Games + Leisure

Fred Armisen is a cast member on Saturday Night Live, a star and writer of Portlandia on IFC, a former drummer in a bunch of punk rock bands, and for a while, the world's preeminent Barack Obama imitator.

On-air challenge: Every answer is a word that can be formed from the letters of "Christmas." You'll be given two words as clues. The first one can precede the answer word, and the second one can follow it — in each case to complete a compound word or familiar two-word phrase. For example, given "forward" and "madness," the answer would be "march" (as in "forward march" and "March Madness").

In rural Chester County, Pa., about 50 miles northwest of Philadelphia, thick fog swirls around the trunks of knotty trees. This piece of 18th-century farmland could, by all outward appearances, be one of the misty forests of Middle Earth, the setting of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings fantasy novels.

On-air challenge: Every answer is a familiar two-word phrase or name in which the first word starts with "F" and the second word starts with "LA."

Last week's challenge: Name a major U.S. city in two words. Take the first letter of the first word and the first two letters of the second word, and they will spell the standard three-letter abbreviation for the state the city is in. What city is it?

Answer: Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Winner: Mark Sobolik of Newburg, Ore.

My name is Justin O'Riley. I've had many occupations, but currently I'm a hosptial security dispatcher, an OSU student, and a WCBE intern. I'm also part of the Ohio Paranormal Detective Agency (OPDA).

I didn't believe in the paranormal until later in life, and I remain fairly skeptical of simple “ghost stories” and “urban legends.” My partners include my brother Josh and his best friend Sean, who are both sheriff deputies that bring a healthy dose of skepticism as well as professional investigative methods. There are several other law enforcement officers in our group, with me being one of the exceptions. The OPDA has conducted dozens of investigations, which developed a good reputation for us that led to an invitation from the Psychic/Paranormal Conference of Mid-Ohio to speak and host a hunt for novice ghost hunters. This all took place at Mansfield in early October.

We're in Milan. We're not happy. We're waiting for a bus that doesn't seem to come. Then we see this:

Three different sized sheets of bubble wrap, sized for how long you expect to wait: a little square for three minutes, bigger for five minutes, biggest for 10 — and the sign on top says: "Antistress For Free!!"

Everyone knows what to do. First, you calculate.

Then you choose.

Then you forget all about the bus and spend the time happily popping polyethylene-wrapped air bubbles.

When it comes to video game mascots, there is no other company that has as many recognizable names as Nintendo: Donkey Kong, Super Mario, Link from the Legend of Zelda series, Samus Aran from the Metroid series, and many others. However, the common link that all these characters have is that they’ve been around since the early days of the NES (Nintendo Entertainment System). One of Nintendo’s most prominent mascots today, Kirby, got his humble start on an early Game Boy game known as Kirby’s Dream Land.

Video game makers are rolling out their new titles — with a wide range of creativity and style — just in time for the holiday shopping season. Jamin Warren, founder of Kill Screen magazine, shares his list of video games you should keep your eye on: