Tomorrow is June 23 and marks the date we publish the second short story in our summer 2015 line-up of tales of First Contact: The Merger: A Romantic Comedy of Intergalactic Business Negotiations, Indecipherable Emotions, and Pizza by Sunil Patel. This story, more than any others, approaches the First Contact theme in the most traditional (and wonderfully hilarious) sense–and we are delighted to turn the stage over to Sunil to talk about the inspirations and influences behind his story.
Please give a warm welcome to Sunil, everyone!
Write what you know, the old adage goes. So I did. The Merger is based on a true story, not of alien possession but corporate merger. I had been working at the same company for seven years when in 2013 a Big Pharmaceutical Company acquired my company and I acquired a great deal of uncertainty. In addition to a great deal of money. To make matters more confusing, I decided to commit to becoming a published author, so my life was cracking under these seismic changes. I channeled all of my anxiety into an incredibly silly exercise in making myself laugh.
That's right, I sold a story I wrote as stress relief. Anything is possible, kids.
I had to find some way to make what was happening funny, and there's nothing funnier than a six-foot-tall alien blob with horns screeching, "Congratulations on your exciting opportunity!" That, to me, is one of the key lines in the whole story because it perfectly represents the way Big Pharmaceutical Company presented themselves to us: this will be great for you, we promise, we will change everything about your company that you love but it will be for the best, we might lay a bunch of you off but we'll give you money, everything is wonderful. Anyone who has ever gone through a corporate merger will recognize the jargon in the Blarbsnarb's dialogue, as I had plenty of corporate e-mails and a hefty merger agreement to pull language from. Once I came up with the basic metaphor of alien possession as corporate merger, it was a fun challenge to map as many parts of the process to the Blarbsnarb takeover as I could. I even had a lawyer friend look over a later draft to check that my story was legally sound, and he pointed out a perfect pun I couldn't believe I hadn't made yet. I come from a science background myself, so I relished the chance to make jokes about intestinal flora and mitochondria.
I wrote this story to make myself laugh. I wrote this story to make myself laugh because I didn't know whether I was about to lose my job and my life was going to become a giant mess, even though I would be getting substantial compensation as a result of the buy-out, and the astute reader will notice similarities between my personal conflicts and Paresh's internal conflicts. Write what you know.
And write what you don't know. I was not married or dating anyone, but I found the story a way to explore how money can come between a couple. How are major life decisions different when they affect more than just you? Is a sudden windfall always good, no matter the cost? Money is a huge part of our culture and our lives, whether it's ten dollars or ten million dollars, whether it's coming from a faceless corporation or a faceless alien blob.
You know, I did not make that "faceless" connection until just now. How deep does this metaphor go?
Don't tell my other stories, but The Merger was my favorite story. It felt the most personal, borne out of real-life conflict, forged in the fires of a FOGcon writing workshop, molded for a humorous anthology call.
I was not laid off in 2013. I was laid off this year, the Blarbsnarb finally having decided they had no use for me after all. The Merger has been with me throughout this journey, and in a way it is me. If this is your First Contact with me, congratulations on your exciting opportunity.
The Merger will be available on June 23, 2015. You'll be able to read the short story in full for free here on The Book Smugglers, but we'll also have a DRM-free ebook (EPUB, MOBI, AZK) that contains the story as well as a Q&A, essay from the author, and exclusive deleted scenes available for purchase on all major ebook retail sites.
And read The Merger for free online on June 23, 2015.


You find yourself in different cities and are trying to get through the city streets as fast as you can, or at least faster than the police can catch you. Be careful not to crash anywhere and use your N2O to get an advantage over your enemies. You can upgrade your car if you ever need to get an edge over your opponents.
Published : Oct 6th, 2017 HTML5Customize your racers and try to win!


text:
package org.apache.giraph.comm;

import org.apache.giraph.graph.GraphState;
import org.apache.hadoop.io.Writable;
import org.apache.hadoop.io.WritableComparable;

import java.io.Closeable;
import java.net.InetSocketAddress;

/**
 * Interface for message communication server.
 *
 * @param <I> Vertex id
 * @param <V> Vertex value
 * @param <E> Edge value
 * @param <M> Message data
 */
@SuppressWarnings("rawtypes")
public interface WorkerServer<I extends WritableComparable,
    V extends Writable, E extends Writable, M extends Writable>
    extends Closeable {
  /**
   * Get server address
   *
   * @return Address used by this server
   */
  InetSocketAddress getMyAddress();

  /**
   * Prepare incoming messages for computation, and resolve mutation requests.
   *
   * @param graphState Current graph state
   */
  void prepareSuperstep(GraphState<I, V, E, M> graphState);

  /**
   * Get server data
   *
   * @return Server data
   */
  ServerData<I, V, E, M> getServerData();

