Good afternoon. This is Rei Tsujiyama for Think Tech Asia. We're here on a very balmy afternoon in Honolulu. We're lacking today my co-host, Russell Liu, and it's just myself, Rei Tsujiyama, with a guest all the way from Tokyo, Japan, whom I've known for many, many years, and his name is Jim Weiser. And he's with a company, a high-tech company, that we'll get into in a few minutes. And first, I want to welcome Jim to the show. Thanks, Rei. I appreciate it. Thanks for having me on the show today.  It was 1993. And I came in 1991, so you came just around that time. So you're my senpai. Thank you. You're my kohai. And so, now you're originally from what state in New York? I grew up in Texas. Okay. And you went to a university there? Yeah. I grew up in Fort Worth in Texas, and I went to school at Rice in Houston. And then I've heard that you had graduated from Rice University. That's right. And that got you to Japan. Tell me how you got to Japan. Well, it maybe isn't the most direct route, but what had happened was at school I'd studied chemical engineering. And I had the opportunity, because Rice was in Houston, to go and work in an actual chemical plant. And that was great, because what it showed me was that might not be where my passion lay. And so, instead of going directly to the chemical industry after I graduated, I went and took a, I don't know, you say gap year if it's after you've graduated. I took an after gap year. You're ahead of your time. Yeah, we didn't call it that then. I went to Japan to teach English. And I thought, man, I'll do this for a year or two. And of course that was what, 24 years ago now. And the city that you taught English, where was it? I started in Sagami Hara, which is a suburb outside of Tokyo. Okay. So, and you did that for how many years? So, I taught full-time for two years. I did a little bit for another probably six months after that. And I kind of, I got lucky, I guess, because what I considered to be my meager computer skills were in fairly high demand. And so I started doing computer training, some consulting work, and eventually ended up working in the internet for a PSI net there. So, you were at the dawn of internet in Japan, in hindsight. In hindsight, yeah, probably true. Because there wasn't much going on. There was some internet, I guess, servers and, you know, the Japanese side. But for foreigners, there were very little at that time. That's, I think that's right. It's safe to say that there was very little going on in the internet comparatively anywhere in the world at that point. You know, there were a couple of companies of which PSI net was one that kind of started the commercial internet. And in Japan, there were some companies in 96 when I got into it as well that were doing internet services for businesses. But nothing like we think of today. Because if you go back, one of the major networks or whatever, there was a very early service on the Fujitsu. It was a very early service. And there was AOL of that time in the U.S., you know, in the U.S., going strong. Now, going a little more further, now you worked in the internet space in the late 90s. What could you see happened in the late 90s and the 2000s that started to bring Japan into the internet age? Right. Well, I think there were several things, you know, because in Japan at that point, and really the internet generally, people were thinking it was predominantly a telecom service. They weren't thinking as much about data and, you know, what are the different things you can do? Email was the big exciting new invention, right? And so when you look at it, the kind of the key things were moving from something that was always charged by the minute, was what you had with dial-up calling. Because, you know, in the U.S., there were all these fixed-rate plans. If you get on your modem and you call AOL one fee, you're done. But in Japan, that was all minute-spaced, right? So that was one big thing. And then the second thing was NTT, which was the dominant telco in Japan and really still is, decided that maybe this internet thing would catch on after all in, I believe it was, 97 or 98, and released a product. Now, I was working at a company that was competing with it, and a lot of my colleagues were really concerned by that, but that was one of the best things that could have happened to us. Because once the really big company like that entered the market, it validated the entire offering. Now, also, when we talk about Japan, there was something happening in a mobile space called iMode. And that came out around 99,000, around that time. And that took Japan and society in a different area earlier than the U.S. And so that was the launch of iMode, which was based on digital communications and data and texting and also how to access some sites. Would you say that delayed PC and laptop internet usage or that really got Japan to a new level faster? That's an interesting sort of question. So I think what you saw with iMode was that it was the old dumb phones. It's a pretty smart phone, right? And I think it started in 97. It might have been 98. But what they were able to do was they were able to put an email on a cell phone. And that's pretty innovative. That's pretext, right? And so people were able to do a lot more.  In 2000, 2001, 2002, like you're talking about, and even licensed it to other countries. So that, the first email account many Japanese had was actually on their cell phone. On their phone. I remember a Docomo account, an email account or an email address. Right. No, that's right. And so because of that, in a lot of ways I think that enabled the growth because it now gave you a reason to get on the net to do things. Yeah, if you look at a traditional Japanese language input environment, the keyboard's not the most natural way to do it. That's right. And so if you talk to people who are completely bilingual in either language, even if they're native Japanese speakers, they'll tell you it's always faster to write in English because of the keyboard input mechanism. Well, you were at the dawn and then we went through the iMode and the launch of Internet in Japan. Where are we today? I mean, we have a sprawling landscape, domestic landscape in Japan that deals with the Internet, ranging from e-commerce of Rakuten. There are communities under Mixi. There are GRI and mobile and also games played a lot. Right. There's also SoftBank that does a lot more in e-commerce and millions of sites and so forth. Is it a robust landscape in terms of the Internet and mobile or has it morphed into something that our friend Gerhard says, a Galapagos island that's distinctly, you know, that's different than Europe and the West and the US? Well, can I say yes to that? Okay. All right, go ahead. So to start with, you know, you've named a lot of big names. Now, right now the single biggest name in e-commerce in Japan is actually Amazon. Yeah, Amazon is roughly a third of the market. Rakuten is roughly another third. So they dominate. So the two are two-thirds of the time. Those two are roughly two-thirds. Then between Yahoo Auction and Yahoo Japan, they pick up another substantial amount. So that's what I remember. Don't hold my feet to the fire. It might be only a quarter or a quarter. But those are two giants in the space in e-commerce in Japan. I think what you see is... And what is foreign and what is domestic? Amazon is... Well, sure, Amazon's foreign, but like any successful foreign company, they're, you know, 90-something percent of the volume they do is with Japanese people and their staff are predominantly Japanese. You know, that's not a unique kind of environment. And I think there are certain industries like that in Japan and you've probably seen that as well. We're McDonald's. Well, right. We're predominantly in Japan or 7-Eleven and others that have become part of the Japanese society. They become part of the landscape, but in certain industries, you know, the U.S. or other countries are viewed as being innovators. And so there's a strong opportunity to enter the market, where if you go and say, oh, you know what, I'm an innovative construction company. The older Japanese construction companies will say, well, guess what? We've been building temples since 1600. Yeah, thank you very much, right? So certainly in internet space and software as well, there's been more of an opportunity to approach the market. So what you're saying is that there's a lot going on in e-commerce, but it has evolved towards large players, dominant in the space. Yeah, I think that's fair. There's also, you know, we're kind of being a little narrow on e-commerce. We're talking mainly about package shipment type stuff. And interestingly, there have been a number of articles recently where the Japan domestic shippers for the first time in 20-something years are raising their parcel rates because the volume that they're seeing in e-commerce generally... Oh, really going up. And the drivers are quitting, as you know. They're getting stressed out by all the packages. That's right.   Wow. And so that's a pretty big move. And there's a declining workforce. In the U.S., the millennials are as large as roughly the baby boom, right? In Japan, they aren't. In Japan, the millennial generation is smaller than our generation X, right? And so we end up with a dichotomy where you have a smaller labor market and a 30% increase or something like that in packages shipped. So the landscape of companies in Japan and economy, we talk about big companies like Sony's and Toyota's and Sumitomo's and Mitsui's and so forth. They're still there in the economy. And Japan has not gone off the map. It's still the third largest economy in the world. That's right. And still has major shipments of cars, of electronics to all over the world. And the brands are unbelievable when you think about it. What's the landscape for startups? Has it become better? I remember going back to the early 2000s, the Bit Valley, there was a sudden rise of venture funds coming to Japan and trying to accelerate startups in Japan. It didn't flourish as people expected. It blew up, right? It didn't. And there were many reasons for that. And as you know, I work for MIT. There's a synergy between research at universities and researchers and entrepreneurs, MBA types, getting together and forming startups and products and getting funding from venture funds. And they go off and do exits and become very big or they don't do so well, which is the majority of all startups. Has that culture developed in Japan? So let me start off by saying yes to the question you just asked. You're starting to see some motion in universities, especially where not entire cohort, but people from the same cohort or the same lab will go and start a company. And that's relatively neat. I believe that's a development that's new since you left or at least over the last kind of 10 years. But if I could use a couple of examples for my personal history. So in 2002, I was basically unemployed. And I couldn't find a job I thought that fit my skills or whatever. So I started a company and that was a consulting company. And that was a typical, okay, I'm going to bill by the hour. I'm going to provide value for service. Always in tech related things, but fairly wide range. In 2005, I kept seeing more or less the same problems with the clients I was working with as it related to telephony.  There's no kind of cloud offerings. And so in 2006, I started a company. They did that for businesses in Japan. No consumer stuff. It would always be different. Fast forward 10 years later, and not only had that market kind of started to develop, it's still a little bit early stage. But that was when my company at the time was acquired by BroadSoft. And we're going to take a minute to explain how this all came together after this break with ThinkTech Asia. This crazy thing going on today. I was just walking by and all these DJs and producers are set up all around the city. Hello, this is Ray Tsujiyama. We're back with our guest from Tokyo 24 years in the third largest economy in the world in the areas that we always talk about innovation in information communications and internet areas. He has been active in the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan and even headed a committee in the chamber. I also did a cover story for the American Chamber of Journal back in 2000 on iMode. So I go back and also in Japan, as you know, was on the board of venture capital companies and plus we did a company called Teagik, which was acquired by AOL and later by Nuance. So all you're talking to me and to the audience in Hawaii and beyond about Japan is really exciting because people don't see people like yourself, entrepreneurs in the trenches and to explain what happened and I want you to go back to your story about finding a solution for companies in the cloud. Go ahead. Okay, thanks. So for us, we kept seeing the same problem which is people were buying expensive stuff and putting it on site. And so the approach that we took was this should be a cloud offering. Now, we'd worked with a couple of different platforms but at PBXL we chose BroadSoft our technology partner in 2012 and we'd worked closely with them and I knew pretty well a lot of the team in Asia and so at the point we were looking to take external investment we had some serious conversations with BroadSoft and they said well actually we're looking for a cloud deployment in Japan would you be interested in joining us as part of the team? Define BroadSoft, what kind of company are they? So BroadSoft is headquartered in Gatorsburg, Maryland. We've got 30 different offices around the world 92 different countries, people are using our stuff and basically 25 of the top 30 carriers in the world use the platforms that we provide. Now the platforms are basically focused on enterprise collaboration and communication services for businesses in the cloud. So that can be something as simple as a desk phone where you also have an application on your smart phone so that's the voice level if you will there's chat and team collaboration spaces So many apps all integrated for enterprise, for business to work together and collaborate and team and to really move ahead on product development That's right and then the other piece that we didn't touch on was call center and contact center stuff So that's kind of what BroadSoft is a whole And so we work together I've been running the broad cloud piece of BroadSoft in Japan now for a year and a half or more than that So the venture area that you were involved in our question was how did the changes work? Right, it's not all about me Well as we talked about I've done a little bit of angel investing and I can talk about mistakes in that later if you want But the things that are really different right now is probably in the early 2000s if you looked at venture capitalists in Japan there were very few and the opportunity to get investment from them was relatively small And so you didn't see a monetary ecosystem that would sustain startups very well Like when I was a PBXL we actually took a loan from the bank Now to do that I had to put a personal guarantee on and you would find venture capital companies doing the same thing So what's the difference? It's kind of like the private loan market or the public loan market And actually one of the other venture companies I've been involved with had done this whole loan thing from venture capitalists It was a huge disaster The guy kind of goes personally bankrupt But now what you see the common complaint is there aren't enough deals there aren't enough operators there's plenty of money chasing deals and you see it in the valuations as well Is that sustainable? I don't know My only past experience with that was Bit Valley which all blew up But you see a resurgence of entrepreneurs and venture businesses and corresponding interests by venture capitalists That's right and I think you hit on something that is really important that has changed It used to be you'd never find a bunch of graduates from an elite institution starting their own company Now you see it I'm not going to say frequently because that's probably over-representing it but it's not uncommon to see people come out of a research lab and start something or a cohort kind of say we're going to go do this But that's a tremendous sea change because it's the latest 10 years ago the place to go for top researchers at Kyoto University or Tokyo University or Tokyo Institute of Technology, Osaka go to Sony or Toyota or NEC or Fujitsu or the government or entity or entity labs in Yokosuka or whatever but to do research that ends up in a product, a diversification that's a whole dramatic change and to work with others to kind of put together a team CEO, CTO, CFO, CMO kind of team, that is more Silicon Valley Right, I think that's right and I'm not going to say it's Silicon Valley the Silicon Valley is unique But it's analogous to kind of a product formation You see the product formation approach you see the businesses approach and the thing I'm starting to look for is will someone fund some will a VC fund someone who has failed once because in Japan that's the big thing That's a very good point and the answer that I've been getting from a few of them is yes Because in Silicon Valley, if you haven't gone bankrupt three times they think that you don't know your stuff I'm not sure I feel that strongly about it But it's okay to fail and then have another idea That's right and what's interesting as well is when you look at the places people are going everyone associates Japan with kind of high tech Sony or air conditioners or stuff like that but you also see a lot or a number of people going into the tourism space because that area has been booming over the last 10, 15 years I think when you left there were what 4 million 4 or 5 million right we're on track this year for over 20 I don't know if it's over 22 or 25 That is unbelievable to me because the infrastructure of Ryokan Onsen has not changed they just accommodate other people everywhere from South America to the US throughout East Asia and even Europe now so that is a tremendous difference and I think it's kind of like leading to a wave for the 2020 Olympics in fact I think that was a big part of it when the Olympics was awarded to Tokyo there was this kind of mental confidence shift that went on like oh hey maybe we can do something because it's hard if you have 25 years of no growth that's a really hard economy to build a business in right and then you start to see people who are coming to Japan because what happens is Tokyo while certain things remain very expensive I think I was talking before but it used to be when I go back to the mainland US I go back to Texas I go out to dinner with someone and the check had come and I think oh well that's pretty reasonable for my 6th or whatever of the check but that wasn't the 6th of the check that was the whole check now when I go back and this is still Texas this isn't even the most expensive place the check comes that's a little much for my 6th of the check I mean for the whole check but that's just my piece right so Japan has become a bargain in many ways for food and they see the quality of the food in Japan and products electronics and all kinds of anime related things and building Japan has become a center of shopping I think not just a center of shopping but particularly when you look at younger people tend to talk about their experiences so I want to go eat sushi in Tokyo I want to go to the Hokkaido Snow Festival and as you know all over these regional areas in Japan there's always something you take the Aomori Naruto Festival or Kumamoto villages and small towns all have very distinct cultures in Japan and you're right that young people today are not looking for an experience orthodox experience they're looking for something that's distinct and it can be distinct in one village next to another in Japan I think that's true of course you still see large busloads of tourists from certain countries you're like okay I really want to get this done or do that and that makes sense too from a shopping perspective I think so we had just a few minutes you've been there 24 years right and the people who came with you or been around they came and laughed and so forth and now you're still there in many ways and what would you tell a person coming to Japan maybe they want to start a venture or work in Japan what would you tell them I'd say just go for it you can create lots of reasons to not do it a long list of bad possible outcomes but basically Japan is very civilized it's safe and even if you don't know the language you can kind of get around one of the things I think maybe that's changed as well since you've been there is Japan's ability to do foreign languages on public transportation it's been a kaizen effect you go back to the World Cup in 1998 it's like okay here's a little bit expo and it just kind of ticks up and up and up and so because of that now things are pretty addressable and with the tourism having come up people want to do that we're talking about Tokyo how about the other smaller towns affecting small cities and towns somewhat Tokyo is really different than a lot of Japan it's much more international London is like in the UK or Great Britain we're in New York in the US they're not confused those experiences right and so it depends on what you want to do if you want to start a business Tokyo is roughly a third of the GDP so a greater Tokyo so you could probably go somewhere else I mean there are some foreign entrepreneurs I know who started a microbrew company there are some people who own ski resorts up in Niseiko but unless you have a specific area that fits what you're trying to do how about Osaka have you done any business in Osaka it's a very different culture for you well the culture is different and as you know the language actually is different too and the thinking is different well the thinking is different and I don't know how to characterize it what I would say is I've done a little bit of work with people in Kansai generally but there's nowhere near as much ICT there if you're in pharma biotech is very important you're right well it just moves so fast we're at the end I told you we are getting into it I want to thank Jim for his insights for a great career and he's an unusual entrepreneurial spirit in Japan which is really hard even with Japanese to do business but he's proven that if you have motivation commitment, motivation and some really savvy tech skills you can really do make it kind of making it in Japan thank you very much this is Raisa Chiyama for Think Tech Asia


Cues out of music. I Apologize for the terrible audio quality and also my hair looking like a nightmare. Hey, buddy. Can I have a second? Okay, thank you Walmart was supposed to drop off my Splatoon switch yesterday and today and leave it at the door But they keep missing me. I was home today. So now I got to try and find it So we're gonna hit a couple warm-ups and see if I can find it. I need to make a video I'm gonna buy it twice now. Walmart. Thank you. My hair was far too ridiculous today I'm working a hair. So I checked two warm-ups already Forgot to vlog now.   Thank you so much. I really appreciate it. Thank you I always go to film so sneaky and games up and I feel really bad about it I think you could tell I was filming but I'm trying to do a job here. You know, I actually can't believe I found it I'm actually really excited. This is easily the nicest-looking switch. I've seen thanks GameStop. Okay I've rushed home and I oh god. I almost stepped on the carpet. I've got a set up now and Unbox this bad boy. I'm really excited. So hopefully it won't take too long to get ready. All right. I'm ready Haha, aren't we all just having a blast watching this video right now? I mean, I hate to interrupt it But can we call attention to the level of skill that it took to create this video between me and my editors? You know putting it all together for you guys just a ton of skill that we're all sharing around You could learn some skills using Skillshare Skillshare is an online learning community with thousands of online classes and members across 150 countries Skillshare is a place to learn new things to get inspired whenever I use Skillshare. It's typically to learn new editing techniques I mean Jordy has a array of classes I enjoy taking on Adobe Premiere Adobe After Effects and a lot of the things you see in my videos I've learned through those courses, but there's far more than that You can learn how to be a great youtuber, but thanks to Marcus Brownlee, but you can also learn photography or cooking or Language so if you're interested in making a career pivot or leveling up skills in your current role Skillshare is the online learning community for you. Best parts are it's ad-free So you can stay in the zone while you're exploring new skills new premium classes launch every week So there's always something new to discover and the first 1000 of you to click my specific link in the description down Below we'll get a 30-day free trial of Skillshare Look it's as easy as that do it for yourself do it to support the channel and I appreciate you guys so much Let's head back to the video I Really did not expect to find this when I got to the game store the kid looked at me like it's not out yet The splatoon is not out yet. I was like no no the OLED man the OLED is like I don't know. I'll check the back I used to work at Bunnings Warehouse, which is a hardware store in Australia and whenever I said I gotta check the back That was just me like making it look like I was doing something for the customer probably going out back and talking with my friend for like 30 seconds And then gone That's probably enough time. It seems like I looked for something back here But sure enough he came back and he scanned it through and I bought it. It's crazy.  Should I resell it like one of those guys make some money, or should I be nice and um? Give it away to you guys eBay.com Oh you oh you're saying you got all I thought you were saying you sell it eBay I don't need to and I love you guys. I'm legit gonna give the other one away Did I even tell that story or did I just assume you guys know what's been happening to me the last couple of days? I ordered this from Walmart and it was supposed to get here yesterday But no one was home I guess so they tried again today and I was home and I watched them on my doorbell camera stand at the door and Then walk away. Come on. I need you to like the video if you want to win be subscribed and leave a comment down below With why you should win and I'll pick someone at random in the comment section Although I will say be careful down there if you get replies from an account that isn't me saying you've won something That isn't me. Okay. Make sure it's this guy talking to you anyway I'm really excited to open this this is easily the nicest looking switch I've seen although I haven't seen it yet, but you know, I have there's a picture of it right here Cues out a music. Oh Yeah, those look pretty nice. I like the right one the most. It's just so vibrant screen splatoon for sure Oh my god, these are actually really cool. Okay. There's two things here that I love the first is a gradient I don't know if we've ever had officially released joy cons that have a gradient color This one has green and then gradients up to yellow and then this one with that lighter purple Gradienting up to a darker blue or more of a indigo color and now on top of that You have just the really awesome splatoon prints all over it I love the designs and the little squids and then on the back here You even have white and then little like suction cups. So they really went all out on this special edition I think easily the coolest one they've done But it doesn't stop there because the back of this switch is also supposed to be Really cool has a bunch of the same designs from the joy cons all over the back of the switch I mean, it's just really nice. I really actually want to start using it for a couple of reasons But one I've been using my white OLED since it released because it's so nice looking but the white is getting dirty I don't know what to do about it.  Oh, it's two-toned as well man They literally went all out on this thing It's just so many layers to it more of that awesome design Which you can't really feel it but it looks like it's raised up almost a big spludge paint right here on the front more Design on the back which I didn't expect and then that two-tone with the black and white again man That is just so cool It really is just the nicest looking everything I have seen from Nintendo I don't know how they can top this with a zelda one with a zelda one Yeah, nah, yeah a zelda one with this much love and care and like two tones and gradients Nintendo, please I'm really in two minds here, but I feel like I've got to make this my main switch right retire the white OLED already Man, I move through switches like I move through bows That didn't make sense man. I move through switches like I have bow movements. I Every day I feel like I have a new one you can't get mad at me because I'm giving away one It all evens out actually Kim bless her heart She was already out today and I asked her to try finding me this Splatoon switch at targets and stuff looking for something else She hasn't got my message yet that I found one and I'm really worried She's gonna come home with another one that would be wild then I'd have to give away While I log into this thing and start setting it up a little let's talk about Splatoon 3 the game while I have your attention here the first Splatfest was yesterday as I'm recording this and it was a bunch of fun It was like a 12-hour event. You had plenty of time to jump in I played for three hours I recorded pretty much all of it and I mean it's just fun Okay, how do I word this leading up to it? I was a big advocate for this platoon looks so different to the previous platoon People were saying oh do we really need this one? It looks the same and I had the games back saying no oh it's so different um the beta test I got to be honest felt very very much like Splatoon it felt like it didn't skip a beat It felt as great as it's always been I'll say as someone who is more of a casual splatoon player I didn't notice any differences and I'm hearing that pretty much across the board and I feel like if you really want to dive Into it you have to be a big splatoon Pro player to really feel that difference between the two as far as how they play the thing is the game's not out yet And most of the extra content that's gonna make this game worth buying is all the extra modes and accessories and just things They've jam packed into the release and of course the single player all of that you don't get to experience just with this beta test Essentially all you get in that is the online modes of the tri splat and the single splat so we can talk about those But I will say I haven't changed my opinion I still firmly believe that this game is going to be very different and worth having the new one But just based on this alone this stripped down version it did feel a lot like Splatoon So I don't know if that test went a long way to convince anyone I gotta sign into my Wi-Fi now apparently. I gotta log into my Nintendo account. I don't know why I don't save my Nintendo account password Anyway, I don't really save any of my passwords anywhere. I just have to go through the rigmarole of resetting my password anytime I want to do anything. I'll be right back But as far as what I could experience last night the basic splat mode Just paint versus paint was a ton of fun And I played with Bob for like an hour last night and we won a lot. It was pretty good I gotta say I still feel like the guns in the game are the most powerful especially the main splat gun I feel like they're just so strong and I was struggling with anything else The bucket was a nightmare just so slow The one I had the worst time with was the massive machine gun type thing apparently You have to charge it up before you can fire it Which just led to me trying to charge up my shot to do anything and ended up getting Splattered while I was mid charge and then the sniper rifle I wanted to like but what I don't get is the sniper rifle You have to charge that to to get the big shot and the big shot doesn't even go that far and it scopes in and you lose mobility But with the new katana blade you can charge that up It charges in a heartbeat and it goes further and spreads more paint than the sniper shot And then the katana can also do like actual attacks and stuff I feel like a lot of these weapons need balancing and again That's why they do splatfest tests like this so they can balance check everything and see how it all plays out I'm sure the game's gonna change a lot before it finally releases I'm gonna have to install all of my games again. Do I really want to commit to this right now? Yes, fine system update update the new try splat mode is wild I don't know how I feel about it yet. It's just so chaotic You have four players versus two players versus two players And from what I gather if one of the two two-player teams win that whole section of the game wins So the two both the two teams win that's ridiculous, right? I that's so outweighed and against their favor But they can get these like sprinkler towers around the world. I'm gonna review this game correctly when it comes out I'm just giving first thoughts right now They can get into the umbrella sprinkler things if they manage to capture a point and then that just sprays paint everywhere And it's pretty much GG at that point. I don't know what you're supposed to do to stop that I only ever played on the foreside though in my like three hours of playing I never got put on the side with two so I don't really have experience on how any of that works I just knew what had happened to me. I hated it. So I think it's updated link nintendo account Oh if I do this though, oh god. I was going to truck Damn it I was gonna try setting up just a new account and linking it and then playing splatoon on this new switch And not worrying about the whole thing right now And then I remembered splatoon actually isn't out yet the splatfest ended last night So there's no reason for me to set this up yet. I actually can wait a few days if I want So I guess I may as well. I wanted to get splatoon playing on this for the video I thought that'd be really cool b-roll I guess now I'm gonna have to install youtube on it and get b-roll of the game on youtube Is really the only way you can get a nice shot at that. I do really love it though It is a real shame that splatoon missed that summer window This just would have been a fantastic game to pop off in the hot season Imagine like it released a couple months back mid-summer When everyone's on school holidays, you know, they have work off vacations And you're playing splatoon in the sun near the pool It is such a summer game That's my first impressions of splatoon 3 and a look at this really nice console I got to tell you I really think it adds a lot and it's worth it If you're weighing this up over a regular OLED the work here the crashmanship Just the way it looks really even if you're not a fan of splatoon I think it still looks really sick You get so much more bang for your buck here with something like this Then you would buying the normal version Splatoon itself releases in a couple of weeks And I will of course be grabbing it and playing it I'll be live on twitch day one with that sucker So if you want to watch me there go over and follow and get ready for it And I'll get my review out as soon as I can If you want to win one of these OLEDs You have to like comment and subscribe and I'll pick a comment down below I think this is by far the best nintendo switch they've ever made Obviously it's a preference thing and if you like the way it looks But I love it All right, where's Kim? I want my pizza I'm supposed to get pizza tonight Where's my pizza? Hello? Did you find it? Find what? The switch She didn't get one So I'm only giving one away But on the bright side Pizza is here now So All right Bye everyone Bye It's 9am the next day The doorbell just rang And I like ran because I was like oh my god They left it at the door this time I don't even need to wake up I hate you FedEx Well this one's for one of you guys Good luck Good luck I could sign it too if you wanted Just let me know


Please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands One nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all Thank you very much to one report from committee Alderman Hammond Thank You mr. Mayor. I move the reporter committee be accepted and adopted and the Resolution be put upon its passage second movement seconded that the committee report be accepted and adopted and the Resolution be put upon its passage Is there any discussion? Alderman born I'll get things started After a lot of thoughts since the last council meeting and after discussions with you mayor and The chairman of the finance committee and our chief administrative officer I've decided that I'm going to support the proposed budget here tonight and Where I really appreciate what you've done mayor and going over that thing line by line by line I think it does a real good job of taking care of 2013, but I think we the budget that's before us tonight Is more of a long-term budget that also is going to go into 13? I'm sorry 14 and 15 and That's why I'm That's why I'm going to support this budget am I happy with the budget far from it Very frustrated as a matter of fact After talking with chairman Hammond of the finance committee and strategic fiscal planning he assures me that Early in December he's probably going to be calling a meeting of the strategic fiscal planning committee to get a super early start on the 2014 budget and I Have a few ideas to maybe sunset this Garbage fee early, but I'm very much looking forward to those discussions And you know the next council year Maybe my last year on the council will have to see what happens But I'm definitely not going to be a wallflower in 2013 working on that budget for 2014. Thank you Any other discussion? Just a couple things there are going to be some resolutions coming in We weren't able to get them in enough time for tonight But several of them and myself are bringing in something that the council will not be able to in the future Come up with any new fees to patch and put a band-aid patch on budget