Album Review: Barry Manilow’s What A Time — A Timeless Triumph Nearly 15 Years in the Making

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It has been nearly 15 years since the world received a brand-new studio album of original material from music icon Barry Manilow. The wait is finally over with the release of What A Time. After diving deep into an advance copy of the record (including the three bonus tracks), it’s clear that Barry has delivered a masterpiece that seamlessly honors his legendary pop instincts while fearlessly exploring mature, fresh sonic territories.

Anchored by brilliant production work from long-time collaborators like Michael Lloyd, Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds, Demonte Posey, and Dave Cobb, What A Time is a powerful reminder of why Manilow remains one of the greatest showmen, musicians, and composers of our time.

Here is a track-by-track breakdown of this spectacular new release, featuring insights into the creators of this brilliant music and Barry’s own thoughts on the material.

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Turning Lemons into Lemonade: A Review of Dr. Akinyemi’s New Autobiography

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If you are looking for an inspiring, deeply personal read that will completely reframe how you view the challenges of growing older, Dr. John Ayoola Akinyemi’s autobiography, PRAISE THE LORD, I AM 84 YEARS “YOUNG,” is a must-read. This heartwarming memoir chronicles an incredible journey spanning over eight decades, tracing the author’s path from a disciplined Christian upbringing in Abeokuta, Nigeria, to his arrival in the United States in 1963 as a young college student navigating profound culture shock.

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Fighting the Freezing North in Challenge of the Ice

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Every now and then, you pick up an adventure memoir that makes you want to pack a bag and head into the wild—or, conversely, curl up even tighter under your blanket and thank your lucky stars you’re safe at home. Fred Nelson’s Challenge of the Ice: A Canoeing Adventure in the Wilderness of Northern Canada manages to do both at the exact same time. If you are a fan of raw, unvarnished wilderness survival stories, this indie release belongs on your radar.

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Why Sledding Game is the Ultimate Indie Fun

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If you’ve been scrolling through social media or checking Xbox Game Pass lately, you might have noticed a surge of people losing their minds over adorable, customizable animals hurtling down snowy mountains on plastic discs.

That would be Sledding Game, a chaotic indie project developed by a solo creator named Max (under the banner The Sledding Corporation). After blowing up on Instagram during development, it’s officially made its way onto Xbox Series X|S, Xbox Cloud Gaming, and PC.

The pitch is incredibly simple: it’s a casual, multiplayer winter sports playground where the entire goal is just to hang out, slide fast, and act a little stupid with your friends. Here is why it’s worth checking out.

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Lovingkindness Meditation: What It Is, Benefits, and How to Start

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If you’ve dipped your toes into the world of meditation, you’ve probably spent a lot of time trying to follow your breath, notice your thoughts, and stay anchored in the present moment. It’s great practice. It grounds us.

But there’s another side to meditation that often gets sidelined as too “soft” or “woo-woo,” and it’s a shame, because it might just be the most practical mental workout available to us.

It’s called Lovingkindness (or Metta, in the Buddhist tradition).

And despite the gentle name, practicing it is a radical act.

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Nice Day for Fishing: An Epic NPC Adventure

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If you’ve spent any time scrolling through YouTube over the last few years, chances are you’ve stumbled across Viva La Dirt League. Their Epic NPC Man sketches—which lovingly poke fun at the absolute absurdity of open-world RPG tropes—are legendary.

And if you know the channel, you know Baelin. He’s the simple, endlessly cheerful fisherman NPC whose entire existence consists of walking a set path, holding a fishing rod, and happily chirping his singular line: “Morning! Nice day for fishing, ain’t it!”

Well, someone finally gave Baelin his own game. Published by Team17 and developed by FusionPlay, Nice Day for Fishing for Xbox turns a brilliant running internet joke into a surprisingly addictive, charming little Action-RPG/Fishing hybrid.

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Black Jacket: Master the Odds in a Sinister Casino

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Ever since Balatro completely hijacked our collective free time, the gaming world has been desperately hunting for the next great roguelike card obsession. There is something intoxicating about taking a classic, universally understood tabletop game, wrapping it in modern mechanics, and giving players the power to break the rules.

Enter Black Jacket, developed by Mi’pu’mi Games and published by Skystone Games. It dropped quietly on Xbox Series X|S last month for $14.99, and if you have any weakness for deckbuilders or high-stakes risk-management, it is going to absolutely ruin your sleep schedule.

But instead of playing with a poker hand, this time you’re sitting down at the ultimate underworld casino floor. Your game of choice? Blackjack. The stakes? Your literal soul.

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Transform Your Mind with Zen Meditation

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There’s a unique kind of chaos that comes with urban life. Even when you’re doing work you love, the ambient noise of a city like Philadelphia—the sirens, the constant movement, the digital buzz—can slowly build up a layer of mental static. For a while now, I’ve been looking for a way to cut through that noise and find a more profound sense of stillness.

My curiosity wasn’t accidental. It actually began in an unexpected place: Jet Li’s autobiography. Reading his recent memoir sparked a fascination with mindfulness and his personal exposure to Buddhism, sending me down a rabbit hole of books on the subject. But as any reader knows, there comes a point where you need to move past the theory on the page and actually put the practice into motion.

That search led me to the Philadelphia Zen Meditation Center (part of the Buddhaland on Earth organization).

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Slots & Daggers: A Unique Micro-Roguelike Experience

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If you told me a year ago that one of my favorite gaming experiences would involve pulling the lever on a slot machine to hack a skeleton to pieces, I probably would have laughed. But here we are.

Solo developer Friedemann (the brilliant mind behind the cozy building game SUMMERHOUSE) teamed up with indie publisher Future Friends Games to bring Slots & Daggers to consoles, including Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One. And let me tell you, it is an absolute blast of dopamine, crunchy beats, and retro charm.

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Revisiting Hero: Jet Li’s Greatest Martial Arts Epic

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Ever since finishing Jet Li’s fascinating new memoir, Looking for Jet Li (which I just wrote about here), I’ve been on a massive deep dive through his filmography. Reading about his transition from a hyper-disciplined wushu champion to a global action star—and ultimately to a man focused on deep spiritual mindfulness—adds a whole new layer of meaning to his entire body of work.

While revisiting his classics, one film stood out as an absolute masterpiece demanding its own dedicated spotlight: Zhang Yimou’s 2002 epic, Hero.

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