  /**
   * Shuts down.
   */
  void close();
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
California Golden Bears Men's Basketball
Golden Nuggets: Jared Goff's Record Setting Performance Highlights Bears' Revival
Jared Goff breaks several records on his way to leading the bears to their first bowl victory since 2008. Meanwhile, check out VICE's feature on Cuonzo Martin.
By cldpc Dec 30, 2015, 3:30pm PST
Share All sharing options for: Golden Nuggets: Jared Goff's Record Setting Performance Highlights Bears' Revival
Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports
Anigwe Picks Up Fifth Pac-12 Award: The Frosh Has Claimed Freshman of the Week Five of a Possible Seven Weeks This Season
BERKELEY - For the fifth time this season, California newcomer Kristine Anigwe was voted Pac-12 Freshman of the Week, the conference announced Monday. The honor marks her fifth in seven weeks of the season. Arizona State's Arnecia Hawkins was voted the Pac-12 Player of the Week.
Playing 32 minutes of No. 21 Cal's 50-minute, double overtime tangle with No. 19 UCLA last Monday, Anigwe notched her fourth consecutive double-double and fifth in six games after turning in a 25-point, 10-rebound performance. The frosh's work in the paint included five offensive boards, while her defensive effort included one block and two steals without committing a single turnover.
Anigwe has scored in double figures in every game this season, including five 20-point performances, and is averaging 30.25 points per game in her last four outings. She leads the Bears with 21.4 points per game and 9.4 rebounds per game through 10 outings this season.
Bears Clamp Down On Davidson, 86-60: Cal Holds Wildcats To 31 Percent And Nails 12 3s On Offensive End
BERKELEY - Given one last opportunity to fine tune its game before starting Pac-12 play, the Cal men's basketball team showed it is indeed ready to start hunting for conference success as a red-hot shooting night coupled with equally strong defense paved the way for an 86-60 victory over Davidson at Haas Pavilion.
Jordan Mathews led Cal (10-3) with a season-high 22 points, going 5 for 8 from 3-point range to help Cal make a season-high 12 from beyond the arc. Jaylen Brown added 17 points and seven rebounds while Ivan Rabb notched his fifth double-double of the year with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Peyton Aldridge led Davidson (8-3) with 15.
Cal's recent trend of strong defensive play in the first half continued Monday, and the Bears turned their effort on that end of the court into lots of easy offense to build a decisive lead by halftime. They held Davidson to 1 for its first 8 from the floor, giving the hosts time to build an 11-2 advantage right off the bat.
VICE: Cuonzo Martin Wants to Take Cal Basketball Back to the Future
Cal hoops coach Cuonzo Martin must be one hell of a card player. On the sidelines, his tone and demeanor rarely change; his suits don't even seem to wrinkle. He isn't a tactician known for sui generis schemes like John Beilein or Shaka Smart. He isn't an icon who gets blue-chip recruits because of his, or his program's, name recognition. But in his second year with the Golden Bears, Martin looks like the right man for one of college basketball's most unusual jobs.
For half a century, Cal has been trying to make up for lost time and find a replacement for legendary head coach Pete Newell, who led the Bears to consecutive national championship games in 1959 and 1960, during the primordial years of the NCAA era. Before he retired—at the age of 44, on the advice of his doctors—Newell was a legendary molder of (big) men; his name is on an award for best collegiate frontcourt player, and on basketball's preeminent big man camp. Newell built a strong program at Cal, won his final eight matchups against John Wooden's UCLA teams, and then watched helplessly as UCLA put the sport into a musty submission hold in the 60s. Newell's successor, Rene Herrerias, won half as many games in his first year as Newell had in his last, and lost 100 of his 192 games.
Herrerias kicked off a three-decade NCAA Tournament drought. Cal was part of a brief golden era for Bay Area hoops in the 1990s, when Jason Kidd and Lamond Murray stayed home to wreck the Pac-12 while Run-TMC stomped their Adidas through NBA arenas. Still, it has been a long time since Cal really mattered in college basketball.
Martin is looking to change that, one possession at a time. "I'm used to a more grind-it-out defensive style," Martin explained to VICE Sports. "Play a half-court possession game, run in transition when you have the opportunity."
Armed Forces Bowl: California 55, Air Force 36
Cal QB sets Armed Forces Bowl record in rout of Air Force
There were plenty of people who showed up at the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl just to get a glimpse of California junior quarterback Jared Goff.
He didn't disappoint.
Goff, who figures to be a high pick if he declares for the NFL Draft as expected, shredded the Air Force defense for six touchdowns Tuesday to lead the Golden Bears to a 55-36 victory over the Falcons at Amon G. Carter Stadium.
Goff threw three of his touchdown passes in a span of five offensive plays for Cal in the first half after the Falcons had tied the game at 14. That outburst put Cal up by 14 and the Golden Bears (8-5) never looked back.
Goff set an Armed Forces Bowl record for touchdown passes and passing yards (467). His 43rd touchdown pass this season set a Pac-12 record, eclipsing the 42 of Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Mariota of Oregon last year.
Dr. Saturday: Cal's Jared Goff throws for 6 TDs in Armed Forces Bowl win
If the Armed Forces Bowl turns out to be the final game of Jared Goff's college career, he went out with a bang.
Goff, Cal's junior quarterback, is considered a top NFL draft prospect and showed why in a 55-36 win over Air Force. Goff threw for 467 yards and six touchdowns on the afternoon, carving up the Falcons secondary with ease. Goff's six touchdown passes give him the Pac-12 record for most in a single season with 43.
Goff spread the ball around to a bevy of targets, led by Bryce Treggs, Kenny Lawler and Darius Powe. Treggs led the way with 143 yards and a touchdown while Lawler and Power hauled in three and two touchdowns apiece.
In all, the Golden Bears put up a whopping 586 yards offensively and scored on six straight possessions between the second and third quarters, not including the end of the first half.
Jared Goff was trending as high as #4 in the United States on Twitter yesterday.
Jared Goff broke Cal's record for most passing yards in a bowl game, surpassing a current NFL star pic.twitter.com/kZOdzIls6r
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) December 30, 2015
Record-setting Jared Goff leads Cal to huge Armed Forces Bowl win over Air Force
FORT WORTH, Texas -- Air Force didn't stand a chance against Cal's aerial attack.
Junior quarterback Jared Goff and his arsenal of receivers played pitch-and-catch Tuesday to the tune of 467 yards and six touchdowns. Cal, making the postseason for the first time in five seasons, routed Air Force 55-36 in the Armed Forces Bowl, held at TCU's stadium.
It was Cal's first bowl victory since 2008. It got the Bears to eight wins for the first time since 2009. It served as the exclamation point for a program that completed the mission of climbing out of the doldrums.
"It's been a fun ride," said Goff, announcing that he would discuss with his parents the NFL option before deciding. "To go from 1-11 (in 2013) to last year being so close, to this year winning eight games and finishing with a bowl victory, it's really as much as you can ask for. It's been a lot of fun."

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb) has finished the third stage of the Giro d'Italia with the peloton and protected by his teammates on a day that turned out to be more demanding than expected.
The Dutchman is second in the general classification at one second from race leader Rohan Dennis (BMC). The third stage of the race was to be long and good for the sprinters but the GC riders also felt the exhaustion caused by the weather conditions.
"It was the heaviest sprint stage that I've raced so far," said the rider after crossing the finish line. "Normally I feel like this after a mountain stage. It was a very hectic and dangerous finale because of the tailwind and high speed."
The finale proved to be demanding for the whole peloton due to the strong winds and the number of roundabouts that lined up one after the other in the last kilometres, a recipe for potential disaster that could leave the GC riders out of the competition. "I was positioned well thanks to the team so we survived," he explained. "After a good three days here we now look forward to going to Italy."