items The garbage fee as an instance would be one of them that it's already sunset it due to ordinance But we're going to be bringing in a Resolution that doesn't allow us except for a super majority vote to increase or create any new fees That alleviate a couple of things which number one is putting a band-aid on a budget item That's what that is unless we have a super majority vote to say that's what we're going to do We're not going to be able to do that. That's one my main concern on future items That's going to be happening is that band-aid factor on let's throw another fee out there can't raise to actions Let's make a fee this will eliminate that that's one of the things that isn't be coming in soon the other part actually This was brought to me by a couple other people we discussed it was fire department issue Everyone rolls the eyes on that There were a couple items that I looked at real simple very simple math I mean real we're spending $500,000 in a budget to bring in $360,000 do the math on that on your own So pretty simple in my eyes you eliminate one one item that cost us $500,000 you do a couple for early retirements I just did an average salary, which is this is in the low end $87,000 per that person that's $348,000 minus the 360 so we only have a $12,000 hole to get rid of $12,000 That's it they close that budget gap that mr. Mordio said we'd have if you got rid of the ambulance service And that's where that $500,000 budget item comes from these are things to look at Obviously not for this year for future years. These are the real numbers that you have to look at and just in my eyes spending $500,000 to bring in 360 isn't a good business sense So those are two items that are going to be coming up very shortly that will help on future years But obviously not for tonight, but those are just things that need to be said for future that we have a couple of us who worked on Thank you. Thank you all in the university Any other discussion? Any other discussion hearing and seeing none clerk will call the roll Mellanger I Warren hi Carlson. Hi Decker. No Donahue hi Hammond. Hi. Hi to men. Hi Coss. Hi Lissard. Hi Lou and dusky. No Maddachuk. No, bracelet. Hi Van Akron. No van der wheel. Hi, Percy. Hi, and long demand 13 eyes three nose motion carry To adjourn motion to adjourn back it been moving seconded to adjourn All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Aye. Chair votes aye


So, let us continue with our discussion on connectedness. So, the main result we are going to prove today is the following theorem. So, let x and y be connected topological spaces then the product x cross y with the product topology is connected. So, let us prove this. So, let us assume x cross y is not connected. So, then there are open subsets non-empty open subsets A and B such that this product is the disjoint union of A and B. So, in the previous lecture. So, in the previous lecture we saw that the image of a connected space topological space under a continuous map is again connected. So, the precise result was f is from x to y x is connected then f of x with the subspace topology from y is connected. So, let us use this result. So, we look at the map from y 2. So, fix x naught in x. So, fix an x naught in x and consider the map from y 2 x cross y given by y maps to x naught comma y. So, to check that this map is continuous we just need to check that both the factors the projections to both factors are continuous. The projection to the first factor is just the constant map which sends everything to x naught and therefore, it is continuous. The projection to the second factor is the identity map which is continuous. So, this map is continuous and has image equal to the subset x naught cross y right. So, therefore, applying this previous result. So, thus x naught cross y with the subspace topology since y is connected is connected. So, now let us look at we intersect this equation with x naught cross y. So, we get x naught cross y is intersected with a. This is an open subset of x naught cross y in the subspace topology disjoint union intersected with b right. So, if x naught cross y intersected a is non-empty and x naught cross y intersected b is non-empty then we get a contradiction to the connectedness of x naught cross y. So, therefore, one of these has to be empty. So, this implies that x naught cross y is contained in a or in b is completely contained either in a or it is completely contained in b right. So, similarly so, this happens for all x naught in x right. So, given any x naught in x when we look at x naught cross y that subset is completely contained either in a or in b right. And so, similarly similarly arguing the same way for every y naught in y the subset x cross y naught is contained. So, now, we can get a contradiction as follows. So, choose any. So, since a is non-empty let x naught comma y naught be a point in a. So, suppose a point x naught comma y naught is here. So, then if we fix x naught. So, this is the line this is x naught right this is x naught cross y right. So, this implies that. So, since x naught comma y naught is is contained. So, as x naught cross y is contained in a or in b and it has a point and x naught comma y naught which is in a point in this x naught cross y is in a this implies that this entire line x naught cross y is completely contained inside right. Now we can take any point let us say y 1 over here and we can argue in the same way we can look at the line this line right. So, this is y 1 and this line is x cross y 1 this implies for any y in y x naught comma y is contained in a and since x cross y is completely contained in a or in b and it has is one point x naught comma y. So, y 1 let me just take this point y this is this point y. So, this point is contained in a and this entire line is contained either in a or b, but this line contains this point which is in a. So, which forces that this implies that x cross y is contained in a right and this happens for every y for every. So, this implies that x cross y which is equal to the union of x cross y is completely contained inside right, but this contradicts, but this shows that b is empty which is a contradiction. So, thus x cross y is connected right. So, as a corollary we see that R n is connected. So, inside R n. So, let us see some applications of the results that we have seen so far right. So, we just showed that this we just showed this corollary R n is connected and as an application right. So, there is no surjective continuous map f from the interval 0 1 to let us say the interval 0 1 disjoint union interval 3 and 4 right. Why is this? Because if there was such a surjective continuous map then it will force that the image is connected, but clearly since the map is. So, if such a map existed then since it is surjective this will imply that 0 1 disjoint union 3 4 is connected, but clearly that is not possible this is not possible right. Because if we let x equal to this disjoint union and we let this to be u and this to be v right. So, then both u and v are open in x right. So, x obviously has obviously has I mean we are giving we are giving x the subspace topology from R right as the subspace topology from R. So, in particular these two spaces cannot be homomorphic. Another simple observation is that if x and y are homomorphic topological spaces then x is connected if and only if y is connected right. So, this is easy because if f and y are homomorphic that means there is a continuous bijective continuous map from x to y right. So, therefore, the image of f is all of y and since x is connected. So, that means y is connected right and conversely if you are given that y is connected then we can take the inverse of f right g and yeah