Call it lame. Call it Nerd Heaven. Call it what you like, but there's a new arcade in town. The Pinballz arcade just opened last November and is becoming increasingly popular to young and old people alike. Little kids at a birthday party, 40 year olds on a nostalgia trip; all are welcome. The arcade has over 90 different kinds of Pinball machines, as well as arcade games of all shapes and sizes. From Tron to Pacman, Skee ball to Wheel of Fortune, the Pinballz arcade has it all. Date night, girls night out, whatever, Pinballz is the place to be. For the so inclined, the arcade has several clinics set up for people who are interested in honing their flipper skills. Tournaments and special events give you a chance to compete with other players and win prizes. Whether you are considering buying, or just looking for a good time, the Pinballz arcade is a great place to check out.

Kathy H.

Cap10K Feature Story

Right now my feature story is going pretty well. Doing the interviews was a lot of fun, since I actually ran the race instead of waiting at the beginning and the end of the race like I had originally planned. It was cool running alongside different participants and interviewing them as they ran the race. If you've never been to the cap 10K, you definitely should try it out. All the costumes, live music, and

funny posters along the way made it a lot easier to run. My interviewees were all pretty interesting people wearing cool costumes, and all in all it was a lot of fun to interview the people.

JRod

My interview experience

I had a pretty successful interviewing experience. I was interview friends that I knew well, and i was able to set up interviews with the first three people I asked. The topic was something they were all very familiar with, so they had no trouble talking about it. I went to talk to the people, and it seemed like they had a different kind of attitude while being interviewed, compared to the one they usually express. They seemed a little bit more serious, and made more attempts to talk formally. This could have been because they had experienced ezine, and they know how important it is to have good quotes. Either way, I was able to get some interesting quotes out of it. However, there were times when I could not get a good answer, and the interviewee would only respond with 1-3 word sentences. I attempted to use different follow up questions, to try and get them to make a decent quote, but at times, it was to no avail. Also, because I knew the interviewees well, every once in a while, they would go a little bit off topic and talk about something else, but I was able to keep the interview on track. Overall, it was a pretty interesting experience.
-Los Spurs

Giving Back

With the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan, we've all heard about celebrities reaching out to help the Japanese people recover. Japanese players in Major league Baseball have asked for moments of silence before games shortly after the quake, and organizations such as the Skiers Helping Japan have been formed by groups of former and current athletes to send Japan encouragement and money. One particularly interesting case is that of pro golfer Ryo Ishikawa

, a 19-year old golf phenom who had family and friends in Japan during the disaster. He announced he was doing something few other athletes would volunteer to do: He will give all his tournament winnings to Japan, as well as $750 per birdie. Last year he made 341 birdies, making the total sum of money he is estimated to donate around $2 million. What Ishikawa is doing right now is simply amazing. Giving away the majority of his total earnings each year (the amount of money does not include sponsorship deals), is an incredible deed that deserves recognition. Wealthy people all over the world are contributing, but relief will need to continue over a longer period of time in order for Japan to recover as much as possible. Keeping swinging Ishikawa. All of Japan is rooting for you.

-JROD

NFL players-From a Florida mall to Uganda

With a possibility of no NFL season next year, the players need to do something with their spare time. According to the article here, the football have some pretty different ideas. 10 players, including Roy Williams, Adrian Peterson, and Santonio Holmes, spent a week in Uganda doing a variety of different tasks. They helped to dig water wells at schools, helped to fit hearing aids, and also passed out "mislabeled" super bowl championship shirts that were made if the Jets had won. I think it is really cool that they are spending their time helping others. I also found it interesting that they actually got to hand out the shirts. I had already know that the shirts were given to poorer countries, but I did not know that on occasion actual players distribute the shirts. Chad Ochocinco is staying in shape by spending his time on the reserve team for a soccer club in Kansas city. He is very excited that he made it on the squad, and he says he will be in great shape, because soccer is a lot longer time period, without the breaks in between. His action is not as great as going to Uganda, but it's always good to stay in shape. Then, with an entirely unproductive story, is Dez Bryant. Now Dez Bryant is one of my favorite players as far as skills go, but as an NFL player, he needs to make sure he behaves well in public, which is the opposite of what he did. In a Florida mall, Dez Bryant and his "posse" had been kicked out after violating the dress code by having his pants too low. He was asked to pull up his pants, but being who he is, he argued with the security, and then was kicked out of the mall.

-Los Spurs

Flying Fish???

While vacationing in Florida with her family on tuesday, Jenny Hausch was attacked by this 200 pound stingray. But Jenny wasn't in the water. Sitting in their tour boat, the stingray jumped out of the water and struck her in the chest. A Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission team tied a rope around the fish to pull it back into the water. Jenny was apparently unharmed, but another man was stung and got the barb stuck in his chest. Surgeons on Wednsday and Thursday were able to remove it without any further damage. The stingray is protected in Florida waters and is considered to be a non-aggressive species and of little danger to humans. I guess for one stingray, flying under the sea just wasn't good enough.

Link for more information.

Kathy H.

Why Baseball Will Never Escape Performance Enhancing Drugs

Barry Bonds is back on trial, this time for perjury and obstruction of justice. A recent article by ESPN is showing us once again how Barry Bonds has become the poster boy for one of the darkest parts of Major League Baseball: Performance Enhancing Drugs, or PED's. Steve Hoskins, a business partner and friend of Bonds, is now testifying that he had seen Bonds and his trainer Greg Anderson walk into a room with syringe and needle in hand at least 2 or 3 times each spring training from 2000-2003. PED's are arguably the most controversial part of Major League Baseball, with the records of todays most famous pros tarnished by accusations and court cases. With so many pros now admitting that they used performance enhancing drugs at one point, the questions about the Hall of Fame remain. Should players who admitted using PED's at one point during their career even be considered for Hall of Fame. I dont think so, considering how they have greatly damaged the face of baseball for a long time to come. When people look back, they'll wonder why great players such as Andy Pettite, or stars such as Alex Rodriguez aren't in the Hall of Fame.The amount of players violating the rules has made it so this era of cheating will never be forgotten. Comment on whether or not you think players who cheated should be allowed in the Hall of Fame, or anything else you want to let us know.
-Jrod