Hey everyone. Bought my FT-5 R2 kit about 3 weeks ago and just now was able to start assembling it. I haven't made it very far, working on the last bit of the frame, however am not able to get the FT2 plates to be flush with the 700mm beams. I've checked the square of the top and bottom of the frame and still cant seem to get them to align, almost as if they are too long. Any tips?
Here's images of the FT2's. Some of them are pretty flush to the bar and others are notably longer that have no chance of fitting.
Contact Folger Tech by email. Feel free to link this post so they can see the images. Something does not look right.
Contacted them via email and just got a confirmation that they are sending replacement FT2's. Super responsive support.


text:
Subodh Gupta. Gallery – Continua
Exclusivity Among the Dust 0
Elīna Zuzāne
Photo: Arterritory.com
From January 25th to the 29th, India's contemporary art fair – India Art Fair, was held in New Delhi for the fourth time, attracting attention from the world's most notable galleries, artists and collectors. Representing 1000 contemporary and modern artists, 91 galleries from 20 countries took part in the fair this year.
This exclusive event is always highly anticipated in the city, at which time it becomes a mecca for art. Among all of the countless award shows, exhibition openings, book presentations and performance premiers, this is the week to find new contacts and promote cooperative possibilities.
One should start with the fact that India Art Fair saw big changes this year in terms of location – the fair was not held at the state-sponsored Pragati Maidan exhibition complex as in previous years, but rather at the NSIC Exhibition Grounds, where spacious tents were set up especially for the fair's artistic elites. Although the new site is an approximately 45 minute-drive from the center of New Delhi, the time spent in the overly-aromatic taxi provided an extra opportunity for viewing the urban Indian landscape and the daily lives of its inhabitants. Unfortunately, there wasn't anything terribly exciting to see, since everything seemed uniformly covered in dust. But then again, this wasn't my first time in Delhi, and I probably already know what to expect. When the car stops at the gray and uninteresting entrance gate to the grounds, the security guards for the refined art event begin to threateningly yell at my driver – it seems we've pulled over in a no-stopping zone. I frantically give the driver his money and jump out.
I run past the stern sentries, after which follows a ten minute-walk. When I've finally crossed the seemingly unending track of dirt, sand, asphalt and persistent dust, I come upon the security check, which is as thorough as those in modern-day airports. I must go through a metal detector, while my personal belongings slide along a conveyor belt and through a scanner. After passing successfully, a brightly colored sticker is affixed to my bag and I can now effectively turn my attention towards art.
As the door of the tent opens, I feel as if I have entered another world – I'm surrounded by a cloud of camera lenses, and even though I'm surprised and I step back at first, I rather feel like a guest of honor.
Subodh Gupta and Bharti Kher. Gallery – Houser & Wirth
The first exhibition that comes into view is a big one, of the gallery Houser & Wirth (London, New York, Zurich); from a distance I can already see the grandiose sculptures by Subodh Gupta and Bharti Kher. This is the prestigious gallery's first time at India Art Fair. I must admit that I'm fascinated by Bharti's work, and this time as well, I linger by the webbing of broken glass that is covered with thousands of different bindis (the Hindu symbol for the third eye, which women wear on their forehead). One of Bharti Kher's mirror sculptures is already sold, but the other one is still available for 125 thousand euros.
Bharti Kher "The mistress and the master of grand ceremonies". Gallery – Galleryske
The names of these two artists are regularly repeated at the stands of other galleries as well – the gallery Continua (San Gimignano, Beijing, Le Moulin) has on offer paintings by Subodh Gupta depicting dinner rituals, while the Bangalore gallery Galleryske displays Kher's mirror-paintings and a clever sculptural-group titled "The Mistress and the Master of Grand Ceremonies". The public isn't allowed too close to this installation propped up on teacups – the floor of the tent is made of thin plywood, which uses the vibrations from footfalls as an opportunity to topple over the most delicate of works. Most of the gallery owners can't stop worrying about the slightest movement, whereas London's White Cube representatives have taken advantage of the unstable flooring to put into motion Anthony Gromley's sculpture, thereby demonstrating its human qualities.
Marc Quinn. Gallery – White Cube
It is also White Cube's first year at India Art Fair, and they have chosen Mark Quinn as their featured artist. Quinn lucidly describes the meaning behind his orchid works: "These blooms were all bought in London – on the same day. In nature, these orchids would not be blooming at the same time, and they shouldn't even be in a northern climate. This makes me think about human desires, which today serve as an intermediary for the natural – for nature and evolution. Desire has always dictated the path of evolution, but today, this desire is commanded by our consumerist society. I find that interesting."
In the foreground - Damien Hirst "Spot Paintings". Gallery – White Cube
Damien Hirst "White Lies". Gallery – White Cube
White Cube's exposition also includes paintings by Sarah Morris, drawings by Trecey Emin, and Damien Hirst's works from the series "Spot Paintings" and "Spin Paintings", as well as a conceptual gold shelf with diamonds set out in nice little rows. A guard stands nearby, never leaving the side of the glittering object, but he doesn't seem to be very interested in watching over the viewing public. It turns out that the title of this valuable piece of art is "White Lies" – it's not made of gold, but gilded stainless steel; and the "diamonds" are actually just cubic zirconia (imposter diamonds). The price of the object, however, is unchangingly impressive – 540 thousand sterling pounds.
Still, even if I had that much spare change, I'd rather spend half a million on Anish Kapoor's "Untitled", which could be seen at the Continua gallery's stand.
Anish Kapoor. Gallery – Continua
Standing in front of this dark green, almost black, "plate", you feel like you're just a microscopic blip in the universe. The piece invites curiosity and gives one the urge to come closer to its mirror-like surface – to see if this really isn't a doorway to nowhere. Unfortunately, the yellow line on the floor indicates that you'll have to leave that for another time. Works by the Bangalore-born Anish Kapoor have been exhibited at other India Art Fairs, which is why it is a bit surprising that there aren't any at the Lisson gallery's stand this year. Lisson's (London) participation at India Art Fair has always been linked with Kapoor's sculptures, but this year, they have opted to exhibit a solo show by Marina Abramović. Titled "The Kitchen Series", the central works were inspired by Marina's childhood memories of her grandmother's kitchen in Serbia; at the same time, they also contain elements of India and its culture. The gallery rep ads: "Now we pretend that this choice wasn't a risk (laughs). Our stand has been very well received. It's nice that a curator helped us create the exhibition – that we can excite the public with the works of just one artist and that all of the objects in the stand are unified by one story." Abramović's works are being offered for prices ranging from 25 thousand euros for the smallest photographs, to 190 thousand euros for a video work.
As one of the most daring exhibitions, I must mention the Mumbai gallery's Project 88 solo presentation of works by the Raqs Media Collective; the witty artists have created works that not only contain hidden riddles, but also encourage a dialog with the viewer. Four pieces of furniture linked with words (time – table, flying – carpet, wrong – chair, stage – mirror) have a subjective meaning for every member of the viewing public. Conceptual exhibits are always a rarity at art fairs! The price of the work – 50 thousand euros.
Jitish Kallat
Most of the Indian galleries featured a repetition of the same local contemporary artists – Subodh Gupta, Bharti Kher, Jitish Kallat, Mithu Sen, Rashid Rana and Ravinder Reddy. Of course, the presence of these artists indicates the galleries' high level of professionalism, since their names are now among the most sought-after in the global art scene. Later, I found out that in India, it is not characteristic of Indian artists to work with just one gallery, as it is in Europe and the USA. In addition, this sort of indecisiveness by the artists creates the opportunity for Indian art collectors to talk-down prices.
Works by Indian modernists (M.F. Husain, S.H. Raza, F.N. Souza) are also not uncommon in the aristocratic art galleries at the fair. Close by is Die Galerie's (Frankfurt) stand with impressive masterpieces by Marc Chagall (490 thousand euros) and Salvador Dali (220 thousand euros). And then there's Frida Fine Arts' (Moscow, Berlin) stand, featuring a catalog of available Jackson Pollock works of art, ranging in price from 4 million to 9 million euros.
An interesting addition to this year's diverse gallery offerings was the debut of the solo project section, where the expositions were based on the work of just one artist. Notables in this division were: Bharti Kher's sculpture "Lady with an Ermine"; the Australian Sam Jinks' realistic sculptures – "Small Things" and "Woman and Child"; Rashid Rana's works titled "Language"; and Simone Slee's conceptual exhibition "How Long?". This was definitely one of the most successful new additions to the fair!
An interesting aside is that most of the European galleries represented were working with contemporary Indian artists already before they began participating at India Art Fair – Houser & Wirth (Subodh Gupta, Bharti Kher), White Cube (Raqib Shaw), Galeria Continua (Shilpa Gupta, Subodh Gupta, Anish Kapoor), Lisson (Anish Kapoor, Rashid Rana), Krinzinger (Sakshi Gupta, Mithu Sen, Sudarshan Shetty, Avinash Veeraraghavan). This mutual cooperation was visibly reflected in the exhibited stands, where works by contemporary Indian artists were displayed alongside those of the galleries' non-Indian artists.
Latvia's "Galerija 21", for which this was the third year representing the Northern regions at the fair, followed this same principle. This year, their stand created an interplay between the works of Anda Lāce, Harijs Brants and Anita Arbidāne, and those of the Indian artist Shantam ani. The elegant restraint of "Galerija 21's" exposition, in comparison with the saturated fair environment, made the gallery's presence especially attractive and noticeable; the overwhelmingly positive response from everybody – visitors, the media and the fair's organizers – has already resulted in an invitation to next year's India Art Fair.
The participation of international galleries proves that the fair is ever-increasing its role in the global art environment. Of course, taking part in an event like this can be seen as an advantage for every gallery in itself, but it is also a wonderful opportunity to bring attention to your country. Last year, 128,000 people attended India Art Fair, and this year's numbers are expected to be even greater. In such a widely-attended event such as India Art Fair, a gallery representing its artists is also fulfilling the functions of an ambassador.
It is not for naught that the notable exposition by the gallery White Cube is financially supported by the state; it not only gives the fair's visitors the opportunity to become acquainted with Britain's greatest artists, but it is a representation of the country itself. That's something to think about!
Without a doubt, the wealth of impressions gained by visiting India Art Fair is testimony that India's contemporary art market has assuredly declared its competitive capacity among the world's art centers. International galleries decline to comment on which pieces were sold because, due to the increasing Indian bureaucracy, this year the fair had to be officially presented as just a platform for forming new contacts. Even though transactions were agreed upon, the actual buying and selling process will only take place once the gallery has returned to its home country.
But business will be done!
In the archives:
27/01/2012 - Art fairs :: Photo report from India Art Fair 2012
25/01/2012 - Art fairs :: India Art Fair 2012
13/05/2011 - Art fairs :: India Art Summit 2011