once again since the image of g is all of x it will mean that x is connected. Now, the next application we have in mind is to show that the spheres are connected, but for that we need the following lemma let t 1 and t 2 be connected subspaces topological space x. So, assume that t 1 intersection t 2 is non-empty then the union t 1 union t 2 is nonempty. So, let us prove this so, let us assume if possible. So, if possible let t 1 union t 2 be not be connected. So, let us say our t 1 is like this and t 2 is like this. So, that means, where we can write t 1 union t 2 is equal to t 1 union t 2. So, let us call this space y. So, since we are assuming that y is disconnected we can write we can write y is equal to there are two open subsets. So, every open subset looks like y intersection u where u is an open subset of x disjoint union y intersection v right where u and v open subsets. So, let us take a point in the intersection. So, let a be a point in the intersection which exists because we are assuming that the intersection is non-empty right. So, then a is either in y intersection v or in y intersection v. So, assume that a is in y intersection v. So, since now let us look at t 1 right. So, intersecting this equality with t 1 we get that t 1 intersected u disjoint union t 1 intersected v right. Now, t 1 is connected as t 1 is connected one of these has to be empty that is t 1 is completely contained in u or t 1 is completely contained in v right. So, since t 1 contains a and a is in u as a is in t 1 and a is in u. So, this implies that t 1 is completely contained inside u right. Similarly, as a is also in t 2 this implies and t 2 is also connected. So, repeating the same argument t 2 this implies that t 2 is also contained right, but then this implies that y which is equal to t 1 union t 2 is also contained in v right. So, this implies that this y intersection v is in v has to be empty right because y intersection u is equal to y. So, therefore, this has to be this force to be empty this is a contradiction. So, now, let us use this lemma to show that the spheres are connected. So, Corollary of the lemma S n is. So, to show this recall that. So, recall the map projection from a point and using this map we had shown that using this map we had proved this was left as an exercise actually using this map we can show that we can show. So, this map is phi from S n minus so let us make a picture. So, we are taking this sphere we remove this north pole 1 point and then we project to this plane. So, we have shown that this minus 2 R n is a bijective continuous map whose inverse is also continuous. So, since so let psi denote the inverse. So, as R n is connected. So, let us call this inverse let us call this psi 1 ok as R n is connected this implies psi 1 of R n which is equal to this sphere minus this north pole is connected now similar to projecting removing the north pole we can instead of north pole we can remove the south pole and project once again. So, let us call this map phi 1 yeah similar to this map to phi 1 we have a map phi minus 1 this from the sphere. So, we remove the point the south pole 2 R n right. So, geometrically what does this map do? So, we have the sphere we are removing this point given any point on the sphere. So, this point is p and this point is x we join p and x with a straight line and x is sent to the point of the point q right. So, this is R n this is S n minus ok. So, in the same way we proved phi 1 is continuous is bijective continuous is bijective continuous with continuous inverse we can prove that phi minus 1 is bijective continuous with continuous inverse. So, let psi minus 1 denote the inverse of phi minus 1 right. So, then psi minus 1 of R n is connected as R n is connected right. So, our S n we can now write it as phi 1 sorry psi 1 of R n union psi minus 1 of R n. So, psi 1 of R n is S n minus this north pole and psi minus 1 of R n is S n minus this south pole right. So, as both these intersect. So, let us call this T 1 as S n minus the north pole and S n minus the south pole have a minus non-empty intersection and these are connected the previous lemma implies that S n is connected of course, always n is greater than equal to 1 over here. So, that is a nice application. So, we will end this lecture here ok and in the next lecture we will continue with connectedness.


Oh, Brazilian bum bum cream. If that's not for the bum, then I don't know what it is. Point I'm making here is I might need bum bum cream. My fellow Snivers, flighters and newbies. My name is Marlene McCohen and this is Leo and we wanna welcome you to our channel. Today, we are doing something different, something that we do here occasionally. And for those of you wondering, no, this is not in place of our regular programming. This is something different and something that I enjoy doing. Otherwise, I would not be doing it. So here it is, here we go. It is the Summer Fab Fit Fun Box. Oh my God, guys. So today I have partnered with my friends at Fab Fit Fun and we are going to do a Fab Fit Fun Box review. For those of you who have never heard of Fab Fit Fun before, Fab Fit Fun is a seasonal subscription box. That means it comes four times a year, summer, winter, spring, fall. Yes, I got them all. And I write poetry, how amazing is that? All right, Leo, I would really appreciate if you were in the video, but yeah. And before I get into it, I wanna let you guys know that all the opinions stated here are my own. I'm opening this box for the first time. Yeah, nobody could get me to lie because I just don't have the patience for it. One reason I agree to do this box, besides for the fact that I love the box and I enjoy getting it personally, is because they also gave me a discount code to share with you guys. I don't get anything from this. It's just Marlene10. For those of you who love the box and are interested in the box. Now, for those of you who already get the box, let me know in the comments what your favorite products are and what you got this season. I'm about to show you what I got this season. All right, so while we're opening this, I just wanna let you guys know the deeps on the box. The box costs $49.99, but that's only four times a year and it's full-size products. So it's not like those other subscription boxes.  But this has a value of over $200. Now, there's about eight to 10 full-size products in here and we are about to see what they are.   So for $39.99, not a bad deal. Oh, and you also get to give somebody $15 off their box. Interesting.  The magazine's awesome.  Every box donates to a charity and this year it's in support of the Global Gift Foundation. It's the Eva Longoria Foundation, hence her being on the cover. And the magazine's really cool because it says a lot of things about the product and I'm gonna use it as a cheat sheet because it's gonna tell me what. Are you behind me? Whoa, you like literally came down there. Okay, where is the part where you tell me what's in here? For those of you who are wondering, you can customize the box.  You know what I mean? Like this or that. And so you could choose and you can also get add-ons but you have to order your add-ons in time or you won't make it because they sell out fast. My sister-in-law, Cio, she got the box after watching my video. She was like, okay, you convinced me and she gets all the add-ons. Like I'm jealous of what comes in her box. So let's get right to it. First product is, ooh. I do liquid eyeliner black. Okay, I mean who doesn't use black eyeliner? I don't know, you know, male, female. I'm sure everybody can use black eyeliner. If not, and I kid you not guys, sometimes I see comments from you men going, what about us? We did enjoy the video. Yeah, definitely. This is an amazing box to gift and amazing box to get for yourself and like choose what to gift out to other people. That's one thing I really like about it. Okay, let's open it. The nib is the perfect shape and size to give you control. It gives you the precision to draw on the perfect cat eye. Let's see. Oh, oh, it's like a liquid one. Oh, that's nice.  