the local bookstore of your choice, while this company acts as liason.  And the fair split allows your local vendor to keep 30% of total profit, when direct sales that are no longer possible for them may have only been slightly more (40-45%).  

As far as what to stories to consume at a time like this, it has amazed me how much films like Contagion and Outbreak have had huge resurgences. This tells me that relevance and resonance are key factors in people’s entertainment choices.  However, if you’re looking for something that relates to your current circumstances, but leaves you not with more fear, but with actual hope, inspiration, or tools for survival, here are a few better options:

Emily St. Mandel’s Station Eleven is, in fact, a post-apocalyptic tale.  But her narrative’s most clever survivors form a travelling Shakespeare troupe, demonstrating the power of art to heal in dire times.  

For some existential musing reaped in self-isolation, Thoreau’s Life in the Woods always still provides.

And if the new stressors arising from this crisis find you busier than ever, but you long to slow down, travel journalist, Pico Iyer, in his prophetic 2014 book, The Art of Stillness, makes a strong case for the fact that “in our madly accelerating world, our lives are crowded, chaotic and noisy. So, there’s never been a greater need to slow down, tune out and give ourselves permission to be still.”

April 10, 2020

How Might We Fill This Space?

Never before have Memes, Tik tok or Cat Videos provided such many needed lifelines for people all over the world.  But the video that most stirred me to action was this stunning dance collaboration that popped up in my Facebook feed, during the early days of self-isolation, before my first Zoom conference, before I’d seen my first collaborative musical Quarantine Song spoof. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3pFxsYPLgU

This global initiative to weave together dance gestures, while performers were entirely physically separate, seeded the idea for a community art and writing project that I have recently started with a few friends.

In an effort to connect artists during this physically distant time, we have launched Spool of Thought.  And all artistic contributions are welcome to the thread.  

https://www.instagram.com/spoolofthought2020/

On this page, we invite people to respond to the question, “How might we fill this space?”as we adjust to different rhythms of being. The idea is to weave together our thoughts, through the fluid form of cursive writing, in a non-linear narrative documenting this unique time on our planet.

The full instructions are below, for those interested and eager to participate:

1.Using Notes (iPhone) or Evernote (Android) and the digital pen, draw a continuous cursive line from the left to right side of the note (arranged horizontally) and write a word, phrase or sentence that responds to the prompt: How Might We Fill This Space?

2. Save it to your photos.

3. Then,send it by email to: spoolofthought2020@gmail.com, and we will add your text to the Spool of Thought Instagram page.

4. Please include your name, your location, your occupation, and your Instagram@ for the caption of your photo.

5. And feel free to share this invite with your community, along with these instructions.

6. Finally, enjoy watching the spool unravel on @spoolofthought2020, as the thread grows, and tag us wherever you choose to share: #spoolofthought2020.

[daleisgreat]

30 Years of TurboGrafX-16 & 25 Years of 32-X: A Lethal Combination!

Greetings and thank you once again for joining me in another anniversary retrospective! I know we are in the first month of 2020, but please indulge me and pretend it is still 2019 so I can say this is officially a piece commemorating the 30th anniversary of the North American launch of the NEC TurboGrafX-16 and the 25th anniversary of North American launch of the Sega 32X! Yes, this is the two-for-one anniversary special! I have been neglecting this for too long and wanted to have this up before the end of 2019, but I think I was a wee burnt out with my tomes I crafted for my other three flashbacks I posted throughout this past summer. I have good faith this will be a shorter piece because even though I have a history with both the TG16 and 32X, my experiences with them are both greatly after their original launches so I do not have those twee childhood memories of the 32X and TG16 as I did with the GameBoy and Genesis. Regardless, I do cherish my time with both ill-fated systems I will be covering today, so let us kickoff with the system that came out first, NEC’s TurboGrafX-16 in 1989.

Yup, these are the issues of Game Players I dug out of the closet and took poor quality cell phone pics for proof of where I first remember reading about the TurboGrafX. Even though TG16 launched in America in 1989, I do not recall seeing it in stores or hearing about it until 1994 when I got my first videogame magazine subscription to Game Players. Yes, I still have those 1994 issues of Game Players in my closet and if I can find the right issues I will attempt to paste in a semi-decent cell phone shot of the pages that referenced the TG16. If memory serves right, I believe there was a spread video pinball games that highlighted both Crush pinball titles for TG16, and another column highlighted TG16’s Ys Books I and II for being a revolutionary RPG title with its then-unprecedented cutscenes and voiceovers. I also discovered about TG16’s mascot, Bonk when reading a review in GP for the NES port of Bonk’s Adventure.

By consuming other gaming press media over the following years I eventually learned what happened with the TG16 and its CD add-on in America and how they did not fare as well as they did in Japan and quickly faded out within a year or two after the SNES launched in America. I never had a friend that owned the TG16 growing up, nor do I recall a store kiosk having any set up for play in my middle-of-nowhere hometown. I cannot remember even dabbling with hunting down TG16 emulators since I never saw the games out in the wild for sale at my local shops to peak my curiosity. So I believe the first time I played a TG16 game was when the Wii launch in 2006 and also debuted at its launch the Wii’s downloadable classic games for its ‘Virtual Console’ channel. The TG16 was one of the supported platforms and I recall downloading the hit multiplayer game, Bomberman ‘93 around or shortly after the Wii launch making it likely the first official TG16 game I played.

Aside from playing my first TG16 game in 2006 on the Wii, 2006 was a big year for learning a lot more about the system thanks in part to one particular podcast. Apple debuted podcasts in 2005 and other MP3 players quickly supported them too. I sampled countless gaming podcasts, but one I quickly got turned onto towards the end of 2005 was one Team Fremont Live. That podcast is still around to this day, but underwent a couple name changes and is now known as Super-the-Hardest. I quickly became a fan of the three hosts, John, Moe and Hilden and loved their take on videogames. They had frequent retro gaming segments on the show and the trio frequently waxed nostalgic for their TG16 memories. Over the years consuming their podcast and participating in their forums my knowledge for the system exponentially expanded! If you currently dig through the Super-the-Hardest archives or check out these links, you will find a wealthy amount of TG16 articles there to learn a ton about the platforms and their recommended games.

The then-Team Fremont Live hosts lived about a five hour drive away from me, and they had on open invite community event in the summer of 2006 where I first met them in person and gamed and drank the night away with them and their fellow community members. It was an awesome time, and in January 2007 they hosted another community event for their first ever year-end awards, ‘The Darryls!’ I remember meeting up with the three hosts the night before the event for a ‘packing party’ where we drank all night again and quickly got stone cold sober, literally, as we packed up the van with recording equipment in the middle of a January Midwest night of biting subzero temps! The Darryls transpired the next day and I got reacquainted with many community members again and there were several TVs set up with various games to play for everyone in what ended up being another memorable night with the TFL community. John, Moe and Hilden did a special presentation later on in the night for their 2006 best of game awards and did a contest drawing towards the end of the night that I was the lucky winner drawn. My prize was a TG16 system, complete in box and with a copy of the original pack-in game, Keith Courage in Alpha Zones! I was blown away and stunned the prize was going to be a system! That pic at the top of this article is indeed me being the proud new owner of a TG16! Keith Courage was a decent little platformer, but I would never become that skilled at it and would peter out of lives by levels two or three and regret never taking the time to master that game.

Thanks to listening to many hours of TFL at that point however and through other online research over the years I knew which games to hunt down. Luckily in 2007 and for the next few years TG16 releases remained affordable to hunt down as most games save for a select few went for under $20. I tracked down a far superior platformer in Bonk’s Revenge. Its vibrant visuals, challenging-but-fair platforming and adorably gruff mascot Bonk blew Keith Courage away and looked graphically on par with the other 16-bit platforms. World Court Tennis initially appeared as another run-of-the-mill tennis game, but diving into ‘Quest Mode’ provided an in-depth medieval narrative complete with an RPG-esque overworld and random tennis battles! I looked into getting the CD add-on, but from what I gathered it sounded like the add-on attachments had a high faulty rate by 2007 and were not worth the risk. Even with those drawbacks I regret missing out on the TG-CD games and only had the chance to dabble with a handful off of other collections and Virtual Console over the years. Fighting Street (aka the original Street Fighter) had its only American console physical release on the TG-CD, and I did not get a chance to play it until a Capcom released a arcade hits collection on the original Xbox. Ys Books I & II was a revolutionary RPG for what its cinemas and voiceovers debuted to the market, and it was not until the Wii Virtual Console that I finally had a chance to experience the original version. Turbo Technologies brokered a bonkers deal with EA to bring a little known version of Madden to TG-CD that I would have played the heck out of compared to the other gridiron game on the platform I will touch on shortly.