text:
Olga Rossales, Maxim Anikushin
In one of the chamber halls of the American Opera (OPERA America Center), the Pushkin Society presented a concert based on the works of Bach, Beethoven, Chopin and Schumann. The performance of the works was supplemented by fragments of a musical lecture and reading poetry. Artists Maxim Anikushin (piano) and Olga Rossales (violin) gathered an audience of art experts, among the guests were professors from the New York Conservatory (The Juilliard School), opera singers and composers. The program was held in English, Russian and Spanish.
Nina Rumyantseva
A lecture entitled "Oscar Wilde and the Pushkin Society of America" was held at the Grand Central Library. For the first time in Russian and English, the archive materials related to the writing of the biography of O. Wilde, created by the founder of the Society, Boris Brazol, were presented to the public. Victoria Kurchenko and Nina Rumyantseva showed on the screen documents that for many years were in the personal archive of Brasol, namely his correspondence with Robert Sherard, Alfred Douglas and the writer's son Vivian Holland.
A great help in preparing the program was provided by Laura Stein, one of the managers of the library department, who put on display all the Wilde's literature stored in the funds. The theoretical part ended with a quiz and dramatized reading of the roles of Nightingale and the Rose by O. Wilde's fairy tale.
March 21st
In the Brooklyn Library on the 86th (New Utrecht Branch), a literary and musical evening was held in a warm atmosphere, accompanied by an exhibition of paintings. In the first part the writer, artist and journalist Anna-Nina Kovalenko spoke. The narrations of the author and her canvases made an indelible impression on the audience. Autobiographical essays lively conveyed the real and comic situations of Moscow and New York 1980-90s. Portraits of such legendary personalities as Anatoly Zverev, Konstantin Kuzminsky, Vyacheslav Zavalishin, who was also one of the brightest representatives of the Pushkin Society of America, were especially successful.
Svetlana Levina, Lyudmila Krivorutskaya
Anna-Nina Kovalenko
The second part was devoted to the history of the Russian romance. Lyudmila Krivorutskaya, singer and writer, together with pianist and accompanist Svetlana Levina presented the most famous melodies of the genre and introduced the audience to them. Romance songs sounded: "Red sundress", "Do not leave, stay with me", "Bells", as well as classic works of Beethoven, Oginsky and Chopin.
January 19th.
The first literary tour dedicated to the masterpieces of Holland Golden Age painting took place in the Metropolitan Museum. After the exposition provide by the historian and president of the Pushkin Society Victoria Kurchenko, the participants shared their impressions, discussed literary sources of some of the paintings by Frans Hals and Jan Steen, which depict folklore characters, read poems and exchanged comments.


text:
Q: property of class doesnt restrict the attribute So i made a class and want, that attribute hp stays always between 0 and maxhp
In theory making hp a property should give me the wished result: Somehow it doesnt work though.
Is there way to link attributes for and back? So i have stored the position of the unit class object. At 2 places, once the attribute position which contains a [x,y] array and the other time its stored in 2 attributes x and y and each contains a int.
Changing self.x or self.y should changes self.position and the other way around too.
 class units(object):

    def __init__(self,typus, position, stats):
        self.type = typus

        #they should be linked both directions
        self.position = position
        self.x = self.position[0]
        self.y = self.position[1]

        self.attack = stats[0]
        self.defense = stats[1]
        self.maxhp = stats[2]
        self.hp = self.maxhp

    def __repr__(self):
        text = "This a %s at position [%s,%s].\n  Attack: %s \n Defense: %s \n Hp : %s/%s \n "  \
               % (self.type,self.position[0],self.position[1],  self.attack, self.defense, self.hp, self.maxhp)
        return text

    # hp set to always be in between 0 and maxhp
    @property
    def hp(self):
        return self.__hp

    @hp.setter
    def hp(self, hp):
        if hp < 0:
            self.__hp = 0
        if hp > self.maxhp:
            self.__hp = self.maxhp
        else:
            self.__hp = hp

    def takedmg(self,dmg):
        self.hp -= max(dmg-self.defense, 0)
        if self.hp <= 0:
            self.alive = False
        return self.hp

p = units("peasant", [1,1],  [2,0,30])
p.takedmg(100)
print (p.hp)     # it should be 0!

A: Another problem is in hp.setter. The second if statement should be replaced with elif because when hp is less than 0, self.__hp is set to 0 in first if and then, without elif, it is set to a negative value in else:
@hp.setter
def hp(self, hp):
    if hp < 0:
        self.__hp = 0
    elif hp > self.maxhp:
        self.__hp = self.maxhp
    else:
        self.__hp = hp

A: In your __init__, the line self.hp = self.maxhp should be self.__hp = self.maxhp. That way it's only set/get in the @property methods.
You would handle postion, x and y the same way as you've done for hp. Use _postion, _x and _y internally to correspond to the values in the getters and setters; and set all of the _prop values in the setters of each. Using position as a an example:
@property
def position(self):
    return self._position

@position.setter
def position(self, position):
    self._position = position  # do checking before this if needed
    self._x = position[0]
    self._y = position[1]

Similarly for x and y, though I think you should only do it via position:
@property
def x(self):
    return self._x

@x.setter
def x(self, x):
    self._x = x
    # self._y remains unchanged
    self._position[0] = x

Btw, the hp setter can be re-written as follows:
@hp.setter
def hp(self, hp):
    self.__hp = max(0, min(hp, self.maxhp))

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Sunday Quote!- Reframe the Origins Debate? | J.W. Wartick -"Always Have a Reason"
Sunday Quote!- Reframe the Origins Debate?
Howard J. Van Till is a theistic evolutionist (he does not like the term–or at least did not at the publication of this book), and he views that position as a "fully gifted creation"–one in which God, on creating, imbued creation with the capacities to develop naturally over the course of time. This is the "economy of creation" in which–according to Van Till–God created without the need for continual intervention.
Now, so far as this reframing is concerned, it seems to me that Van Till, in attempting to avoid the either/or dichotomy between creation and evolution, went a bit to the other extreme. Putting a word like "robust" in there suggests that anyone who would disagree is clearly questioning the capacity of the Creator in creating. However, I do think there is something to the notion that we do need to rethink exactly where the lines form in the origins debate. I have written on the various options for Christian origins positions and I think that we need to be aware of the fact there is more to it than even "three views" could begin to outline.
Regarding the question itself: what do you think? Do we need to outline the origins debate with different terms so that we can avoid a false dichotomy? Moreover, do you think that creation is indeed set up in such a way?
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I realize how much creationists want God's intervention to be true, and I know how much work has been put into making this claim seem to be reasonable (always in the form of some deductive cerebral model), but unless and until there is compelling evidence from the biosphere to indicate a discernible intervention (that could have been already shown in many, many overlapping and mutually supportive ways) the absence of such evidence will continue to point to its it's ever-growing unlikelihood.
Mitigating this lack of evidence (by categorizing different kinds of intervention on some kind of receding timescale) is really a process of making it as nebulous and indemonstrable an intervention as possible… a model that looks exactly like evolution as we understand it to be – an unguided natural process of biological change over time subject to physical and chemical effects – yet phrased in such a way as to allow this God to remain so deeply hidden that there is no way to justify the belief using the biosphere. The legitimate criticism will remain: that any creationist belief is imposed on the biosphere to serve some other purpose than to accurately describe it as it really is, a means to avoid having to produce evidence adduced from it to inform beliefs about it.
The model of evolution has no guiding hand. The model is a picture. The picture of the thing is not the thing. "Ceci n'est pas une pipe." Is nature, ultimately, guided or unguided? Evolution cannot tell us this with the confidence that some (e.g. Dawkins) wish it did. They are committing grave philosophical errors. Until it is recognized that [good] science and [good] philosophy need each other, that neither is 'better' than the other, we will go round and round this merry-go-round, getting dizzier and dizzier as time goes on.
Evolution doesn't answer the question of whether it is guided or unguided, it answers the question why there are millions of species.. It is a very simple idea which explains why the Earth is filled with many different kinds of creatures and we actually call it descent with variation and natural selection. The unguided part is built right into the "variation" as a feature of the explanation, not as a question to be answered. Natural selection says these variations become more prevalent if they promote replication, which is actually a tautology.
The unguided part is built right into the "variation" as a feature of the explanation, not as a question to be answered.
Volumes 1–7 of The Fundamentals are freely available.
Suppose we perform an experiment to cause-map a headache and its cure, and we will proceed in a parallel track to your claim that to diversify species God uses evolution but makes interventions. The initial claim is that, "I had a headache but I took a pain killer and prayed to God and the headache went away." A researcher would isolate the factors and record the results. In the end, the cure rate for taking a painkiller alone would roughly match the cure rate for taking a painkiller and praying to God, while the cure rate for praying to God alone would be much lower. It is not a matter of having an "anti-supernaturalist" bias to apply Occam's Razor to the cause-map and conclude that God does not intervene when the painkiller provides sufficient explanation for the end of the headache.
So you're basically saying that prayer doesn't work like magic. This oughtn't surprise anyone: it is prayers in the name of Jesus which are answered. I argue that this important qualification can be roughly viewed as: "prayers inline with what Jesus wants are answered". That is distinctly teleological, and we know that science, as practiced today, is banned from reasoning teleologically, except in the most trivial of ways.
I can certainly ask another human to do multiple/many things, and learn more about that human by which requests are answered and which aren't. Why can I not do this of God?


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Why people hate the truths of the world.
Hong Kong: British Banker Rurik Jutting (Butcher) Guilty 2 Counts Of Murder Jailed For Life
Posted on November 8, 2016 by oldpoet56
(THIS ARTICLE IS COURTESY OF 'TIME')
British Banker Rurik Jutting Found Guilty in Hong Kong Murder Trial and Jailed For Life
Nash Jenkins / Hong Kong @pnashjenkins
Warning: the following article contains graphic descriptions of torture and killing as they were presented in court
British Banker Found Guilty in Hong Kong Murder Trial
Rurik Jutting has been found guilty for the murder of two Indonesian women at his luxury apartment.
Rurik Jutting, the 31-year-old British former banker who in the fall of 2014 tortured and murdered two Indonesian women in his luxury high-rise apartment in Hong Kong, has been found guilty of murder. He will be jailed for life.
Jutting, appearing healthier and many pounds lighter than he was when he was arrested just over two years ago, was stoic when the jury delivered its unanimous verdict in Hong Kong's High Court on Tuesday afternoon. He had pleaded not guilty to murdering 23-year-old Sumarti Ningsih and 28-year-old Seneng Mujiasih, but guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of "diminished responsibility." His defense attempted to bolster this claim by pointing to various disorders that supposedly impacted Jutting's capacity to act rationally: narcissistic personality disorder, cocaine-and-alcohol-abuse disorders, and sexual-sadism disorder.
A smattering of applause went around the public gallery of the courtroom when the jury's foreman read the verdict.
Justice Michael Stuart-Moore said: "You get prison for life. That is all. You can go now, thank you."
In a statement he wrote that was read by his barrister, Tim Owen, Jutting expressed remorse.
"As has been commented on throughout the hearings, my actions in the deaths of Sumarti Ningsih and Seneng Mujiasih in the days preceding the deaths was horrific, even by the standards of homicide trials," Jutting wrote. "The nine jurors were attentive and thoughtful. They have delivered a verdict to which I cannot have any objection"
He said he remained "haunted daily" by the crimes.
"We have been made to dredge the very depths of depravity in the defendant's descriptions of what he did in three days of torture," Justice Stuart-Moore said after the jury was read. "He describes himself as evil and a monster. Neither description is adequate to bring home the horror of what he did."
In a statement released yesterday, Seneng's family stressed the financial hardship her death had caused. "Our family hope the perpetrator can be punished as heavily as possible," the statement read.
The verdict marks the end of a two-week trial that was alternatively gruesome, awkward and tedious. It was, Justice Stuart-Moore said on the first day of the trial on Oct. 24, a particularly strange legal affair: a murder trial in which the most incriminating evidence — the iPhone footage shot by Jutting both leading up to and immediately after the killings — was willfully created by the defendant himself.
Tengku Bahar—AFP/Getty ImagesIndonesian migrant workers hold up placards during a vigil for slain colleagues Seneng Mujiasih and Sumarti Ningsih on the eve of the murder trial for British banker Rurik Jutting, in Hong Kong's Victoria Park on Oct. 23, 2016
It was in these videos that the nine members of jury became apprised of what happened on the 31st floor of the J Residence, a luxury apartment building in Hong Kong's Wan Chai district, during the last week of October 2014.
In the early hours of Oct. 25, Jutting left his apartment and made his way into the thick of Wan Chai, a bustling neighborhood famous for neon-lit bars with names like Club Bunny, where scantily clad girls linger out front.
There, he met Sumarti, a single mother who, in 2011, had left her infant son with family in Indonesia and came to find work in Hong Kong as a domestic helper — one of hundreds of thousands of such women in the former British colony, many of them from the Philippines and Indonesia. Like some of her peers, Sumarti occasionally moon lighted as a sex worker for extra income.
Jutting, who had been transferred by Bank of America Merrill Lynch from London to Hong Kong in the fall of 2013 had paid Ningsih for sex before. On that occasion, he had become so violent that she had offered to refund half his money if he would let her go home. Following his arrest, Jutting told police that to bring her home on the night of Oct. 25, he had to offer a particularly large sum to coerce her. He contacted her on his cell phone, in which she was saved simply as "Indo," for Indonesian.
She consented, and together they returned to his apartment. By Jutting's account, things escalated quickly.
"I made her get naked," he said to his iPhone camera shortly after her death. "I held her throat, then she tried to force me off her. But there's nothing she could do."
For three days, he kept her prisoner. He said he bound her, beat her, violated her sexually, and at one point forced her to eat his excrement. He finally killed her by slitting her throat as she licked his toilet bowl.
After killing her, he dragged her body into his shower, and later shoved it into a suitcase he put on his balcony, and began to record the hours of monologue that two years later would be used to incriminate him. Heavily under the influence of drugs, alcohol, and sleep deprivation, he babbled about his cocaine addiction, his history of sadistic fantasies, and Sumarti herself.
"I learned more about that girl over three days than I have about people I've worked with for years," he said to the camera. "She is — was — a remarkable person. Many of the finest people I've known have been prostitutes."
Bloomberg/Getty ImagesA police officer stands guard as a prison vehicle escorting Rurik Jutting, a former Bank of America Merrill Lynch employee, leaves the High Court in Hong Kong on Oct. 24, 2016
In the days that followed, Jutting continued to binge on cocaine and Red Bull as Sumarti's body began to decay on his balcony. He did not leave his apartment, subsisting on Pizza Express delivery and spending "virtually every minute reading and watching pornography," as he later told police. Eventually, he said, he "had a plan to torture."
"I realized how much I enjoyed that combination of alcohol and cocaine and physical torture – it gave me a sense of enjoyment I'd never had with anything," he later told police. "I knew I would do it again."
Eventually, he left his apartment, going first to a sex shop in Lan Kwai Fong, a nightlife district near downtown that is popular with expatriates and tourists, to buy bondage rope and other items. On his way home, he stopped at a hardware store, purchasing nails, sandpaper and a blowtorch, which he planned to use for torture.
"Let's be clear about these, I am going to use these to torture someone in the most inhumane way possible," he said.
However, when he solicited Seneng on the night of Halloween, leaving his apartment and returning with her shortly after midnight, there was no prolonged period of torture, unlike with Sumarti. The court heard that Seneng began screaming after finding a knife on Jutting's couch, prompting him to quickly cut her throat.
He was, at that point, reportedly delirious, hallucinating that police and "special forces" were outside his apartment, preparing to seize him. He eventually called 999, Hong Kong's emergency hotline, and asked if he could surrender. The dispatcher evenly asked if they could instead send officers to his home, and he complied. He was arrested by dawn.
Jutting has spent the past two years in prison in Hong Kong, where he has been interviewed by several psychiatrists who have served as witnesses for the defense during the trial. On the stand, Dr. Richard Latham and Professor Derek Perkins have rendered a portrait of a man with incredibly high intelligence — he recorded an IQ score of 137 — but sadistic tendencies and a pathological narcissism that rendered him incapable of emotionally handling blows to his ego.
When, as an adolescent, he applied and was accepted to Winchester College, a prestigious boarding school in the U.K., he was reportedly devastated that he came sixth in the scholarship assessment, rather than first. Later, after graduating from Cambridge with a first-class degree in history but a second-class degree in law, he challenged university administrators regarding the latter, claiming the examiners "did not understand him well enough," which Perkins attributed to an entrenched "sense of entitlement."
Dida Nuswantara—AFP/Getty ImagesRelatives and villagers carry the coffin of Sumarti Ningsih, one of two Indonesian women murdered by British banker Rurik Jutting in Hong Kong, during her funeral at Gandrungmangu village, in Cilacap, Indonesia's Central Java province, on Nov. 12, 2014
After Cambridge, in 2008, he forewent plans to practice law and instead took a job at Barclays in London in the structured-capital-markets division, then moved to Bank of America Merrill Lynch in 2010. Around this time, the court heard, he began drinking excessively, going on long binges where he would solicit sex workers and do cocaine with them. (He would later admit that he had spent "more than a million dollars" on sex workers in the two years preceding the killings.)
His professional performance gradually began to suffer. In September 2013, Bank of America Merrill Lynch moved him from London to Hong Kong, allegedly to "get him out-of-the-way" after an investigation into a dubious tax product he had tried to sell in Luxembourg, the court heard.
The defense's expert witnesses inferred that it was the move to Hong Kong that precipitated his final mental collapse. He had no social life, instead spending his time drinking copious amounts of liquor and wine in his luxury residential tower and seeing sex workers from the neon-lit bars nearby. He traveled to the U.K. for a friend's wedding in March 2014, where he reportedly did so much cocaine that he missed a work meeting in London. He blamed his absence on having HIV.
His physical and mental atrophy continued upon his return to Hong Kong, and in September 2014, he found a cocaine dealer of his own, who was named to the court simply as Marvin. Marvin, the court heard, was bringing Jutting massive sums of cocaine on a regular basis; the defendant claimed he was doing several grams in a day.
From there, his apparent decline into instability was rapid. He rarely went to work; when he did, he did so erratically, showing up only for short stretches. He later described his rage and humiliation when his boss send a junior employee to look for him at home. He spent his days watching and reading violent pornography that trafficked in themes like rape, kidnapping and torture.
The defense concedes that parole for Jutting is highly unlikely to impossible. Asked outside the courtroom if he was surprised by the verdict, Michael Vidler, Jutting's attorney, simply shrugged. "The jury has spoken," he said.
Justice Stuart-Moore said that if Jutting applied for transfer to a British prison, "the English authorities will know exactly the type of person they are dealing with."
— With reporting by Yenni Kwok / Hong Kong
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Posted in China, crime, murder, police, Truthful articles for your thoughtsTagged British banker, cocaine, HIV, Hong Kong, murder, Rurik Jutting9 Comments
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9 thoughts on "Hong Kong: British Banker Rurik Jutting (Butcher) Guilty 2 Counts Of Murder Jailed For Life"
It is appalling to see indulgences find their way into DSM as bona fide disorders: cocaine? alcohol? sadistic sex? I'll go cut someone's throat for a Hershey bar and claim chocolate disorder!
I agree with you completely on this ma'am. My original thought was if he was guilty (which he obviously is) that he should be burnt at the stake until he is a crispy critter but still alive, then throw him in prison for the rest of his life. I know that is very harsh but I am a believer in 'an eye for an eye' theology. In his case if he is really remorseful and hopefully having nightmares about what he did, then a life sentence is probably the best punishment for him, hopefully he will live another 75 years in a Chinese hell hole of a prison.
I am not much into burning people, even criminals, as the Holocaust memories are still too fresh, and I agree with you about life sentence in a Chinese prison. However, I was mainly speaking of current definitions of disorders as they appear in the latest Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition. It has been widely criticized for lacking in validity, as well as purely subjective reliance on artificial symptoms. For instance, every child who is not doing well in 1st grade math is now diagnosed with a "Mathematical Disorder." I firmly believe that there is no such thing.
Wow, I agree with you, the far left in their stupidity has done fell off the cliff.
Let's see what happens now that the pendulum has started swinging in the opposite direction.
I hope he lives another 75 years as he rots away in a dingy cold prison while having nightmares every time he closes his eyes.
The Smiling Pilgrim says:
Very interesting stuff
Thank you, I am glad that you liked their article.
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oldpoet56
Just an average man who tries to do his best at being the kind of person the Bible tells us we are all suppose to be. Not perfect, never have been, don't expect anyone else to be perfect either. Always try to be very easy going type of a person if allowed to be.
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Giuliana Myriam Zevallos Roncagliolo (Lima, 1988) es una reina de belleza, médica y modelo peruana, ganadora de Miss Continentes Unidos 2010 el 18 de septiembre de 2010.

