*** HEADLINES ***
NAIA OVER NCAA – The lone NAIA vs NCAA battle this week saw the NAIA’s PRESENTATION COLLEGE SAINTS welcome the FINLANDIA UNIVERSITY LIONS out of the NCAA. The Saints showed the Lions how football is played, eviscerating them by a score of SEVENTY-FOUR to NOTHING! So far in 2016 the NAIA has won three weeks, the NCAA has won one week and two weeks have been a tie.
USCAA GAME OF THE WEEK – Meanwhile in the USCAA (United States Collegiate Athletic Association) the WILLIAMSON COLLEGE OF THE TRADES MECHANICS took the field against the visiting GATTACA (NJ) COLLEGE STRAYERS. The Mechanics dominated in the game, doubling up on Gattaca College 28-14. Continue reading
Once again the story is set in Japan in the 1780s. The persecution of Japanese Christians continues, with the religion officially outlawed and with practitioners being imprisoned and – if they refuse to renounce their belief system – executed by crucifixion. 
THE OCTAVE OF CLAUDIUS (1897) – By Barry Pain. This obscure little Gothic honey is just good enough that you wish it had been better. There are so many elements that make it appealing but it falls just short of being a worthwhile read for anybody except obsessive fools like me. 
MONARCHS ARE SIX AND OH – The 17th ranked LOS ANGELES VALLEY COLLEGE MONARCHS remained unbeaten following their defeat of the homestanding MOUNT SAN JACINTO COLLEGE EAGLES. The Monarchs seized a 20-0 lead in the 1st Quarter and didn’t let up from there, ultimately clobbering the Eagles by a final score of FIFTY-FIVE to FOURTEEN! 
DAWN FOR THE DONS – At the other extreme the SANTA ANA COLLEGE DONS finally got off the schneid for 2016. The Dons were on the road against the LOS ANGELES SOUTHWEST COLLEGE COUGARS and parlayed a 14-7 1st Quarter edge into a 38-14 Halftime advantage. Santa Ana College coasted from there for a 52-22 blowout win. 
The Minnesota Vikings are the only unbeaten team in the NFL, and it is the sort of unexpected surprise that keeps the NFL interesting. No matter how you choose to interpret the 
A THOUSAND DEATHS (1899) – This story was the first published work by Jack London and it definitely shows, but it still has certain merits. The protagonist – who is never named – is the scion of a wealthy British family. Feeling stifled by his rigid upbringing he ran off in his teens to roam the world. He’s fallen into various shady professions over the years and now at age 30 he’s begun having regrets. 
He seems to feel himself going under but then wakes up after an indeterminate time on board a luxurious yacht. The man has various tubes and wires connected to his body and soon learns that he has been saved from drowning by the crew of … his estranged father. That father (who also goes unnamed – it’s early Jack London all right) fails to recognize his son because of the changes the younger man’s rough life has inflicted on him. 
In recent years Halloween has become just as much about superhero cosplay as about horror, so here’s a masked crime-fighter who combines elements of both. Will Eisner’s superhero the Spirit – who debuted in 1940 – rose from the grave of his secret identity Denny Colt. 
The art and narrative innovations that Eisner introduced in his Spirit stories cannot be overstated.
