There is no question that almost everyone’s lives have changed due to the outbreak of COVID-19. Some people’s lives have changed drastically; with a loss of a job or sadly even a family member. Other people were simply implemented with minor inconveniences such as boredom at home or not having a mask at hand for Walmart. 

Though the economy has installed many adjustments to create a temporary “new normal,” what about the other factors that go into everyday life that have been affected by this global pandemic, such as the dating world. 

Personally for me, self-quarantining has actually been what initially inspired me to want to download apps such as Tinder and Bumble. Certainly not because I’m genuinely looking for a serious, committed relationship (I wouldn’t go to “the hook-up app” for that anyways) but more-so because my boredom has evoked a curiosity for how it all even works now that my “match” can’t take me out to dinner!

Much to my surprise, the mindless swiping and the corny pick-up lines were the perfect way to pass time during those uneventful first few weekends of quarantine. I actually enjoyed sitting in on Friday nights and talking with these strangers about their experiences during these hard times and even acquired some new FaceTime buddies. On the contrary, I could not believe that despite the entire world being shut down (this was late March btw) that some of the men I had matched with had suggested hanging out and actually wanted to meet me (a stranger) during a pandemic! What if I had the COVID? Do they simply not care? Not only that but there is no place to go. No Red Lobster to justify the one night stand with Ben from the neighborhood down the road. Would they wear a mask? No, probably not considering they’re texting me telling me how kissable I look. These men. I just could not wrap my head around their social distancing mentality. Survival of the fittest I guess. I personally do not believe any vagina is worth the risk of a ventilator but I guess that’s a question we haven’t yet asked Dr. Anthony Fauci.

A boy wakes up after falling from the sky and finds himself in front of a giant tower with no other choice but to reach the top. Along the way he meets a cute little cat animal thing who joins him on his journey to reach the top, and hopefully recover his memories.

LUNA the Shadow Dust is a PC puzzle adventure game by Application Systems Heidelberg and Lantern Studios. You play as the unnamed boy and an unnamed animal (who is referred to as “pet” in the description.) The characters are interchangeable and you will need both to solve the various puzzles in each room. You go into LUNA the Shadow Dust completely blind. No hints, no voices, no words –cept for the occasional sign – no explanation on what to do, nothing. They want you to be as clueless as the boy is.

You enter each new room and floor to find a puzzle waiting for you. You have to do a lot of moving things and climbing and random button pressing and level pulling and other stuffs. The puzzles are complex and unique and involve a lot of trial and error. On the plus side, you can’t make any fatal mistakes so just try everything till you get it. The rooms are all linear and everything you need to solve it is in that room as well so don’t worry about thinking you missed something.
There are no hints or skips in LUNA the Shadow Dust. It would have been nice to have even a small hint option as some of the puzzles are rather complex. However, having no help at all gives you a real idea of how the boy is feeling – being trapped in a room with no idea how to get out. But this isn’t reality and darn-it people like hints!

The art of LUNA the Shadow Dust is very well done and just beautiful. It’s all hand drawn and well designed. Each item really stands out and even the facial expressions of the two characters are detailed. The visual story is revealed slowly as you complete levels and travel higher in the tower. No background is given at first and no explanation of who the boy or pet is till you play higher and higher. Even when things are reveled, there is still no words or voice, just enchanting visuals.

The music was one of the best parts of LUNA the Shadow Dust. Each room has it’s own unique song that not only gives you nice peaceful ambiance, but also really sets the mood for each room. For instance, if the room is more calm then the music is calmer, if the room is a bit scary then so is the music. Either way, the sounds are beautiful and makes the hard puzzles a bit less stressful. LUNA the Shadow Dust is not very long either, you can complete it in one or two sittings.

So though it is short and there are no hints or help given to you in the game, I found LUNA the Shadow Dust to be very well made, fun and just a beautiful beautiful game! The art and music are perfect and really adds sometime special to the gameplay. The puzzles are challenging but logical and actually really fun. I give it 4 ½ outta five baby dragons!
LUNA the Shadow Dust. is now out and available on Steam for $19.99. For more info check out Lantern Studio’s site here. Happy gaming all!!

