A SIXTY MINUTE ADRENALINE RUSH

Experience the fastest hour of your life where every second counts!  Presenting “Escape Room Yuma”.  Located on South Main Street in downtown Yuma, Arizona, “Escape Room Yuma” is an interactive mystery waiting to be solved.  Your group will find themselves in a themed room and you must use observation, out of the box thinking, teamwork and communication to gather clues, discover hidden objects and solve riddles in order to win the game. 

Escape Room Yuma Owner AJ Hughes

Although “Escape Room Yuma” just opened in August 2017, owner AJ Hughes opened “Escape Room Tucson” in 2013.   Escape rooms were inspired by escape-the-room style video computer games.  The first interactive “Escape Room” idea was developed in Japan in 2007 by 35-year-old Takao Kato. 

When I first met owner AJ Hughes, I was curious to know what inspired her to open an “Escape Room”.  She relayed a story of meeting several couples during her travels around the globe.  These couples were spending 1-2 months traveling and playing “Escape Rooms”.   Immediately she knew that she wanted to start her own business and thus was the genesis of her creative writings, games and puzzles for her first “Escape Room”.  Since creating that first game, AJ has built, created and designed over 380 escape rooms.  Now when a game is retired in Tucson or Yuma, it is sold to other “Escape Room” owners for use in other parts of the world. 

Your adventure will begin the moment you enter the lobby.  You will be asked to arrive 15 minutes before your start time.  You will watch a brief introduction video narrated by owner AJ.  This will be a brief welcome and introduction to the fundamentals of the game.  Next will be your introductory video specifically designed for your theme room.  Once that is over your will be asked to lock all personal items in a locker as you will not be allowed to take anything into the theme room.  No need to try to search for any background information.  Everything you need is contained within the room.  The escape room will hold many secrets, some simple and superficial, and others secured and hidden away. Your thinking and problem solving skills will be put to the test, as you calculate your escape or solve your assignment.  

Once inside the room the game master will greet you, close you in and remain with you throughout the game.   The game master is allowed to give you up to three clues if needed but bear in mind that you won't be told what to do.  The clue will be a puzzle as well.  You will be allowed up to three hints.  Make sure you really need the hint before you seek for help and all participants in the group must agree to ask for the hint. 

Sixty minutes to solve the puzzle

The escape room is designed to be unsolvable by one person.  The puzzles and clues will be logical and straightforward.  Perhaps the elements of the room will be relevant to solving the puzzle, but perhaps some will be insignificant and used for decoy.   Beginning clues are likely to be easier to find or solve.  You may find that your group has collected 10 things in the first half hour but you may not use any of the items until closer to the end.  Everything has been designed to keep you challenged to the last minute.  Should you solve the puzzle, you will only have minutes or seconds left on the clock.

You will find puzzles in three distinct categories:

Logical – Using basic logic, common sense and sometimes the most basic of math skills you discover patterns, messages and sequences to figure out, for example, a combination to a lock.

Physical – By interacting with items in the room and the room itself you figure out the meaning and use of a particular contraption in the room. But remember, there is no need to use a lot of force. All of our physical games do not require the use of physical force. If you can’t lift it with the strength of your pinkie, it doesn’t need to be lifted. The nature of all of our rooms is that they are played as if you were a cat burglar that does not want to be caught, because sometimes the order in which you find things may matter for solving the puzzle.

Collaborative – Some puzzles will require multiple team members to work together in unison to be solved. This is intentional to promote teamwork. It doesn’t matter how loud you get, but you will have to listen to each other and synchronize your actions in order to solve the puzzle.

Use the clues to win the game

AJ has designed all the rooms to create an authentic and fun experience.  She has gone to great expense, paying strict attention to detail with unmatched realism and a captivating storyline. Every detail in the escape room, whether significant or not, is logical and realistic.

The Yuma location currently offers three rooms: 

Da Vinci’s Office                               Challenging                 2-5 players

Bomb Squad                                     Medium Difficulty     2-10 players

Cold War Espionage                        Challenging                2-8 player

Bomb Squad

Cold War Espionage

Da Vinci's Office

The Sleepy Hollow room will be opening soon. 

My game was Da Vinci’s Office and with a total team of 6 we managed to win the game with 2:00 minutes to spare. It was truly exhilarating. 

Current rates are $24 per person for the sixty minute experience. 

For more information you can contact Escape Room Yuma at 928-210-7470 or email EscapeRoomYuma@gmail.com

PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN

A signature event for the Yuma community, the 2018 Yuma Air Show was held yesterday at the Marine Corps Air Station.  

Patriots Jet Team     Photo: Public Domain

The base gates opened at 9:00am.  We were traveling in a westerly direction on East 32^nd Street and had planned on turning left on S. Avenue 3E, the street that borders the base where the main entrance is located.  Police however, had traffic blocked on 32^nd and would not allow anyone to make a left turn onto 3E.  We drove past the entrance, made a U-turn and turned onto 3E at 9:01am. 

Traffic abruptly came to a complete stop.  As I flashed our “BLUE” parking lot ticket to the traffic control folks, we were told to take a right just past the main gate.  I would estimate the distance to the main gate at somewhere between 1 to 1.5 miles.  We did not make that turn until 9:48, an unbelievable 47 minutes to travel 1.5 miles. 

Once we drove onto the base property, further traffic patrols directed us to the “BLUE” parking lot area.  We backed into an empty space, jumped out, locked the doors and looked at the time.  It was now 9:54am but we are still not there yet. 

Next came the tram ride from the “BLUE” parking lot to the main entrance gate.  All in all it seemed pretty frustrating just getting to the admission gate but we were finally in and it was 10:10am. 

Shuttle service from "BLUE" parking lot to main entrance

A variety of ticket prices were offered.  I purchased the “Semper Fi Chalet” ticket.  This included covered seating, water, soda, beer and a lasagna and salad lunch catered by Olive Garden.  We very quickly located the “Semper Fi Chalet” tent.  After presenting our printed tickets we were given a bright orange bracelet indicating we held the Semper Fi tickets.  This was the only magic key to get you into the tent. 

Preset tables filled the entire tent area.  Each table was covered with a black tablecloth and surrounded with 8 white folding chairs.  Dividing the area in half was a rectangular buffet line, set and awaiting the food arrival from the Olive Garden.

Inside the "Semper Fi Chalet" tent

 In one corner of the tent stood 2 small refrigerators filled with 3 different types of soda.  They also had 2 large ice chests filled with ice covered bottled water.    

Soda refrigerators inside the tent

A beer tap with plastic cups was positioned between the soda and the water.

Beer tap inside the tent

Located just outside of the tent, in the sun, were rows of chairs set for viewing.  We were still early enough that we were able to secure seats in the front row.  

Viewing Area just outside the tent

We still had sufficient time to wander through the static aircraft display before the National Anthem, scheduled for 11:30am. A large variety of aircraft were open for viewing. A Fighting Falcon, an Osprey, a Hornet, a Blackjack, a Super Stallion, a Venom and many, many more.  Each aircraft had ample staff citing stats and answering the myriad of questions being presented to them.   

  

The beginning of the air portion did not start until 11:30am with everyone singing the National Anthem.   Before we were ready for lunch we were able to view an F-35B Lightning II demonstration and an MV-22B Osprey demonstration.  Between these two demonstrations they placed the aerobatic talent of Greg Koontz in a bright yellow Piper J-3 Cub. 

Greg Koontz and his yellow Piper J-3 Cub

I began to hear the rumble grow in the distance.  I couldn’t see it yet but as it moved closer and closer I knew that whatever it was – it was going to be one bad boy.  As it finally came into view it was truly an assault on all of my senses with huge flames coming out of the 3 after burning jet engines, fire shooting out of the smoke stacks, intense heat, deafening noise, and SPEED!  

Shockwave Jet Truck

The announcer then introduced us to Chris Darnell and his Shockwave Jet Truck. Designated as “The Fastest Semi Truck In The World”, Shockwave has hit top speeds of 375 mph.  It is a custom built race truck equipped with 3 huge J34-48 Pratt & Whitney Jet Engines originally out of the USA Navy T2 Buckeye. The combined horsepower is 36,000! It’s 3 Jet Engines make a total of 21,000 lbs of thrust.  Shockwave is owned by Darnell Racing Enterprises, Inc based in Springfield, MO and driven by Chris Darnell. 

Lunch was open buffet and served from 11:30am-1:30pm.   Seating was non existence by the time I decided to eat.  Seems that the next tent over was the “Tun Tavern Chalet”.  They oversold tickets and with inadequate seating in that tent, they were directed to send their overflow to our tent.  Lunch was listed as salad, lasagna, spaghetti with marinara sauce and breadsticks.  I did not eat any of the spaghetti but the lasagna was quite good as was the salad and house dressing.  I never could find any breadsticks.   I found it a little awkward eating off of my lap but managed to finish everything without dropping it on the ground. 

I wanted to have a beer with lunch so headed over to the corner of the tent where the beer tap was located.  Unfortunately, they were out of beer but I was told they had placed a call 5 minutes earlier for another keg.  Three separate times over the course of the next 45 minutes I made my way back to the beer tap but each time was told they were out.  This was very disappointing, especially considering the cost of the tickets for this special tent.  With no beer available that left my choices at soda or water so water it was.   About an hour before conclusion of the show, they finally brought in 3 boxes of Franzia wine – a red, a white and a rose.  

As the afternoon ticked by we were introduced to an AH-1W Super Cobra and a VH-1Y Venom flyby, as well as a HH-1N Huey Search and Rescue Demonstration.   There was also an F-22 Raptor and P-51 Mustang Heritage Fight,  and a demonstration of a SubSonix Microjet by pilot Bob Carlton.  

If you have ever had a dream of driving a Ferrari or a Lamborghini, this was your chance.  Precision Exotics brought in a black Ferrari and a silver Lamborghini.  At a cost of $149 you had your choice for a quick spin down the runway.  If you were 18 or older you could drive.  If you were under 18, you could only ride along.  I was shocked at the number of folks who took the challenge to fulfill their childhood dream. 

Precision Exotics     Photo: Public Domain

The last display was the Patriots Jet Team. The team is a civilian aerobatic formation team, based in Byron, California, that performs in air shows across the western United States. The team operates as a six-ship team, flying the Czech-built Aero L-39 Albatros.

Leaving the base grounds proved to be much easier than getting in.   With no traffic delays at all we were home in less than 20 minutes. 

LOVING VINCENT

A movie that would encompass 8 years, 860 oil paintings, 1,026 drawings, 800 letters and 20 people just to tell the story of one man - Vincent Willem van Gogh 

Loving Vincent Poster

First conceived in 2008 as a short 7-minute film about the life of Vincent van Gogh Loving Vincent was released in 2017 as a full length animated biographical drama about the life of painter Vincent van Gogh, but more specifically, about the mysterious circumstances surrounding his death.   

Vincent van Gogh in 1872 at age 19   Photo: Public Domain

With a budget of $5.5 million, an online recruitment teaser for the project announced they were seeking “very pure oil painters”.  The teaser went viral with more than 200 million views, resulting in more than 5,000 applications being received from around the world.  Production began with a team of 125 artists from over 20 countries. 

Date night this week was attending the showing of Loving Vincent at the Yuma Historical Theater in downtown Yuma, Arizona.  Film length was 1 hour 35 min.  Before we left Mike did not display a great amount of enthusiasm but this morning told me how much he enjoyed it.  Personally I found it to be totally creative, unique and informative.  I appreciated how the information surrounding van Gogh’s death was presented, leaving the viewer to ponder the question - suicide or murder?

It was July 27, 1890 and a bright sunny day.  Most accounts of what happened that day would have you believe that van Gogh simply walked out into a sunny field in the middle of the day and shot himself once in the chest.  Not dead, he mustered enough energy to get up and walk back to his home, subsequently dying on his bed. 

Vincent van Gogh self portrait   Photo: Public Domain

Why would someone with a passion for the world take his own life?  Was it a self-inflicted gun shot as some would have you believe, or was he shot by a 16 year old bully as others suggest?  

 

“We can not speak other than by our paintings.”  Written by Vincent van Gogh in a letter the week before his death.  (1853-1890)

Fun facts about the film:

1. 94 original van Gogh paintings were used as-is 

2. Another 40 had to be reimagined for the screen 

3. Many of Van Gogh’s canvases were 1.33:1, but some were long and thin, so they had to be adapted to fit the film

4. Rotoscoping was used for most of the animation.

5. Production included the shooting of sixty minutes of live-action over just a 12 day period.

6. Midway through production it was “pretty much conclusively” proven that van Gogh had cut off ALL of his ear, rather than part of it and, as a result, they ended up having to repaint around 3,000 frames of the film.

7. Out of 65,000 painted frames, just 1,000 survived.  After finishing the painting of each frame, animators had to then remove the full painting with a spatula. Consequently, just a fraction of the hand-painted frames survived.

8. An exhibition of 200 paintings were put together to accompany release of the film.

Next time you are in Museumplein in Amsterdam, check out the Van Gogh Museum.  It opened in 1973 and houses the world's largest collection of artworks by Vincent van Gogh. The collection includes world famous paintings like Sunflowers, Almond Blossom, The Starry Night and The Potato Eaters. 

The Starry Nigh   Photo: Public Domain

This was certainly worth the $7 admission charge.  Find a viewing near you or purchase the DVD online at Amazon.

US NAVY BAND SEA CHANTERS

Established in 1935, the United States Navy Band is the premier musical organization of the United States Navy, presenting 6,000 performances across the United States and around the world, typically traveling to more than 40 countries. 

United States Navy Band Sea Chanters  photo: public domain

This past Wednesday night the Sea Chanters performed at the Yuma Civic Center in Yuma, Arizona.  This was one of 14 concerts in 16 days that took the group through Southern California, Arizona and Nevada as part of their 2018 National Tour.   

Tickets were required but were provided FREE to the public.  If you plan on attending one of their concerts I suggest arriving early.  I arrived 45 minutes early only to find a massive line that extended from the front door all the way back to the parking lot. 

The Sea Chanters traveling group was 20 voices strong, mixed with equal men and women, and accompanied by electric/string bass, piano and percussion. 

I had not seen Sea Chanters in concert before so I wasn’t sure what to expect but they had me from the opening number “Circle of Life” from “The Lion King.”   

“Haul Away Joe”, “If I Were A Blackbird” and “Wade in the Water” followed.   As the evening progressed so did the musical style.  The keyboard talent of Chief Musician Caroline Evans was highlighted with an outstanding instrumental rendition of “Riverdance.” 

Chief Musician Caroline Evans, US Navy Sea Chanters   photo: public domain

Next up was a 7 member vocal ensemble presenting “Take On Me/Video Killed The Radio Star.”   This was followed by a five man ensemble singing “Leading Men Don’t Dance.”

Not to be outdone, the female quartet calling themselves “Navy Blue” stepped up for a simply stunning version of “Somewhere Over The Rainbow.” 

One of my favorites of the evening was a five song medley they simply titled “Men of Motown.” The five man ensemble presented five different Motown tunes, one by each of the five men, while the four backup singers enhanced the presentation with all of the classic Motown moves that we came to love with such greats as “The Four Tops” and “The Temptations.”  

Next, a switch to Broadway with “Seasons of Love” from “Rent” and the classic "525,600 minutes". It was fantastic.

The mood then begins to change again with “Eternal Father”, followed by “Oh America/Color Me America”.  Wrapping up the show was the “Armed Forces on Parade” honoring the veterans present, each standing as their branch was introduced. This portion brought tears to my eyes. 

After a standing ovation, an encore of a 1960’s medley was presented.  It didn't have a title and I’m not sure how many songs they did but my guess is 10-12. It was just so fun as this was my generation music. 

The entire evening is what music is all about.  I once had a teacher tell me “If it doesn’t evoke emotion then what good is it?”  I have never forgotten those words and the performance by the Sea Chanters struck a cord with every song.  Feelings of faith, comfort, fun and above all - patriotism and pride for living in the greatest country in the world.  

Whether performing at Carnegie Hall, the White House or a little rural civic auditorium in Yuma, Arizona; sharing the stage with Ernest Borgnine, Itzhak Perlman, Branford Marsalis or Vince Gill, or appearing on television programs like “Today”, “Meet the Press” and “Good Morning America” and in films like “Clear and Present Danger”, the United States Navy Band is constantly reaffirming why they are “The World’s Finest.”  Definitely a must see if you are anywhere close to a concert venue. 

You can sign up online to be placed on their concert mailing list.  You will be glad you did.