Starz's New Hit Series "Black Sails"

Because of movies like "The Rock", "Pearl Harbor" and more recently the "Transformers" series, when Michael Bay stamps his name on anything people's ears perk up, So start perking your ears, because Bay has done it again. 

Starz's new series "Black Sails" has become one of the most talked about shows this year. It is an intense, provocative, and an accurate depiction of the pirates life as you have never seen it before. 

This isn't another kid friendly "Pirates of The Caribbean" knock off. The Co-Creators Robert Levine and Jonathan Steinberg wanted to show the more realistic side of the historically correct life of a pirate, that included the harsh conditions at sea and the brothels on land.

"On this show, sex isn't just sex and murders have meaning; such things are acts of power and politics," said Makeisha Toby from thewrap.com

"Black Sails" was created and written as a prequel to Robert Louis Stevenson's "Treasure Island", with Captain Flint (Toby Stephens), and all his pirates. Only this version of Captain Flint isn't the one we all remember. 

"Flint is an extreme libertarian; a would-be king; a man who yearns to leave the sea, settle down, find peace; an incurably restless, rabid animal; and, of course, a criminal," said Jeff Jensen from ew.com.  

He will stop it nothing to find the largest treasure in all of the world, and he will go through anyone that tries to stand in his way.

The story begins twenty years prior to "Treasure Island" in a place called New Providence Island. This is an island that the British Navy watches very closely because it has become a haven for pirates, from all walks of life, to come and hide their smuggled goods, enjoy their riches, and embrace the true extent of a pirate's lifestyle. 

The Island is controlled by Richard Guthrie(Sean Cameron Michael), who is depicted as the kingpin to all illegal pirate trade, and his daughter Eleanor (Hannah New).

Eleanor is an assertive and independent woman that somehow holds her own in the midst of drunk and disorderly pirates that see her as just another prostitute.

Captain Flint isn't the only one Eleanor has to deal with though. Possibly one of the most ruthless, and cutthroat pirates of the show is Captain Charles Vane (Zach McGowan). 

Captain Vane is the wild card of this show. You will never know what he is going to do next, and if Captain Flint never makes it to "Treasure Island" Vane may be the reason why.

This show is fueled by high intensity situations from beginning to end, there is no time to blink.

"The first episode delivers all the swords, blood, sex and nudity that a Starz Subscriber may be seeking, but slowly, through the next three, it becomes clear that "Black Sails" has more ambition than merely artfully framing a lesbian sex scene or a sword fight," said Tim Goodman from Hollywoodreporter.com

Because of the huge turnout during Comic-Con 2013 and a lot of support from fans, the second season of "Black Sails" was guaranteed before the series premiere aired. 

Though the first season only included eight episodes, they are all an hour long. You can watch the pilot episode on tv.com if you don't have Starz and we all know inevitably it will make its way to Netflix in no time.

The second season however will have the standard 10 episodes that most Starz's shows have and will not air until sometime in 2015, so there is plenty of time to catch up on this must-watch show.

At a Glance:
Network: Starz
Starring: Toby Stephens, Hannah New, Zach McGowan
Production: Film Afrika Worldwide, Platinum Dunes, Quaker Moving Pictures
Genre: Adventure, Drama
Rated: TV-14
Overall Rating: 5 of 5

"Faces of Tattoos"

The past few years I have noticed that there really isn't a negative stereotype surrounding tattoos anymore. Everyone has them and everyone has there own reason, some just get them just because, some get them to remember a moment or place in time, and some get them to remember a person.  

Jaime Kirk an administrative assistant at Kaiser Permanente dental lab in Portland, Oregon
His "pirate crew tattoo" is for simply his love of pirates.  

Hani Jama, a student at PCC and her tattoo of her favorite childhood cartoon "My Neighbor Totoro",
 created by Studio Ghibli

Len Wilson a Dental Technician at Kaiser Permanente, this is his "guardian angel".
He actually covered up his old tattoo of an "angel of death". 

Caedra Spears a full-time nanny and her tattoo of a northwest forests. she simply enjoys the outdoors.

Joey Taylor a tattoo artist at Sacred Art, his favorite tattoo being the "ace of spades" on his left arm. He always has an ace up his sleeve. 

Dylan Davis and the Beavers take game one!

OSU Beavers baseball Wins game 1 in front of 3,200 in their 14th regional appearance by beating the UTSA Roadrunners tonight  5-4. The Beavers will now face the Gouchos from UC Santa Barbara tomorrow night at 5:00 pm on ESPN2/ESPNU/ESPN3 at Goss Stadium.

OSU starter Matt Boyd had another good outing throwing 114 pitches, striking out 8 batters, allowing only 4 hits and only allowing 2 runs in 6.2 innnings pitched.

The Beavers Started off slow offensively, and fell behind early 1-0 in the first inning. Their first run came in the 4th inning on a fielders choice hit with the bases loaded by third baseman Kavin Keyes, which allowed Dylan Davis to score.

In the 5th inning Pat Casey was asked about what adjustments needed to be made offensively to get the bats going. "Our guys need to be more patient, and wait for the pitch you want, and we just need to start swinging at better pitches."

The Roadrunners took the lead again in the 6th with Mike Warren's RBI Single. Beavers immediately answered with 2 runs in the bottom of the 6th to regain the lead. The first coming from a Sac fly from Kavin Keyes. The second came when UTSA pitcher Matt Sims walked Tyler Smith with the bases loaded and 2 outs scoring Ryan Barnes.

The Roadrunners answered by scoring a single run in each of the next 2 innings and they ended up taking the lead into the bottom of the 9th.

The Beavers now 3 outs away from becoming the 12 national seed in history to lose in a regional game one, and would be the second team to do so in the last 4 years.

Tyler Smith advanced to second on a sac bunt by second baseman Andy Peterson, putting the tying run on second and the PAC 12 player of the year in Michael Conforto at the plate with one out. Conforto is hit by a low and inside pitch just above the ankle by pitcher Matt Sims.

The winning run is now on first with Dylan Davis at the plate. Davis jumps on the first pitch he sees and connects sending the ball into the gap in right center field scoring both Smith and Conforto with a walk off double. This became the first hit for the beavers with runners in scoring position and the game winner as well, Davis ended the night 3-5 and the 2 RBI's in the bottom of the 9th that secured their spot tomorrow against #3 seed UCSB.

Pat Casey commented on Davis's at bat after the game saying, "We felt that we had the right people up, certainly Dylan (Davis) is locked in and I don't think there is anyone else that we would want up there in that kind of situation."

#3 seeded UCSB upset #2 seeded Texas A&M 6-4 at Goss Stadium early this afternoon.
Also University of Oregon Ducks won game one of there regional beating SDSU by a score of 3-2 they will face off against Rice University tomorrow at 6:00 pm.

Beavers practice before first 2013 regional against UTSA

Close up

Medium

Overall

Caroyln Brown Director of the documentary "From the Fields: An American Journey"

Paul Hibbard "Husband, father, teacher, military officer, role model"

Paul Hibbard has worn many hats: Husband, father, teacher, military officer, role model.

Hibbard is a favorite among students in the economics department here at LBCC.

Hibbard was born in Vermont, moved to Canada at the age of 3 and lived there for a year, until moving to Salem where he began he life as a student. He ended up graduating from South Salem High School in 1984.

Hibbard went on to Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington. He finished his degree in economics and a minor in Psychology in 1989. His academic achievements had earned him a full ride to the University of Oregon to obtain a Ph.D.

After deciding against his path toward a Ph.D. for personal reasons. He ended up enlisting in the navy but he wanted to become an Officer right off the bat.

So The navy sent him to the Navy Supply Corps School in Athens, Georgia. He compared it to the Movie featuring Richard Gere titled "The Officer and The Gentleman". If you are unfamiliar with the movie, this was simply a place where they would "break you down to build you up", as they say, into the soldier and officer they want you to be.

So in 1990 at age 23 Hibbard was shipped off to Baharain, Saudi Arabia where he would spend the next two years of his life on a ship, serving the military.

When he returned from the military he went back to Oregon but not for his Ph.D., but rather for his Masters in Economics. He graduated from the university of Oregon in 1995, and immediately was enrolled in Willamette University in order to achieve his masters and teaching license. He achieved his goal just two short years later.

In 1997 Hibbard began teaching high school math in Boardman, Oregon. Where he also coached soccer and basketball.

After two years he decided to move down to San Jose to spend some much needed time with his grandfather. His passing was tough on Hibbard. After his passing he didn't feel teaching or doing much of anything. He described it as his down moment in life.

After working for the next couple of years with a tech firm in the silicon valley, he finally found his place in teaching again, in the silicon valley.

In 2005 Paul met his soul mate, Angela. It didn't take but a year and they were married. Before the two had set a date for the wedding, Hibbard was called on once again to serve his country as an officer in the U.S. Navy, but before he went Angela promised him, "You aren't leaving without a ring." She was right.

Three days before he was due to get on a plane to Kuwait for a year; they tied the knot. The night before he left, his family that wasn't able to make it to the wedding, came to a reception for him and his wife from all over.

The next morning Hibbard was on a plane and headed for Camp Arifjan just south of Kuwait City.

After returning from Kuwait Paul and his wife vacationed to Bend, Oregon. He needed to go somewhere besides home. In those next two weeks two monumental things in Paul's life happened he found a house he still owns today and he also found out that he was going to become a Father.

Hibbard is now the father of two children Catherine and Liam. and as of 2011 Paul Hibbard has been a member of the teaching staff here at LBCC, and when asked what he enjoys most about being an instructor here at LBCC, he answered, "the relationships you build with students on a professional level."

At A Glance:
Paul Hibbard
Economics instructor at LBCC
Husband to Angela
Father of Catherine and Liam

Bob Martin (Sports Photographer)

On his website bobmartinphotgraphy.us in his about page he perfectly expresses why he enjoys photography so much and what it really allows him to do. I would like to share that quote with you. "Living in Alaska has taught me to love light and the way it places across the face of this ever-changing planet. My goal is to keep my heart open, my mind quiet and my eyes alert for images that hold singular moments of beauty. Photography is a way to live my passion and intention. I hope that my images reflect this journey."

This Photo was taken by Martin at those Paralympics in Athens Georgie. This Picture went on to win him the  Sports Picture of The Year in The World Press Photo Awards in 2005. 

When asked, in an interview for professionalphotographers.co.uk, what his proudest moment in photography was, he answered “I covered the Paralympics in Athens in depth and one of my pictures won the award,” explains Martin. “It was moving to see those guys, with all their physical conditions, out there competing. Emotionally, it was hard – normally I have a very thick skin with these types of things, but that was the first time something like that got to me. It puts life into perspective.”  

According to bobmartin.com, Bob Martin has been a photographer for more than 30 years covering almost every major sporting event. He has photographed the last 13 winter and summer Olympics, and in the 2012 games he was appointed the overall photo chief of the games.

Also according to bobmartin.com, Bob Martin is the only Sports Illustrated photographer that is based outside the USA.  He currently lives in England, where he has won the British Sports Photographer of the Year Award 3 times now.

Bob Martin has been the recipient of  57 National and International awards. According to his website 23 of those awards were won in 2005 alone and within in those 23 was the World Press Photo Sports Picture of the year. He has also had photos published in various publications such as Time, Newsweek,  The New York Times, Life Magazine and National Geographic.