PodcastsAn Open Letter to an Anonymous “Pro-Life” Commenter – Episode 044January 19, 2019Podcasts / Words of JenIn this episode, I read a piece of my writing that I wrote on January 7, 2016, on a blog that no longer exists. It was written in response to a random, anonymous, “pro-life” commenter who left and incredibly long and angry comment on a blog post I wrote about a bill that would prevent women from accessing abortion. I read “An Open Letter to an Anonymous “Pro-Life” Commenter” on episode 044 of Words of Jen. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me at PayPal.me. Thank you! https://media.blubrry.com/bookofjen/p/content.blubrry.com/bookofjen/woj044.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Android | RSS... An Open Letter to an Anonymous “Pro-Life” CommenterJanuary 19, 2019Podcasts / Words of JenImage by mohamed_hassan on Pixabay I wrote this piece of writing on January 7, 2016, on a blog that no longer exists. I have edited it slightly to remove typos and provide clarity. It was written in response to a random, anonymous, “pro-life” commenter who left an incredibly long comment on a blog post I wrote about a bill that would prevent women from accessing abortion. I read “An Open Letter to an Anonymous “Pro-Life” Commenter” in episode 044 of my Words of Jen podcast. Dear Anonymous, I’ve no idea why you chose to post an incredibly long and vitriolic comment on a post that I wrote in September. Its January now. My best guess is that you did a google search for the word abortion, or the phrase “born-alive survivors” – specifically because you wanted to pick a fight with some random person online. Your comment wasn’t as long as the blog you attached it to, but it was close. It would have been more appropriate for you to post the long, rambling, hate filled comment on your own blog. It is clear that you know how to work a keyboard. Although, to be honest, you could use a bit more practice. The caps lock key is not intended to be used like table salt, sprinkled haphazardly in order to add flavor to your words. You were too cowardly to use your real name when you posted the comment. However, you did post your email address. (Oh, unless that was a fake email address – which I suppose is possible). I won’t post your email here, because that could result in a random person using it to send you a long page filled with hate. I will note that the email address had “homescool” in it. So, that means you (more than likely) have an email address and access to a computer. That’s all you need in order to create your very own Tumblr blog! Its all you need to start a Facebook account. Please use your freedom of speech to post your ranting diatribes on your own blog next time you wake up and feel the need to scream at the internet. The blog of mine that you selected to spew your hate onto was about a bill that had reached the United States Senate (again, back in September). It was a follow up blog post that contained a link, right at the top, to a previously written blog post about the same bill that had passed in the United States House of Representatives. The bill was called the “Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act”. The bill was designed to ban abortion after 20 weeks of gestation. It was based on junk science that incorrectly suggested that a fetus can feel pain at 20 weeks of gestation. In 2005, a study was posted in the Journal of the American Medical Association, titled “Fetal Pain – a Systematic Multidisciplinary Review of the Evidence.” The study concluded: “Evidence regarding the capacity for fetal pain is limited but indicates that fetal perception of pain is unlikely before the third trimester. Little or no evidence address the effectiveness of direct fetal anesthetic or analgesic techniques. Similarly, limited or no data exist on the safety of such techniques for pregnant women in the context of abortion. Anesthetic techniques currently used during fetal surgery are not directly applicable to abortion procedures.” Please note that the study said that fetal perception of pain is unlikely before the third trimester. In case you are unaware, the third trimester begins in week 28 of pregnancy. Week 20 of pregnancy is in the second trimester. The bill unnecessarily shortens women’s access to abortion for no medical reason at all whatsoever. You would do well, Dear Anonymous, to educate yourself before you start ranting and raving on a stranger’s blog. I’ve already written about this in several other blog posts about bills that take away women’s right to a safe, legal, abortion. In other words, that try to chip away at the protections the Supreme Court of the United States clarified in Roe v Wade over 40 years ago. In other words, Dear Anonymous, I’ve spent a great deal of time doing research about what these kind of bills say and the effect they have on women. Perhaps you don’t know that there are several genetic anomalies, that are fatal, and that cannot be detected in a fetus until at or after 20 weeks of gestation. Bills like the one you chose to scream about, if passed into law, would require women to carry a fetus that will not survive – or that will survive childbirth only to die hours later. These bills require a woman who wanted to have a baby to wait for her baby to die inside her, and then to wait to have a miscarriage, and at the same time to somehow go on with her life as though everything is fine. Based on the nasty words in your comment, Dear Anonymous, it’s clear you don’t care at all about the woman. I happen to be a woman, so I find it impossible to have any respect for an anonymous commenter who has made it clear that he or she doesn’t see me as person. You see me as nothing more than a uterus. Just in case it wasn’t clear enough that you hate me – you decided to start calling me names. In your comment, you called me: a liar, a thief, “an adulterer at heart”, and a blasphemer. You insisted that you know that I’ve “encouraged someone to have an abortion”. When you reach the point where you have resorted to name-calling, it is clear you know you have lost the argument. Ironic, since this was an argument started and created by you. I certainly didn’t seek you out. A big portion of your comment, Dear Anonymous, includes threats that are couched in religion. You bring up Judgement Day and basically threaten that I will end up going to hell because I value women’s right to bodily autonomy. Or, perhaps simply because I expressed a viewpoint – a fact filled, well researched, with links to sources viewpoint – that you happen to disagree with. You’ve made it clear you are a religious person – and used your religious beliefs as a threat. That’s called bullying. I’m not frightened by your threat that I will go to hell unless I immediately do what you want me to and change my views to match yours. Perhaps you see yourself as equally powerful as the god you believe in, and think that you have the power to send people to hell simply by leaving an angry comment on their blog. These type of threats mean absolutely nothing to Atheists like myself. Oh, and then you left a link in your comment, that goes to a website, that has absolutely nothing to do with the topic of the blog. That’s called spamming. Of course, I’m going to delete a comment that contains a spam link. The thing that stands out the most to me, Dear Anonymous, isn’t the name calling, or the religious based threats, or even the overuse of the caps lock key. No, what stands out to me is the first sentence of your comment: “I pray you will rethink your opinion”. Here’s a writing tip, Dear Anonymous, that I will give you for free. If you want someone to change their opinion – you shouldn’t spend several paragraphs attacking that person. Doing so makes the person you target much less likely to consider what you are saying. No one wants to listen to someone who obviously hates them, who considers themselves to be more valuable than the person they want to influence, and who is terrified of having their words be attached to their real name. If anything, Dear Anonymous, your nasty comment serves as an example of why so many people are turned off by the so-called “pro-life” movement. When the people who identify as “pro-life” do things like: leave ranting vitriolic comments on strangers blogs, scream at women who are trying to get to their doctors appointments, or post multiple images of stillbirths into Twitter hashtags where people are discussing bills like the one my blog was about – you make yourself unreachable. No one wants to be friends with someone who is just plain mean. An Open Letter to an Anonymous “Pro-Life” Commenter is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me on PayPal.me. Thank you!... Jen’s Lore Corner – Valla – Episode 010January 18, 2019Jen's Lore Corner / PodcastsWelcome to Jen’s Lore Corner, a podcast about the lore of the Diablo video game series. This podcast started as a segment on the Shattered Soulstone podcast. I decided to re-release those segments in their own podcast. Episode 010 marks the beginning of brand new content. In this episode, I review the lore of Valla the Demon Hunter. Her story is scattered through a short story, different parts of Diablo III, and an entirely different Blizzard game. Before I started recording this episode, I put together a blog post with everything I know about the story of Valla. Jen’s Lore Corner: Valla – Episode 010 is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me on PayPal.me. Thank you! https://media.blubrry.com/bookofjen/p/content.blubrry.com/bookofjen/JLC010.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Android | RSS... Someone Posted a Dick Pic – Episode 043December 22, 2018Podcasts / Words of JenIn this episode, I read a piece of my writing that I wrote in 2015, on a Tumblr blog that no longer exists. It is about a website called Twenty20 that I was participating in at the time. It is entirely possible that things have changed on that photography website between now and when I wrote this piece. This piece of writing is not safe for work. I read “Someone Posted a Dick Pic” on Episode 043 of Words of Jen. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me at PayPal.me. Thank you! https://media.blubrry.com/bookofjen/p/content.blubrry.com/bookofjen/woj043.mp3 Podcast: Play in new window | Download Subscribe: Android | RSS... Someone Posted a Dick PicDecember 22, 2018Podcasts / Words of JenI wrote this piece on July 23, 2015, on a Tumblr blog that no longer exists. At the time, I was participating in a photo website called Twenty20. It is entirely possible that things have changed on that website between now and when I wrote this piece. My experience there was largely disappointing, and I ended up pulling all my photos off of the site and closing my account. The thing that made me realize that Twenty20 was not for me was when someone posted a Dick Pic. I read “Someone Posted a Dick Pic” on episode 043 of Words of Jen. If there is an online space that allows people to post their photos – it is only a matter of time before some dude posts a dick pic. I recently started adding some of my photos to a website called Twenty20. A friend of mine recommended it. I have heard it is a place where photographers can post some of their work and make money when and if the photo sells. The people who buy the photos are searching for “stock photo” type creative-commons images (only, less bland than typical ones). In other words, Twenty20 is more like a professional site than, say, some random person’s Instagram account. The goal is for photographers to create the kind of photos that the “mommy bloggers” and “foodies” will want to buy and post next to the articles they write on their professional blogs. Nobody comes to Twenty20 in the hopes of finding a photo of a penis. Twenty20 also has a bunch of “challenges” going on. They pick a topic and give a brief description about what kind of photo they are looking for. Anyone who is on Twenty20, and who has a photo that fits the rules of the “challenge”, can enter it. The community upvotes the ones they like best. After a “challenge” ends, the editor picks a winner. That one person – out of the hundreds of people who entered a photo – can make $20 or $30. Everybody else? Too bad, so sad. I’ve been entering some of these “challenges” in an attempt to figure out if Twenty20 is worth my energy. So far…I’ve made exactly $0. But, I haven’t been there long. Things could change. Maybe. Recently, I entered a “challenge” about iced tea or iced coffee. The rules that described the types of photos that the editors wanted to see were simple. The photo must include either iced tea or iced coffee. The photo must be taken from above. The iced tea, or iced coffee, should not have any milk in it. It sounds incredibly simple, right? Somehow, there were people that just didn’t get it. I took the time to check out the photos in this “challenge” and upvote the ones that actually followed the directions. Hell, I even upvoted a few photos where the iced tea or iced coffee had milk in it, but fit the rest of the criteria, just because the photo was really pretty. I didn’t vote for the photo of a Starbucks Frappuccino (taken from a side view, not above). I skipped over the photo of someone holding a glass bottle of Coca-Cola. I mean, it says COKE right on the bottle! How the hell does someone mistake that for a bottle of iced tea or iced coffee? Then, unexpectedly, a dick pic appears. Within seconds, my opinion of Twenty20 dropped. Professional photo sites, of the type that want to sell photos to blogs, don’t end up with random dick pics appearing in their “challenges”. That was not a photo of iced coffee or iced tea. It wasn’t taken from above. Thankfully, there was no “milk” in the photo. So, there’s that, I guess. Now, to put this in perspective, let me explain a bit about how Twenty20 works. One cannot take a photo – of anything – and have it appear on the website instantaneously. You have to make an account first. Once you have an account, you can post photos to it pretty quickly. There is an additional process involved if you want to enter a photo into a contest. It doesn’t take long, but it is more than a second or two. Want to post that photo in more than one contest? Go through the process each time. In other words, the guy didn’t just quickly take a dick pic and have it appear on the website within seconds, on a whim, for a quick thrill. Somehow, that little voice people have in their heads, the one that says “Nope, don’t do that,” did not speak loudly enough for this guy to hear it. This lonely, sad, pathetic guy posted a photo of his penis into a “challenge” about iced coffee and iced tea. He also posted it into a second “challenge” that was for photographers who joined Twenty20 within a week. So, his dick pic technically fits the criteria – but c’mon! I’ve no idea how many other open “challenges” he decided to push his penis into, but I suspect he stuck it wherever the website would let him. When I first discovered the dick pic, I noticed that it had somehow gotten more votes than 5 other photos that were in the iced coffee or iced tea “challenge”. How the heck does that happen? I am perplexed about why a person would go through the trouble of posting a (badly lit and badly cropped) photo of their penis onto a website where it is clearly not wanted. Is the posting of an unwelcome dick pic into a photo contest that has nothing to do with penises a way of “marking territory”? Is this the digital version of peeing on a tree, or carving one’s name into a wooden bench at a park? Was this dude essentially screaming into the void: “I exist!” Has the dick pic become some kind of incredibly awkward selfie? Did this guy feel empowered because he forced a bunch of people who were expecting to see photos of coffee and tea to look at his penis? Is this how trolls practice being horrible before they feel ready to start arguments on Twitter? In any case, the random, unwanted, dick pic disappeared from Twenty20 shortly before the iced coffee and iced tea “challenge” ended. The fun’s over for that guy. What annoys me the most about this whole experience is that this one, random, dick pick, from a selfish, stupid, bored, idiotic excuse for a man, has made it that much more difficult for the rest of the photographers on Twenty20 to sell their work. That’s incredibly unfair. I mean, if you wrote a blog about iced coffee, searched a photo website for a photo of iced coffee to buy and put on your blog – and was presented with a dick pic instead – would you want to put money into that website? Of course you wouldn’t! You would be smart enough to realize that the presence of a dick pic means that the photo website doesn’t vet their photos before offering them for sale. There’s no way to know for certain if the lovely coffee photos you found, next to the penis photo, is actually legal for you to post on your blog. You would have to go to a different photo website instead, to avoid potential legal problems. All it takes is one dick to fuck everything up for everyone else. Someone Posted a Dick Pic is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me on PayPal.me. Thank you!... Diablo IIIThe Lore of Valla the Demon HunterJanuary 18, 2019Diablo III / Diablo LoreIf you are playing the female Demon Hunter in Diablo III as your character, there is reason to believe that she might be Valla. So, who is Valla? According to the Diablo Wiki, Valla was born around 1265 (in the “Diablo universe” timeline). She was born around the time that connects to the Diablo II game. Sometime later, Valla’s younger sister, Halissa, was born. The sisters were close. At least one, if not both, of the girls parents were sawyers – people who sawed timber for a living. According to the Diablo Wiki, Valla, Halissa, and their parents lived in Westmarch . Demons attacked their town, and the girl’s parents were killed (along with many other people who lived there). Valla and Halissa survived because Valla grabbed her little sister’s hand and ran away with her. Valla, who was either a teenager or very young adult, became Halissa’s caretaker. But, that didn’t last long. Shortly before Diablo III was launched, Blizzard Entertainment released a series of short stories – one for each character class. The one about the Demon Hunter was called “Hatred and Discipline“. It was written by Micky Neilson, and originally posted on the Diablo III “Gathering of the Heroes” page, and can now be found through the Diablo III Game Guide about the Demon Hunter class. The Demon Hunter has two resources that they have to balance. One is called Hatred, and the other is called Discipline. This fits very nicely with the title of the short story. The main character in the story is a Demon Hunter named Valla. Without giving away too many spoilers, I will point out that in “Hatred and Discipline“, there is a part where Valla almost remembers what happened to Halissa. She pushed most of it out of her mind, likely because the event was so traumatizing. From the short story: …Valla and Halissa were huddled together for warmth as the rain pounded the earth. Halissa hd fallen into an exhausted sleep. But, as had been the case for so many nights before, she was beset by nightmares of the massacre. Halissa woke up screaming, and ran… Nearby, the swollen river raced. Halissa ran too close to its banks, and she slipped in the mud… Halissa reached out her hand… Valla had feared that Halissa would be swept away, lost forever… lost like the rushing waters that spiraled now into the core of the sinkhole, so very much like an eyeless socket. Her heart sank at the recollection, but she had grasped Halissa’s hand. It had worked out. Everything had worked out in the end…. Except, that’s not really what happened. Valla eventually remembers (while fighting against a lesser demon of terror named Valdraxxis) that Halissa had died. Valla was able to grab her sister’s hand, but the girl slipped from her grasp and went under. (The screenshots below come from the female Demon Hunter Act I cinematic in Diablo III. They are also part of a video called Diablo III: Darkness Falls. Heroes Rise: The Demon Hunter which was released on April 3, 2012). Valla was there all by herself, in a graveyard filled with the bodies of the rest of the townspeople, grieving her loss. She went to visit the graves of her parents. It appears that Valla was not able to retrieve her sister’s body from the river. She set up a gravestone for Halissa anyway. It was then that the Demon Hunters found her. The Demon Hunters formed around 1270 (according to the Diablo Wiki timeline), just a few years after Valla was born. The Demon Hunters would find people who were alone, and who obviously had been through trauma. Instead of recruiting, the Demon Hunters gave people a choice: Do you want to run, or do you want to fight? Valla chose to fight demons. The “Hatred and Discipline” short story starts with Valla going to a what was left of the town of Holbrook, which had been attacked by demons. She goes there with Josen, her mentor. She is getting towards the end of her Demon Hunter training… but Josen doesn’t think Valla is quite ready to go after demons by herself yet. At the end of “Hatred and Discipline”, Valla makes one more visit to Halissa’s grave, and the graves of their parents. She carries a drawing of her sister with her. Josen goes to Valla and informs her that people who have precognition have said that a star will fall in Tristram seven days from then. At the end of their conversation, Valla gets up, and turns away from Josen. He asks, “Where do you think you’re going?” Valla responds, “Tristram. The others asked you to send the best. I am the best. I’m going, and you have less than a few heartbeats to try and stop me.” This puts Valla squarely at the start of Act I of Diablo III, seeking the Fallen Star. (The screenshot below came from the in-game female Demon Hunter cinematic before Act I). When she gets to New Tristram she meets several people, including Kormac the Templar. They have a short conversation. Valla: Were you raised as a templar in the order? Templar: No. Our scripture says, “As a farmer reaps his wheat, so must the order harvest and purify the weeds.” Valla: My initiation was less formal. They asked me if I wanted to hunt demons, and I said yes. There is another clue in Diablo III that makes it clear that the female Demon Hunter player character is Valla, and not just some other Demon Hunter. It becomes obvious in Act V when the player character is on their way to fight Malthael. Each character class speaks to a spirit that is personally significant to them. It is there that Valla finds the spirit of her little sister, Halissa. Valla: Halissa? It cannot be. This is some…trap. Halissa: What? Don’t you know your own sister? Valla: I lost you many years ago. Halissa: Yes, but I’ve found you again. Someone bad keeps me here. Can you make him go away? Valla: Yes. Valla: But first, I will need your help. Halissa: The bad one draws power from us so no one can hurt him. I’ll tell everyone to give their strength to you instead. Halissa: Then you’ll make him go away, right? Valla: Nothing would please me more. Halissa: There are so many people here. I looked for mum and dad, but I can’t find them. Valla: I hope they are at rest. Halissa: No. They’re somewhere nearby. I hear them – screaming. Always screaming. Halissa: Do you remember the last time we were together? I was trying to sleep, but I saw demons everywhere. Halissa: I ran and ran, and then I was falling into the river. Why did you leave me there? Valla: I reached for you. I tried to hold on to you… if there was anything else I could have done… Halissa: It’s all right. It didn’t hurt. I just went to sleep. Valla: Yes. You did. At this point, it seems like Halissa doesn’t know she’s dead. She remembers the events of her death, but has interpreted them as “falling asleep.” Her older sister, Valla, doesn’t want to tell Halissa that she died in the river. What makes this story even more sad is that, by the time Valla is ready to fight Malthael, she knows the he has been stealing people’s souls and using them to make himself more powerful. Halissa knows that she (and all the other people there) are being used by Malthael. And yet, the poor kid doesn’t quite understand that she’s not alive anymore. As promised, Halissa begins helping her sister. She tells the other people to give their strength to Valla, instead of to “someone bad” who keeps them there. Halissa: There! All of our power is yours now. Please set things right again. Halissa: Mum and dad would want that. Valla: I won’t disappoint you, Halissa. Halissa: You’ve gotten so big. You look scary. Valla: I’m not, I promise. I just learned to fight and face my nightmares. Halissa: Everything is a nightmare. Halissa: I don’t want you to go. Valla: I know. But it’s the only way I can set you free. You need to rest again. Halissa: All right. Valla then goes down the hallways to fight Malthael. She’s a Demon Hunter, so she came her with the intent to kill him. She wasn’t expecting to find the spirit of her little sister trapped in Pandemonium Fortress, and being used by Malthael as a power source. The result is that the battle between Valla and Malthael has taken on new meaning. Valla has been carrying around the grief and guilt of not being able to save Halissa when the girl fell into the river. Now, Valla has a second chance to save her sister. Valla has unexpectedly been given a way to redeem herself. If you played through story mode as the female Demon Hunter… then you know that Valla killed Malthael. It is likely that she continued fighting demons after that. If you’ve played Heroes of the Storm, then you know that there is a Demon Hunter character named Valla. It’s the same Valla that was in Diablo III. There’s an item in Diablo III that fills in the gap between the two games. Valla’s Bequest is a Legendary one-handed crossbow that can only be used by Demon Hunters. The word “bequest” means “a legacy”. It also means the action of bequeathing something. The flavor text on Valla’s Bequest says: Valla was one of the most lethal Demon Hunters ever known, until her abrupt disappearance. Some claim that she still lives, fighting in another land. Her body was never found, but she did leave behind her prized possession: this bow. The Lore of Valla the Demon Hunter is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me on PayPal.me. Thank you!... Highlights from Season 15 (Boon of the Horadrim)January 14, 2019Diablo III / Diablo SeasonsSeason 15 was the Boon of the Horadrim season. It gave players extra stuff for completing Bounties. It also had the Rathma’s set as the “freebie” for Necromancers. Those who finished Chapter IV got a creepy hand pet. In this blog post, I have a quick look at the progress I made through Season 15. Overall, I wish I could have spent more time playing than I did. But, I’m not unhappy with how things worked out. The first thing I did in Season 15 was the Challenge Rift. Technically, it is not part of the Season. The main reason to start with whatever Challenge Rift is available at the beginning of a brand new Season is to get some experience points and a Cache of useful stuff. It took me several attempts before I was able to complete this Challenge Rift. My time was 5:58.866. The target time was 5:47.216. I failed, but not by very much. My best time on this Challenge Rift was 4:45.483. It under the target time, and I was able to earn the weekly reward. Early in Season 15, I made an effort to play with other people. In the above screenshot, I was playing with some people who are part of the Shattered Soulstone Discord. In the screenshot above, I was playing with people who are part of the Discord where we play Dungeons & Dragons. Overall, I find playing in a group to be more fun than playing solo. Its nice to be able to talk with people who are working on the same Seasonal Objectives as I am. The game also moves a lot faster in a group than solo – especially when leveling up to Level 70. I play solo if I am intending to stream. Right now, I’m reasonably comfortable playing Diablo III (or other video games) on Twitch by myself. Streaming while playing in a group just doesn’t feel right to me. I also play solo if I’m sick, so I won’t slow down a group. This is what my Necromancer was wearing when he hit Level 31. I love how creepy it looks, especially with Malfeasance as the pet. In the screenshot above, I was playing with a group that was leveling me up so fast that the game couldn’t keep up. As you can see, it says I hit Level 50. But, if you look at my portrait, I was actually at Level 63. Here is the group I was with that helped me hit Level 70 and get some Paragon Points in Season 15. I earned the Demolition Derby Achievement while standing by the door in a Nephalem Rift. Obviously, I wasn’t actually contributing anything towards this Achievement. The game doesn’t care how you earn Achievements. It appears that some Achievements can be earned by everyone in a group, even the players that are slacking (like I was). Demolition Derby: Get a destruction callout for breaking 50 objects. Here I am with the group that ran me through a Greater Rift Level 85. The group completed it at 13:10.000 (with little or no help from me, being the smallest in the group). It was fun! My portrait says I have 193 Paragon Points, but the text at the side of the screen says I actually had 230 Paragon Points at that moment. I was getting Paragon Points so quickly that the game could not keep up! Season Journey (Chapter I) – Season 15 – COMPLETE! Season Journey (Chapter II) COMPLETE! Season Journey (Chapter III) COMPLETE! I was playing solo when this Achievement Toast popped up on the screen. I cannot remember how much of Chapter III I had help with or how much I did on my own. Completed Greater Rift 90 at 10.27.300 (with help) Completed Greater Rift 80 at 7:56.233 (with help) I wasn’t able to stream very much during Season 15. Part of the reason was because I wanted to play with groups. The other reason was because I was went to Blizzcon 2018. Before BlizzCon, I needed to spend a lot of time on paid writing work. After BlizzCon, I got sick with “Con Crud”. Here’s what I got done in the video above: Discovered that I was not quite ready to do a Greater Rift 20 solo Completed the Halt and Catch Fire Objective by Killing Urzael on Torment II Completed the Just Look at You! Objective by purchasing Hellfire Ring and Hellfire Amulet plans from Squirt the Peddler and giving those plans to The Jeweler Completed the …Is Another Man’s Treasure Objective by using Kanai’s Cube to upgrade a Rare item into a Legendary Item Completed a Greater Rift 15 solo, but did not finish it before the time ran out. Deadgreed, host of Shattered Soulstone, helped me go after Key Wardens. I ended up earning some Achievements thanks to his help. Feed Me: Kill the Vile Executioner and The Foul Desecrator within 30 second of starting the Realm of Putridness encounter on Torment VI difficulty or higher. Soulless: Kill the Soul of Evil at Level 70 on Torment VI difficulty or higher. Together We Are: Kill the Savage Behemoth and The Undying One within 5 seconds of each other on Torment VI difficulty or higher. Here’s what I got done in the video above: Finished a Greater Rift 15 right before the timer ran out Greater Rift Level 15 completed at 14:53.816 Completed a Greater Rift 16 – but not before the timer ran out Attempted a Greater Rift 20, died when I got a little more than halfway through it, and decided to stop After I got done streaming, I had a total of 335 Paragon Points in Season 15. Here’s some stuff I got done between when the video above ended and when I streamed again: I managed to get the missing pieces of the Rathma’s set. I started using Az-Lo as my pet. Completed a Greater Rift 20 Solo with 6 minutes and 41 seconds left. Completed Chapter IV of the Season Journey in Season 15 Got the Belphegor pet. Completed a Greater Rift 21 at 9:42.150 Earned the Dead Is Dead Achievement Dead Is Dead: Kill Malthael at level 70 on Torment V difficulty or higher. I had time to do one more stream before Season 15 ended. It is the only stream I did after returning from BlizzCon 2018. I was exhausted, fighting “Con Crud”, and the sound of my voice shows it. Here’s what I got done in the video above: Continued working on Slayer Completed Greater Rift Level 21 solo at 11:02.733 Completed Greater Level Rift 22 solo at 11:48.400 Ran a Nephalem Rift on Torment IV Completed a Greater Rift Level 23 solo at 6:15:333 Overall, I feel like I did all I could in Season 15. Some of the time I could have been playing was instead used so I could go to, attend, and return home from BlizzCon 2018. (This is not a complaint.) I got really sick shortly after BlizzCon, and it lasted longer than I would have liked. One thing that I thought was really cool about the Boon of the Horadrim Season was that it gave me a lot more crafting materials than usual. This enabled me to put a bunch of stuff into Kanai’s Cube. My goal is to fill it up. Highlights from Season 15 (Boon of the Horadrim) is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me on PayPal.me. Thank you!... Overseer Lady JosephineNovember 23, 2018Diablo III / Diablo PetsThis is Overseer Lady Josephine. I got her from a Menagerist Goblin during the gap between Season 11 and Season 12. The flavor text on Overseer Lady Josephine says: You cannot keep me in this teddy bear forever. This isn’t even my final form! My Crusader is somewhere in the middle of this battle against a Menagerist Goblin. It is the only type of Treasure Goblin that can drop a pet. Why does my Crusader have all three Followers in this screenshot? It’s because she is wearing all four pieces of the Asheara’s Vestments set. The coolest thing about this set is that there is a small chance that all three Followers will teleport to the player and assist them in battle. When a Menagerist Goblin drops a pet, it will look like a Legendary item. Pick it up, just like you would any other loot, and it goes directly into your bag. The flavor text on the Overseer Lady Josephine item says: Why would someone make a teddybear so red? Click on the pet item that is in your bag – and it automatically goes into your Wardrobe. The new pet will put itself somewhere among all the other pets you have collected. Overseer Lady Josephine follows the player around and picks up gold that has fallen on the ground, just like all the other Diablo III pets do. In the screenshot above, Overseer Lady Josephine appears to be merrily skipping along behind the Crusader. It is both delightful, and disturbing, at the same time. This extremely red teddybear was added to Diablo III before Blaine’s Bear (which appeared in Season 13). The two teddybears appear to be the same model. The difference is Overseer Lady Josephine is entirely red, and Blaine’s Bear is white with bloody, red hands and blood on its face – and sharp objects for claws. To me, they both resemble Cuddle Bears – which are not your friends! Here is my Crusader with Overseer Lady Josephine. This pet has that “creepy/cute” thing going on that Diablo III does so well with its pets. I’m not sure if Overseer Lady Josephine is a voodoo doll, a possessed teddybear, or something else. Overseer Lady Josephine is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me on PayPal.me. Thank you!... My Thoughts on Diablo Immortal and BlizzCon 2018November 9, 2018Diablo Creativity / Diablo IIII was fortunate enough to attend BlizzCon 2018 in person, (thanks to help from a friend). It was my third BlizzCon, and I had so much fun hanging out with friends and talking with people in the Diablo community – some of whom I was meeting for the first time. In this blog post, I wanted to share my thoughts about Diablo Immortal, how it was announced at BlizzCon, and the reaction of fans of the Diablo series of games. I’m well aware that this blog could easily attract people who are upset, disappointed, and/or still enraged by the whole situation. Be aware that comments on this blog are moderated. Diablo Immortal is a brand new game in the Diablo series. It is mobile-only, and has not been released yet. The crowd at BlizzCon reacted to this announcement with emotions that ranged from surprised, to shocked, to anger. Some loudly booed the stage after learning that Diablo Immortal will not be coming to PC (or Mac). After the announcement was made, I put in effort to listen to people who were displeased that Blizzard was giving us a mobile game, instead of something – anything – for the PC (and Mac). After BlizzCon, I intentionally sought out podcasts, and videos, and blog posts where someone in the Diablo community expressed their thoughts. Here’s what I learned about why people are upset: People who play video games on PC-only, and who are the core of Diablo’s fan base, feel left out. Or, maybe ignored is a better word. They don’t play mobile games, and feel that Diablo Immortal was not made for them. It was made for an entirely different audience – who aren’t the core of Diablo’s fan base. And, they are absolutely right about that. Why does this group feel left out? Diablo III came out in 2012. The first (and only?) expansion, Reaper of Souls, came out in 2014. Since then, we’ve gotten a few new sections added to the game, and the Necromancer class (released in 2017). There are a lot of people who love Diablo and who desperately want some new content to play on PC. It was pretty clear that we should not have expected Blizzard to announce Diablo 4 at BlizzCon 2018. But, I think many people expected to hear something announced – perhaps from one of the “multiple Diablo projects” – that would give them at least a hint about what would one day be coming for PC. But, that didn’t happen. Part of the problem appears to be that there likely were some people who, despite the “temper your expectations” warning from Blizzard, still believed, in their heart of hearts, that there would be a Diablo 4 announcement. I think this group may have felt heartbroken when what they wanted was not announced. Most of the people who are upset weren’t honestly expecting a Diablo 4 release at BlizzCon. No one was expecting a Diablo mobile game, especially not one that was a completely brand new game in the Diablo series. The announcement blindsided a lot of people. How people reacted to Diablo Immortal: As you may have heard, there were people in the crowd at the first Diablo panel at BlizzCon 2018 that booed the stage. Personally, that caught me off guard. To my knowledge, there has never been a BlizzCon where fans felt the need to shout “BOO” at the people on the stage. I’m not sure I have the words to express how awful it felt to be at a Diablo panel at BlizzCon and hear part of the Diablo community reacting with booing. For a moment, I wondered if things were about to get violent. The mood had shifted so fast, and I was glad that my husband and I were sitting on the side of the stage and towards the back. I was planning escape routes. (Full disclosure, I have PTSD, and this likely influenced my reaction to the strongly negative booing coming from the middle seats and – from the sound – from a bunch of men.) For those that don’t know, BlizzCon attendees this year had to go through metal detectors and have their bags looked into before they could enter the Convention Center. The first Diablo panel was right after the opening ceremony. The need for extra security was still on my mind. To clarify, I think the booing was a reaction to the announcement that Diablo Immortal would not come to PC – not specifically because it was a mobile game. The mood did not improve after Wyatt Cheng, who I believe was excited about Diablo Immortal, responded to the angry crowd with a comment pointing out that they all had mobile phones. He seemed blindsided by the booing – which, as I mentioned, has never happened at BlizzCon before. My thoughts about people booing the stage: I completely understand that people were upset because they wanted something new for the PC. I get it. I’ve been playing Diablo III on Mac since the beta. I would have liked to hear about “multiple Diablo projects”, too. I wasn’t expecting a mobile game at all. If you look my website, you will see that I’ve done a lot of blogging about Diablo and have a podcast about the lore of the “Diablo universe”. I’m one of the original hosts of the Shattered Soulstone podcast, still on the show from time to time, and have taken over the editing. I figure this makes me one of the core of Diablo’s fan base. That said, I do not feel that booing the stage, at BlizzCon, before anyone had the opportunity to even try Diablo Immortal, was an appropriate way to express the disappointment and/or anger that people were feeling. I completely understand the emotions that people were feeling. I believe people had good reasons to feel those emotions. Booing the stage does not provide anyone at Blizzard with the type of constructive criticism that they need to hear in order to consider making changes. It only lets them know that some people are upset. It doesn’t give the people at Blizzard any direction or specific feedback to work from. Let me make this perfectly clear – the emotions people felt are valid. The way those emotions were expressed, while likely cathartic, are not helpful if the point is to encourage Blizzard to make changes. When the booing was happening, it made me feel like perhaps I had misjudged the Diablo community and that maybe it was a whole lot more toxic than I’d realized. Later, I realized that it wasn’t the entire crowd, or even the majority of the crowd, who decided to boo. It bothers me that people, who are not in the Diablo community, may be hesitant to join in and play Diablo on PC (or Mac) after this. If I were an outsider, and watched people boo the stage at BlizzCon, it would make want to avoid the Diablo community. It makes me sad that what I know to be a wonderful community is going to be seen as angry and unwelcoming because of the loud voices of a few … that were live streamed on the Virtual Ticket. A few words about Diablo Immortal and content creators: The backlash over Diablo Immortal is probably going to affect content creators who make their living by podcasting, streaming, making YouTube videos, and/or blogging about Diablo III. It’s not going to personally affect me, because all my attempts at making money on the Diablo content (or any other content) I create have entirely failed. If a significant number of the core of Diablo’s fan base decides to stop playing Diablo III, and has no interest at all in Diablo Immortal… it doesn’t leave Diablo content creators in a good place. It is fairly easy to figure out how to stream Diablo III. (I needed some help from a friend in order to make that work – but that’s me). But, Diablo Immortal is a mobile game – so it is going to be a lot more difficult to figure out how to stream gameplay from it. It might be a struggle to find the right path after BlizzCon 2018. Streaming Diablo Immortal could turn off people who are still upset about the lack of anything being released for PC. Fans expecting to see their favorite streamer playing Diablo III might unsubscribe if they see Diablo Immortal instead. No one knows if the people who end up being huge fans of Diablo Immortal will also seek out streamers who play it and subscribe to them. The game hasn’t been released yet, so there’s no data about that to work from. If I was making money from streaming Diablo III – I’d probably be freaking out right now. Content creators who make videos or blogs about lore will probably find new content in Diablo Immortal. But, there’s the chance that the content could be ignored by people who don’t have an interest in the mobile. There’s also the risk of having your chat, or comment section, fill up with angry comments by displeased, but very passionate, Diablo fans. I think Diablo podcasts, that have been around for a long time and have built up a wonderful community of fans of the game, might survive this controversy. Unless, of course, the community disappears as a reaction to Diablo Immortal. Things are going to be a bit stressful for a while – even for content creators like me who don’t make a living from their work. My thoughts about Diablo Immortal itself: I had the opportunity to try Diablo Immortal at BlizzCon. It was really fun! The game runs extremely smoothly, the graphics are great, and I think the new skills (that can be combined together) will be exciting to figure out and use. I’m looking forward to discovering the lore in the game and seeing how it fits with the Diablo lore I already know. The majority of my time spent playing video games is on my Mac and playing Diablo III. I also play some of Blizzard’s other games on my Mac. There was a brief time when I was playing Hearthstone on my iPad mini, but the game took up too much space. I ended up deleting it from my iPad mini and going back to my Mac with that game. I also play mobile games. Pokémon GO, Animal Crossing Pocket Camp, and Neko Atsume are on my phone. Other mobile games are on my iPad mini. I’ve figured out that when I’m too sick to play video games on my computer, I can still play the smaller, simpler, mobile games on my tablet. For those that don’t know me, I have three autoimmune diseases and it is not unusual for me to be sick for a month or more at at time. It is comforting to still have access to video games while I’m sick and suffering. I’m fighting a bad case of “Con Crud” as I write this blog post. This battle is going to last for a while. One of my autoimmune diseases is rheumatoid arthritis. It is in my hands, and the joints in my fingers start to swell after I’ve been playing games that require a keyboard and mouse after about an hour. Mobile games are easier on my hands, and I can play longer, and with less pain. When I played Diablo Immortal at BlizzCon, I realized I could move my character around with one finger and use the skills with one or two fingers. I’ve heard many guys say that they don’t play mobile games on their phones, in part because the screen is too small and their hands are too large. This is not a problem for me. I’m five-foot-three, and the first thing one of my friends said after meeting me in person for the first time was: “You’re so tiny!” I will definitely be playing Diablo Immortal. That doesn’t mean I’m going to stop playing Diablo III. I see room in my life for both. Yes, I realize that most of the people who pick up Diablo Immortal are not going to cross over to Diablo III. Maybe no one else but me will end up playing both games. I don’t know. Obviously, your experience, and impressions of Diablo Immortal, will vary. I’m not here to change your mind about it one way or the other. The purpose of this blog post was for me to have a place to put all my thoughts about Diablo Immortal and to get it all out of my head. My Thoughts on Diablo Immortal and BlizzCon 2018 is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me on PayPal.me. Thank you!... Az-LoOctober 30, 2018Diablo III / Diablo PetsThis is Az-Lo. I got him because I have a 2018 BlizzCon Ticket (which comes with the Virtual Ticket). Az-Lo is one of the BlizzCon 2018 Virtual Ticket items. The flavor text on this pet says: Too short to dunk. Az-Lo is the only Diablo III item that comes with the Virtual Ticket (and/or the BlizzCon 2018 ticket). The way I found out that I had been given an Az-Lo pet was when an Achievement popped up on my screen. The Blizzconquest MMXVIII is a Feat of Strength Achievement. Players who earn this Achievement unlock a Pet Reward. Blizzconquest MMXVII: Be a part of BlizzCon 2018. Players can equip Az-Lo by going to their Wardrobe and finding him somewhere among their other pets. Az-Lo looks like a mini Azmodon. Here’s a screenshot of Az-Lo following around my Season 15 Necromancer and her follower, Kormac the Templar. Here is a better look at my Season 15 Necromancer with Az-Lo. I think Blizzard did a good job with this pet. He has a lot of details, and looks very much like Azmodon. Az-Lo will pick up gold for you, just like all the other pets do. Az-Lo is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me on PayPal.me. Thank you!... Book ReviewsBook Review – Nocturne by Syrie JamesJanuary 1, 2019Book Reviews / romanceNocturne is “a haunting story of forbidden love”. It says so right on the cover. The entire story takes place in just a few days, which is more than enough time for the main characters to fall madly in love with each other. Michael is a vampire (and Nicole is not). Michael’s secret is revealed to the reader early on in the story. Nicole misses every clue until something bloody obvious finally opens her eyes. Can a relationship between a human, and a vampire, work out? This is the question that Nicole and Michael must find an answer to. I tend to find books that include vampire characters to be intriguing. It takes what could be a rather ordinary story and opens it up to possibilities that are unlikely to happen if all the characters are regular humans. Nicole was driving home from a “ski-wedding”, hoping to get to the airport before the blizzard arrives. Unfortunately, the storm hit earlier than expected. She had a car accident, slid off the road, and passed out. She probably would had frozen to death if it wasn’t for Michael. He watched the accident happen from his truck, which he was using as a snow plow to clear the road that led to his chalet. Michael rescues Nicole and takes her home with him. This immediately causes problems. Michael, who has been alone for a very long time, is struggling to cope with the smell of Nicole’s blood. He managed to treat her wounds, and put her on the couch under a blanket. When she wakes up, Michael appears very standoffish and unwelcoming. The two quickly become attracted to each other. It turns out that they have some things in common. Both enjoy classical music and love playing the piano. Both are big readers, and Nicole learns that Michael’s bookshelves include several books by her favorite author. Unfortunately, Nicole learns that Michael has some… quirks… that she finds frustrating and confusing. He runs hot and cold. One moment, he would be engaging her in conversation. The next, he would become angry and shut himself in another room behind a locked door. Nicole found that the kitchen had almost no food, except for something that Michael said his housekeeper made for him. They were snowed in, so she made do with the apples, carrots, and oats that were in the kitchen. Michael never joined her for meals, and she found this strange. Almost instantly, Michael and Nicole become deeply attracted to each other. He starts to open up to her, and tells her a few of his secrets. There is an intense moment when Michael is teaching Nicole how to make a part of a music box – a hobby of his. The two smolder, and embrace… and then Michael stops it. The entire story takes place within just a few days. Without giving away any “spoilers”, Nicole eventually figures out that Michael is a vampire. It takes a little while for them both to adjust to this revelation. The two become closer after that secret is out. In general, I would be skeptical about a story where two strangers, who are essentially snowed in for a few days, fall madly in love. Is that really enough time for that to happen? Syrie James made the evolution of Nicole and Michael’s relationship seem natural and uncontrived. There is a strong chemistry between Michael and Nicole, and this leads to some passionate sex scenes that give the reader just enough details without becoming too graphic. By the end, Michael and Nicole have to decide what to do. The blizzard has passed by, the roads are clear, and Nicole can go home. Neither of them want to separate, but there are some good reasons to do so. I’ll leave the reader to discover what they decided to do. Overall, I found Nocturne to be entertaining. It is a quick read that takes place in a cold and snowy environment. This is a very sweet story with a few scary moments here and there. What makes this story work so well is that Nicole and Michael are well matched for each other (despite him being a vampire.) Book Review – Nocturne by Syrie James is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me on PayPal.me. Thank you!... Spook – by Mary RoachDecember 26, 2018Book Reviews / non fictionMary Roach is the author of Stiff – the Curious Lives of Human Cadavers. After writing about what happens to the human body after the person dies, it seems appropriate to write a book about what happens to the human soul after the body dies. Spook – Science Tackles the Afterlife was written in 2005. In my opinion, the best way to read Spook is to set aside whatever religious ideas you may have about the afterlife. Go into this book with an open mind and you will definitely learn something about human nature. This is not the book for people who have strong religious beliefs about the afterlife and who are looking for something that confirms what their religion tells them. It is the book for people who wonder what science can tell us about the soul, where it lives, and where it might go. In Spook, Mary Roach asks plenty of interesting questions, and follows up by finding out what science had to say regarding the afterlife. She does not provide the reader with a definitive answer about what, exactly, one should expect from the afterlife. Readers are free to take in whatever they find to be thought-provoking. The very first chapter delves into reincarnation. Mary Roach traveled through India with Dr. Kurti S, Rawat, director of the International Centre for Survival. He seeks out children who claim to have been reincarnated and gathers up as much information as he can from the child and the child’s family. Mary Roach appears to have experienced culture shock while in India, and I found her observations to be fascinating. There are parts of India where people believe in reincarnation. As such, when a very young child starts talking about people that the child’s parents do not know – the assumption is that reincarnation has occurred. The parents will ask the child questions, in an effort to learn more about who they were in a past life. In the United States, claims of reincarnation are very rare. The process Dr. Rawat uses goes like this: he learns of a child who claims to have been reincarnated. He travels to where that child lives and interviews the child and their family members. Dr. Rawat writes down all the details and studies it later. The best data comes from parents who immediately started writing down what the child told them about his or her former self, the names of that person’s loved ones, and the manner in which the person died. For some reason, people who have been reincarnated tend to have died a quick, unexpected, and very violent death. In short, the best outcome is when the child’s family, and the living relatives of the person who has been reincarnated into the child, meet and become like extended family. The worst outcome is when a scammer picks a target (usually someone rich), learns about their deceased relative, and coaches the child to pretend to be that person. Part of Spook includes details about a variety of ideas regarding where in the human body the soul “lives”. The specific part of the body that was believed to house the soul changed over time. Potential parts have included: sperm, ova, the pineal gland, the nerves (and/or the nervous system), a bone on the end of the spine called the luz, the coccyx, and one of the four chambers of the brain. A controversial study (which had many ethical issues) was done in an effort to find out how much the soul weighs. It was done in 1854 at a Consumptives Home, a charity that cared for people who were slowly dying of tuberculosis. A surgeon and physician named Duncan Macdougall placed a bed on a large, industrial, scale. A person who appeared to be about to die of consumption was placed on the bed. Macdougall, and other doctors, watched and waited for the person to die. At that moment, they checked the scale to see if the total weight had changed. The scale often showed that the person (and the bed they were lying on) weighed a tiny bit less immediately after the person died. The study was controversial for many reasons, the biggest of which was the question of whether a person who was about to die of consumption could truly give consent to being in the study. Despite this, other doctors attempted to replicate the study (using animals instead of people). The animals were not dying of consumption. They were euthanized after being placed on the industrial scale. The results of these studies contradicted each other and were inconclusive. From here, things move away from the realm of science (wonky and questionable as it was) and into the realm of seances (which were run by women who intended to scam people). I found this part of the book to be extremely entertaining, and I’ll leave you to read it for yourself. In short, seances became a popular thing for people to experience. Many people came to the seance already believing that they would encounter a spirit. They were easy marks. Another interesting thing I learned from Spook is that people have been using whatever the most modern technology was at the time to attempt to record the voices of spirits (or ghosts). Some of the earliest recordings were of mediums who claimed to be channeling a spirit – who had a lot of things to say. Sometimes, people heard crackles over the radio and interpreted them to be voices from the beyond. It often turned out to be the person’s imagination – with the exception of a situation where the people lived really close to where the radio waves were being transmitted. Those people were actually hearing radio transmissions from local stations that were somehow picked up by things like – for example – their oven. More recently, people began using tape recorders to capture the voices of the spirits. I presume people have started using there smartphones for this purpose. The common theme here is that people have a tendency to want to believe that the newest, hottest, piece of technology that can record something is definitely going to pick up the voices of spirits. Spook is a truly bizarre book that mixes scientific study (such as it was) with religion and the cultural beliefs of a population in a specific location at different points in history. When it comes to the afterlife, these concepts blend together and influence not only what a person believes about the human soul, but also what the afterlife is like. Spook – by Mary Roach is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me on PayPal.me. Thank you!... Stiff – by Mary RoachDecember 19, 2018Book Reviews / non fictionStiff – The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers is an exploration of what happens to the human body after the person dies. It is not a book for people who are squeamish, or who are mourning a loved one. I would definitely recommend Stiff to writers of mystery or crime novels, who need a good source of information about the timeline in which a cadaver decays. There are some things that people probably shouldn’t Google. Mary Roach does an excellent job of presenting factual information about a difficult topic to consider, while injecting just the right amount of what might be considered gallows humor. She does this without ever disrespecting the deceased. Stiff was published in 2003, so it is possible that some of the information in the book might be outdated. I suspect that the majority of it is still valid (but did not take the time to look up things to see what may have changed.) There’s a chance that the medical stuff could have been updated with new techniques between when the book was written and today. The first chapter of the book is about Mary Roach’s observations as she watches a group of doctors who are practicing face lifting techniques on cadaver heads. Some of the doctors are respectful of the person whose donated head they are working on. Others are less so. Mary Roach wonders who has the job of removing the cadaver heads from the rest of the cadaver – and she finds the answer to that question. Another chapter goes into the history of body snatchers. For a long time, it was illegal to dissect a dead human body. Anatomists had to resort to not-quite-legal means of obtaining bodies from which to learn about human anatomy. In some cases, the bodies were supplied by “resurrection men” who unearthed the recently deceased, put the body into a sack, and discretely delivered it to the doctor. It was apparently a good way to earn some money. It is also the reason that religious people – who believed the body needed to be entirely intact in order for the person to get into heaven – invested in Mortsafes. In that same chapter, there is an interesting (and disturbing) story about William Burke and William Hare, two “resurrectionists” who got into trouble. A man died in Hare’s boarding house before paying his fare. Hare and Burke took the body to an anatomist. After learning that bringing dead bodies to anatomists resulted in a nice payment, Hare and Burke started murdering people (and bringing the very recently dead to the anatomists). I’ll leave you to read the chapter to see how this obviously illegal situation was resolved. There is a chapter about the University of Tennessee’s Anthropological Research Facility – which is a large area of land in which cadavers are placed for the purpose of allowing researchers to study the timeline of decay. Part of the purpose is to assist those who investigate crime scenes. Other chapters cover a wide range of subjects, including information on whether or not cadavers are used for automobile crash tests. There is a chapter about the ethical issues involved in using cadavers (or cadaver legs) to determine which shoes provide the best protection for a living person who has stepped on a land mine. One of the chapters that I found especially interesting involved extremely religious Christians, who were alive, and who volunteered to be “crucified”. They weren’t actually nailed to a cross. It was a safely done approximation of crucifixion that involved people being secured to a huge cross by leather straps. The purpose of the experiment was to debunk previous hypotheses about what Jesus may have experienced. The purpose was to determine whether or not the volunteers had difficulty breathing while on the cross, and to figure out where the nails would have to be placed in order to prevent them from ripping out. Other oddities found in Stiff include details about an incredibly disturbing experiment where a researcher removed the head of an anesthetized monkey and attached it to the body of an entirely different monkey. There is also an amusing story in which Mary Roach goes to China in an effort to confirm, or debunk, an urban legend about human cadaver parts being used in the dumplings served in a restaurant. I found Stiff to be interesting, and strange, and filled with historical context that I might not have learned about if I had not read this book. There is definitely a tendency for people who work with cadavers (or parts of human bodies) to think of the cadaver as a person – and not a person – at the same time. Medical students, who must take a course that involves dissection of human cadavers, end up with a mix of emotions. They must, at times, distance themselves from considering the cadaver as a person. At the same time, many students form emotional attachments to the cadaver. This results in the university holding a mass funeral for the cadavers at the end of the semester. Students eulogize about the cadaver they worked on. It is a way of letting go, and thanking the person who donated their body to science, at the same time. Stiff – by Mary Roach is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me on PayPal.me. Thank you!... Gone Girl – by Gillian FlynnNovember 24, 2018Book Reviews / fictionNick and Amy Dunne have what appears (from the outside) to be a perfect marriage. Both of them make their living as writers – for different publications. Both are good looking and visually appear to be a good match. Gone Girl is the story of what happens when a marriage ends – and the wife suddenly disappears. Gillian Flynn is the author of Sharp Objects, which became a New York Times Bestseller. Gone Girl is not a sequel to Sharp Objects. Both stories have plenty of twists and turns, which leave the reader guessing about what is really going on. This is definitely one of those books that is difficult to review because of the chance of unintentionally revealing spoilers. The story is told out of chronological order. It starts the day that Amy disappeared, and is told to the reader from the viewpoint of Nick. The police begin their investigation with the assumption that the husband must be involved in whatever happened to his wife. Nick has no idea what happened to Amy, and is genuinely worried about her. There was evidence of a struggle in their home that took place while Nick was at work. He and his twin sister own a bar – which was purchased with Amy’s money. Some of the story goes back in time to when Nick and Amy first met and started dating. It paints a very sweet picture of the two of them. Literally. Their first kiss was next to a bakery where the air was filled with sugar. I found myself wanting to give Nick the benefit of the doubt – for now. The reader is first introduced to Amy through her diary. She secretly wrote down her most private thoughts, fears and emotions. It starts with an optimistic view of their marriage, and leads readers through its deterioration. There was a time when both of them lost their jobs – one after the other – and started becoming distant from each other. Things grow much more dangerous and darker as the diary goes on. Amy has left Nick a series of clues, in the form of a scavenger hunt. She creates one every year for Valentine’s Day. It starts with a wrapped gift that includes a clue (in the form of a poem). From that, Nick must figure out where to go to find the next clue. It goes on for a while. In previous years, Nick hated the scavenger hunt. Amy based the clues around small details that were important to her, and would become disappointed and angry when Nick couldn’t figure them out. This time, however, Amy’s clues are very lovey-dovey, and the locations they send Nick are ones that are significant to him. He starts working on these clues without letting the police know about it. Amy’s parents organize people to search for their missing daughter. They set up phone banks with volunteers waiting to take calls from anyone who has some relevant information to share. It is extremely tense, and awkward, and Nick comes across as indifferent. Inside, he’s freaking out. Amy’s parents did something that likely warped their daughter’s worldview. They created a book series called “Amazing Amy”, based on their daughter. In the book, Amy was the perfect daughter, who always made the best decisions. Imagine being the real Amy and trying to live up to that! The books became incredibly popular, and turned Amy into a minor celebrity. She tells Nick that she has had problems with stalkers, and with a boyfriend who was… I’m going to say super clingy. Nick believes this, right up until he contacts those people and finds that their stories do not match what Amy said. I started off liking both Nick and Amy, but that changed as the book went on. Readers eventually are introduced to Amy as herself – not through her diary – and she brings them up to speed about where she is and what she has been doing. She also gives the reader some clues about what really happened before she disappeared. One thing is clear: at least one of these two people are lying. I kept changing my mind about who to believe. Gillian Flynn excels at creating strong, interesting, psychopathic characters. The unsettling thing is how well those characters pass themselves off as good people. Gone Girl – by Gillian Flynn is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me on PayPal.me. Thank you!... Beautiful Ruins: a Novel – by Jess WalterOctober 1, 2018Book Reviews / fictionBeautiful Ruins is a work of fiction that includes a few characters who are based on real people. Specifically, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton who starred in the movie Cleopatra (which was released in 1963). The more prominent characters, however, are ones created by Jess Walter. Pasquali Tursi is the first character that readers encounter, and he is extremely likable. He finds himself smitten with Dee Moray, an actress who was supposed to be in the Cleopatra movie, but who cannot now because she is dying. Dee comes to visit Pasquali’s small village on accident. I did a Google Search for Dee Moray, but could not find anything that indicates that the woman exists in reality. Instead, I found the name of an actress that was going to play her in the movie version of this book – but who dropped out of the film. There is a parallel here between fiction and reality. Pasquali is the youngest son of two parents who lost their older sons in the war. This caused his parents to be very overprotective of him. Eventually, Pasquali left his small village to go to college. He returns after his father has died, and his mother has gotten sick. Pasquali’s biggest dream is to improve his father’s small hotel so that American guests would come and stay there. The hotel is named “The Adequate View”, and I’ll leave you to read the book to find out how it got its name. The small town Pasquali lives in is mostly a fishing village. It can only be accessed by boat, and has very little that would be considering interesting enough to attract tourists. The name of the town is Porto Vergogna. It’s hardly big enough to be considered a port, and Vergogna means “shame”. It was best known as a place that sailors could come to when they wanted to find prostitutes. One day, as Pasquali is working on creating a beach, an American actress arrives by boat. Dee Moray is dying, and intends to travel to Switzerland for treatment as soon as she can. She’s waiting for someone from the movie she was working on to come get her. Pasquali becomes smitten with her right away, and the two eventually become close friends. I found Pasquali very endearing, even after the book reveals a big mistake that he made when he was younger. Without spoiling the story, I will say that the most interesting thing about the situation is that readers get to see the moment when Pasquali realizes the magnitude of what he has done. Beautiful Ruins is a book that skips around in time, and brings readers into the heads of various characters. One of them is Claire Silver, who, decades later, finds herself miserable. She hates her job as a person who reads scripts and suggests the best ones to her boss, Michael Deane. He ignores her suggestions, and she finds that frustrating. Claire is about to quit her job in favor of one she has an interview for. She’s looking for a sign about which way to go. In addition, Claire is about to break up with her boyfriend, who stays out all night at strip clubs and who doesn’t have a job. Unexpectedly, the sign she is looking for appears when Pasquali arrives at the movie lot. The Michael Deane character is instantly unlikable. I believe the author intended readers to be at least somewhat repulsed by him. He’s fake and self-centered, and completely unaware of how badly he treats other people. To me, the title Beautiful Ruins is a reference not only to the Roman ruins in Italy, but also to a multitude of other things. It can refer to the Cleopatra movie which (in the book, at least) is ridiculously expensive, full of off-screen drama, and hampered by everything from weather to cast changes. In reality, the finished movie was visually beautiful. It also refers to many of the characters. Alvis Bender is a good example of what I mean. He’s a American writer who has ruined his life in so many ways. Alvis comes to The Adequate View in the summer to write his book. But, he’s been unable to write more than a chapter. Instead, he spends his time drinking. Readers are treated to a chapter that contains what Alvis Bender wrote. The font in the chapter resembles what one might expect from a typewriter, and the story is compelling and nuanced and authentic. The writer in Alvis is beautiful; the man himself is in a state of ruin. I’m leaving a lot out of this review so readers can enjoy it unspoiled. There’s a sentence in the story that stuck with me. Claire watches an extremely emotional play in a theater, and thinks: “Maybe all love is hopeless.” There are plenty of examples of that in the book, including references to the relationship between Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. Relationships fail, even the ones that start off beautifully. It is because all of us are in some state of ruin, eroded by time and emotional weather. Beautiful Ruins: a Novel – by Jess Walter is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me on PayPal.me. Thank you!... World of WarcraftMy Thoughts About World of Warcraft ClassicDecember 23, 2018World of Warcraft / World of Warcraft ClassicI was fortunate enough to attend Blizzcon 2018. One of the (many) demo games that was available for people to try was World of Warcraft Classic. I wanted to share my thoughts about it before I forgot what I intended to say. The screenshots you see in this blog were obviously NOT taken while I was at BlizzCon. I had time to play the World of Warcraft Classic demo after returning home from BlizzCon. These screenshots were taken on my computer after BlizzCon 2018 was over. I decided to get in line for the World of Warcraft Classic demo at BlizzCon to kill some time. My husband needed to go all over the conference in order to do some shopping for someone who was unable to attend BlizzCon. It was the second day of BlizzCon, and I was exhausted. I have several chronic illnesses, including rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia. There was no way I was going to summon the energy that shopping trip required. Instead, I took the opportunity to try some game demos. There were two guys ahead of me in the long and winding line. It turned out all three of us played Vanilla WoW back in the day, and all as Alliance characters. We reminisced about how long it took to run around without a mount, and wondered about how much of that old world would remain the same in WoW Classic. My first character was a Night Elf Hunter, and I shared my story about running out of arrows and not having any idea of how or where to get more. We laughed about Hunter pets that had moods that the player had to manage. Failure meant the Hunter pet would run away, leaving the Hunter to try and tame another one. Actually sitting down at a computer at BlizzCon to play WoW Classic was exciting. There is something about hands-on video game experience that makes the things that had been announced seem real. I rolled a Night Elf Hunter, and received a boar as a pet. So did all the other Hunters. Blizzard planned ahead and gave all Hunters plenty of ammo to start with. I didn’t have to worry about running out. I found it amusing that my pet started to get unhappy if I was standing around for too long – but quickly became super happy again when I sent it into battle. I had forgotten that Hunters needed to feed their pet to keep it happy. When I tried to give my boar some food, I was reminded that it was a picky eater. If I remember correctly, text popped up that said something like “Your pet doesn’t like that food.” It made me laugh! Those who tried the WoW Classic demo at BlizzCon found themselves in a server filled with other, very excited, players. Someone invited me into a group right away, and I accepted the invitation. There was a brief moment when four Night Elf Hunters were running around together, trying to slay bandits that were a higher level than we were. Speaking of levels, Blizzard made a very good decision and started players off at Level 15. This happened in both the demo at BlizzCon and the one people could try at home. It made things move a lot faster than if we all had to start at Level 1 and grind our way upward. Starting at Level 15 allowed players to actually survive some of their encounters with enemies! A group of players on the BlizzCon server had a fun idea. They urged everyone to go to Deadmines, in as large a group as possible, and kill Elites together. This was manageable because all Alliance players started in Westfall. It was so much fun slaying Elite enemies in the hallway that leads to Deadmines! We outnumbered them, and the quick respawns weren’t a match for the sheer number of overexcited players who were having a great time. It turned out we couldn’t access the actual Deadmines dungeon, so we stayed in the hallway, battled to our death, and made multiple corpse runs right back in. It was announced at BlizzCon that World of Warcraft Classic would not require a separate subscription. It will come with a regular World of Warcraft subscription. Personally, I think this was another great decision by Blizzard. It enables people who want to play WoW Classic to be able to afford it. Those who were not initially interested in WoW Classic, but who have a “regular” WoW subscription, will have the opportunity to try Classic at any time without having to pay extra money to do so. Maybe the nostalgia of it will bring in some hesitant players. Or, it could bring in players who were too young to have played in Vanilla WoW, and who are curious about what it was like. The “Con Crud” caught up to me shortly after I returned home from BlizzCon. I expected this – my immune system sucks and I get sick all the time. Later, I learned that plenty of typically healthy people who went to BlizzCon were also afflicted with bad “Con Crud”. As such, I was at home playing WoW Classic on my computer while exhausted. The hyped-up energy of BlizzCon had disappeared; there was no crowd of players to interact with in person; and the server I was on felt very empty. It probably didn’t help that I was playing at weird hours when most other people were probably sleeping. The first thing I did was roll another Night Elf Hunter – who started at Level 15 with a boar pet and more ammo than I was likely to use up before the demo ended. The whole atmosphere had changed. I was fighting enemies by myself, dying more than I did at BlizzCon, and making really dumb decisions because I was playing while sick. This slowed-down experience was not actually a disappointment. It reminded me very much of what it was like when I played Vanilla WoW. Long story short, I didn’t have anyone to play with back then, and did not join a guild until after The Burning Crusade had launched. It was quiet, with long stretches of calm as I slowly walked around Westfall. I enjoyed the challenge of figuring out where I was supposed to go to complete the quests that I had accepted. In “live” WoW, my Death Knight has an easy time killing all who cross her path. In WoW Classic, I had to return to using strategy, thinking hard before sending my pet to attack an enemy, and running away when I accidentally pulled the whole mob at once. Overall, I’m looking forward to playing WoW Classic. I want the opportunity to level up a brand new character (with the old skills and talent tree) and exploring an Azeroth that has changed so much between then and now. I want to visit the less traveled areas of Azeroth once again. My Thoughts About World of Warcraft Classic is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me on PayPal.me. Thank you!... Riglee Finishes Hallow’s EveNovember 21, 2018Holiday Events / World of WarcraftHallow’s End is my favorite of all the World Events in World of Warcraft. I’ve been slowly working my way through it with my main, Riglee (a Gnome Death Knight). The main problem was that she was always too low a level to even try and earn some of holiday related achievements. This year, Riglee was somewhere around Level 96 or so when Hallow’s End started. I was able to get her through almost all of the Hallow’s End achievements – with one exception. Riglee hit Level 99 near the end of the World Event, and needed to be Level 100 in order to find Scarecrow Pepe in her Garrison. In 2015, which must have been the last time I put effort into Hallow’s Eve, I put together a blog post that showed my progress through it. This year, I ran out of time before I had to leave for BlizzCon (and the event ended before I got back home.) This is not a complaint – I had a wonderful time at BlizzCon 2018. It is simply an observation. Tricks and Treats of the Cataclysm Last year, Riglee visited the Candy Buckets at: Firebeard’s Patrol, Twilight Highlands; Victor’s Point, Twilight Highlands; and Thundarmar, Twilight Highlands. Ramkahen, Uldum; Oasis of Vir’sar, Uldum; Shrine of Aviana, Mount Hyjal; Highbank, Twilight Highlands Deepmist Grotto, Vashj’ir; Deepholm, Temple of the Earth; Tranquil Wash, Vashj’ir; Silver Tide Hollow, Vashj’ir I’m missing a few screenshots of some of the other Candy Bucket locations in the Cataclysm zones. It is possible I was too tired to remember to take those screenshots. Or, they might have gotten lost in the pile of other World of Warcraft screenshots. I will update this blog post if, one day, I find where those screenshots went. I earned the Tricks and Treats of Cataclysm Achievement! Tricks and Treats of Cataclysm: Visit the Candy Buckets in Cataclysm zones. Deepholm, Temple of Earth Mount Hyjal, Grove of Assenia Mount Hyjal, Nordrassil Mount Hyjal, Shrine of Aviana Twilight Highlands, Firebeard’s Patrol Twilight Highlands, Highbank Twilight Highlands, Thundermar Twilight Highlands, Victor’s Point Uldum, Oasis of Vir’sar Uldum, Ramkahan Vashj’ir, Darkbreak Cove Vashjir, Deepmist Grotto Vashj’ir, Silver Tide Hollow Vashj’ir, Tranquil Wash Tricks and Treats of Pandaria Paw’don Village, Jade Forest; Pearlfin Village, Jade Forest; Tian Monastery, Jade Forest; Jade Temple Grounds, Jade Forest; Greenstone Village, Jade Forest; Dawn’s Blossom, Jade Forest Sri-La Village, Jade Forest; Zhu’s Watch, Karasang Wilds; One Keg, Kun-Lai Summit; The Grummie Bazaar, Kun-Lai Summit; Klaaxi-vess, Dread Wastes; Soggy’s Gamble, Dread Wastes Pang’s Stead, Valley of the Four Winds; Stoneplow, Valley of the Four Winds; Tavern in the Mists, The Veiled Stair; Mistfall Village, Vale of the Eternal Blossoms There are more Candy Bucket locations in Pandaria that are required in order to complete Tricks and Treats of Pandaria achievement. I seem to have lost some of my screenshots. This is likely because I was playing while tired. The Candy Bucket at Westwind Rest, in the Kun-Lai Summit, is a difficult one to get to. When my Gnome Death Knight arrived at that town – it was on fire. There were no NPCs there (because they had evacuated). There was no Candy Bucket. After searching around online, I learned that the problem was that this content was “phased”. From what I understand, Westwind Rest stays on fire until the player completes a specific quest chain. Here is how to do it: First, go to Binan Village, in the Kun-Lai Summit. Look for an NPC named Mayor Bramblestaff. He should have a quest for you. I cannot remember if he has this quest right away, or if you have to complete a few other quests first. If he doesn’t have a quest for you, go outside the village and complete the quests from the NPCs out there. Then, go back to Mayor Bramblestaff. Mayor Bramblestaff: It would seem that your Admiral Taylor has awakened from his injuries. He and his people are upstairs in the apothecary’s house across the way. He has requested your presence. Go into the apothecary’s house. Climb up the stairs. Admiral Taylor and a few other Alliance characters are up there. Admiral Taylor is the human who is sitting on the floor. He’s yelling an an Orc (and two Horde characters) who are sitting on the floor across the room. I have no idea what the story-line is here, because I’ve been going through the content randomly. Admiral Taylor: Riglee, is that you? I can’t believe we survived the destruction of the Jade Serpent. Some of us anyway. Admiral Taylor gives you the Westwind Rest quest. It starts with narrative: <Admiral Taylor winces in pain.> Admiral Taylor: Jade Forest was a disaster. Anduin’s gone. We lost some good people. We didn’t stop the Horde from advancing into the continent. But I think I’ve found a way to get the locals on our side. You just helped fight off some of these “yaungol”, no? I hear yaungol sacked Westwind Rest, a local village. We’ve been told that two groups of survivors have camped out along the road west out of town. We help them out, maybe they’ll consider siding with the Alliance. Next, you need to speak with Farmhand Bo and Elder Tsulan in the Yaungol Advance. They are NPCs who are, as Admiral Taylor said, “camped out along the road.” Farmhand Bo: The… the yaungol! They attacked my farm, and the nearby village, Westwind Rest… killed some of us, and the ones they didn’t kill they chased off. I managed to gather some of us here. Any word on help coming from Binan? The player needs to click on the part that says: I’m from the Alliance. We’re here to save you and rebuild your village. Farmhand Bo: I don’t know about this “Alliance”, but you look trustworthy. I’ll gather everyone up and meet you when we’re ready to rebuild! Next, you need to go find Elder Tsulan. He’s standing by the road (in a different spot from where you found Farmhand Bo). A group of Kun-Lai evacuees is there with Elder Tsulan. Elder Tsulan: As dark as things seem, I must not give up hope. We must not be cowed by the violence of the Yaungol. You… have come to help us? The player must click on the part that says: I’m from the Alliance. We’re here to save you and rebuild your village. (I’m assuming that it would swap “Alliance” for “Horde” depending on what faction the player’s character belongs to.) Elder Tsulan: I will not rest until our people are returned and this village rebuilt. Elder Tsulan: Someone has come to save us? Perhaps all is not lost… Elder Tsulan: Well… we are alive, and that is better than we could have hoped for without your help. But, if this is truly to become a base of operations for you, and if we are to join your Alliance, there is one more thing you must do to guarantee our security. Elder Tsulan: The yanguol have always been a difficult proud people, but never this violent or aggressive. I do not know what has prompted this change in their behavior, but we don’t have time to find out, now. We fear for our lives and livelihoods as long as Ur-Bataar, leader of the Batarri yaungol, lives. Go, set the banner in his camp ablaze to challenge him, and then defeat him in battle. Only then will we be secure. Riglee fought Ur-Bataar – Warbringer of the Bataari Ur-Bataar: No! Kun-Lai was ours…. Elder Tsulan: You did it! At the very least, we have justice and safety, though in the process we have lost so much. Regardless, it has been decided. We will join the Alliance, and with your help, rebuild this village. I earned the Westwind Rest Achievement. A cinematic plays. It starts with Westwind Rest very much on fire. Pandarans rush in and start putting out the fires. Admiral Taylor and his team arrive. Westwind Rest has become an Alliance town. It is now possible to loot the Candy Bucket at Westwind Rest. I earned the Tricks and Treats of Pandaria Achievement. Tricks and Treats of Pandaria: Visit the Candy Buckets in Pandaria. Dread Wastes, Klaxxi’vess Dread Wastes, Soggy’s Gamble Jade Forest, Dawn’s Blossom Jade Forest, Greenstone Village Jade Forest, Jade Temple Grounds Jade Forest, Paw’don Village Jade Forest, Pearlfin Village Jade Forest, Sri-La Village Jade Forest, Tian Monastery Krasarang Wilds, Marista Krasarang Wilds, Zhu’s Watch Kun-Lai Summit, Binan Village Kun-Lai Summit, The Grummie Bazaar Kun-Lai Summit, One Keg Kun-Lai Summit, Westwind Rest Kun-Lai Summit, Zouchin Village The Veiled Stair, Tavern in the Mists Townlong Steppes, Longying Outpost Vale of Eternal Blossoms, Mistfall Village Vale of Eternal Blossoms, Shrine of the Seven Stars Valley of the Four Winds, Pang’s Stead Valley of the Four Winds, Stoneplow This Hallow’s Eve was the first time I was able to get one of my characters into the Headless Horseman fight. In previous years, all of them were too low a level to participate. I completed The Headless Horseman Dungeons, and earned an Achievement. Bring Me The Head of… Oh Wait: Kill the Headless Horseman. The Loot Filled Pumpkin that I got after killing The Headless Horseman included one of those awesome flying brooms. Fun! I attempted to complete the G.N.E.R.D. Rage achievement in during previous Hallow’s Eve events, but I guess it wasn’t a priority. This year, I decided it was worth getting into a random battleground where I could do some PVP. With a little effort, I was able to complete the G.N.E.R.D. Rage Achievement. G.N.E.R.D. Rage: Earn 10 honorable kills while under the influence of the G.N.E.R.D. buff. It’s a slap in the face! It turned out that the G.N.E.R.D. Rage Achievement was the last one I needed to complete the Hallow’s End event. The text says Riglee earned the Hallowed Be Thy Name Achievement. Hallowed Be Thy Name: Complete the Hallow’s End achievements listed below. Trick or Treat! Bring Me The Head of… Oh Wait That Sparkling Smile G.N.E.R.D. Rage The Masquerade Tricks and Treats of Azeroth Out With It The Savior of Hallow’s End Rotten Hallow Check Your Head Sinister Calling This Achievement comes with a Title Reward: The Hallowed. It can be used on all of your characters. (Or, maybe it is limited to all your characters from one faction. I’m not sure.) I collected enough Tricky Treats to purchase a Hallow’s Eve Pet. Widget the Departed is a ghost kitty. What’s left for next year’s Hallow’s Eve? I could go visit Candy Buckets and gather up enough Tricky Treats to get another Hallow’s Eve pet. Or, I could try and get one of my alts through the Hallow’s End Achievements. Hopefully, by next Hallow’s Eve, Riglee the Death Knight will be at level 100. There is one more Hallow’s Eve Achievement (but it doesn’t appear to be required in order to finish the event). Characters who are Level 100 (or higher) can go find Scarecrow Pepe in their Garrison. Riglee wasn’t quite at Level 100 yet, so she could not get the quest that players have to complete before they can find Scarecrow Pepe. Riglee Finishes Hallow’s Eve is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me on PayPal.me. Thank you!... World of Warcraft: BlizzCon 2018 Virtual Ticket ItemsOctober 28, 2018World of Warcraft / World of Warcraft otherPeople who purchase the BlizzCon 2018 Virtual Ticket (or who have purchased a ticket to BlizzCon 2018 – the Virtual Ticket access comes with it) will receive a bunch of goodies for Blizzard Entertainment’s games. In this blog post, I focus on the World of Warcraft BlizzCon 2018 items. The Achievement associated with the BlizzCon 2018 items is called Flying Colors. It shows part of the Alliance cape, possibly because I went after the items on my Night Elf Hunter before I grabbed them on my Forsaken Warlock. (This is just a guess.) Flying Colors: Proud owner of the Alliance and Horde War Mantles and War Banners from the 2018 BlizzCon. This is what the Alliance War Mantle looks like. The Stormwind Champion’s War Banner can be found in your Toy Box. This is what the Stormwind Champion’s War Banner looks like. I planted this near the front of Stormwind while working on the Hallow’s End quests. Stormwind was experiencing night at the time, and I figure the Banner would be more shiny during the day. This is what the Horde War Mantle looks like. The Orgrimmar Hero’s War Banner can be found in your Toy Box. Here is what the Orgrimmar Hero’s War Banner looks like in game. I can’t remember where my Forsaken Warlock was when she planted this Banner. I think the skull on it looks very cool! World of Warcraft: BlizzCon 2018 Virtual Ticket Items is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me on PayPal.me. Thank you!... The Dwarves Explore Western Plaguelands – Part 1August 20, 2018The Dwarves / World of WarcraftThe Dwarves are Hansbrix the Hunter (and his pet bear, Fridge) and Bradanna the Priest. My husband and I had been playing these two characters together, completing parts of Azeroth zone by zone. There are things that we missed out on the first time we played (other characters) through some of the Cataclysm content. In this blog, I will feature the most interesting parts of The Dwarves trip through Western Plaguelands. The screenshots you see in this blog were taken on May 25, June 6, June 7, June 9, and June 10, 2015. The Dwarves began their exploration of Western Plaguelands by falling directly into the water, somewhere near Sorrow Hill. They were still in the water when they officially discovered Western Plaguelands. The Dwarves probably didn’t take the path they were supposed to take – but they managed to get to the right place anyway. Upon arriving in Andorhal, The Dwarves met two NPCs (Non-Player Characters). The first was Thassarian (level 85). The Dwarves had a quest to turn in to him. Hero’s Call: Western Plaguelands!: There is much to be done here. Both of our enemies are relentless and would slaughter us without mercy the moment we sheathe our blades. Thassarian gave The Dwarves a new quest to work on. Scourge First…Horde Later: Darkmaster Gandling of the Cult of the Damned leads the Scourge offensive here in Andorhal. My old counterpart, Koltira, leads the Forsaken forces. If we’re to win Andorhal, we’ll have to defeat both, but we will certainly fail if we have to take on both at once. I know Koltira well enough to know that he will focus on the Scourge first. We will do the same. Take out the weaker, desiccated Scourge to reduce their numbers. The Forsaken will have to wait to taste our wrath. The NPC standing next to Thassarian is named Lurid. He is a skeleton who is wearing armor. War Machines: Dried up Scourge… weak. Abominations… strong. We defeat strong abominations… we win war. Thassarian and Lurid appear to be mostly on the same page. They both want The Dwarves to kill off a lot of Scourge (and ignore the Forsaken for the time being). The difference is that Thassarian thinks it best to kill the weaker desiccated Scourge first, while Lurid wants The Dwarves to attack the stronger abominations. By this point in their adventure, The Dwarves have figured out that going after a specific enemy often brings in other enemies. With luck, The Dwarves can finish off these two quests in one battle. Before jumping into battle, The Dwarves drove over to see what Lang Loosegrip needed them to do. The Endless Flow: Araj the Summoner is bolstering the Scourge defenses with simple skeletons… an army of weaklings that will overwhelm you before it overpowers you. He has assembled animi within Andorhal’s northern towers that spew these skeletons out at an alarming rate. But I’ve got the solution! <Lang passes you a handful of grenades.> Their function is simple. Throwing these grenades at a bone animus … or, for that matter, a mob of skeletons… will reduce them to splinters. I didn’t know it at the time, but Lang Loosegrip had just given me a quest that would turn out to be one of my favorites. The Dwarves learned that it is very important to take the time to say hello to the local Flight Master. Bradanna noticed that she had mail to retrieve. There are no mailboxes on Andorhal. (Or, at least, none that The Dwarves could find.) They drove off in search of one. A good friend sent Bradanna an adorable Argi pet! Argi is super cute. Bradanna immediately picked him up and cuddled him. Argi didn’t seem to mind the trip back to Andorhal. The Dwarves were now ready to fight! They started attacking the Scourge. In this screenshot, they are fighting a Desiccated Magus. Bradanna and Hansbrix (and Fridge) fought a Desiccated Spearman while one of Thassarian’s army watched over Argi. The Dwarves eventually were able to take down some of the Opengut Behemoths that were wandering through Andorhal. Behemoths are big! (Dwarf for scale) Time to take out a mob of skeletons! The quests that involved jumping into a mob of skeletons, and slaying them all, were the most fun of all the Andorhal quests. Skeletons have long been my favorite monster to fight, and these kinds of battles remind me of playing the Diablo video games. So many skeletons! They just keep respawning. You can fight them forever…. or, until you turn in the quest. Thassarian: You may not act quickly, but at least you do not fail me. Very well. I will have a more important task for you, Bradanna, when the time is right. It sounds like Thassarian was not pleased that The Dwarves accepted his quest and then dashed off to get a pet out of a mailbox. That being said, he’s more pleased with The Dwarves than with…. whoever “failed” him before The Dwarves showed up. Lurid, on the other hand, didn’t seem to have much to say. He’s a man…um, skeleton… of few words. Lurid: Abominations…strong. Bradanna…stronger. Thassarian: With the death of the Lich King, all I have left is my duty. There is no family. There are no friends… there is only this. War. Hansbrix and Bradanna might have a vague awareness of the Lich King and the war against him. But, this is the first time they have encountered someone who was involved in that fight at the time it happened. Thassarian has lost everything that mattered to him. Thassarian: The Scholomance is one of the few Scourge holdouts remaining west of the Thondroril. The headmaster of Scholomance, a cultist by the name of Darkmaster Gandling, has made an appearance on the battlefield. This will be his last mistake. You will find Gandling in a square near the southern end of town. I want you to fight and weaken Gandling. I will join you to help finish him off. Thassarian: Gandling is strong, but do not worry. I will join you shortly after you begin to fight him. The Dwarves were a bit confused by these instructions. If Gandling is strong… then, shouldn’t Thassarian be coming along to the battle right from the start? Was he waiting for an invite to their party? Before either Hansbrix or Bradanna could ask Thassarian to accompany them… he gave them another quest. Thassarian: Gandling has brought his lieutenant, Rattlegore, with him. This clattering horror is far more dangerous than any of the other Scourge you will find upon the battlefield… even the abominations. You will find Rattlegore within an old town-hall building, near the center of town. I recommend caution before fighting him, Bradanna. He will not be a pushover. Rattlegore put up a decent fight. The Dwarves were able to defeat him without Thassarian’s help. It wasn’t clear if The Dwarves were supposed to have gone through Scholomance before arriving at Andorhal. I can’t quite make the story work out. If The Dwarves had decided to do Scholomance before Andorhal, they would have already killed Rattlegore and Darkmaster Gandling. If they took that route, it would mean The Dwarves would be fighting Rattlegore and Darkmaster Gandling a second time after arriving in Andorhal. The Dwarves are asked to kill these two “bad guys” here… and will undoubtedly meet them again whenever they get around to doing the Scholomance dungeon. Bradanna found a Blighthawk sitting by the lamppost outside the town-hall building. There was no time for pet battles, though. The Dwarves needed to find, and slay, Darkmaster Gandling. Bradanna was surprised to find that part of Andorhal was on fire. Hansbrix and Fridge had already run past the flames, in search of the next battle. Bradanna rushed to catch up to them. Hansbrix quickly got surrounded by skeletons! Fridge was nowhere in sight. Bradanna was, once again, glad that she had decided to become a healer. A view of Andorhal from the tower. Bradanna got overwhelmed by the respawning skeletons at the bottom of the tower, and tried to run. She ended up with a conga-line of skeletons that followed her directly into a Behemoth. Not ideal! The Dwarves found Darkmaster Gandling, and Fridge ran right over to fight him. We were still using Fridge as our “tank”. As such, the first threat Darkmaster Gandling made was “Prepare to die, Fridge!” Something in World of Warcraft assumes that the first one to attack the “bad guy” must be a player character. It never ceases to be amusing! The Dwarves entered combat. When would Thassarian show up? Darkmaster Gandling: Your life is forfeit. The Dwarves watched, helplessly, a Fridge got stuck in a bubble and lifted high into the air. This dire moment was exactly when Thassarian decided to arrive. Koltira Deathweaver joined the battle, too. Thassarian: For the Alliance! Koltira Deathweaver: For the Horde! The battle continues! Darkmaster Gandling: Enough of this. The Cult of the Damned doesn’t need Andorhal. This worthless city is yours to fight over. After his snarky remark, Darkmaster Gandling leaves Andorhal. We didn’t kill him. He presumably went back to Scholomance. Someday, if Bradanna and Hansbrix (and Fridge) decide to do the Scholomance dungeon – it would make sense to find Darkmaster Gandling in there – and fight him a second time. If Rattlebone is also in Scholomance…. then I’m going to assume that Darkmaster Gandling figured out how to rebuild him. Thassarian: Koltira! I had heard rumors that you were here in Lordaeron. Koltira: You heard correctly, Thassarian. I wanted to give you a chance to kill me again. Thassarian laughs. Hansbrix and Fridge wander away. Thassarian: It looks like it may have to come to that. Koltira: Yes, it may…but not today. With the Scourge out of the way, I plan to pull my troops back and regroup. Thassarian: I see. Then I will do the same. Thassarian: But you must be aware, Koltira: we are brothers no longer. You are a member of the Horde now, and I of the Alliance. Thassarian: Eventually, we will fight this battle for Andorhal, and only one of us can walk off of this battlefield victorious. Koltira: Yes, I know. And don’t think I’ll go easy on you. Thassarian laughs. Thassarian: Very well. I look forward to it. Koltira and Thassarian teleport away. Thassarian whispers: You are not to speak to ANYONE about the agreement that was made today, Bradanna. Consider this an order from your direct superior. This puts The Dwarves in the awkward position of having to turn in quests to Thassarian while pretending they didn’t see and hear the conversation he had with Koltira. Thassarian is just going to stand there, next to Lurid, as though nothing at all happened. Thassarian: Excellently done, Bradanna. And now, with the leader of the Scourge forces eliminated from Ahdorhal, we bide our time. Bradanna selected Gandling’s Gloves from the reward choice. It was the only item she could use. Lang Loosegrip: These grenades are all explosives, nothing more. I may not be a goblin engineer…but I still understand the value of being able to just explode things every once in a while. Lang Loosegrip: With the animus destroyed, the next logical step is tot take out Araj himself and to take a shard of his phylactery. You’ve probably already seen him, lurking at the fountain in the center of town. Take my grenades with you. They won’t do anything to Araj, but if he decides to summon any of those skeletons, you can use them to blow them away. Again. Before jumping into another battle, Bradanna, Hansbrix,and Fridge decided to take a short rest. They joined a happy looking, drunken, skeleton. He didn’t seem to mind. Lang Loosegrip was exactly right about where to find Araj the Summoner. The Dwarves didn’t have too difficult a time fighting this “big bad”. Shortly before dying, Araj the Summoner unleaded a mob of well-choreographed skeletons. They ran right for Bradanna. The Dwarves needed to pick up Araj’s Phylactery Shard in order to complete the quest. Hansbrix had no trouble smashing it! Thassarian: Araj dead… this is good. That gnome has done his part in winning this war. As have you, Bradanna. This was the first time I noticed how awesome Lurid’s axe was! I also noticed that Lurid appears to be wearing a decapitated Dwarf head, complete with braided beard, as a loincloth. What, exactly, was Lurid doing before he arrived at Andorhal? There must be a story there that hasn’t been told. Thassarian: The Alliance are victorious, and our forces are still strong. Military strategy dictates the we attack the Forsaken now, while they are recovering and unaware. I made a deal, however… We will wait. We attack Koltira and his troops when the time is right. In the meantime, speak with Ginny Goodwin and take a flight to the Chillwind Camp, to our south. Commander Ashlam Valorfist will give you your next assignment. You will hear from me when you are needed again in Andorhal. Ok, hold on there, Thassarian. First, you had a talk with Koltira, in the middle of town, about a secret truce. Then, you told us NOT to tell anyone about that secret truce. Now, you’re openly talking about that – apparently classified – truce again, out here where anyone nearby can hear you. If your goal was to baffle us into silence… well, you’ve succeeded. Next stop – Chillwind Camp! Commander Ashlam Valorfist: Welcome to the front lines, priest. The Kingdom of Stormwind, with the aid of its allies, has sent me here to counter the growing threat of the Scourge. Here at Chillwind Camp, we fight for our continued survival on a daily basis. If you’ve come here looking for a chance to prove yourself as a hero, then you’ll find plenty of opportunities to do so… especially as we push towards Andorhal and whatever malign force that controls the Scourge there. Commander Ashlam Valorfist: Word arrived shortly before you did, Bradanna. With the Scourge ejected from Andorhal, we are one step closer to retaking Lordaeron. Commander Ashlam Valorfist: We must always be prepared for battle, Bradanna. Whether that battle is against the Forsaken in Andorhal, against the Scourge in the east, or against some yet-unknown foe is unknown. What is known, is that we must be ready. We are low on arrows. I can obtain the shafts and heads, but I still need feathers. The birds that circle to the northwest typically molt this time of year. Would you mind traveling out into the field and gathering some of these feathers for our camp? The Dwarves were willing to go gather up some molted feathers. It’s nice that Commander Ashlam Valorfist, who sounds very focused on being ready for war, didn’t ask The Dwarves to kill the birds. Collecting the feathers the birds have already dropped will get the job done. Commander Ashlam realized that the birds were not his enemy. Thurman Grant has a sad story to tell. Thurman Grant: I hail from Westfall, far to the south…as do these men that travel with me. We are farmers, and nothing more. I had been told that Lordaeron had been healed, and that it was ready for tilling. However, this “Commander” now tells me that it’s too dangerous to proceed. He says that there’s a war going on, and that the plague lands still aren’t healed. Before anything else, I need to get some food in my men’s stomachs. Anything will do. Bear meat seems to be plentiful. Hansbrix, of course, took offense at Thurman Grant’s suggestion that he allow Fridge to be turned into dinner! Thurman Grant assured Hansbrix that wasn’t what he meant at all. He pointed toward the trees and asked The Dwarves to hunt some Shaggy Black Bears. Argent Officer Pureheart, of The Argent Crusade, was informative, but didn’t have a quest for The Dwarves. Argent Officer Pureheart: Well met, friend. I am Officer Pureheart, and I am a proud member of a world-wide organization known as the Argent Crusade. Our cause is simple – fight swiftly and mercilessly against any element of evil that surfaces in Azeroth. We are not a political body, nor do we ever wish to become one. To that end, we call both the Alliance and the Horde both as friends – friends in the cause of stamping out evil! For the Light, my sister! Bradanna nodded her head and listened to Argent Office Pureheart, and then walked away. There was something odd about this human, who felt the need to insist that her organization was not part of a political group, after proudly telling Bradanna that her organization likes to “fight swiftly and mercilessly against any element of evil that surfaces in Azeroth”. Bradanna wasn’t quite sure if this was a cult, and worried that Argent Officer Pureheart was about to ask her to make a donation. Hansbrix sent Fridge off to “tank”, while he and Bradanna fired at the Shaggy Black Bears from a distance. In between fighting Shaggy Black Bears, The Dwarves remembered to gather the Brownfeather Quills that were on the ground. Ok, back to fighting bears! Ready to turn in the bear meat and feather quests Thurman Grant: You hunt like a true priest…Even if we can’t set up homesteads… at least we can still eat. This time, Thurman Grant decided to insult Bradanna. Whatcha mean “you hunt like a true priest?” Bradanna felt mocked. She realized, however, that Thurman Grant probably didn’t mean it that way. He was just a rather awkward human. Ding! Bradanna hit Level 39! Commander Ashlam Valorfist: I will have my fletchers get to work on these. I am glad to see you being useful right away, Bradanna. Perhaps later I will have some more exciting tasks for you. It did not take Commander Ashlam Valorfist long to assign The Dwarves a “more exciting” task. True to his word, this quest proved to be more interesting than the one where he had them gathering feathers. Commander Ashlam Valorfist: These farmers from the south wish to take these farms, but I can’t let them enter the plaguelands unprepared. Even with the Scourge gone, danger still looms in the form of the Forsaken. No, we must be ready to fight…and that includes our new visitors. Before doing anything else, however, I would recommend that you travel to Uther’s Tomb, to the east, and place this tribute before his statue to ask for his blessing. Speak with the priest that tends to the tomb when you are finished. It appears that the majority of the people at Chillwind Camp take a while to get used to strangers. Very few wanted to talk with The Dwarves when they first arrived. All of a sudden, they got very chatty. Argent Officer Pureheart: I saw the strangest commotion coming through town the other day. A horse-drawn cart, loaded with crates and chests. A worgen woman at the reins, a blood elf by her side, and a dwarven paladin running behind, yelling some of the most creative obscenities I’ve heard in quite some time. They looked like they were headed to Eastern Plaguelands, though I’d imagine they can’t be far past the Thondroril River by now. I wonder what they were up to? Bradanna did not expect to see an Orc standing there. She wondered what happened to the Dwarf who was there before. High Priestess MacDonnell: Sorrow Hill, up the road to the northeast, was one of the first places that the Argent Crusaders and Cenarion Circle were able to heal. The area is now freed of the Scourge. However, there are still many specters of the past that, for some reason, have not passed on into the next world. They may be mourning, or they may have unfinished business… or they may just be lost. Take my thurible and use it to douse them with holy incense. One way or another, we will help them move onto the next plane. Alexia Ironknife: Greetings, priest. Don’t have too much time to talk — I’m just using Chillwind as a camp to get some rest before heading to Hearthglen. I’ve heard word that before they went crazy, the Scarlet Crusade had a mage working for them who was trying to create powerful bows and guns for their soldiers. I’m not sure if he succeeded or not… the Crusade killed him before any of his finished product made it out… or maybe they distrust the arcane that much. Alchemist Arbington: This job is definitely not worth sixteen-five a year. The Dwarves drove out to Sorrow Hill. Fridge ran along beside them. He’s pretty fast for a bear! Withdrawn Soul: Get away from here! Bradanna, Hansbrix, and Fridge battled some spirits at Sorrow Hill. The spirits started out being very unfriendly towards The Dwarves. Fortunately, their attitudes changed after the fight was over. Withdrawn Soul: I must be going now… Withdrawn Soul: I’ve waited here for too long. Time to say goodbye. Withdrawn Soul: I…I think I’m ready to leave now. Sorrow Hill is a good name for this area. There is something deeply depressing about encountering all these lingering souls, who haven’t left yet. They eventually find peace, and decide to move on. That too, is sad. After wandering around Sorrow Hill for a while, The Dwarves discovered the Path of Uther. The Dwarves found a statue in the Sorrow Hill graveyard. There was no marker to tell them who the statue was of. They decided to take a “tourist photo” anyway, figuring they might someday run into someone who could tell them about the statue. Fridge, as usual, photobombed what would otherwise have been a very somber image. Lovely yellow flowers line the Path of Uther. The Dwarves discovered Uther’s Tomb, and met High Priest Thel’danis (who seems to be the caretaker.) There, at the end of the tomb, was a magnificent statute of Uther the Lightbringer, surrounded by the Light. Here lies Uther the Lightbringer First Paladin – Founder of the Order of the Silver Hand Uther lived and died to defend the kingdom of Lordaeron. Though he was betrayed by his most beloved student, we believe that his spirit lives on. He continues to watch over us, even as the shadows close in around our ruined land. His light is the light of all humanity – and so long as we honor his example, it shall never fade. ???????? – Anonymous One by one, The Dwarves received Uther’s Blessing. High Priest Thel’danis: You and the humans at Chillwind Camp wish to re-take Andorhal? I wish you luck. Bradanna wasn’t quite sure if High Priest Thel’danis was giving The Dwarves a blessing, or if this was a polite way of saying that he expected us to fail. High Priest Thel’danis: If you truly intend to move forward in this battle for Andorhal… well, perhaps I can help. To the east lies a large crypt. The bottom level of the crypt was once used for storage of weapons and armor… until the Scourge came. Now that the undead have left, the weapons are free for the taking. Most of the weapons are probably rusted and rotten by now, but they will serve better than tunics and pitchforks. High Priest Thel’danis pointed out where to go, and The Dwarves chose to take the quest he offered them. He had a point. The farmers back at Chillwind Camp were going to need more than pitchforks if they were going to fight the Scourge. The Dwarves climbed a large hill and discovered Sorrow Hill Crypt before they could see it. Fridge pointed towards it and growled. He could smell whatever was over there, and didn’t like it one bit. Bradanna hesitated as she looked down upon Sorrow Hill Crypt. It looked so peaceful from here. She knew, however, that things were not always as they appeared to be Western Plaguelands. She raced down the hill to catch up with Hansbrix and Fridge. They had entered the Crypt without her, which she felt was a bad decision. Once again, she was glad she decided to become a healer, and hurried towards Hansbrix and Fridge as fast as she could. Despite what High Priest Thel’danis said, the crypt appeared to be empty. There were no weapons or armor pieces to be found. Fridge started growling at something The Dwarves couldn’t see. Bradanna quickly moved and prepared react to whatever was about to happen. That was when Foulmane lurched into view. The battle began! Foulmane pushed The Dwarves back to the stairs – but they did not give up. The Dwarves prevailed! After taking a moment to catch their breath, they noticed a glowing object on the other side of the room. It looked important. It turned out to be nothing more than a broken weapons crate. That was disappointing! Scattered all over the bottom level of the crypt, you find shattered crates that once held weapons and armor. It appears that somebody got here before you did. The Dwarves figured Foulmane was the one who smashed the crates. But, he wasn’t wearing armor or using any weapons. They wondered what happened to the old weapons and armor – but were interrupted. Ambushed! As you turn around, you see the silhouettes of shambling skeletons on the stairs. The undead aren’t gone from this crypt. They were lying in wait! Furthermore, they appear to be armed with the weapons that you came looking for. You’ll have to escape from the crypt. On your way out, you should gather as many pieces of equipment as you can. Skeletal Flayers and Skeletal Sorcerers appeared! It was now obvious who took the weapons and armor. The Dwarves and Fridge had to fight their way out of the crypt, and pick up random armor and weapons while the battle was going on. The battle continued after The Dwarves left the crypt. There were well armored skeletons outside. And then, it was over! The peace only lasted a few moments, before The Dwarves had to fight their way past more skeletons. Eventually, The Dwarves realized that their best option was to drive past the skeletons and return to Chillwind Camp. The Dwarves encountered Marlene Redpath just outside of Sorrow Hill. She wasn’t all there, and didn’t have anything to say. The Dwarves realized that they could see right through her. She didn’t look anything like the angry spirits in Sorrow Hill did. Was she a ghost? Did Marlene Redpath die in the house she now stands in front of? Whatever her story is…. has been lost. The Dwarves informed High Priestess MacDonnell that they released the spirits at Sorrow Hill. She was obviously greatly relieved to hear that. Bradanna handed High Priestess MacDonnell back her thurible. High Priestess MacDonnell: Hopefully, most of them passed on peacefully. I thank you, Bradanna. Commander Ashlam Valorfist: What happened at Uther’s Tomb, Bradanna? Commander Ashlam Valorfist: Attacked by ghosts? Strange. I suppose the crypt wasn’t fully healed after all. You just missed Thurman Grant…you remember, that oaf of a farmer that was here earlier. He took his men with him and traveled to the nearest farm…against my orders. Commander Ashlam Valorfist: The farmers traveled to the Writhing Haunt, an old farm to the northeast, across the river. Someone needs to keep an eye on them. Bring them those rusty weapons and armor you found. We can’t them fighting with pitchforks. Argent Officer Pureheart: These men and women here at Chillwind Camp have noble goals, but their ultimate purpose is war. I would like to offer you an opportunity to pursue more peaceful goals. At the Menders’ Stead, beyond war-torn Andorhal to the north, the Argent Crusade has joined forces with the Cenarion Circle. Together, we work on healing this land from the plague that used to reign here. Are you interested in joining our cause, priest? Bradanna and Hansbrix looked at each other and shrugged. The accepted Argent Officer Pureheart’s quest but did not necessarily agree to join. Instead, The Dwarves figured that offering the Cenerian Circle some help would be ok. Hansbrix, Bradanna, and Fridge discovered The Writing Haunt. The Dwarves found Thurman Grant inside a small, and nicely decorated, house at The Writhing Haunt. Thurman Grant: Did Valorfist send you? He doesn’t know when to let up, does he? Thurman Grant: Well, now that you’re here, we’ll gladly take that armor off your hands. You can keep the weapons, though. These men wouldn’t know which end to hold. The Dwarves happily handed over the armor. The farmers won’t have to know much, other than how to put it on properly, in order to make use of it. As for the weapons… it appears that Commander Ashram Valorfist didn’t bother to ask the farmers if they knew how to use the weapons The Dwarves were sent collect, or if the farmers wanted to learn how to use them. Bradanna wondered how the farmers were going to survive all the way out here, far from Chillwind Camp, and without anyone who knows how to use simple weapons to defend themselves with. Thurman Grant provided an answer. Thurman Grant: I told Commander Valorfist that we could hold our own, and we intend to. I had a little conversation with the death knight general, Thassarian, on my way over here. We farmers plan to help in our own way. We will take control of this farm, begin to cultivate the land…and then when the battle for Andorhal commences, we will attack the Forsaken from the rear. They’ll never expect it. First, we need to get rid of these Forsaken outriders. Kill some, then return to me. The Dwarves set out to kill some Forsaken Outriders. The farmers joined in. Thurman Grant was right – it does seem the farmers can “hold their own” here. They were out here killing Forsaken Outriders before The Dwarves got there. The farmers had even found the time to cultivate the land (in between fighting Forsaken Outriders). The Dwarves didn’t know anything about these plants, other than they grew much taller than Dwarves. The Dwarves returned to Thurman Grant to let him know they killed some Forsaken Outriders, as he had asked. Thurman Grant praised The Dwarves fighting skills. “My men could stand to learn a few moves from experienced fighters like you,” Thurman Grant said. Thurman Grant: In fact, you might still be able to help train some of my men. You probably noticed the abomination outside. We initially tried to fight him, but he didn’t want to fight back. He seems to want to help out on the farm. Take a group of four settlers and challenge this abomination to combat. He seems to be pretty tough, but with one of him and five of you, I think you’ll have a chance at beating him. Together, The Dwarves gathered up a total of eight of Thurman Grant’s Provincial Minutemen. They grabbed their pitchforks and followed The Dwarves toward the abomination. Fridge ran along with them, as usual. None of the farmers seemed to care that one member of their party was a bear. Bradanna figured that these farmers had seen worse things, and Fridge was showing no interest in attacking the farmers. It turned out Thurman Grant’s suspicion was right. The abomination introduced himself. His name is Gory, and he wants to help out on the farm. Gory: Gory wants to help out on farm. Gory already has his own scythe! One of the farmers yelled out: If you really want to help out, you can help me and my friends with some combat practice. The Dwarves looked at each other, alarmed what had just happened. This was a fight that didn’t need to happen. On the other hand, the farmers had reason to not want to welcome an abomination on their farm. The sight of Gory was unnerving! Gory: You want to fight? Alright, Gory fight. Gory: Gory give up! You farmers fight more good! Gory stopped fighting and just stood there. The farmers quickly realized that the battle was over, and started walking away from the abomination. This was a strange situation. Bradanna wondered if Gory needed healing. She felt bad for him. All he wanted to do was help on the farm – and he got attacked by eight human farmers, two Dwarves, and a bear. At the same time, Bradanna thought Gory was repulsive. She reluctantly decided it just wasn’t a good idea to try and heal an abomination. The Dwarves and all of the farmers/Provincial Minutemen went together to let Thurman Grant know what happened. Bradanna wasn’t sure he would believe their story. An abomination who doesn’t want to fight? It seemed unrealistic. Fortunately, the room full of witnesses to what occurred were enough to convince any reasonable person. Thurman Grant: We can handle things from here. I thank you for your help, Bradanna. I assume that when we next meet, it will be in battle. Take care of yourself until then. We’ll need all the help we can get. As a player, I found it interesting that the quest text was written as if a single player did the quests. Bradanna and Hansbrix were in a group, so they each got individuated responses that included their name. I guess this was the easiest way to make the quest text, since it could make sense for both single players and groups. It still felt a little weird, though. Thurman Grant had nothing more for The Dwarves to help with, and the farmers needed to get back to working on the farm. Before they left, The Dwarves wanted to check on Gory. The Dwarves carefully walked up to Gory. He was still standing in the same place. It was clear that Gory wasn’t the smartest of creatures, and Bradanna wondered if the farmers would continue to fight him. They might choose to ignore him, which didn’t quite feel right either. “Gory… are you doing all right?” Bradanna asked. Gory: Gory just happy to be in the sun. Bradanna reconsidered her assumption. Gory clearly wasn’t very smart, but he still had wisdom to share. She wished that everyone on Azeroth could be made happy simply by being in the sun for a while. Bradanna wanted to remember Gory’s words when tough times returned. After waiving goodbye to Gory, The Dwarves drove to The Mender’s Stead. The Dwarves met Field Agent Kaartish at The Menders’ Stead. Field Agent Kaartish: Welcome, priest. As you can see, our camp is a joint expedition between Argent Crusade members and Cenarion Circle druids, but we welcome all who wish to help heal the land. Field Agent Kaartish: No longer does the Scourge hold this area. We, the living, are retaking Lordaeron. We have taken great strides already, as you have already seen. The earth flowers, the trees grow tall and green, and the wildlife is beginning to return. Yet a few remnants of undeath remain. While the trees and grass prosper, the animals are struggling. Something is preventing them from healing, and I intend to find out what. Bring me samples from the plagued wildlife so that I may study them more closely. Next, The Dwarves spoke with Adrine Towhide, who also needed their help. Or, to be more accurate, she needed The Dwarves to help someone else. Adrine Towhide: I am Adrine Towhide, a druid of the Cenarion Circle. You can thank us for healing this land, where once there was only death. We accept all who choose to follow the druidic path, regardless of race, faction or talent. Occasionally, that means we enlist a druid who needs more help than others. I’d like you to meet Zen’Kiki. He’s pretty new, and he’s still learning his craft. Would you mind taking him out with you for a while? You can practice combat on the plagued animals that roam nearby. Zen’Kiki: Ready to go, mon! Selyria Groenveld: Dwarf! I’m glad someone’s here to help me out. We Cenarion druids have re-cultivated Daison’s Farm, immediately behind me. The land has flourished and our crops have been successful… mostly. A few plants seem to still be infected by the plague that ran through this land. Perhaps their roots were too deep, perhaps the seeds were weak… I cannot say. All I can say is that I need an able priest like you to help me remove the bad plants from the good ones. Before heading out, The Dwarves talked with Durnt Brightfalcon, a fellow Dwarf. Durnt Brightfalcon: Word is in from Andorhal, Bradanna. The battle has resumed. It has become somewhat well-known among the Alliance forces that you’re a hero of the first battle of Andorhal. Thassarian has requested your presence immediately. The Dwarves, Fridge, and Zen’Kiki were ready to leave The Menders’ Stead and get to work. This screenshot shows Zen’Kiki standing near Bradanna. What I couldn’t see was that Hansbrix had his own Zen’Kiki. The Dwarves fought a hulking plaguebear. Zen’Kiki tried to help. Zen’Kiki: Shapeshift! Zen’Kiki’s ready to pounce! Zen’Kiki: This isn’t right. Bradanna wasn’t sure what kind of creature Zen’Kiki turned himself into. She was pretty sure it wasn’t one that belonged on land. Zen’Kiki: Shapeshift! Here comes de moonfire! Zen’Kiki: It burns like the moon! Zen’Kiki hit himself with his moonfire. Bradanna was unimpressed. She considered healing him… but then figured maybe this was a good learning experience for a new druid. The Dwarves killed some really big spiders. They needed to collect samples from them for Field Agent Kaartish. The Dwarves ran through The Writhing Haunt to collect the last of the samples. Zen’Kiki tried his best, but he really wasn’t much help. Bradanna believed he meant well, though. The Dwarves returned to The Mender’s Stead to speak with the people who had asked for their help. Field Agent Kaartish: Once the animals are healed, our duties here will be nearly complete. Field Agent Kaartish: I will need some time to study these samples, Bradanna. I will speak to you again when I have completed my analysis. Field Agent Kaartish: We are not the only Argent Crusaders here in the plague lands. Our headquarters, Hearthglen, lies to the north. Even nearer to the north is a small lumber mill which we also control. Nathaniel Dumah is my main contact at the lumber mill. I encourage you to speak with him, should you find yourself in that part of the woods. Next, The Dwarves spoke with Adrine Towhide. She wanted to know details about how Zen’Kiki did. The Dwarves were extremely honest with their assessment of Zen’Kiki’s abilities as a druid. Adrine Towhide: It looks like Zen’Kiki is still having a little bit of trouble with his shapeshifting. Adrine Towhide: Among other things, Zen’Kiki needs to work on his spell accuracy. I could see his wrath spells spirling out of control even from here! In fact, I used them as a marker to follow your progress through the woods. Perhaps we can use Zen’Kiki another way. Take him up to the top of the all just to our east. The diseased hawks that circle above that hill must be destroyed. Ask Zen’Kiki to shoot at these hawks. Even if he can’t hit them, he will distract them so you can finish them off. Zen’Kiki: Ready to go, mon! Hansbrix took Fridge and went to do some necessary shopping before they headed out to complete their latest tasks. Bradanna kept her eye on Zen’Kiki. She wasn’t impressed with him at all, and felt like he would quickly get himself into trouble if no one was watching. As Zen’Kiki wandered around The Mender’s Stead, Bradanna moved just close enough to be in range in case he suddenly became in bad need of healing. Zen’Kiki: You just let Zen’Kiki know when you’re ready! I’ll bring one of these birds down for ya! Zen’Kiki: Here comes Zen’Kiki! Zen’Kiki was still having trouble with shapeshifting. He didn’t seem to know which way to face, and the Diseased Hawk was about to attack him. Fridge stepped in to tank, while Bradanna and Hansbrix shot the Diseased Hawk from a distance. Zen’Kiki: I seem to be… stuck… After The Dwarves killed the required number of diseased birds, they returned Zen’Kiki to Adrine Towhide. Adrine Towhide: Now we’re getting somewhere. How may birds did Zen’Kiki end up killing? None? You killed them all yourself? Alright, I suppose we’ll have to find another use for him then. I will let you know when the time is right. Next, The Dwarves headed over to Dalson’s Farm. It wasn’t very far away, so they decided just to run over there. The fought, and killed, some Thrashing Pumpkins. They also removed some unhealthy-looking pumpkins. Next, they went to remove rotten apples from the orchard. This is where The Dwarves ran into some Pome Wraths who attacked them. When this Pome Wrath was out of the way, The Dwarves continued their task. It’s always a good idea to remove the rotten apples before they spoil the bunch. Other Pome Wraths interrupted them, and were just as quickly dispatched. The last bit of agricultural work The Dwarves needed to do was to remove bad corn. It sounded easy, until the Corn Stalkers attacked. The Dwarves were well prepared to defeat these enemies. The Dwarves reported back to Selyria Groenveld, and told her about the rotten things that were at Dalson’s Farm. Selyria Groenveld: Thank you for your help, Bradanna. I know that picking vegetables isn’t the most heroic task imaginable, but even the humblest tasks have their rewards. Bradanna hit Level 40! Hanxbrix had already hit Level 40. He was always a bit ahead of Bradanna. The last thing to do was return to Andorhal and speak with Thassarian again. The Dwarves were right back where they started from, shortly after entering Western Plaguelands. Thassarian: Word has it that you helped those farmers arm themselves. Well, now they’ve initiated the attack without my order! They’ve forced my hand. The battle has resumed. This time, we fight the Forsaken… and I fight Koltira, my old brother of the Ebon Blade. Bradanna shook her head. Technically, The Dwarves armored the farmers. They never gave them arms, because Thurman Grant said that the farmers wouldn’t know which end to hold. It felt to her like Thassarian was using the situation as an excuse to start a fight with his “frenemy”. Thassarian: To the east, deep within Forsaken-held Andorhal, you will find their commanders. They do not fight, but call out orders from horseback. Hunt down and slay these commanders, Bradanna. The Forsaken won’t stand a chance. Lang Loosegrip had some advice for the The Dwarves. The advice was a bit vague, but he probably meant well. Lang Loosegrip: I’m no military expert, but this battle looks to be in our favor. Our defenders are equally matched with their death guards, but the farmers’ militia has taken them by surprise from the rear. For the Alliance! Still, we should all do what we can to make sure that we win. Travel east into Andorhal and slay the Forsaken death guards that are fighting with our men. The sooner they die, the quicker we can re-take Andorhal! The Dwarves, and Fridge, took on the Forsaken Deathguards, one at a time. Thassarian: Well done. With them out of the way, I have no more excuses. Soon, I must battle Koltira, for honor and for Andorhal. Thassarian: We are winning this battle, Bradanna. As long as those farmers keep chipping away at the Forsaken’s flanks, we will overtake them. And just like that, Thassarian changed his mind about the farmers, the moment he saw how useful they were. The Dwarves let Lang Loosegrip know that they completed the task he sent them on to kill the Deathguards. Lang Loosegrip: You fight well, Bradanna. I wish I had your ability… and your bravery. The Dwarves went back to talk with Thassarian, figuring he would have some plan worked out for the battle ahead. Thassarian: We nearly have this battle won, Bradanna. I can taste victory. The Forsaken never stood a… What the hell is that!? The Dwarves turned around to see what Thassarian was looking at. Thassarian: Is that a… val’kyr? Bradanna squinted her eyes… and could just barely see the form of something flying toward them. The Dwarves had never seen anything like this before! Val’kyr: Kneel, Alliance! Kneel before the might of the Forsaken! With that, this beautiful, horrible, creature, and the ones it brought with it, began an attack. Thassarian: Val’Kyr? Koltira brought val’kyr to this fight? Has he gone mad? No, this is not Koltira’s work. This was Sylvanas. Thassarian: The val’kyr were one of the Scourge’s primary weapons. Not only were they skilled in battle, but they could be used to convert corpses into Scourge minions. To think that Sylvanas is stooping to such levels for the sake of the Forsaken… We need to stop the val’kyr before they wipe us out and turn our army against us. Slay as many as you can find. And bring some of these minutemen with you. If they’ve survived this long, then they must have some battle skill. The Dwarves could hardly believe the situation they had gotten into. They were about to fight lesser Val’kyr with a bunch of militiamen who were armed with pitchforks. Thurman Grant: Our militia has been nearly wiped out. Only I and these few farmers remain. Those winged creatures… they took the bodies of our men and… and turned them into walking, undead corpses! With every one of our men they took, they bolstered their own ranks. It pains me to admit it, but you will ned to fight them too, along with the deathguards and val’kyr. As they did in life, they hunt in packs, so take some of my minutemen with you. The Dwarves, and Fridge, led the remaining militia into battle. They fought against Forsaken Troopers. Bradanna found these battles to be tough. It wasn’t because they were not up to the task. She worried about the militia who had to, once again, fight against their (now undead) brothers. She and Hansbrix led the militia past the fallen body of the one they just killed. The corpse lay on the road in Andorhal, ignored out of necessity. The battle continued to wage around them, and there simply was no time for anyone to mourn for their lost friends. The moment The Dwarves, and their band of militiamen, killed a val’kyr – another one began to attack. This was the kind of battle where one wrong move could turn out to be completely disastrous. Victorious! Thurman Grant: You fought valiantly, but we’re getting nowhere. Every body that falls just fuels their forces. Thassarian: For every val’kyr you slay, you save dozens of our men… and prevent the Forsaken forces from growing. Still, they press on. We may not will this battle after all. Thassarian: I spoke too quickly, Bradanna. Even with your support, things are looking grim for our forces out there. Thassarian: Our last hope of victory lies in defeating the val’kyr. You’ve done well up until now… but you’re only one woman and there are literally dozens of them raining destruction on the battlefield. One enormous val’kyr sits atop the tower to our south… you can see her from here. Perhaps if we eliminate her, the remaining val’kyr will dissipate. This is our only hope. Bring some of Grant’s men with you. You’ll need their protection for this battle. The Dwarves took a moment to make a plan with the militiamen, as Aradne watched while floating above the tower. Thassarian seemed to think that maybe Bradanna and her militiamen could take on Aradne by themselves, but didn’t seem hopeful about the outcome. Bradanna was undaunted, though. With Hansbrix and Fridge by her side, along with Hansbrix’s militiamen – this seemed like a battle they just might win. The first thing to do was climb to the top of the tower. The battle was intense, but went very quickly. Here lies the corpse of the Val’kyr Aradne. Thassarian: I watched your victory from below. Well-fought, but ultimately, it was for naught. The val’kyr and the Forsaken press on: soon they will overtake us. We have lost Andorhal. Thassarian: Head south, to Chillwind Camp. Tell Commander Ashlam Valorfist everything that happened here. Me? I’m going west, into Tirisfal. My battle’s not over yet. I’ve got an appointment with that harpy that calls herself a Banshee Queen…and I’m finding out what she did to Koltira. The Dwarves returned to Chillwind Camp to give Commander Ashlam Valorfist the news about Andorhal. Commander Ashlam Valorfist: Lost? No…next, they’ll be coming for Chillwind, I suppose. This was a major strategic blow to the Alliance’s plans for Lordaeron. Very well. I will report the results of this battle to King Wrynn. I don’t expect him to be happy. The Dwarves were right back where they started from. This was not the end of their adventure through Western Plaguelands, though. There was more to explore. The Dwarves Explore Western Plaguelands – Part 1 is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me on PayPal.me. Thank you!... World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth – Alliance SideJune 9, 2018World of Warcraft / World of Warcraft BetasAfter completing the Battle for Lordaeron (and several of the quests that followed) on the Horde side of the World of Warcraft: – Battle for Azeroth Beta, I decided it was time to see what the Alliance side of that battle was like. This required me to roll a new character (which will disappear when the Beta ends). I chose to play a Dark Iron Dwarf, which is an Alliance Allied Race. Thelgarn (whose name came from a random Dwarf name generator I found online) is a Warrior. This blog contains screenshots, Twitch videos, and commentary about the Alliance side of the Battle for Azeroth Beta. There are some spoilers ahead. Watch World of Warcraft Battle for Azeroth Beta – Battle of Lordaeron Alliance Side from Queenofhaiku on www.twitch.tv Here is an example of the strange, red lines that I mentioned in the video. I found them disturbing, but cannot fully explain why. They just felt wrong. I kept getting distracted by these red lines hovering over the landscape while I was playing through the Battle for Lordaeron. It is pretty obvious that those lines are not supposed to be here. I’ve reported it as a bug, and figure that other players have, too. Hopefully, these bizarre red lines will be removed before this expansion launches. High Overlord Saurfang is somewhere in the middle of that mob. I’ll leave you to watch the video above to see what happens with him. Without giving too much away, I will say that part of his story continues for Horde players. Saurfang pops up in the Stormwind Stockade, and has something to say. As far as I can tell, only Horde players will get that part of the story (because it comes up during a series of quests that follow the Battle for Lordaeron on the Horde side). Watch World of Warcraft Battle for Azeroth Beta – Kul Tiras from Queenofhaiku on www.twitch.tv This lovely mount is called a Swift Red Gryphon. I had one of these on my Horde character during the Battle for Azeroth beta. This mount flies in Stormwind, but would not fly in some of the new areas of the Horde side. This does not surprise me. I figure there are probably new flying skills to purchase before characters can fly in new Battle for Azeroth zones. Shortly after this point in the Beta, I decided to try and get to Silithus so I could work on some quests that required me to travel to that zone. The flight master could not send me there – because I was on the wrong continent. So, I flew across Stormwind, got on a boat – and discovered a bug. Later, I learned that I had selected the wrong boat. Thelgarn the Warrior ended up in Kul Tiras – which clearly was not the right place. It wasn’t even the right continent. He quickly found some dinner, and then started exploring. I’d already been through some of this when during the Battle for Azeroth Alpha. New things had been added since then. Eventually, Thelgarn decided he had enough of Kul Tiras. He tried to find the boat that brought him here, but it left before he could get on. This gave him some time to look all official by sitting at this desk. Watch World of Warcraft Battle for Azeroth Beta – Killing Goblins for Mysterious Ore from Queenofhaiku on www.twitch.tv In this video, after waiting around for a boat that was taking a long time to arrive, Thelgarn remembered he could just hearth back to Stormwind and start over. A group of players was fighting a Target Dummy, who appears to be throwing Rubik’s Cubes. I’m guessing that the cube is a temporary stand in for something else that, for whatever reason, was not added to the Battle for Azeroth Beta. It turned out that Thelgarn was supposed to take this portal to Darnassus. I assumed that the boat all the way at the end of the row was the one that went to Kalimdor. It appears that is not so in the Battle for Azeroth Beta. Thelgarn ended up standing on a rock near the shoreline, which felt kind of random. But, I guess a portal can be set to pretty much anywhere in Azeroth. So… whatever. My biggest frustration with the Alliance side of the Battle for Azeroth is that the quest chains do not flow. Start in Stormwind – queue for Battle for Lorderon. Hang around until it suddenly becomes your turn to participate. Finish the battle, and end up back in Stormwind. Find a quest giver (or two) who want you to go to Silithus. But, before you can do that, you are supposed to speak with King Anduin. This involves watching a cinematic of the King giving a speech and talking with two (important) NPCs while the player…. waits and watches. I had some confusion about how to get to Kalimdor, but that could be my own fault. It is reasonable to assume that players would just understand that they were supposed to use the portal. Arrive in Darnassas, standing on a rock. Take what feels like a very long flight from the nearest Flight Trainer to Silithus. This is kind of a fuzzy screenshot, in part because my character was in flight, and also because the whole area is a strange, pink, tone. The disturbing red line in the sky is back. I reported it as a bug. I’ve no idea why I see these red lines on the Alliance side, but didn’t see any of them on the Horde side. The red lines in the air became purple lines in the air somewhere around Ashenvale. Pick up a few more quests in Silitus. Complete some, turn them in, get a few more. One of the quests involves killing goblins to obtain Mysterious Ore, and another asks the player to put explosives on some Shredders. These quests were fun, and fairly easy to do. Watch World of Warcraft Battle for Azeroth Beta – Meeting Magni from Queenofhaiku on www.twitch.tv Oh, wait! I was supposed to speak with Magni who just so happens to be on the other side of the same area I’m working on quests in. Speak with Magni, and you take a … I’m gonna call it a “waypoint”… to somewhere. Once there, you watch a cinematic that explains how Azeroth got wounded. To me, it felt like players must do this to complete that part of a quest. Talk to Magni, do a little quest, and get the super important amulet. Magni says to take the … waypoint… back. I assume this means back outside this special chamber. But, no. Thelgarn suddenly found himself back in Stormwind, with a quest to go see King Anduin. I had two quests in Silithus that I hadn’t started yet, and will now have to take the long flight back out there in order to complete them. It just doesn’t flow. This is disappointing because the Horde side of the Battle for Azeroth Beta flows really well. Obviously, things can change between now, and when the Battle for Azeroth expansion is released. I’m doing my part and reporting all the bugs that I find in the Beta (as I did in the Alpha). Overall, I think I will enjoy this new expansion, but might be focusing on my Horde characters a bit more than my Alliance ones for the Battle for Azeroth content. World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth – Alliance Side is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me on Patreon or at PayPal.me. Thank you!... Out of Spoons (Chronic Illness)Three Month WaitJanuary 3, 2019health insurance / Out of SpoonsMy health insurance premium unexpectedly increased – without warning – at the start of 2019. This means I’ll be paying more out of pocket than expected. I’ve not yet figured out how to pay for the dental work that I need done, and that my dental health insurance won’t cover. I am writing this blog post while sick, and knowing that I will not have access to a primary care doctor for three months. Last September, I went for my regular dental checkup. Overall, things went well, with one expensive exception. In short, I need a metal filling removed. It will be replaced with a temporary cap, and then a permanent, non-metallic, filling. My total cost for that procedure (which may or may not include a root canal – I don’t know) is about $900. I’m expected to pay for that out of pocket because my dental health insurance won’t cover it. I suppose it is possible that the insurer is covering some of the cost – but that still leaves me to try and come up with about $900. My husband and I recently finished paying off a loan we took so I could get a broken cap replaced. We are considering getting a credit card that starts with a 0% interest rate putting the dental bill on that, and racing against the clock. Will we be able to pay off the credit card before the 0% interest rate rises? I’ve no idea. Very recently, my health insurer sent me cards that prove that I have health insurance coverage through them. It is an Obamacare Bronze plan, the same one I had last year. Based on everything my husband and I could find, it appeared that nothing would change from the 2018 plan to the 2019 plan. I was pretty confidant about that because I’ve done a ton of research about the changes in health insurance. I knew that the cost of premiums for the Silver plans – not the Bronze plans – had gone up. California, the state I live in, increased the premiums for the Silver plan in an effort to keep the Bronze plans low cost. Other than the insurance cards, I have not received any details about what the 2019 Bronze plan actually covers. Typically, insurers send a booklet that provides those very important details. The card itself doesn’t have any indication of how much my co-pay will be. The health insurance company automatically charged me for my health insurance premium on January 1, 2019. That might have been fine, except for the fact that the cost of my premium had unexpectedly tripled. That’s right TRIPLED in cost. Everything I’d read made it sound like insurers weren’t allowed to do that with Bronze plans. So, here’s where I’m at: I’ve got to come up with almost $900 to pay for a filling replacement; I’ve got to pay three times as much per month for my health insurance premium; I’ve got no idea how much I will need to spend on the co-pay when I see a doctor. For context, my husband and I are poor. But, apparently, not poor enough for me to qualify for Medi-Cal (California’s Medicaid program). He is disabled and getting Social Security Disability and Medicare. I am disabled and working on my second attempt through the approval process for disability. Oh, and because we are both disabled, neither one of us can hold a “regular job” anymore. We’re both freelancers who work from home. Yes, this means that our sources of income aren’t stable or consistent – but that’s true of any hourly job as well. I’ve been fighting a sinus infection, and a sore throat, for about two or three weeks. All I know for sure is that the symptoms are not likely to be due to allergies. Yesterday, (January 2), I called what I refer to as “the clinic for the poor people” in an effort to schedule a doctor appointment. In September of last year, I was informed by “the clinic for the poor people” that my doctor had left the clinic. This is problematic for many reasons, the most immediate one being that I was technically without a primary care doctor. So, I made an effort and planned ahead. In October of last year, I called “the clinic for the poor people” and got them to assign me to another doctor. The very kind woman who I spoke with was helpful, but wasn’t sure what the new doctor’s speciality was. I’m going to have to train him about all my chronic illnesses, and just thinking about that is so very draining. With that in mind, I assumed that when I called “the clinic for the poor people” yesterday, I would be all set. I’ve already arranged for the clinic to know that I have become a patient of a specific new doctor. Of course, my effort to plan ahead didn’t work out. The very patient man on the phone who answered my call said that the soonest this doctor would be able to see me was April. No other doctor would have any appointments open before then. I’m looking at a three month wait. The patient man on the phone tried to offer alternatives. He suggested I could go to a “clinic for the poor people” in two other towns. That wasn’t going to work for me because: I wouldn’t be able to see my newly assigned doctor at the other clinics because he is at the one in town. I need a primary care doctor to fill out a form so I can apply for disability benefits (for the second time). I don’t drive anymore because, long story short, my chronic illnesses have gotten bad enough where I cannot be certain I can reliably hit the brake or grip the steering wheel. We donated my car to Habitat For Humanity a while back. Traveling to another town by bus, sitting in a waiting room indefinitely, and then traveling back home would quite literally drain most of my energy. I’d need a few recovery days after that – which means I probably wouldn’t be able to work. End result – I will see my new doctor in April (unless he leaves the clinic before then). Hopefully, I can convince the doctor to fill out the form I need. Spring pollen season will likely be going on in April, so going outside to see my doctor will make me sick. I will call a local Med-Stop and see if they accept my health insurance. You know – the one that TRIPLED its premiums for 2019 without a warning. With luck, the Med-Stop will be able to tell me what they will charge for a co-pay. Will I be able to afford that? I’ve no idea. There really isn’t any other option, though. Three Month Wait is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me on PayPal.me. Thank you!... Depo Provera Made Me SickNovember 26, 2018Out of Spoons / Spoonie WritingYears ago, (somewhere in the early 2000s) I decided to start using a hormonal birth control. After doing some research, I thought that Depo Provera would be a good choice. It is administered by shot every three months, and is one of the most effective forms of birth control. Unfortunately for me, Depo Provera made me very sick – and the side effects are still here all these years later. Warning: This blog post is going to contain a lot of what many may feel is “too much information”. It is probably not something everyone will feel comfortable reading. This post is also very long. I wish I knew then what I know now about the side effects of Depo Provera, and how long they can linger. I’m writing this post in 2018, while suffering from the horrible symptoms that this awful drug inflicted upon me. Every time I lose weight – those symptoms return. To be clear, I am aware that some women are able to use Depo Provera without experiencing any of the awful side effects that I have suffered through (and am still suffering from). I wasn’t one of the lucky ones. My decision to seek out birth control was because I wanted to avoid getting pregnant. When I was younger, I miscarried – twice. The first time, I was probably about 19-years-old, and the second time I was in my mid-to-late 20s. Statistically, women in their 20s are the least likely to miscarry. And yet, it happened to me twice. Perhaps this shouldn’t have been a surprise, because I knew that my mom had a history of miscarriage. She never bothered to take or use any kind of birth control. Her mother, my Irish Catholic grandmother, literally would throw condoms at my mom and point out that using them prevents pregnancy. The first time I got pregnant I honestly didn’t know I was pregnant. My periods had always been irregular. When I started throwing up, I thought I had the flu. I miscarried in the bathroom of my boyfriend’s parent’s house (where we were staying) and woke up on the floor. His mother was there, and I was confused about what had happened. She blocked me from looking at the toilet, and no one ever would talk about it with me. The miscarriage was an unspoken – but known – thing that really strained the relationship I had with this boyfriend. The second time I miscarried, I was alone in my apartment. I figured out I was pregnant after throwing up while on vacation. (Story for another time). I knew I was miscarrying. Once again, I passed out. This time I woke up alone. Both times I was fortunate enough not to require medical attention. This time, the partner was my high school sweetheart whom I had gotten back together with after leaving the first boyfriend. (Again, story for another time). It was a long-distance relationship, which has its own difficulties. For whatever reason, this miscarriage hit me a lot harder than the first one. I couldn’t find the words to talk about it – and this is likely what ended our relationship. Years later, I was able to tell him what happened. We haven’t spoken since then. So, when my then-boyfriend, now-husband, and I got serious, I did the smart thing. I did some online research and learned everything I could about birth control. I needed something that would prevent pregnancy – and therefore, another miscarriage. He and I talked about it and neither one of us wanted to have children. Some of the birth control options were just not for me. Birth control pills, for example, can be ineffective if you are also taking antibiotics. I got sick a lot, and was on antibiotics at least twice a year for sinus infections. The IUD contained copper, and I have metal allergies. The Depo Provera shot seemed like the best option. It was administered by shot, didn’t require me to put a foreign object into my body that would have to be removed later, and did not require trips to the pharmacy to get more. The doctor I saw was at a clinic for poor people, where I was able to get a discount on the cost of Depo Provera. This was long before Obamacare existed. I had no health insurance coverage. I did not qualify for Medicaid because I had no children. The clinic I went to was not a Planned Parenthood. I honestly believe that if it was – I would have gotten to see a good doctor instead of the one I got stuck with. In short, this doctor tried to talk me out of using birth control. She pushed me to take “the pill” instead of the birth control I asked for. It seems the Depo Provera was expensive. I guess the clinic was more interested in cutting their costs instead of helping their patients. This doctor seemed personally offended that I was avoiding having children. “I had four kids by the time I was your age,” she complained. I didn’t like this doctor, but there wasn’t any other option. What I didn’t know at the time, and that my doctor should have been aware of, was that Depo Provera was problematic. An ABC News article, published in 2009, included the following: …Produced by Pfizer, Depo Provera is the brand name for an aqueous suspension of medroxyprogesterone acetate, which is injected every 12 weeks in the woman’s buttock or upper arm to prevent ovulation. It is 97 percent effective in typical use. The drug, which is also used to treat endometriosis, as well as other medical conditions, had a long safety record when it was first introduced in 1967. The original manufacture, Upjohn, was repeatedly denied approval by the Food and Drug Administration in the 1970s, until 1992, when it was allowed to market Depo-Provera in the United States for contraception. From this, I believe that Pfizer was aware that Depo Provera was causing bad side effects in some women. It must have known that Upjohn was having problems getting the FDA to approve the drug as a form of contraception. I went ahead and tracked down the information about Depo Provera that was released by the FDA. One key point warns women about bone mineral density loss: WARNING: LOSS OF BONE MINERAL DENSITY Women who use Depo-Provera Contraceptive Injection may lose significant bone mineral density. Bone loss is greater with increasing duration of use and may not be completely irreversible. It is unknown if use of Depo-Provera Contraceptive Injection during adolescence or early adulthood, a critical period of bone accretion, will reduce peak bone mass and increase the risk of osteoporotic fracture in later life. Depo-Provera Contraceptive Injection should not be used as a long-term birth control method (i.e., longer than 2 years) unless other birth control methods are considered inadequate… My doctor didn’t tell me about the risk of bone mineral density loss. She also didn’t appear to have any concerns about me being on Depo-Provera for more than 2 years. Here are a few more key parts of the FDA information (that my doctor never mentioned to me): Bleeding Irregularities Most women using Depo-Provera CI experience disruption of menstrual bleeding patterns. Altered menstrual bleeding patterns include amenorrhea, irregular or unpredictable bleeding or spotting, prolonged spotting or bleeding, and heavy bleeding. Rule out the possibility of organic pathology if abnormal bleeding persists or is severe, and institute the appropriate treatment. As women continue using Depo-Provera CI, fewer experience irregular bleeding and more experience amenorrhea. In clinical studies of Depo-Provera CI, by month 12 amenorrhea was reported by 55% of women, and by month 24, amenorrhea was reported by 68% of women using Depo-Provera CI. I was not among those fortunate enough to have the Depo-Provera stop their periods. My doctor never mentioned the information about irregular bleeding or spotting. Weight Gain Women tend to gain weight while on therapy with Depo-Provera CI. From an initial body weight of 136 lb, women who completed 1 year of therapy with Depo-Provera CI gained an average of 5.4 lb. Women who completed 2 years of therapy gained an average of 8.1 lb. Women who completed 4 years gained an average of 13.8 lb. Women who completed 6 years gained an average of 16.5 lbs. Two percent of women withdrew from a large-scale clinical trial because of excessive weight gain. My doctor never mentioned that Depo-Provera can cause weight gain. She may have known about it, but failed to tell me. I cannot help but wonder why that was. Clearly, there were women in the study who gained so much weight from the Depo Provera that they decided they were better off without it. In addition, the FDA information included tables of “adverse reactions” reported by the women in the study: Table 1 Adverse Reactions that were Reported by More than 5% of Subjects: headache (16.5%) abdominal pain/discomfort (11.2%) Nervousness (10.8%) Dizziness (5.6%) Libido decreased (5.5%) Menstrual irregularities: bleeding (57.3% at 12 months, 31.1% at 24 months); amenorrhea (55% at 12 months, 68% at 24 months). Now, lets compare that with the information the FDA allowed Pfizer to put on the Depo Provera packaging: The most common side effects of Depo-Provera CI include: Irregular vaginal bleeding, such as lighter or heavier menstrual bleeding, or bleeding that does not stop Weight gain: You may experience weight gain while you are using Depo-Provera CI. About two-thirds of the women who used Depo-Provera CI in the clinical trials reported a weight gain of about 5 pounds during the first year of use. You may continue to gain weight after the first year. Women who used Depo-Provera CI for 2 years gained an average of 8 pounds over those 2 years. abdominal pain headache weakness tiredness nervousness dizziness The warning on the box doesn’t mention anything about additional weight gain potential for the women who use Depo-Provera longer than two years. It also doesn’t show the percentage of women in the study who experienced weight gain, how much weight they gained, or the percentage of women who stopped taking Depo Provera because of excessive weight gain. Instead, it presents an average weight gain (rounded down) for women who use Depo-Provera for one year. The assumption most women would take from this, lacking access to the rest of the FDA information, would be that they might gain 5 pounds. That’s simply not true for everyone who used Depo Provera! The first side effect from Depo Provera arrived very quickly. I gained 30 pounds in a short span of time. Previous to taking Depo Provera, I was skinny, with a very fast metabolism. I’d never experienced this much weight gain, this fast, in my entire life. At the time, I was working as a substitute teacher in the local school district. I started working at the Boys and Girls Club after school several days a week. There was very little time for me to eat anything, and I was always on my feet. It seemed to me that the weight gain was due to the Depo Provera. I searched online for information – but there wasn’t any. One of the teacher’s aides that I worked with talked to me one day, when we were both alone and trying to use the copy machine. He asked when the baby was due. He thought I was pregnant. The weight I gained was exactly in the places where pregnant women get bigger. It was embarrassing! I understand his mistake. Several of the teachers at that school were super pregnant. I looked just like they did. I explained to him that I was not pregnant; the birth control I was using made me look this way. He avoided visiting whatever classroom I had been assigned to after that. The American Pregnancy Association states that, for women of average weight before pregnancy, with a BMI of 18.5-24.9, the recommended weight gain guideline is 25-35 pounds. The Depo Provera convinced my body that I was pregnant. Unfortunately, it also convinced co-workers and other people that I was pregnant. This was an undesirable side effect. Eventually, when it was time to go back to get another Depo Provera shot, I tried to talk to my doctor about the weight gain. She told me that Depo Provera doesn’t cause weight gain, and that I just needed to get more exercise. I’m not sure if the doctor knew that one of the side effects of Depo Provera is weight gain, because there wasn’t much data about that at the time. Even so, she should have taken my concerns seriously. It was as though she resented the women who came to her clinic and who were able to avoid having “four kids by the time I was your age.” Depo Provera made me exhausted in a way that I’d never experienced before. For context, I have since been diagnosed with fibromyalgia, something I’ve had symptoms of since high school. The exhaustion from Depo Provera was worse. I would come home from work, lie down on the bed, and not really be able to move for a while. I spent a summer or two working at a Boys and Girls club. I learned that going from air-conditioning to warm, muggy, Summer weather (or vice-versa) made me incredibly nauseous. Food smells would increase the nausea. It was worse than anything I’d experienced while actually pregnant. As I mentioned, I’d never had regular periods. My hope was the Depo Provera would just turn it off for however long I was on the drug. Instead, I spotted. And spotted, and spotted. Periods would arrive on an even more random schedule than before. I had absolutely no idea when to expect a period to start, or end, and there could be more than one in a month. When I was in high school, I was diagnosed as being borderline anemic. It gets worse when I menstruate. Constant spotting and random periods of indeterminate length were really bad for me. The combination of all these side effects was that my sex drive disappeared. I sometimes use humor as a way of coping with bad situations. I joked that the reason Depo Provera prevents pregnancy is because the woman is either constantly bleeding or too exhausted and nauseous to even think about having sex. If I had to guess, I might have stayed on Depo Provera for … three or four years? There was no other option, and my doctor insisted that the side effects I was experiencing simply weren’t real. Somewhere around 2004 or so, I switched to “the patch” – and to a different clinic, with nicer doctors. No one asked me how long I had been on Depo Provera, and no one seemed to think it would be a problem to go directly from Depo Provera to “the patch”. I probably had some of both types of birth control in my system at the same time. The nausea mostly went away, possibly as the Depo Provera wore off. I wasn’t as flat-out exhausted anymore. My periods remained irregular, but there was, eventually, less spotting. My sex drive sort of returned, but it was hit or miss. I was probably on “the patch” for about two years. My husband and I decided to move out of state and across the country. When I was ready to use the very last “patch” I had access to – I wasn’t in a financial position to seek out more. So, I went off hormonal birth control for a while. A study done in 2009 by the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston found the following: Women using depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA), commonly known as the birth control shot, gained an average of 11 pounds and increased their body fat by 3.4 percent over three years, according to researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB). However, women who switched to non hormonal contraception began to slowly lose the weight and fat mass they gained – nearly four pounds over two years, while those who used oral contraception after the shots gained an average of 4 additional pounds in the same time span. The amount of weight gain was dependent on the length of time DMPA was used, as the rate of weight gain slowed over time… …According to [Abbey] Berenson, [M.D., professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the director of the Center for Interdiscplinary Research in Women’s Health at UTMB], the mechanism by which DMPA causes an increase in weight gain and fat mass is not known, and no connection was found between DMPA use and caloric intake, fat consumption or amount of exercise on body mass changes. The findings seem to argue against the theory that weight gain could be due to the drug’s perceived effects on increased caloric intake and decreased energy expenditure, but ongoing research is needed to confirm or discount varying possible explanations, she said… The 30 pounds of extra weight stayed. I had switched from teaching to working in a bookstore, which required constant heavy lifting and tons of walking around. I should have started losing the Depo Provera weight – but that wasn’t happening. It made no sense to me at all. In 2011, my sister asked me to be a bridesmaid at her wedding. For the first time in my life, I made an effort to lose some weight. Nobody needed my Irish aunties speculating about whether or not I was pregnant. I was definitely not pregnant! I tried one of those low-carb diets. One of the things I learned from this was that I definitely should have been avoiding gluten all these years. I was diagnosed with an allergy to wheat, rye, and barley back in high school. This was long before allergists understood what to do about that, and long before doctors knew what celiac disease was. One day, I ate a plate of whole wheat spaghetti noodles – and instantly started itching, having “brain fog”, and.. I’m gonna say “digestive issues”. I was able to talk about this with my wonderful acupuncturist, and have since avoided anything with wheat, rye, barley, or gluten. Between the low carb diet, and the shunning of all that is gluten, I should have lost a decent amount of weight. My body cannot process gluten, so avoiding gluten should have reduced the inflammation it causes in my body. Instead, I was only able to lose a little bit of weight before my sister’s wedding. I was enough to prevent the “is she pregnant” conversation from happening at the reception. Since then, every time I started losing weight – all of the worst Depo Provera symptoms returned. There is no official data about Depo Provera being stored in your fat, but if you search around online, you can find women who reported that Depo is stored in your fat cells. This is based on their own, personal, experience. I can only assume these women noticed, like I did, that the Depo Provera symptoms returned when their body burned some of the fat they got from Depo Provera. In a 2018 article about weight loss, CNN reported the following: According to Dr. Caroline Apovian, president of the Obesity Society, frequently prescribed medications that can cause weight gain include Benadryl, Ambien, benzodiazepines, older antidepressant and antipsychotic medications, Paxil, beta-blockers (for high blood pressure), several diabetes medications including insulin, sulfonlyreas and thialidazones, and some contraceptive methods, including Depo-Provera. Someone needs to do a study that can determine whether or not Depo Provera stores in fat cells. Perhaps that study will finally force medical care providers to recognize that women aren’t just making up symptoms and blaming it on Depo Provera. What we are experiencing is extremely real, and hellish, and a nightmare. No one seems to care enough to do that. As such, women who use Depo Provera are unaware of amount of weight gain the drug will cause them, AND have no idea the damned thing will store itself in the fat cells it created. Everyday Health posted an FAQ about Depo Provera side effects. The information was medically reviewed by Dr. Sanjai Sinha, MD. Here is a small portion of that FAQ: …Q: How long before Depo-Provera is out of your system? I am experiencing depression, stomach aches, and weight loss. A: According to the prescribing information, it may take between 120 and 200 days following the injection for Depo-Provera (medroxyprogesterone) to be undetectable in the body. There was no mention, according to the prescribing information, of how long it would take for the side effects from Depo-Provera to go away after the medication was discontinued…. Sometime around 2012, I decided to get back on hormonal birth control. This time, after doing more research, I chose what was then called Implanon (and later called Nexplanon). It is a matchstick sized thing that is inserted under the skin in a woman’s upper arm. You can literally touch it and make sure it is still in place and unbroken. Implanon stays in your body for three years, and then must be taken out and replaced. By the time I needed to replace it, the drug had been renamed Nexplanon. I stayed on that for three years. Overall, I was happiest with the Implanon/Nexplanon. It muted most of the horrible symptoms that I was still experiencing from the Depo Provera. It was a very effective form of birth control. I wish it existed back when I was first looking at birth control options. When it was time to take it out, I decided not to replace it. By then, I was in my 40s. I knew that the older a woman gets, the higher risk she has of having her birth control cause a blood clot. My hope was that I’d be in menopause soon, and could get by without hormonal birth control until then. What I didn’t realize was that I’d gained weight since the Depo Provera. That weight stayed around, sometimes dropping a few pounds, only to gain it back again. Every time I lost weight, the worst of the Depo Provera symptoms returned. It was as though the fat I burned released the Depo Provera it held right back into my blood stream.This has been going on for years. In 2017, I started making an effort to lose weight. I’d heard that women who are older than 40, and who are obese, are at risk for a bunch of bad health problems. I hoped to avoid that. I can’t really do much exercise, because I have rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, and severe allergies that force me to stay indoors when the pollen count is high. Here are the changes I made beginning in March of 2017: Stayed off of hormonal birth control Greatly reduced the amount of sugar I consume Started eating more vegetables Became extremely picky about avoiding any foods that don’t say “gluten-free” on them Refusing to eat foods that had the slightest potential of being cross-contaminated with gluten Stopped eating foods that have “natural flavors” as an ingredient. I’ve had allergic reactions to some of them. Started walking around and playing Pokémon GO whenever my body, and the weather, will let me. Slowly, very slowly, the weight started going away. I’ve been on this roller coaster of an existence in between feeling sort of ok to being super sick from Depo Provera again. At the time I’m writing this blog post, I have lost 40 pounds. There is still more fat that I should lose, and I’ll get there, slowly. My hope is that someday, hopefully sooner rather than later, Depo Provera will be cast out of my body forever. My inspiration for writing this blog post is the horrible Depo Provera symptoms I’ve been experiencing this month. I went to a video game conference earlier this November, and ended up losing a few pounds. I’m at least a pound lighter since then. My body is burning the fat that I originally gained from the first Depo Provera shot. I’m suffering. Its difficult to be constantly nauseous, experiencing abdominal pain and distress, and deeply exhausted for about a month straight. I wanted to write this for the women out there who are going through something similar. You didn’t cause this. The Depo Provera did. The symptoms you are experiencing are real and are happening to other women. You are not alone. I hope all of us can someday heal from the hell that Depo Provera has caused us. Image from Pixabay Depo Provera Made Me Sick is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me on PayPal.me. Thank you!... My Doctor Left the ClinicOctober 17, 2018Out of Spoons / Spoonie WritingOn September 18, 2018, I received a letter from what I have been referring to as “the clinic for the poor people”. My wonderful doctor, who actually had a lot of knowledge about my allergies, has left the clinic. This unexpected situation left me without an assigned doctor (or, primary care doctor) during flu season. Not a good situation for a person with three autoimmune diseases who is trying to get on Disability. The letter from “the clinic for the poor people” informed me that my fantastic doctor “is no longer with” the clinic. The letter said they were “actively recruiting a new physician to continue your care.” I took them at their word, and waited for them to call me. Eventually, it became clear that I was going to have to call them and find out if I had been assigned a new doctor… or, if not, when they expected to find one for me. The best thing about “the clinic for the poor people” is that the workers who answer the phones are exceptionally patient and kind. The woman who helped me didn’t get irritated when I forgot what my phone number was (and explained that I’m dyslexic). She took the time to find out what doctors were taking new patients and gave me the name of one. This helped me feel a bit safer. If I get the flu, and get incredibly sick, I will have access to a doctor. (My three autoimmune chronic illnesses make it dangerous for me to get the flu shot). I’ll also have a doctor to call when I return from a video game conference with what is often referred to as “Con Crud”. Or, maybe not. The helpful woman on the phone couldn’t tell me what my new doctor specialized in. I’m hoping that he is someone who is covered by my health insurance – because I sure as hell cannot afford to pay out of pocket for health care. The part I’m incredibly nervous about is whether or not this doctor will agree to fill out a form that I need in order to begin the process of trying to get Social Security Disability. (This will be my second attempt after getting denied, and denied, and denied). He could be mean and refuse to help me. I’m also not looking forward to “training” a new doctor about all of my chronic illnesses and how they interconnect. The new doctor could decide that I’m too much work, or too much research, or maybe that he isn’t being paid enough to help me. Or, he could be really awesome (like my previous doctor was). There’s no way to predict how this will go, so I refuse to get my hopes up Despite this setback, I have made small progress on my attempt to get Disability. My wonderful acupuncturist happily filed out the form I needed. It’s possible the new doctor will do the same. And then… I have to track down my Rheumatologist (who diagnosed me with Rheumatoid Arthritis and Fibromyalgia) and see if he will fill out the form I need. The office he used to be at appears to be empty now, and I’ve no idea if he retired or just relocated. This is a whole lot of work to expect a disabled person to do all by themselves. At the time I am writing this, I’m fighting a bad cold (that I’m hoping won’t turn into the flu). I literally don’t have the energy to chase down doctors and beg them to fill out the forms I need to get Disability. The photo at the top of this blog is from Pexels. My Doctor Left the Clinic is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me on PayPal.me. Thank you!... Dentist ExpensesSeptember 17, 2018Doctor Appointments / Out of SpoonsI’m going to start this blog by saying that I have dental insurance – but it doesn’t cover very much beyond regular checkups. At my most recent checkup, the dentist found some expensive problems that need to be fixed. Content warning: This blog post contains details about my most recent dentist appointment. I’m not going to post anything graphic and will not include any photos (other than the one at the top of this blog). I went for a regular, six-month, dental checkup. My insurance covers two checkups and cleanings a year, and whatever x-rays the dentist wants to take. The main purpose for the x-rays this time was to make sure that the cap the dentist put in (which replaced one that wasn’t functioning properly anymore) was doing well. We had to take out a small loan in order to pay for the cap. We finished paying off that loan very recently. The cap turned out to be just fine. But, there was another problem. More specifically, this problem was with one of my molars. The tooth (or, what’s left of it) is currently being held together with a metal filling and a smaller “tooth colored” filing. Both were put in years ago, and I’ve been told the metal filling would eventually fail. And fail, it did. I noticed that I was getting food stuck between that tooth and the one in front of it for a while. Food would push into that space when I chewed so often that it eventually caused that part of my gums to get sore. I brushed and flossed, and figured that was fine. The dental hygienist noticed a problem in that area. I explained about the food getting stuck into it. She said she thought she saw “something” but wanted to the dentist to take a look. The dentist took a look, poked around, and declared that I had a gum infection. He said there was pus, and promptly removed it. The dental technician said she saw some of that and had removed what she could. I have chronic illnesses, three of which are autoimmune diseases. I’m well aware that infection generally means I’ll be prescribed an antibiotic. “How is this treated?”, I asked the dentist. “Very simply,” he responded. Long story short, the dental technician was able to treat it right then and there. It involved the application of a ….well, she described it as “kind of like a sandblaster”. It was some kind of solution that was designed to remove particulate matter (meaning whatever food particles were still stuck in a “pocket” of my gums). Next, she would apply an antibiotic, which would be “squished in there.” I was a little nervous until I understood what was about to happen. “The antibiotic costs $88,” the dental technician said. “Are you prepared to pay that?” Um…. no? I sent her to ask my husband if we had the money for that. He was in the waiting room. She came back and let me know that he said we were able to pay for that. While she was applying the antibiotic, I was thinking about how lucky I was to have access to a dentist right then. This infection could have gotten much worse if ignored – especially since I was completely unaware of it. The only reason I can afford regular checkups is because they come free with my dental health plan. The shortest explanation is that it is connected to my “Obamacare” health insurance. I wasn’t expecting to pay $88 that day, but it was manageable. The problem is that the dentist needs to remove my metal filling (which is failing – something every dentist I’ve seen since it was put in warned me would happen.) I’m going to need a cap put on that tooth, which means I’ll need a temporary cap before the permanent one can be created and placed. I’m not sure if this involves a root canal or not. He said something about being able to “move my tooth” over so I wouldn’t get food stuck in that spot anymore. The price tag on what I need done is $897. That’s after whatever amount my insurance covers (if it is covering anything at all). For us, this is a lot of money. The receptionist wanted to know when I wanted to schedule that work. “When we get the money to pay for it,” I replied. She was not amused. The dentist said it was not something I had to rush into. “You’re not gonna lose a tooth,” he told me. “I don’t think there’s much tooth left. It’s mostly fillings,” I responded. At the time I am writing this blog post, I have absolutely no idea where we are going to get the money to pay for the dental work I need. Yes, it can wait. But, it can’t wait forever. I browsed through GoFundMe, specifically looking at ones from people who needed help paying for dental work. There are so many and most of them didn’t raise any money at all. I’m hesitant to do a GoFundMe because my husband and I have plans to attend a video game conference in November. Based on what I’ve seen on Twitter, people will assume that I’m lying about the dental work and trying to scam them into paying for my vacation. What am I supposed to do, get a written letter from my dentist confirming that I’m telling the truth? This is why we need single payer health care. If we had that, things like this would be covered. Maybe I’d have to pay $5 or $10 for medication. That’s it. I certainly wouldn’t have to wonder if GoFundMe is my only hope. I wouldn’t have to question the morality of putting up a GoFundMe knowing that mine could push attention away from someone else who is in a worse situation than I am. America doesn’t have a health care system. It has an for-profit insurance system – and GoFundMe. This must change. So, I’m on an antibiotic… or, more correctly, the antibiotic is literally on me. It’s in a pocket of my gums where the dentist found signs of infection. I’m not allowed to floss that area for a total of ten days, so I assume that’s how long the antibiotic will release itself. Antibiotics make me extremely sleepy, which makes it harder for me to complete my paid writing work, which makes it harder for me to gather up the money to pay for the dental work I need. Dentist Expenses is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me on PayPal.me. Thank you!... Measles Spreading is the Fault of Anti-VaxxersSeptember 8, 2018Out of Spoons / Public HealthIn 2015, there was a measles outbreak in the United States (and other countries) that began when someone who had the measles visited Disneyland in California. In 2016, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared that measles had been eliminated from the Americas (the entire land mass that stretches from Canada to Chile). But now, measles is back because people are choosing not to vaccinate their children against a dangerous, and preventable, childhood disease. In this blog, I will present facts about measles and the MMR vaccine. This blog also contains a timeline of the measles cases and additional contextual information. Facts about measles and the MMR vaccine What is measles? The Mayo Clinic describes measles as “a childhood infection caused by a virus”. Measles is also called Rubeola. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) describes Measles this way: “Measles is a highly contagious respiratory disease caused by a virus.” How is measles spread? According to both the Mayo Clinic and the CDC, measles is spread when an infected person coughs or sneezes and sprays infected droplets into the air and another person breathes in those droplets. A person can also catch the measles virus by touching a surface that had infected droplets on it and then touching their eyes, nose, or mouth. The measles virus can live for up to two hours in an airspace or on a surface. People who are infected with measles are contagious from four days before the rash appears to four days after the rash appears. A parent could be unaware that their child has the measles before the rash shows up. The CDC notes that “Measles is so contagious that if one person has it, 90% of the people close to that person who are not immune will become infected.” What are the symptoms of measles? Symptoms of measles starts with a fever, dry cough, runny nose, and sore throat. It can also include inflamed eyes (also called conjunctivitis or “pink eye”). At first glance, those symptoms sound a lot like a cold. Many doctors would have diagnosed these symptoms as a cold in part because measles had become quite rare and also because it would have been unlikely that a doctor would have actually seen a patient who had measles. After the 2015 measles outbreak began, the CDC is started instructing doctors “to consider measles when evaluating patients with febrile rash and ask about a patient’s vaccine status, recent travel history, and contact with individuals who have febrile rash illness.” The febrile rash mentioned by the CDC is another symptom of measles. The Mayo Clinic describes it as a skin rash made up of large, flat blotches that often flow into one another. Again, by the time this rash appears, the person has been contagious for four days. Another symptom of measles is Koplik’s spots, which the Mayo Clinic describes as “tiny white spots with bluish-white centers on a red background found inside the mouth and inner lining of the cheek.” What complications can come from having the measles? Both the Mayo Clinic and the CDC provide a similar list of complications. The CDC includes statistics about how often a complication occurs. Children who are under 5 years of age, and adults who are older than 20 years of age, are more likely to suffer complications after catching the measles. * Ear Infections – This occurs in about 1 out of every 10 children who have the measles. This complication can result in permanent hearing loss. * Diarrhea – This occurs in less than 1 out of every 10 people with measles. Obviously, having diarrhea is unpleasant. The World Health Organization points out that the most severe threat posed by diarrhea is dehydration. Severe dehydration can result in death. * Pneumonia – The American Lung Association points out that pneumonia is not a single disease. It is an infection that happens in one or both of a person’s lungs. Pneumonia can come from germs, bacteria, viruses, and fungi and has more than 30 different causes. About one-third of the pneumonia cases in the United States are caused by respiratory viruses. The American Lung Association notes that pneumonia has its own potential complications. It can result in respiratory failure (which requires a breathing machine or ventilator). It can result in sepsis, “a condition in which there is uncontrolled inflammation in the body which may lead to widespread organ failure.” It can lead to Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) which is a severe form of respiratory failure. It can use cause lung abscesses (an infrequent, but serious complication of pneumonia). They occur when pockets of pus form inside or around the lung. These pockets may need to be drained with surgery. Those who are most likely to experience complications from pneumonia include older adults, very young children, people whose immune systems do not work well, and people who have serious medical problems. People who are suffering from other illnesses (such as measles) and who then catch pneumonia, lower their chances of a fast recovery from pneumonia. The CDC notes: “About one out of every 20 children with measles gets pneumonia, the most common cause of death from measles in young children.” * Encephalitis – The Mayo Clinic points out that about 1 in 1,000 people with measles develop encephalitis. It is an inflammation (or swelling) of the brain that can cause vomiting, convulsions, or (rarely) coma or death. They note that encephalitis can closely follow measles or can occur months later. The CDC notes that encephalitis can cause a child to become deaf or to have intellectual disabilities. * The Mayo Clinic notes that “If you’re pregnant, you need to take special care to avoid measles because the disease can cause pregnancy loss, preterm labor, or low birth weight”. This is definitely something to keep in mind for moms who are pregnant and who have a child that catches the measles. * The CDC states: “For every 1,000 children who get the measles, one or two will die from it”. How to prevent catching the measles. * The only way to prevent a person from catching measles is to make sure the person is fully vaccinated. The Mayo Clinic points out that people who were born after 1957, and who haven’t been vaccinated, should be vaccinated as soon as possible. They also note that infants older than 6 months should be vaccinated. (There are some people who cannot be vaccinated, and I will get into that a little bit later). The CDC states that one dose of the measles vaccine is about 93% effective at preventing measles if exposed to the virus and two doses is about 97% effective at preventing measles if exposed to the virus. The Mayo Clinic has some advice that will help prevent the spread of measles. If your family member has measles, that person should be isolated. They should not return to work, or school, or other activities where they will interact with people from four days before the rash appears through four days after it has appeared. Make an effort to keep non-immunized people away from the person who has the measles. For example, if an unvaccinated five year old catches the measles, it would be a good idea to keep their younger sibling, who is too young to receive the vaccine, away from the infected child. What vaccine prevents measles? The vaccine is called the MMR vaccine. It protects from not only measles but also mumps and rubella. The National Health Service (NHS) in the UK explains how the MMR vaccine works: The MMR vaccine contains weakened versions of live measles, mumps, and rubella viruses. The vaccine works by triggering the immune system to produce antibodies against measles, mumps, and rubella. This is how the body develops immunity to measles, mumps and rubella. What about that study from Andrew Wakefield? Many of the people who are fearful of the MMR vaccine feel that way because they heard about a study done by Andrew Wakefield that suggested that the MMR vaccine caused children to develop autism. It is important to know that his work has been discredited. The BMJ (British Medical Journal) has extensive details about the study and and explanations about why it was inaccurate. I’ll post a short summary with facts from that source. * Andrew Wakefield’s study was published in The Lancet in 1988. It was authored by Andrew Wakefield, John Walker-Smith, and 11 others from the Royal Free medical school in London, England. The study reported a proposed “new syndrome” of enterocolitis and regressive autism and associated that “new syndrome” with the MMR vaccine. It suggested that the vaccine was a “precipitating event” that caused autism. * The study involved 12 developmentally challenged children. * Three of the nine children in the study who were reported to have regressive autism did not have autism diagnosed at all. Only one child in the study had regressive autism. * The study claimed that all 12 children were “previously normal” before receiving the MMR vaccine. In reality, five of the children had documented pre-existing developmental issues. * Nine of the children in the study had unremarkable colonic histopathology results. Their results showed no fluctuations, or minimal fluctuations in inflammatory cell populations. In other words, they did not have the “new syndrome” of enterocolitis. * The parents whose children were involved in the study were sent to Andrew Wakefield from a group called JABS which stands for “Justice, Awareness & Basic Support”. It is an anti-vaccination group in the UK. Why does that matter? It shows that the small group of children who were involved in the study were specifically selected because their parents distrusted vaccines. It was not a random sample. * In February of 1998, Andrew Wakefield held a press conference in which he stated that he had “sufficient anxiety” about the MMR vaccine in combination. He suggested that the MMR vaccine should be suspended in favor of the single vaccines. In 1995, Andrew Wakefield filed a patent for a diagnostic test for Crohn’s disease. Crohn’s disease is a chronic inflammatory condition of the gastrointestinal tract. It most commonly affects the end of the small bowel (the ileum) and the beginning of the colon. (Note: His study did not find that the children had Crohn’s disease, so he made up a “new syndrome” called “autistic enterocolitis”.) In 1996, a lawyer named Richard Barr was hoping to bring a lawsuit against vaccine manufacturers. He just so happened to also be connected with the JABS anti-vaccine group. He put together a paper with signs that parents should look for and directed parents who thought their children had those signs to contact JABS who would put the parent in touch with Andrew Wakefield. Richard Barr paid the school Wakefield was working in £25000 for a “clinical and scientific study”. This first installment (and subsequent ones) were not disclosed in the study that Wakefield (and others) produced. In 1997, eight months before Andrew Wakefield’s study (which, as I mentioned, has since been debunked), he filed a patent for a single shot for measles. His business plan aimed to raise £2.1m from investors for the detection of Crohn’s disease, the treatment of autism, and “a replacement for attenuated viral vaccines”. * 10 of the 13 authors of the study have retracted the findings. In 2010, British authorities stripped Andrew Wakefield of his medical license. The Lancet retracted the paper. The UK’s General Medical Council found Andrew Wakefield guilty of 30 charges, including four counts of dishonesty and 12 of causing children to be subjected to invasive procedures that were clinically unjustified. Several of the children had an ileocolonoscopy which the Medical Dictionary defines as: “endoscopic examination of the distal gastrointestinal tract, including the rectum, colon, and terminal ileum.” What causes autism? Autism is not caused by the MMR vaccine. The real cause (or causes) of autism are still being studied. The NHS has a brief summary of what researchers have found regarding autism (or ASD, which stands for Autism Spectrum Disorder). Scientists aren’t certain about what causes ASD, but it’s likely that both genetics and environment play a role. Researchers have identified a number of genes associated with the disorder. Studies of people with ASD have found irregularities in several regions of the brain. Other studies suggest that people with ASD have abnormal levels of serotonin or other neurotransmitters in the brain. These abnormalities suggest that ASD could result from the disruption of normal brain development in early fetal development cause by defects in genes that control brain growth and that regulate how brain cells communicate with each other, possibly due to the influence of environmental factors on gene function. While these findings are intriguing, they are preliminary and require further study. The theory that paternal practices are responsible for ASD has long been disproven. What is in the MMR vaccine? The easiest to understand explanation of the ingredients in the MMR vaccine comes from an article at NBC News. The information comes from Dr. Walt Orenstein, who is a vaccine expert at Emory University and a former assistant surgeon general and former head of the United States Immunization Program. Or, you could read the same information from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). * The MMR vaccine contains attenuated viruses (for measles, mumps, and rubella). A live attenuated virus is one that has been grown in a lab and weakened until it is unable to replicate well (or at all) in human cells. The weakened virus provokes the immune response in the person who has been given the MMR vaccine. It “teaches” the body to fight those viruses and gives the body weakened opponents to fight against as it is learning to recognize those viruses. * The attenuated measles viruses, and the attenuated mumps viruses, are grown in cultures of chick embryos (which are unhatched live eggs). NOTE: Human embryos are not used in the MMR vaccine. * The attenuated rubella viruses are grown in the lab from human lung cells. This is a point of confusion for some people. The rubella virus is grown in WI-38 human diploid lung fibroblasts. A fibroblast is a cell that makes up the structural framework of the extracellular matrix and collagen in animal tissues. It is the cell that creates a framework that holds tissues together. The original cells in the WI-38 human diploid lung fibroblasts came from one female human fetus that was aborted at four months of gestation. Leonard Hayflick obtained human lung cells from that fetus in 1962. The cells used to grow the rubella virus that is used in vaccines today are descendants of those original cells. I think it is important to point out that the cells came from one fetus that was aborted in 1962. Nobody is out harvesting aborted fetuses today in an effort to obtain cells that they want to use in vaccines. There simply is no need to do so. There are some people who allow their negative views about abortion to influence them to avoid getting their children vaccinated because the MMR vaccine contains attenuated viruses that were grown in cells that descended from cells obtained from an aborted fetus. This viewpoint results in children who are not vaccinated with the MMR vaccine and who are not protected from catching measles, mumps, or rubella. * The growth medium for measles and mumps is Medium 199. It is made from salt, vitamins, amino acids and fetal bovine serum. Serum is the liquid part of blood. The fetal bovine serum comes from a calf fetus. It has been screened for the absence of adventitious agents. The growth medium also contains SPGA which includes sucrose, phosphate, glutamate, and recombinant human albumin. The SPGA mixture is used as a stabilizer. Sucrose is table sugar. Phosphate is an ion (charged particle) that contains a mineral called phosphorus. Glutamate is also called monosodium glutamate or MSG. What is recombinant human albumin? Recombinant refers to an organism, cell, or virus in which genetic recombination has taken place. Genetic recombination is something that naturally happens in cells during meiosis. In short, it shuffles the genetic material that was inherited from the parents. Human albumin is a concentrate of plasma proteins that come from human blood. It is a component of human blood. The human serum albumin comes from blood donations that have been screened. * Neomycin is an an antibiotic that fights bacteria in the body. * The growth medium for rubella is Minimum Essential Medium (MEM). It, too, is a salt solution that contains vitamins, amino acids, and fetal bovine serum. It also contains recombinant human albumin and neomycin. In addition, sorbitol and hydrolyzed gelatin stabilizer are added. Sorbitol is a type of sugar alcohol that is manufactured from cornstarch. Hydrolysis is a chemical process that splits a molecule into two parts by the addition of a molecule of water. Something that has been hydrolyzed has been through this process. Gelatin comes from collagen which is a natural protein that is in the tendons, ligaments, and tissues of mammals. This gelatin is different from the kind that is used in food. The gelatin in the MMR vaccine comes from pigs. You may have noticed that I didn’t mention thimerosal. That ingredient is another one that people tend to be confused about. When it comes to the MMR vaccine, there is absolutely no need to worry about thimerosal. It hasn’t been an ingredient in the MMR vaccine since 2001. Who shouldn’t receive the MMR vaccine? Earlier, I mentioned that there are some people who should not get the MMR vaccine. The CDC does not recommend the MMR vaccine for infants who are younger than 6 months of age. In general, the recommendation is to get the first MMR dose at 12 to 15 months of age. Other people who should not get the MMR vaccine (or who should wait to get it) include: * Anyone who has had a life-threatening allergic reaction to neomycin (or other components of the MMR vaccine). Tell your doctor if your child has severe allergies. * Anyone who has had a life-threatening allergic reaction to a previous dose of MMR or MMRV vaccine. This group of people should not get a second dose. * People who are sick at the time the vaccine is to be administered. Wait until you (or your child) recovers and then go get the vaccine. * People who are pregnant should not get the MMR vaccine. Instead, they should wait to get it until four months after giving birth. Ideally, people should wait to get pregnant until 4 weeks after being vaccinated with the MMR vaccine. The rest of the people who should not get the MMR vaccine (or who should wait to get it) are those with weakened immune systems. * A person who has HIV/AIDS or another disease that affects the immune system * A person who is being treated with drugs that affect the immune system (for example, steroids) * A person who has cancer (of any kind) * A person who is being treated for cancer with radiation or drugs * A person who has ever had a low platelet count (in other words, a blood disorder) * A person who has recently gotten another vaccine within the past 4 weeks (Wait a while and try again to get the MMR vaccine later). * A person who recently had a transfusion or received other blood products. * Some elderly people who have certain medical problems should not get the vaccine. What protects people who cannot have the MMR vaccine from catching the measles? It may sound strange, but the people who cannot have the MMR vaccine (because they are too young to get it, or their immune system is weakened, or due to autoimmune diseases, pregnancy, cancer, or other health issues) are protected by the people who can get the MMR vaccine. This concept is called herd immunity. An entire community can be protected from a disease thanks to two things – vaccinations and herd immunity. It works like this: First, all the people who are healthy enough to be vaccinated (who aren’t among the above listed groups) receive a vaccine. Those people are now immune to the disease. The vaccine protects them from catching it. If they cannot catch the vaccine, then they cannot spread it to others – including the people who are too young, or who have health issues, and who cannot receive the vaccine themselves. Herd immunity works when a population has a certain percentage of people who have been vaccinated. This percentage is called a “threshold”. To prevent measles, 83% -94% of the population needs to have received the vaccine. (Or, some small percentage of that group could be people who are now elderly and who had measles when they were a child). For mumps, the threshold is 75% – 86%. For Rubella it is 83% – 85%. There is a very simple way to think about herd immunity. A parent who makes sure that their healthy child receives the MMR vaccine is protecting that child from catching measles, mumps and rubella. At the same time, they are protecting the child’s infant sibling, who is too young to receive the vaccine, from catching it from the older sibling. An adult who was properly vaccinated as a child is helping to prevent his neighbor, who is immune-compromised, from catching measles, mumps, and rubella. What happens if we fall below the threshold? It is entirely possible for a community to fall below the threshold that grants herd immunity. All it takes is for a large enough portion of a population to refuse to vaccinate their children with the MMR vaccine. Once that happens, all it takes is for the highly contagious measles virus to infect one person who has not been vaccinated. The virus can quickly spread through his home (and his workplace or classroom) and infect everyone else who was not vaccinated. This is how a measles outbreak occurs. Why did the World Health Organization (WHO) declare measles eliminated from the Americas in 2016? Science Alert posted an article titled: “It’s Official, Measles Has Been Eliminated From the Americas” on September 28, 2016. The article states that this was the first region in the world to have rid itself of all local cases of measles. From the article” …Of course, even though the disease has been eliminated within the Americas, people can still catch the virus in the region – there have been 54 cases this year in the US alone – but these infections all originate overseas and are brought in by travelers. The last home-grown outbreak in the Americas was Venezuela in 2002. The US was declared free of measles way back in 2000. Unfortunately, eliminating a viral disease from one region doesn’t mean we’ve eradicated it completely – that would be when an infectious disease has been removed from the entire planet… …None of this news means we can get slack with vaccinating though. Measles has only been eliminated through something known as “herd immunity” – which means that roughly 90 to 95 percent of a population is immunized against a disease, so random outbreaks won’t be able to take hold. That level of protection safeguards the small percentage of people who can’t be vaccinated for health reasons, newborn babies, and those whom vaccines aren’t effective. Once immunization rates drop below that herd immunity level, though, we see imported outbreaks become more sustained, and the disease spreading within local populations again – which happened in 2014 in California… Some background about the spread of measles in 2017: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that, in 2015, 188 people from 24 states and the District of Columbia were reported to have measles. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also reported that, in 2016, 86 people from 19 states were reported to have measles. The majority of people who got measles were unvaccinated. January 7, 2017: ABC News 6 reported that Peter Hotez, a Texas pediatrician at Baylor College of Medicine, says Texas is just one of several states on the verge of a measles out-break. The main reason is because parents are choosing not to vaccinate their children. Last year, nearly 45,000 Texas students opted out of school-required vaccines. That’s up nine percent from the year before. February 8, 2017: The New York Times posted an opinion piece by Peter J. Hotez, a pediatrician at Baylor College of Medicine in Texas. He is also the director of the Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development. From the opinion piece: It’s looking as if 2017 could become the year when the anti-vaccination movement gains ascendancy in the United States and we begin to see a reversal of several decades in steady public health gains. The first blow will be measles outbreak in America… …The myth that vaccines like the one that prevents measles are connected to autism has persisted despite rock-solid proof to the contrary. Donald Trump has given credence to such views in tweets and during a Republican debate, but as president he has said nothing to support vaccination opponents, so there is hope that his views are changing. However, a leading proponent of the link between vaccines and autism said he recently met with the president to discuss the creation of a presidential commission to investigate vaccine safety. Such a commission would be a throwback to the 2000s, when Representative Dan Burton of Indiana held fruitless hearings and conducted investigations on this topic. And a documentary alleging a conspiracy at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe”, has recently been shown around the country… …Texas, where I live an work, may be the first state to once again experience serious measles outbreaks. As of last fall, more than 45,000 children here received nonmedical exemptions for their school vaccinations. A political action committee is raising money to protect this “conscience exemption” loophole, and instruct parents on how to file for it. As a result, some public school systems in the state are coming dangerously close to the threshold when measles outbreaks can be expected, and a third of students at some private schools are unvaccinated… April 14, 2017: Michigan Radio reported a second case of measles in Michigan. The unidentified adult appears to have contracted measles from the first patient. The first patient is a child who lives in southeast Michigan. Both are recovering. April 15, 2017: Star Tribune reported that Minnesota health officials confirmed five new cases of measles in young children in Hennepin County, bringing the total number of cases in the outbreak to eight. All eight are unvaccinated children ranging in age from 1 to 4. Seven of the cases occurred in the Somali-American community. No information was given about the eighth case. Seven of the eight cases occurred among people who have been in contact with one another. Six of the affected children have been hospitalized. May 5, 2017: MPR News reported a confirmed case of measles in Crow Wing County in Minnesota. There are now 44 confirmed measles cases in three Minnesota counties; Hennepin, Ramsey and Crow Wing. Also on May 5, 2017, The New York Times reported that 11 patients with measles had been hospitalized. All but two cases happened people who were not vaccinated, and nearly all were in the immigrant community in Hennepin County. The New York Times reported that Doug Schultz, a spokesman for the Minnesota Department of Health, said: “The outbreak started among Somali Minnesotans who have a low vaccination rate for M.M.R.,” he said, referring to the shot for measles, mumps, rubella. He said the community was “targeted” by members of the anti-vaccination movement, adding that vaccination rates in the community had been as high or even higher than those in the white population, but that began to change in 2008. Members of the community came to believe incorrectly that they had an unusually high rate of autism and that cases were related to vaccines. But later studies showed that their autism rates were not out of line with those of the state’s white population. Mohamud Noor, executive director of the Confederation of Somali Community in Minnesota, said anti-vaccine activists had met one-on-one with families and had been more aggressive than public health educators in getting their message out… May 7, 2017: The Star posted an article titled: “Anti-vaccine activists just sparked a U.S. state’s worst measles outbreak in decades”. It was written by Lena H. Sun. From the article: The young mother started getting advice early on from friends in the close-knit Somali immigrant community here. Don’t let your children get the vaccine for measles, mumps, and rubella – it causes autism, they said. Suaado Salah listened. And this spring, her 3-year-old boy and 18-month-old girl contracted measles in Minnesota’s largest outbreak of the highly infectious and potentially deadly disease in nearly three decades. Her daughter, who had a rash, high fever and a cough, was hospitalized for four nights and needed intravenous fluids and oxygen… …Salah no longer believes that the MMR vaccine triggers autism, a discredited theory that spread rapidly through the Somali community, fanned by meeting organized by anti-vaccine groups. The advocates repeatedly invited Andrew Wakefield, the founder of the modern anti-vaccine movement, to talk to worried parents. Immunization rates plummeted and, last month, the first cases of measles appeared. Soon, there was a full-blown outbreak, one of the starkest consequences of an intensifying anti-vaccine movement in the United States and around the world that has gained traction in part by targeting specific communities. “It’s remarkable to come in and talk to a population that’s vulnerable and marginalized and who doesn’t necessarily have the capacity for advocacy for themselves, and to take advantage of that,” said Siman Nuurali, a Somali-American clinician who co-ordinates the care of medically complex patients at Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota. “It’s abhorrent.”… May 12, 2017: CNN posted an article titled: “Texas lawmakers spar over ‘anti-vaccine measure'”. It was written by Wayne Drash. In short, Representative Gene Wu (Democrat – Houston), introduced a bill to reform the state’s foster care system. The bill included a provision requiring foster children to get prompt exams from doctors to determine whether they’ve been abused, neglected or abandoned. Representative Bill Zedler (Republican, Vice President of the ultraconservative Texas Freedom Caucus) introduced an amendment to prevent doctors from giving vaccines to foster children during the exams, saying the measure would “protect children from medical procedures that are not pertinent to their immediate medical needs.” Zedler’s anti-vaccination amendment passed 74-84, which means it will go to the Texas Senate along with Wu’s foster care bill. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that, in 2017, 118 people from 15 states and the District of Columbia were reported to have measles. The majority of people who got measles were unvaccinated. A Timeline of the spread of measles in 2018 January 26, 2018: Daily News posted an article titled: “Texas measles outbreak could be caused by anti-vaxxers”. It was written by Ariel Scotti. From the article: A small measles outbreak in Texas has spread among people who were never vaccinated against the disease – an alarming trend in the state. The first known case was tweeted about by the Texas Department of State Health Services last Friday. By Tuesday, the number of measles cases in Ellis County, Texas, increased to six after the patient went to the movies. Local officials then warned people who recently went to that theater to watch for symptoms of the disease, but said none of the new cases linked to the cinema. Texas is one of the 19 states in the U.S. that does not have a law that requires people to get vaccinations. Parents can opt out of public school vaccine requirements if it goes against their “conscientious” beliefs thanks to a 2003 law. The rate of parents in the state requesting an exemption has gradually increased since the law changed, HuffPost reported. The southern state is also home to Texans for Vaccine Choice, a PAC that throws its support behind politicians who share their donor’s distrusting views towards vaccinations. Texas is also the current home of disgraced UK doctor Andrew Wakefield. Wakefield was stripped of his license in England after it was revealed that he falsified data in a since-retracted study that alleged a connection between the measles-mumps-rubella vaccination and autism… …During the 2003-2004 school year, the first year in which parents could conscientiously object to vaccinations for their children, 2,314 of them did, according to Texas DSHS. That number rocketed to 52,756 for the 2016-2017 school year – not including home-schooled kids… January 31, 2018: Vaccines Today reported that Greece is the latest European country to face a major measles outbreak with Romania, Italy and Germany epidemics. …It is tragic and unacceptable that 49 children and adults in EU countries have died from complications of measles infection in the past two years, while safe and effective vaccines are readily available,” says Dr. Andrea Ammon, Director of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). Most cases – 87% – were among people who were not vaccinated, despite the widespread availability of the MMR vaccines, which protects against measles, mumps and rubella… February 2, 2018: Star Tribune posted an editorial titled: “Fringe anti-vaccine groups peddle misinformation to Minnesota legislators”. It was written by the Star Tribune Editorial Board. From the editorial: Less than six months after the official end of the Minnesota measles outbreak, a group notorious for spreading childhood vaccine misinformation is holding a secretive reception in Minneapolis to convince state legislators to sign onto its dangerous agenda. Exactly what policy changes the Vaccine Safety Council of Minnesota is seeking during the 2018 session is unclear. The invitation for hors d’oeuvres at the Minneapolis Club clearly states that the event is for lawmakers only. A spokeswoman for the reception said the media is not welcome. The “council”, which led an anti-vaccination event during last year’s measles outbreak, did not respond to an editorial writer’s other questions, such as who is paying for the reception? And is there legislation already drafted for the 2018 session for which reception sponsors are seeking support? Apparently, those seeking critical public health policy changes in Minnesota don’t want Minnesotans to know what they’re up to…. Shame on any lawmaker who shows up or signs on. The 2017 measles outbreak sickened 79 people between April 11 and Aug. 25, when state health officials declared the outbreak over. Chillingly, 73 cases involved children under 10, and 71 had not been vaccinated. Lawmakers should be focused on preventing another outbreak. A sensible policy response: ensuring that more Minnesota children get the widely available, generally inexpensive shots to protect them from measles and other disease. To do that, lawmakers should tighten the state’s lax vaccine-exemption laws… …The current exemption allowed for “philosophical” reasons should be scrapped. That said, a more moderate bill championed last year by state Reps. Mike Freiberg, DFL-Golden Valley, and Jennifer Schultz, DFL- Duluth, still merits support. It would require parents to compile with a doctor first if they want an immunization opt-out… February 13, 2018: The Local posted an article titled: “Health chiefs in south west France warn public over deadly measles epidemic”. From the article: Health authorities in south western France, which has been hit by a measles epidemic, have reminded the public of the dangers of the virus after a young woman died this week. The young woman died in hospital in the city of Poitiers, in the Vienne department, the regional health authority (ARS) in Bordeaux announced on Tuesday. According to the hospital authorities, the 32-year-old woman had not been vaccinated against the virus. She was admitted to the hospital February 1st and quickly transferred to intensive care but did not survive… …French health authorities said the death of the woman underlined the importance of being vaccinated against measles and asked the public to check their medical records to make sure they were… The hospital in Poitiers believes at least five people hospitalized there contracted the virus by coming into contact with another patient… …Hospital chiefs have no enforced a rule that all members of the public entering the emergency wards must wear a mask. Some 54 members of staff have had to be vaccinated… …In France, children are vaccinated against measles, mumps and rubella when aged between 12 and 18 months… February 16, 2018: Independent reported that there are now more than 100 cases of measles confirmed in England. Public health experts are urging parents to immunize their children against measles as the potentially deadly bug has now spread to five regions in England. With more than 100 cases confirmed, Public Health England warns that the UK could be on the verge of an outbreak due to a rise in cases across Europe. People who have recently visited Romania, Italy, and Germany and have not been fully immunized against measles via the MMR vaccine may be most at risk, they said… …While the outbreak was first reported in November as spreading through Leeds and Liverpool, there are now confirmed cases in Sussex, West Midlands, Surrey, Greater Manchester, Merseyside, and West Yorkshire. However, not all cases are being spread by those who have visited countries included in the European outbreak, a spokesperson for Public Health England told the Independent. “We know that measles cases are showing a link to importation from Europe where there are ongoing outbreaks, but the cases are also spreading within the UK in under-vaccinated communities,” they explained. February 20, 2018: The Age posted an article titled: “Measles alert for Melbourne’s south-east”. It was written by Amber Schultz. From the article: Residents of Melbourne’s south-east have been warned to look out for the symptoms of measles after a man with the highly infectious disease visited a number of densely populated areas…. The affected areas included: Dandenong, Rowville, Ferntree Gully, Knoxfield, Belgrave and Wantirna South. The man with symptoms of measles visited a Centrelink, a cricket ground, two basketball stadiums, a secondary college, a bottle shop and a costume store between February 8 and 12, 2018. February 22, 2018: The Guardian posted an opinion piece written by Suzanne Moore. The piece was titled: “I understand the fears. But vaccinating children should be compulsory”. From the opinion piece. …Measles cases are souring in Europe again; last year, there were more than 21,000 cases and 35 deaths, up from 5, 273 cases the year before, a massive increase. The eminently achievable aim has always been to eradicate measles completely because the vaccine is so effective, but take-up of measles immunization is dropping in many countries. There are a number of factors involved, but doctors are worried about the influence of anti-vax campaigns – not only when it comes to MMR vaccine, which immunizes against mumps, measles, and rubella, but also for newer vaccines against meningitis and the HPV vaccine, which is given to girls at 12 or 13, and prevents the spread of the virus linked to 99.7% of cervical cancers. The MMR vaccine, still described by some as “controversial”, is at the root of this turn against immunization. Andrew Wakefield’s utterly discredited findings about the “link” between the MMR vaccine and autism continue to be regurgitated… …Anti-vax discourse unites a whole set of conspiracy theories about big Pharma and big government and so-called nature with a kind of selfishness that says: “I won’t let my precious child be vaccinated but will in fact rely on the herd immunity of others.”… …Information campaigns can push up immunization rates: in Ireland, uptake of the HPV vaccine was very low but a campaign helped address this. But reproducing the evidence about the efficacy of vaccines over and over again is never enough: the debate also has to be emotionally intelligent…. …Part of the conversation around parental choice is symptomatic of a wider disease in our society: atomization. The anti-vax lobby, in their purity, care about their own individual children, not our children who are in the plural, and not the most marginalized groups, who are most likely to get ill… February 23, 2018: NBC New York 4 posted an article titled: “Australian Tourist With Measles Visited Met Museum, Several Hotels: Officials”. From the article: An Australian tourist who had a confirmed case of the measles visited several New York hotels and medical centers, and participated in a biblical tour of the Met, health officials said. The tourist visited Manhattan and Brooklyn as well as Putnam and Orange counties between Feb. 16 and Wednesday, according to the state Health Department. The Australian was in the Oasis Bible Tours group at the Metropolitan Museum of Art…. February 26, 2018: The Guardian posted an article titled: “Disgraced anti-vaxxer Andrew Wakefield aims to advance his agenda in Texas election.” It was written by Jessica Glenza. From the article: Anti-vaccine campaigners have found a growing political voice for their debunked ideas in Texas, the adopted home of discredited British researcher Andrew Wakefield, and now hope to unseat a moderate Republican in the heart of Houston. Texas has seen rates of children opting out of vaccines for philosophical reasons skyrocket after Wakefield – the man behind the UK’s MMR vaccine controversy in the early 2000s – moved to the state capital, Austin, more than a decade ago. Since the early 2000s, when he arrived, the rate of Texas children exempted from at least one vaccine has shot up by 1.900% according to one analysis, while Houston has become a battleground for anti-vaccine activists of growing clout. Now, Wakefield sees the upcoming Republican primary in Houston on 6 March as an “extremely important time” to advance his anti-vaccine agenda… February 28, 2018: Texas Observer posted an article titled: “How Anti-Vaxxers are Injecting Themselves into the Texas Republican Primaries”. It was written by Sophie Novack. From the article: …A single mom who said one of her kids was injured by vaccines, [Jackie] Schlegel started Texans for Vaccine Choice in response to a 2015 bill by state Representative Jason Villalba, R-Dallas, that would have eliminated non-medical “conscience” exemptions for vaccines at public schools. Exemptions are a matter of “liberty,” “parental choice” and “privacy,” says Schlegel, who did not respond to requests for an interview. Villalba says he introduced the 2015 legislation because he has children in public school. Though his kids are vaccinated, he was alarmed by surging exemption rates. The number of kids with “conscience” exemptions has increased from about 2,300 when they were first allowed by the Legislature in 2003, to nearly 53,000 in 2017… …This primary cycle is a continuation of a grudge match between Villalba and the anti-vaxxers, who also campaigned against the Dallas Republican in 2016. Texans for Vaccine Choice designated his primary challenger, interior design firm owner Lisa Luby Ryan, and a “priority campaign,” and Schlegel has blockwalked with Ryan, who also picked up a batch of endorsements from other far-right groups including Empower Texans, on multiple occasions. Another top target for Texas for Vaccine Choice is state Representative Sarah Davis R- West University Place, one of the most vocal vaccine advocates among Republicans in the Legislature. The group endorsed Davis’ GOP primary challenge Susanna Dokupil as an “MVP,” donated $2,500 to her campaign, has blockwalked for her most weekends, and posts about her extensively on social media. Dokupil, endorsed by Governor Greg Abbott, is a lawyer and a board member of the Seasteading Institute, which aims to build floating libertarian cities in international waters…. …”Its really scary how impactful they are,” Davis said of Texans for Vaccine Choice. “Last session, I couldn’t even get any hearings on my pro-vaccine bills. They really have been able to bully and intimidate a lot of members. And they’ve made vaccines controversial, which makes members nervous… It really shouldn’t be controversial… …”We’re getting the messages that Texas is on the verge of a massive measles outbreak and no one seems to want to do anything about it,” said [Peter] Hotez [ director of the Texas Children’s Center for Vaccine Development], who calls the state “ground zero” for the country’s anti-vaccination movement. Vaccination rates in some Texas countries now hover close to the 95 percent threshold needed for herd immunity, and exemption rates at certain schools are well into the double digits…. March 7, 2018: BBC News posted an article titled: “Warning after measles outbreak declared in South Wales”. From the article: Young adults and teenagers are being urged to ensure they have two doses of the MMR vaccine, following a measles outbreak. Six people are confirmed as having measles in Cardiff, Newport and Blaenau Gwent. Public health Wales confirmed two further possible cases were under investigation. The first few cases are thought to have been exposed to measles in Cardiff city center in early February, Public Health Wales said. March 10, 2018: Nigerian Tribune posted an article titled: “Measles remains one of the leading causes of death among children – Experts” Nigeria has every reason to be concerned as measles return with vengeance in northern Nigeria and other parts of the world especially in Europe. Little wonder that, measles vaccination was stepped up to ensure the this highly contagious and potentially deadly virus that almost quadrupled in Europe in 2017 compared to other years in the past is controlled in Nigeria… …Nigeria tops the list of countries with unvaccinated children from measles with 3.3 million children, followed by India – 2.9 million, Pakistan – 2.0 million, Indonesia – 1.2 million, Ethiopia – 0.9 million and Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC, with 0.7 million… …”Measles remains one of the leading causes of death among young children globally, despite the availability of a safe and effective vaccine,” said Dr. Rafiu Isamotu, a pediatrician and Osun State Commissioner for Health… …”Measles immunization is very safe and effective, but a few children may develop some mild vaccine reactions such as a fever, rash, soreness or swelling where the injection was given or temporary pain. These are minor reactions that mothers should not panic about.”… …Unfortunately, Dr. Isamotu said 90 percent of people who haven’t been vaccinated for measles and come in contact with an infected person, may contract the virus from droplets sprayed into the air when someone with measles sneezes or coughs…. …”Our immunization efforts are working against measles. In the last five years in Ice and Ilesa, we have not seen a case of the measles. It is unlike the past that almost all of our wards may be filled with measles cases,” he added…. March 13, 2018: The Kansas City Star posted an article titled: “Three measles cases confirmed in Johnson County”. It was written by Lynn Horsley. From the article: Three measles cases have been confirmed in a Johnson County child care facility, the Johnson County Health Department said Tuesday. All three cases were in children less than 1 year of age, thus are too young to be vaccinated for the disease. Those at risk for the disease have been contacted and the investigation is ongoing. March 15, 2018: USA Today posted an article titled: “Travelers who landed in Detroit, Newark, Memphis pop up with measles.” From the article: Detroit: People who visited the North Terminal at Detroit Metropolitan Airport on the afternoon of March 6 likely were exposed to the highly contagious virus, according to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. Someone infected could develop symptoms as late as next week. Newark: Passengers in terminals B and C of Newark Liberty International Airport also were exposed and could develop symptoms as late as April 2, according to the New Jersey Department of Health. Memphis: The young child diagnosed with measles arrived in Newark from Brussels and flew to Memphis International Airport that evening, exposing other salons the way, New Jersey health officials said. March 15, 2018: CBC posted an article titled: “Vaccine refusal linked to recent U.S. measles outbreak, study suggests”. It was written by Justin Li. From the article: Measles, a disease that was considered eliminated 16 years ago in the U.S., has made a comeback in which a “substantial proportion” of the cases are associated with vaccine refusal, a study suggests. The study, recently published in the March 15 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association says “the phenomenon of vaccine refusal increases the risk for measles among individuals who are not vaccinated or refuse to get vaccinated, and also among those who are already fully vaccinated… …The study notes the increase of measles incidents was initially seen only among states where nonmusical exemptions were readily offered, but states with “moderately difficult” exemption procedures have experienced increases in measles rates as nonmusical exemptions have “steadily increased” in the last 20 years. Researchers also said a higher rate of vaccine exemption or refusal in a community is associated with increased incidents of measles in that community, among persons with and without exemptions. The study points to a 2014 outbreak of measles that originated at Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif… March 16, 2018: The Kansas City Star posted an article titled: “Seven diagnosed with measles in Johnson, Miami counties, Aldi, YMCA among risk sites.” It was written by Andy Marso. From the article: The Kansas Department of Health and Environment said Friday that at least seven people in Johnson County and Miami County have contracted measles and released a list of nine public places where others might have been exposed. All but one of the seven people are associated with a Johnson County daycare that has been identified as the source of the outbreak. But health officials are now warning the public that those seven may have exposed others to the virus before becoming symptomatic… ..At least three of the cases tied to the daycare, which has not been identified, were in children who are under 1 year of age, and therefore too young to be vaccinated. People in that age group are particularly at risk, as are those who can’t be vaccinated because of underlying medical conditions… March 26, 2018: The Age posted an article titled: “Baby infected as measles virus spreads through Melbourne Airport arrivals.” It was written by Aisha Dow. From the article: Health authorities suspect five adults and a very young baby who were collecting their luggage from a carousel at Melbourne Airport’s international baggage area three weeks ago also picked up a dose of measles from an infected fellow passenger. The man believed to have infected others, an Australian in his 40s, became unwell on AirAsia flight D7214, which arrived in Melbourne at about 9:30am on March 9. While the man went “straight to hospital”, according to the Victorian health department, it is now believed that a number of people became infected while in the airport’s baggage collection area that day, between 9:30am and midday. There adults are still in hospital, while the baby and two adults are recovering at home… March 26, 2018: Miami Herald posted an article titled: “A measles outbreak in ailing Venezuela is threatening Colombia and Brazil”. It was written by Jim Wyss. From the article: …According to new figures from the Pan American Health Organization, Venezuela has seen 886 cases of measles since June, including 159 cases this year alone. The second-biggest outbreak in the hemisphere this year is Brazil, with 14 cases, and all of them were imported from neighboring Venezuela. Columbia has also reported three confirmed cases, all from Venezuela… …the nation’s deep economic crisis, combined with a mass desertion by doctors and widespread corruption, have devastated the medical establishment…. …The outbreaks are “clear examples” of how basic health programs have broken down, [José Felix] Oletta [former minister of health from 1997 to 1999 and runs a nonprofit called Venezuelan Alliance for Health] said. His organization estimates that more than 1 million Venezuelan children haven’t been vaccinated for measles in the last decade – and that’ putting the entire region at risk… …The National Survey of Hospitals, an independent report published last week, found that 88 percent of the 134 medical centers studied were missing basic medicines, and 100 percent said their pathology labs were inoperative. Venezuelans regularly flood Colombia and Brazil looking for medical care they can no longer get at home. The health crisis strikes as hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans are fleeing the country, escaping political turmoil and chronic food and medicine shortages… March 28, 2018: The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control posted information about measles cases in Portugal. The first post about it was on March 9, 2018. Since 9 March, 2018, Portugal has been experiencing an outbreak of measles in the northern region of the country. The majority of the cases are relate to the Hospital San Antonio in Porto. Among the confirmed cases the majority are healthcare professionals. Responding to the outbreak, the Portuguese authorities launched active case finding and contact tracing, and initiated a vaccination and awareness campaign among patients and healthcare professionals. Between 9 and 27 March 2018, Portugal has reported 70 confirmed measles cases. This is an increase of four cases since the CDTR published on 23 March. Among the confirmed cases, 61 (87%) are healthcare professionals, mostly from the San Antonia hospital in Porto, Portugal. March 28, 2018: The Kansas City Star posted an article titled: “3 new JoCo measles cases: Walgreens, Chuck E. Cheese, Chick-fil-A exposure spots”. It was written by Andy Marso. From the article: Kansas officials have identified three new cases of measles and three more sites where people may have been exposed as the outbreak that started at a Johnson County daycare continues to have ripple effects. All of the new cases are residents of Johnson County, which is now up to 11 out of the 13 total. The other cases were in a Miami County resident and a Linn County resident. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment, working with local health departments, also identified three new sites at which people who had the measles may have exposed others. The article listed the addresses of a Chuck E. Cheese, a Walgreens, and a Chick-fil-A and the dates during which people who visited those locations may have been exposed to measles. Those are in addition to 10 other exposure sites previously announced. KDHE officials also announced Wednesday there had been a second instance of potential exposure at one of those sites…. The article listed the address of the Olathe YMCA and the dates in which people who visited it might have been exposed to measles. It also said that previous exposures at this YMCA were limited to only certain parts of the building, but this new exposure was throughout the facility including the child care area. …The current Kansas outbreak began earlier this month at a daycare that health officials have declined to name for privacy reasons. Several of the early cases in infants were too young to get the shot… …Kansas law requires children who attend daycare or pre-school to be immunized with an initial dose of MMR between 12 and 15 months of age, but parents are able to opt out for medical or religious reasons. According to KDHE, there’s no law requiring daycare workers to be immunized. The article also listed the previous measles exposures sites, their addresses, and the dates in which people visiting those locations may have been exposed to measles: AMC Dine-In Studio, Aldi, Payless Discount Foods, El Puerto Mexican Café, Children’s Mercy Hospital Kansas (emergency department), Budget Coin Laundry, Olathe YMCA, Bath and Body Works at Legend Outlets, Crazy 8 Legends Outlets, Orange Leaf. March 28, 2018: BBC News posted an article titled: “Vaccination plea after count Wales measles outbreak.” from the article: Parents are being urged to ensure their children have both MMR vaccinations as a measles outbreak has been confirmed. Fourteen people have caught the highly infectious virus in the Cardiff and Blaenau Gwent areas of south Wales. The latest outbreak follows one in Newport and Torfaen in 2017 and another spate earlier this month. School children and young adults are advised to get protected before going away on their Easter holidays or attending half-term play schemes. “Ahead of the Easter break we are urging all parents with children in the Cardiff and Blaenau Gwent areas that have not had two doses of MMR to contact their GPs and immediately arrange this quick, safe, and effective vaccine,” said Dr. Gwen Lowe of Public Health Wales (PHW). “This is particularly important before unvaccinated and unprotected children mix with ones in play schemes and play settings over the holiday period. “Similarly we’re appealing to young adults from the Cardiff and Blaenau Gwent areas to get up-to-date with their MMR vaccinations before going on holiday to Europe, where a number of measles outbreaks are ongoing.”… March 29, 2018: The Age posted an article titled: “Measles infections from Melbourne Airport contact grows”. It was written by Aisha Dow. From the article: The number of Victorians who have caught measles after coming in contact with two infected men flying into Melbourne’s Tullamarine Airport continues to grow. Another baby who was too young to be vaccinated has been confirmed as one of the new victims. The Victorian Department of Health has now confirmed 10 cases of the highly infectious disease. There are eight adults, seven of whom were taken to hospital, and two infants. The majority of the infections are linked to a man who flew from Kuala Lumpur to Melbourne on AirAsia flight D7214 on Wednesday, March 7, landing about 9:30am. The other passenger returned to Melbourne from Denpasar, Bali, on March 10 and was believed to have passed the infection on to one the babies, now recovering at home… March 29, 2018: The Kansas City Star posted an editorial titled: “Here’s one step Kansas could take to limit the spread of measles”. It was written by the The Kansas City Star Editorial Board. From the editorial: Kansas law requires children who attend day care or preschool to be immunized with an initial dose of measles-mumps-rubella between 12 and 15 months of age, bu there’s no law requiring day care workers to be immunized… …At least 13 cases of measles have been confirmed in Johnson, Linn and Miami counties since early March. A separate case was confirmed Thursday at the University of Kansas Hospital. The outbreak started at an unnamed Johnson County day care and has spread to 14 other sites. Several of the early cases were in infants too young to get the shot, which suggests measles could have spread to them via an infected adult… …Kansas lawmakers could take a cue from other states such as California and Illinois that have adopted laws requiring day care workers to have vaccinations for measles and other common contagious disease. Without a law on the books, the onus is on day care providers in Kansas to follow KinderCare’s lead to address the issue. After eight infants at a KinderCare day care center in a Chicago suburb fell ill with measles, the nationwide chain began requiring measles vaccines for all staff working with babies under 15 month old… March 29, 2018: 9 News posted an article titled: “Measles alert as two Sydney babies diagnosed after visiting south Asia.” From the article: Health authorities are on alert after two babies, fresh from visits to South Asia, were diagnosed with measles at a Sydney hospital. Four people have been diagnosed in NSW this month – all patients contracting the highly contagious disease while visiting Asia. Pakistan, India and The Philippines have been identified as possible sources for the infections, said NSW Health on Thursday…. April 3, 2018: CTV News posted an article titled: “Romania measles epidemic: baby dies, death toll reaches 46”. From the article: Romanian health authorities say a nine-month old baby has died of measles, the 46th fatality from an epidemic that has struck the country over the past year. The National Center for the Supervision and Control of Transmissible Diseases said Friday that the infant, from the Black Seas port of Constanta, had not been vaccinated. It said 204 new cases of measles were reported this week in Romania, taking the confirmed total to nearly 12,000 since the disease’s outbreak last year…. April 7, 2018: USA Today posted an article titled: “College student with measles had been vaccinated, health officials say”. It was written by Siobhan McAndrew. From the article: Health departments in two states have opened investigations after a university student who contracted measles was determined to have been vaccinated. It wasn’t immediately known whether the University of Nevada, Reno, student, whose name was not released, had both doses of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, generally given at age 12 to 15 months with a booster at 4 to 6 years old. The two shots are 97% effective in preventing measles; one dose is 93% effective, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Though getting measles after you’ve been vaccinated is unusual, it is not unheard of. In a Kansas outbreak of 15 class that began in March, most were unvaccinated infants at a day-care center. But one was a fully vaccinated adult… …The Reno case, diagnosed Monday, is linked to an outbreak in the San Francisco Bay Area of six confirmed cases and one suspect case, said Jorge De La Cruz, spokesman for the California Department of Public Health… …The California cases involve patients who were not vaccinated, according to the Santa Clara County Department of Health. Five of the six cases were identified in Santa Clara County, which includes San Jose… April 22, 2018: CBS News posted an article titled: “New York State health officials issue measles warning for trials-state area”. From the article: Authorities issued a new warning Sunday about possible measles exposures across New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. CBS New York reports state health officials are concerned about people who may have come into contact with two tourists from Europe who have the disease. Authorities say the tourists visited a Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Brooklyn last Sunday before making stops at Watchtower Jehovah’s Witness facilities in suburban Tuxedo Park and Patterson, New York…. April 23, 2018: USA Today posted an article titled: “Measles patient dined at two Iowa restaurants before discovering rash from the disease”. It was written by Kim Norvell. From the article: Patrons of two restaurants in the Des Moines area may have been exposed to measles in the past week and a half, according to the Iowa Department of Public Health. A Missouri resident, whose measles infection has been confirmed, had breakfast April 13 at a Hardee’s on Merle Hay Road in Des Moines and lunch April 16 at a Panera Bread on Southeast Delaware Avenue in Ankey, Iowa. “Since it is too late to prevent these exposed people from coming down with measles, they could become ill and start spreading the disease any day now,” Dr. Patricia Quinlisk, the department’s medical director, said in a news release. She advised that anyone in the Des Moines area who has not received two doses of measles vaccine get the vaccine or booster immediately… April 26, 2018: BristolLive posted an article titled: “‘Indestructible’ dad-of-two struck down by deadly virus after symptoms mistaken for common rash”. It was written by Bronwen Weatherby. From the article: A man suffering from a life-threatening virus has been hospitalized and temporarily paralyzed as a result of the deadly illness. Robert Bliss, 36, contracted measles, a highly infectious disease and within days was rushed to hospital in a critical condition. The dad-of-two described as a “big lad” who “looked indestructible” is now one of five people to have been hospitalized with the virus in the four months since the beginning of 2018. His situation was so serious his terrified family were told he was one of the “sickest patients in the hospital” and doctors said he might not survive… …His youngest daughter also caught the transferrable disease as she had not yet had her MMR, but she is now recovering well. At the moment, Bristol has the lowest percentage of five-year-olds receiving two doses of MMR in the South West, with only 87.8 per cent getting the vaccine. April 26, 2018: The Kansas City Star posted an article titled: “Another KC medical center is a measles exposure site. Here’s why that’s a big concern”. It was written by Andy Marso. From the article: St. Joseph Medical Center is among seven new sites where people may have been exposed to measles during an outbreak that has sickened 10 Missourians so far. Erika Beeler, a spokeswoman for St. Joseph, said the exposure occurred not in the 310-bed hospital’s inpatient unit, but in a pediatric practice that rents space on the medical center grounds at 1000 Carondelet Drive in south Kansas City. The patients with measles went through the main lobby of the medical center and used elevators to get to the pediatric practice, but Beeler said the inpatient tower has a separate entrance and elevators… …The 10 cases in Missouri are not related to a separate measles outbreak that started in a Johnson County day care last month. That has sickened 18 Kansans (14 in Johnson County, three in Linn County and one in Miami County) so far and is the largest outbreak in that state since 1990. The 10 Missouri cases include three students who attend Liberty Public Schools. Clay County Public Health Center has said everyone who was at South Valley Middle School, which has almost 800 students, on April 18 may have been exposed… May 4, 2018: Voice of America posted an article titled: “Some Parents More Wary of Vaccines Than Diseases They Prevent”. It was written by Carol Pearson. From the article: …Vaccines can prevent 23 viruses and two types of cancer, and more vaccines are in the works, including one for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. [Dr. Paul] Offit is the co-inventor of a life-saving rotavirus vaccine. But some parents are not getting their children vaccinated. Last year, there were more than 14,000 cases of measles in Europe, mostly in Romania. Nearly 40 children died. It exasperates health officials like Miljana Grbic, head of the World Health Assembly in Romania. “We cannot fight this disease if we do not increase vaccination coverage,” she said. “…But we also have to understand why vaccination coverage is going down.” For some parents, it’s the inconvenience of the trip to the doctor’s office. Others think good hygiene and nutrition are all children need to stay healthy. Still others believe vaccines can give their children autism, diabetes and other diseases. Offit says persuading these parents to vaccinate their children is hard… …A study published in BMJ suggests that in the U.S., vaccine refusal is contagious. It spreads from communities with a high number of parents who oppose vaccines to other communities nearby when parents who oppose vaccines talk to their friends and parents of their children’s schoolmates… May 11, 2018: Sky News reported that there have been more than 400 cases of measles confirmed in England so far this year. The cases – well above the 267 seen across the whole of last year – are linked to “ongoing large outbreaks in Europe,” particularly in Romania and Italy, according to Public Health England. Up to 9 May, there were 440 cases confirmed by laboratories, including 164 in London, 86 in the South East, 78 in the West Midlands, 42 in the South West and 37 in West Yorkshire… …Among those most affected are young people and adults over 15 who may have missed out on the vaccine when they were younger. Dr. Mary Ramsay, head of immunization at Public Health England, said: “This serves as an important reminder for parents to take up the offer of MMR vaccination for their children at one year of age and as a preschool booster at three years and four months of age. “We’d also encourage people to ensure they are up to date with their MMR vaccines before traveling to countries with ongoing measles outbreaks… May 11, 2018: Gov.UK reported: Between 1 January 2018 and 9 May 2018 there have been 440 laboratory confirmed measles cases in England, with London (164), the South-East (86), West Midlands (78) South-West (42) and West Yorkshire (37) reporting the most cases. June 1, 2018: Gov.UK reported: Between 1 January and 31 May 2018 there have been 587 laboratory confirmed measles cases in England. Cases were reported in most areas with London (213), the South-East (128), West Midlands (81), South-West (62), and Yorkshire and Humberside (53) reporting most cases (based on provisional figures). June 11, 2018: The Kansas City Star posted an article titled: “Kansas City’s two measles outbreaks are over. But what did they cost taxpayers?” It was written by Andy Marso. From the article: When Kansas City found itself in the grips of not one but two measles outbreaks in March, Tiffany Wallin, a disease investigator for the Johnson County Health Department, was working on it nearly around the clock… …The strangely simultaneous outbreaks are both officially over, as of Monday, when there had been no new cases in 42 days, or two full incubation periods. But the costs of containing them are just beginning to be calculated. What is known at this point is that more than $170,000 in taxpayer resources was spent to hold the outbreaks to 35 total cases – 22 in Kansas and 13 in Missouri. Some of the $170,000 is federal money, some of it came out of redirected state and local resources and none of it includes other costs that are difficult or even impossible to quantify. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment said it spend about $46,000 on a bevy of lab testing, vaccines and staffing costs. But that’s a conservative estimate that doesn’t include baked-in costs to maintain the state’s disease surveillance software, EpiTrax, or salaries for support staff… …The Johnson County Health Department said it spent $99,000 in staff costs alone on its response to the Kansas measles outbreak, enlisting disease investigators, epidemiologists, public spokesmen, directors, child care licensing staff, immunizations staff, lab staff and accounting staff. Miami County health officials didn’t respond to the Star’s request for a cost estimate… …The Kansas City Health Department spent $21,273.50 in staff hours alone on the Missouri outbreak…. …Both measles outbreaks started when travelers brought the virus back to Kansas City from other countries where its still prevalent. The first outbreak began in a Johnson County daycare – a particularly dangerous spot because of the number of exposed kids who are too young to be vaccinated…. …Someone involved in the Missouri outbreak also potentially exposed people in Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin a road trip through those states, but officials in this states said no cases resulted from those exposures… …They [Health officials] also initiated state policies that require unvaccinated students to be held out of school for weeks if there is an exposure risk. Open records filed by the Star showed that mean 13 of the 791 students at Star Valley Middle School had to be held out. Eleven of them had religious exemptions to vaccination requirements and two had medical exemptions. Nine of 375 students at Nashua Elementary School had to be held out. Six had religious exemptions, two had medical exemptions, and one was in the process of getting his or her measles-mumps-rubella, or MMR, vaccinations… …But families that are already against vaccinating their kids aren’t going to change their minds as kids get older. “The vaccine-refusing population – often affluent and college educated – are still resistant to immunization even after measles has occurred within their household,” [Mary Ann] Jackson [of Children’s Mercy] said. “So its a huge challenge and its a concern.”… June 18, 2018: Oxford Mail reported that Public Health England has issued a warning to maker sure people are properly protected against the measles after 128 new measles cases across the region between between January 1 and May 31. The increase is mainly associated with travel to and from Europe where there are ongoing measles outbreaks. There have been no recorded cases in Oxfordshire. June 19, 2018: BristolLive reported a fourth school in the Bristol area has warned parents about cases of possible measles and have urged parents to take their children for vaccinations. Children at Hannah More Primary School in St. Phillips have been given letters with urgent advice to parents and carers about the illness, which has spread through the South West. This follows cases of measles in the Easton Cafe Academy, St. Barnabas CoFE and Gordano School last week. June 20, 2018: The Telegraph posted an article titled: “Teens who missed MMR jab during Wakefield scare urged to seek vaccination as measles sweeps Europe”. It was written by Sarah Knapton. From the article: Young people considering gap years and holidays in Europe are been warned to check they have received an MMR jab following outbreaks of measles on the continent. Large numbers of cases of measles have recently been reported in France, Italy, Greece and Romania. Public Health England (PHE) issued the warning to young people who may have missed out on the jab during the MMR scare which began in 1998 when doctor Andrew Wakefield published a paper in The Lancet suggesting a link to autism. At the peak of the scare, one in five children missed out on the vaccination. The paper was later withdrawn and Dr Wakefield struck off after the research was found to be dishonest, Dr Mary Ramsey, Head of Immunization at PHE, said: “In the early 2000’s there was a fall in MMR vaccination coverage in children and as a consequence we are now seeing measles cases in young adults… …Cases of measles also continue to rise across England in unvaccinated teenagers and young adults… …PHE warned that there could be significant numbers of unprotected teenagers and young adults who could catch measles at summer festivals and when they travel abroad for summer holidays or gap years… June 21, 2018: ABC 7 Detroit posted an article titled: “Second case of measles identified in Michigan, possible exposure at Detroit Metro Airport”. It was written by Fatima Bangura. From the article: The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services have identified and confirmed a second case of the measles in Ann Arbor. “It is the second measles case in 2018 for Michigan and just for a point of reference, we only had 2 cases in 2017 in Michigan,” said Angela Mincuci, spokeswoman for the Michigan Department for Health and Human Services. “So for us to have a second case already in June it is an indicator that we need to be on alert.” The ill person arrived to Detroit Metro Airport on June 12 around 3:45 p.m. at the McNamara Terminal international area. Officials say the person was considered contagious at the time and are contacting potentially exposed passengers from the flight… June 22, 2018: NJ.com posted an article titled: “Measles exposure warning issued by N.J. health department”. It was written by Susan K. Livio. From the article: People who visited a gym in Burlington County or doctor offices in Burlington and Camden counties earlier this month may have been exposed to measles, the state Health Department announced Friday. An infected person who had just returned from an international trip visited a gym in Mount Laurel, physician offices in Camden and Moorestown and Vitura Memorial Hospital in Marlton, the announcement said. It’s possible that exposed people have not yet developed symptoms, which may emerge as late as July 11, said Christina Tan, the state epidemiologist and a physician… June 23, 2018: Gloucester Township Patch posted an article titled: “Measles Warnings in 2 New Jersey Counties”. it was written by Tom Davis. From the article: New Jersey has issued measles warnings in two counties after a number of people were possibly exposed, according to the state Department of Health. The warnings stem from a measles case involving an individual who could have possibly exposed others to the infection while in Burlington and Camden counties. The individual developed symptoms after international travel, according to a DOH release. June 25, 2018: The Bump posted an article titled: “Kids in These Anti-Vac ‘Hotspots’ are at Risk for Preventable Diseases”. It was written by Ashley Edwards Walker. From the article: A rise in the number of parents opting no to vaccinate their kids has lead to anti-vaccine “hotspots” across the country, putting kids who live in those areas at particular risk of contracting preventable diseases. Kids are usually required to receive certain vaccines (like measles, mumps and rubella) before they can enroll in school. Sometimes children can’t be fully vaccinated due to medical reasons, but 18 states currently allow parents to seek non-medical exemptions on the basis of religious or philosophical beliefs. Despite the fact that evidence linking vaccines to toxins, autism, ADHD, or cancer simply doesn’t exist – and that evidence of the safety and efficacy of vaccines does – some people have shied away from vaccinating their kids. Now, a study published by PLOS Medicine has found that the number of these non-medical exemptions is growing in 12 of those 18 states, and identified 15 metropolitan clusters where more than 5 percent of all kindergarten-age kids are unvaccinated… The 15 anti-vac hotspots are especially vulnerable to outbreaks of these preventable diseases: Seattle, WA Spokane, WA Portland, OR Phoenix, AZ Salt Lake City, UT Provo, UT Houston, TX Fort Worth, TX Plano, TX Austin, TX Troy, MI Warren, MI Detroit, MI Kansas City, MO Pittsburgh, PA June 26, 2018: The Japan Times posted an opinion piece titled: “Japan’s backward vaccination policy”. From the opinion piece: The number of people infected by measles in Japan has already exceeded 100 this year and the total appears to be rising. Those born between 1977 and 1990 have been vaccinated against measles just once. Experts in infectious diseases say that at least two vaccinations are needed to attain immunity. That generation has been hit the hardest by measles this time. Unless the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry overhauls its vaccination policy, measles is likely to become an epidemic at certain intervals. What the ministry must immediately do is to vaccinate those people who had only one vaccination. In the event that diseases like measles and rubella become epidemics, the government has the power to give vaccination shots to people of all ages by importing vaccines from abroad, outside the framework of regular vaccination for particular age groups. But the ministry has shown no signs of doing so… …A university professor of medicine says that Japan is more than 10 years behind European and North American countries in its inoculation policy and his view is widely shared. Japan has two types of vaccination programs: vaccinations regularly carried out by municipalities and voluntary vaccinations. Although the fees for the regular vaccinations are covered by public funds, the types of vaccinations under this program are limited. In the United States, publicly funded health care programs cover vaccinations against mumps, hepatitis A, and childhood influenza. In Japan, individuals must pay for the same inoculations. Hepatitis A and influenza could become serious and mumps could result in aftereffects such as hearing impairment and infertility. The National Infectious Diseases (NIID) estimates that every year, some 650 people suffer from hearing impairment due to mumps…. …To increase inoculation rates, it would be effective to make the vaccinations a condition for children’s enrollment at kindergartens and elementary schools. But Japanese schools merely recommend the vaccinations if they find that new students have not received them… June 27, 2018: The Local reported that a 26-year-old patient has died in France from the measles, the second fatality in a matter of months as an epidemic of the disease sweeps the country and health chiefs warn of the need to be immunized. …French health authorities revealed on Wednesday that a 26-year-old patient had died from the disease, although details of the sex of the victim and the region where they lived have not been revealed. Health chiefs from French authority Santé Publique France said the patient’s immune system was too weak to be given a vaccine and that they were probably contaminated by someone close to them who had not been vaccinated… …Some 2,567 cases of measles have been identified in France since November with the western and southern departments of Gironde, Vienne and the Gard the most affected. Although the number of news cases has dropped slightly, it stands around 50 a week. To put the figure in context, only 400 cases a year were detected between 2013 and 2015. Between January and April of 2018, half 1,800 cases of measles declared in France were in the south west region of Nouvelle Aquitaine, which is by far the region in France the most impacted. In 88 percent of cases, those who have contracted the disease have not been vaccinated, or completed the course of vaccinations. In 22 percent of cases patients have been hospitalized. Health authorities in France have been raising the alarm about the need to be vaccinated against the extremely contagious disease… …According to doctors the problem is that many in France – potentially up to one million – did not receive the necessary second injection of the MMR vaccination (Measles Mumps and Rubella)… June 28, 2018: Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP posted information titled: “Vaccination requirement expanded to short-term work permits”. Uruguay expanded its vaccination requirements. Applicants must submit proof that they have been vaccinated against measles, tetanus, and other diseases deemed mandatory by the Ministry of Public Health. Applicants should factor in additional time to obtain the necessary vaccines or vaccination records. June 28, 2018: Survival International reported: A measles epidemic has hit an isolated tribe on the Brazil-Venezuela border which has very little immunity to the disease. The devastating outbreak has the potential to kill hundreds of the tribespeople unless emergency action is taken. The Yanomami communities where the outbreak occurred are some of the most isolated in the Amazon. Thousands of gold miners have invaded the region, and they are a likely source of the epidemic. Despite repeated warnings, the authorities have taken little effective action to remove them. July 1, 2018: Gov.UK reported: Between 1 January 2018 and July 22, 2018 there have been 781 laboratory confirmed measles cases in England. Cases were reported in most areas with London (272), the South-East (162), South-West (137), West Midlands (85) and Yorkshire and Humberside (72) reporting the most cases (based on provisional figures). July 2, 2018: KATU 2 reported that Multnomah County officials say approximately 500 people were exposed to a confirmed case of measles in the Portland area Wednesday. Of those 500 people, the Multnomah County Health Department Communicable Disease Services team is monitoring 40 people who were exposed and considered non-immune. Officials say the infected person visited a local emergency room and spent time in a Gresham childcare clinic. July 9, 2018: Fox Q13 reported that Local public officials in Snohomish County, Washington, confirmed Friday that a European child visiting the United States as part of a summer program had become infected with measles. That child visited 9 businesses in June before being diagnosed with the measles. August 6, 2018: Gov.UK reported: Between 1 January and 6 August 2018 there have been 807 laboratory confirmed measles cases in England. Cases were reported in most areas with London (281), the South-East (166), South-West (139), West Midlands (84) and Yorkshire and Humberside (75) reporting the most cases (based on provisional figures.) August 9, 2018: RTE reported that five further cases of measles have been notified to the Health Service Executive, bringing to 11 the number of cases in the current outbreak. The HSE has said it is particularly concerned about the risk of measles in children who attended Temple Street Children’s University Hospital in recent weeks, who may have been exposed to an infectious case of measles. August 11, 2018: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported: So far in 2018, 124 individual cases of measles have been confirmed in 22 states and the District of Columbia. The states that have reported cases to CDC are Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, and Washington. A total of 9 measles outbreaks (defined as 3 or more linked cases) have been reported so far in 2018. Outbreaks in countries to which Americans often travel can directly contribute to an increase in measles cases in the U.S. There are NO current multi-state measles outbreak in the United States. The number of reported cases in the U.S. in 2018 is similar to recent years and in expected range. Some recent media reports misinterpreted data regularly issued by CDC surveillance teams. But measles is still common in many parts of the world. Every year, unvaccinated people get measles while they are abroad and then bring the disease into the United States and spread it to others. Make sure you and your family are protected with MMR vaccine. August 11, 2018: The Oregonian reported that someone who traveled to Portland earlier this summer was infected with measles, and health officials are working to notify people who may have been exposed to the virus. The Oregon Health Authority on Saturday said the traveler was in the Portland area July 30 to August 5. Officials confirmed the case on Friday. August 11, 2018: South Strand News reported that The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control said Friday a confirmed case of measles has been reported in Georgetown County. The patient lives in Georgetown County, DHEC said. The agency has begun a contact investigation and is notifying people who may have been exposed in specific settings. The disease was confirmed by a local health care provider. August 13, 2018: TampaBay.com reported that an unvaccinated child has contracted the contagious measles virus in Pinellas County, according to the Florida Department of Health, which said Monday it is investigating the case. It was unclear how the child contracted the virus, according to the health department. But local officials are working to identify and notify people who were potentially exposed. The child was diagnosed at Morton Plant Hospital in Clearwater. While there are no outbreaks reported in Florida, two residents and one visitor were confirmed to have measles after trips to Brazil and France last month, according to the health department. So far this year, four Florida residents and three visitors were in the state while considered “infectious”. August 15, 2018: WoodTV.com reported that cases of measles in Michigan have hit a high unseen in two decades. Angela Minicuci with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services says the state has tallied 10 cases of measles so far this year – the highest case count since 1998. Minicuci says 9 of the cases are from Washtenaw County; the remaining case is from Oakland county. Michigan is among 21 states and the District of Columbia that have reported 107 cases of measles through July 14, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC says the majority of cases involve people who were not vaccinated and traveled to a country where measles is common. August 16, 2018: Voice of America News reported that more than 100 cases of measles have been diagnosed in 2018 in 21 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. As of July 14, 2018, 107 people had contracted measles in Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and the nation’s capitol. Voice of American also reported that this year’s outbreak is on pace to surpass last year’s, when 118 people from 15 states and the District of Columbia were reported to have measles. The CDC said the majority of people who contracted measles were unvaccinated. August 16, 2018: News & Record reported that Florida health officials are urging parents to make sure their children are vaccinated against measles after three cases were reported in a Florida county. The cases in Florida’s Gulf Coast county of Pinellas are the first there in 10 years. August 16, 2018: News 4 JAX reported that Florida Department of Health officials said there was one case of measles in Duval County earlier this year, but that person acquired the disease overseas and has fully recovered. August 16, 2018: Outbreak News Today reported about a measles alert in Vancouver, Norwegian Cruise Lines, and Alaska: A teenager who traveled with her parents from Asia to Vancouver, British Columbia and later on a Norwegian Cruise Lines, Norwegian Jewel voyage to Seward, Alaska, was infected with measles, prompting health alerts to be issued. The girl began experiencing cold-like symptoms while traveling in Thailand approximately one week prior to boarding the cruise ship on August 6. She traveled from Tokyo to Vancouver on July 30, later traveling to Portland, Oregon and back to Vancouver on Aug. 6. Within several hours of boarding the ship, the child was put in medical isolation due to persistence of symptoms and concern for possible measles. Per the parents, the child had never received the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine. The patient remained isolated in medical isolation until August 8th when she was transported to PeaceHealth Ketchikan Medical Center. The patient was discharged from the hospital on August 10th. Later that day, the patient was confirmed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing to have been infected with the measles virus… August 16, 2018: News 12 Long Island reported that Nassau health officials are issuing a warning on the threat of measles. “Measles was thought to be eradicated in the United States. However there are many people in the United States who choose not to be vaccinated,” says Dr. Paul Pipia, NUMC medical director. “So when you choose not to be vaccinated, you are now susceptible to get the measles. If you have been vaccinated, you won’t get the measles.” August 16, 2018: The Advocate reported that the first of the two measles cases reported by the Louisiana Department of Health came in April, when a man unvaccinated against measles traveled from London to New Orleans for a single event, Wrestlemania, and came down with the disease. The man, an otherwise healthy adult, was treated in a New Orleans hospital for four days. The second incident in Louisiana this year was reported in May and involved a school-age child who had not received the MMR vaccination and had traveled with her family to a country where measles is endemic. The child was treated for several days in a hospital while on a break from school. August 17, 2018: Independent reported the following: …Measles had been declared “eliminated” from the US in 2000, meaning the disease was no longer continuously being transmitted within the country. But American unvaccinated travelers who get measles while visiting other countries can sometimes spread the disease to other unvaccinated people when they return, which sometimes leads to an outbreak. The CDC has cautioned that a measles endemic, which would mean its regularly found in a particular area, could re-establish itself in the U.S. “Research shows that people who refuse vaccines tend to group together in communities,” the agency states. “When measles gets into communities with pockets of unvaccinated people, outbreaks are more likely to occur. These communities make it difficult to control the spread of disease. And these communities make us vulnerable to having the virus re-establish itself in our country.” August 17, 2018: ABC 15 Arizona reported that health officials have issued a warning of a potential measles exposure after an out-of-state visitor with the measles traveled to northern Arizona. A spokesperson for the Arizona Department of Health Services says the tourist was potentially contagious from August 6 to 8 and visited multiple locations in northern Arizona. There are currently no cases of measles in the state. August 18, 2018: Forbes posted an article titled: “CDC Reports 107 Measles Cases Already This Year, Here Are Potential Outbreak Hotspots”. It was written by Bruce Y. Lee. From the article: …A study published in the journal PLOS Medicine found that over the past decade more and more parents have been opting out of school requirements to get their kids vaccinated in the 18 states that allow such non-medical exemptions (NME). In other words, more and more parents are taking the option to increase their kids’ (and other kids’) risk for getting measles, a highly contagious and potential deadly disease… …Keep in mind that NMEs are not medical exemptions, otherwise they’d be called medical exemptions. In other words, parents seeking NMEs aren’t doing so because a real doctor said that their kids shouldn’t get the vaccine because of an immune system disorder or a severe allergy to vaccine components. They are “opting out” because of their beliefs… … For the study, a research team from the National School of Tropical Medicine (Jacqueline K. Olive, Peter J. Hotez, MD, PhD, Ashish Damania, and Melissa S. Nolan, PhD, MPH) analyzed data from these 18 states and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The study found that in 12 of the states that allow NMEs (Arkansas, Arizona, Idaho, Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas and Utah) the number of NMEs has been steadily increasing since 2009. (Colorado, Louisiana, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Washington, and Wisconsin round out the rest of the 18 states that allow NMEs). The research team also found that higher NME rates correlated with lower measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccination rate. In other words, MMR vaccination rates tended to be lower, the nigher the number of NMEs. This is concerning because scientific studies (and common sense) have showed how locations with lower measles vaccination rates are more likely to have measles outbreaks… The study is titled: “The State of the anti vaccine movement in the United States: A focused examination of nonmedical exemptions in states and countries.” It was published in PLOS Medicine on June 12, 2018. August 20, 2018: The Irish Times posted an article titled: “Measles outbreak in Ireland reaches 76 an Europe sees surge in cases”. It was written by Conor Gallagher. From the article: Cases of measles in Europe have reached a record high according to the World Health Organization (WHO), with Ireland seeing a massive increase in diagnoses since last year. So far this year, 76 cases of measles have been detected, according to the latest statistics from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC). This compares to just one confirmed case during the same period last year. During the entirety of 2017 there were 25 cases, with most cases coming near the end of the year as part of the current outbreak. The figures show Ireland is not escaping the lethal outbreak which is spreading across continental Europe. More than 41,000 people have been infected in the first six months of 2018, leading to 37 deaths. Last year there were 23,927 cases and the year before 5.273. WHO Experts blame this surge in infections on a drop in the number of people being vaccinated. The HSC said there has been no confirmed deaths in Ireland this year as a result of the outbreak… August 20, 2018: Gov.UK reported: Between 1 January 2018 and 13 August 2018 there have been 828 laboratory confirmed measles cases in England. Cases were reported in most areas with London (291), the South-East (169), South-West (138), West Midlands (85) and Yorkshire and Humberside (80) reporting the most cases (based on provisional figures). August 20, 2018: BBC reported that more than 41,000 people have been infected in the first six months of 2018, leading to 37 deaths. Last year there were 23,927 cases and the year before 5,273. Experts blame this surge in infections on a drop in the number of people being vaccinated. In England, there have been 807 cases so far this year. The Who is calling on European countries to take action. August 20, 2018: Santa Monica Patch reported that a tourist with measles visited sites around Santa Monica earlier this month, and public officials are warning the public – especially those who may have been in those areas and have not been vaccinated against measles. The tourist went to six locations in Santa Monica from August 8-10. August 20, 2018: Global News reported that the World Health Organization said the number of measles cases in Europe jumped sharply during the first six months of 2018 and at least 37 people have died. The U.N. agency’s European office said Monday more than 41,000 measles cases were reported in the region during the first half of the year – more than in all 12-month periods so far this decade. The agency said half – some 23,000 cases – this year occurred in Ukraine, where an insurgency backed by Russia has been fighting the government for four years in the east in a conflict that has killed over 10,00 people. France, Georgia, Greece, Italy, Russia, and Serbia also had more than 1,000 measles infections each so far this year. August 21, 2018: KOIN 5 reported that another case of measles has been diagnosed in the Portland-Metro Area, the second confirmed case in the last 10 days. The Oregon Health Authority said the second individual, diagnosed on Sunday, had been in close contact with the first person diagnosed. That person was diagnosed on August 10, and had spent time in the area from July 30 to August 6. This is the fifth measles diagnosis in the area since June 27, though the previous ones are not connected to the most recent two diagnoses. The second person diagnosed with measles had traveled out of state, later becoming sick. August 21, 2018: The Guardian posted an article titled: “Resurgence of deadly measles blamed on low MMR vaccination rates”. From the article: A huge surge in measles cases across Europe has been reported by the World Health Organization, which says low MMR vaccination rates are to blame. More than 41,000 cases of measles have been reported in the European region between January and June. Last year there were nearly 24,000 for the whole 12 months, which was the highest count in any year of the last decade… …In seven countries (France, Georgia, Greece, Italy, the Russian Federation, Serbia and Ukraine) more than 1,000 children and adults have been infected in the first half of 2018 and at least 37 people have died. The biggest toll was in the Ukraine, which had 23,000 cases – half the European total. There were measles-related deaths in all seven countries. Serbia, with 14, had the most… …The WHO [World Health Organization] goal to eliminate measles from Europe by 2020 faces major problems because of regions or cities with particularly low vaccination rates and the easy transmission across borders of the measles virus, which is one of the most infectious agents known. Some of the deaths in Greece in 2016 were in the Roma community, who had not had access to immunization clinics. Outbreaks in Romania, Italy or Australia quickly spread as people travel for migration, work or pleasure… …Take-up of the vaccine doubters had been embraced by some political movements, who advocate “parent choice”. The Five Star movement in Italy opposes a law that would have fined parents who do not immunize their children, while in France, Marine le Pen of the newly-named National Rally party is against mandatory vaccination…. …Some parents do not take their child for vaccination while others delay. “I think there is hesitancy for very many reasons,” [Mark Muscat, medical officer for vaccine-preventable diseases at WHO Europe] said. “There are a lot of rumors and misinformation about safety. There are also problems where some parents have limited access to health systems and some have become complacent. They do not realize the importance of vaccinating their children because the diseases is not around.” “That is totally wrong. Unfortunately we have some measles-related deaths. Last year it was 38. This year out is already 37 in the first six months.”… August 22, 2018: The Fresno Bee reported that an individual with measles possibly exposed people earlier this month while visiting the Country Store at Harris Ranch, health officials said Wednesday. The visitor was inside the Country Store and women’s restroom at Harris Ranch in Coalinga on August 10 from 2-2:30 p.m. This is the second measles scare in Fresno County, California, this year. In May, a person with measles symptoms visited an urgent care center and Community Regional Medical Center in downtown Fresno. No other measles cases were reported from that incident. August 22, 2018: The Irish Times reported that the HSE (Health Service Executive) is dealing with a measles outbreak in north Dublin, with 13 cases recorded in adults and children in the north inner city area since July. Transmission occurred in Dublin hospitals and in households with poor vaccine update, according to the Department of Public Health East. It said it is now starting to see people who acquired measles in the wider inner city community. There have been no deaths from measles associated with this outbreak to date. August 22, 2018: ABC Columbia reported that the measles virus had been confirmed in South Carolina. This is the first case confirmed in the state this year and the Department of Health and Environmental control is warning parents. It has been more than 20 years since South Carolina has seen a case of the measles. According to the director of the USC School of Medicine’s Research Center Christine Turley said someone who has measles might have had it for four days before even knowing they are infected, and by that time it’d be too late to contain the spread of the virus. Turley said the problem is twofold. The first side is that parents do not vaccinate their kids even though it is deemed completely safe. The second issue is that people travel to countries where measles is still a problem. That even includes England and France according to Turley. August 23, 2018: BuzzFeed News posted an article titled: “Russian Trolls Are Spreading Confusion About Vaccine Safety on Twitter”. It was written by Azeen Ghorayshi. From the article: Russian trolls have tweeted extensively about vaccines, part of a border campaign to amplify polarizing issues in US culture, a new study shows. Accounts run by the Russian government-backed Internet Research Agency tweeted about vaccines roughly 22 times more frequently than the average Twitter user, the study found. The tweets fell roughly equally into pro-vaccine and anti-vaccine categories. “They don’t seem to have a particular agenda concerning vaccines – rather they seem to have a desire to boost both sides of the debate,” said David Broniatowski, assistant professor of engineering at George Washington University and lead author of the study. “That’s consistent with this idea of spreading discord.”… …Such confusion about vaccines, however, has the potential for dangerous real-life consequences. Fear about the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine has driven a number of measles cases in Europe, particularly in Ukraine. More people have been infected in the first six months of 2018 than in any year in the last decade, and at least 37 people have died… …The researchers analyzed roughly 1.8 million tweets posted between July 2014 and September 2017. Using a particle list of Russian troll accounts released by Twitter and first published by NBC News, Broniatowski found that these accounts were 22 times more likely to tweet messages related to vaccines than the average account. Traditional spambots (accounts that are programmed to tweet) were unlikely to post vaccine-related messages, the researchers found, but “sophisticated” bots, or those with some clear human influence, were more likely to tweet about vaccines. The researchers then pulled out the roughly 10,000 tweets related to vaccines. Accounts run by real people tended to be pro-vaccine, whereas those run by bots were anti-vaccine, they found. However, for the vast majority of vaccine-related tweets – some 93% – an algorithm used by the researches couldn’t determine whether they originated from a person or a bot… August 23, 2018: NBCDFW 5 reported that The Colin County Health Department (Texas) has confirmed one case of measles at Plano West Senior High School. The Plano ISD says a student came down with the virus last week. Health officials say anyone at school between August 14 and August 16 may have been exposed. In addition, a separate case of measles was also reported to the Dallas County Health Department. Health officials there say a person with a confirmed case of measles visited North Texas from August 14 and August 17. August 23, 2018: The Guardian reported that bots and Russian trolls spread misinformation about vaccines on Twitter to sow division and distribute malicious content before and during the American presidential election, according to a new study. …Scientists at George Washington University, in Washington DC, made the discovery while trying to improve social media communications for public health workers, researchers said. Instead, they found trolls and bots skewing online debate and upending consensus about vaccine safety. The study discovered several accounts, now known to belong to the same Russian trolls who interfered in the US election, as well as marketing and malware bots, tweeting about vaccines. Russian trolls played both sides, the researchers said, tweeting pro-and anti-vaccine content in a politically charged environment… …The study, published in the American Journal of Public Health, comes as Europe faces one of the largest measles outbreaks in decades, one which has been partly attributed to falling vaccination rates. In the first six months of 2018, there were 41,000 cases of measles across the continent, more than in the entirety of 2017. Meanwhile, the rate of children not receiving vaccines for non-medical reasons is climbing in the US… August 24, 2018: Miami Herald reported reported that the Pan American Health Organization on Friday urged Latin American countries to boost measles vaccinations, as an outbreak in Venezuela has killed more than 60 people and threatens to erode regional gains. The PAHO said that since July 2017, Venezuela has had 3,545 confirmed cases of measles that have resulted in 62 deaths. In addition, 10 countries in the region have reported 1,459 cases of measles and six deaths – some related to Venezuela’s growing exodus. The PAHO says 95 percent of children under 5 must be vaccinated in order to effectively stop outbreaks. August 24, 2018: Ashburn Patch reported that the Loudoun County Health Department (Virginia) posed an alert regarding potential exposure to measles. There are two locations in the county where, on August 17 and August 20, people “may have been exposed to a person with measles.” Health officials are mounting a coordinated effort to identify people who may be exposed. August 24, 2018: Mass Live reported that Massachusetts state health officials are warning that an individual diagnosed with measles in the commonwealth may have exposed others to the highly contagious disease at a number of locations including Logan Airport. The Massachusetts Department of Public Health said it has confirmed a case of measles which was diagnosed at Lahey Hospital & Medical Center. August 24, 2018: KOMO News reported that a man from King County (Washington) may have exposed others to measles, according to local public health officials. …The man was traveling from Asia to Sea-Tac Airport and was reportedly wearing a face mask both at the airport and Harborview Medical Center’s Emergency Department at the time of potential exposure. Health officials are encouraging the public to check immunization records and call a healthcare provider if they develop a fever and rash between August 28 and September 11…. August 24, 2018: MPR News reported that last year, the state of Minnesota had 75 cases of measles, making it the largest outbreak since 1990. Almost a third of those patients got so sick that they were hospitalized. Even though there is an effective measles vaccine, health officials say 91 precent of those who came down with the disease last year were not vaccinated against the disease. Since last year, public health officials say they’ve implemented new strategies to help combat infectious disease outbreaks and educate parents about the importance of vaccination. Earlier thsi month, health officials announced that a Somali-American child who had recently traveled to a country where measles is common came down with the disease. Measles has been identified in a second child who lives in Kenya but who traveled to Minnesota and also came down with the disease while here. Among Somali-American kids, where last year’s outbreak was concerned, vaccination rates are up this year. At the time of last year’s outbreak, the vaccine coverage rate for Somali-American kids was 42 percent and this year it’s about 58 percent. The measles vaccination rate for non-Somali-American children is about 91 percent. August 25, 2018: Boston Herald reported that state officials had confirmed a case of measles and warned others who may have been exposed. The infected individual was at a number of locations in the Boston area. August 25, 2018: Lebanon Daily News reported that patients and visitors to Hershey Medical Center may have been exposed to the measles virus, hospital officials say. According to a news release, staff at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center are in the process of notifying patients and visitors known to have been in or around the Emergency Department check-in area between 8:30 and 11 p.m. on August 18 that they may have been exposed to the measles virus. On August 18, a patient exhibiting symptoms consistent with measles arrived in the Emergency Department. Due to those symptoms, the patient was promptly places in a negative pressure room and precautions were taken to avoid contact with other individuals. Patient blood test results returned on Friday, August 24, suggest the clinically suspected diagnosis of measles is very likely. August 25, 2018: The Economist posted an article titled: “Anti-vax fears drive a measles outbreak in Europe”. From the article: Each year as the summer winds down across Europe, so do measles cases – which tend to peak in the late spring. August is, therefore, a good time to take stock of the measles season for the year. The tally for Europe, published on August 20th by the World Health Organization, shows that cases in the first six months of 2018 exceeded the annual total for each of the past five years. About half of the 41, 000 cases this year were in Ukraine. Infection rates also jumped in Serbia, Greece and Georgia. In recent years big outbreaks have erupted in Italy, Romania, France and Germany. None of this is a surprise. In the past decade, measles-vaccination rates in some European countries have often fallen below those in parts of Africa. Italy, France and Serbia, for example, have lower child-vaccinations rates than Burundi, Rwanda and Senegal. In some years, vaccine shortages were to blame, especially in parts of Easter Europe. Both Ukraine and Serbia have had irregular supplies of the MMR vaccine (which protects against measles, mumps and rubella) since 2014. Even after recent outbreaks, they were not able procure enough doses cover older cohorts, health-workers and other groups at risk of becoming infected. But suspicions of vaccines is also partly to blame. Unlike America, Europe does not have an organized “anti-vac movement, but in many countries fears are much higher. Two-fifths of people in France – a country whose people pop antibiotics like sweets – believe that vaccines are unsafe. A quarter or Greeks and Ukranians are also hostile. During recent outbreaks, some countries had dozens of health-workers coming down with measles – which suggests that they, to, may have a dim view of vaccines. A survey of French doctors in 2014, for example, found that nearly a quarter believed that some of the officially recommended vaccines were not useful… August 27, 2018: Click 2 Houston reported that a boy between the ages of 1 and 3 years old has tested positive for measles in Houston after recently traveling out of the country, health officials confirmed. The Houston Health Department said they have a suspected case of measles and that the boy is being treated at the Texas Children’s Hospital. August 29, 2018: Gov.UK reported: Between 1 January 2018 and 23 August 2018 there have been 859 laboratory confirmed measles cases in England. Cases were reported in most areas with London (300), South-East (169), South-West (138), West Midlands (85) and Yorkshire and Humberside (80) reporting the most cases (based on provisional figures.) August 29, 2018: CBS 4 Minnesota reported that a second child in a month has been diagnosed with measles in Minnesota. Neither child was vaccinated. The two cases involving the children, ages 2 and 5, are not related. Both apparently contracted the disease in Africa before returning to Minnesota. The first child who got measles is no longer contagious. The second child is being monitored, and will no longer be contagious in a little over two weeks. August 29, 2018: ABC Action News Tampa Bay posted an article titled: “4 more cases of measles reported in Pinellas County, total now stands at 7”. It was written by Veronica Beltran and Sarah Hollenbeck. From the article: Four additional cases of measles have been identified in Pinellas County, according to the Florida Department of health in Pinellas County. These new findings now make seven cases of measles in Pinellas. Those infected were unvaccinated. Some of the individuals are family members, with one of them reporting international travel. August 30, 2018: NBC News reported that a nurse who worked at the Texas Children’s Hospital was no longer employed there after she posted on social media about a young patient with measles. The post has since been taken down. The nurse, who has not been named, made anti-vaccine comments on Facebook. Another Facebook user copied a screenshot of the nurse’s comment and posted it on the Texas Children’s Facebook page. The nurse posted her comment on an anti-vaccine Facebook page. Her comment included: “The kid was super sick. Sick enough to be admitted to the ICU and he looked miserable”. The nurse said she still opposed vaccines. The Facebook user who revealed the nurse’s posts said she used an alias on social media and did not wish to be identified by NBC News for fear of retaliation by members of the anti-vaccine movement, who often attack medical professionals when they speak out about the safety of vaccines. August 31, 2018: Orlando Sentinel reported that there had been 11 cases of measles in Florida so far this year, which is higher than what the state has been reporting for the past decade, according to the latest data the state health department. All 11 cases this year involve individuals who were not vaccinated, according to the state health department. Most of the cases so far have been identified in Pinellas County, where seven children have been diagnosed with the disease. The agency has identified nearly 1,500 people who may have been exposed to the virus. Three other measles cases were reported in Miami-Dade County and one in Duval County, according to the health department. “The measles vaccine is the only way to prevent infection. All persons born after 1957 should receive the vaccine,” said the health department. September 1, 2018: Gavi The Vaccine Alliance posted information in an article titled: “Measles vaccine campaign launched in Afghanistan”. From the article: The Government of Afghanistan, in collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Health Organization (WHO) and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, have today launched a campaign to protect children 13.8 million children aged 9 months to 10 years against measles… …Measles is one fo the most contagious infections known to humans, and ranks among the top four childhood killers worldwide. In Afghanistan, of the 25,000 reported cases in 2017, 85 per cent are amongst children under the age of ten. This spans over 20 of the 34 provinces across Afghanistan, with the worst affected provinces being Kabul, Paktika, Lunar, Badghis and Ghor… …The measles vaccine will be administered free of charge in all mosques, villages and health facilities throughout the country, targeting all children under the age of ten, irrespective of their previous measles vaccination status or history of disease. This campaign will be implemented in two phases. The first phase will run from 1st -10th September targeting 16 provinces including the most affected, at risk and accessible provinces. The second phase, from 17th – 26th November will cover the remain provinces… …The Afghanistan Demographic Health Survey of 2015 estimates that only 60% of eligible Afghan children receive their first dose of measles vaccine every year while less than 40% receive the second dose. Low coverage led to approximately 300 deaths from the disease last year. Routine vaccination for children, combined with mass immunization campaigns remain key public health strategies to reduce global measles deaths… September 1, 2018: ReliefWeb reported that the Government of Afghanistan, in collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Health Organization (WHO) and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, have launched a nationwide vaccination campaign to protect 13.8 million children aged 9 months to 10 years against measles. The measles vaccine will be administered free of charge in all mosques, villages and health facilities throughout the country, targeting all children under the age of 10, irrespective of their previous measles vaccination status or history of the disease. This campaign will be implemented in two phases. The first phase will run from September 1-10 targeting 16 provinces including the most affected, at risk and accessible provinces. The second phase, from November 17-26 will cover the remaining 18 provinces. September 5, 2018: The Wall Street Journal posted an article titled: “Romania’s Deadly Measles Outbreak Spotlights Widespread Rejection of Vaccines”. It was written by Pietro Lombardi. From the article: …Romania is fighting a deadly measles outbreak that has seen more than 15,000 people infected with the disease and that has claimed 59 lives since one of Europe’s most lethal measles outbreaks in decades started in 2016. That has thrown a spotlight on plummeting vaccination rates in the poor country, which has emerged as the leading edge of an escalating antivaccine trend that has plagued Europe in recent years. More than 41,000 people were infected with measles in the first half of this year in the wider European region, compared with roughly 24,000 for all 2017, according to the World Health Organization. By contrast, the U.S. saw about 100 cases during the same period this year… …Mistrust of authorities, a vocal anti vaccine movement, poverty, irregular supply of vaccines and obstacles to delivering them to Romania’s Roma and other marginalized communities has exacerbated disease risks… …Skepticism about vaccine safety runs high in the European region, according to a 2016 survey of 67 countries by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Seven of the 10 countries with the strongest skepticism about vaccination safety were in this region… …In Poland, an antivaccination movement recently gathered enough signatures to force parliamentary debate on a proposal to make vaccines voluntary. In Ukraine, a political firestorm in 2008 over allegations that a teenager’s death was linked to a measles vaccine pushed the government to destroy millions of vaccines. Vaccination rates plummeted to 42% in 2016 from 97% in 2007. Ukraine has had nearly 30,000 cases of measles this year, including 13 deaths, while polio and diphtheria have returned. The government is now working closely with the United Nations to improve vaccination rates, including by educating parents and medical workers. In Romania, the antivaccine movement coalesced about a decade ago when the government introduced the HPV vaccine. Local celebrities, religious groups and bloggers pushing a debunked theory that vaccines cause autism egged it on. The antivax movement also gained strength from Romanian’s mistrust of authorities. Ovidiu Covaciu, coordinator of a pro-vaccine group, points to scandals involving diluted disinfectant sold to hospitals and the authorities’ response to a deadly nightclub fire. In recent years, low stocks of vaccines, which were poorly distributed around the country, also hurt. In particular, it compounded the difficulties of delivering vaccines to some itinerant or closed communities… September 5, 2018: The Coffs Coast Advocate reported four cases of measles were confirmed on Mid North Coast, in New South Wales, Australia. Local health authorities are asking people to watch for symptoms of measles with four cases now confirmed in the Coffs Harbour to Woolgoolga area. A further suspected case in an infant is being investigated. The cases occurred after two unvaccinated school-aged children returned from an overseas holiday with the disease and infected two classmates. Three of the four primary school-aged children are unvaccinated. September 5, 2018: PBS News Hour posted an article titled: “What’s happened since California let fewer families reject vaccines”. It was written by Laura Santhanam. From the article: A California law that aims to limit the number of people who can refuse vaccines has led to a slight improvement in kindergarteners’ vaccination rate in recent years, according to a new study in Health Affairs. But the law was not as effective in private schools, and did little to break up localized clusters of children who opted out of vaccines. It’s these local clusters of vaccinations that put a specific community or school at the greatest risk, according to the study, which linked large measles outbreaks across the United States to “declining population vaccination and to voluntary abstention from measles vaccine.”… …All 50 states require vaccinations for students entering public school. But the vast majority also give families the ability to opt out of those vaccinations for personal or religious reasons. Nationwide, childhood vaccinations are dropping. Today, roughly nine out of 10 kids get immunized for measles, mumps, and rubella, according to the latest available federal data, a slight drop from the level seen in 2007. That opens the door for outbreaks in otherwise preventable diseases… …In the Health Affairs study, researchers analyzed data from the California Department of Public Health on total exemptions filed on behalf of kindergarteners over the course of 15 years – before and after the law went into effect. The improvement they found was incremental at best; researchers found that personal belief exemptions dropped slightly from 3.1 precent to 2.3 percent. They also found that the number of people susceptible to contracting measles grows every year that parents forgo vaccinating their children… raising the risk for more and larger outbreaks… September 7, 2018: TIME reported that a Texas resident with measles may have exposed passengers on four Southwest Airlines flights to the highly contagious virus. The individual took flights connecting through Houston’s Hobby Airport on August 21 and 22, the Houston Health Department announced Thursday. The passenger was diagnosed with measles after traveling, a Southwest representative told TIME, but health department said the person was contagious at the time of the flights. September 7, 2018: Manchester Evening News reported that more than 30,000 children in Greater Manchester have not received the MMR jab. The Manchester Evening News analyzed figures for the number of young people born since 2000 in the region, who haven’t had the first does of the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine by at the age of five. It comes as Public Health England (PHE) reported a ‘national measles incident’, with a five-fold increase in measles cases reported in 2018. Experts believe the disease is primarily affecting younger people who did not have the vaccine as a child due to unfounded health fears. September 7, 2018: CBC reported that Fraser Health said passengers on a recent BC Ferries sailing along with students and staff at a high school in Maple Ridge may have been exposed to measles. The authority says on Aug. 31, a person with measles took the 7 p.m. PT sailing from Tsawwassen to Mayne Island aboard the Salish Raven. The person is also believed to have visited the Saturna Lighthouse Pub on Saturna Island on Sept. 3 between 5:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. PT. Ingrid Tyler, a medical health officer with Fraser Health, said the infected person came back from their trip and then attended school starting on September 4. September 7, 2018: CBC posted an article titled: “How opposition to vaccines caused a measles outbreak in Europe.” From the article: Across Europe this summer, public officials have been grappling with a surge of measles, which the World Health Organization attributes to low rates of immunization. The reluctance people have around vaccination comes from the dependence people have on online and social media networks, according to medical anthropologist Emily Brunson. In her research, she found if more than 25 per cent of an online network where anti-vaxxers or people skeptical of vaccines, a parent will put off immunizing their child even if they originally believed in the importance of vaccines. The challenge is how to ensure people who rely on these networks gets accurate information about vaccinations, Dr. Brunson told The Current guest host Piya Chattopadhyay…. …Another way that social media is increasing the public’s distrust towards vaccines and is due to the influence of Russian trolls and bots, according to new research published in the American Journal of Public Health. Researchers discovered several anti-vaccine tweets were attributed to bot accounts, or hacked accounts that were turned into bots. More than 250 tweets about vaccination were sent by an account linked to the Internet Research Agency, a company backed by the Russian government and implicated in the 2016 election… September 8, 2018: CTV News Montreal posted an article titled: “Education will prevent measles outbreak in Quebec, experts say”. From the article: A measles outbreak in Europe has left dozens dead this year, and thousands infected. Quebec had smaller outbreaks of the virus in recent years – and doctors are hoping the extremely contagious and dangerous disease won’t come back…. …Experts say some hesitate to vaccinate because of religion, or because they’ve heard stories about adverse reactions. Many still worry about a fraudulent British study from 20 years ago that claimed there was a link between vaccines and autism – a claim that had no basis in reality…. …Unlike other provinces, vaccinations are not mandatory in Quebec. Dr. Papenburg says doctors at the Children’s talk to parents regularly about their vaccination concerns. “The fear of the disease sometimes becomes less important that the fear of some potential, theoretical, or even non-existent side effects of the vaccine,” he addd. He says it’s important to educate about how dangerous measles can be in order to prevent what’s happening in Europe from happening here. September 8, 2018: HuffPost posts an article titled: “Italy Is Living Through What Happens When Politicians Embrace Anti-Vaxxers”. It was written by Nick Robins-Early. From the article: Italy’s Five Star movement, which was founded by a man who once called HIV a hoax, campaigned against mandatory vaccinations ahead of the country’s elections in March – and won. Last month, party leaders pushed through a law that ended compulsory immunizations for children attending public school. The new law has made Italy the darling of the global anti-vaxxer movement. But now the country is struggling to stop a measles outbreak that has already infected thousands of people, and Europe is recording its highest number of cases in a decade – an inevitable and foreseeable result of anti-vaccine policies and rhetoric, experts say… …The efforts of Five Star and its far-right coalition partner, the League, have particularly complicated the global campaign to combat measles, and extremely contagious virus that often spreads among children and can result in severe complications, including pneumonia and encephalitis. The World Health Organization in 2012 set the goal for Europe to eliminate the disease by 2015. Instead, an estimated 41,000 people across the continent have been infected in the first six months of this year. Even a slight dip in a population’s vaccination rate can have disastrous effects: Countries need at least a 95 percent coverage rate to be measles-free. So when fewer people get vaccinated, kids get sick… …One top Five Star official, Paola Taverna, last month backed hazardous “measles parties” where children gather to infect each other and build up immunity. League party member Matteo Salvini described mandatory vaccinations as “useless and in many cases dangerous” in June. Some party candidates went even further, falsely claiming vaccines cause autism and referring to state-funded vaccination as “free genocide.”.. …In little over three months in office, Five Star and the League have furthered the goals of a small but vocal anti-vaccine community… September 8, 2018: SouthAsia Views posted an article titled “25 school children in Assam fall ill after measles vaccination: Officials”. I’m including it here because the article is being passed around by anti-vaxxers who are trying to trick people into believing that the measles vaccine is unsafe. But, if you read the article, it is very clear that it does NOT say the the measles vaccine is unsafe. From the article: At least 25 school students complained of nausea, stomach ache and fever after being administered measles vaccine Saturday in Assam’s Hailakandi district, officials said. The students of Sahabad ME Madrasa under Katlicherra revenue circle were administered measles rubella (MR) just after the mid-day meal following which several of them complained of nausea, fever, stomach ache and vomiting, Hailakandi Deputy Commissoner Adil Khan said. The students were taken to the nearby Katlicherra Block Public Health Centre for treatment. However, their condition is said to be stable and there was no reason to panic, officials said. Joint Director, Health Services, Avijit Basu said that six students had been hospitalized with the rest have been kept under observation and would be discharged soon…. …Basu said he had examined the vaccines administered to the 120 students of the school in the afternoon and found them to be in order. She said the MR vaccine was approved by the World Health Organization (WHO) and is of high quality. There DIO said there was no need to panic as common side effects such as fever, rashes, and dizziness could occur in some cases following MR vaccination… Let’s look at the facts: 120 students were given the MR vaccine after they ate lunch. The MR vaccine is not the same as the MMR vaccine that is used in the United States and other countries. Approximately 25 students experienced nausea, fever, rashes, and dizziness. These are common side effects of MR vaccination and are temporary. The Joint Health Director of Health Service checked the vaccines that were administered to the students and found them to be in order. All of the ill students were given medical attention. The majority were released from observation. Six were hospitalized. September 11, 2018: SELF posted an article titled: “Passengers on 4 Southwest Flights Possibly Exposed to Measles”. It was written by Carolyn L. Todd. From the article: …Now, health officials say that, in late August, a whole bunch of Southwest Airlines passengers may have been exposed to the notoriously contagious measles virus…. …The first flight, on Tuesday, August 21, was from Love Field Airport in Dallas to William P. Hobby International Airport in Houston. There, the passenger disembarked and boarded a connecting flight to Valley International Airport in Harlingen, Texas. The next day, August 22, the passenger returned, taking the same route in reverse, Harlingen to Houston, and then Houston to Dallas… …”Because of the contagiousness level of this virus, whenever it’s around unvaccinated people, it invariably finds them,” Dr. [Amesh] Adalja [M.D., a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security] says. In fact, nine out of 10 people who are without immunity to the virus will contract if exposed, the CDC reports. “That’s why it’s so important to keep vaccination rates against measles as high as possible,” Dr. Adalja says… …”We’ve seen the anti-vaccine movement make very big in-roads in certain parts of the country,” Dr. Adlja says. “There are pockets of this country where vaccination rates dip low enough that we can see small outbreaks occurring)… September 14, 2018: The Star Vancouver posted an article titled: “Risk of measles exposure confirmed Vancouver music festival, transit locations”. It was written by Cherise Seucharan. From the article: Public health officials are warning that some people may have been exposed to measles after a person with the disease was present at several locations throughout downtown Vancouver, including last weekend’s Skookhum festival, a restaurant, and some public transit lines… …In a statment, VCH [Vancouver Coastal Health] said that the majority of people in the Provence have been immunized or have already had the disease and are protected. But they warn that if people who have not been immunized or have only had one dose of the vaccine and think they have been exposed, should get immunized within six days of exposure. Vaccines are available at local doctors offices, pharmacies or health centres for free. September 18, 2018: The Guardian posted an article titled: “Take-up of MMR vaccine falls for fourth year in a row in England.” It was written by Sarah Marsh. From the article: The proportion of children in England getting immunized for measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) has fallen for the fourth year in a row, as uptake for a further nine out of the 12 routine vaccinations has dropped, figures show. Experts have said the impact of this is already playing out, with an ongoing measles outbreak in England. So far this year 876 cases have been confirmed, more than three times the number for the whole of 2017. They said the figure painted a concerning picture and that a continuing downward trend in immunizations for children could prompt the spread of harmful diseases within communities… …[Dr. Doug] Brown [chief executive of the British Society for Immunology] put the fall in vaccinations down to a combination of factors, including parents facing logistical problems in accessing immunization services. Another issue, Brown said, was there was no consistency approach to reminding people when their vaccination is due, with some areas doing this better than others. “Thirdly, there is also some hesitation to immunise – views on the safety of vaccines… people are not really informed on the benefits of vaccine and the fact they are safe and effective. More work is needed on that front.”… September 28, 2018: The Moscow Times posted an article titled: “Russia has a Vaccination Problem”. It was written by Evan Gershkovich. From the article: …In 2017, the federal Center of Hygiene and Epidemiology reportedly determined that 48.7 percent of Russian children born in 2016 had not been vaccinated comprehensively and on the medically prescribed schedule. As a result, Russian medical experts say the country struggles to maintain so-called herd immunity – the threshold percentage of the population that must be immunized for a disease to be kept at bay, generally considered to be between 92 and 95 percent – for diseases like diphtheria and measles, among others. The latter, for instance, is making a resurgence: So far this year, Russia has seen a 13-fold increase following a trend in Europe and in the United States. In August, the World Organization singled out Russia alongside six other European countries for having more than 1,000 cases… October 11, 2018: Washington Post posted an article titled: “Percentage of young U.S. children who don’t receive any vaccines has quadrupled since 2001.” It was written by Lena H. Sun. From the article: A small but increasing number of children in the United States are not getting some or all of their recommended vaccinations. The percentage of children under 2 years old who haven’t received any vaccinations has quadrupled in the last 17 years, according to federal health data released Thursday. Overall, immunization rates remain high and haven’t changed much at the national level. But a pair of reports from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about immunizations for preschoolers and kindergarteners highlights a growing concern among health officials and clinicians about children who aren’t getting the necessary protection against vaccine-preventable diseases, such as measles, whooping cough and other pediatric infectious diseases. The vast majority of parents across the country vaccinate their children and follow recommended schedules for this basic preventive practice. But the recent upswing in vaccine skepticism and outright refusal to vaccinate has spawned communities of under-vaccinate children who are more susceptible to disease and pose risks to the broader public… …A second report on vaccination coverage for children entering kindergarten in 2017 also showed a gradual increase in the percentage who were exempted from immunization requirements. (The exemptions do not distinguish between one vaccine vs. all vaccines). All but a handful of states allow parents to opt their children out of school immunization requirements for nonmusical reasons, providing exemptions for religious or philosophical beliefs… …In the 2017-2018 school year, 2.2 percent of U.S. kindergarteners were exempted from one or more vaccines, up from 2 percent in the 2016-2017 school year and from 1.9 percent in the 2015-2016 school year, according to the CDC report… …Earlier this year, researchers from several Texas academic centers identified “hotspots” where outbreak risk is rising in 12 of 18 states that allow nonmusical exemptions because a growing number of kindergarteners have not been vaccinated. October 17, 2018: NYC Health posted a press release titled: “Health Department Warns Orthodox Jewish Communities of Increase in Measles Cases; Urges Vaccination for All Children, Especially Before Traveling to Israel and Other Countries Experiencing Measles Outbreaks.” From the press release: …The Health Department today is reporting six individuals with confirmed measles this month in the Orthodox Jewish community in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The initial case of measles was acquired by a child on a visit to Israel, where a large outbreak of the disease is occurring. The individuals with measles ranged in age from 11 months to 4 years. Five of these children were unvaccinated prior to exposure, including four because vaccination was delayed and one who was too young to have received the vaccine. The sixth child had received one dose of the vaccine prior to exposure but was not yet immune. Complications include one child who was hospitalized with pneumonia and another child with an ear infection. Additionally, there are seven confirmed individuals with measles among New York State residents outside of New York City – five acquired measles during travel to Israel, and two are individuals infected after an exposure to a person with measles… …The Health Department recommends the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine for children at age 12 months, with a second dose at 4 to 6 years old. Two doses of MMR are required to attend kindergarten through grade 12. Children attending daycare, nursery school, Head Start and pre-K are required to have one dose of the MMR vaccine. All persons, including infants ages 6 to 11 months should be vaccinated prior to international travel. Parents should keep ill children at home and not send them to daycare or school. If there is measles in a student, all unvaccinated children – including those with a medical or religious exemption – will be excluded and unable to attend the daycare or school for 21 days after their last exposure… October 21, 2018: Newsweek posted an article titled: “Measles Outbreak In Europe Shows What May Come in U.S. As Anti-Vaccine Movement Bites: Report”. It was written by Kelly Wynne. From the article: Over 41,000 cases of measles have appeared in Europe this year, and the trend may spread to the U.S. if the anti-vaxxer community continues to grow experts warn. Forty have died from the European measles outbreak, a disease spread that was unthinkable less than a decade ago, NBC News reported. Experts claim European countries hold higher populations of anti-vaxxers, adults who choose not to vaccinate their children for the main, preventable diseases. Anca Paduraru of the European Commission in Brussels, said this trend must stop. “It’s the main factor leading to the outbreaks,” Paduraru said. “It is unacceptable to have in the 21st-century diseases that should have been and could have been eradicated.” The World Health Organization (WHO) suggests 95 percent of the population have any particular, preventable vaccine in two doses in order to prevent widespread outbreaks. In some European countries, the number of vaccinated citizens is under 70 percent. The U.S. has seen a considerable amount of measles cases in 2018, according to NBC News. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) reported 137 individual cases of measles in the U.S. in 2018 as of September 8. The CDC acknowledged some years see higher measles increases because of particular events, like in 2015 when a measles outbreak was linked to a public amusement park. 2017 saw 118 cases… …The number of unvaccinated children is growing each year in the U.S. as parents on both ends of the political spectrum are pummeled with disproved rumors, endorsed by celebrities including Donald Trump, that vaccines cause autism… …Only .3 percent of children were unvaccinated with the correct doses of 14 preventable diseases in 2001, USA Today reported. In 2015, the number of unvaccinated children was 1.3 percent… October 26, 2018: The Sydney Morning Herald posted an article titled: “NSW pharmacists get go-ahead to give measles, whooping cough vaccines”. It was written by Kate Aubusson. From the article: People as young as 16 will soon be able to go to a pharmacist for vaccinations to protect against infectious diseases, including measles, whooping cough and tetanus without visiting a doctor. The NSW government is expanding the state’s pharmacist vaccination program beyond the flu shot to ease access to immunization, Deputy Premier John Barilaro and Health Minister Brad Hazzard announced on Thursday. From 2019, pharmacists will be able to administer privately funded diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (dTpa) vaccine; the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) as well as the flu vaccine after completing an approved comprehensive training course. The age of eligibility for patients will drop to 16 years. Currently, pharmacists can only offer seasonal flu vaccines to people over the age of 18… November 5, 2018: USA Today posted an article titled: “Measles cases top last year’s total; almost 50 cases in one county”. It was written by Nancy Cutler. From the article: The number of measles cases in the United States so far this year has surpassed 2017 with the potential for about a quarter of the highly contagious respiratory infections to be occurring in one New York county north of New York City. Nationwide as of Oct. 6, the most recent nationwide data available, 142 measles cases had been reported, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The number of people sickened, mostly unvaccinated, exceeded the 2017 total of 120 in mid-August… November 6, 2018: The Detroit News posted an article titled: “2 with measles traveled through Detroit Metro Airport”. It was written by Sarah Rahal. From the article: Oakland County Health Division confirmed two new cases of measles in county residents Tuesday who traveled through Detroit Metro Airport and may have exposed other travelers. The health department said the two Oakland County residents arrived on a flight at Detroit Metro Airport at 5 p.m. Oct. 23 and are advising passengers who were possibly exposed to watch for symptoms 21 days after exposure and contact their doctors. The department declined to comment on which airline or terminal the residents traveled through. The airport did not respond to a request for comment… …Dr. Russell Faust, Oakland County medical director, said the airport does not have to take any extra precautions since the virus only lives for two hours in the air or on the surface… November 10, 2018: Newsweek posted an article titled: “Measles Outbreak: Thousands In New Jersey Rush For Vaccines As Disease Spreads”. It was written by Brendan Cole. From the article: Thousands of people in New Jersey are rushing to get free vaccines to counter a growing measles outbreak. Residents of Ocean County have been turning up in greater numbers after an eighth case was reported by health officials on Thursday. Most people born after 1957 receive two doses of the measles vaccine by the age of 4, but growing numbers have not, either due to medical and religious reasons, or because they had immigrated from a country where it was not common. Daniel Regenye, Health officer for Ocean County Health Department said that more than 2,500 free vaccines had been given out during the week… …The outbreak is tied to a person who recently returned from an overseas trip to Israel, CBS reported… …Officials says that infected people may develop symptoms as late as November 22 and have advised people to go to a medical officer or emergency department if they suffer any symptoms. November 11, 2018: Mass Live posted an article titled: “Second case of measles diagnosed in Lowell region, state health officials say”. It was written by Aviva Luttrell. From the article: State health officials say a second case of Measles has been diagnosed in the Lowell area. The Department of Public Health confirmed that a person was diagnosed with measles on Nov. 15 and may have exposed the illness to other people. An earlier patient was diagnosed with measles on Nov. 8. Both diagnoses were made at Lowell Community Health Center, but State Epidemiologist Dr. Catherine Brown said there are no known links between the two cases… …The Chelmsford Police Department said the most recent patient was present in a number of places that could have resulted in exposure to other people, including the Chelmsford T.J. Maxx on Nov. 11 between 3 and 7 p.m. November 13, 2018: Vox posted an article titled: “New York’s Orthodox Jewish community is battling measles outbreaks. Vaccine deniers are to blame”. It was written by Julia Belluz. From the article: Anti-vaccine advocates have swayed parents in New York to refuse immunizations for their kids, sparking two of the largest measles outbreaks in the state’s recent history, according to local health officials. As of Tuesday, 17 people in the neighborhoods of Williamsburg and Borough Park in New York City were confirmed with measles, along with 68 people in nearby Rockland County, for a total of 85 cases. Additional cases are currently under investigation, and the number is expected to rise. What’s notable here is that all of the cases are occurring among unvaccinated or under-vaccinated Orthodox Jews, mainly children. When asked why people are opting out of vaccines, the city health department said anti-vaccine propagandists are distributing misinformation in the community, The fear mongers include the Brooklyn group called PEACH – or Parents Teaching and Advocating Children’s Health – which spreads misinformation about vaccine safety, citing rabbis as authorities, through a hotline and magazines. Brooklyn Orthodox Rabbi William Handler has also been proclaiming the well-debunked link between the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism. Parents who “placate the gods of vaccination” are engaging in “child sacrifice,” he told Vox… November 14, 2018: The Conversation posted an article titled: “The counties where the anti-vaccine movement thrives in the US”. It was written by Peter J. Hotez, who is the Dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine and Professor of Pediatrics and Molecular Virology & Microbiology at Baylor College of Medicine. From the article: …But then, in 2011, I relocated to Houston’s Texas Medical Center. I soon learned that, unlike in the Northeast, where the anti-vaccination movement so far seems restricted to small groups, the Texas anti-vaccine movement is aggressive, well-organized and politically engaged. There are now at least 57,000 Texas school children being exempted from their vaccines for nonmusical reasons, about a 20-fold rise since 2003. I say “at least” because there is no data on the more than 300,000 homeschooled kids… …What exactly is going on in the West, where many parents shun vaccines and take their children out of vaccination programs? Researchers are still at the early stages of understanding the reasons behind the anti-vaccine movement. A couple of these states, Oklahoma and Texas, host well-organized political action committees that lobby their legislatures and even raise campaign funds for candidates to endorse anti-vaccine positions. These committees appeal to parental fears of unwarranted government interference. What’s more, some studies suggest that vaccine refusal is linked to affluence, and possibly with affluence there is greater access to the internet. There are now hundreds of anti-vaccine websites on the internet, many of which still allege that vaccines cause autism or that autism is a form of “vaccine injury,” neither of which are true. The anti-vaccine movement also effectively uses social media to share their message. Some studies show that anti-vaccine social media has created an “echo chamber” effect, that strongly reinforces negative attitudes towards vaccines… November 15, 2018: Pattaya One posted an article titled: “Chularajomontri rules measles vaccine not prohibited by Islam”. From the article: The Chularajamontri, or Thailand’s Islamic spiritual leader, has unofficially ruled that Muslims can receive measles vaccine, a spiritual leader in Yala said on Saturday. Ahmad Abdull Hazima, an Islamic leader in Yale, said the Chularajamontri and 39 provincial Islamic committees have made unofficial rulings that vaccines are not prohibited by Islam. The rulings were sought after an ongoing outbreak of measles in four southern border provinces have seen thousands overcome by the illness an 18 people have died. In Yala alone, 14 people died from the disease… …The Islamic leaders considered that vaccines were necessary to keep Muslims healthy so they could continue practicing their religious activities. As a result, the spiritual leaders saw that the use of vaccines would not violate Islam. November 15, 2018: The Local Italy posted an article titled: “Mandatory vaccines to continue in Italy after measles outbreaks”. From the article: Italy’s Health Ministry has announced a measles prevention plan that would keep obligatory vaccinations in place for 0-16 year olds, as well as aiming to vaccinate people aged up to 30-35. Vaccines will be offered in schools and universities as well as sports clubs, and ministers are discussing possible incentives for young people who choose to be vaccinated. The announcement comes after a spike in the number of measles cases in Italy including several outbreaks this year. This week, 8 cases of measles were reported at the Giovanni XXIII pediatric hospital in Bari, reportedly affecting a ten-year-old girl, her sister and two cousins, none of whom had been vaccinated, and several other patients, including an 11-month-old boy, who was too young to be vaccinated… …Health workers will also be pressed to get vaccinated amid fears that they are putting patients’ health at risk… …Of 100 health workers who contracted the measles virus in Italy last year, 83 had not been vaccinated, Massimo Galli, Professor at Simit, the Italian Institute for Infectious and Tropical Diseases, told The Local Italy… …There is a large and growing anti-vaccine movement in Italy, and a lower number of vaccinations is thought to be one of the factors behind an increase in measles cases. Last year, Italy accounted for nearly a quarter of all measles cases in Europe, according to the World Health Organization. Italy was one of the countries where now-discredited claims of a link between the combined measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccination and autism had a significant impact on public perceptions of the safety of the jab… November 16, 2018: News 12 New Jersey posted an article titled: “Health officials: 14 cases of measles confirmed in Ocean County”. From the article: New Jersey health officials have confirmed more cases of measles in Ocean County, bringing the total number of cases to 14. Officials say the infected people may have exposed others to the disease while they were at sites in Lakewood between Oct. 25 and Nov.7. The state Health Department considers this an outbreak of measles in the community… …Symptoms may develop as late as Nov. 30. Officials say that the outbreak is linked to a Lakewood resident who returned to New Jersey after a trip to Israel. November 16, 2018: NBC New York posted an article titled: “Number of Cases in Rockland Measles Outbreak Continues to Rise”. From the article: The number of infected in the Rockland County measles outbreak continues to rise, with officials announcing Friday 74 confirmed and four suspected cases. Rockland County has been grappling with a measles outbreak in recent weeks – even asking students who are unvaccinated to not attend school. Health officials announced Nov. 9 that they are expanding school exclusions from the current 70 percent to an 80 percent vaccination rate. This means, all schools within the Village of New Square and any school with less than an 80 percent MMR vaccination rate within the areas affected by the measles outbreak will be required to keep un- or under-vaccinated students home until 21 days have passes since the last confirmed measles case in Rockland County. Some of the afflicted picked up the disease during travel to Israel, and others being infected after being exposed to a person with measles, officials said… …The Health Department held vaccine clinics in response to the growing number of cases. To repent the spread of illness, the Rockland County Health Department advises anyone who may have measles to contact their health care provider, local clinic, or local emergency department before going for care. This will help prevent others at these facilities from being exposed to the illness… November 20, 2018: NorthJersey.com posted an article titled: “Why vaccination debate persists as measles outbreak spreads”. It was written by Deena Yellin. From the article: …Dr. Shereef Elnahal, New Jersey health commissioner, pointed out that measles can be deadly and the only way to prevent it is through vaccination… …Health officials across the tri-state area have been working overtime to contain the outbreak by educating the public about the disease and have been holding clinics to administer free immunizations. In Rockland County, New York, alone, health agencies have administered over 6,100 doses of the vaccine as of Nov. 19, according to the Department of Health… …The measles outbreak has continued to spread, with additional cases reported throughout New York and New Jersey. The majority of people infected with measles were not vaccinated, health officials said. The largest outbreak is in Rockland County, which had 75 confirmed cases and 11 suspected cases as of Monday morning, the Rockland County Department of Health said. New Jersey has 14 confirmed cases, with most of them in Lakewood in Ocean County, the New Jersey Department of Health reported. And Brooklyn, New York, as 24 confirmed cases, the New York City Department of Health said. Medical experts have called this the largest outbreak of the disease in decades, with measles reported in 26 states, including California, Florida, Nevada, and Texas… …Bergen County has a higher-than-average rate of vaccine exemptions among schoolchildren. For the 2017-18 school year, a combined 1,772 children in public and private schools were not fully vaccinated because of medical or religious exemptions, state data show. Vaccine exemption rates among school-age children have been rising in recent years, creating a threat for outbreaks, the CDC said. A child who has not received the vaccine is 35 times more likely to contract measles than a vaccinated child in the U.S. New Jersey state law permits unvaccinated children to be excluded from schools and child-care centers during outbreaks… November 21, 2018: The Hill posted an article titled: “Anti-vaccine movement is resulting in first deaths, says expert”. It was written by Julia Manchester. From the article: Dr. Peter Hotez, a vaccine expert, said in an interview that aired Wednesday on Hill.TV’s “Rising” that the anti-vaccine movement is resulting in deaths for the first time. “There [are] three major diseases that concern me. One is influenza, and of course, we’re coming up on flu season. The last flu season in January – February 2018, we had almost 200 children die of influenza and more than 80 percent of those kids were not vaccinated, despite recommendations,” Hotez, dean of the School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, told host Buck Sexton. “So for the first time now we’re seeing deaths because of this anti-vaccine movement,” he added… …”Measles is often the first one you see because its highly contagious, highly transmissible. So when you see a drop in vaccine coverage, measles is the first one that you see, and that accounts for this awful measles outbreak that we now have in New York and New Jersey,” Hotez said… …Health officials say most of the people who have been infected with measles have not been vaccinated. November 24, 2018: PIX11 News posted an article titled: “Officials confirm 15th case of measles in NJ county”. From the article: New Jersey health officials have confirmed more cases of measles in a central New Jersey community. The latest confirmed cases bring the total to 15 in Ocean County. Officials say the infected person may have exposed others to the disease while they were at sites in Lakewood between Oct. 25 and Nov. 7. The state health department considers this an outbreak of measles in the community. One of the infected people also may have exposed people in Passaic to the disease between Nov. 17-18… November 28, 2018: CNN Philippines posted an article titled: “Measles cases in the Philippines Increase by more than 350% – WHO” It was written by Luchi de Guzman. From the article: More than 10,000 measles cases have been reported this year. The latest count by the World Health Organization (WHO) Philippines office is 17,298 measles cases as of November this year. This is 367 percents more than the 3,706 cases reported last year. “Unvaccinated young children are at highest risk of measles and its complications, including death. Have your children vaccinated at the nearest health center,” the WHO Philippines said on Facebook… …In October this year, the Department of Health (DOH) Bicol Office reported a 300 percent increase in measles in the region. BOH Bicol has monitored 239 measles cases from January to September, which included 6 deaths. Those who died were not vaccinated. The DOH regional office said that fears of vaccination following the Dengvaxia scandal is one of the reasons for the spike in measles cases… What is the Dengvaxia scandal? On December 17, 2017, The New York Times posted an article titled: “Drug Company Under Fire After Revealing Dengue Vaccine May Harm Some”. It was written by Denise Grady and Katie Thomas. From the article: The first promising vaccine for dengue – a disease that afflicts hundreds of millions of people around the world – is in jeopardy after the Philippines suspended it, amid widespread fears about its safety and growing public anger over its use in 830,000 schoolchildren. The Philippines government has begun investigations into the rollout of the immunization program by the French drugmaker Sanofi, which has come under fire for discounting early warnings that its vaccine could put some people at heightened risk of a severe form of the disease. The newly revealed evidence, confirmed recently by Sanofi’s review of study data, found that in rare cases, Dengvaxia can backfire: If people who never had dengue are vaccinated and later become infected, the vaccine may provoke a much more severe form of the illness… …The backlash has alarmed researchers who worry that Sanofi’s stumble could stoke mistrust in vaccines around the globe. Sanofi’s vaccine is approved in 19 countries and is the first to combat dengue, a disease spread by mosquitos that infects about 400 million people worldwide. It puts 500,000 people in the hospital each year and kills 25,000 mostly in Latin America and South Asia… November 29, 2018: Lohud (part of the USA Today Network) posted an article titled: “New measles exposures in Palisades mall, Spring Valley as outbreak spreads”. It was written by Rochel Leah Goldblatt. From the article: Two places in Spring Valley and a store at the Palisades Center are the latest locations health officials said may have been exposed to measles over Thanksgiving weekend. With 83 measles cases in Rockland and eight more under investigation, health officials are cautioning that anyone in the county could be affected and everybody should check their immunization status. Officials say the latest exposure happened at Compare Supermarket in Spring Valley between 7 and 9:30 p.m. on Nov. 22, Jalapa Express in Spring Valley between 5:30 and 7:45 p.m. on Nov. 24 and Best Buy at Palisades Center between 7 and 9:30 p.m. on Nov. 24. These times reflect when the infected person was in these locations and the two-hour period after they left, officials said. The Palisades Center exposure was only in Best Buy and not the rest of the mall… November 29, 2018: TIME posted an article titled: “Measles Cases Spiked Worldwide Last Year Due to ‘Gaps in Vaccination Coverage’: New Report”. It was written by Jamie Ducharme. From the article: Reported cases of measles spiked in 2017, threatening years of public health progress and pointing to gaps in vaccination coverage worldwide, according to new data released Thursday from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Between 2000 and 2017, reported measles incidence dropped by 83%, saving about 21 million lives and resulting in an 80% decline in measles mortality, the new data shows. But toward the end of that time period, researchers observed a worrisome trend: between 2016 and 2017, reported measles cases increased by 31% globally. Increases were observed in nearly every disease-monitoring region, with the largest spikes seen among nations in the Americas, Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean. Only the Western Pacific region saw a decline… …The fact measles cases are surging even in countries that had largely eliminated the disease suggests that reluctance to getting the vaccine may be to blame, according to health officials. “Gaps in vaccination coverage” resulted in 110,000 deaths, according to the WHO… November 30, 2018: Press of Atlantic City posted an article titled: “Officials confirm 3 more measles cases related Lakewood”. From the article: The number of measles cases related to an Ocean County community has grown to 18. State health officials say three members of a Passaic family have been diagnosed with the disease. They contracted it from a person who was infected during an outbreak in Lakewood, where 15 cases have been confirmed… You can report, which is titled: “Progress Toward Regional Measles Elimination – Worldwide, 2000 – 2017” on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website. December 12, 2018: Miami Herald posted an article titled: “Four children in one Florida community have measles. None of them were vaccinated.” It was written by Howard Cohen. From the article: The Florida Department of Health in Sarasota County is reporting that four children in the community have been diagnosed with measles. According to a report in the Herald-Tribune, these children have “close contact to each other” and none of them were vaccinated against the disease, which is easily spread by air droplets that are pushed out into the immediate vicinity of others when the infected person breathes, coughs, or sneezes… …In Florida, certain vaccines are required before children can attend childcare and school… …But some parents still believe that vaccines are harmful and choose to skip them. According to the Florida Department of Health’s Sarasota County website, diseases like measles that are preventable are still out there, in part because of an aversion to vaccinating one’s child… …[Department of Health-Sarasota Health Officer Chuck Henry said in a release] “We would like families to know that their children could be exposed to diseases like measles anywhere and – unless they’re protected with vaccination – they are risking potentially serious health effects for their child. We encourage all parents to fully vaccinate their children to protect them from diseases like measles.” December 14, 2018: U.S. News & World Report posted an article titled: “New York Yeshivas Face Fines, Restrictions Amid Measles Outbreak”. It was written by Alexa Lardieri. From the article: Yeshivas in New York’s Rockland County are facing fines for failing to provide health officials with the names of students who are not vaccinated against the measles. Nine yeshivas, an Orthodox Jewish institution that focuses on religious schooling, are facing penalties of up to $2,000 per day since Nov. 16, The Journal News reported. The schools in Ramapo, a town about 40 miles north of Manhattan, are within the area of a recent measles outbreak. As of Wednesday, 91 cases of measles were confirmed in the county, the health department said. The outbreak began in September when an international traveler arrived in Rockland County with a suspected case of the virus. The cases are mostly in eastern Ramapo, in the towns of New Square, Spring Square and Monsey. As a result of the outbreak, the county has ordered schools to prohibit unvaccinated students from attending schools that have measles vaccination rates of less than 80 percent. County officials said that, although this rule is not exclusively for yeshivas, it applies to about 35 of the religious institutions. According to the Journal News, the schools must provide the health department with records of vaccination rates. It is a requirement that schools maintain records of students’ vaccination statuses… December 14, 2018: Ashbury Park Press posted an article titled: “Ocean County measles cases at 19; health officials urge vaccinations”. It was written by Michael L. Diamond. From the article: The number of confirmed measles cases in Ocean County stands at 19, and the outbreak continues to generate reports of potential exposure, officials said Friday. It prompted health department officials to urge families to get vaccinated… …There are 14 businesses and synagogues and even the Toms River Department of Motor Vehicles where others may have been exposed to contagious individuals. Health officials also said one case remains under investigation. The outbreak now extends until January; 42 days must pass without a new case of measles confirmed before officials declare the end of the outbreak… December 20, 2018: The Times of Israel posted an article titled: “82-year-old measles patient dies in Jerusalem”. From the article: An 82-year-old woman died Wednesday after being admitted to Hadassah Hospital Ein Karem with measles earlier this month. The Health Ministry noted that the woman also suffered from a severe hematological disease. As of Wednesday, 2,690 Israelis were being treated for measles, with October marking the peak month, in which 989 people were hospitalized. There was a small drop in November to 893 patients, and there have been 194 Israeli hospitalized so far in December. The disease has been making a major comeback in Israel amid a decline in some communities of parents vaccinating their children. Infections have mostly centered on the country’s ultra-Orthodox community, where inoculation rates have generally been low. In November, an 18 month-old toddler in Jerusalem died of the disease, the first recorded death from measles in Israel in the past 15 years… …Last Wednesday, a 16-month girl was hospitalized in critical condition suffering from meningitis and pneumonia as the result of a measles infection. The toddler was being treated at the pediatric intensive care unit at the Emek Medical Center in northern Israel. Authorities were checking if the girl, who is from an ultra-Orthodox family, may have contracted the disease during a visit to relatives in Jerusalem. According to news reports, the girl was not immunized… December 21, 2018: The Guardian posted an article titled: “Measles cases at highest for 20 years in Europe, as anti-vaccine movement grows”. It was written by Sarah Boseley. From the article: A growing anti-vaccine movement in Europe, fueled by social media and anti-establishment populists, is putting lives at risk and may be to blame for measles outbreaks surging to a 20 year high, health experts are warning. A fresh Guardian analysis of WHO data shows that measles cases in Europe will top 60,000 this year – more than double that of 2017 and the highest this century. There have been 72 deaths, twice as many as in 2017. Health experts warn that vaccine skeptics are driving down immunization rates for measles, HPV against cervical cancer, flu and other diseases – and that their opinions are increasingly being amplified by social media and by rightwing populists equally skeptical of medical authorities… …Recent data has consistently shown a tight correlation between vaccination rates and outbreaks of measles. A sharp slump in vaccination rates in France in 2010 was followed by a spike in measles cases the following year. In Italy, when immunization rates fell back in 2014, cases surges from a few dozen a month to hundreds. In Romania, vaccination coverage fell below 90% in 2014. By 2017, it was experiencing more than 1,000 cases a month, up from just one or two… December 22, 2018: Press of Atlantic City posted an article titled: “Ocean County measles outbreak rises to 33 cases, officials say”. It was written by Molly Bilinski. From the article: As of Friday, there were 33 confirmed measles cases in Ocean County, according to a news release from the county Health Department. Officials are encouraging non-vaccinated children to stay out of schools in the outbreak area, and reminding residents to check on their immunization records and watch out for symptoms. The outbreak is centered on Lakewood, according to previous reports… …The department “continues to support and highly encourage the exclusion of non-vaccinated children from schools, preschools, and daycares in the outbreak area,” according to the release, and asked anyone with symptoms to contact their doctor prior to showing up at the office so that appropriate arrangements can be made for exams and treatment.”… December 23, 2018: HAARETZ posted an article titled: “Israel Orders Vaccination of 70 Babies Exposed to Measles at Jerusalem Daycare Center”. It was written by Ido Efrati. From the article: Health officials called late last week on the parents of some 70 babies from a WIZO daycare center in Jerusalem to be vaccinated against measles after it was discovered that a woman on the center’s staff had the disease. The daycare center, in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Ramat Beit Hakerem, has three age groups – babies, toddlers, and pre-kindergarten – with between 20 and 25 children in each group. On Friday, the daycare center director informed parents that one of the center’s caregivers who works with the babies had been diagnosed with measles. In keeping with Health Ministry directives, the center’s directors called on the parents to have their babies initially vaccinated or take the second and final shot immediately. All the children at the daycare center must be inoculated because all the age groups use the lobby. The parents were also called on to vaccinate anyone who visited the daycare center recently and is in the high-risk group, for example, young siblings who came with their parents to pick up the children at the center… …The caregiver who was infected is a new immigrant and according to the parents, she said she had been inoculated against measles. They said that they were told that she went to the doctor as soon as her symptoms appeared, and the doctor did not suspect measles. The caregiver was not given sick leave, and so she continued to come to work throughout last week. Only on Thursday, after a rash appeared, a clear sign of measles, was she diagnosed… December 28, 2018: USA Today posted an article titled: “People may have been exposed to measles on Christmas Eve at Newark Airport”. It was written by Kaitlyn Kanzler. From the article: People at Newark Liberty International Airport might have been exposed to measles because a passenger who was on a flight from Brussels on Christmas Eve had the disease. The flight came into Terminal B and the New Jersey Department of Health is warning people who were exposed at the airport on Dec. 24 between 12 p.m. and 4 p.m., they could have been exposed and could develop symptoms as late as Jan. 14. In a press release, the Department of Health said the individual was infectious Dec 24 and could have traveled to areas in the airport other than Terminal B…. …Health commissioner Dr. Shreef Elnahal said this particular case and possible exposure have nothing to do with the measles outbreaks that happened in Ocean and Passaic counties… December 31, 2018: Times Herald-Record posted an article titled: “Orange County alerting public to two more measles exposures”. It was written by Heather Yakin. From the article: The Orange County Health Department is alerting the public to two more times and places where county residents may have been exposed to measles. On Dec. 20, between 4:30 – 8 p.m. at Satmar Meats of KJ, On Dec. 25, between 4:30 and 8:30 p.m. at the Rockland Kosher Supermarket at 27 Orchard St., Monsey… …Orange County had six confirmed measles cases through mid December. Rockland County had confirmed 96 cases through Dec. 24…. THIS BLOG IS NO LONGER BEING UPDATED. Measles Spreading is the Fault of Anti-Vaxxers is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me on PayPal.me. Thank you!... Other Video GamesSeekers Notes: Ice Monster CollectionDecember 28, 2018Other Video Games / Seekers NotesSeekers Notes is a puzzle game with a creepy storyline. The player becomes The Seeker and must find lost objects that the NPCs (non-player characters) request. The Mystery of December event is the Seekers Notes Christmas event. I’ve been working my way through it, in the hopes that I will complete it and earn special rewards. In previous quests, Helen became distressed after someone ripped the wrapping paper and tore the bows off the gifts. The Seeker helps her find replacement wrapping paper and bows, and helps her rewrap them. Not long after that, Helen notices that someone is knocking from the inside of the large clock that is located inside the Gift Post Office. She asks the Seeker to find her improvised weapons of self defense, and to look inside the clock. No one was found – but Helen was not comforted by this. Peter: Seeker, we heard that something was happening at the Gift Post Office. It must be an ice monster up to no good! The player responds: An ice monster? Ben: No one knows more about monsters than children do. With the approach of the winter holidays it’s time for tales about the ice monster. One of them is even included in a collection of fairy tales. The town of Darkwood is under a curse, and a wide variety of monsters are quite literally roaming the streets and bothering the townspeople. The player, who becomes The Seeker, is often asked by NPCs to banish specific monsters. Ben’s statement: “No one knows more about monsters than children do”, is disturbing. It fits right into the creepiness of the Seekers Notes storyline. It seems as though these kids aren’t very afraid of the monsters they encounter. I found the fairy tales. Ben: Christmas Tree Tales is a collection of Christmas stories, but this is no ordinary children’s book. The thirteenth story is a fairy tale called “The Eyes of Winter”. It’s about a terrible ice monster! Amy: The ice monster exists not only in fairy tales, but in real life, too! On dark nights, it appears next to a Christmas tree and ruins gifts. It emanates such cold that icicles form on the tree! I found the icicles. Amy: There are icicles hanging on our Christmas tree too, but these are just ornaments. But I’m sure that the real ice monster was here! Who else would spoil the gifts? Peter: The ice monster is terrible! It leaves pine cones instead of candy! They say you found pine cones at the Gift Post Office? I can sense that the monster is near! It must have already filled the gifts with cones! I found a Christmas stocking full of pine cones. Peter: Wow, we were right! The monster filled a stocking with cones! And it’s all because it hates the winter holidays and tries to ruin them at any cost. Peter: Brr, it’s gotten so cold at the Gift Post Office! This is a sure sign of the approach of the ice monster. It can be driven away by lighting a big fire. But we’re not allowed to play with matches. I found a heater. Peter: Wow! A heater will keep us warm longer than a fire would! But what does it run on? Kerosene? Well, now the ice monster won’t be able to frighten us with the cold! Amy: I don’t know what the ice monster looks like, but I saw its claw marks on a Christmas tree. My friends showed them to me If we find marks here, I can determine whether they were left by the monster! I found the bell. Amy: Ooh, someone scratched this bell! These marks are the same as the ones left by the ice monster. Oh, I want to go back to my grandfather as soon as possible… The NPCs in Seekers Notes can blink. Sometimes, this results in an unflattering screenshot where I caught a character mid-blink. I’ve unintentionally ended up with Amy looking unimpressed by the ice monster’s destruction. Ben: Don’t be afraid, Amy! The older boys told me how to catch the ice monster! We need to put out bait: a glass of warm milk and cookies. The way to complete the Tasty Bait quest is to gather up all the items, and the extra items, that the Ice Monster Collection requires. At this point, I had collected up all the necessary items. The extra items were problematic. The extra items can only be obtained by placating the Mystery of December holiday creatures. To do this, the player must use up Energy by successfully finding all the hidden objects in various locations in the game. Eventually, enough Christmas Ornaments will drop. The Christmas Ornaments are required in order for the player to enter the Gift Post Office. Successfully finding all the hidden objects in that location may, or may not, drop an Ice Flower. The Ice Flower can be used to placate the first of three creatures. In short, the player needs to do this over and over again until they gather up the required amount of extra items. It is tedious, and can be frustrating when the Ice Flower does not drop. The only bright side of having to do this is that it is an effective way to increase the Rank of the Gift Post Office. I got the Gift Post Office to the Detective Rank. Congratulations! You completed the stage challenge and get Fire Crystal as a reward! The Gift Post Office is now at the Detective Rank. One more to go! Congratulations! You completed the stage challenge and get Carved Chest as a reward! I have now placated a total of 55 Mystery of December creatures. I have the feeling that I’m going to run out of time before I am able to complete the Ice Monster Collection. So, I’m just going to post this blog assuming I made no additional progress. I will update this blog if I complete the collection. Seekers Notes: Ice Monster Collection is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me on PayPal.me. Thank you!... Seekers Notes: Unexpected Trouble CollectionDecember 25, 2018Other Video Games / Seekers NotesSeekers Notes is a puzzle game where the player becomes The Seeker. It includes a creepy story line. The town of Darkwood is under a curse, and no one seems to know how to lift it. The Unexpected Trouble collection is the last part of the second series of quests in the Mystery of December event. It is the Seekers Notes Christmas event. The focus is on a newly unlocked location called the Gift Post Office. Towards the end of the first series of quests in the Mystery of December event, Helen tells The Seeker that the townspeople’s gifts had been ruined. Someone ripped up the wrapping paper and tore off the bows. Colonel Hammerstrike decides to hold an investigation to find the criminal. He gets a bit overzealous in his desire to punish whomever ruined the gifts. One thing is clear: Colonel Hammerstrike is really angry! Colonel Hammerstrike: It’s unacceptable! Helen told me everything. The rascal responsible must be caught and punished! I’ll start the investigation right now. Are you with me, Seeker? The player responds: Sure thing! Colonel Hammerstrike: The culprit must have left some tracks. Let’s take a close look. If we’re lucky, the tracks will lead us straight to the vandal. I can’t wait to arrest them! I found pine cones. Colonel Hammerstrike: Hmm, we found pine cones instead of footprints. Interesting. That means our culprit is no ordinary vandal, but an experienced criminal who knows how to cover their tracks. Colonel Hammerstrike: Unfortunately, we can’t catch the criminal. We have no evidence! But we need to secure the Gift Post Office. Helen is working here, after all! And, of course, all the townspeople’s gifts are here. I also happened to notice that the Gift Post Office window can’t be locked. It appears that Colonel Hammerstrike is especially protective of Helen. I have absolutely no idea what she thinks about that, or if she is even aware that Colonel Hammerstrike feels that way toward her. I found a latch. Colonel Hammerstrike: Excellent! Even a simple latch can stop a crime. Let’s fit the latch to the window forthwith. Security above all! Colonel Hammerstrike: I don’t want to leave you and Helen unprotected, but it’s my turn to go on patrol. Let’s agree on a signal if the criminal tries to repeat their crime! This time, the quest requires the player to explore the Gift Post Office while it has the Gargoyle anomaly. The game randomly places a variety of anomalies into different locations. If the player is lucky, the right anomaly will appear in the location that they are about to explore. In my experience, this simply does not happen. I ended up playing through the Gift Post Office multiple times in the hopes that the next time would have the Gargoyle anomaly. The only good thing about this is it was an opportunity to work on getting the Gift Post Office to its next Rank. Eventually, the Gargoyle anomaly appeared. I was able to successfully find all of the hidden objects, and the flare appeared when I was finished. In the meantime, I moved the rank of the Gift Post Office from 50.0% of the way through Amateur to 87.5% of the way through it. Colonel Hammerstrike: Excellent! This flare is so bright that I’ll notice it day or night. As soon as you sense any danger, send up the signal immediately, okay? I’ll come at once. Helen: Colonel Hammerstrike is so kind and noble. But I don’t think the culprit will come again. I’m more worried that the gifts of the townspeople have been ruined… They need to be rewrapped! My next exploration of the Gift Post Office resulted in a new Rank. It was now at the Connoisseur Rank. I have now completed two of the five stages that require players to increase the Rank of the Gift Post Office. I found the wrapping paper. Helen: Where did you get such a beautiful set of wrapping paper? Wonderful! Let’s get down to work. It’ll be sad if someone receives a gift with torn paper. Helen: The townspeople put a lot of effort into wrapping the gifts and selecting the right ribbons! It would be so unfair if their efforts were in vain. Maybe you can find a set of colorful ribbons? I found a set of colorful ribbons. Helen: Spectacular! There are so many different ribbons! We can easily pick the right one for each gift. Helen: We just need to rewrap all the gifts and decorate them with ribbons. There are lots of gifts, but the work will go much faster and be more fun in this magical atmosphere. Let’s get started. The way to complete this quest is to assemble and trade a collection. Players that reach this point in the quest chain have already gathered up the main items they need for the collection. They may or may not have gathered up the extra items that the collection requires. It turned out that I had everything I needed to complete the Unexpected Trouble collection. All of the items on the collection get used up when the player completes the collection. Congratulations! You’ve assembled this collection: Unexpected Trouble. Helen: I’m grateful for your help! The gifts are wrapped and ready to be sent. I still hope the culprit will be caught, and that this unpleasantness won’t be repeated. Helen: Oh, what was that? A knock? The player responds: Yes! Helen: I can’t believe it, the knocking is coming from inside that large clock! The player responds: Let’s check it out! This quest chain ends on a very creepy note that leads the player into the next series of quests in the Mystery of December event. Congratulations! You completed the stage challenge and get Old Crown as a reward! I have now completed all of the Stage 2 quests in the Mystery of December event. Seekers Notes: Unexpected Trouble Collection is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me on PayPal.me. Thank you!... Seekers Notes: Placating Mystery of December CreaturesDecember 24, 2018Other Video Games / Seekers NotesSeekers Notes is a “find the hidden object” game with a creepy storyline and plenty of mysteries and puzzles for the player to solve. The player becomes The Seeker, and must find the lost items that the NPCs (non-player characters) request. The Mystery of December event is Seekers Notes version of a Christmas event. Players who complete everything can earn special rewards. Part of the quests involve placating the Mystery of December creatures, who are bothering the people of Darkwood. The player is asked to placate the three different Mystery of December creatures. A short quest chain – that doesn’t count as part of the rest of the event quests – is presented to the player. The purpose is to teach the player how to obtain the items that are used to placate the holiday creatures. Ben: My friends told me they’d seen Lady Snowflake in the city. They gave her a flower, but it wilted as soon as Snowflake touched its petals. Now she’s terribly upset! Snowflake really loves flowers, but can’t touch them with her cold hands. The player needs an Ice Flower to placate Lady Snowflake with. This item sometimes drops after the player successfully finds all of the hidden objects in the Gift Post Office. Give Lady Snowflake the Ice Flower, and she will drop some of the items that you see in the above screenshot. Those items are used to placate the second creature in this group. Ben: Hooray! Lady Snowflake liked the ice flower. It’s even more beautiful than ordinary flowers, and most importantly, it will never wilt. The player must placate Lady Snowflake twice in order to obtain the right quantity of the items that are necessary to placate the second creature in the group one time. Ben: An amazing snowman, Mr. Scatterbrain, has wandered into Darkwood. He loves building ice castles, but always loses his mittens. How can we help him? This snowman adores building ice castles, but loses his mittens all the time. Ben: The snowman almost crumbled with joy when he received his new mittens! The kids and I will go play with Mr. Scatterbrain. He builds wonderful castles out of ice! The player must placate Lady Snowflake twice in order to gather up enough special items to placate Mr. Scatterbrain once. The problem is that the player needs to placate Mr. Scatterbrain twice in order to collect the special items needed to placate the third creature in the group. Congratulations! You completed the stage challenge and get Magic Lantern as a reward! I completed State 1 of the placate the creatures portion of the Mystery of December event. Ben: My friends were scared by a huge abominable snowman. But Sir Yeti proved to be a very polite and well-mannered creature. He came to Darkwood to find gift wrap, and got upset when he scared the children. Sir Yeti has quite an unusual hobby. He just loves giving gifts! Congratulations! You’ve successfully placated the creature: Sir Yeti. Ben: Thank you! Who would have thought that Sir Yeti loved giving gifts so much? He was so pleased with the gift wrap that he immediately fled to the mountains. Apparently, he needs to wrap a lot of gifts! The NPCs in Darkwood can blink. This sometimes results in strange looking screenshots where I accidentally catch the NPC halfway through a blink. Congratulations! You completed the stage challenge and get Cookie Pops as a reward! I have now completed Stage 2 of the placate the creatures portion of the Mystery of December event. There is still a long way to go on this part of the Mystery of December stages, and a lot more quest chains to finish. I also need to keep leveling the rank of the Gift Post Office. Seekers Notes: Placating Mystery of December Creatures is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me on PayPal.me. Thank you!... Seekers Notes: Mystery of DecemberDecember 21, 2018Other Video Games / Seekers NotesSeekers Notes is a “find the hidden object” game where the player becomes The Seeker. The game includes a creepy storyline that has a lot of twists and turns. The game also involves finding hidden objects at different locations. Ideally, the quest item that the player must find will drop. In December, Seekers Notes released their Christmas event. It is called Mystery of December. The Mystery of December event starts with a festive scroll. Happy holidays! Entrust the delivery of gifts to the Darkwood Gift Post Office! Everything for your convenience! The Gift Post Office location is an important part of the Mystery of December event. It is the location that players must build up to the highest rank in order to complete the entire event and earn some special prizes. Players who raise up the Gift Post Office location to Virtuoso before the event ends earn two special avatars. Players who finish all of the quest chains in the Mystery of December before the event ends earn a Long-Awaited Gifts Chest and a unique Fairy-Tale Snowfall jewelry box. Players who placate enough of the Winter Creatures before the Mystery of December event ends receive a Christmas Deal Talisman and a unique Winter Guests picture. The way to placate holiday creatures is to successfully find all the hidden objects in the Gift Post Office – and be lucky enough for it to drop certain holiday items. Helen: Seeker, I have some wonderful news! In Darkwood, a cozy Gift Post Office has been opened for sending gifts. I was just about to go there, but I lost the key. Could you help me please? The way to unlock a new location is to find the key. The player can explore any already unlocked location to find it. I decided to explore the Cafe location. I found the Gift Post Office key. Helen: Thank you! Be sure to stop by the Gift Post Office! I won’t talk much about the coziness and beauty of the place: it’s better to see something once for yourself than to here about it a thousand times! I unlocked the Gift Post Office. Helen: Seeker, you’ll need Christmas Ornaments to explore the Gift Post Office. Here are 10 access passes for now. Each holiday location requires the player to collect up a certain amount of unique access passes. The Mystery of December event requires Christmas Ornaments. The way to obtain them (beyond the first ten) is to find all the hidden objects in any location, and hope that they drop. Every time the player raises the Gift Post Office to a higher rank – the locations cost more Christmas Ornaments than it did before. The Old Gift Post Office: The old post office building has been closed since the Curse fell upon the city. There used be a long-distance correspondence department there, which, unfortunately, shut down. But now we have a real Gift Post Office for sending and receiving gifts! The bright lights and the fragrance of spruce give the Gift Post Office a magical atmosphere! This might just be one of the coziest places in the city. Helen: Oh, customers will be coming to the Gift Post Office very soon, but we’re not ready yet! The player must click on: I’ll help you. Helen: Thank you for your help, Seeker! You know, there used to be a long-distance correspondence department here, but it was closed so long ago that nobody’s been in here in years and years. Let’s hang an “Open” sign on the door. I found the “Open” sign. Helen: Excellent! The sign is now adorning the door. It will show everyone that the closed post office has reopened for business! Helen: The days in the run-up to the winter holidays are my favorite time of year. Everything all around is filled with a special kind of magic, isn’t it? Shiny ornaments and lights on Christmas trees, gifts… But it feels like there’s something missing at the Gift Post Office. I found the colorful wreath. Helen: A colorful wreath will add the final touch to the Gift Post Office’s decor! Let’s hang it on the front door. Now no one will pass by without coming in. Helen: The weather in Darkwood is unpredictable as always! Bitter frost can change to glorious sunshine in an instant, and a calm day can turn into a blizzard. Let’s make hot drinks for our freezing visitors! I found the hot drinks. Helen: Invigorating coffee, fragrant hot chocolate, hot tea – we’ve prepared drinks to suit every taste! Oh, and here are our first visitors. Peter: I’ve brought a whole pile of gifts! How marvelous it is in here! Can I have some hot chocolate? Thank you. It’d be great to have some home-made gingerbread to go with it! I found the gingerbread. Peter: Wow! You even have gingerbread cookies here! They are so scrumptious, just like the ones that father and I make for the winter holidays. Can I take one for my father? Helen: Pete is so sweet, he gets gifts for all his friends every year. Let’s attach address tags to the gifts so that there’s no mix-up. I found the address tags. I earned a new rank in the Gift Post Office location: Amateur. I earned the Flying Time reward. Next, I need to move the Gift Post Office rank up to Connoisseur. Helen: Perfect! No gift will go astray now. Don’t you agree that gifts are the most important part of the winter holidays? Helen: The townspeople liked the idea of delivering gifts through the post; new boxes keep arriving! Let’s make the postman’s job easier by making a complete register of the gifts. The way to complete the Gift Register quest is to assemble a collection. By this point, the player will have collected up all of the main items in the corresponding collection. As you can see, I had collected one of each of the necessary items for the Gift Post Office Revival. I did not have any of the extra items that this collection required. The way to get them was to placate some of the Mystery of December creatures. Eventually, I gathered up enough of the special Mystery of December extra items. The nice thing about it was that I was able to make progress on the next quest chain while gathering those items. I have now completed the Gift Post Office Revival collection. Here are the rewards that I received for completing the Gift Post Office Revival collection. Helen: Ten gifts for Lady Byron to go to the Byron mansion… That’s it, the gift register is ready! We’ve done a great job! Helen: It’s terrible! The townspeople’s gifts have been ruined: someone ripped up the wrappings and tore off the bows! The player responds: Oh no! This dramatic ending to the first quest chain in the Mystery of December event leads the player into the next series of quests. It involves placating holiday creatures, and I had already made some progress on that. Congratulations! You completed the stage challenge and get Lightning in a Bottle as a reward! I have now completed the entire Stage 1 quest chain. There are five more quest chains to complete before the Mystery of December event ends. Seekers Notes: Mystery of December is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me on PayPal.me. Thank you!... Seekers Notes: Love and Friendship CollectionDecember 9, 2018Other Video Games / Seekers NotesSeekers Notes is a “find the hidden object” game. The player becomes The Seeker and must find a series of hidden objects in each location they go to. In addition, the player must find special objects that the people of Darkwood ask for. Darkwood is under a curse, and this is why objects go missing. The storyline is creepy, and well written. There are some holiday events for players to work their way through. The Love and Friendship Collection is part of the Magic of Music event. The series of quests that end with the completion of the Love and Friendship Collection begin immediately after the player finishes the Lonely Pianist Collection. At the end, Anna Sherwood, the NPC (non-player character) that led the player through the previous quest chain, opens a beautiful box that was designed to hold sheet music. The box snapped, and a magic flower that was part of an earlier quest chain lost a second pedal. Anna Sherwood: The split gift is a bad omen! Was there a split between friends? But what could have torn such close friends apart? The player must find some clues that can answer Anna Sherwood’s questions. I found a piece of sheet music and a photo. Anna Sherwood: A muse? Hmm, there’s a small sonata and a picture of a young woman in the sheet music. It seems that the young woman had stirred up strife between friends. The story is getting more interesting! Anna Sherwood: No doubt that Clifford’s muse, who won the hearts of the two creative friends, was a unique woman! But whom did she choose: the musician or the writer? I found perfume. Anna Sherwood: A gift of perfume? The box is open, but the perfume is untouched…It’s custom. Look at the label: “To my muse, Caitlyn.” It seems that Clifford confessed his feelings, but was rejected! Adrian Bloom: Miss Sherwood told me about the unusual perfume. It smells like love itself! But the bitter scent of sadness this house is filled with interrupts its sweet aroma. This is the first time I’ve seen this NPC in Seekers Notes. Who is he? It seems unlikely that this character was created entirely for the Magic of Music holiday event. If I were to take a guess, I would say that I will eventually find Adrian Bloom after I level up enough to do whatever quests he gives to players. I found ripped paper. Adrian Bloom: Torn paper? It emanates deep sadness and pain… Let’s put the puzzle of the scraps of sadness together and reveal the cause of the broken heart. It looks like a wedding invitation! The ripped paper has writing that looks like it was done with a very old pen. It also is covered with drawings of pink flowers. It very well could be a wedding invitation. Dear Eric! We invite you to our wedding. Your friends, Everett and Catelyn. Anna Sherwood: Oh, I’m so sorry for the poor pianist! His beloved married his best friend – what could be worse? I wonder how he got through such misfortune. It’s a pity, but chronicles never cover such things… The player, as The Seeker, responds: Somebody must remember. In between starting and finishing the Broken Heart quest, I went ahead and placated more Magic of Music creatures. Part of the event gives players rewards when they placate a certain number of creatures. Congratulations! You completed the stage challenge and get Fruity Delight as a reward! I had now completed Stage 3 of the “placate creatures” portion of the Magic of Music event. Lady Byron: When I was young, I was part of this creative company. Caitlyn Donner was Eric’s childhood friend and a talented portrait artist. She almost caused a duel! Many remember the story of the quill of discord. The NPCs in Seekers Notes blink. This results in unfortunate screenshots where the characters look ill, or upset, or just plain sleepy. In this case, it appears that Lady Byron is grimacing in disapproval about Caitlyn Donner almost causing a duel. I didn’t notice this when I was playing through these quests, but there is an error. The wedding invitation says “Catelyn”, but the quest text from Lady Byron says “Caitlyn”. Perhaps the person who was hired to write the wedding invitations made an error. I found the quill of discord. Lady Byron: Everett Starling, Eric’s friend, called him out to a duel by throwing down a quill. And all because they pianist kept courting Caitlyn despite her engagement to his best friend. But the duel never happened. Peter: The two friends fought because of a girl. Haha, how silly! Ben and I will never fight because of a girl! We are almost brothers, and I’d even give him my favorite yellow boat. Oh, but where is it? It took me several attempts to successfully find all the items in the Fall House location before the yellow boat item Peter requests dropped. The result was I was able to level up the rank of the Fall House. Victory! You have earned a new rank in location: Fall House. Increase your rank to get more rewards! Your current rank: Sleuth. Congratulations! You completed the stage challenge and get Berry Mousse Cake as a reward! I had now completed Stage 3 of the part of the Magic of Music that requires players to increase the rank of the Fall House location. The goal is to get to Virtuoso rank. Players that get that far receive special avatars. I found the yellow boat. Peter: Thank you, Seeker! We’ll go and sail the boat down the stream. You know, it’s pouring on that side of the house, but the sun is shining here! It’s strange, but we can play pirates. Anna Sherwood: I’ve checked the flower and found that the third petal fell off too! So the downpour is also connected with this house. This is bad: Heavy rain will be a serious problem for the city. Not to mention my notes! I have now collected all of the items that are part of the Love and Friendship collection. In addition, I had gathered up the special items that are required in order to complete the collection. All of these special items can be obtained by placating Magic of Music creatures. The items required to complete a collection all get smushed together to become one item. It doesn’t make much sense. I guess the purpose was to visually show the player that these items are consumables. Congratulations! You’ve assembled this collection: Love and Friendship. Anna Sherwood: Thank you, Seeker! My notes will be safe in a waterproof bag. But what will happen to Darkwood when all the petals of the magic flower fall off? It’s scary even to imagine! Congratulations! You completed the stage challenge and get Carved Chest as a reward! The Love and Friendship collection turned out to be the last one I was able to complete before the Magic of Music event ended. I was able to start the next quest chain, so I’m going to just post those screenshots here. Fortune Teller: Anna Sherwood is right: Something terrible is about to happen, and this time I can’t help you. The stars told me not to interfere in the course of fate, but I’ll give you a hint: The sky is crying with rain, and the flower – with petals. I found flower petals. Fortune Teller: The fallen petals that had absorbed a symphony of sadness and spiritual wandering are the key to the solution. But remember, Seeker, the key itself is not at all a solution… Helen: The weather is getting darker and gloomier with each fallen petal… I think I know what’s wrong! Seeker, please find a magic mixture of fertilizers, and then I’ll explain everything to you. I found bag full of a magic mixture of fertilizers. Helen: You’ve brought the magic mixture. Wonderful! The series of strange events in the Fall House began with a mysterious flower. If we prevent its withering, we can avoid a lot of trouble! This is the kind of statement that would only make sense in Darkwood. It seems that the people who live in this town, that is under a curse, have developed all kinds of superstitions and “magical thinking”. Helen: Oh no, the magic mixture didn’t work – the flower is withering anyway! But why? What’s the solution to this mysterious phenomenon? I found the symbol of music. Helen: Notes are the main symbol of music. Seeker, you’re a genius! The flower came to life when I played a beautiful sad melody on the piano. It must be all about the music. We need to show the notes to the Fortune Teller. Fortune Teller: You’ve quickly unraveled the secret of the flower. Now, I’m ready to look at the notes. Hmm… They tell a complicated tale of love and friendship. But only a song can tell the whole truth about another song. This was as far as I got with the Magic of Music quests. I’m hoping that the event will return next year so I can give it another try and see how this story ended. The last thing I did before the Magic of Music event ended was placate more creatures. Congratulations! You completed the stage challenge and get Moon Brooch as a reward! I completed up through Stage 4 of the part of the Magic of Music event that involves placating creatures. My best efforts were not enough for me to earn any of the special event rewards. Seekers Notes: Love and Friendship Collection is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me on PayPal.me. Thank you!... TV & Movie ReviewsGrace and Frankie – Season OneJune 2, 2017TV and Movie ReviewsGrace and Frankie is a show on Netflix. It is a Netflix Original. Grace (Jane Fonda) is married to Robert (Martin Sheen). Frankie (Lilly Tomlin) is married to Sol (Sam Waterson). In the very first episode, right at the start, the husbands announce they want to divorce their wives. The reasons why the men want divorces is because they have fallen in love… with each other. And they want to get married. Warning: There are tons of spoilers. Episode 1: The husbands announce they want to divorce their wives because they have fallen in love with each other and want to get married. Robert: “We can do that now.” When Robert married Grace, and Sol married Frankie, same-sex marriage wasn’t legal anywhere in the United States. Robert and Sol have been having a secret love affair for the past 20 years. Later, Sol and Frankie are alone back at their home. Frankie asks Sol if that is why he got Cialis. Sol answers: “Everyone gets Cialis at my age.” Robert and Grace are alone at their home. She is sad. Robert tries to console her. “Were you ever really happy with me?” he asks. Grace thinks about it. She says they didn’t have the most romantic life. “But I thought we were normal”. This indicates that Grace and Robert hadn’t had a sex life together in a very long time. Grace thought the end of their sex life was a normal part of being a couple, or maybe because of their age. Now, she discovers that wasn’t so. She DOES NOT say she was happy with Robert. Robert says that he “wanted more.” The implication is that he wasn’t happy in his marriage with Grace, and found what he needed with Sol. * Both couples have children who are now adults. Sol and Frankie’s sons (Coyote and Nwabudike) try and console their mother. They repeat a lot of the positive encouraging phrases she must have told them. She tells them all that is “bullshit”. Grace and Robert’s daughters, (Brianna and Mallory) are angry about what happened. They immediately take their mother’s side, and don’t want to talk to their father right then. Mallory has kids. She asks “How am I going to explain this to my kids?” I don’t think this question is entirely about her father’s relationship with Sol. It’s also about the sudden divorce. * A chair is delivered to Robert and Grace’s house. She opens the box, and finds a chair that has a photo of Ryan Gosling’s face on the seat. Robert is delighted that the chair arrived so quickly and explains it is a joke between him and Sol. * For the first time, Grace notices that Robert’s office has a framed drawing of a nude man. She notices a small frame on the shelf that contains a old photo of two men, one of whom has taken the arm of the other (as a man might do with a woman). She sees books on the shelf, one of which is called “The Male Member”. And suddenly, she realizes she’s missed all these signs. * Grace and Frankie get into an argument over which one of them is more upset. Frankie says “I lost my best friend. You never liked Robert.” * Robert says he can finally breathe again – now that he’s divorcing Grace to be with Sol. Sol says he feels really guilty because he devastated someone he loves very much. It’s clear that Sol and Frankie were not just spouses, but also good friends. Grace and Robert were not friends. * Grace freaks out about the divorce. “I did everything right. I played by the rules.” She is angry. Grace asks Frankie why she isn’t angry. Frankie says she is heartbroken. * Later, Frankie acknowledges that there were times she “knew” but ignored it. She says Sol once asked her to wear a dildo. She and Grace think that could only mean that Sol was gay. Episode 2: * Sol and Robert spent the night together and are still snuggling in bed. Sol says he wants to go up on the roof and shout: “I am a homosexual and I am in love with Robert Hanson, who is also a homosexual.” Robert smiles, and jokingly talks him out of it. * As the men are getting ready to go to work, Robert says “Just because we’re out now doesn’t mean we’re gonna be gay with a vengeance.” * Two of Frankie’s friends come over to console her and take her to lunch. One of the friends is gay. Sol and Robert aren’t the only gay men in Frankie’s life. Sol sent the two friends over because Frankie won’t answer her phone when he calls her and he was worried about her. * Robert cuts off Grace’s credit card (which she discovers while trying to pay for lunch). It turns out Sol cut off Frankie’s credit card, too. Robert feels absolutely nothing about doing this to Grace – citing that he and Sol are divorce lawyers and that’s what people who are divorcing are supposed to do. Sol feels terrible about it and is upset that he knows Frankie will be upset when she finds out. * Robert asks Sol, “Which is better, feeling terrible with me, or without me.” Sal says “with you.” * Grace sends her daughters to her (and Robert’s) home to get some of her things. (She’s staying at the beach house). The daughters notice the remains of breakfast on the table and realize that Sol spent the night there. They look sad. * Frankie has a fight with Sol and kicks him out of their house. She tells him to go live with Robert. Sol says they weren’t ready to move in together yet. * Later, Frankie asks: “Was any of it real?” That’s a normal question people ask after a breakup. But, Frankie is also asking if her marriage to Sol, who had been having an affair with Robert for 20 years, was ever real. Episode 3: * Robert and Sol are having their children over for dinner. Sol is nervous. Robert tries to calm him by saying they’ve already had lots of dinners together. Sol responds: “That was before I became their new stepmother.” * Mallory and Brianna arrive together for dinner. They wait at the door of the house they grew up in. Brianna wants to just walk in. Mallory stops her and says they can’t do that because it’s not their house anymore. Brianna responds “I’ve lost both of my virginities in that house” and proceeds to just walk right in. * During dinner, Robert and Sol hold hands for a brief moment. Robert’s daughters and Sol’s sons stare at them – not really knowing how to feel about that. * Coyote tells Mallory (who is mad at him) “We’re step people now.” * Brianna and Bud have a conversation in the kitchen. Bud is preparing a cake. Brianna mentions something about how Bud seems fine with what their dad’s are doing. She asks “Would you be cool with it if they had cheated with women?” * After returning to the table, after everyone starts eating cake, an argument ensues where the kids let out some of their anger and frustration. Bud says he is “not allowed to be mad”. When Sol asks why not, Bud answers “because you’re gay.” Episode 4: * Someone who worked with Robert and Sol has died. They are going to the funeral. Sol says that this will be the first time people see him without his wife by his side. Robert says the funeral “is not our coming out party.” * Meanwhile, Grace is pushing Frankie to get ready to go to the funeral early – so they can leave before it becomes Robert and Sol’s coming out party. * Grace and Frankie see Robert and Sol – as a couple – for the first time at the funeral reception. It makes Grace and Frankie sad. * Grace notices that Sol is wearing a tie that she gave to Robert as a Father’s Day present. This makes her angry. Frankie is angry too. “They can’t leave us AND share clothes!” * Robert and Sol haven’t decided what to call each other. Robert think’s they’re too old for boyfriend. “Soulmate?” Sol asks. Robert responds, “No! I don’t even like that one with straight people.” At the funeral reception, Sol tries to use the word partner, but then awkwardly explains that they are business partners at the law firm, but also partners with each other. He confuses the people he was speaking to. * A very old man who must have worked at the same company as the deceased tells Robert and Sol that he knows they are a couple – and that they are brave. He then asks: “When did you know you were attracted to men?” He goes on to say that he had “an experience” when he was in Korea. Sol kindly walks away with him and answers the man’s question. * Robert’s sister tells Grace that she had no idea that her brother was gay. * Later, Robert’s sister accidentally mentions that her daughter is having a baby shower. It becomes clear that Grace was not invited. Robert’s sister explains that the aunties would be there (Robert’s family is Irish) and that there would be drama and it was the daughter’s day. She asks if Grace understands. Grace says of course she understands, it’s for family. After Robert’s sister walks away, Grace looks sad. * Robert gets frustrated with Sol and yells at him for talking to the widow for too long. He yells at Sol about his shoes (that Robert doesn’t like). Robert yells “You’re just not doing anything right.” Sol responds: “Oh my god. You’re angry that I’m not Grace.” Robert sits down and starts to sob. It’s probably the first time he’s cried about the divorce. Sol consoles him, saying something like he “has one, too”. Robert apologizes, and they start using the word “boyfriend”. * Frankie speaks with the widow. The widow says to her: “Oh, I think your situation is much worse than mine.” The widow points out that Frankie might live another 20 years. The implication is that Frankie will be spending those 20 years alone. * As they are leaving the funeral reception, Grace tells Robert she is so mad at him. “I’ve lost everything,” she says. She lost her husband, her house, her family… * Frankie, upset by what the widow said, and by an unfortunate comment Grace said to Robert about Frankie when Grace was expressing her anger at Robert, leaves the funeral with Grace trailing behind her. Sol drives up in his car – to pick up Robert. Frankie gets into the passenger seat out of habit. She quickly realizes what she has done, gets out, and tells Robert “I think this is for you.” Episode 5: * Brianna tells her mother, Grace, that Grace needs a boyfriend. Grace tells her daughter, Brianna “I’m sending that sentence right back to you.” Brianna is single. Her sister, Mallory, is married with two kids. * Brianna shows Grace a profile of a handsome doctor on a dating website, in an effort to convince Grace to make a profile there. Brianna says she has used dating websites and has met some “passable” guys. Brianna mentions that one of the guys had a micropenis. Apparently, Brianna still considered him “passable”. * Grace tries to make a profile on the dating site. She struggles to describe herself. Brianna sees that Grace listed her age as 70 – which is her age. Brianna argues that Grace should say she is 65, because she looks 65. Grace says that wouldn’t be honest. Brianna says it is honest because that’s the age Grace looks. * Grace doesn’t know what to put in the section of the profile marked “turn-ons”. Frankie walks past the couch Grace and Brianna are sitting on and suggests: “That he’s NOT gay!” Brianna tells her mother to say she is “open minded”. Grace hesitates, concerned that it might mean some “weird sex thing”. * Later in the episode, Grace apologizes for saying something unkind about Frankie at the funeral. Frankie accepts her apology, but wants Grace to treat her better. Frankie points out that she is Grace’s friend. Frankie also says “I’m the other person this happened to” – meaning both she and Grace are going through divorces because their husbands are gay and their husbands want to marry each other. * Grace eventually finished filling out her dating profile and posting it. * During the episode, Grace drives Brianna and Frankie to the frozen yogurt shop (at their request). Both Brianna and Frankie are high. Brianna notices that the cashier is named Brian, and that he and her have the same name – except for the “na”. Later, Brianna tells Grace and Frankie that Brian sent her friend request on Facebook. She says “That must have taken a lot of stalking,” followed by “That was sweet.” She smiles. Episode 6: * Someone on the dating website wants to have lunch with Grace. The two of them have been briefly talking on the website for a while. The man wants to have lunch with Grace today – and she doesn’t want to go because she thinks she isn’t ready for that yet. She tells Frankie she likes the attention she gets on the dating website – and likes that she can get that attention and stay home. Frankie encourages her to go to lunch with the man from the dating website. Grace says she doesn’t know him. Frankie informs her that this is what going to lunch is for – to get to know him and to get laid. * Grace realizes that this will be her first date in 40 years. * Frankie gives Grace some condoms. Grace says she doesn’t need them because she’s well past being able to get pregnant. Frankie tells Grace that because of the “penis drugs”, older people are having sex and aren’t using condoms – and are spreading STDs. Frankie says she read that in an AARP article. There is, in fact, an AARP article from 2010 that explains why older people should use condoms. The article is written by Dr. Pepper Schwartz. * An earthquake happens, and Frankie freaks out. Robert and Sol had just made plans for dinner. (They plan to order paella from a restaurant). Immediately after the earthquake is over, Sol tells Robert that Frankie is terrified of earthquakes and that he needs to go help her calm down. Sol says: “It’s her first quake alone, and she only has Grace to comfort her.” Robert immediately responds: “Go!” * Coyote rides his bike over to Mallory’s house to deliver a children’s book called And Tango Makes Three. The book was written by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell and was published in 2005. The story is about three Chinstrap penguins at the Central Park Zoo, and is based on something that really happened. Roy and Silo were two male penguins in the zoo’s penguin exhibit. Roy and Silo liked to do everything together. A zookeeper noticed that they built a nest together, just like the other penguins couples do. But, Roy and Silo could not lay an egg. One day, the zoo had an extra Chinstrap penguin egg that was produced by another penguin couple who could not care for it. The zookeeper gave the egg to Roy and Silo, who took turns keeping it warm until the egg hatched. The zookeeper named the baby penguin Tango because “it takes two to tango”. Tango is a girl. Coyote takes the book to Mallory because he remembered that Mallory said that her kids were having a difficult time understanding what was happening with their grandfather and Sol. Coyote is working as a substitute teacher, so it makes sense that he had heard of this children’s book. * Grace’s date does not go well. After they are seated, she asks Charles if he’s “done it a lot”. He gives her a funny look. She clarifies that she means “this” and gestures at the table. She wanted to know if he goes to lunch with women he met on the dating website a lot. He obviously thought she was asking him if he had a lot of sex. * Charles tells Grace to watch out for liars on the dating website. It’s an odd comment to start out a new (potential) relationship with. He gives the example of someone who said she loved to play tennis – but he later learned that she was in a wheelchair. It’s hard to know if Charles was making up that example, or if he met someone like that. As the lunch date goes on, Charles gets stranger and stranger. He doesn’t seem to understand the subtle social cues Grace gives him indicating she doesn’t think he’s funny. He tells her if he’s too much to say: “Charlie it’s too much.” Grace immediate responds: “Charlie, it’s too much.” Charlie laughs and doesn’t take her seriously. Not long after that, Charlie starts making inappropriate, and gross, comments about Grace’s mouth and the steak she is eating, and this makes Grace so uncomfortable that she quickly ends the lunch date. * After helping Frankie calm down, Sol asks if she would like to get a bite to eat. They go to lunch. Sol texts Robert that he is going to be late (which leads to a misunderstanding – more on that in a bit). During lunch, Frankie asks Sol how it started with Robert. Sol is a bit taken aback. He didn’t expect to be sharing that today. Frankie honestly wants to know, so Sol tells her. Robert and Sol were at a law conference together, and later got drunk together at the hotel bar. They rode the elevator together. Sol says Robert gave him this look that scared him. The look gave him a feeling. Robert kissed Sol. Frankie asked if it was a big kiss. Sol says they kept kissing until the elevator stopped at their floor – the 26th floor. Sol says his whole body became alive. Frankie asks if that’s when their relationship started. Sol says no, that he and Robert didn’t talk about what happened. Frankie asks: “Why not?” Sol says they couldn’t talk about it – they didn’t know how to talk about it. The relationship between Robert and Sol evolved from sex to love. Sol didn’t want to tell Frankie about it because he loved her, and he loved their family, and he didn’t want to hurt them or lose them. * Grace returns home after the awful lunch date and finds one of Frankie’s art students in the kitchen, eating a ham sandwich. Grace has seen all three of Frankie’s students once before, the day she was trying to rush Frankie to get ready for the funeral. Grace knows the men in Frankie’s art class are all “ex-cons.” Grace is surprised and asks how he got in there. She tells him Frankie wasn’t home. The man says he found the studio empty so he went inside the house to make sure Frankie was ok. The man starts flirting with Grace. She is so surprised, she drops her purse. The condoms Frankie gave her fall out, and the man sees them. He makes a comment, and Grace clarifies that Frankie put those into her purse. It is clear that Grace is attracted to the man. She is a bit flustered. He tells her that he knows about her husband and Frankie’s husband. He says: “Please tell me that if he wasn’t fucking you somebody else was.” Another earthquake tremor happens, and Grace and the man end up passionately kissing in the kitchen (which leads to them making out for a little while before Grace stops it). The man leaves. Grace is smiling. * Later, Grace tells Frankie that one of her students was in the kitchen, eating a ham sandwich. Frankie says “That must be Byron. He loves ham.” Grace doesn’t mention the kissing. * Sol comes home to Robert three hours late. Robert invited some friends over (Al and Eddie, who are a couple). They are eating Paella. Robert and Sol start bickering, and Al and Eddie run away. Robert and Sol have an argument. Robert asks “Why did we blow up our lives if you are just going to go running back to her?” Sol said he texted Robert that he would be late, and thought Robert said it was ok. It turned out there was a miscommunication. The two make up. Robert goes to get some food for Sol. While he isn’t looking, Sol texts Frankie “goodnight”. Episode 7: * Grace comes home from an awful date. Grace tells Frankie that she took her anecdote (about saving a little bird). Frankie isn’t thrilled with that. Grace goes on to say that her date’s anecdote was about his fatty lipoma. He had a tumor that he named Farley – and it had teeth. A lipoma is a slow-growing fatty lump that’s most often situated between your skin and the underlying muscle tissue. It can feel doughy. It is not cancer. * Grace says she has another date tomorrow. Frankie points out that would be three dates in one week. * Brianna is cooking because she has a date coming over. She calls Bud to help her. Bud points out that she destroyed the Brisket, so he’s going to help her make stew out if it. Brianna says stew isn’t a second date food. Bud infers her date is with “Racist Dave”. Brianna corrects Bud – “Border Patrol Dave”. Dave sends Brianna a text, in which he cancels the date. Brianna now calls him “Racist Dave”. Brianna says that she doesn’t know what she wants (meaning in a relationship). Bud says she wants what everyone wants “Someone you can come home to at the end of the day who is happy to see you.” Brianna says she is getting a dog. * A big part of this episode focuses on the Spelling Bee, which is televised. Frankie and Sol watch it every year (it’s one of their rituals). Frankie can’t get Grace interested in the Spelling Bee, and Sol can’t get Robert interested in it. Sol unexpectedly brings Frankie a bread maker and some laser discs. Frankie sees that as an excuse to come over. Sol asks her to come over and watch the Spelling Bee with him. Frankie hesitates, unsure if that’s a good idea now that they are getting a divorce. Sol wants to continue their rituals, like watching the Spelling Bee together. Frankie says that she will be strong and say “no”. * Brianna adopts a foster dog she saw on the internet. The man who is fostering the dog brings him over. The man is cute and near Brianna’s age. She flirts with him – badly. He doesn’t appear to be interested in her, but is excited to give this great dog a forever home. Brianna is not so enthused about the dog. The dog is shy, at first. Brianna says the dog is ugly, and asks if it is the dog she saw on the internet. The foster dog “dad” gives Brianna the food the dog has been eating, and his toys. He makes a joke (about the dog leaving his patio furniture and grill so the other dogs could use it) – which Brianna doesn’t get. Foster dog man says she can call him if she has any trouble. Brianna spends hours trying to get the dog to love her. She fails at it. So, she calls the Foster dog guy, who comes over. He doesn’t see any problem with the dog (who is happily waltzing down the hallway and checking out other rooms.). The Foster dog guy makes a comment implying he thinks Brianna called to get HIM to come over. She basically agrees. They have sex. He leaves right after. Brianna is sad – until the dog leaps into her arms and starts loving her. * Frankie ends up going over to Sol and Robert’s to watch the Spelling Bee with Sol. She brought popcorn and tea. He is thrilled! They have a great time until Robert comes home and looks upset. Frankie leaves. Robert is miffed about Sol hanging out with Frankie. Robert admits that he is scared about Sol’s relationship with Frankie. He didn’t like that Sol didn’t tell him Frankie was coming over. Sol said he didn’t know she was coming over. Sol tells Robert that Frankie will always be part of his life, and that Robert has nothing to worry about. Robert agrees to watch the Spelling Bee with Sol – and they both have fun! * Grace goes on date three (of the week). It is with a man who owns a yacht and is an architect. His “name” on the dating website is “yachtcatect”. Grace thinks that is clever. She gets a table where they are supposed to meet. Unexpectedly, she sees a friend whom she hasn’t seen in years. His name is Guy, and he is a world traveler. But now, he wants to settle down. The yacht guy shows up, but hasn’t seen Grace yet. He is dressed like a television captain – hat, coat, and all. Guy asks Grace if she wants to meet that man. She doesn’t. Guy offers to sneak her out of the restaurant if she will have ice cream with him. They have ice cream together. Guy says he thinks there has always been a spark between them. They slowly start a relationship. He takes Grace to her door, and Grace kisses him. Neither expected that. Frankie sees Grace kiss Guy through the window. She leaves the television on – and the Spelling Bee – and goes upstairs. Episode 8: * Grace lets Frankie know that Guy is coming over for dinner (and she wants Frankie to either leave or stay in her room). Frankie says that Grace and Guy are gonna have sex. Frankie asks Grace if she is worried “because it’s the first time a straight man has seen you naked in 40 years.” Grace says she isn’t worried because she will turn the lights out (and he won’t see her naked). Frankie asks Grace if she is worried about vaginal dryness. Grace responds: “I am now.” * Frankie gives Grace something Frankie refers to as her “secret weapon”. It is a jar of “Frankie’s homemade yam lube.” Frankie calls it “Vag-a-kadabra.” She keeps it in the refrigerator. Grace is disturbed because she’s been eating the yam lube on toast. Frankie reassures Grace that that is good, and that her gynecologist says “You shouldn’t put anything in your vagina that you wouldn’t put in your mouth.” Overall, this advice is not a bad idea. * Grace doesn’t want to hear about the yam lube. Frankie says “It’s not a dildo. It’s a facilitator!” Frankie also says that she makes dildos. * Grace tells Frankie that men and women cannot be friends. Frankie disagrees. She is friends with Sol, and several other men, including Jacob (who grows the yams Frankie uses in her lube). Grace later informs Frankie that Jacob was flirting with Frankie. This takes Frankie by surprise. * Guy comes over for dinner with Grace. They sit on the couch afterward making boring small talk. Eventually, Grace asks: “Do you want to have sex?” Guy responds: “Oh boy yes.” Grace does, in fact, keep the lights out and does not let Guy see her naked. * The next day, Frankie asks Grace how the sex was, and wants to hear details. Grace says Guy “was no slouch in the boudoir.” Cut scenes make it clear that Grace and Guy had sex, but it was far from being good sex. Frankie asks if the sex was bad. Grace doesn’t really answer. Frankie asks Grace if she had an orgasm. Grace angrily responds: “You’re a child!” Frankie concludes, “So, that’s a no.” * Later, Frankie tries to encourage Grace to tell Guy what she likes in bed. She asks if he knows that clitoral stimulation is important. Grace is mortified – and it’s only her and Frankie who can hear this conversation. Grace says she has never talked about her clitoris. * The next day, Grace gets off the phone and tells Frankie “Well, Guy and I made plans for him to have another orgasm tonight.” * Frankie realizes that Jacob is flirting with her. She tells Grace, who gives Frankie some advice – but Frankie isn’t skilled at flirting. Eventually, she let’s Jacob know that Grace thought he was flirting with her, and so she tried to flirt with him – but is bad at it. Jacob says he thought Frankie was having a heart attack. The two of them smoke pot together. Right before Jacob leaves, he tells Frankie that he WAS flirting with her. * Guy comes over. He says he brought a flashlight. (He injured himself trying to find the bed in the dark the other night). He wants to take Grace upstairs. She stops, plays some music, and guides Guy through dancing with her. This is the closest Grace has probably ever gotten to telling a sexual partner what she likes. The dance becomes a metaphor for sex. Episode 9: * Grace got an invite to Robert and Sol’s wedding. She and Frankie make fun of the script (which is florid and loopy and overdone). Frankie asks: “I wonder how they decided whose name goes on top.” That conversation quickly ends. Typically, wedding invitations go one of two ways: (1) The parents who are hosting the wedding are listed, followed by the parents who are not hosting the wedding – and then it states that the parents are inviting people to the wedding. (2) If the couple us hosting the wedding themselves, the name of the bride always appears first (or “on top”). Neither Grace nor Frankie want to consider which of their husbands is “on top” in the bedroom, or to wonder if the order of names on the invitation match that situation. * Frankie, after seeing the wedding invitation, asks Grace to pull her finger, which Grace refuses. Frankie was asking for help – because she tried to remove her wedding ring the day of the funeral but it was stuck on her hand. Grace helps Frankie take off the wedding ring. * Frankie is making another batch of her “Vag-a-kadabra” homemade yam lube. Brianna comes over (to pick up her dog that Frankie was babysitting). Brianna asks what Frankie is making, and Frankie tells her. Brianna responds: “Mom, Frankie verbally molested me!” Surprisingly, it is Grace who explains the virtues of the lube that Frankie is making. The reason is because Brianna took over Grace’s company when she retired. Grace thinks Brianna could sell the lube because it works, and cites a statistic of how many women have dry vaginas (especially older women). This, of course, grosses out Brianna. Grace says: “It’s all natural – from farm to vagina.” Frankie says: “Personal lubricant is for everyone.” Grace makes Brianna take a jar of the lube with her to work. * Frankie calls out Grace for lying. Guy likes golf, and hoagies, and Grace is pretending to like those things too – but she really doesn’t like those things. Frankie keeps insisting that Grace needs to tell Guy the truth. Eventually, Grace says that when you are in a new relationship you lie and pretend to like things that you don’t like. Grace is worried that Guy will break up with her if he learns that they don’t like the same things. Grace is afraid of losing Guy if she is honest with him. Frankie encourages her to be honest with Guy, anyway. * Grace takes a small revenge on Robert by asking him to come over while Guy is there. Robert is coming over to borrow Grace’s wedding book – a huge binder that apparently has tons of information that is useful for people who are planning huge weddings. Grace wants Robert to know that she has a boyfriend. Robert comes over to get the wedding book and sees that Guy is there – and is overjoyed! They are friends. They are happy to see one another. Grace makes it clear that she and Guy are in a relationship. Robert is surprised, but seems ok with that. Guy says that he and Robert should get together – and Robert agrees and says he will call Guy. Grace says the she will attend Robert’s wedding – with Guy as her date. Later, Grace goes golfing with Guy, and Robert shows up. Guy says he invited Robert. The three go golfing, with Grace trying to quietly tell Robert that she doesn’t want him there. She accuses him of trying to flirt with Guy. Guy hits the ball very far, and Robert congratulates him. The two men put their arms around each other, and Guy recites part of a poem (written by Rumi) It turns out that Robert said he had no one to officiate the wedding, and Guy, who is an officiant, volunteered. He hoped Robert liked the poem so he could use it at the wedding. Robert later tells Grace that he thought having Guy officiate was perfect because Sol wanted a multicultural wedding and Guy has been around the world. * Brianna takes the yam lube to work and repeats what Grace said about it, and the “personal lubricant is for everyone” statement that Frankie told her. She puts some yam lube into small containers and asks her team to try it for themselves, and then come back the next day to talk about it how it made them feel. Brianna wants to move the company in a new direction with this product. Brianna mentions dry vaginas a lot – grossing out one of her team members. The team is made up of a woman (who just broke up with her boyfriend) a guy who is straight and may or may not be single, and a guy who is gay. The guy who is gay does not want to hear about vaginas. Brianna ends up using the yam lube with a co-worker – Barry, who is an accountant. She has sex with someone she not only works with but also is one of her employees. The next day, when the team is sharing their experiences with the yam lube, Brianna insists she used the lube “with herself”. * Frankie gets upset because Grace got an invitation to Robert and Sol’s wedding, but she did not. She makes an unexpected visit to Sol, who is living with Robert. Frankie brings him a chip and dip plate shaped like a sombrero. She also used the bread maker Sol brought her to make bread – which she brought to Sol – along with “better” (a non-dairy form of butter she hand made.) Sol asks why she brought him those things. She said she was there to remind him to get a flu shot – and that this is the last time she will remind him – because they need to have boundaries. He agrees, and the two try and work on that. Before she leaves, she tells Sol she is upset that Grace got an invite and she did not. Sol insists that Robert mailed Frankie an invite. This leads to a big, confusing, fight between Sol and Robert about why Frankie’s invite didn’t arrive. (Which gets resolved later.) Later, Sol visits Frankie (who is still living at the beach house with Grace). Frankie is in her studio, working on some art. Sol hands Frankie her invitation. She sets it aside – with a pile of mail, which has Frankie’s invitation. She made some art on the envelope, and forgot about it. Sol and Frankie get serious and ask their subconsciouses (which they have given names to) if Frankie really wants to go to Sol’s wedding. She discovers that she doesn’t want to go because it would be too painful. Sol is sad, but understands. They start acknowledging that they need to work on “divorce stuff”. * Frankie got so caught up with Sol that she accidentally blows off Jacob (the yam man). She stands him up on a lunch date, and he sends her a text. They reschedule, and she stands him up again (before rushing over to meet with him.) Jacob gently breaks up with her. She’s not ready to date yet. * Eventually, Grace starts being honest. She tells Guy that she doesn’t like golf, or hoagies (and adds some other things she doesn’t like). He accepts it. She tells him she was afraid that he would walk away if she told him, and that was scary, especially since she really likes him. Being honest solidified their relationship. Grace them goes over to Robert’s to tell him that Guy can’t be his officiant because Guy is her boyfriend. Robert shrugs that off and accepts. He tells Grace that he and Sol are getting into big fights about planning the wedding and maybe they should just elope like Sol wanted. Sol didn’t want a big wedding. Grace asks Robert what he wants. Robert wants the big wedding. He wants to tell the world that he loves Sol. Grace encourages Robert to keep planning the wedding, and points out that wedding planning is stressful. Grace says Robert would know that if he helped plan their wedding or the wedding of his daughter. There is a moment where they wonder if things would have gone differently if they had both been honest with each other about how they were feeling years ago. They decide that things would have gone the way they did anyway, but might have been less bad. Episode 10: * The episode starts with Robert and Sol, and Grace, and Frankie, and Bud in an elevator. They had just signed divorce papers. The elevator gets stuck, and Grace freaks out because she is claustrophobic. The episode is a “flashback” episode to events that took place long before the events in Episode 1 did. * The “flashback” takes place at the beach house where Grace and Robert, and Frankie and Sol, are spending the Labor Day weekend. Bud, Coyote, and Brianna are also there. Robert and Sol planned to tell their wives that they had become a couple and wanted a divorce. * Robert and Sol start trying to tell Grace and Frankie – when Mallory walks in with her husband. Mallory is super pregnant, and therefore, was not expected to arrive at all. This interrupts what Robert and Sol were trying to say – so it doesn’t get said. * Frankie is over the moon about Mallory’s pregnancy. Mallory’s husband says he sees pregnant women at work all the time, but none of them are as excited as Frankie is. Sol explains that Frankie “never got to do it herself.” Both Coyote and Bud are adopted. It has been established before this episode that Sol and Frankie are both Jewish. This makes me wonder if they chose not have biological children because they both carry a recessive gene for Tay-Sachs. * Mallory spends a lot of time in the pool. She asks Coyote to come over so she could talk to him. She asks Coyote how much cocaine he is on. He says he is naturally energetic. (Shortly before that, Coyote and Mallory’s husband smoked pot together, and Coyote snorted cocaine.) They talk a little about her pregnancy. Coyote starts to say something, that Mallory stops him from saying. She says something about “the thing we agreed never to talk about.” Coyote says “Imagine me with a 9 year old.” I think this means that Mallory and Coyote were a couple nine years ago and they either had a pregnancy scare (that turned out not to be a pregnancy) or Mallory had an abortion. Based on the timeline – Coyote and Mallory probably were in high school when the pregnancy (or pregnancy scare) happened. * Grace makes a mean comment about Frankie not knowing anything about pregnancy because she hasn’t been pregnant. Later, after Mallory unexpectedly gives birth at the beach house, fully clothed, while the family watches, Grace apologizes. She tells Frankie something like that she didn’t feel like a mother until she held her baby in her arms. Frankie says “Me too.” * Grace, who has been on the phone handling work related things for most of the day, later tells Robert that she wants to retire and give the business to Brianna. Grace says she hopes that her retiring will rekindle the relationship between her and Robert. * Fast forward to them all stuck in the elevator, and Robert explains why he stayed with Grace. “My heart broke for you, and I had to give you what you wanted.” * Bud reveals something he feels guilty about. That weekend in the beach house, he was sleeping on the couch. Robert and Sol were on the porch outside that room. Bud woke up and saw Robert and Sol kissing. Bud felt guilty about not telling his mom about that. Frankie and Grace reassure Bud that even if he had told – they wouldn’t have believed him. Frankie says “You gave me five more years with your father.” Episode 11: * Guy has been spending a lot of time at the beach house. Today, he admits that he “ambien eats” after Frankie notices more food missing from the refrigerator. Guy goes shopping to replace what he ate while he was asleep. He also says he “ambian orders” on Amazon, and has purchased the same pair of shoes, while sleeping, four times. * Frankie tells Grace she thinks Grace is going too fast with Guy. Grace says she is lucky to have him. She points out most men their age date younger women “who don’t have sagging breasts and chin hair.” * Frankie’s art student, (the one that kissed Grace during the earthquake), comes in the house to say goodbye. He is going to Mexico. (All of Frankie’s art students are ex-cons and all are adults.) Grace is flustered. He kisses her. Frankie comes in with the student’s painting – and sees them kiss. Grace says it was a goodbye kiss, to which Frankie points out that means there was a hello. Grace ends up telling Frankie about the day of the earthquake when the student first kissed Grace. * Robert and Sol are tasting food so they can pick a caterer for their wedding. The caterers have come over and are preparing food. Frankie calls Sol and tells him “Grace kissed a convict”. When Sol gets off the phone, he tells Robert about Grace kissing a convict. Robert smiles and says: “Good. She deserves some fun.” Sol is surprised by that response, and points out “but Grace is dating your friend Guy.” Robert says something like “but they aren’t married”. Long story short, Sol asks Robert if he kissed anyone else while they were together. Robert does not immediately respond – and Sol gets very upset. Later, Robert admits he slept with someone. Sol demands to know who. This conversation is happening while the caterers (who are a gay couple) are there. Sol says “We know five gay people in the world and two are in the kitchen.” It turns out Robert slept with one of the caterers, 12 years ago, when Robert and Sol were broken up. The caterer tries to console Sol by saying that he and Robert were incompatible. This does not make Sol feel any better. The caterer mentions something about how gay couples don’t have to fit into heterosexual norms. Later, Sol asks Robert “Are we doing this wrong?” He is referring to their upcoming wedding. He is worried they are getting out of one box and going into another. Eventually, Robert and Sol make up after talking things out. They end up choosing these caterers because their food is delicious. * Grace discovers that Frankie told Sol about her “kissing a convict” – and that Sol told Robert. She is absolutely livid! She tells Frankie that she is a private person and expected her to keep what she shared a secret. They argue, and Frankie tries to apologize. At this moment, Guy returns with the food he bought for Frankie. He overhears that Grace kissed a convict – that day – shortly after he left. Guy leaves, but comes back hours later. When Guy returns, he tells Grace that he is in love with her. Grace gives him a hug, but doesn’t say anything. She looks troubled by this news. * Later, Frankie tries to make amends by giving Grace one of her most embarrassing secrets. It is a VHS tape. The tape is a sex tape that she and Sol recorded in the 80′s, while wearing gladiator costumes. Frankie tells Grace she can watch it, laugh at it, tell the kids, put it on the six-o’clock news, do whatever she wants with it. Grace asks: “Can I burn it?” Frankie responds: “Please do.” Frankie says that the idea of watching yourself have sex is much better than actually watching yourself have sex. Frankie offers to give Grace $50 and another one of her secrets. Grace accepts. Frankie says: “I once made out with a monkey.” It turns out she made out with Mickey Dolenz from The Monkees. Episode 12: * Frankie makes a video on her phone saying she is moving on from Sol. She takes off her wedding ring (forever) and puts it into a box. * Bud and Coyote are tasked with throwing their father, and Brianna and Mallory’s father, a bachelor party. Bud and Coyote don’t know what to do. Mallory quickly puts together ideas for food and drinks, gets supplies, etc. Brianna thinks the Dads need to have a tacky bachelor party with jokes about balls. Bud and Coyote think the Dads want a classy party. Coyote sent invitations that had a cowboy in “assless chaps” on them. A friend of the Dads, named Nelson, arrives unexpectedly. Nelson is from Utah and doesn’t really approve of same-sex marriage. This makes the Dads feel like they HAVE TO keep the party very classy. The party is boring, so Bud and Coyote call Brianna for help. She orders a huge, pink, penis – that functions like a mechanical bull – and has it placed on the front lawn of the Dad’s home. Robert and Sol freak out. Nelson gets mean – telling Robert and Sol he doesn’t mind that they are homosexuals, but doesn’t want them to “throw it” into his face. Robert nearly punches Nelson, but Sol stops him. Meanwhile, the rest of the guests – all men (most of whom are heterosexual) are lined up around the penis/mechanical bull, waiting for their turn. Brianna’s idea made the party fun. Robert and Sol choose to stay inside – and do not want to ride the mechanical penis that is on their front lawn. * Frankie is sad – and Grace tries to cheer her up. They end up doing a “Say Yes” night. It is something that Frankie and Sol used to do. You have to say “yes” to everything that is offered the whole night – until you go home or get arrested. Frankie and Grace end up having fun. The fun includes accepting whiskey flights from two men at the bar Frankie selected. The two men are around the same age as Frankie and Grace. Frankie and Grace end up dancing on the bar and get kicked out. Meanwhile, Frankie’s car got towed. Frankie decides that, for those reasons, this “Say Yes” night is at least in “the top five”. * Grace admits to Frankie that when Guy told her that he was falling in love with her, Grace didn’t say it back. Episode 13: * Inside Frankie’s studio, near the door, there is a bumper sticker that has been posted sideways. It says “Viva Gore Lieberman 2000”. It is a political bumper sticker that was promoting Al Gore for President and Joe Lieberman for Vice President. The bumper sticker was for the 2000 election. * Grace wants to break up with Guy, but has been avoiding it. She says she is afraid that if she breaks up with him she might be alone forever. Frankie says that Grace needs to vlog about it. That evening, Grace had dinner with Guy and they watched two movies together. Grace didn’t break up with Guy, but still wants to. Guy comes downstairs and starts eating lasagna. Grace breaks up with him, and he takes it quite well. He offers to leave, but Grace insists that he stay because it was the middle of the night. She sleeps on the couch. The next morning, Frankie finds Grace on the couch and asks about Guy. Grace says she broke up with him. Guy comes downstairs and, based on his mood and words, doesn’t seem to be aware that Grace broke up with him. Frankie figures out the problem. “It was an Ambien breakup”. Guy was sleep-eating when Grace broke up with him. Grace eventually takes Frankie’s advice and vlogs (using FaceTime). She mentions Guy, and Robert, and then unexpectedly mentions a man named Phil whom she was in a relationship with. She discovers what she wants in a relationship, and that she isn’t getting it with Guy. Later, Grace tells Frankie that she has broken up with Guy (for real this time). * Robert is trying to write his vows but is having difficulty. It is important to Sol that they both write their own vows. Sol has already written his. Robert’s daughters find them and feel all kinds of emotions – so what Sol wrote must have been really good. Robert eventually writes a ridiculously long thing that was supposed to be vows but sounds like something written for a court case. Brianna asks her dad “Are you suing Sol for his love?” Brianna and Mallory take away the legal brief and edit it into something beautiful (and very appropriate as wedding vows). * Frankie goes to the home she and Sol once shared because it is moving day. They sold the house and need to pack up things and take them away. Frankie, Sol, Coyote, and Bud are going through boxes and sharing memories. They have a big, family hug. Sol says they should light the Shabbat candles one more time. The family agrees. Sol lights the candles and begins a prayer, but then gets too emotional and starts crying. Frankie sends their sons to go do the plans they had that night, and consoles Sol. Sol says “I have so much love for all of you my heart….” Frankie finishes “Hurts?” Sol nods. Frankie and Sol kiss, and they end up having sex. Both of them look quite distressed about that afterwards. * Grace comes home and finds Sol in the beach house. Frankie is not there. Sol looks extremely upset, and he’s not making a lot of sense. He says he wanted to make sure Frankie was ok. Grace eventually figures out that they slept together. She yells at Sol and tells him to go away, and that she will take care of Frankie. Sol is afraid to go home. To summarize, Grace convinces Sol that he has to tell Robert about what happened between him and Frankie, “or live the rest of your life the way you spent the past 20 years.” Sol goes home, still visibly upset. The viewer can hear Robert practicing his vows by reading them out loud as Sol stands at the front door, gathering courage to go inside. It doesn’t appear that Sol can hear Robert. Frankie was out on the beach. Frankie says something about not realizing it was over until now, and that Grace figured out it was over right away. Frankie says that sleeping with Sol “didn’t feel right”. She explains, “It felt like we don’t go together anymore.” This review of Grace and Frankie – Season One is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me on Patreon or at PayPal.me. Thank you!... Notes About Things in Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt – Season 1April 24, 2017TV and Movie ReviewsUnbreakable Kimmy Schmidt is a Netflix Original TV series that is about a woman who is rescued from a doomsday cult. Kimmy is trying to make a new life. The show is goofy and weird. I put together some notes about things that stuck in my mind after watching each episode. Warning: There are spoilers. Episode 1: * Kimmy and her “sisters” were taken into a bunker by the Reverend Richard Wayne Gary Wayne. He told the girls that the world had ended at Y2K (2000) and that nothing was left outside. People really did believe that something would end at Y2K, but it wasn’t the end of the world – it was the end of computer networks. Computer analysts speculated that the all the computer networks would crash at midnight on January 1, 2000. This would, they said, cause mass dysfunction because of how many things relied on those computer networks (including banking, satellites, etc). Way back in the 1970s, computer programs included a date code that started with 1900. Every year, the computers would automatically go up one year. By 1999, people started realizing that the computers would not be able to go to 2000, because they hadn’t been programmed that way. One speculation was that the computers would just roll the year over to 1900 – which would obviously screw up a lot of things. Of course, the world didn’t end at Y2K, and the computers somehow managed not to revert back to 1900. So, it makes sense that Kimmy and her “sisters” would believe that the world ended at Y2K. * Bunkers exist. President Kennedy urged Americans to build bomb shelters to protect them from nuclear fallout in the event of a nuclear war. A year later, the Cuban Missile Crisis happened, and some people built bomb shelters – just in case. Today, people who call themselves “Preppers” build or purchase bunkers (or bomb shelters) for their families to live in – just in case the world ends or anarchy happens. So, what I’m trying to say is it would be plausible that Reverend Richard Wayne Gary Wayne had a bunker. * Doomsday cults also exist, but I couldn’t find any that held people in an underground bunker. * Kimmy had a Baby-Sitter’s Club book when she was in the bunker. That series was published in 1986. It was a series designed for middle-school aged girls to read. That fits the timeframe of when Kimmy would have been kidnapped and taken to the bunker. * Kimmy and her “sisters” were on TV (as “the mole women”). Her “sister” Gretchen says that she met Reverend Richard Wayne Gary Wayne after he bought some of her hair on Craigslist. Apparently, it is possible to buy human hair on Craigslist. Episode 2: * Titus mentions something about needing to pay Columbia House or his tapes wouldn’t be sent to him. Columbia House would let people buy 11 cassette tapes for a penny. Then, they would sign you up for membership in a club or service, and you would start getting monthly shipments of cassette tapes – which you would be billed for. The process is called “negative billing” and (may not be legal anymore). Columbia House originally sold record albums, and later sold compact discs. * Kimmy realizes that Xanthippe, the bratty stepdaughter of Jacqueline (the woman who hired Kimmy) has been telling her friends a lie. Xanthippe said she had a boyfriend who was a surfer and that they had sex on the beach, and they only meet at night. Kimmy figures out that the story that Xanthippe is telling matches the story in The Baby-Sitter’s club Mystery #12. She threatens to tell Xanthippe’s friends. This would, of course, embarrass the stepdaughter who was trying to look cool to her friends. Those books are made for middle schoolers, and the stepdaughter is a high schooler. * The Baby-Sitter’s Club Mystery #12 includes a surfer named Thrash, who meets Dawn (one of the Baby-Sitters Club girls who has moved to California). Thrash calls Dawn “kelea” (after a Hawaiian goddess). Thrash is about 20, and Dawn thinks he’s too old for her (but she has a crush on him.) Thrash fakes his death and disguises himself, but Dawn figures that out. He then tampers with another surfer’s board (because that guy tampered with his) – and there’s some kind of surfing competition going on. The book does not involve any characters having sex on the beach. Episode 3: * Titus shows Kimmy an old photo of himself. He is wearing a t-shirt that says Dole – Kemp – ‘96. Bob Dole (Republican) was running for president. His running mate was Jack Kemp. They lost to Democrats Bill Clinton and Al Gore. * In the same photo, Titus had a “flat top” haircut, that was really tall. It was probably inspired by the “flat top” worn by Kid (of Kid ‘n Play). * Kimmy is given a smartphone to use. She flips it over and asks: “Is that a Macintosh?” People used to call computers made by Apple “Macintosh” computers, or “a Macintosh”. That changed to “Mac” later – but Kimmy would have been in the bunker when that happened. Episode 4: * Kimmy drags a huge tube television into the apartment. She says she can’t believe people throw away good TVs. Titus insists the TV must be broken and won’t work. Somehow, when Kimmy plugs it in – the TV works. * Jacqueline (whom Kimmy calls Mrs. Voorhees) tells Kimmy she needs to send a photo of herself to Buckley’s school. One of Kimmy’s jobs is to pick him up from school. Kimmy asks where there is a Sears Portrait Studio. The last of the Sears Portrait Studios closed in 2013. Jacqueline teaches Kimmy how to take a selfie (after explaining what a selfie was.) * Titus and Kimmy go to a video arcade because Titus needs to use the photo booth to make headshots for his audition. Kimmy comes back from the arcade and says she didn’t like how she looked in the selfie, and wants to use a different photo. The photo she wants to use is a “Baby-o-matic” photo that shows what Kimmy and Titus’s baby would look like. It is hideous. Today, there are several apps for that. Episode 5: * Kimmy invites her mole woman “sister” Cyndee to visit her in New York. Cyndee brings with her a boyfriend that Titus is convinced is gay. Later, it turns out that Cyndee knows Brandon is gay, but doesn’t care. He was her middle school crush and after leaving the bunker, she set out to achieve all of the plans she made when she was in the bunker. The reason I put this into this post is because I’m also watching Grace and Frankie (another Netflix original series) at the same time. Two completely different shows that handle the concept of a woman dating/married to a gay man in very different ways. Episode 6: * Kimmy is trying to get her GED. She is attending an adult education class in a public school. The teacher has totally given up and plays VHS movies instead of teaching math. The teacher has tenure, which he believes means he can never be fired no matter what he does. In reality, tenure gives a teacher the right to due process. It means that a tenured teacher cannot be fired without a school presenting evidence that the teacher is incompetent or behaves unprofessionally. Or, they have to prove that there is no funding for whatever class, course, or subject the teacher teaches. In this case, Kimmy’s teacher could be fired because he is clearly incompetent. Kimmy talks to the school secretary, who makes it clear that this teacher has been incompetent for years. Teachers do not automatically get tenure. There is a probationary period of three or four years before a teacher can get tenure. Once they have tenure, it is possible for a teacher to be laid off (which happened to a lot of teachers in 2008-2009 during the recession.). A union cannot prevent an incompetent teacher from being fired or competent one from being laid off. In short, the room that Kimmy’s teacher showed her, that looked like a teacher’s lounge where all the teachers were sitting and reading magazines – and getting paid to do it – doesn’t exist. * Somewhere in this episode, The Expos baseball team is mentioned. This team started as the Montreal Expos. They moved to Washington D.C. in 2005. Kimmy is surprised to hear that the Expos moved. She would have been in the bunker by the time the Expos played their first game as the Washington Nationals. The Washington Nationals used a red cap that had a curly W on it – which was originally used by the Washington Senators. Episode 7: * Jacqueline went to China and returned with her husband. Kimmy asks “Was everything there upside down?” This is an another example of Kimmy’s limited education before she was kidnapped and put in the bunker. In an earlier episode, it is revealed she never finished eight grade. In the previous episode, Kimmy tries to enroll in a Middle School, but is told she cannot do that – and that she should get her GED instead. * Jacqueline tells Kimmy that she thinks her husband is having an affair. She says that he is on the phone, and laughing, and she wants to know who he is talking to. Kimmy suggests “Maybe Gallagher?” Gallagher is a comedian best known for his Sledge-O-Matic sketch (in which he smashes a watermelon with a sledgehammer). He is still touring today. * Jacqueline decides to hold a fancy party and invite the person she thinks her husband is having an affair with. She has a plan to catch him cheating on her. Kimmy is working at the party, and needs to look fancy (which Titus helps her with). Kimmy was able to hire Titus to sing at the party. Before the party starts, Kimmy tells Jacqueline that she feels like she’s on Bravo. “They still show operas, right?”, Kimmy asks. Bravo is an American basic cable and satellite television network and flagship channel. It launched on December 1, 1980. Bravo originally focused on programming related to the fine arts and film. In the early 2000s, Bravo changed its format and started focusing on reality shows, fashion and makeover shows, and celebrities. Kimmy would have been in the bunker when Bravo changed its format. * At the party, an attractive man with an accent starts talking to Kimmy. He is a guest, and he makes an excuse about why he ended up arriving to the party early. The man assumes that Kimmy is also a guest, so she decides to pretend that she is a guest. The man notes that Kimmy has arrived early, too. Kimmy tells him that her assistant put the wrong time into her PalmPilot. The PalmPilot 1000 was introduced by U.S. Robotics in 1996. It cost $299, had 128k of memory and a monochrome, touch-screen display. 3Com acquired U.S. Robotics in 1997. In 1998, 3Com had to stop using the name “Pilot” because of a legal dispute with the Pilot Pen company. The PalmPilot became the Palm. The Palm III organizer was based on the Palm 3.0 OS. It cost $399. By 1999, more than five million PalmPilots had been sold. 3Com started selling the first Palm device with a wireless antenna, the Palm VII, for $599. Today, Palm and the PalmPilot are no longer used because people use smartphones instead. Kimmy has a iPhone (which Jacqueline gave to her earlier in this season). It seems that Kimmy doesn’t quite understand that the status of having an iPhone would be much greater than having a PalmPilot. When Kimmy was a kid, having a PalmPilot meant you were rich and important. This is likely why she told the man that she had a PalmPilot when she was pretending to be a guest. Episode 8: * Kimmy uses Titus’s Walkman. It plays cassette tapes. It runs out of batteries while she was using it. Kimmy was singing “Unbelievable” by EMF. When the batteries die, she says “Unbelievable!” The song topped the Hot 100 Chart in 1991. * Kimmy tried to have her GED classmates meet together as a study group in the library. Almost all of them stopped coming. Kimmy goes down the list of classmates, noting what happened to them. “Fatima got deported,” Kimmy says. * Jacqueline tells Kimmy that she is getting a divorce. She tells Kimmy about friends of hers who got divorced. One friend’s ex-husband “died on top of his girlfriend”. Kimmy asks, “You mean… like bunk beds?” * Titus starts his new job at a themed bar and grill. To make a long story short, he is dressed as a werewolf. Kimmy is excited. “You’re a werewolf! Just like in the Bible!” * Kimmy finally tells Jacqueline that she was a “mole woman”. Kimmy tells her this because she is trying to show Jacqueline that women can be strong (so Jacqueline will go through with her divorce). To paraphrase, Kimmy tells Jacqueline that she and her “sisters” ate bags of dirt and passed it into a kiddy pool to survive. Jacqueline says she hopes that was a metaphor. Kimmy says it wasn’t a metaphor – they needed the iron. Scientific American posted an article in 2012 about geophagia (people and animals eating dirt and/or clay). The article noted that dirt can contain iron. it also noted that dirt can also contain parasites. Episode 9: * Kimmy has turned 30. She says she hit the big 30-oh. She probably meant the big three-oh. * Kimmy throws herself a birthday party and invites friends. Somehow, the detective that found her (when she was in the bunker) arrives at her apartment with his teenage daughter. He wants to give Kimmy her birthday present. Kimmy is not happy to see them. The detective (Randy) married her mother while Kimmy was in the bunker. Her mom and the detective had a baby girl (the teenager that the detective has brought with him). Then, her mom disappeared. Kimmy tells them to leave. (They do, but then appear at the party later.) The daughter (who is named Kymmi “Kee- Me”) is played by Kiernan Shipka – who played Sally Draper on Mad Men. I find this interesting because I finished watching all seven seasons of Mad Men right before I started watching Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. * Kimmy asks Titus to select the playlist for her birthday party. She says “I haven’t been to a Sam Goody since 1988.” The last Sam Goody store closed in 2012. It was in San Diego. Kimmy is in New York City. * During the party, the detective (Kimmy’s stepfather) gives Kimmy a necklace that has a locket on it. Later, she takes it off and her stepsister, Kymmi, grabs it, saying it is hers and that it belonged to her mother. Kimmy points out that they have the same mother. The heart shaped locket on the necklace holds a photo of Kimmy and a photo of Kymmi. * Kymmi says she wants to go to the Olive Garden in New York City that has three floors. It exists. Episode 10: * Kimmy’s boyfriend, Logan (who she met at Jacqueline’s party) wants Kimmy to stop being friends with Dong (who she met at the GED class). Logan and Dong got into a physical fight at Kimmy’s birthday party. * Logan apologizes to Kimmy for the fight, and says he overreacted because he is not used to obstacles. Kimmy asks “What would the Care Bears say” about how Logan has been acting. He responds: “It would depend on the Care Bear.” Kimmy accepts this response. * Kimmy tells Titus that she decided to stay with Logan, and that she will have to say goodbye to Dong. Titus responds: “Oh no! Am I gonna teach you about birth control?” He seems appalled by the idea. Kimmy says “not yet.” In another scene, it becomes clear that Kimmy understands kissing but doesn’t have a clue what making out or sex is supposed to be like. * Xanthippe calls Kimmy a bitch. Kimmy responds: “You mean, the thing that makes puppies? Thanks!” * Kimmy goes to the restaurant that Dong delivers food from to say she can’t see him anymore. She discovers that immigration came and took almost everyone who worked there away while Dong was out making deliveries. Now, he needs to find someplace else to live because immigration is after him. Season One of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt was released in 2015. I’m watching it in 2017. What may have been an uncomfortable joke in 2015 has become reality for undocumented immigrants in the United States in 2017. Kimmy brings Dong to her apartment (which she shares with Titus) and tells Dong he can sleep on her couch. After they get there, she tells Dong that Logan is her boyfriend and she can only be friends with Dong. * Long story short, Xanthippe creates this ridiculous scene in an effort to encourage her mother to decide to let Xanthippe live with her father. Kimmy ends up kissing Dong. He leaves, saying he will find a new place to live. There is chemistry between them. * Logan later tells Kimmy that he was the one that called immigration. He thinks he’s hilarious. Kimmy breaks up with him, and rushes to find Dong before he gets on a bus. They become a couple. Dong says that he is still worried about immigration coming for him – and says it would be safer if he and Kimmy got married. Again, what was a dramatic moment in the 2015 TV show is something that has become reality for some people in the United States in 2017. That being said, the rules have changed, and American citizens who were married to undocumented immigrants have actually had their spouse deported (or prevented from entering the country.) Episode 11: * Kimmy gets summoned to testify at a trial against Reverend Richard Wayne Gary Wayne. She doesn’t want to go. * Kimmy talks to Jacqueline about all the things she’s worried about. Kimmy worries about getting Jacqueline through her divorce. She is worried about maybe marrying Dong. And now, she’s worried about the trial. Jacqueline takes Kimmy to a spin class called “Spiritual Spinning.” Jacqueline says it gets her mind off of everything except herself. * This is the episode where it is revealed that Jon Hamm is playing Reverend Wayne Gary Wayne. Jon Hamm played Don Draper on Mad Men. So, that’s two people from Mad Men (which I finished watching before I started watching this) who have appeared in Season 1 of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. * The trial is a farce. Kimmy’s “sister” Cyndee keeps calling Kimmy, leaving messages and texts, in the hopes that she will come to the trial. Kimmy and Cyndee have smartphones and know how to use them. Gretchen arrives at the trial still dressed like she was in the bunker. * Titus helps Kimmy see that the Spiritual Spinning class is basically a cult. It’s run by an (apparently) charismatic man, who tells them what to think (and what NOT to think about) and who rewards some of them with extra attention. Kimmy eventually gets what Titus is saying. She agrees it is a cult, and asks “Why does this keep happening?” This realization makes Kimmy decide to go to the trial and testify against the Reverend. But first, Kimmy shows the entire spin class that the guy running it is a fraud. Episode 12: * Kimmy and Titus ride a bus to Indiana so Kimmy can testify at the trial against Reverend Richard Wayne Gary Wayne. Titus is reading a magazine called “Land Mall”. It appears to be the bus version of Sky Mall, a magazine that people find on airplanes. Sky Mall is filled with stuff for people to buy (most of which are things that no one really needs). Land Mall doesn’t exist. * Later in the episode, Titus is wearing a t-shirt that has Z 101 FM on it. He got the t-shirt because he was on the air (probably talking about the trial Kimmy is testifying at). The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt aired in 2015. I am watching it in 2017. Right now, Z 101 FM is a Spanish language radio station from Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. * This episode reveals what the real purpose of the “Mystery Crank” in the bunker was. Episode 13: * Part of this episode, and the previous one, mentions viral videos. The man who sings in the intro of the show warns Titus that having a video go viral isn’t necessarily a good thing. The viewer can assume that the intro of the show was a remixed viral video that included an interview he gave to a TV crew as the “mole women” were being rescued from the bunker. Titus, who gave a hysterically bad interview on TV in the previous episode, had become the star of a viral video (when someone else remixed it). He is certain that the video will make him famous – and that being famous will solve all his problems. The first season of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt takes place on 2015. If I remember correctly, at that time, videos that went viral made the news (and made it onto multiple news channels and websites). That doesn’t really happen anymore. * The trial against Reverend Richard Wayne Gary Wayne takes an unexpected turn when Kimmy introduces a video tape that … oddly enough… is sort of a remix of its own. Each clip had the date and time it was taken right there on the screen. * The first season of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt wraps up the main storyline of the show. It also starts some new storylines that will probably be picked up in the next Season. Notes About Things in Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt – Season 1 is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me on Patreon or at PayPal.me. Thank you!... Where did the Children Come From in “The Lobster”?April 13, 2017TV and Movie ReviewsThe Lobster is a bizarre dystopia where everyone must be part of a couple. Those who become single are sent to The Hotel where they have 45 days to “fall in love” with a new partner (who, ideally, also falls in love with them.) Those who do not manage to pair up with someone are turned into animals. It’s a very dark and disturbing film, and you probably shouldn’t watch this one if you have recently had a romantic relationship come to an end. Warning: There are spoilers in this post. I’m not revealing why the movie is called “The Lobster.” And, I’m leaving out a whole lot of things that happen in the movie. The movie focuses on David (played by Colin Farrell), who has come to The Hotel. His wife of 11 years left him, which means he is now single. There is no indication that they had children. The check-in process at The Hotel is depressing. David arrives with his brother, who has been turned into a dog. He is allowed to keep his-brother-the-dog, but must keep him in the hotel room. People who arrive at The Hotel have almost all of their belongings taken from them, including their clothing. The Hotel gives everyone identical outfits to wear. The men are given some slacks (of two different colors) and some shirts. Women are given multiple, identical, blue dresses and multiple flowered dresses. Everyone is given just enough clothes to get through their stay (including socks and underwear.) My guess is the purpose of this is to make everyone look as much like everyone else as possible. There is a moment when the camera focuses on a group of the saddest looking people, most of whom look depressed and unattractive, sitting in their underwear, waiting to be assigned a room. At first glance, I found it difficult to believe that any of these people had a good chance of finding a new partner. David is asked the same question all guests are asked: Are you heterosexual or homosexual? At first, he answers: “heterosexual”. But then, he recalls that there was a man… so he declares himself “bisexual”. The Hotel does not allow that. If I remember correctly, the person checking David in says that he is not allowed to be bisexual. They tried that, and it messed up their system. So, David thinks about it a little while, and decides to declare himself heterosexual. I thought it was interesting that The Hotel placed no stigma at all upon a person’s sexual orientation. Being heterosexual was accepted. Being homosexual was accepted. Being bisexual was acceptable, too (and would still be if The Hotel could work that orientation into their system.) Later, David finds himself as part of a group that includes both men and women. Presumably, there are other groups: one made up entirely of men, and the other made up entirely of women. We never see those groups in the movie. Each person is asked by The Manager what animal they want to be turned into if they are unable to find a partner. The idea is that a person who cannot find a human partner might have better luck finding a partner after they have been turned into an animal. The Hotel doesn’t place any sigma upon a person’s sexual orientation – but they do have some very strange rules regarding sex and masturbation. No one is allowed to masturbate while they are at The Hotel. There is a scene that involves David and The Maid. She is kind of grinding on him, but in a way that seems very mechanical and unappealing. It’s a service that is being provided. The Maid stops before David reaches orgasm. It appears that the purpose of this is to… encourage the male guests to find a woman to become a couple with? There is a severe punishment for the men who masturbate in The Hotel. It is disturbing, but not as disturbing as the punishments that The Loners have for those who kiss or have sex. The Loners are a group of people who escaped from The Hotel and are living in the forest. The point I’m trying to make is that the people who are in The Hotel aren’t allowed to have sex with anyone else – until after they have become a couple. The Loners are not allowed to have sex with anyone, ever (but they are allowed to masturbate – so long as they are doing it alone.) So, where are the children in “The Lobster” coming from? There is a point in the movie where two people have officially declared that they are in love. The new couple is removed from the group and given a hotel room to share. If that works out, the couple will spend some time together on one of the small yachts that is owned by the hotel. The new relationship is closely monitored by the staff of The Hotel, as well as by the Hotel Manager and her husband. They want to make sure the couple is really a couple before releasing them from The Hotel. The Manager tells the new couple that if they have any tensions, any arguing, that they cannot resolve themselves, they will be assigned children. She says that usually helps a lot. People don’t want to argue around children. Things do no go super smoothly with this couple, and we see them later with a daughter that looks to be about eight years old. Where did this child come from? The couple could not be the child’s biological parents because not enough time has passed for them to have an eight-year-old daughter. Without giving too much away, there are scenes from The City. It seems to be the place where couples live. Everyone there is a couple. The police stop a few single people and basically ask for their papers. There aren’t any children present. Now, I suppose it’s possible that The City is a place that is only for adults, and that children aren’t allowed there. Maybe the kids are in school (or daycare) when the parents go to The City. It’s also possible that all of these couples have relationships that are smooth enough that they didn’t end up being assigned children. Later in the movie, there is a part where one of The Loners introduces a few other Loners to her parents. She doesn’t look anything like her parents, so one can assume she was an assigned child. “The Lobster” is a movie that gives the viewer just enough story, and leaves them to imagine the parts that aren’t specifically laid out for them. The movie didn’t give me any answers about where the assigned children come from. Here are my best guesses about that: 1. The children are “orphans”. A couple that has been assigned a child (or more than one child) breaks up. The parents become singles. In this world, people cannot be single. So, someone – maybe The Hotel – takes the children away from both parents. This allows each parent to find a new partner, or to be turned into an animal if they are unable to find a new partner. The former parent can focus all of their attention on finding a new partner without worrying about what happened to their assigned children. There must be a large orphanage somewhere (and it probably isn’t located in The City). The children become “orphans”. They might get assigned to new parents one day. 2. The children are from accidental pregnancies. Two people at The Hotel become a couple. They have lots of sex. They are either not using any kind of birth control, or their birth control of choice fails. The woman gets pregnant. There are no examples in the movie of a couple that is raising their biological child together. Maybe this accidentally produced child is automatically sent to the orphanage after he or she is born. This child would one day be assigned to another couple (who need a child because they cannot resolve their differences and are arguing too much.) It is possible that all of the adults in the movie were raised in an orphanage (until they were assigned parents). If so, then the couple with the accidental pregnancy would consider it quite normal to send their newborn to the orphanage. This society highly values couples, and places a huge stigma on single people. The society doesn’t seem to give much thought to children (or who raises them). 3. The children are “test tube babies” or clones or are produced in some way that doesn’t involve a typical pregnancy. Viewers must accept the premise that The Hotel is quite capable of turning a person into an animal. From there, it doesn’t seem too difficult to imagine that The Hotel collects DNA from the guests, and sends that DNA to a lab for the purpose of making babies. 4. The children are coming from an entirely different society that has an abundance of children and not nearly enough parents to raise them. Maybe the other society doesn’t care if people are single, or part of a couple, and also doesn’t care who decides to have sex with whom. Sometimes, a pregnancy occurs. Parents can decide for themselves if they want to raise the child or send it away for someone else to raise. 5. The children are coming from a situation that I haven’t thought of. Where did the Children Come From in “The Lobster”? is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me on PayPal.me. Thank you!... Things from Mad Men that are Different from Today – Season SevenApril 8, 2017TV and Movie ReviewsSeason Seven was the final season of Mad Men. I was kind of sad to have reached the end of the story, but I liked how it ended. I can always re-watch it if I want to. My husband and I watched the entire series of Mad Men on Netflix. I took notes on the things in Mad Men that are different from today. Before you read this post, you might want to read what I wrote about previous Seasons: Mad Men Season One Mad Men Season Two Mad Men Season Three Mad Men Season Four Mad Men Season Five Mad Men Season Six Warning: There are spoilers. Episode 1: Don flies to California where his wife, Megan, is living. She has a tiny black and white television. He buys her a huge console television. The thing is so heavy that it requires two big men to carry it inside. It looks like a cabinet with the television embedded in it, and I think it had built in speakers on either side of the TV. This was a top-of-the-line, expensive, color television…. that Megan didn’t want. Episode 2: * Don wakes up to a buzzing noise. It is coming from his alarm clock, which can be described as an analog electric alarm clock. The numbers flip over. * Don and his daughter, Sally, are at a diner. She wants to call her friends. Don put two quarters on the table. Sally takes the quarters, gets up, walks across the diner, and puts the quarters into the payphone that is on the wall. Today, Sally would have picked up her smartphone and made the call (or would have borrowed her dad’s smartphone to make the call). Episode 3: * Harry finally tells one of the other partners that he’s been lying – for a long time – about there being a computer that he uses to figure out the best ad placement for television ads. He’s been lying to the customers about it, too. There is no computer. This revelation sparks a conversation about the company needing to invest in a computer. Today, its hard to imagine an entire office without computers. * Betty goes on a field trip with her son, Bobby. She is a chaperone. Betty and Bobby ride on the school bus with his classmates, teacher, and a few other moms. Betty smokes a cigarette on the way, and ashes out the window. Episode 4: * The creative’s lounge is taken away from them because the office is going to put a computer there. It takes up that entire space. The only thing this computer could do was “crunch numbers” – literally computing. * The computer is an IBM 360. It is a mainframe computer that was accessed by remote terminals. It had 8,000,000 characters in bulk core storage. Monthly rentals ranged from $27,000 for a basic configuration to $115,000 for a typical large multi system configuration. * The “System/360″ became available for delivery in 1965. The office in Mad Men is getting it installed in 1969. Today, most offices do not invest in computers that are four years old. * Harry asks the IBM guy who is overseeing the computer installation to tell him where to find a keypunch service. The IBM 360 ran on punch cards. A keypunch service had people (often women) whose job it was to put a deck of blank cards into a hopper. The worker would type an operator command, and the hopper machine would feed one card at a time into a punch station. A series of dies punched holes into an individual card. Harry needed a service to make those cards for the office’s computer. * In order to operate the mainframe, a person needed to – by hand – put the stack of punchcards, in a specific order, into the mainframe one by one. * I have personally done that a few times when I was a little kid (because my dad sometimes took me to work with him.). Dropping the punch cards on the floor was a complete disaster. It meant you had to stop entering the cards, stop the computer, take the time to put the cards back in order, and start putting them into the computer again. If you accidentally put one card into the computer in the wrong order – the computer wouldn’t work. Once all the punchcards were correctly entered, you had to wait around for the mainframe to process them before you could start working from a terminal. * Don uses a typewriter at his desk to get some work done. He has a piece of white paper, then a sheet of carbon, then another piece of white paper sandwiched together. The purpose of this was so Don could make two copies of what he was typing at the same time. Episode 5: * There is now a secretary who sits at the terminal inside the room the giant computer is in. She appears to be typing something into the terminal. Behind her is a computer with a magnetic reel tape drive. * The giant mainframe computer makes a constant humming noise. The computer room always has the doors closed because it needs to be in an air conditioned room. Episode 6: * Peggy is working on an ad campaign for Burger Chef. She and Don decide to come up with a new idea rather than what they originally planned. Peggy mentions something about the ad including a mother who is picking up Burger Chef for her family on the way home from work. Don says “Mothers who work is too sad for an ad.” Peggy points out that he is surrounded by mothers who work. This doesn’t change Don’s mind. They end up going with a completely different idea. Episode 7: * This episode focuses on the Moon Landing. Everyone watches the rocket lifting off on television. Then, they watched the first space walk on television. * Peggy is in Indiana with Don, Pete, and Harry because they are pitching to Burger Chef the next day. Peggy went out to get alcohol, but Indiana was dry on Sundays – meaning stores could not sell alcohol. She ends up having to buy two cans of beer from the hotel clerk. Indiana was dry on Sundays until July 1, 2016. The laws changed on that date to allow distilleries, breweries, and wineries to sell alcohol on Sundays. The laws still did not allow people to buy alcohol and bring it home with them on a Sunday. Episode 8: * Don has an answering service. He calls and a female worker answers and tells him who called him and when. The service is not work related – it is taking calls from women in Don’s social life. * Joan and Peggy are talking to their client, Topaz pantyhose, about a problem. L’Eggs pantyhose – a competitor – is a lower price and is selling more than Topaz. L’Eggs pantyhose came in a plastic egg shaped container. Episode 9: * I didn’t see anything new in this episode, that you don’t see today (that hadn’t already been mentioned in this post or in posts about previous seasons.) Episode 10: * Sally’s friend Glenn comes to visit. He is now 18 years old. Glenn, and a female friend he brought with, ask Sally to go to Playland with them. Glenn reveals that he has joined the military and will be going to Vietnam. Sally gets very upset about this and rushes to her room. Later, Glenn returns, knowing that Sally is not there. (She was on a class trip.). Glenn came to see Betty. Betty gives Glenn a beer. The legal drinking age in New York was 18 until 1982 – when it went up to 19. On December 1, 1985, the legal drinking age in New York moved up to age 21. * Don was running late for work, so he shaves at his desk in his office while his secretary fills him in about what is scheduled for the day. He uses a battery powered electric razor. Those types of razors increased in popularity in the 1960s. * The office has a darkroom which Stan (one of the creatives) uses to develop film – usually for ad campaigns. People have to knock on the door before coming in because opening the door lets light into the room. Doing that at the wrong time can completely destroy film. Episode 11: * Peggy and Stan are working with children for an ad campaign. There is a table of toys in front of the kids. One of the toys is a metal slinky. Episode 12: * The office gets absorbed by McCann. They lose the computer that took over the creative’s lounge. Harry says that McCann has a team of people who do statistics – so they don’t need the computer. * McCann has an informal “ladies club”. The women who work there get together to complain about work (and drink). * Peggy’s last remaining creative guy chooses not to go to McCann. He is still at the old office. He says he is still being paid, so he thought he’d “make some long distance calls”. Long distance calls were very expensive at the time. Episode 13: * Don has gone on an impromptu road trip. He doesn’t carry luggage. Instead, he has a large paper bag with a change of clothes in it. The bag says Sears. Today, a lot of Sears stores are closing. Episode 14: * Don’s road trip continues. This time he is carrying a bag from Penney’s. The bag probably came from JC Penney’s (which, today, is also closing a lot of stores.) Things from Mad Men that are Different from Today – Season Seven is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me on Patreon or at PayPal.me. Thank you!... Things from Mad Men that are Different from Today – Season SixApril 7, 2017TV and Movie ReviewsAs my husband and I watched our way through Mad Men, I took notes about things that are in the show that are different from today. This post is about Mad Men Season Six. We watched the entire series on Netflix. Before you read this, you might want to read what I wrote about previous Seasons: Mad Men Season One Mad Men Season Two Mad Men Season Three Mad Men Season Four Mad Men Season Five Warning: There are spoilers. Episode 1: * Megan uses a Kodak Instamatic camera to take a photo of Don while they are on a work/vacation in Hawaii. The Kodak Instamatic was launched in 1963. It used a 126 film cartridge. The Kodak Instamatic 104 was released in 1968. It had a holder for a single flashbulb on the top of the camera. Take a photo with the flashcube, and cock the camera for the next exposure (meaning – roll the film for the next photo). The flashcube would turn 90 degrees to bring the next flashbulb into position automatically. * The maid was vacuuming while Don was watching TV. The television had two squiggly lines of interference across it – one near the top of the screen and one near the bottom. It was not a common problem, and the TV went back to normal when after the vacuum was shut off. Episode 2: I did not see anything in this episode that was different from today (and that wasn’t already mentioned in this list or the lists about previous seasons.) Episode 3: * The news in the background on televisions in various scenes discuss the Vietnam War. It has been said that Vietnam was the first “television war”, or the first “living-room war” (the room people watched television in.) Being able to sit in your home, in front of your TV, and watch what was happening in a war far away had an effect on people. At first, TV stations were trying to be upbeat – providing wire reports or a battlefield roundup. Later, things got darker and some “horror of war” was televised. The ability to watch the war on TV had an effect on people’s opinion about the war. In 1968, the Tet Offensive happened. It appears that this is what the television news is talking about in this episode of Mad Men. Episode 4: * Joan and her friend Kate go to a restaurant where there is a telephone at every table. The name of the restaurant is “Ma Bells”. The name is a play on The Bell Telephone Company. Ma Bells was the creation of Restaurant Associates. The restaurant actually existed. Every table had a telephone on it. People called their order into the kitchen. The telephones could also be used to call someone who was sitting at another table. * Megan and Don go out to dinner with Megan’s coworker and boss (who are a married couple.). During the dinner, it is revealed that the couple are “Swingers” who are interested in swinging with Megan and Don. Swingers were people who had open relationships. Some were heterosexual, and some were bisexual. Being a swinger became popular in the late 1960s, when the “free love” movement was taking place and casual sex was becoming an accepted thing among some people. Swingers felt it was natural to have sexual desires outside of your relationship, and to act on those desires (if the desired person was consenting.) Episode 5: * This episode focused on when Martin Luther King Jr. was shot and killed. * Someone (I forgot who) turns on a black and white television. A bright dot appears in the center of the screen, which becomes a horizontal line, that eventually spread out over the screen. This was how televisions at the time warmed up if they had not been turned on in a while. * Don takes Bobby to watch a movie. They see “The Planet of the Apes.” At the end of the movie, it’s clear that Bobby liked it. Don asked “Do you want to see it again?” Bobby does, so they stay in their seats and watch the movie again. This wasn’t unusual and was allowed at the time. Episode 6: * I didn’t see anything in this episode that hasn’t already been mentioned in this list (or the lists I put together about previous episode) Episode 7: * Pete’s mother comes to his apartment. The handyman calls Pete to let him know she is there. Pete tells the handyman to fix his mother a drink. The ice cube tray is made out of aluminum. It has a quick release handle on it that you pull up to crack the ice cubes. Today, ice cube trays are plastic and you twist them to crack the ice. Episode 8: * The office is visited by a “doctor” (brought in by one of the partners of the company that Don’s company merged with). The man is not really a doctor. He was brought to “fix everyone up.” Don agrees to see the “doctor” because he is suffering from a bad cough. The “doctor” injects several of the men in the office with an unknown concoction. Based on the actions of the men who took this injection – it appears that at least some of it is amphetamine. The “doctor” appears to be somewhat based on a real person named Max Jacobson who was known as “Dr. Feelgood”. Jacobson did have a background as a doctor – but was known for mixing up unknown ingredients (along with amphetamine) and injecting that into the (often famous) people who came to him for help. Jacobson “treated” JFK, Marylin Monroe, Eddie Fisher, and others. Episode 9: * Don stops at a gas station and tries to get the gas station attendant’s attention. It was a full service gas station (which was standard at the time). People did not pump their own gas – the attendant did it for them. The gas station attendant would fill the tank, check the tire pressure, check the oil, and wash the cars windows. People paid for the gas, but the other services were provided for free. Gas stations used to hand out trinkets as well – for travelers to collect. (drinking glasses, key chains, calendars, road maps, etc). There are some places in the United States today where people are required by law to allow a gas station attendant to pump their gas for them. It is no longer a common practice – and does not come with the extra services. Episode 10: * Joan tells a potential client that Harry works on figuring out where to place television ads “with a computer as big as this room”. The first personal computer wasn’t introduced until 1975 – and they were kits that people had to put together themselves. * This episode focused on the 1968 Democratic National Convention that took place in Chicago. * Megan watches the violence that took place outside the DNC. She calls Don, who is watching it, too, (while away on business). Megan says she can’t vote – but still cares about what’s going on. Megan is Canadian. She was from Quebec. * There is a lava lamp on the desk in the Creatives Office. The lava lamp was created by Edward Craven Walker (who was a British accountant). He sold the U.S. manufacturing rights in 1965 to a company named Lava Lite. In 1968, lava lamps were marketed to executives. Episode 11: * The office, which is in New York, receives fresh oranges from California from Sunkist (who is a client). In a previous episode, Roger’s daughter told him that her husband had this great idea about investing in refrigerated trucks that ship produce. This indicates that it was not easy to obtain fresh oranges from California if you lived in New York. Those oranges were a big deal. * Sylvia and Arnold (Don’s neighbors) have a son, Mitchell, who is 18. He returned his draft card as a form of protest of the Vietnam War. After Mitchell dropped out of school, the military re-classified him 1-A. This designation meant that it was extremely likely that Mitchell would be drafted and sent to Vietnam. Mitchell tells his problem to Megan (who relays the problem to Don). Megan said that Mitchell was “going to run”. This meant that Mitchell was going to leave the United States and go to Canada in order to avoid being drafted. Megan considers helping Mitchell because she has family in Canada. Much of this episode is about how to solve Mitchell’s problem. Episode 12: * I didn’t notice anything new in this episode (that wasn’t already mentioned in this post or in posts from previous seasons.) Episode 13: * Sally get suspended from boarding school because she used a fake ID with her mother’s name on it and bought alcohol for herself and the other girls. Betty calls Don, all upset. Betty tells Don that the reason why “nothing is working” and “the bad is beating the good” is because Sally is “from a broken home.” That’s not a phrase people use today in regards to a child from a family where the parents got divorced and remarried. Things from Mad Men that are Different from Today – Season Six is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me on Patreon or at PayPal.me. Thank you!... CockatielsFluffy CockatielJune 8, 2018CockatielsI was having a really bad physical health day and was exhausted. Morris flew down the hall, perched on my computer monitor, and kept me company. He usually has a short attention span, but today, he stayed put and got fluffy and comfy. Fluffy Cockatiel is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. The photo in this post is not allowed to be posted on other websites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me at PayPal.me. Thank you!... Relaxing Flock of CockatielsJune 10, 2016CockatielsLittle flock of cockatiels, relaxing together as the sun sets Relaxing Flock of Cockatiels is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. The photo in this post is not allowed to be posted on other websites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me at PayPal.me. Thank you!... Throwback Thursday: NapJune 9, 2016CockatielsThrowback Thursday: Max loved to take naps on me (2011) Throwback Thursday: Nap is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. The photo in this post is not allowed to be posted on other websites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me at PayPal.me. Thank you!... Throwback Thursday: ReadingJune 9, 2016CockatielsThrowback Thursday: Max was attempting to read over Shawn’s shoulder. Meanwhile, Gordo was simply getting comfy on the couch. (2011) Throwback Thursday: Reading is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. The photo in this post is not allowed to be posted on other websites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me at PayPal.me. Thank you!... Sort of Sharing a PillowJune 8, 2016CockatielsMorris and Poke can share a pillow together! They aren’t quite ready to share the pillow with Pepper, though. Sort of Sharing a Pillow is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. The photo in this post is not allowed to be posted on other websites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me at PayPal.me. Thank you!... Coloring PagesJohanna Basford Coloring Calendar – DecemberDecember 31, 2018ColoringI’ve been having a fun time coloring all the pages in the Johanna Basford 2018 coloring calendar. Unfortunately, due to my chronic illnesses, I was entirely unable to keep up with it. As such, I stopped somewhere in the middle of May, and skipped ahead to the December pages. My hope was that I would get through those before 2018 ended. After that, I will go back and color the pages I missed because, as I said, coloring is fun. December 1 and 2 December 3 December 4 December 5 December 6 December 7 December 8 and 9 December 10 December 11 December 12 December 13 December 14 December 15 and 16 December 17 December 18 December 19 December 20 December 21 December 22 and 23 December 24 December 25 December 26 December 27 December 28 December 29 and 30 December 31 Johanna Basford Coloring Calendar – December is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me on PayPal.me. Thank you!... Johanna Basford Coloring Calendar – AprilOctober 2, 2018ColoringI am slowly working my way through the pages of the 2018 Johanna Basford Coloring Calendar. A friend of mine gave it to me as a Christmas gift, and I’m really enjoying it. Coloring is a good way to reduce stress. It also helps my rheumatoid arthritis because it keeps my hands and fingers moving. I’m not healthy enough to keep up with coloring one page every day, but I was able to complete the month of April. March 31 and April 1 April 2 April 3 April 4 April 5 April 6 April 7 and 8 April 9 April 10 April 11 April 12 April 13 April 14 and 15 April 16 April 17 April 18 April 19 April 20 April 21 and 22 April 23 April 24 April 25 April 26 April 27 April 28 and 29 April 30 Johanna Basford Coloring Calendar – April is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me on PayPal.me. Thank you!... Johanna Basford Coloring Calendar – MarchAugust 19, 2018ColoringI’ve been working my way through the pages of the 2018 Johanna Basford Coloring Calendar. A friend of mine bought it for me for Christmas, and I’m really enjoying it. Coloring is a good way to reduce stress. It’s also helpful for my rheumatoid arthritis, which is in my hands (among other places). I think the idea is to keep my hands moving. Here are the coloring pages from March of 2018. March 1 March 2 March 3 and 4 March 5 March 6 March 7 March 8 March 9 March 10 and 11 March 12 March 13 March 14 March 15 March 16 March 17 and 18 March 19 March 20 March 21 March 22 March 23 March 24 and 25 March 26 March 27 March 28 March 29 March 30 March 31 and April 1 #BlaugustReborn Johanna Basford Coloring Calendar – Marchis a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me on PayPal.me. Thank you!... Johanna Basford Coloring Calendar – FebruaryAugust 8, 2018ColoringA friend gave me the Johanna Basford 2018 Coloring Calendar for Christmas. I’ve been working my way through coloring each page, and really enjoying it. Coloring is a good way to relax. Coloring is also helpful for my rheumatoid arthritis, which is in my hands. Movement is beneficial, so long as I don’t over do it. I’ve fallen behind on the daily coloring, but intend to complete the entire calendar eventually. Here are the coloring pages from February of 2018. February 1 February 2 February 3 and 4 February 5 February 6 February 7 February 8 February 9 February 10 and 11 February 12 February 13 February 14 February 15 February 16 February 17 and 18 February 19 February 20 February 21 February 22 February 23 February 24 and 25 February 26 February 27 February 28 #BlaugustReborn Johanna Basford Coloring Calendar – February is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me on PayPal.me. Thank you!... Johanna Basford Coloring Calendar – JanuaryAugust 2, 2018ColoringA friend gave me the Johanna Basford 2018 Coloring Calendar for Christmas. It has been making me very happy. I am a fan of Johanna Basford’s coloring books and was hoping to start coloring some of her art someday. Coloring is a good way to reduce stress. It also helps with my rheumatoid arthritis, which is in my hands. Here are the coloring pages from January of 2018. January 1 January 2 January 3 January 4 January 5 January 6 and January 7 January 8 January 9 January 10 January 11 January 12 January 13 and 14 January 15 January 16 January 17 January 18 January 19 January 20 and 21 January 22 January 23 January 24 January 25 January 26 January 27 and 28 January 29 January 30 January 31 #BlaugustReborn Johanna Basford Coloring Calendar – January is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites. If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me on PayPal.me. Thank you!...