I have a little mirror. Should I try it on, guys? Hold on. I have a little green mirror to match my green room. I bring my makeup all day. So, I mean, it could do with a little refreshing. I definitely am not wearing eyeliner. Let's see how easy this is. But yeah, okay, it's easy. What do you guys think? I mean, I didn't do anything extravagant, but if you want that cat eye, I got someone coming over to rehearse today so I can't just do one eye. Now I gotta do one eye just to do one eye. Ooh. Okay, so I'm excited about this. I wanna tell you guys something funny story about my last FabFit Fun Box or maybe a few FabFit Fun Boxes ago, but this just happened. We were filming a movie and one of the actresses, she's like a very cool actress. She like arrives on a motorcycle blonde hair. She comes up and she's like, do any of you have dry shampoo? And the makeup artist was like, I don't, but maybe we could go get some.  I think some came in the FabFit Fun Box and I came back to my FabFit Fun Box collection and there it was. And that's what I'm always telling you guys, you don't know the things you'll need. I personally don't use dry shampoo, but there I had it for a reason. Like I was saying. Ooh, okay. Intelligent Nutrients Plant Stem Cell Science. Okay, well, I mean, I'm always a sucker for that, right? Those words together. Oh, smooths and exfoliates. Let's see what this is. Is this a face cleanser? Micro-polish? Okay, it exfoliates. So I don't know if it's just a cleanser. Oh, it feels like legit. You know when things feel like semi-medical and semi-like, just like, I don't know, let's sniff. Oh, that smells like a tree out in a spa in Arizona. Very good. Well, obviously I haven't tried it. So I don't know how it is, but it's definitely something that I would definitely give a try. Super fine treatment for all skins, oily and dry.   That's what I'm saying. Like I get this box just to give stuff to people. Spray all day, rose spray. Hydrating facial rose spray. Now, although I'm pretty good at doing my makeup and you guys compliment me a lot on my makeup and my eyebrows when they're good, I'm not like a product whore, but I love rose. So like as far as facial spray goes, I have no idea if I need it. I don't know when to put it on. Is this like a before the makeup type thing? Okay, hydrating the face. So it must be a before the makeup. Oh, it says before or after makeup. That's funny, cause if it's a setting spray, I actually do use setting spray and I'm down. But it's rose so let's open it and smell it. We're not gonna spray it because we don't spray things around birdies. Come on. Oh yeah, that smells nice. Oh guys, here's the best part. Vegan, cruelty free, paraben free. Okay, see that's what I like. A lot of the products in here are conscientious of that. Amazing. Let's move on to the next. Purple generation clay. Ooh, brightening purple clay mask. Okay, ultraviolet. I mean, just what I needed to be ultraviolet today. By the way, clay masks guys are so incredible for you. They can like clean out your skin from underneath. Like no other. I've seen it personally. I don't know the benefits of it being purple, but they have me at attention. Another thing, have you ever ran out of something or been with your girlfriends and got this bright idea and you're like, let's all do clay masks. This is the thing. This is it and if you haven't thought of that, maybe it's a good idea. Refined, brightened, illuminate, nurture. You know what, it is true. When you put a clay mask on the next day, oh, and it's cruelty free. The next day you do have like a brightness to your skin. George's dad like literally makes this mask and every time I put it on my face, I used to work in this restaurant and people would say, well, what do you use on your skin? And that was evidence right there that it worked. And this is made in Australia.  They always have, just can tell by all the Instagram posts of all those fit Australians making me wish I had their life with cockatoos coming to their balconies. Oh, wish and exfoliating foot mask, smooths and softens, intense hydration. Cruelty free again, all this other stuff free. Sulfate free, paraben free, DEA and tea free, okay. Leaping bunny certified, very cool. Let's see what's in here. I'm probably not gonna do a foot mask, let's be honest. Just too much maintenance for me, but it smells amazing. Dude, this thing isn't even open and it smells amazing. What is in this? Willow bark extract, pumpkin seed extract, orange fruit, lemon fruit, I love lemon fruit. Tested on us, not animals made in the USA. Guys, this smells phenomenal. Let me tell you what it smells like. Okay, you're on the beach. This is weird cause it smells like the beach in Vegas and you don't really go to Vegas for the beach, but that's what it is. Oh, I know why, cause it smells like high grade tanning lotion, but like high grade tanning lotion. Yeah, your foot's gonna smell good with this. Okay, next. Ooh, Brazilian bum bum cream. If that's not for the bum, then I don't know what it is. Oh, okay. It's fast absorbing body cream. Oh, it helps tighten and smooth, that's good. Cause let me tell you, I went into a store the other day and by the way, Michael Kors, I went into Michael Kors cause they had a rainbow bathing suit and I'm going to have a rainbow themed 4th of July party and I saw this bathing suit and I asked them to try it on. I did not like how my legs looked, okay? I got so insecure and then I went into express and tried something else and I looked fine and it's like, dude, this is why lighting's important. Do you know how many sales you probably lost? Just saying, but anyway, the point I'm making here is I might need bum bum cream. I entertain myself. Whoa.    But I guess if you do this, you would look tan bodied and hot and sleek. I knew it would smell like this. So I'm gonna be doing this before my 4th of July party. You see, I'll tell you guys what I'm gonna use and what I'm probably not. Whoa, moisturizing shower cream gel, Brazilian and play. Okay, here's the exact reason I'm gonna be using this because I'm not the most picky person about what's in my shower. I'm open to trying all these kind of body washes. I can open it to smell it, but I am sensitive to smell, believe it or not, even though I'm accurate with this smelling, you know? Let's see, because if it's too high scented like and it's something in the shower, then I really can't take it in there with the birds. Okay, this again, smells like indoor tanning lotion. So it must have like a shea butter or something. Brazilian, yeah, but it smells like, I have this like tanning for indoor tanning, which not promoting, not promoting, going to tanning in a bed at all. I'm just saying. So I have a lotion and it smells like that. Like, you know that high grade kind of and you're not allowed to have it outdoors only in the bed type thing. That's what it smells like. I think it's important for you guys to know what these things smell like because people are sensitive to smell. I have especially sensitive like intense citrusy smells and all that. I can't go into like those stores. I don't know if it's Abercrombie and Fitch or whatever the heck the store is, but they spray so much stuff. It's like, you're not welcome here. Invisibobble, the traceless hair ring. So this is what I think the beauty of these is. I haven't used one officially. