We know that finding the right place to go when you become ill or are injured can be confusing. This section of our website explains our new urgent treatment services and is just one of the ways we want to help you choose well and stay well in the East Riding of Yorkshire. By selecting the right service for your illness or injury, you're not only looking after your health but using NHS services responsibly.
For more information about which choice is right for you, visit the links on the right or ring NHS 111 for advice and support. Please be aware NHS111 will ask you a number of questions to decide what advice to give you. This can include self-care advice, directing you to your nearest pharmacy, advising you to go and see your GP or booking into either an 8 to 8 Centre or an Urgent Treatment Centre if clinically appropriate.
Based on your symptoms, NHS111 will offer a list of services that are available to you in order of the most appropriate and the nearest distance. Unfortunately distance is calculated 'as the crow flies' and in some instances we are aware that this includes Lincolnshire. If this is the case, please explain this to your call handler, who will then be able to look at other options which are more appropriate. Please accept our apologies, but be aware this is a national issue and solutions are being looked into.
We are monitoring this situation and working with individual patients to help us to evaluate the service. If you have any concerns about your experience, please contact our Patient Relations team, click here for contact details.
Information to help you choose well is also available in a range of alternative languages through the NHS website.


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Antony William Basil Crockett (born 1956) is a British general practitioner, hospital practitioner and medical writer. He has interests in respiratory disease, particularly asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. He is the medical director of Allergy Central, a private allergy clinic.  Crockett is a Fellow of the Royal College of General Practitioners.

He is the son of John Crockett, (John Angus Basil) the artist, playwright and television and film director, grandson of Colonel Basil Crockett (Basil Edwin) DSO and William Joseph Stern OBE (civ.), nephew of Colonel Anthony John Stewart Crockett RM, OBE (Mil.), ADC, and a descendant of Blessed Ralph Crockett, an English Martyr.

He attended Downside School and the University of Southampton, graduating in 1980. He practises medicine from his rural practice in Shrivenham, Oxfordshire, where he provided services for the defence academy.  He is married and has two children.

Crockett is the author of a number of works on respiratory medicine topics, with a focus on improving the standard of primary care in this area.  He has lectured on this subject both nationally and internationally.  Dr Crockett founded a primary care group to promote the improvement of the treatment of these conditions by local GPs rather than by resorting to national specialists.

His books include:
Managing Asthma in Primary Care by Antony Crockett.  Oxford ; Boston : Blackwell Scientific Publications 1993. (2nd Ed.)
Asthma: Your Questions Answered by Antony Crockett.  Edinburgh : New York : Churchill Livingstone, 2003.

References

External links
Elm Tree Surgery
Allergy Central

1956 births
21st-century English medical doctors
Fellows of the Royal College of General Practitioners
British general practitioners
Living people

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Yorkshire CCC coach Jason Gillespie dismisses latest Australia link
Jason Gillespie has moved to distance himself further from speculation linking him with a position in Australia's coaching set-up.
Wednesday, 25th May 2016, 2:21 pm
Updated Thursday, 26th May 2016, 2:33 pm
Yorkshire head coach Jason Gillespie
Yorkshire's first-team coach, who has steered the county to successive Championship titles, was mentioned as a possible bowling coach when the position became available at the end of the summer.
But in a statement on Yorkshire's website, Gillespie said: "I was made aware that Darren (Lehmann) referred to me by name in a radio interview last month. It appears from media speculation that I am someone that Darren and Cricket Australia wish to speak to.
Australia set to further test Jason Gillespie's commitment to Yorkshire CCC afte...
"At this point in time, I haven't had a conversation with Darren about any role with Cricket Australia and I have not applied for any role with Cricket Australia.
"I want to make it clear that I am happy in my role with Yorkshire County Cricket Club and Adelaide Strikers."
Leeds United transfer news - Liverpool reportedly reject Whites advances for forward

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Al Mills
Al Mills is half of the Twin Poets, a spoken word duo with his brother, Nnamdi O. Chukwuocha. They are the authors of the collections Our Work, Our Words... Poems from the Pavement (Nu Direction Publishing, 2015), Our Work, Our Words... Taking the Guns from Our Sons' Hands (iUniverse, 2008), Lyric Libations (Rebirth Press, 2000), and Selected Poems (Rebirth Press, 1998). They have also performed at the Delaware Humanities Forum, the Walt Whitman Arts Center, the HBO Def Poetry National and International tours, and at the Philadelphia Art Museum, among others.
They are the recipients of numerous awards and grants, including the Wilmington Urban League MLK Award, the Bank of American Local Hero Award, and the State of Delaware Social Workers of the Year. The brothers are Licensed Master Social Workers and founders of Art For Life—Delaware, a non-profit youth and community development organization rooted in the arts. The Twin Poets were the subjects of award winning documentaries Why I Write and Art For Life, which chronicle their artistic social change efforts. Mills is a therapist, co-founder of G.O.A.L.S and S.Y.A. tutoring and mentoring programs in Wilmington, and an Iraq War veteran who often speaks about his struggles with PTSD as a result of the war.
Read about Al Mills's 2020 Poets Laureate Fellowship project.
Photo credit: Cylinda McCloud-Keal


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Michael Duane Fatland
November 4, 1947 — December 1, 2017
Michael Duane Fatland, age 70, of Mason City, IA, died Friday, December 1, 2017, at Mercy Medical Center – North Iowa, with his family by his side. Memorial services will be held at 11:00 AM on Saturday, December 9, 2017, at the Galilean Lutheran Church, 4454 255th Street – Clear Lake, IA, with Pastor Scot McCluskey officiating. Military honors will be conducted by the Mason City Veterans Association and the Patriot Guard Riders. There will be a gathering of family and friends from 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM on Friday, December 8, 2017, at Major Erickson Funeral Home, 111 N. Pennsylvania Avenue – Mason City, and continue one hour prior at the church. Inurnment will take place at the Black Hills National Cemetery in Sturgis, SD at a later date. Memorials may be directed to the Michael Fatland memorial fund in care of the family.
On November 4, 1947, Micheal Fatland was born to Maxine and Harry Fatland. During his school years he attended Rockwell - Swaledale school system. During his high school years he was an exceptional student; he also played golf and bowling. Mike graduated high school in 1966. His senior year in high school was a special year as he met the love of his life, Deborah Sue Parks. They were married June 8, 1968, and they were getting close to celebrating 50 years together. In this union they had two kids (Merrilee and Cole Fatland) and one grandchild (Stephanie Fatland).
In May of 1968, he graduated from North Iowa Area Community College earning an Associate Degree in teaching. Soon after, Michael would attend Northern State University, in South Dakota, to continue on with his education.
Before disembarking on new adventures in the United States Navy, Michael worked for the Mason City Post Office. In 1971, Michael enlisted into the Navy. Upon completion of boot camp Michael's first ship was placed off the coast of Vietnam. It was during this timeframe that he won the Battle E ribbon among numerous other awards that he would receive in his outstanding career. Overall, Michael Duane Fatland spent twenty years on active duty. During his last five years he was an instructor at Naval Training Center in San Diego, California. In total, Michael Duane Fatland spent thirty years in the United States Navy, twenty years active and ten years reserve.
After retiring from the United States Navy, he and his family would move back to Mason City, Iowa. His first job after serving in the United States Navy, Mike was working for the city of Clear Lake as a meter reader and ground maintenance. He worked at Target for eight years upon retiring from there as well. He finished out his working career at Kraft.
During his free time, Michael liked collecting trains. He belonged to the National Rifle Association, golf and bowling.
He was truly loved by friends, his friends in the Navy, classmates, church members and most importantly his family.
Micheal Duane Fatland is survived by the love of his life: Deborah; daughter: Merrilee; son: Cole his wife Robin, and his grandchild: Stephanie.
He is preceded in death by his two parents- Harry and Maxine Fatland.
To send flowers to the family in memory of Michael Duane Fatland, please visit our flower store.
Galilean Lutheran Church
4454 255th Street, Clear Lake, IA 50428


Announcing updates to the Chicklet Creator and the Social Bookmark Creator.
The updated blog tools include a new layout, more buttons and a few added features. One of the big additions is the drop down menus. You can now create a CSS drop down menu to hold all your feed buttons, or you can create a social bookmark pop-up menu just like the one above.
The tools have been in the works for quite a while now. I was ready to release them just before SES San Jose, however found an IE bug that was a show stopper. However, all tools have been tested, and are working, in Safari, Firefox and Internet Explorer. Yea!
As always, feedback and button suggestions are welcome. Check out the newly updated Chicklet Creator and the Social Bookmark Creator and let me know what you think.
Oh and I'd also like to take a moment to announce iFeedReaders.com as the new home for the TwisterMc version of the tools. iFeedReaders is my new blogging tools site that also includes a one stop subscription or bookmark page.
Nice idea. I was wondering if using the Chicklet drop down would "help" with SEO. More specifically, Google page rank. For example, since each page shares it's page rank with all outgoing links on the same page, would having the chicklets in a drop down reduce the number of links on the page – as far as Google is concerned.
First off, begin focused on Google Page Rank is not something you should be obsessing over. Page Rank is irrelevant and the buttons/links don't hurt anything. If anything they help by getting more people to bookmark or subscribe to your site, thus increasing the exposure & links.
The RSS and Social buttons are on some of the leading SEO industry blogs and no respected SEO guru has ever been concerned.


We appreciate you taking the time to check out our Cinque Terre destination guide. Trust us, we hate asking for money as much as you hate forking it over, but this is how we fund our travels and it's a little compensation for the work we did putting this guide together for you! We know not everyone loves detailed planning as much as we do, so hopefully our helpful guide gives you a jump start in planning your dream vacation! Forget purchasing that $15 Italy guide book you won't be able to fit in your luggage and download our super compact beginner's guide to the Cinque Terre! We scoured the guide books and the internet and consolidated the most relevant and frequently sought-out information for you. While this guide is not intended to be a comprehensive list of absolutely everything there is to do and see in this beautiful region, this guide will be perfect for you if you're planning a visit to Cinque Terre for the first time!


BRUSSELS (Reuters) - EU antitrust regulators approved on Friday Knauf's purchase of Armstrong World Industries' (AWI.N) ceilings business outside the Americas on condition the German building materials maker sells Armstrong's tiles plants in Britain.
Both companies are two of Europe's biggest suppliers of modular suspended ceilings, which are used in offices, hospitals and schools.
The European Commission said the sale of the Armstrong unit and the transfer of the U.S. company's sales team and customer base in 11 countries to ensure the viability of the divested business addressed its competition concerns.


FREMONT, Ohio – First it looked like Sheldon Haudenschild would drive to his 6th University of Northwestern Ohio All Star Circuit of Champions Sprint Car Series win at Fremont Speedway Friday. But, he spun with nine laps to go handing the lead to Cole Duncan, who scored the win at "The Track That Action Built" the previous week. But, Duncan would jump the cushion in turn four with three laps to go, handing the lead to Aliquippa, Pennsylvania's Tim Shaffer and the "Steel City Outlaw' would drive to his second series win of the year at Fremont Speedway to open the 8th Annual Jim Ford Classic.
For Shaffer, a four time All Star champion, it was career win #56 with the series, tying him with the hall-of-famer Jack Hewitt for fourth on the All Star's all-time win list. It was Shaffer's second All Star win of 2015; the other coming in May at Fremont. Shaffer now has 15 career wins at Fremont Speedway, of which, 10 have been All Star victories.
"I have to thank Scott Gressman and those guys….they give me great engines. We have five-o here and James and Todd Grace has really been behind me all year…he's really helped me out a bunch. It's pretty awesome to have someone behind you and racing with you…he turns the wrenches on it and I just drive it," said Shaffer beside his Bryan Grove Racing, Canton Erectors, VRP Shocks, Helms and Son Excavating backed machine.
"It's amazing….I don't know what it is but this place has always been good to me. It's a lot of fun for me to race here. Todd was yelling at me on that yellow to go to the top in turns three and four with the big curb….with the way the car was, it worked out great," added Shaffer of his win on All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Night.
Duncan would bring his Motor City Auto Transport, Industrial Special Powder Coating, Wolfden Products, CnB Chubby Mushroom Farms #22 home in second.
Dalton, Ohio's Lee Jacobs has struggled the past couple of months so a third place finish was just what the doctor ordered.
"This was like a hometown track for me for a lot of years. To come back here and run good is something great for us. We split ways with our crew chief right after Knoxville and I'm back to having fun in a race car again. I'm doing everything on my own and making phone calls to figure out what I need to do to this race car. Our results a couple of weeks ago didn't show how really good we are. We're going to push to win $10,000 tomorrow," said Jacobs beside his Amanda Lewis Attorney at Law, Simcox Grinding and Steel, Crown Investments backed #81.
In the Fremont Federal Credit Union 305 Sprint feature, Fremont's Dustin Stroup would hold off a charging Bobby Clark for his first career win at "The Track That Action Built." A couple of months ago it looked like Stroup was done racing for the year after blowing the engine in his 360 sprint ride. But, Kenny Meggitt stepped forward and gave Stroup a 305 engine to run and the results have been fantastic as this was his third win since the move (two came at Attica Raceway Park).
"This is amazing. We've had a lot of bad luck racing 360s and blew a motor at the King's Royal. I had Kenny Meggitt gracious enough to give me a motor and we've picked up three wins in a short amount of time. I have to thank everybody who has a hand on this thing…Westway Farms, my mom and dad, my buddies Adam and Reed, Slade Shock Technology, Advanced Autoparts and Daniel Miller Cement Finishing," said Stroup.
"I really hate this scoreboard because I look at it a lot. On that last caution I didn't look up at it so I didn't know who was behind me. But, when we took the white flag I saw a white car shove his nose in coming off of two. I was like I had better get going in three and four if I'm going to win this thing," added Stroup.
Fremont's Matt Foos would take the lead on lap three and survived a couple of late race cautions to drive to his fourth win of the year at Fremont in the AAA Ohio Auto Club Dirt Trucks. It was his sixth career Fremont win and the eighth total for the season as he has four at Attica Raceway Park.
"I was riding the brakes pretty good getting into one. I had to run the bottom…the cushion was pretty tricky for me in one. What a season," said Foos beside his Fremont Fence, Automatic Fire Protection, M&L Excavating, Pit Stop Convenience Store, CA Kustoms, D&R Transmissions backed #2.
Sheldon Haudenschild and Byron Reed would bring the field to green for the 30-lap All Star feature with Haudenschild gaining the advantage. Haudenschild and Reed would pull away slightly from the great battle for third involving Duncan, Gary Taylor and Shaffer. Haudenschild would set a blistering pace and would encounter heavy lapped traffic by the eighth circuit, allowing both Reed and Duncan to close while Shaffer moved into fourth.
Disaster nearly hit Haudenschild on lap 12 as he made contact with Caleb Griffith on the front stretch as he worked to lap Griffith. That would damage Griffith front end and bring out the caution. On the restart Haudenschild could not shake Reed as Duncan, Shaffer, Taylor, Brad Haudenschild, Lee Jacobs and Chad Kemenah stayed close as well. At the half-way point Reed had closed to within a car length of Sheldon Haudenschild.
The leaders would once again race into traffic on lap 19 with Sheldon Haudenschild leading Reed, Duncan, Shaffer and a closing Kemenah. After completing lap 21, Sheldon Haudenschild would spin in turn one, collecting Reed and handing the lead to Duncan. On the ensuing restart Brad Haudenschild would bring out the caution while all eyes were on Christopher Bell who had worked his way to 10th from his 24th starting spot.
When the green flew Duncan would lead as Shaffer and Kemenah battled for second, which would result in contact with Kemenah spinning, which also collected Bell. Duncan now led Shaffer, Taylor, Jacobs, Danny Holtgraver and a closing Cap Henry who had started 16th. Jacobs would take the third spot on lap 24 as Duncan now had his hands full with Shaffer. Shaffer would continually run to Duncan's inside and as they raced into turns three and four to complete lap 28, the pressure would cause Duncan to slide over the curb in turn four, handing the lead to Shaffer.
Shaffer would drive away the final three laps to score the win over Duncan, Jacobs, Henry and Taylor. Current UNOH All Star point leader Dale Blaney would advance five spots to finish sixth with Dean Jacobs coming from 15th to a 7th place finish, while Sheldon Haudenschild would storm back to finish 8th with Greg Wilson advancing 11 positions to ninth and Holtgraver rounding out the top 10.
Kyle Farmer and Seth Schneider would pace the field for the 25 lap 305 sprint feature but Farmer would get sideways on the start and a six car melee would ensue leaving Schneider and Brian Gibbs upside down. When the crash scene was cleared and the green flew Stroup would power into the lead over John Ivy, Brandon Moore, Dustin Dinan, Alex Paden and Kyle Capodice. After two laps were recorded Dustin Rall would bring out the caution. When the green reappeared Stroup would lead Ivy, Moore, Dinan, Capodice, Bobby Clark, Thomas Schinderle, Paden and Luke Griffith.
Following a Paul Weaver spin on lap five, Stroup would start to pull away as Ivy had his hands full with Moore. By lap 12 Stroup had a three second lead over Ivy as Clark moved into third with Moore and Alvin Roepke – who went to the tail on the start because of a tire change. Stroup would race into heavy lapped traffic by lap 16 which allowed Ivy and Clark to close. Roepke would take fourth on lap 17. With five laps to go Farmer would bring out the final caution.
On the restart both Clark and Roepke would get around Ivy and as the white flag flew Clark showed Stroup his nose. Stroup would hit his marks in turns three and four and would take the win over Clark, Roepke, Ivy and Moore.
Jeff Ward and Jimmy McGrath brought the field to green for the 20 lap dirt truck feature with Ward gaining the upper hand over Foos, McGrath, Brad Mitten, Brad Stuckey, Gene Potridge and Keith Sorg. Cory Ward would bring out the caution and on the restart Andy Earnhart, Bryce Black and Cory Ward would get together.
When the green flew Foos immediately pressured Jeff Ward with a tremendous battle involving McGrath, Mitten, Stuckey, Potridge, Steve Endicott, Shawn Valenti and Kent Brewer going on. Foos would take the lead on lap three and pulled away from the 6 truck battle for second. Black would bring out the caution on lap seven, which would keep the field close to Foos. But, when the green flew so did Foos, pulling away to a commanding lead.
At the half-way point Foos was in command while Jeff Ward, McGrath, Mitten and Valenti battled for second. Cody Benyak would bring out the yellow on lap 13 and a lap later McGrath would spin. When the green flew Foos again pulled away as Jeff Ward, Mitten, Valenti, Cory McCaughey, Brewer and Stuckey battled. Valenti would move into third on lap 17 and drove around Ward for second a lap later. But by then Foos had checked out and he would drive to the victory. Valenti, Jeff Ward, Mitten and Brewer would round out the top five.
Fremont Speedway will wrap up the 8th Annual Jim Ford Classic Saturday (rain date of Sunday) with the UNOH All Stars going 50 laps for $10,000 to win. The 305 sprints and 602 late models are also in action.


Her Mother's Hope by Francine Francis is a remarkable story about two women who not only show us how to be brave in life but also to have the courage and the determination to make a success of your life!
Francine Rivers writes this story with passion, keeping you in suspense and awe as you journey with Marta through her life of sorrow, pain but also wonderment and excitement.
"FLY LIEBLING FLY! I will fly with you. Be like an eagle! An eagle flies alone. Look at the birds, Liebling. Most species fly in a flock. An eagle flies alone". Don't be afraid to leave, Marta.
Marta lives in Steffisburg, Switzerland – it is the year 1901. She is only twelve years old when her father decides she had enough education and finds work for her at the Becker's Bakery. This is how Marta starts to FLY! Fly away to live her own life.
"FLY LIEBLING FLY! I will fly with you. Be like an eagle!" These are the words Marta remembers after her mother dies. Marta continues her life journey that starts at Montreux, took her to Paris, where she had a dream of her mother and remembered again her words, "Fly, Marta. Don't be afraid, mein kleiner Adler…..". Her mother gives her permission to FLY. These words gives her the courage to never return home again but go into the world and make a success of her life.
Marta's goal is to learn to speak English and she boards a ship to Dover in England. She takes up a position in the house of the remarkable Lady Daisy and later became her companion. Their friendship would be a lasting one.
Francine Rivers now takes us on Marta's next journey to Canada. This is the biggest step she has ever taken in her life and it scares her but she builds up the courage to make this trip a success. With all the experiences she has gained over the last few years, Marta opens her own boarding house in Montreal, Canada.
Marta meet Niclas Waltert at the church in Montreal. He is an engineer but soon became tired of working at the locomotive works and decides it's time for them to move to a farm. Marta's next flight takes her to Manitoba. Managing a boarding house has been easy for Marta comparing to farming! How is Marta going to be able to handle this life. She loves Niclas and has to go with him and on top of it all she is expecting their first child – it is a boy and they name him Berhnard! Could she be happy on the farm?
Her second child is a girl and she names her HILDEMARE ROSE, a strong name for a frail baby. Marta and her family sail through deep rough seas, have a lot of bad luck, heartache and life changing ordeals. Marta remembers the following words that her mother used to say to her: "God permits suffering. He permits injustice….. If you are to rise above your circumstances, you must learn that, Liebling. I have learned a long time ago to take my pain to Christ, who understands suffering so much more than I".
Marta and Niclas have four children. One son, Berhnard who becomes a successful farmer, and three daughters, Hildermare Rose who graduates as a nurse, Clotilde who becomes a famous Hollywood dress designer and Rikka who becomes an artist. They all fly off into the world but it is Hildemare who at first struggles to make it on her own and gets all the pressure from Marta to make her stronger. "This child of mine is so weak, how will she ever make it on her own?" Marta's think to herself. And this is how HILDEMARE'S life story begins!
In the second half of this book Francine Rivers takes us on Hildermare's life journey. We suffer with her through her ordeals as Marta teaches her to be strong in life and to FLY into the world and be independent the same as Marta's mom taught her to do. This is a hard lesson for Hildemare, but she is a brave girl and becomes a strong woman and in the end she is Marta's pride and joy. Marta encourages her to : "FLY, HILDEMARE, FLY!" – and Hildemare flies and makes a success of her life!
Hildemare becomes Her Mother's Hope.
Thank you Francis Rivers for this encouraging story about two remarkable women, Marta and Hildemare.


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Tag Archives: aged
Rik Mayall Young Ones star dies aged 56
Posted on June 24, 2014 by Kneeknee
The British actor and comedian has died at the age of 56.
Comedian suffered an "acute cardiac event" after returning from a morning run, his widow said on Thursday.
Barbara Mayall said her family had received "thousands and thousands of messages of condolence" from around the world, adding: "We always knew that Rik was well loved but we are all overwhelmed by so many joining us in our grief.
The Essex-born actor, who starred in alternative comedy shows such as The Young Ones and Blackadder, died on Monday morning, a spokesman for Brunskill Management said. The cause of death is currently unknown.
Mayall was best known for his comedy partnership with Adrian Edmonson, whom he first met at university. The pair went on to become one of the biggest comedy duos of the 1980s, co-writing The Young Ones. Mayall later starred in Jonathan Creek.
In 1998, Mayall was nearly crushed to death by the quad bike he was riding when he fell off. He suffered a fractured skull and severe haemorrhaging and spent five days in a coma.
The comic actor later made light of the trauma at his Devon farm.
Mayall is survived by his wife, the Scottish make-up artist Barbara Robbin whom he married in 1985, and his three children Rosie, 28, Sidney, 26, and Bonnie, 19.
News source…..www.theguardian.com
Picture source…..www.lifelounge.com.au
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Posted in Articles, Famous TV Stars	| Tagged 56, aged, Dies, Mayall, Ones, Rik, Star, Young	| Leave a Reply


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3315 postsPage 330 of 3321 ... 327, 328, 329, 330, 331, 332
by ElkinFencer10 Sat Dec 30, 2017 10:52 am
I can attest that, at least among high school kids in the South, we were still using AIM.
by Sarge Sun Dec 31, 2017 12:08 am
Previous games:
1) The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition (PC) (8.5) (1/1) (~5.5 hours)
2) ActRaiser (SNES) (8.0) (1/2) (~4 hours)
3) Bonk's Revenge (GB) (6.0) (1/3) (~1 hour)
4) Tiny Toon Adventures: Babs' Big Break (GB) (6.5) (1/3) (~1 hour)
5) Blackwell Legacy (PC) (7.0) (1/5) (2.6 hours)
6) Blackwell Unbound (PC) (7.5) (1/7) (2.2 hours)
7) Blackwell Convergence (PC) (8.0) (1/7) (2.4 hours)
8) Blackwell Deception (PC) (8.0) (1/8) (4.7 hours)
9) Blackwell Epiphany (PC) (9.0) (1/9) (6.5 hours)
10) Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (PS4) (8.0) (1/22) (~55 hours)
11) Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 (360) (8.0) (1/28) (~.5 hours)
12) Deep Duck Trouble Starring Donald Duck (SMS) (6.5) (1/31) (~1 hour)
13) Quackshot Starring Donald Duck (GEN) (7.5) (2/7) (~2 hours)
14) Fire Emblem Heroes (Android) (8.0) (2/9) (~10 hours)
15) Super C (NES) (9.5) (2/20) (~0.5 hours)
16) Contra (NES) (10.0) (2/20) (~0.5 hours)
17) Mickey's Dangerous Chase (GB) (6.5) (2/24) (~1 hour)
18) My Nintendo Picross: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (3DS) (8.5) (2/25) (~19 hours)
19) Mega Man 2 (NES) (10.0) (2/28) (~0.8 hours)
20) Final Fantasy XV (PS4) (8.0) (3/2) (~33 hours)
21) Blaster Master Zero (NS) (9.0) (3/10) (~6.5 hours)
22) Espgaluda II Black Label (360) (8.0?) (3/17) (0.5 hours)
23) The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (NS) (9.5) (3/28) (~70+ hours)
24) Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment (PC) (8.5) (4/7) (~5.5 hours)
25) Hyper Light Drifter (PS4) (8.0) (4/9) (~8 hours)
26) Gekido Advance: Kintaro's Revenge (GBA) (7.5) (4/16) (~3 hours)
27) Vanquish (PS3) (8.5) (4/17) (~7 hours)
28) Journey (PS3) (6.0) (4/19) (~2 hours)
29) GunForce (SNES) (4.0) (4/22) (~20 minutes)
30) GunForce 2 (ARC) (7.0) (4/23) (~30 minutes)
31) GunForce: Battle Fire Engulfed Terror Island (ARC) (6.0) (4/23) (~20 minutes)
32) Mighty Final Fight (NES) (8.5) (4/29) (~30 minutes)
33) Final Fantasy V (SFC) (6.0) (5/1) (~33 hours)
34) Super Adventure Island (SNES) (7.0) (5/2) (~1 hour)
35) Dragon Spirit: The New Legend (NES) (7.5) (5/3?) (~30 minutes)
36) Mighty No. 9 (PS4) (5.0) (5/6?) (~5 hours)
37) Contra III: The Alien Wars (Hard) (SNES) (8.5) (5/11) (~1 hour)
38) Operation C (GB) (7.5) (5/22) (~1 hour)
39) Super Dodge Ball (NES) (9.5) (6/1) (~15 minutes)
40) Bare Knuckle III (GEN) (7.5) (6/3) (~1 hour)
41) Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES) (9.5) (6/5) (~30 minutes)
42) Wizards & Warriors X: Fortress of Fear (GB) (4.0) (6/8) (~1 hour)
43) Castlevania: The Adventure (GB) (3.5) (6/9) (~1 hour)
44) Blossom Tales: The Sleeping King (PC) (8.0) (6/15) (~8.5 hours)
45) Streets of Rage (GEN) (9.0) (6/17) (~45 minutes)
46) Ghouls 'N Ghosts (GEN) (6.5) (6/17) (~4 hours)
47) Contra: Hard Corps (GEN) (8.5) (6/18) (~50 minutes)
48) Mighty Gunvolt Burst (NS) (7.5) (6/23) (~3 hours?)
49) Exile's End (PC) (8.0) (6/24) (~5 hours)
50) Uncharted 4: A Thief's End (PS4) (8.5) (7/1) (16h53m)
51) Pharaoh Rebirth+ (PC) (8.0) (7/3) (7 hours)
52) Jackal (NES) (9.0) (7/9) (45 minutes)
53) Golden Axe III (NES) (2.5) (7/9) (~45 minutes)
54) Rygar (NES) (7.0) (7/10) (~2 hours)
55) Faxanadu (NES) (8.0) (7/14) (~6 hours)
56) Tekken 3 (PSX) (6.0) (7/24) (~20 minutes)
57) Horizon: Zero Dawn (PS4) (8.5) (7/30) (38h16m)
58) Contra: The Alien Wars (GB) (3.5) (8/1) (~30 minutes)
59) Super Smash Bros. (N64) (8.0) (8/6) (~20 minutes)
60) Battletoads (Japan) (NES) (7.5) (8/10) (~40 minutes)
61) Castle of Dragon (NES) (2.5) (8/10) (~1 hour)
62) The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (NES) (3.0) (8/10) (~30 minutes)
63) Strider (NES) (6.5) (8/11) (~2 hours)
64) Commando (NES) (3.5) (8/11) (~1 hour)
65) Bio Miracle Bokutte Upa (NES) (6.5) (8/12) (~1h30m)
66) Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie (GEN) (4.0) (8/12) (~1 hour)
67) Dragon Scroll: Yomigaerishi Maryuu (NES) (5.0) (8/13) (~4 hours)
68) Mega Man 8 (SAT) (7.0) (8/17) (~4 hours)
69) Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap (PS4) (8.0) (8/19) (4h42m)
70) Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix (PS3) (6.5) (8/25) (~30 minutes)
71) Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth (DS) (7.5) (8/27) (25 hours?)
72) Daikatana (GBC) (6.5) (8/28) (~3 hours)
73) Bionic Commando (NES) (9.5) (8/30) (~1.5 hours)
74) Adventure Island II (NES) (6.5) (8/31) (~3 hours)
75) The Mafat Conspiracy (NES) (5.0) (9/1) (~1.5 hours)
76) Snake's Revenge (NES) (8.0) (9/4) (~4 hours)
77) Ys: Memories of Celceta (VITA) (7.5) (9/4) (~25 hours?)
78) Skate or Die 2: The Search for Double Trouble (NES) (5.0) (9/7) (~2 hours)
79) 1943: The Battle for Midway (NES) (7.0) (9/9) (~2.5 hours)
80) Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom (ARC/360) (5.0) (9/9) (~1 hour)
81) Arkista's Ring (NES) (6.0) (9/9) (~1 hour)
82) Bad Dudes (NES) (4.0) (9/9) (~45 minutes)
83) G.I. Joe: The Atlantis Factor (NES) (7.0) (9/10) (~2 hours)
84) Target: Renegade (NES) (2.0) (9/10) (~1 hour)
85) Gyruss (NES) (8.5) (9/11) (~1 hour)
86) Renegade (NES) (3.5) (9/12) (~30 minutes)
87) Metroid: Samus Returns (3DS) (9.0) (9/18) (11h35m) (16h total time)
88) Rambo (NES) (4.5) (9/19) (~3 hours)
89) Return of Double Dragon (SFC) (8.0) (9/20) (~1 hour)
90) Wizards & Warriors (NES) (6.5) (9/21) (~1.5 hours)
91) Wizards & Warriors III - Kuros: Visions of Power (NES) (6.5) (9/23) (~4 hours)
92) Wolverine (NES) (3.0) (9/23) (~1 hour)
93) The Jetsons: Cogswell's Caper (NES) (6.0) (9/23) (~1 hour)
94) Ironsword: Wizards & Warriors II (NES) (6.5) (9/24) (~2 hours)
95) The Flintstones: The Rescue of Dino and Hoppy (NES) (6.0) (9/24) (~1 hour)
96) RodLand (NES) (7.0) (9/30) (~1 hour)
97) Gradius (NES) (7.0) (9/30) (~30 minutes)
98) Life Force (NES) (8.0) (9/30) (~1 hour)
99) Gradius II (NES) (8.0) (9/30) (~1 hour)
100) Guerilla War (NES) (6.0) (10/1) (~1 hour)
101) Gun-Nac (NES) (7.5) (10/2) (~1.5 hours)
102) Mega Man 9 (PS4, via MMLC2) (9.5) (10/7) (~2.5 hours)
103) Star Wars (NES) (5.5) (10/7) (~1.5 hours)
104) Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana (PS4) (9.0) (10/25) (49h20m)
105) Super Mario Odyssey (NS) (10.0) (10/31) (10 hours?)
106) Super Castlevania IV (SNES) (8.5) (11/11) (4 hours)
107) Transformers: Devastation (PS4) (6.5) (11/18) (5h56m)
108) Dracula X: Rondo of Blood (DUO) (8.0) (11/26) (2 hours)
109) Castlevania Chronicles (PSX, X68K mode) (6.5) (11/29) (6 hours)
110) Faussete Amour (DUO) (5.0) (12/4) (3 hours)
111) Ys III: The Wanderer from Ys (DUO) (5.5) (12/7) (~5 hours)
112) Kaze Kiri: Ninja Action (DUO) (6.5) (12/9) (~1.5 hours)
113) Ys Book I & II (Book I) (TCD) (6.0) (12/16) (~5 hours)
114) Shin Megami Tensei: Synchronicity Prologue (8.5) (12/17) (~3 hours)
115) WeaponLord (GEN) (6.5) (12/18) (~40 minutes)
116) Alwa's Awakening (PC) (6.5) (12/20) (~6.5 hours)
117) Ys Book I & II (Book 2) (TCD) (6.5) (12/27) (~5 hours)
118) Cadash (TG16) (8.0) (12/30) (~2 hours)
This could very well be a nostalgia rating, but I've always loved Cadash. It captured my imagination when I saw it in the arcades, and even though it's pretty simple overall, I still find it quite fun. I've beaten the Genesis and arcade versions, so this time, I put the Turbo EverDrive through its paces.
To keep this short, the game is a little bit of Rastan, with actual RPG elements. Unlike the arcade game, you don't have a timer here, so you can grind if necessary. Unlike the Genesis version, you can use all the classes, too; the Ninja and Priest actually made it in. Good thing, too, because the Priest might just be the best character in the game. She has a spell that lets her tank quite a few hits, and a life restorative to boot. Of course, if you're using the barrier, you'll probably never touch the life spell beyond a certain point. She's that good.
The graphics are pretty decent, surviving decently from the arcade. The localization is translated a bit better, but the last boss is... weird. Having this lord of darkness saying he's fleeing to fight another day, and "c'ya!" is just strange. Even stranger is him referring to the teachings of Carl Sagan about how the strong survive? What? So out of place. This is the only version that has that line, too.
At any rate, fun stuff. Very much worth playing.
Hardcore Retro Gaming - Talk about games ten years old or older. Now with a modern gaming section!
alienjesus
Location: London, UK.
by alienjesus Sun Dec 31, 2017 10:10 am
1. 3D Power Drift 3DS
2. Maze Hunter 3-D 3DS
3. Hyrule Warriors Legends 3DS
4. Icarus Proudbottom's World of Typing Weekly PC
5. Paper Mario N64
6. Catherine PS3
7. Glover N64
8. Blast Corps N64
9. Snipperclips: Cut It Out, Together! Switch eShop
10. Pullblox 3DS eShop
11. Pokémon Picross 3DS eShop
12. Bare Knuckle III Mega Drive
13. The Legend of the Mystical Ninja SNES
14. Alisia Dragoon Mega Drive
15. Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master Mega Drive
16. Dynamite Headdy Mega Drive
17. Runbow Wii U eShop
18. The Mystical Ninja starring Goemon N64
19. 3D Puyo Puyo 2 3DS
20. Fantasy Zone II: The Tears of Opa-Opa 3DS
21. SteamWorld Dig 3DS eShop
22. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Switch
23. Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped PS1
24. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time GC
25. Pilotwings 64 N64
26. Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones GBA
27. Puyo Puyo Tetris Switch
28. Life Force NES
29. Bionic Commando NES
30. Bonk's Revenge TGCD
31. Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia 3DS
32. Splatoon 2 Switch
33. Shantae & The Pirates Curse 3DS eShop
34. Devil May Cry PSN
35. Team Kirby Clash Deluxe 3DS eShop
36. Blaster Master Wii U VC
37. Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes GC
38. Wario Blast! featuring Bomberman Game Boy
39. Astro Boy: Omega Factor GBA
40. Daiku No Gen-San: Ghost Building Company Game Boy
41. Kirby: Planet Robobot 3DS
42. Noobow Game Boy
43. Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 Game Boy
44. Mario Golf N64
45. Akumajo Special: Boku Dracula-Kun Game Boy
46. Rockman World 5 Game Boy
47. Hamtaro: Ham-Hams Unite! GBC
48. Sonic Mania Switch eShop
49. Marvelous: Mōhitotsu no Takarajima SFC
50. Super Mario Odyssey Switch
51. Gauntlet IV Mega Drive
52. Alex Kidd in Shinobi World Master System
53. Psycho Fox Master System
54. The Ninja Master System
55. R-Type Master System
56. Momotarō Katsugeki PC Engine
57. Overcooked: Special Edition Switch eShop
58. Parasol Stars PC Engine
59. Star Parodier PC Engine
60. Cadash PC Engine
61. Dead or Alive Ultimate Xbox
62. Dead or Alive Ultimate 2 Xbox
63. OutRun 2 Xbox
64. Pop'n Twinbee SNES
65. Wild Guns Reloaded PS4
66. Journey PS4
67. Rez Infinite PS4
68. Caladrius Blaze PS4
69. Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu NES
70. Blue Shadow NES
71. Kickle Cubicle NES
72. Baku Baku Saturn
73. Clockwork Knight Saturn
74. Bust-a-Move 2 Arcade Edition Saturn
75. Thumper Switch eShop *NEW*
76. Pokémon Ultra Moon 3DS *NEW*
77. Cave Story+ Switch *NEW*
78. Gorogoa Switch eShop *NEW*
Replays!:
1. Bare Knuckle III Mega Drive
2. Die Hard Arcade Saturn
3. The World of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck Mega Drive
4. Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble 3DS VC
5. Trip World 3DS VC
Finishing up this year's thread with some mini-reviews of the last few games I beat because I can't think of much to say about them:
Thumper is a rhythm game for Switch where you play as a metallic bug lasting down a tunnel at high speed. The designers describe it as a 'rhythm violence' game, and that's understandable as you will feel beaten after pushing through a stage of this game. The game features pounding industrial music and bright flashes of colour, which combined with the games strict 2 hit deaths and long 30 minute levels (they have checkpoints, thankfully) create a sense of tension and exhaustion to the point where I've seen other reviewers describe this as a horror game. I don't think that's quite true, but I get the comparison.
Whilst hurtling down the tunnel, you'll encounter various obstacles – blue dots must be tapped with A, barriers must be hit by holding a as you pass through them. Corners have to be turned into whilst holding A, spikes must be flown over with A and up. A controls everything in this game, but the game is so fast paced, the turns and twists so hard to read, and the music so pounding and hard to track that the game is very difficulty indeed. 2 hits kills you,but you can recover health a few ways – it's not common to do so though until you reach the next checkpoint, which early on are about 20 seconds apart but can reach up to 2 minutes by the end of the game.
If you want a sample of how tense this game and why it's called Thumper, enjoy this video, but please note that it really isn't joking about that seizure warning at the start - Thumper is not the game to play if you suffer from epilepsy or similar conditions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xseAwMcco4
For me, Thumper was an interesting game, but one which became frustrating over time as the stages became more and more punishing. There seems to be a harder difficulty where one death is the end of the stage, and I say screw that. I don't have the patience for it. Thumper is quite an experience, but if you want to try it, I recommend waiting for a sale.
Pokemon Ultra Moon
I went into Ultra Moon having not looked up much about the game. I was hoping to find a 'sequel' experience along the lines of Pokemon Black 2 or White 2, but instead this is more like the '3rd versions' of old – Crystal, Emerald, Platinum, where there's new stuff to find but it's fundamentally the same game as the original Moon.
For new stuff, there's some new story elements which build upon the idea of the ultra beasts and travelling through wormholes, plus some changes to the games totem battles, available pokemon and the introduction of move tutors to teach pokemon different attacks as you progress.
Honestly, it's hard to recommend Ultra Moon if you already own Sun or Moon version as is – it's quite weak in terms of how much new stuff there is to offer. However, if you haven't played the original or you're looking to experience your first game in the series, this is a fantastic entry that's one of the best places to start.
P.S. to the few of you who play Pokemon games and care, my team was Ribombee, Honchkrow, Jynx, Cradily, Palossand and Togedemaru.
Cave Story+
Cave Story is a game I've played before on WiiWare, but only once, so when I got given this version for Christmas I decided to play through in a slightly different way. The first time I played through I grabbed the Machine Gun and Booster 0.8, so this time I deliberately made some different choices – I grabbed the Spur weapon, plus the Booster 2.0 and saved Curly. This meant I got access to a new version of the penultimate dungeon and drastically changed some of my playthrough prior to that too as the Machine Gun had been my weapon of choice before. The Spur was much better for the endgame stuff though, and this run was easier.
That is until I accessed the secret final dungeon, the blood soaked sanctuary. That is a brutal gauntlet of instant death spikes and aggressive enemies and after throwing myself at it fruitlessly for a few hours, I created a save file just before it and went and got the normal ending instead. I'll have to come back to the final challenge another time.
Anyway, Cave Story is still as good as it's ever been, which is to say it's pretty darn good. Playing it on Switch feels like a natural fit, so this is a great version to buy if you don't own this game 10 times already, or maybe if you do.
Also, because I played this near Christmas, all of my dudes are wearing santa hats, so that's cool.
Gorogoa is a pretty intriguing puzzle game for Switch and mobile devices where you literally piece together a story out of beautiful artwork, manipulating the perspective in order to solve puzzles and progress the story. The story itself is intriguing but hard to follow, it's all very artsy and beautiful though.
You have four panels within which you can move different images around. Some images can be zoomed in and out of, or you can shift the perspective through a doorway, or upwards to see what's out of frame, or whatever. Sometimes you can pull a shape off of one image and overlay it on another – for example, placing new scenery over a door so that when the character exits the door he is suddenly in a new environment. Some panels simply move when you replace them in a different part of the square, whereas some reveal new parts of the image when you move them too. Using images in new ways is the name of the game, with flowers turning into cogs when aligned correctly and more.
The game is big on thinking how something could be something else – for example, at one point in the game your character is on a tram, and you can view the tracks from a top down view. Early on you use a trellis as part of the track by aligning it with another image to move him to a different station. However, later, that same track can be used as part of a ladder to reposition the character in perspective within the environment. It's all very clever and very satisfying.
Gorogoa is a intriguing, interesting and enjoyable experience, but it is relatively easy and very short, at about 1.5-2 hours long. However, I had a great time playing through it and highly recommend it to anyone who might be interested.
by dsheinem Sun Dec 31, 2017 10:21 am
Thumper in VR is one of the most spiritual experiences I have ever had. Glad to hear some of that translates to the small screen!
Gorogoa is a great game, but I can't see spending $15 to play it on Switch when you can get it for $5 on mobile. Does the game use any of the Switch's hardware or features in a compelling way to compensate?
dsheinem wrote: Thumper in VR is one of the most spiritual experiences I have ever had. Glad to hear some of that translates to the small screen!
Thumper seems like it would be quite something in VR. My issues with it are mainly based on game mechanics, but I can imagine feeling more forgiving in such an immersive environment. I haven#t had a chance to try PSVR but I hear it's got a slightly blurry resolution . That seems like it could be detrimental to Thumper, did it cause any issues for you?
I'd love to get the PSVR but it seems kinda gimmicky to me for the price. I'll get round to it one day.
Unfortunately, the Switch version of Gorogoa doesn't do anything more interesting than the mobile version mechanically. You can play with the buttons but I think using the touch controls is the better option still. I don't feel very attached to mobile phones and mobile experiences though, so I just sucked it up and paid the extra to have it on something that felt more 'real' to me, as dumb as that may sound.
by alienjesus Sun Dec 31, 2017 12:06 pm
Sorry for the double post, but it's time for fun stats!
Games I beat this year broken down:
By console:
Switch eShop: 5
Wii U eShop: 2
Wii: 0
Wii shop: 0
Gamecube: 2
Nintendo 64: 6
3DS: 8
3DS eShop: 5
DS: 0
DSiWare: 0
GBC: 1
Game Boy: 6
Virtual Boy: 0
Pokemon Mini: 0
PS3 PSN: 1
PSVita: 0
PSVita PSN: 0
Xbox 360: 0
Dreamcast: 0
Saturn: 3
Mega Drive: 5
SMS: 4
Game Gear: 0
3DO: 0
PC Engine: 5
WSC: 0
PC: 1
By generation:
Consoles:
3rd gen (NES, Master System): 9
4th gen (Mega Drive, SNES, PC Engine): 13
5th gen (N64, PS1, Saturn): 10
6th gen (Gamecube, PS2, Xbox): 5
7th gen (Wii, PS3, 360): 2
8th gen (Wii U, Switch, PS4): 16
Handhelds:
GB & GG: 6
GBC, NGPC, WSC: 1
PSP & DS: 0
3DS & Vita: 13
Physical vs digital:
Physical games: 64
Digital games: 14
Console vs handheld etc:
Console: 46
Handheld: 31
- Note: 9 of my 10 Switch games were beaten in handheld mode, and 1 in console, so I split these that way.
Platformers: 23
Puzzle: 10
Action Adventure: 12
Strategy: 2
RPG: 2
Stealth: 1
3rd person shooter: 1
Rail shooter: 2
Run n Gun: 1
Fighting: 2
Typing: 1
Flight sim: 1
Rhythm: 1
Other: 4
by dsheinem Sun Dec 31, 2017 12:44 pm
Inside - PS4
Street Fighter V - PS4
TIMEframe - PC
Rituals - PC
Mother Russia Bleeds - PC
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - Switch
Here They Lie - PSVR
Dexed - PSVR
Resident Evil 7: Biohazard - PSVR
Last Voyage - iOS
Ghost Blade HD - PS4
What Happened to Edith Finch - PS4
Fast RMX - Switch
Puyo Puyo Tetris - Switch
Garou: Mark of the Wolf - Arcade/Vita
Star Wars: Republic Commando - PC
Battlefield 1 - PS4
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe - Switch
Shock Troopers - PC (Arcade)
Shock Troopers 2nd Squad - PC (Arcade)
Gravity Bone -PC
Thirty Flights of Loving - PC
Forza Horizon 3: Hot Wheels - PC/X1
Eve: Valkyrie- PSVR
Farpoint - PSVR
Painkiller: Battle Out of Hell - PC
Ghost Squad - Wii
Monument Valley 2 - iOS
Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare - PS4
Tekken Tag Tournament 2 - 360
Tekken Advance - GBA
100ft Robot Golf - PSVR
Final Fantasy XV: A King's Tale - X1
Star Wars Racer Revenge - PS2
Just Cause 3 - PS4
Toadled - PC
Gulity Gear Xrd -Revelator- PS4
Mortal Kombat XL - PC
Destiny 2 - PS4
Dishonored - PS4
Dead Nation: Apocalypse Edition - PS4
Nex Machina - PS4
Dying Light - PS4
Arizona Sunshine- PSVR
Dead Rising 3 - X1
Soul Dimension - PSVR
The Bug Butcher - PS4
Super Mario Odyssey - Switch
King of Fighters XIV - - PS4
Horizon Zero Dawn: The Frozen Wilds - PS4
Alienation - PS4
Forza Horizon 3: Blizzard Mountain - PC/X1
Destiny 2: Curse of Osiris - PS4
Doom VFR - PSVR
Gorogoa - iOS
Devil May Cry 4 Refrain - iOS
Sonic Mania - Switch
Raiden V - PS4
Scanner Sombre - PC
Everything - PC
Luke Sidewalker - PC
The Fidelio Incident - PC
Emily is Away Too - PC
Electric Highways - PC *new*
Electric Highways is a trippy game that is part first person puzzler, part walking simulator, and part platformer. I really dug the work here: the soundtrack matches up to the visuals perfectly to create an unnerving experience and it is an hour or so well spent if you like "experimental" indie fare.
Previously: 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010
End of Year Totals, Stats, and Thoughts
Since starting to keep track 8 years ago, I have now beaten 700 games!!
Part of me wants to push hard over the next two years to hit 1000 beaten in 10 years, and part of me wants to give it a rest and just move through things at a more leisurely pace. I suppose I will see how I feel about the options in front of me come the New Year...
This was a little bit of a low total for me...it was also the least amount of retro games I have played in any one year since keeping track. I shared some thoughts/numbers about that here. This year only about 14% of what I beat could reasonably be considered "retro".
Some Stats:
Modern: 56 across 7 systems (PS4:20, PC:13, PSVR:9, Switch: 6, X1:4, iOS:4, 360:1)
Retro: 9 across 6 systems (Arcade:3, Retro PC:2, GBA:2, PS2:1, Wii:1)
Genre Breakdown:
Other: 14
Racing/Sports: 6
Twin Stick Shooter: 4
(A)RPG: 3
Beat-em-up: 3
Run-n-Gun: 2
Best game I've finished that was released this year: Horizon: Zero Dawn topped the list, but it was close.
Best retro game I finished for the first time: Painkiller: Battle Out of Hell
optmusprimenumber
Location: CT Neo England
by optmusprimenumber Sun Dec 31, 2017 1:55 pm
Finally played the original Splinter Cell on PC plus the bonus missions. For someone who has enjoyed Chaos Theory and up I'm surprised it took that long. Admittedly it's better on PC than oXBox what with quick saves and all. Now if only I could get Pandora Tomorrow to work properly (even with the lighting fix, all projected lights are red )
Cool Patches for Cool Roms - In Progress
Quake (PC) - Joystick Strafing and More - How To
Beat the Doll - Experimental Alternative-Metal from CT - Demos, Videos, Show Dates, News
Beat the Doll - At Reverbnation
by MrPopo Sun Dec 31, 2017 8:15 pm
1. Pokémon Moon - 3DS
2. Tony Hawk's Underground - GCN
3. Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War II: Chaos Rising - PC
4. Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War II: Retribution - PC
5. Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness - PSP
6. X-Wing: Imperial Pursuit - PC
7. Star Wars Republic Commando - PC
8. X-Wing: B-Wing - PC
9. Blazing Lazers - TG-16
10. Tales of Xillia 2 - PS3
11. Shining Force CD: Shining Force Gaiden - Sega CD
12. MUSHA - Genesis
13. Sonic CD - Sega CD
14. Final Fantasy Legend III - GB
15. Tales of Zestiria - PS3
16. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - Switch
17. Horizon Zero Dawn - PS4
18. Tales of Berseria - PS4
19. Battlefield 1 - PC
20. Turok 2: Seeds of Evil - PC
21. Mass Effect Andromeda - PC
22. Starflight 2 - PC
23. Armored Hunter Gunhound EX - PC
24. Space Megaforce - SNES
25. Persona 5 - PS4
26. Torment: Tides of Numenera - PC
27. Cosmic Star Heroine - PC
28. Prey - PC
29. Strafe - PC
30. Mystic Origins - NES
31. Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia - 3DS
32. Ultra Street Fighter II - Switch
33. The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky - PC
34. Ultima IV - PC
35. Environmental Station Alpha - PC
36. Dust: An Elysian Tail - PC
37. Hollow Knight - PC
38. The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky Second Chapter - PC
39. The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky the 3rd - PC
40. Call of Duty - PC
41. Azure Striker Gunvolt 2 - 3DS
42. Sonic Mania - Switch
43. Mighty Gunvolt Burst - Switch
44. XCOM2: War of the Chosen - PC
45. Metroid: Samus Returns - 3DS
46. Dishonored: Death of the Outsider - PC
47. Cuphead - Xbox One
48. Odallus - PC
49. Shenzhen I/O - PC
50. South Park: The Fractured But Whole - PC
51. Oniken - PC
52. Strife Veteran Edition - PC
53. The Mummy Demastered - Switch
54. Super Mario Odyssey - Switch
55. Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus - PC
56. Etrian Odyssey V - 3DS
57. The Legend of Zelda Four Swords Anniversary - 3DS
58. Vectorman - Genesis
59. Human Resources Machine - PC
60. The Legend of Legacy - 3DS
61. Dynamite Headdy - Genesis
62. Romancing SaGa 2 - PC
63. Shining in the Darkness - Genesis
Last game of 2017. Shining in the Darkness is the very first game in the Shining series. Unlike its more famous cousins the Force games, SitD is a first person dungeon crawler. However, you still have a ton of familiar elements, including the four command UI, the aesthetics of items, and the inhabitants of the world. It's very clear this is made by the same people and set in the same universe as the other Shining games. The ties just aren't as strong narratively, due to the fact it came first and I don't think they expected to make a universe out of it.
SitD is one of the more approachable dungeon crawlers out there. The game does a good job of easing you into things; you start with your single warrior and learn to play things safe and not get in over your head. Once you've geared up and fought the first boss you get access to your other two party members: a cleric and a mage. This gives you access to spellcasting and the idea that you now need to pay attention to how you target things; while your warrior could one shot everything your casters cannot. The whole game consists of nine floors of 32x32 dungeons. The first five of them consist of the ground floor and four attached dungeons. Once you beat those four attached dungeons you get access to floors two through five of the primary dungeon. Here things get trickier, both in terms of enemy abilities (you see a lot more enemies with magic and instant death), and due to the fact that the game doesn't have the greatest system for fast travelling. When you unlock the main floors and get to floor three you get access to an item that can be used to warp in the dungeon; however, the warp points are at the end of each floor, and it involves dropping a unique item in a square at the end of the floor. If you want to move it you need to pick it up and take it to the next floor's point. This generally means you'll need to do each floor a minimum of twice; once to beat it and ensure you are leveled and geared up enough, and then once to put down the warp point.
The combat is fairly standard for the genre. The small number of party members reduces some of the strategy a bit, and most of it comes down to how you gear (do you get the higher damage single target or lower damage multi target weapons for your casters) and when to use magic for damage vs. healing after battle. It really ends up being about threat assessment; which monster packs can wreck your shit if you don't kill them before they get a turn.
My biggest complaint is that the in game auto map, which is only accessible through a spell or an item not worth the cost (as it's single use), is awful. You only can see a limited amount of the floor, it only maps squares you step on, and it does so by marking a tile with a border. So you have no idea what else might be connected to that square. You're better off either making your own map or using an online map.
Next year I suspect I'll make some time for Shining the Holy Ark, the other dungeon crawler in the series.
And time for the analysis!
First off, I didn't beat nearly as many games as the last two years. I blame this on a few factors:
1. Several longass RPGs back to back to back that burned me out on video games
2. Got into blacksmithing, which took up a lot of evening and weekend time when I had classes
3. Took a new job which moved me out of state; basically the last three months have been pretty unproductive because I was focused on the move. My recent activity has been due to everything being done at the old house to make it ready for sale and being off for a week from work
Games beaten this year: 63
Games beaten last year: 91
Now for the breakdowns. First, games by platform:
GB - 1
GCN - 1
Genesis - 4
NES - 1
PC - 31
PSP	- 1
Sega CD - 2
Switch - 6
TG-16 - 1
As always, PC massively takes the lead. Everything elsee is onsies and twosies. The exceptions are the 3DS, Genesis, and Switch. The first two are because I've spent a lot of time outside my normal game room; that leaves me with my portables to keep me company. The reasons the Genesis is portable is because it's my CDX, which is great for travelling. Unfortunately, it seems to be dying on me and likes to randomly restart at unpredictable times. I'm hoping it's something like it just needs a recap, but I'm going to need to find someone to work on it (no way in hell I'm going to try and open it myself; the damn thing is crazy inside). If it gives up the ghost it's not a huge deal, since I got it dirt cheap at an eBay auction many years ago because it was listed as nonfunctional; it would turn on but the spindle wouldn't spin. Some compressed air fixed that. The other stand out is the Switch. Now, I didn't bring it with me while I'm in temporary housing because the only game I own for it I haven't already beat is Xenoblade Chronicles 2, and I need to play the first two games first. This one I basically leaped on every game as they came out, probably due to novelty factor for the non Zelda and Mario games.
Now for genres:
Action - 4
Adventure - 3
Fighting - 1
FPS - 9
Metroidvania - 5
Platformer - 8
Puzzle - 2
RPG - 20
RTS - 2
Shmup - 3
Simulator - 2
Strategy - 4
As you can see, a third of the games I played were RPGs. And that's a much bigger ratio than last year, when I beat 27 RPGs over a total of 91 games. And I suspect the RPGs I played this year averaged to be longer compared to last year.
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14 July 2016 / Features
IdealShape Exists To Change Lives
We continue to find ways to motivate people and provide the support they need to get healthy. We've made a tremendous impact on hundreds of thousands of lives. That's what entrepreneurship is all about.
In 2003, David Meine's foster dad, Tom, weighed over 435 pounds. He had to use a truck stop scale to weigh himself, estimating that he had lost and gained over 1,000 pounds in his lifetime. Nothing had helped him lose weight and keep it off. Meine and his wife happened to have the means to do something, so they consulted with industry experts and formulators to put together a fitness plan that included supplements, smoothies, and mental training to assist with weight loss. Meine recruited his foster dad and fourteen other subjects to participate in a study to test the plan. On average, participants lost 20 pounds in the first two months. Tom lost 100 pounds the first year, and 150 pounds in 18 months. "We improved his life and transformed him," Meine says. Meine wanted to help others transform their lives, so he used his entrepreneurial expertise to create IdealShape.
In his 35 years in business, Meine has started 17 companies. "[Ideal Shape] has been the most rewarding because we change people's' lives. I've taken everything I've learned and used it to help people get healthy," Meine says. "Our passion is to transform and improve lives." That passion led Meine to create the IdealShake, IdealBar, and IdealBoost, with hunger-blocking and energy-boosting ingredients. Meine also wrote four books, produced a CD series, and created the IdealPlan, a full weight loss plan with recipes, meal plans, and online challenges.
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"We continue to find ways to motivate people and provide the support they need to get healthy," Meine says. "We've made a tremendous impact on hundreds of thousands of lives. That's what entrepreneurship is all about."
Meine is an EY Entrepreneur of the Year finalist. He and the other finalists will be recognized and the 2016 winners will be announced at the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards Gala Saturday, June 4, at the Grand America Hotel. If you're interested in attending, you can purchase tickets here.
Published 5/13/2016
Meg Walter
Writer, Podcaster, Popcorn Enthusiast.
— Silicon Slopes —
An Update From Executive Director Clint Betts
Being A First-Time Attendee At Silicon Slopes Tech Summit
Silicon Slopes Podcast: Divvy CEO Blake Murray Joins After Raising $200M In Funding Round Led By NEA
Legrand Acquires Draper-Based Luxul Wireless
We're very excited to see Luxul partner with Legrand. We're very impressed with the organization and management, we couldn't think of a better home to have the business be a
Chris Rawle
How BrainStorm Uses Company Culture To Promote Social Good, As Told By A Former PropellerHead
I think most feel like BrainStorm is very unique in the way we allow them to keep giving. Giving is not what we do but who we are. One morning I pulled into


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Semiramide riconosciuta oder Semiramis, dt. Die wiedererkannte Semiramis (HWV A8) ist ein Dramma per musica in drei Akten. Das auf Leonardo Vincis gleichnamiger Oper basierende Stück ist eine Bearbeitung Georg Friedrich Händels und das erste Pasticcio von dreien in der Saison 1733/34 am Londoner Theater am Haymarket.

Entstehung
Weniger als einen Monat nach der letzten Vorstellung des Orlando am 5. Mai 1733 schied der berühmte Kastrat Senesino aus Händels Ensemble aus, nachdem er schon mindestens seit Januar mit einer in Planung befindlichen konkurrierenden Operntruppe, die am 15. Juni 1733 gegründet und bald als Opera of the Nobility ("Adelsoper") bekannt wurde, über einen Vertrag verhandelt hatte. In identischen Pressemitteilungen des The Bee und des The Craftsman vom 2. Juni heißt es:

Senesino schlossen sich fast alle anderen Sänger Händels an: Antonio Montagnana, Francesca Bertolli und die Celestina. Nur die Sopranistin Anna Maria Strada del Pò hielt Händel die Treue. Nachdem er von einer erfolgreichen Konzertreihe im Juli 1733 aus Oxford zurückgekehrt war, schrieb Händel eine neue Oper, Arianna in Creta, für die kommende Saison und bereitete gleich drei Pasticci mit Musik der "moderneren" Komponisten Vinci und Hasse vor, vielleicht, um die konkurrierende Adelsoper und ihren musikalischen Chef Porpora mit den eigenen Waffen zu schlagen.

Indes wartete London gespannt auf die neue Opernsaison, wie Antoine-François Prévost d'Exiles, Autor des berühmten Romans Manon Lescaut, in seiner Wochenschrift Le Pour et le Contre (Das Für und Wider) schreibt:

Händel und Heidegger stellten eilig eine neue Truppe und ein neues Repertoire zusammen. Margherita Durastanti, inzwischen Mezzosopranistin, über drei Jahrzehnte zuvor in Italien Händels Primadonna, in den frühen 1720er Jahren – vor der großen Zeit der Francesca Cuzzoni und Faustina Bordoni – die Hauptstütze der Royal Academy of Music, kehrte aus Italien zurück, obgleich sie ihren letzten Auftritt der Saison am 17. März 1724 mit den gesungenen Zeilen einer englischen Kantate abgeschlossen hatte:

Durch den fast kompletten Wechsel seines Ensembles, verblieb Händel für die Vorbereitung der neuen Spielzeit sehr wenig Zeit. Dazu kamen noch die Oratorienaufführungen in Oxford, die ihn den Juli über beschäftigten. Es ist anzunehmen, dass er die neue Spielzeit schon zeitiger geplant hatte, ohne etwas von der Kündigung seiner Sänger zu ahnen, denn der Fünf-Jahres-Vertrag, den er mit Heidegger im Jahre 1729 abgeschlossen hatte, lief ja noch, wenn auch in seinem letzten Jahr. Möglicherweise war das Pasticcio Semiramide schon fertig, denn er hatte in den letzten Jahren immer ein Pasticcio pro Spielzeit herausgebracht. Doch nun forderte die neue Situation, dass Händel mehr Opern produzieren musste, als er es in den letzten Jahren getan hatte. So entstanden sicher die beiden anderen Pasticci der Saison, Caio Fabbricio und Arbace. Es ist anzunehmen, dass die Partituren der beiden sehr beliebten Opern von Hasse und Vinci in London zur Verfügung standen.

Zu Beginn der Spielzeit hatte Händel seine neue Sängerriege komplett. Zwei neue Kastraten, Carlo Scalzi und Giovanni Carestini, waren engagiert worden, und so konnte Händel am 30. Oktober, dem Geburtstag von König George (ein Tag, der üblicherweise mit einem fürstlichen Ball im St James's Palace begangen wurde), mit Semiramide riconosciuta die Spielzeit eröffnen: zwei Monate vor seinen Konkurrenten, obwohl er neue Sänger hatte, die Adelsoper dagegen seine alte Truppe. Diesmal aber beschloss der gesamte Hofstaat, die Oper zu besuchen, selbst der Prinz von Wales war anwesend, obwohl er sonst unverhohlen die Adelsoper unterstützte. Ein erster taktischer Sieg also für Händel. Doch der zweite Abend verlief weniger günstig, wie wir von Lady Bristol erfahren, die an ihren Gatten schrieb:

Es ist unklar, ob Lady Bristol meinte, Semiramide sei künstlerisch langweilig – obwohl Händel ja durch die Auswahl der Arien versuchte, den aktuellen Geschmack zu treffen –, oder ob ihr eine interessante Unterhaltung mit anderen Zuschauern fehlte.

 Besetzung der Uraufführung
 Semiramide – Margherita Durastanti (Mezzosopran)
 Tamiri – Anna Maria Strada del Pó (Sopran)
 Scitalce – Giovanni Carestini, genannt "Il Cusanino" (Mezzosoprankastrat)
 Mirteo – Carlo Scalzi, genannt "Il Cichione" (Soprankastrat)
 Ircano – Maria Caterina Negri (Alt)
 Sibari – Maria Rosa Negri (Mezzosopran)

Es stellt sich die Frage, warum Händel so viele Opern anderer Komponisten statt seiner eigenen auf die Bühne brachte. Nach der Eröffnung der Spielzeit mit Semiramide gab es eine Wiederaufnahme seines Ottone (13. November) und Hasses Caio Fabbricio (4. Dezember). Aber seine Antwort auf Porporas Arianna in Nasso (1. Januar 1734) bei der Adelsoper, war nicht seine eigene Arianna – obwohl diese längst abgeschlossen war –, sondern Vincis Arbace am 5. Januar. Er wollte Porporas neuer Musik und dem aktuellen Geschmack der Adelsoper bewusst nicht seine, sondern die moderne, von der Melodie dominierte und weniger kontrapunktische Schreibweise des "gegnerischen" Lagers, noch dazu deren populärste Gesänge der vergangenen Jahre, entgegensetzen. Doch Händels Berechnung scheint in diesem Punkt nicht ganz aufgegangen zu sein, denn nur Arbace – unter dem originalen Titel Artaserse war es bald der beliebteste Opernstoff Italiens –, hatte mit acht Vorstellungen einen gewissen Eindruck gemacht, Semiramide und Caio kamen hingegen auf nur je vier Aufführungen. Die Hoffnungen, die Konkurrenz mit deren eigenen Waffen in Schach halten zu können, wurden also enttäuscht. Händels Anhänger waren auf dessen Kompositionen fixiert, während diejenigen, die er mit der Musik der neuen Italiener zu gewinnen hoffte, nicht zuletzt aus Loyalität zur Konkurrenz fernblieben.

Die erste Wiederaufführung des Händel'schen Pasticcios, auch in Originalsprache und historischer Aufführungspraxis gab es am 23. September 2013 in der Wiener Kammeroper mit dem Bach Consort Wien und unter der musikalischen Leitung von Alan Curtis.

Libretto und Handlung
Der komplexe Stoff geht zurück auf einige venezianische Opern des siebzehnten Jahrhunderts. Das Libretto Semiramide riconosciuta ist das sechste Werk Pietro Metastasios, des späteren kaiserlichen Hofdichters Karls VI. Es ist das zweite von vier Opernlibretti, welches dieser für das Teatro delle Dame in Rom schrieb, bevor er nach Wien ging. Die anderen sind Catone in Utica (1728), Alessandro nell'Indie (1729) und Artaserse (1730). Alle vier Opern wurden erstmals von Leonardo Vinci vertont. Semiramide wurde mit dessen Musik in der Karnevalssaison am 6. Januar 1729 uraufgeführt und Metastasio erlaubte Nicola Porpora noch im gleichen Jahr, das Libretto ebenfalls zu vertonen, und so kam die Oper am 26. Dezember 1729 am Teatro San Giovanni Crisostomo auch in Venedig heraus.

Musik
Von allen von Händel arrangierten Pasticci hat Semiramide die geringste Übereinstimmung mit der musikalischen Vorlage, auf der es basiert. Dies liegt größtenteils daran, dass Händel diesmal keine vollständige Partitur der Oper von Vinci vorlag, sondern eine Sammlung von Arien, der die Instrumentalstücke, Chöre, Rezitative und darüber hinaus zwei Arien, welche direkt in ein Rezitativ münden, fehlten. Auf Wunsch der Sänger wurden zudem auch noch die meisten Arien der Vorlage zugunsten solcher von Francesco Corselli, Francesco Feo, Johann Adolf Hasse, Leonardo Leo, Giovanni Porta, Domenico Sarro und aus anderen Opern Vincis über Bord geworfen. Neben einer Reduzierung der Arien-Anzahl wurden diese selbst auch durch Striche innerhalb des musikalischen Verlaufs gekürzt.
Die Hauptrolle in Semiramide wurde nicht von der Strada, sondern von Margherita Durastanti gesungen, vermutlich, weil der herrische Charakter dieser Rolle, die über weite Strecken als Mann verkleidet ist, besonders gut zu letzterer passte. In der letzten Szene baute Händel wieder einen "Last Song" Un' aura placida (Nr. 27) von Porta ein, diesmal für den Primo Uomo Giovanni Carestini. Dieser, der eine Rolle übernahm, die Vinci für einen Tenor entworfen hatte, sang nur Arien aus seinem eigenen Repertoire, während die Strada wohl alle originalen Arien inakzeptabel fand, abgesehen von einer, die Vinci für den jungen Kastraten Pietro Morigi geschrieben hatte. Obwohl Vinci die Rolle des Mirteo für Scalzi komponiert hatte, musste Händel seine Arien transponieren und in einem Fall sogar durch eine andere ersetzen, weil sich dessen Tessitur seit 1729 deutlich gesenkt hatte. Seine Arien wurden sich zuerst um einen Ton nach unten gesetzt, dann um eine kleine Terz, und schließlich in einem dritten Schritt um eine große Terz.

Als die Rolle des Ircano noch für den Bassisten Gustav Waltz vorgesehen war, der dann in letzter Minute ausschied, ging Händel den ungewöhnlichen Schritt und komponierte seine Arie Saper bramate (Nr. 14) völlig um. Rau, anmaßend und ziemlich absurd war die Rolle des Ircano von Metastasio und Vinci für den Kastraten Gaetano Berenstadt, bekannt für sein stürmisches Wesen, vormals konzipiert worden. Händel überarbeitete nun diese Arie, in der sich Ircano weigert, sich allen anderen zu erklären, vermutlich auch, um die Beiträge Waltz' ins Komische zu lenken. In erster Linie war dieses Umschreiben jedoch nötig, um die Oktavtransposition vom Alt- ins Bassregister schlüssig umzusetzen. So sehen wir ein Beispiel, dass eine einfache Versetzung der Gesangsstimme um eine Oktave nach unten (wie es an unseren heutigen Opernhäusern mit den Kastratenrollen häufig geschieht), für Händel künstlerisch keine Lösung war. An vielen Stellen änderte er hier den Basso continuo und versetzte die erste Geigenstimme eine Oktave nach unten. Die zweiten verlassen in den Gesangspassagen ihre ursprüngliche Stimme und spielen unisono mit den ersten Violinen. Die Bratschen konnten nun in der neuen Version, wenn der Sänger einsetzte, nicht mehr "al'ottava col Basso" (in der Oktave mit dem Basso continuo) weiterspielen, und wurden dann einfach weggelassen. Über diese notwendigen Anpassungen hinaus, ging Händel aber viel weiter: Oft veränderte er die Kontur der Melodie und des Continuo, nicht einfach um die zweiteilige Struktur, sondern auch, um die motivische Einheit zu erhalten und ersetzte zwei große Abschnitte, welche bei Vinci motivisch eigenständig sind, durch die Wiederholung von Passagen. Er verbesserte strukturell den Kontrast zwischen der ersten und zweiten Zeile des Textes, was Vinci noch dem Sänger überlassen hatte, durch die Übertragung einer kontrastierenden Unisono-Gruppe auch in den zweiten Teil. Eine zusätzliche Fermate und die Wiederholung der letzten Worte, gefolgt von einem Ritornell zeigen, dass dem Sänger hier die Möglichkeit gegeben werden sollte, eine Kadenz anzubringen, was bei Vinci nicht möglich war. Das Schlussritornell, welches ganz neu ist, bringt eine Piano-Passage, welche bemerkenswerterweise Vincis ganze Konzeption der Arie musikalisch in Frage stellt: chromatische Harmonien, wiederhole Pedaltöne und übergebundene punktierte Viertel gehören in die Welt der Siciliano-Arie, wie wir sie von vielen anderen Stellen bei Händel kennen. Auch der Mittelteil ist sehr nahe an den Siciliani seiner eigenen Werke. Hier ist er am weitesten von der Vorlage entfernt. Offenbar hatte er zunächst schlicht die Absicht, eine Transposition der Arie zu schreiben, doch je weiter er sich darin vertiefte, desto mehr kam seine eigene Persönlichkeit zutage und war es für ihn bequemer, neu zu komponieren, als ein stimmiges Arrangement der Musik eines Anderen zu machen.

Leider ist eine weitere Arie, die für Waltz im dritten Akt bestimmt war, verloren. Man vermutete zunächst, Waltz sei erkrankt gewesen. Eine wahrscheinlichere Erklärung ist, dass Händel seinen Bassisten mit Johann Friedrich Lampe vom Drury Lane Theatre teilen musste, und dieser gerade an einer Wiederaufnahme seiner Burleske The Opera of Operas or Tom Thumb the Great arbeitete, die am 7. November mit Waltz in der Hauptrolle als Grizzle Premiere haben sollte. So mussten die Pläne für die Partie des Ircano dahingehend geändert werden, dass die ursprüngliche Altlage der Partie beibehalten und diese mit einer Sängerin, Maria Caterina Negri, besetzt werden konnte. Auch deren ursprüngliche Partie (Sibari) musste nun erneut für ihre Schwester Rosa bearbeitet werden.

Eine der Arien, die Maria Caterina Negri mitbrachte, als sie die Rolle übernahm, war aus Hasses Cajo Fabricio (Rom 1732), aber das scheint eine private Kopie der Negri gewesen zu sein und stammte nicht aus der Partitur der Hasse-Oper von Charles Jennens, welche Händel dann ein paar Wochen später benutzte, um sein Pasticcio Caio Fabbricio vorzubereiten. In Sibaris Arie Pensa ad amare (Nr. 6) fügte Händel in der Direktionspartitur, heute in der Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Hamburg, einen Violinenpart zur Gesangsstimme hinzu. Kein Zweifel, dass die von Rosa Negri mitgebrachte Kopie dieser Arie unvollständig war.

Anstelle der fehlenden Ouvertüre verwendet Händel die zu Vincis Artaserse (Rom 1730), einer Oper, die er später als Grundlage seines Pasticcios Arbace nutzen würde. In der zweiten Szene des zweiten Aktes gibt es in Vincis Vorlage einen Chor und ein Ballett, die im Rezitativ durch die Worte ognuno la mensa onori, e intanto misto risuoni ein liete danze il canto eingeführt werden. Händel korrigierte dies in perfektem Italienisch: ... e intanto sciolga ognuno la lingua in dolce canto, was es möglich machte, das Ballett wegzulassen. Dann erwies sich jedoch auch der Chor als zu viel und dessen Strich wurde möglich durch die Beendigung des Rezitativs mit den Worten ... la mensa onori. Anstelle des Chores setzte er eine kurze Sinfonia, die schon für sein Pasticcio Venceslao (1731) gedient hatte, so dass alles, was von Metastasios und Vincis großer Bankett-Szene übrig blieb, dieses unprätentiöse Instrumentalstück war, was nach Meinung der einen (z. B. Strohm) eine Komposition Händels, aber nach anderer Meinung (z. B. Roberts) keinesfalls sein Stück ist. Der Schlusschor, zu dem Metastasios Text nicht so recht passen will, konnte ebenso nicht identifiziert werden. Im kurzen Chor zuvor in der gleichen Szene, welcher Semiramide als Königin bejubelt, und der später das achttaktige Ritornell des Schlusschores bildet, gestaltet Händel die Bassstimme später um, sodass sie von einem Tenor (Rochetti?) anstatt eines Basses (Waltz) gesungen werden konnte.

Beim Schreiben der neuen Rezitative orientierte sich Händel sehr am dramatisch-kraftvollen Text Metastasios, wie in der Eröffnungsszene, die sich vollständig im Rezitativ entfaltet, und der Konfrontation zwischen Semiramide und Scitalce am Ende des zweiten Aktes. Sie sind so fein gezeichnet, wie selten in den Rezitativen seiner eigenen Opern. Neuartig ist auch in der letzten Szene, dass Mirteo Sibaris entscheidenden Brief ganz ohne Begleitung vorliest, nur gelegentlich von Akkorden kommentiert.

Händel und das Pasticcio
Das Pasticcio war für Händel eine Quelle, von der er in dieser Zeit, da ihn die Konkurrenz-Situation mit der Adelsoper unter Druck setzte, häufiger Gebrauch machte. Sie waren weder in London noch auf dem Kontinent etwas Neues, aber Händel hatte in den Jahren zuvor bisher nur eines, L'Elpidia, ovvero Li rivali generosi im Jahre 1724 herausgebracht. Jetzt lieferte er innerhalb von fünf Jahren gleich sieben mehr: Ormisda in 1729/30, Venceslao 1730/31, Lucio Papirio dittatore im Jahre 1731/32, Catone 1732/33, und nun nicht weniger als drei, Semiramide riconosciuta, Caio Fabbricio und Arbace in 1733/34.
Händels Arbeitsweise bei der Konstruktion der Pasticci war sehr verschieden, alle Stoffe aber basieren auf in den europäischen Opernmetropolen vertrauten Libretti von Zeno oder Metastasio, denen sich viele zeitgenössische Komponisten angenommen hatten – vor allem Leonardo Vinci, Johann Adolph Hasse, Nicola Porpora, Leonardo Leo, Giuseppe Orlandini und Geminiano Giacomelli. Händel komponierte die Rezitative oder bearbeitete bereits vorhandene aus der gewählten Vorlage. Sehr selten schrieb er eine Arie um, in der Regel, um sie einer anderen Stimmlage und Tessitur anzupassen. Wo es möglich war, bezog er das Repertoire des betreffenden Sängers in die Auswahl der Arien mit ein. Meist mussten die Arien, wenn sie von einem Zusammenhang in den anderen transferiert oder von einem Sänger auf den anderen übertragen wurden, transponiert werden. Auch bekamen diese mittels des Parodieverfahrens einen neuen Text. Das Ergebnis musste durchaus nicht immer sinnvoll sein, denn es ging mehr darum, die Sänger glänzen zu lassen, als ein stimmiges Drama zu produzieren. Abgesehen von Ormisda und Elpidia, die die einzigen waren, welche Wiederaufnahmen erlebten, waren Händels Pasticci nicht besonders erfolgreich, aber wie auch Wiederaufnahmen, erforderten sie weniger Arbeit als das Komponieren und Einstudieren neuer Werke und konnten gut als Lückenbüßer oder Saisonstart verwendet werden oder einspringen, wenn eine neue Oper, wie es bei Partenope im Februar 1730 und Ezio im Januar 1732 der Fall war, ein Misserfolg war.
Händel Pasticci haben ein wichtiges gemeinsames Merkmal: Die Quellen waren allesamt zeitgenössische und populäre Stoffe, welche in jüngster Vergangenheit von vielen Komponisten, die im "modernen" neapolitanischen Stil setzten, vertont worden waren. Er hatte diesen mit der Elpidia von Vinci in London eingeführt und später verschmolz dieser Stil mit seiner eigenen kontrapunktischen Arbeitsweise zu jener einzigartigen Mischung, welche seine späteren Opern durchdringen.

Orchester
Zwei Oboen, zwei Hörner, zwei Trompeten, Pauken, Streicher, Basso continuo (Violoncello, Laute, Cembalo).

Literatur
 Reinhard Strohm: Handel's pasticci. In: Essays on Handel and Italian Opera. Cambridge University Press 1985, Reprint 2008, ISBN 978-0-521-26428-0, S. 183 ff. (englisch).
 Bernd Baselt: Thematisch-systematisches Verzeichnis. Instrumentalmusik, Pasticci und Fragmente. In: Walter Eisen (Hrsg.): Händel-Handbuch: Band 3. Deutscher Verlag für Musik, Leipzig 1986, ISBN 3-7618-0716-3, S. 376 f.
 Kurt Sven Markstrom: The Operas of Leonardo Vinci, Napoletano. (1993) Opera Series Nr. 2, Pendragon Press, Hillsdale 2007, ISBN 978-1-57647-094-7.
 John H. Roberts: Semiramide riconosciuta. In: Annette Landgraf und David Vickers: The Cambridge Handel Encyclopedia. Cambridge University Press 2009, ISBN 978-0-521-88192-0, S. 579 f. (englisch).
 Winton Dean: Handel's Operas, 1726–1741. Boydell & Brewer, London 2006. Reprint: The Boydell Press, Woodbridge 2009, ISBN 978-1-84383-268-3, S. 128 ff. (englisch).
 Pietro Metastasio: Semiramis. Riconosciuta. Drama. Da rappresentarsi nel Regio Teatro d'Hay-Market.  Reprint des Librettos von 1733, Gale Ecco, Print Editions, Hampshire 2010, ISBN 978-1-170-47542-3.
 Steffen Voss: Pasticci: Semiramide riconosciuta. In: Hans Joachim Marx (Hrsg.): Das Händel-Handbuch in 6 Bänden: Das Händel-Lexikon. (Band 6), Laaber-Verlag, Laaber 2011, ISBN 978-3-89007-552-5, S. 559.

Weblinks

 weitere Angaben zu Semiramide riconosciuta. (haendel.it)
 weitere Angaben zu Semiramide riconosciuta. (gfhandel.org)
 Libretto von Semiramide (Metastasio/Vinci)
 Semiramide in Wien 2013
 Herz-Schmerz-Pasticcio. Kritik zu Wiederaufführung in der Wiener Zeitung

Einzelnachweise

Operntitel
Oper aus dem 18. Jahrhundert
Oper in italienischer Sprache
Opera seria
Oper von Georg Friedrich Händel
Musik 1733
Werk nach Pietro Metastasio


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Enjoy your mini Italian turkey burgers!


text:
Ethel Dorothy BLONDIN-ANDREW
BLONDIN-ANDREW, The Hon. Ethel Dorothy, P.C., B.Ed.
Western Arctic (Northwest Territories)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethel_Blondin-Andrew
http://www.parl.gc.ca/parlinfo/Files/Parliamentarian.aspx?Item=48d581ee-d2d4-46ff-9f50-6934e122298f&Language=E&Section=ALL
educator, public servant
Parliamentary Career
October 25, 1993 - April 27, 1997
Secretary of State (Training and Youth) (November 4, 1993 - June 10, 1997)
Secretary of State (Children and Youth) (June 11, 1997 - December 11, 2003)
Minister of State (Children and Youth) (December 12, 2003 - July 19, 2004)
Minister of State (Northern Development) (July 20, 2004 - February 5, 2006)
Most Recent Speeches (Page 1 of 119)
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Hon. Ethel Blondin-Andrew (Minister of State (Northern Development), Lib.)
Mr. Speaker, the Government of Canada is very concerned about the quality of education for first nations children and all aboriginal children across Canada. We invest millions and millions of dollars across the country. The first ministers will be meeting in November to plan along with the government the results that are desired by the first nations on education for their children.
Topic: Oral Questions
Subtopic: Aboriginal Affairs
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Mr. Speaker, as I speak, the minister is on his way to Kashechewan to engage with the people of that community on the priority of their health and the safety of their water. Last week we dispatched certified water treatment operators. They arrived on Sunday. They have been successful in stabilizing the disinfection system and eliminating the risk of bacteria in the treated water supply.
To date, at the request of the chief, we have shipped 26,000 litres of bottled water because we are very concerned about the health of those people. The minister is there to engage with them.
Hon. Ethel Blondin-Andrew
Mr. Speaker, I would never claim to be an expert on Quebec, but I do appreciate that Quebec has forged a unique relationship with first nations. Agreements have been struck that relate to resource development revenues and that help to empower the Cree of James Bay and work with all first nations in Quebec.
Quebec has its strengths. It is known for the work that it does on the social agenda, for all of its social programs: child care, housing, and looking at the needs of the civil society in terms of how community development happens, how people live within a community and what their needs are.
The first nations are very indicative of those needs. Quebec has been very skilled at being able to integrate the first nations into this. Not only that, but Quebec has been very skilled at developing a very good relationship with the first nations leadership like Matthew Coon Come, Bill Namagoose, Albert "Billy" Diamond and many of the other leaders, all those people who are from the Quebec aboriginal leadership community. A good leadership relationship was forged. That is the unique part of it. Also, the work plan set together to achieve those milestones is pretty significant.
I think Quebec does set a good example, but every province has its own story to tell, not just one province. All the different communities have that story to tell as well. It is not one partisan issue. Successive governments replace one another and basically do a good job with the first nations. We have to look at those examples.
For me it is not a partisan issue; it is what each different government does well, what are the best practices and what we learn from them. I understand that. To be fair, we have to look at what different provinces and municipalities have achieved. Some people will say that a province is weak in one area but strong in another. Forging that relationship with the leadership and setting an agenda with the first nations has been pretty significant. That is hard to deny.
Topic: Government Orders
Subtopic: First Nations Oil and Gas and Moneys Management Act
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise in the House today to speak to this legislation.
Serving the public here in the House of Commons is a wild and wonderful experience. I have just come from the Commonwealth Room where I met with the Métis of Alberta. If there ever was a group that was impacted by resources in their region it is that group. They felt such empowerment from the legislation they put together in terms of the Métis settlement. It will enable them to create wealth and opportunities for employment for themselves. This speaks loudly in support of Bill C-54. This legislation is necessary, empowering and definitive.
The Métis were here today to announce the opening of an office in Ottawa. This will further empower them to achieve and enact the provisions of their settlement.
Bill C-54, the first nations oil and gas and moneys management act, will equip first nations that choose to participate with vital tools to create good jobs, stimulate economic activity and improve the quality of life in their communities.
I would also like to share some of the successes of my first nations constituents in oil and gas development north of 60. It is not doom and gloom. People have different interpretations on how expropriation works. The reality is that every democratic government does not have expropriation as the first step. It is something that is done after having exhausted every other possibility.
I like to be positive about these things. I think this is a wonderful piece of legislation. I am really into empowering our people to create their own wealth and to be self-sustaining. Bill C-54 does that. It makes the rules quite clear, which is a good thing.
First and foremost, this legislation was designed to respond to the specific needs of the three sponsoring first nations, the White Bear First Nation, the Blood Tribe and the Siksika First Nation, which were directly involved with the first nations oil and gas pilot project launched in 1994. Not every pilot project ends in legislation. Obviously a lot of success was gleaned from that pilot project.
I would like to take this opportunity to recognize the efforts of the sponsoring first nations and the great success that has already been achieved over the past decade. Their commitment to working in partnership with Canada to develop this legislation is honoured as we help them to reach their goals.
Bill C-54 builds on the excellent progress the government has made through several recent initiatives, including the Canada-aboriginal peoples round table, the policy retreat, and the upcoming historic first ministers meeting. It builds on the commitments made in recent Speeches from the Throne, budgets, land claims and self-government agreements. We have achieved some major milestones with our partners in the aboriginal community across the country.
This legislation provides two related but distinct authorities for first nations. First, it provides communities that opt in with the authority to gain complete control and management over their oil and gas resources, creating jobs in the expanding oil and gas sector. Second, it provides these communities with the authority to gain complete control over the management of their moneys held by Canada on their behalf, allowing them to respond to emerging economic opportunities. Therein lies the challenge. First nations are not always in a situation to do that, but in this case we are heading in the right direction. I believe this will be very helpful.
A first nation that chooses to opt for the legislation can opt in to either the oil and gas provisions or the money provisions or both.
Economic development on reserve and strengthening communities continue to be priorities of the government. I am pleased to note that first nations communities both north and south of 60 will be able to take advantage of the opportunities afforded under the moneys management provisions of the legislation.
However, the oil and gas provisions do not apply in the north because oil and gas development is presently governed by a distinct legislative and regulatory framework. South of 60, FNOGMMA as Bill C-54 is known, would remove several levels of federal oversight and offer to first nations the same benefits that many northern communities are already enjoying in managing their own resources. In fact equity participation is a huge part of that. That is something I just gleaned from a recent trip to St. Petersburg, Russia to attend an oil and gas symposium. All circumpolar indigenous peoples have the aspiration to be involved in managing the resources that are in their region, and any of the resource development activity that takes place.
Extensive efforts have been made and continue to be made in the north to negotiate land claim and self-government agreements to respond to first nations' and Inuit people's desire to manage their political and social affairs and to advance economic development and self-sufficiency. That is the goal of every government at all levels.
Regarding oil and gas development and management, the land claim and self-government agreements enable resource development in the north. They clarify land and resource ownership rights, which are of vital importance to investors. These agreements have created conditions for sustainable economic and social development, providing a land base, opportunities for economic development and modern institutions of government to secure a higher standard of living and quality of life for all northern and first nations people.
Consider for instance the Inuvialuit whose land claim was finalized more than two decades ago. Since then the Inuvialuit have secured valuable partnerships with several companies and have launched dozens of businesses. These partnerships and businesses generate revenues that help pay for physical and social infrastructure in Inuvialuit communities and create jobs and training opportunities. They create hope and a vision of prosperity for the people in that region, or at least participating in the wealth that is being created in that area.
By facilitating the success of resource projects, land claim and self-government agreements also have a significant impact on Canada's economy. The economic benefits of large scale resource development projects are felt across the country. Never let it be said that people are not trying to achieve important milestones in going ahead with these projects. Anyone who says to the contrary is wrong.
Land claim settlements and self-government agreements are just one way to ensure first nations and Inuit peoples have the tools needed to assist in fostering business partnerships between industry and aboriginal groups. FNOGMMA provides first nations with similar tools and will also be of tremendous benefit, as we have seen from the northern experience.
Although Bill C-54 describes a somewhat different path than the land claims settlement or self-government approach, it is designed to enable first nations to achieve many of the same goals, such as fostering prosperity and strengthening communities. With the passage of this legislation, first nations that vote to come under its provisions will have more tools available to them as they seek to be more self-sufficient and better able to take charge of their economies. What more could we want for people of any part of this country?
The management authority that this legislation provides will help create jobs in the oil and gas sector, as well as in the many spinoff businesses and all of the value added that result, helping first nations improve their members' quality of life and standard of living. This is a goal shared by all members of this House, I am sure, and all Canadians.
Every community has the right to decide for itself whether it wants to take advantage of this legislation. It simply provides the three sponsoring first nations, and any other first nations in similar situations that choose to opt in, with the authority to assume control of their oil and gas and related revenues, and to assume control of moneys held on their behalf by the Crown.
In effect, Bill C-54 will enable first nations communities to participate in the oil and gas sector and to access moneys held in trust. With these powers, first nations will become more engaged in the economy and better able to implement projects that will improve social and economic infrastructure in their communities, as we have witnessed in land claim settlements and self-government agreements.
If we consider the example of the Inuvialuit or, more recently, the Tlicho, the Labrador Inuit, the Westbank First Nation and even the Kwanlin Dün self-government agreement signed in February of this year, we can see where Bill C-54 might lead. We can see improvements in the transportation networks and in health care and educational facilities. We can see post-secondary scholarships, youth centres and assisted living residences for seniors. For the first time in generations, we can see young people looking forward to bright futures.
In the end, this is what Bill C-54 is all about: enabling first nations to assume greater control of their social and economic destinies. It is about ensuring that first nations have the access to the tools they need to improve the quality of life in their communities.
It is through these types of arrangements, whether they are land claim settlements, self-government agreements or initiatives such as FNOGMMA that ways are found to forge a lasting partnership between first nations and Canada which will set us on a new path toward prosperity.
In my area, we are proposing to build a pipeline that is 1,200 miles long, all along the Mackenzie route. We have achieved significant milestones to move that along. These are not easy things. It is this type of legislation south of 60 that will enable our friends, relatives, people in the south and neighbours to be part of what is happening in their backyard. That is so important. For too long, aboriginal people have been sitting back and waiting for arrangements to evolve. That is not going to happen.
This bill will help that. This is the work of first nations people. They did the pilot project that actually enabled them to come up with this legislation. They are responsible for this. This is a very good piece of legislation. We should support it.
We believe the empowerment of our people is a singular objective of every first nation in Canada. I want to appeal to the members of the House to support this wholeheartedly.
Mr. Speaker, National Aboriginal Day is the day of recognition for Canada's aboriginal people, and to acknowledge their contributions to Canada, their cultures, their traditions and their spirit as the first people of this country.
The past year has seen significant achievements. Last month the Government of Canada signed five accords with national organizations which reflect the renewed and strengthened relationship with first nations, Inuit and Métis people, and ensure a full partnership on issues that matter most to aboriginal people like health, education and housing.


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Massage is a general term for pressing, rubbing and manipulating your skin, muscles, tendons and ligaments. Massage may range from light stroking to deep pressure. But what is "medicinal" massage?
How Does Medicinal Massage Differ From Regular Massage Techniques?
As regular massage therapy is generally considered part of complementary and alternative medicine, it doesn't fall under "medicinal".
"Deep tissue massage, sports massage, hot stone massage, trigger point, reflexology, craniosacral, zero balancing, Feldenkrais, acupressure, Alexander, Jin Shin Do, Thai massage, neuromuscular, polarity, reiki, Rolfing and even more. These are all effective techniques when applied in the context they address," Keller writes, adding, "But, the effect of [medicinal massage] is very similar to what your surgeon may do in implanting a nerve root stimulator in your spine," Keller writes.