Let’s Stay Together Talk Show is saddened and angered about the senseless death of George Floyd. The tyranny of injustice within our government against African-Americans continues to show its ugly pattern of racism and the symptomatic, stereotypical views that continue to divide our nation. Witnessing how a person can willingly end the life of another, who is helpless to defend himself, will be a continual strain in my soul, but sadly, it seems commonplace in America. 

What we do about this situation is crucial; however, how humanity handles this horrific event is paramount. Regardless of ethnicity, all Americans need to speak out against racism. We are all accountable for the treatment of others. Speaking privately to family and friends can no longer be the norm. This current situation demands that you speak out not only today, but anytime injustice occurs. Be the change that you wish to see in the world. 

Protesting has always been the modus operandi that people used to fight against injustice; however, an injustice protest benefits no one. As the brother of George Floyd echoed, “Let’s try it another way!”   

On our show, I’ve preached about the importance of voting, listening to news affiliates within your area, contacting your government officials, and demanding that they heard the voice of your community. We must demand that our government, including our aldermen’s, mayors, and governors, listen, or vote them out. The Bible says, “The people perish for the lack of knowledge.” We need to know what is happening within our communities, our government, and our cities to affect change. We also need to clean out any corruption within those communities and demand that we have honest law enforcement to protect us. Despite the rhetoric from leadership, we must have a non-violent unity and work together to secure peace.   

To our destructive citizens, violence, destroying property, and looting isn’t the answer. Floyd and others like Tamir Rice, Freddie Gray Michael Brown Jr., Walter Scott, and Eric Garner, who die by the inhumane treatment of African-Americans and people of color, should not be and will not be reduced by your senseless behavior. We understand your frustration; however, you are diminishing those that fought and died for justice by your actions. We plead for you to stop and come together for change. 

Use your political voice to make a change. Form a non-bias group that speaks for the people within your community and demand a forum that works with government officials within your city to secure justice. Although there is civil unrest across America, “No Justice, No Peace” should never be about violence if justice isn’t received. The history of America has shown that violence has been a mechanism to fight against the tyranny of oppression. However, there is never a time for violence. Martin Luther King said, “Hate begets hate; violence begets violence.” We must meet the forces of hate with the power of love.” We must demand justice, and many have nobly died for its cause, but your life is more important and should not be quieted by an otiose moment of violence. I abhor violence for change, but sadly I must admit, freedom never seems to come without it. King also stated that “A riot is the language of the unheard,” which is troubling to my spirit that these words still echo today. People have been forced to riot because the system in place to hear them has ignored their cries. If two wrongs don’t make a right, why are we continuously seeing the chaotic dilemma in our society of which came first, the chicken or the egg? Enough is enough! Let’s stop playing chicken.  

To those who are protesting in a non-violence nature, we commend you. We understand your anger and agree that justice for Floyd needs to occur and that criminal charges ordered against all officers involved. King wrote these words regarding his peaceful protesting. “The only weapon that we have in our hands this evening is the weapon of protest. That’s all.” Stay the course of non-violence. Your unity among the races is a beautiful example of agape love.     

We must also demand that our Democratic and Republican leaders not use this horrendous situation to criticize each other, point blame, berate, or use this historical moment as a political tool to win an election. This is the time for profound, radical change where history can see Americans united together to secure justice for all.  

A word to my non-African-American brothers and sisters that see George Floyd’s death as a travesty, we love that you can see our pain, but where have you been? Your voice is needed! You have the power to erect the necessary change, but where have you been? Please do not let this be another isolated discomfort where you feel you can relate to our historical anguish living in America. We love that you feel our grief; however, we now need you to hear us. 

Believe us when we tell you about the fear we have living around you. The pain we feel when the media degrade us, only showing us in a negative light, which causes you to fear our existence. Understand we want to live peacefully and not be looked at as a criminal just because we are in your neighborhood or walking down a street. Don’t judge all African-Americans just because one person does something wrong. Please get to know us and let us get to know you! You will see we have more in common than the things that divide us.      

To our police brothers and sisters, that honor the badge, your silence for those within the honorable system of justice established to protect, will be sullied if you allow corrupt individuals to destroy that honor. You are implicitly guilty if you kneel in prayer then allow those behind the shield to kill and not speak out. Your fundamental duty is to serve humanity; to safeguard lives, to protect the innocent against deception, the weak against oppression or intimidation, and the peaceful against violence or disorder; and to respect the Constitutional rights of all men. Remember, no matter the political power that speaks, one bad apple doesn’t spoil the whole bunch. Follow the law of protection and not the rule of anarchy expressed by leadership. We love and honor your service, but we are applauded by those that use the badge as a weapon to kill, steal, and destroy lives.       

To the news media across the United States, that continuously report negative stories about African-Americans, we demand you stop criminalizing us as a people. As the Bible says, “We all sin and fall short of God’s glory.” We are honorable, law-abiding people seeking justice without violence and condemn all wrong-doing, including any bias coverage that vilifies one race. You are responsible for how you bring about societal change. Make your coverage a positive change that the world will remember.

As a child, I pattern my life from the life and words of Martin Luther King Jr. King wrote many profound statements like, “There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must take it because conscience tells him it is right,” so this next statement may sound naive. I’m hopeful that we have reached a moment when these horrific events can replace the mentality of violence with a mindset of victory through honest and fair communication.    

Lastly, for those that say that there is no symptomatic racism, your world is the world we all want to witness. Symptomatic racism has been here in America since the days when boats brought slaves to American ports. We must come together to remove the waves of racism and bring us to the shores of equality. History will look at us as the people that (negatively or positively) change the world. How we move forward is up to us all!  

We welcome you to join us tomorrow on Let’s Stay Together Talk Show at 6:30 central time on Soar Radio or Facebook Live. 

Who is on the 2020 election ballot in November.
You are. And I am. And all Americans.
Either we vote for bigotry, hatred and tribalism—or we vote for tolerance, love and inclusiveness.

If  you don’t, you..yes YOU will devolve America to another Banana Republic a la Russia and Putin.

Pay ATTENTION AMERICA, or you lose it.

BY SANDRA GUY

While you’re wearing your mask and sunglasses to protect yourself and others from the coronavirus, don’t forget your sunscreen.

That’s because ultraviolet (UV) rays can damage your skin cells’ DNA. Over time, the exposure can lead to skin cancer as the damage builds up and causes cells to grow.

Experts say it’s best to avoid being out in the sun between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., when ultraviolet radiation’s intensity peaks, and it’s a wise idea to get into the habit of applying sunscreen every day, year-round.

Experts also advise:

* Keep babies less than six months old out of the sun.

* Wear clothing to protect against the sun, including wide-brimmed hats that cover your ears and longer-sleeved shirts.

* Wear UV-protection shirts rather than plain white cotton T-shirts.

* Make sure your sunscreen provides sufficient strength. A sunscreen’s SPF (sun protection factor) should be greater than 30.

* Look for a lotion with broad spectrum protection to shield you from both UV-A and UV-B rays.

* Buy sunscreen with water resistance. No such thing as waterproof exists. If you’re going to be sweating or splashing in the water, you’re reducing the ability of the sunscreen to protect you.

* Make sure you apply enough sunscreen – at least a shot-glass amount. For the face alone, use at least a nickel-sized dollop.

* Beware sun protection sprays and stick roll-ons. They may be more convenient, but make sure you spread the lotion or gel evenly and broadly across your skin.

* Keep applying sunscreen – watch the clock and re-apply 15 minutes before time’s up for a 40-minute stay in the sun.

Skin cancers precipitated by sun-bathing skin damage are the most common form of cancer, with more than 5 million cases diagnosed each year nationwide.

That includes not only Caucasians, but also people of Asian, Latino and African-American descent – many of whom find out they’re affected too late for treatment.

Indeed, 20 percent of Americans will develop some form of skin cancer by age 70, and doctors say they’re seeing more millennials than ever seek treatment for sunbathing-caused skin damage.

Dr. Steve Xu, an instructor in the Department of Dermatology at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, said the youngest person he sees for a sun or tanning-related skin cancer is 21 years old.

“Millennials are probably 20 to 30 percent of all of the patients we see each week for skin checks,” he said.

“Naperville police are investigating the defacement of property at a local park,” according to ABC 7 Chicago and other news outlets.

“White Pride,” gang symbols and other phrases were spray-painted early this week at Cantore Park in Naperville. https://t.co/05Z0JinbXD

— Chicago Sun-Times (@Suntimes) May 30, 2020

The graffiti has since been erased by the Naperville Park District.

PHOTOS: Fallout in Chicago during protests of the death of George Floyd

As questions and proposed plans continue to swirl around all things COVID-19 pandemic, the calendar on college football has flipped to June.

Will players return to campus this summer? What will the NCAA allow? What will individual states allow? Will all conference members participate? Will there be fans in the stands? Can schools afford the testing? Is testing athletes justified compared to the general public? Will there be a delayed start? An extended season? A season at all?

In fact, there may be more questions than players on rosters. It can be overwhelming to consider all the facets, phases and scenarios.

Yet, college football has been here before.

As The Athletic’s Matt Brown wrote last week, ” . . . with the United States fighting in World War I and a flu pandemic spreading around the world, college football had put together a limited 1918 season in which schools scraped together whatever players and games they could. Many didn’t play at all.”

Included in that mass group that didn’t play were the institutions that today make up the four Illinois FCS teams —  Eastern, Southern, Western and Illinois State.

In fact, the “War to End All Wars” also affected athletics a year prior when the United States began sending soldiers across the Atlantic to Europe.

“There’s little question that World War I all but shut down intercollegiate athletics across the nation,” wrote Fred Huff in Saluki Sports History . . . 100 Years of Facts & Highlights. “After athletics director William McAndrew volunteered for military service, it was not until late September that [Southern’s first four-sport athlete] Sam Patterson was contacted and agreed to serve in a non-salaried position as SINU’s football coach.”

William McAndrew

Patterson took over a spartan team with only one returning letterman from 1916’s squad and posted a 2-2 record with all four games being played in November.

When war ended with the Versailles Peace Treaty, life didn’t immediately return as it had been prior to Americans going “over there”.

Eastern, for example, opened 1919 by pasting Hillsboro High School 53-0 en route to a nine-game schedule. Illinois State and Western each played seven games. Nearly all of each school’s games were against in-state or border state opponents.

Southern, however, played just four games under William Lodge, who also coached basketball until a January illness sidelined him. An interesting footnote is that one of Southern’s losses was to Southeast Missouri State, perhaps the only time in intercollegiate history that a team gave up two safeties while being shut out 4-0.

Meanwhile, McAndrew was discharged as a brigadier general and working on a law degree before returning to SINU.

“It was too late, however, to salvage the 1920 football season. The dollars, equipment and a schedule were all missing,” Huff’s book states.

During the ensuing years bridging the two world wars, the athletic departments were led by powerful names that still resonate on the Illinois campuses today — McAndrew (Southern), Charles Lantz (Eastern), Ray “Rock” Hanson (Western) and Howard Hancock (Illinois State).

WWII Years

Brown wrote in The Athletic, “By World War II, the sport had exploded in popularity, survived the Depression and modernized: more bowls, more polls, more fans, more conferences, more structure. The new war effort threatened to shut it all down. About 200 colleges and universities dropped football in 1943. Many were small colleges, but the list also included luminaries such as Alabama, Auburn, Tennessee and Stanford.”

Brown noted, “A year earlier, pessimism about football in 1942 had proven to be exaggerated, but the increased needs of the war effort meant that 18- and 19-year-olds would be drafted into service. College football’s talent supply needed to be tapped for a greater purpose, making 1942 feel like the last gasp of normal football . . . Not only did the war effort threaten to clean out intercollegiate rosters, but it threatened colleges, period.”

United Press International sports editor Leo H. Peterson predicted, “The sport likely to suffer most in 1943 is college football.”

Those words certainly held true as Eastern and Southern fielded no teams that fall. Western stumbled to a 1-6 record and went winless in 1944. Illinois State posted a 6-2-1 record in ’43 and played crosstown rival Illinois Wesleyan twice that autumn.

Brown also wrote, “The Big Ten, home to numerous prospective V-12 schools [designed to supplement the force of commissioned officers in the Navy], swiftly altered its rules, clearing the way for freshmen, transfers and members of the armed forces — even those who played professionally or had exhausted their college eligibility — to suit up and keep the conference on the field.”

Freshman impact

While no professionals trickled down to Carbondale, Charleston, Normal or Macomb, seventeen-year-old Chicago native Fred Carman found his way onto Western’s campus.

“My birthday is in December and I graduated (from high school) in 1943. I was 17 at the time. I enlisted in the Army in the Air Corps, but they wouldn’t take me until after my 18th birthday,” Carman told me in a 2014 interview. “I went to Western, to Macomb, waiting to be called up (by the Army). While I was there I played on the football team in ’43. Many of the great athletes were in the service and so forth.”

With World War II raging in Europe and the Pacific, college enrollments were down. Many schools dropped or suspended athletic programs. Those that remained played limited schedules with reduced rosters.

“It was common to see 17-year olds play,” Randy Roberts, Distinguished Professor of History at Purdue University and author of A Team for America: The Army-Navy Game That Rallied a Nation at War, said in an e-mail.

The 5-foot-9, 165-pound Carman had played football at Chicago’s Marshall High School. Moreover, he was a co-captain.

“Back then we only had three high school sports: football, basketball and baseball. There wasn’t any wrestling or track or swimming. Those three sports were it,” he said. “For basketball they had a team for 5-foot-7 and under and another (team) of unlimited heights. Our Marshall High School basketball team of that time won 98 games over a five-year period and was written up in Time magazine.”

Though he didn’t wind up in any national magazines, Carman did get some ink of his own.

“I had a buddy named Seymour Kaufman who was a semester ahead of me who was the sports editor in high school,” Carman said. “We were friends and whenever he could, Seymour gave me a little plug.”

In Carman’s senior season Marshall faced rival Harrison High School on a rain-soaked field.

SINU’s 1944 team
(photo courtesy of Southern Illinois University)

“I was in our end zone back to punt. The snap from center was lousy, on the ground. I picked it up but couldn’t kick so I ran,” he said.

Carman did far more than run; he weaved his way the length of the field for a touchdown.

“I guess they had no other news to report because the next day in the Chicago Sun had an entire page headline that read ‘Marshall’s Carman Runs 101 yards to Beat Harrison 7-0’. Seymour had called it in, but I was no All-American or anything. I was a better than average player but nothing special,” Carman said.

Star or not, Carman, the football player, will always remember his friend Kaufman, the journalist.

“Unfortunately, he was killed in Normandy, France less than two weeks after D-Day,” Carman said.

So how did the city boy wind up at Western?

“I had friends who had gone there,” he said. “I also had a $50 scholarship from the Letterman’s Club in high school. They gave me 50 bucks for proficiency and scholarship.

“I wanted to be a flyer. I don’t know if it was affiliated with the school or not, but Western had a deal that for $80 you could get 10 hours of flying lessons. I thought I’d do that because it might give me a leg up when I got into the Air Corps. We scraped together the money and I got those 10 hours of flying lessons. I got to solo down there but never got to Pre-Flight.”

In addition to those flying lessons, Carman took flight in another form, as quarterback for head coach Wix Garner’s Western team.

“Of course back in those days you played both ways, offense and defense,” Carman recalled. “We didn’t have the T-Formation. We ran the Single Wing (offense) if I remember correctly.”