The TFL crew were big fans of shmups (aka the original ‘shooters’) and I recall them being high on Blazing Lazers and I wound up spending many hours trying (and failing) to vanquish that space shooter. Already being a diehard fan of videogame pinball in 2007, both Alien Crush and Devils Crush were among my first TG16 purchases. They were both fantastic multi-layered pinball titles, with several screens of verticality to flip the pinball through and vanquish enemies and mini-bosses away on the playfield. I loved both games, and if you want a current rendition of that then I highly suggest tracking down the recent release of Demon’s Tilt that is available on most current platforms. Demon’s Tilt is essentially a modern take on the Crush games, but on crack with amped up visual effects since it is capitalizing on the horsepower of modern systems. After accumulating these several titles I would make it a habit to add one or two more a year at an annual retro videogame expo I regularly attended in Milwaukee called the Midwest Gaming Classic. John, Moe and Hilden would also attend MGC most years around this time and I would make it a point to track them down at some point during the convention and get them to recommend me a TG16 for under $20. There recommendations never failed, and this was how I discovered NEC’s answer to Ikari Warriors (Hey, I was a huge fan of the NES game!) in the superior Bloody Wolf, and the quirky platformer, JJ and Jeff. The yearly MGC pick-up was how I finally procured a copy of the gore-slasher-fest that is Splatterhouse. I would also chance random games that caught my eye for the TG16 and did not go for that much. I loved my 8 and 16-bit sports games and took a shot on TV Sports Football, and it was a decent adaptation of the gridiron, but did not measure up to the many other football titles on the other 16-bit platforms.

The same can be said for the TG16’s sole American wrestling game, Battle Royal, it was an OK videogame grappler, but nothing that held my lasting attention. However, the excellent FirePro Wrestling series got its start on the platform as Japan-only exclusives, and I will give props to my former podcast co-hosts Chris & Lyzz for grabbing a copy of FirePro: Second Bout for me at MGC one year I could not make it. The FirePro games have evolved into the pinnacle of 2D wrestling games over the years, and it is fascinating to see how it started on the PC-Engine in Japan and even in FirePro’s earliest installments it was already a class above the competition. While both of these wrestling games went for under $20 by 2012, the next year when I returned to MGC in 2013 TG16 game prices inflated exponentially. For proof I was looking up some old MGC photos from my pictures library, and found some photos of Chris & Lyzz’s 2010 MGC loot-haul laid out on their bed. As you can see they picked up a TG16 and several games, if you zoom in on the photo you can see most of their games went for under $20. I have no idea what brought on the sudden demand, but a vast majority of TG16 games started going for around $50-100 within a couple years and that was without jewel cases and instructions!

For this piece, I contacted Chris and Lyzz for their memories of picking up the TG16 and their favorite games they have played since, and Chris responded back with the following: ”I can't remember much. I just remembered that I liked Bonk’s Adventure and Fantasy Zone. Bonk’s Adventure because of how much I used to like side scrolling games and that is the only game that I wanted to play at the time that didn't come out for the NES/SNES/GEN. Fantasy Zone because of the sheer weirdness factor of it.” 2009 marked the 20th anniversary of the TG16 launching in North America and I wanted to do something special to commemorate it. I was in the midst hosting my own videogame podcast, On Tap, at the time and invited John, Moe and Hilden to come on for a special TurboGrafX anniversary episode! It was a delight to have them on the show and have them take us all to school with their master’s degree knowledge of all things Turbo and reminisce about the TG16 for an hour. I recently dug that episode out of the archives and uploaded it onto my YouTube channel and will embed it below for your listening pleasure!

This is a special TG16 20th anniversary podcast I recorded 10 years ago! Add it to your queue to listen to for more TG16 wisdom! I would bust out the TG16 once every year or two until several years ago when the WiiU became my virtual replacement. The WiiU started supporting the TG16 by uploading a ton of the TG16 library to the WiiU version of the Virtual Console in 2016 and uploaded nearly a game a week from mid-2016 until early 2018, well after the launch of the Switch. I sold my Wii after owning it for only a year and only owned a few TG16 games for it, so this late infusion of TG16 titles on the WiiU caught my eye (and other Retro enthusiasts too). This culminated in about 50 TG16 games hitting the WiiU by the end with even a few former Japan exclusives among them….and I bought all of them! The original Wii Virtual Console that is backwards compatible on the WiiU remained open until early 2018 to purchase their TG16 games too which I used to acquire other acclaimed TG16-CD games not available on the WiiU like Castlevania: Rondo of Blood and Ys Books I and II.

A few times a year I fire up my WiiU and pick a few random games to play from my many Virtual Console purchases. It was this way I finally got around to trying out the Legend of Zelda-inspired Neutopia and having a fun night with a couple buddies hack and slashing away in Dungeon Explorer. I also got to take in the ridiculously huge sprites of the brawler China Warrior and finally experienced TG16’s take on Outrun in Victory Run. The WiiU surprisingly wound up a gratifying legit alternative to the now-absurd asking prices for used TG16 games, and a convenient way to make TG16 games appear on a HDTV without the fuzziness that happens when I plug an SD system into a HDTV. While I never knew of the TG16 during its active North American lifespan or got a chance to play it until this century, I still have priceless memories of discovering hit titles exclusive to that system that stood out in a way unlike anything else on its 16-bit competition. The 32X is a whole other beast though. I remember being a furious 11 year-old upon its release in 1994. I vividly recall the hype in Game Players for it and even 11 year-old Dale thought Sega was out of its mind for releasing a $150 add-on for the Genesis merely several months before the Saturn when Sega already had plenty on the market to tide them by with the Genesis, Game Gear and SegaCD. A wee shy of 50 games only came out for it in the little over a year games were published for the 32X, and nearly half of them were marginally enhanced Genesis titles. From reading mags during its lifespan and hearing other gaming media reflect back on it throughout the years I gathered the add-on had a handful of standout exclusives, but was largely forgettable and not worth tracking down, and I hand no plans to do so, until….

Living proof of the speculated demon that is Sega's Tower of Power! …In 2009 a co-worker was about to get married and was parting with his gaming collection to raise funds for the wedding/honeymoon. He knew me as an ardent game player and gave me a print out of what he was selling and his asking prices. This was still a couple years before the big retro used game boom I described above, because around same time a couple years later 32X game prices jumped just like TG16 games. Still, I noticed most of his prices were at the higher end of most eBay auctions when I researched them online. I did not have a SegaCD or 32X in my collection at the time and there were at least a few exclusives on both systems I always wanted to try, and with the funds going to a good cause I made an offer for those systems with about a dozen games in the middle range of what he was asking for and what other asking prices I saw online at the time. I want to say I paid roughly $200 for the lot.

I got about six or seven games for 32X from my co-worker and later tracked down three or four more over the next year or two to get the other 32X games I wanted. I had a couple up-ports/’Remasters’ from the Genesis for 32X like Toughman Contest and WWF RAW. Toughman Contest was EA’s gritty take on Punch-Out that I was a big fan of, and it got a big endorsement from toughman hot-shot at the time Butterbean. The 32X version did not add too much other than lightly touched up graphics and framerates. The 32X version of RAW though had a couple extra weapons at ringside to bash adversaries away with and its own exclusive wrestler, the masked Kwang, who later on went to be better known as Savio Vega in the WWF throughout the 90s. Unfortunately the gameplay for those old Acclaim 16-bit games had those tired button mashing grappling meters that killed your thumbs and was a few entries old at that point so it did not get too much playtime from me. A 32X version I did enjoy was of Doom, and for a few years it was the only version of the iconic first person shooter I owned until a version hit download on 360 a couple years later. I was a big fan of Sega’s early polygonal titles, Virtua Racing Deluxe and Virtua Fighter on the 32X. The launch Saturn version of Virtua Fighter was notorious for being a buggy mess, and the 32X version that released a few months later surprisingly had a smooth framerate and played as crisp as I recalled in the arcades. Sega somehow against all odds managed a port of Virtua Fighter on the Genesis, but had a somewhat cleaner version with exclusive tracks on the 32X later that year. I loved me some Virtua Racer and if I ever get a Switch one of the first eShop downloads I plan on getting is the recent touched up remake of Sega’s first polygonal racer M2 developed last year. Finally the last upper-tier quality game I have in my 32X library is Sega’s arcade port of Star Wars Arcade. It only had the three missions of the arcade that boasted dog-fighting missions on the Death Star and a Super Destroyer, but they were quick mindless, pick-up-and-play blasting fun.

As seen above, Doom had a pretty solid 32X port at the sacrifice of screen resolution and I suffered through RAW's middling gameplay for its exclusive character Kwang and extra ringside weapons. There were five 32X CD games released with Slam City and Corpse Killer pictured above in their unremarkable glory! I do own all five ‘Sega CD 32X’ games that come on discs for the Sega CD, but require the 32X in order to load. All five of these games are FMV-based games from Sega and Digital Pictures and all have releases on the SegaCD already, but the 32X CD versions have slightly better resolutions and framerates thanks to the added power from the 32X. None of the five games are all that fun regrettably. I have awful memories of the clunky controls in one-on-one basketball in Slam City with Scottie Pippen and never getting a good memory for the order of camera patterns in order to succeed in Night Trap. I guess Corpse Killer was a semi-decent on-rails light gun shooter with digital characters similar to Area 51 of that same era, but with far cheesier acting and implementation. Both Night Trap and Corpse Killer recently got touched up remasters on the PS4 for those brave enough to see how they hold up today.

There were a few other 32X games I wanted to track down, but I neither saw them in the wild, had negative buzz or at that time were already going for a bit more than I preferred, and are selling for outrageously more today. I always heard good things about Knuckles Chaotix being a decent substitute for a Sonic-style platformer on the system, but that one always escaped me. I loved the World Series Baseball games on Genesis, and the 32X got a slightly up-res’d version of the ’95 release, but it had such a low print run that it is one of the higher selling games of the 32X library. I liked the original 80s version of the arcade shmup, Zaxxon and was bummed to see the polygonal 32X follow-up get panned with negative buzz which kept me away from that version. Finally, the comic book game nerd in me always wanted to own Spider-Man: Web of Fire, but with it having a low print run being the final the 32X game, and combined for being an awful game to boot were a lethal combo to keep me away from it for good. That wraps up this two-for-one flashback anniversary special on the 32X and TurboGrafX-16. What were some of your favorite games or memories of those systems? Feel free to comment about them below or reach out to me on Twitter @Gruel. I guess combining my memories of both systems went on for a bit longer than I anticipated, but I managed a modicum of brevity by being about a 1000 words shorter than my gigantic Dreamcast special. If you want to check that one out or my anniversary specials on the GameBoy or Genesis, than check the links below!

UPDATE: A couple hours after posting this I realized I completely forgot to touch on the fast approaching release of the TurboGrafX Mini in North America in several weeks!!! It is launching as an Amazon exclusive so do not be on the lookout for it in retail stores right away. It has over 50 games, about half of which are Japanese PC Engine versions. If you want something more physical than pick and choosing which games to download on the WiiU, the TurboGrafX mini is an ideal way to start discovering most of the top titles for the system! As for the 32X…..Sega did release their own official Genesis mini last fall, and did include a 32X add-on mini attachment…..that is sadly for visual purposes only and is completely non-electrical. While the overlords of the TG16 library at Konami have re-released TG16 games on several platforms over the years I cannot think of a single 32X game that got one digital or physical re-release unless you count the up-ports of Night Trap and Corpse Killer Keep your fingers crossed though, a working 32X mini may one day happen. My Other Gaming Flashbacks Dreamcast 20th Anniversary GameBoy 30th Anniversary Genesis 30th Anniversary

[christophergill8]

6 tax tips for divorcing (or divorced) couples

Photo by Kumar's Edit via Flickr

I've been married a long time. To the same guy.

Marriage is not always easy and we don't even have a boss stirring up trouble between us.

But we've made it through the tough times. And now as we patch things up when we do have our differences, we joke that we're staying together because it would be a bigger hassle to divorce.

Sometimes, though, couples can't work through their troubles and decide to officially end their marriages.

When that happens, among all the other issues, there are tax matters to consider.

Here are 6 tax tips that could come into play if you and your current better half decide to go your separate ways.

1. Alimony is no longer a factor. Before enactment of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), when the end of matrimony led to the start of alimony, each parting partner felt tax effects. No longer.

The new tax law says that for divorces granted in tax year 2019 through 2025, alimony is not a good or bad tax factor.

The payer of alimony can no longer deduct the payments. That's too bad for that ex-spouse.

However, the recipient of the spousal support gets better TCJA news. Those payments are no longer taxable income.

Child support unchanged The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) did not alter the treatment of child support granted when couples divorce. Those amounts remain non-deductible for the paying parent and nontaxable to the parent receiving the payments on behalf of the divorced couple's children. 

Note, too, the effective date of the formal matrimonial split.

If your divorce agreement was finalized by the court and/or formal divorce decree issued before the end of 2018, the pre-TCJA rules are grandfathered. That means both alimony deductions and taxes due on received payments remain in effect for you and your ex unless your divorce arrangement is specifically modified to comply with the new law.

2. Your filing status will change.  The calendar also controls your filing status. It is based on your official marital status as of the last day of the tax year. So if your divorce is finalized on Dec. 31, even though you married the other 364 days, you are a solo taxpayer for that full year.

If you have no children, then both ex-spouses will file that year's tax return as single taxpayers.

However, if children are involved, the parent who gets primary custody generally can file as head of household and take advantage of more beneficial tax brackets and claim a larger standard deduction.

3. Exemptions have ended, but tax credits remain.  The TCJA eliminated personal and dependent exemptions. However, the parent with whom the kids live for most of the year can claim a variety of child-related tax breaks.

The most popular one is the child tax credit that's worth $2,000 per child, with up to $1,400 of that being refundable. If a dependent child is too old to qualify for this credit — that's the case when the youngster is 17 or older — the custodial parent can claim the related $500 credit for each qualifying dependent.

When splits are amicable, parents often agree to share tax breaks even when the kids spend most of their time with mom or dad. The noncustodial parent, for example, can claim the child tax credit for the minor children when the other parent signs a waiver agreeing not to claim the tax exemption for the same children. To let the Internal Revenue Service know of this deal, the noncustodial parent will need to file Form 8332 with his or her return.

Be careful here. When a child is claimed as a dependent on more than one tax return, those filings get flagged by the IRS. That means you and your ex-spouse will likely share one more post-marriage experience, an audit.

4. Decide what to do with the house.  Selling your residence is a great tax shelter, especially for jointly filing married couples. That didn't change under the new tax law.

A legally wed duo still gets to exclude up to $500,000 in home sale profit from taxable income. A single homeowner, however, only gets half that tax-sheltered savings.

So if there's a likelihood that neither spouse wants to keep the house long-term, look into selling it before the split or making compensatory arrangements for the spouse who'll keep it and get the smaller tax break when finally selling.  

5. Assess other assets.  When divorces are nasty, sometimes one partner tries to hide income and assets before the process of breaking up begins. In these cases, you — more appropriately, your lawyer and forensic accountant — might need to use taxes to uncover hidden assets before the split.

Even when the property to be divided is clear, you need to carefully weigh the tax implications. Take, for example, a couple that has a tax-deferred retirement account and a regular investment account, both worth $100,000 each.

Spouse A gets the retirement money. Spouse B keeps the regular account. Fair, right?

Not so much when you look at the taxes.

When A starts taking money from the retirement account, taxes will be due at ordinary tax rates on the earnings that have been accruing tax-deferred for years. B, however, will be able to pay generally lower long-term capital gains tax on that account's withdrawals.

In this situation, the A might argue for additional assets to cover the expected higher tax costs.

6. Don't forget state taxes.  There are 50 states, plus the District of Columbia, and those jurisdictions will have final say over the end of a marriage. They also could have some tax matters that a divorcing couples needs to consider.

A prime example here is what your state's laws say about your married if you live in one of the community property states — Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin.

Your divorce attorney no doubt will be up to speed here, but make sure you also consult a tax professional as to what state laws will mean to your taxes as you consciously uncouple.

I hope you and your spouse remain as happily married as the hubby and I. But just in case, make sure you consider taxes when it's time to finally call it quits.

You also might find these items of interest:

Dec. 31 wedding and divorce tax matters

6 signs married couples should consider separate tax returns

Dealing with Divorce Dollars + Cents, Austin Woman Worth column

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from Tax News By Christopher https://www.dontmesswithtaxes.com/2019/03/tax-tips-for-divorcing-or-divorced-couples_kellyanne_conway_george_conway.html