Antes de ganar Miss Continentes Unidos, fue Miss Tierra Perú 2008 y Miss Perú Universo 2010, y representó a su país en ambos: Miss Tierra 2008 y Miss Universo 2010.

En febrero de 2012 la organización Miss Perú designó a Giuliana como Miss Perú Mundo 2012, después de pasar por un proceso de scouting y entrevistas donde compitió con ex candidatas de pasados concursos. Por esta razón participó en Miss Mundo 2012, que se celebró en Ordos, Mongolia Interior, el 18 de agosto de mismo año.

En 2014, se casó con el mago e ilusionista Jorge Luis Larrabure (George), con quien tuvo un hijo llamado Fabricio.

El 4 de noviembre de 2016, Giuliana participó en el Mrs. World realizado en Corea del Sur, ganando ante la concursante de Rusia en una final austera y sencilla, con escaso público y poca prensa.

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Nacidos en Lima
Misses de Perú
Reinas de belleza
Modelos femeninas de Perú
Delegadas de Miss Universo 2010
Ganadoras de Miss Perú
Candidatas de Miss Perú

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With springtime yard cleanup and projects, sometimes you find a new project from the leftovers of an old. That was the case with this project. We decided to spruce up the kids play structure in the backyard since it was looking kind of worn and weathered. It was there when we moved in and had already been spruced up once as the evidence of chipped red barn paint. We decided to replace the horribly warped roof of the structure during the spruce up. It was a bit of an eye sore and we didn't feel it was fair to make the neighbors look at it any longer. This left me with a pile of worn warped wood that had been weathered and had chipped red barn paint on it. Distressed wood so to speak.
Now I had a few choices... Toss the wood, store the wood in a pile in the garage, or make something else out of it.
So I headed over to the website Knock-off-wood. It is written by a mom who likes to look at wood furniture sold by places such as Pottery Barn and draw up free plans for building it yourself for a fraction of the cost. Of course I love a deal, and am handy myself so this was a perfect fit for me. Free plans? I like free!
I actually headed to their Facebook fan page and posted a picture of the wood and asked what I should build. Here was the picture I sent her.
I was going to build some planters, but then decided to take Anna (the author of knock-off-woods advice and build a bench out of it. Her other suggestions were a headboard, or coffee table but since the wood was treated from wood from a play structure it was a better idea to keep it outdoors.
I then took the plans found here and modified them a bit to just use the boards I had taken off of the structure.
I made it easier by just making it as long as the boards were already so I didn't have to trim as much and the other measurements I used were mostly just the other boards cut into 8th's or 4th's for the legs. Not too much measuring or math needed that way. This made the project go pretty quickly and I was able to do this project with my helpers playing nearby or even helping build. They are good a putting screws in holes and grabbing me things I need. The rest of the time they played in the water table, on our play structure and with squirt guns. They like making things. They thought it was neat that it was a pile of old wood and now it is a bench.
We actually used it the day after we made it by our fire pit as we roasted smores and sat together as a family by the fire.
I am having a backyard event this month and it is bound to get some good use then as well! Plenty of room for four adults. Sturdy like you wouldn't believe.
Anna from Knock-off Wood commented on my finished project herself! These were her words taken off of Fcebook below the picture of my finished bench.
"I love this, a couple of hours and free, already distressed! This would be like hundreds of dollars in a retail store! Nice work!"
I liked making this project because the wood was older and if I made a mistake and drilled a hole in the wrong place. No one will notice. It will only add to the character of the wood. It takes a lot of pressure off when you know you don't have to be perfect. You can just enjoy the process and the end product you created.
Have to add that my bench project made the bragging boards on the Knock-off Wood Blog!
Check it out here! Whoohoo!


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The best Apple Arcade games
Games to scratch every itch
Davy Davison
Apple Arcade Guides
Apple Arcade has finally started to grow to meet user expectations. The service offers over 100 premium games for players to choose from for a monthly fee. All of the games in the arcade are worth playing, but if you don't have the time or ambition to get through them, all ten should be plenty. Here are the ten best games in the Apple Arcade based on popularity and ratings. All of these games have a high replay value and will keep you and your friends and family entertained for a long time. Most of these games are also available on other platforms such as Steam and the Epic Games Store.
Image via Dodge Roll
The follow-up to the indie favorite Enter the Gungeon may not be quite what players expected. But it's a thrilling adventure nevertheless. In it, players take on a side-scrolling adventure, rather than top-down, as they take out enemies using a variety of creative weaponry. Despite the perspective shift, Gungeon is still a game that delivers on the challenge. And it looks just as charming as the original title. Just make sure you have a controller for it — those twitch skills will be necessary to survive the later stages. Consider that a warning.
Image via Capybara Games
It's hard to describe the studio's latest effort that released Below and Swords and Sworcery EP. It has role-playing elements and the kind of classic match-based puzzle gameplay similar to the likes of Puzzle Quest. However, it features several monsters and a hero who isn't afraid to slice and dice them. It also possesses a hand-drawn style that stands out from other Apple Arcade offerings. It's truly a one-of-a-kind effort and is well worth trying out.
Image via Simogo
In Sayonara Wild Hearts, players will guide a virtual heroine through several scenarios, battling against dangerous enemies while capturing all the hearts she can find. It's a great looking game with a memorable soundtrack and the kind of engaging gameplay that keeps drawing people back for more. Wild Hearts is well worth falling in love with when you pick it up.
Image via Triband
Calling this game "golf with a twist" would be a huge understatement. What the Golf? is a physics-based parody of every other golf game available. The game is a silly and absurd puzzle game that requires players to complete a series of ridiculous challenges. Players can golf a horse, a bird, and even a house while navigating obstacles. The game steadily devolves from golf as we know it to something indescribable.
Screengrab via Cat Quest II
Cat Quest II is an open-world action-RPG set in a world filled entirely with Cats and Dogs. The game takes place at the height of a war between the cats of Felingard and the dogs of the Lupus Empire. Players take on the role of the kings of each country as they work together to reclaim their thrones. Players can explore each kingdom alone or co-op with another player. The game features a variety of monsters and areas to explore in a unique artistic style.
Mutazione
Image via Die Gute Fabrik
Mutazione is a mutant soap opera fairly similar to Night in the Woods. Players take on the role of Kai as she navigates a post-apocalyptic world and her small town's gossip. Kai sets out to care for her ailing grandfather in a city of mutants called Mutazione. Once players reach the city, they must navigate an immersive story and tend to gardens scattered around the region to maintain balance and peace in Mutazione.
Screengrab via Pilgrims
Pilgrims is a point-and-click card-adventure game. The goal of the game is to navigate the world and find as many solutions as possible to the stories of the different characters you meet. This isn't a game that is meant to be beaten but rather replayed over and over again. Players use cards to solve problems and progress stories as their characters advance through the world of the game. There is no correct path to follow so players can explore as they please.
Manifold Garden
Image via William Chyr
The world of Manifold Garden is loosely based on the works of M. C. Escher. The game plays with the concepts of physics, space, and geometry to create an infinitely repeating world. The players can manipulate gravity to solve puzzles and change the appearance of the world around them. With each level of the game, players will need to cultivate a garden to be able to move forward in the world and gain new perspectives.
LEGO Builder's Journey
Image via LEGO
LEGO Builder's Journey combines the creative aspects of other LEGO games with a poetic narrative and the meditative possibilities of building a new LEGO creation. The game uses puzzle driven gameplay to move players through a series of building challenges. All the while, the game plays soothing music while accentuating the importance of creativity and play. Players can build a variety of LEGO creations to move through the adventure and gain a little inspiration for real-life LEGO builds in the process.
Card of Darkness
Image via Zach Gage
If you enjoyed the Cartoon Network show Adventure Time, Card of Darkness will seem familiar. The game was developed by Zach Gage with the help of Adventure Time's creator Pendleton Ward. The game is a hand-animated adventure-puzzle game. Players need to navigate the world and solve number based card puzzles to reclaim the Card of Darkness. The game features five bosses, eight environments, and tons of unique monsters and equipment for players to use and interact with.
Original post by Robert Workman, update by Davy Davison
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