(EIU photo)

The highlight of Carman’s season came in his very first game.

“We played Cornell College, which is in Iowa. We beat them 27-0,” he said. “When I was on defense I intercepted four of the opposing quarterback’s passes. I was probably his best receiver.”

Carman, playing linebacker, ran two of those interceptions back for touchdowns.

“One of them was maybe 40 or 50 yards and the other was probably 30 or 40 yards,” he said.

“Later that season we played in Normal. We played Illinois State and (Illinois) Wesleyan. One of them had several Naval cadets and a few Big 10 players on their team. We played Drake University and got killed by them [50-0],” Carman said. “We did alright. I had fun. I enjoyed it.

“Back at that time Western had maybe 700 students, a far cry from what they have now.”

Carman didn’t finish his entire school year at Western. Instead, he was accepted into the military in the spring, however, there would be no more flight training for him.

“They told use the good news was that their casualties were lower than expected, and that the bad news was that nobody was going to go to Pre-Flight,” he said.

When Germany surrendered in May 1945, Carman volunteered to go to officer training school, which was in Oklahoma.

“While I was there the bomb was dropped on Japan,” the father of Chicago radio personality Mark Carman said.

Post-WWII

Commissioned a Second Lieutenant, Carman was shipped to Japan and served there until 1946 when he was honorably discharged.

“I came home (to Chicago) around Labor Day of ’46 and I wanted to get into school right away with the G.I. Bill, which was a marvelous thing. At that time you could have gotten into any school,” he said. “The University of Chicago had already started its quarter and I didn’t want to wait until the next quarter started.”

As a result, Carman chose to enroll at DePaul University. He studied accounting where he earned his degree and later passed the CPA exam. While working as an accountant for Arthur Anderson and Company, Carman attended law school at night. In 1955, he left accounting and joined a law partnership.

“I’ve been practicing as a solo attorney since 1963,” Carman said in April 2014.

* * * * * 

Western, Southern, Eastern and Illinois State all tasted success in the postwar years. In fact, after Illinois State won the 1945 Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football crown, Southern (1947), Eastern (1948) and Western (1949) followed suit. Illinois State took the 1950 title.

While men the likes of Hanson, Lantz and former Southern star turned coach Glenn “Abe” Martin continued to influence their respective campuses, along came others such as Maynard “Pat” O’Brien (Eastern), Vince DiFrancesca (Western), Edwin Struck (Illinois State) and Bill Waller and William O’Brien (Southern).

“They were the whole ball of wax,” said former Northern Illinois quarterback Bob Heimerdinger. “In those days, those men were everything. They coached the sports, and they ran the PE departments.”

Heimerdinger, who lives in DeKalb, played for George “Chick” Evans at Northern Illinois.

Lou Stivers (EIU photo)

“It was just those five state schools (in the conference) when I played,” said 1947 league MVP Red Miller of Western, who later coached the Denver Broncos in the Super Bowl.

“Northern and Southern were the biggest schools, ISU was in the middle and Western and Eastern stayed about the same size,” said Lou Stivers, captain of Eastern’s 1948 conference champions.

Most of the postwar football rosters were made up by veterans.

“About all of us were back from the service,” Stivers said in 2012. “Only about one or two starters weren’t veterans. Several were married.”

Stivers, who enjoyed a lengthy teaching and administrative career, died in 2015. Miller passed away in 2017.

Sept. 11, 2001

A war of a different kind interrupted the 2001 season. Games were cancelled the weekend after the Sept. 11th terrorist attacks.

The 9/11 attacks meant the cancellation of the annual rivalry game between Illinois State and Eastern scheduled that season for Sept. 15 at Hancock Stadium in Normal. Other than the previously mentioned interruptions from war, 9/11 marked only the second time  — the other being 1996 when EIU joined the Ohio Valley Conference  —  that the rivals did not play in a series that dates back to 1901.

Time will tell if 2020 will add another chapter to this story.