Earlier this Month vocalist Roberta Gambarini visited Detroit to be the judge for Detroit Jazz Festival Vocal Competition and appear at The Dirty Dog Jazz Café. She also visited WEMU to share her Italian and international jazz life story as well as her admiration for jazz masters such as Hank Jones and Jimmy Heath. She also brought her most recent CD “Connecting Spirits”.

WEMU’s first free Sesi Motors 5:01 Jazz Show for 2017 will be a salute to the legendary trumpet player and widely respected teacher, Louis Smith. Louis passed away in August, 2016. He had suffered a stroke, but recovered valiantly and lived for years afterwards with his loving and generous wife, Lulu. Louis was equally generous and was very wise as a teacher. Trumpeter Paul Finkbeiner will lead the Louis Smith salute on Friday, January 6th at 5:01PM sharp at Rush Street Nightclub, 314 South Main Street in Ann Arbor.

A well-known horse whisperer has passed away in northern Michigan. Alex MacLellan was the owner of H&H Stables in Leelanau County.

How does a church with no in-house streaming gear or on-staff expertise deliver live-switched, streamed services to hundreds of socially distanced parishioners on four days' notice? Legacy Church's Jeff Leach and Apache Rental Group's Zak Holley explain how they did it in this interview with Streaming Media's Steve Nathans-Kelly.

Looking back, we tend to associate our legacy with accomplishments in our career and we rarely think about the value of our work in the moment. Yet a personal sense legacy can be derived from a number of meaningful things outside the workplace, even if we’re not considering them right now. On this episode of...

Twitter has announced it is shutting down its "Legacy Version" on June 1, 2020. I use the legacy version to get the functionality of Legacy Twitter that allows you to have a window open with a Twitter page up, and when a new Tweet happens, a "(1)" shows in the browser tab. How can I get that functionality? The solution needs to work in Chrome & Firefox, and whether I have a twitter account or not. I want to be able to open 3 or 4 or however many tabs with twitter accounts I'm waiting for an update from, and see a notification in the tab header that there's a new tweet.

"Sometimes you take your car in to get service, and that person takes care of your car like it's theirs. She did that for her students, and so many other people, too," said Theodore "Ted" Howard II, her son. 

BRUNSWICK, Ga. (AP) — Many people saw more than the last moments of Ahmaud Arbery’s life when a video emerged this week of white men armed with guns confronting the black man, a struggle with punches thrown, three shots fired and Arbery collapsing dead. The Feb. 23 shooting in coastal Georgia is drawing comparisons to […]

BRUNSWICK, Ga. (AP) — Many people saw more than the last moments of Ahmaud Arbery’s life when a video emerged this week of white men armed with guns confronting the black man, a struggle with punches thrown, three shots fired and Arbery collapsing dead. The Feb. 23 shooting in coastal Georgia is drawing comparisons to […]

"Sometimes you take your car in to get service, and that person takes care of your car like it's theirs. She did that for her students, and so many other people, too," said Theodore "Ted" Howard II, her son. 

What impact will Boris’ bout of COVID-19 have on his leadership and the nation’s fight against the virus?  His former boss, political columnist Charles Moore weighs in. Later in the program Moore discusses his best-selling three volume biography of Margaret Thatcher. Was the Iron Lady really an eco-warrior? Would she have supported Brexit?

Weighing up Turnbull’s legacy This week, former Prime Minister Malcom Turnbull published his memoir A Bigger Picture.  In it he settles old scores with colleagues over his 2018 ousting, which he describes as an “act of madness.” What is his legacy, and how will history judge our nation’s twenty ninth Prime Minister? Jacqueline Maley, columnist at The Sydney Morning Herald. Jennifer Oriel, columnist at The Australian   And, the death of a führer April 30th marks seventy-five years since Hitler’s suicide. Cambridge historian Brendan Simms challenges past scholarship on the führer, and argues that Hitler saw Anglo-American global capitalism, not Bolshevism – as Germany’s real enemy. He says this philosophical link reveals worrying connections between Hitler and the rise of populism today. Brendan Simms, Professor in the History of International Relations at Cambridge University, and author of Hitler: Only the World was Enough.  

It's a hard transition to attempt to extend a well known trilogy by replacing its lead character, and writer/director Tony Gilroy almost pulls it off with The Bourne Legacy

Award-winning journalist Allan Clarke returns to his home town with his storytelling skills to help local youth capture the stories of their elders.

Paul Robeson was an African American singer, film star, scholar, athlete, civil rights champion and radical political activist. What is his legacy today?

THE NIGHTCAP NATIONAL PARK, NORTH OF LISMORE, IS AN ANCIENT AND WORLD-HERITAGE RAINFOREST THAT'S HOME TO HUNDREDS OF RARE AND ENDANGERED SPECIES.

In musical circles, there's a mythical quality to that name, attached as it is to the father of American protest song, Woody Guthrie.

Spending a year or two working as a jackaroo on an Australian sheep station was once a rite of passage for many young Englishmen. Mark Evison was one of them before he was killed serving in Afghanistan and others are following in his footsteps.

At the launch of a fellowship named after murdered exchange student Aiia Maasarwe, her father Saeed has reflected on his daughter, and asked people to remember the positive things about her.

The life of colonial military leader Edward Charles Close is a story that stretches from England to the Illawarra, with a long legacy for the Hunter. Southern Highlands historian Ann Beaumont has delved deep into his history as she writes his biography and publishes his comprehensive diary.

It is not every day that the rise and fall of an obscure Adelaide mining company mirrors the plot of a deeply trashy 1970s disaster movie but, happily, for this story, the comparison works.

Mr de Man has encouraged the community to thank their police officers for the work they do.

Tim Griffin, the Austin Hospital nurse who blew the whistle about what he believed was medical negligence, has died.

The husband of murdered outback nurse Gayle Woodford says new protections for nurses named in her honour are necessary, but is worried healthcare workers could still be at risk.

Two years after the Hazelwood power station closed, less than half the displaced workers in Victoria's Latrobe Valley have found full-time work.

The skills of Paul McClarin are no longer available in Australia, but the results of his vocation are there for all to see at the National Museum in Canberra.

In the remote Aboriginal communities of central Australia, a musician many of us have never heard of is "bigger than The Beatles". And he gave rise to a unique new sound.

Eve van Grafhorst was almost three when she was diagnosed with HIV in 1985. Then she was banned from childcare, and eventually her family was hounded to New Zealand where they started a new life.

“I AM,” Recorded By 15 Year-old Lily Kelly Just Months Before Her Untimely Passing, Is Available Now At All Major Digital Outlets, Including ITunes, Google Play And Spotify.

Iron Maiden have announced that they have postponed all 2020 Legacy Of The Beast Tour dates until 2021

“I AM,” Recorded By 15 Year-old Lily Kelly Just Months Before Her Untimely Passing, Is Available Now At All Major Digital Outlets, Including ITunes, Google Play And Spotify.

“Cemetery Tim” designed it for the late rap icon.

Reflect on Martin Luther King Jr.'s leadership and bravery.

A review by piltdown_man (179399). A good story, well told

Starting on Star Wars Day, for one week you can enjoy artistic renditions of your favorite films and series.

Machi Koro  was one of the first games my husband Chris and I played together. It was released in 2012 and when we started gaming together in 2013, it was still a popular game on reviewer blogs and videos as we sought guidance in what to play and what to buy. Once Machi Koro  was in our collection, I spent every game trying my best to outthink Chris and acquire the best combination of establishment types to ensure victory. As we were enticed by other new games coming out and were drawn deeper into heavy Euros, we left Machi Koro on the shelf more frequently, with an occasional wistful comment about how we should play again.

At GenCon earlier this year, Machi Koro Legacy  was the talk of the town. Designed by Rob Daviau, JR Honeycutt, and Masao Suganuma (Masao is the original designer of Machi Koro), it promised to breathe new life into Machi Koro through a campaign style series of ten games, revealing new aspects of gameplay in each session at the table. We love legacy games, so we were sold on the idea right away.

The artwork for Machi Koro Legacy  features two of the principal artists from Machi Koro , Noboru Hotta and Jason D. Kingsley, and the signature cutesy cartoonish illustrations from the original are dominant in this legacy edition as well.

In Machi Koro Legacy, players take on the role of mayors competing to build the most attractive town on the Island of Machi Koro. During each game, every mayor is vying for the title of Best Mayor and must also work with the other mayors to build a landmark on the island. Players are given a starting assortment of establishment cards to select from for their town, and on each turn the following steps are taken:

(1) The active player rolls a die or a pair of dice, depending on the phase in the campaign.

(2) All players activate the establishment cards in their towns that match the sum of the die/dice roll and are applicable. Activating an establishment card means gaining the benefit listed on the card (usually collecting income). 

(3) The active player takes one action. Actions to select from vary widely depending on the phase of the campaign but always include purchasing new establishments from the market to add to one’s town, building a landmark in one’s town (landmarks are special buildings that change one aspect of the rules for the owning player), or contributing toward the community landmark. 

When one player has built all of their landmarks and contributed to the community landmark, they are declared the best mayor and win the game. As the legacy campaign progresses two main effects are felt. First, an overarching narrative slowly reveals itself. Second, as new legacy components are unboxed, the complexity of the game grows. The gameplay never grows in difficulty beyond a lightweight strategy game, but the new components present additional factors to consider when making decisions and also introduce more variability in the marketplace.

We decided to play through our review copy with our ten year old son, Max. We thought it would be a good fit because he’s quite adept at board games and loves Space Base, which features a similar mechanism (drafting cards+rolling dice to collect benefits based on the card numbers that match the dice rolls).  He also understands the concept of legacy games as Chris is playing through another legacy game, Zombie Kids, with him and our other children.

As we settled into our first game, I got a good look at the components. The coins are plastic, which I’ve never seen before. It’s a good middle ground between cost saving cardboard coin tokens and the more luxurious clay or metal coins some games includes. Besides the coins, the starting components include cardboard tokens for player flags and town boards, two standard d6 dice, a sticker sheet, 65 plastic coated cards, a legacy deck of plastic coated cards (which must be opened  and worked through in sequence when instructed), and six “mystery” boxes to be opened as instructed during the course of the campaign. All the components are sturdy enough to hold up to repeated play.

My son Max was enthusiastic about Machi Koro Legacy from the first turn and his enthusiasm continued to blossom as he won game after game. He quickly capitalized on the obvious strategies – buy up establishments that are statistically more likely to be activated during dice rolls, then push toward dice (vs die) rolls as soon as possible. This meant collecting a lot of establishments that activate when 7 or 8 are rolled.  My husband followed the same strategy but didn’t always remember to build his town landmarks in a timely fashion, so he only won a few games. Me, I was a tragic tale of bad strategy. I opted to corner the market on single die roll establishments during my first few games, which didn’t work out well at all. Even in future games when I shifted to a 2 dice strategy, I was unable to gain any ground as some of the legacy components unboxed that Max and Chris had quickly scooped up gave a strong advantage over the rest of the campaign. At times, I felt it was impossible for me to win and I felt frustrated that Machi Koro Legacy  doesn’t provide a good catch up mechanism or some way to balance out the power of the more powerful legacy components. Without giving away any spoilers, I want to offer this essential tip: when components are unboxed that you have to prioritize taking specific actions to earn, TAKE THOSE ACTIONS AND EARN THOSE COMPONENTS. Some of the components won’t prove to be game changers, but some will and if you let your opponents take all of them you will be at a serious disadvantage the rest of the campaign with no way to rebalance the game.

Max loved Machi Koro Legacy so much that we agreed to binge play. We ran through the entire campaign of 10 games in just one week. We didn’t face any serious analysis paralysis during gameplay, so each game took no more than 45 minutes. In the end, Max won six games, Chris won four, and I didn’t win any. The game offers a great amount of replayability - when the legacy campaign is over, players can continue to play the game using a modified set of rules and a subset of the components. Chris feels that the permanent game we are left with is a bit more interesting than the original Machi Koro  edition, so would be purchasers should consider Machi Koro Legacy  an investment in not only ten distinct game session experiences, but also a fun, kid-friendly, permanent, upgraded edition of the original game. I have to agree that Machi Koro Legacy  is one of the most kid-friendly legacy games in the board game marketplace. You absolutely want to add this to the Christmas present pile for your under 18 set, where the gift becomes not only the game, but the time you’ll spend playing it with them. And while hard core Euro gamers will likely skip over the game in pursuit of heavier strategy picks, gamers who enjoy lightweight strategy games will enjoy the easy-to-learn, quick-to-play experience that Machi Koro Legacy  offers. 

-------------------------------------------------

Publisher: Pandasaurus Games
Players: 2-4
Actual Playing Time (vs the guideline on the box): 30-45 min
Game type: card drafting, dice rolling
Rating:

Jenni’s rating scale:
OUI: I would play this game again; this game is ok. I probably would not buy this game myself but I would play it with those who own it and if someone gave it to me I would keep it.
OUI OUI: I would play this game again; this game is good. I would buy this game.
OUI OUI OUI: I LOVE THIS GAME. I MUST HAVE THIS GAME.
NON: I would not play this game again. I would return this game or give it away if it was given to me.

Using the John Doar Papers at Princeton, Kevin Kruse uncovers new insights into the civil rights movement.

Our country is reeling under the dual onslaught of COVID-19 and runaway unemployment, but there’s one person who’s willing to give President Trump high marks for handing the situation: Donald Trump. “I think in a certain way, maybe our best work has been on what we’ve done with COVID-19,” he mused in an interview this week.

Katie Taylor has set her sights on three huge fights that would cement her status as the best ever women's boxer.

Airickca Gordon-Taylor spent her life educating others about the black teenage lynching victim's legacy.

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing shutdown have left many restaurants uncertain about their future.

Walter Thompson-Hernández's "The Compton Cowboys: The New Generation of Cowboys in America's Urban Heartland" tells a grand story in granular detail.

Writer-director Gina Prince Bythewood, executive producer Spike Lee and cast members Sanaa Lathan, Omar Epps, Regina Hall, Gabrielle Union, Tyra Banks and Alfre Woodard reflect on the enduring legacy of the landmark black romance "Love & Basketball" and how the industry has changed in the intervening decades.

Two orphaned kids of 1957 Butler All-American Ted Guzek, who was 39 when he and his wife were in a fatal car crash, found different ways to thrive.

Matt Tully was dedicated to his craft and to this community. The Matthew L. Tully Memorial Fund is a meaningful way to keep his memory and work alive.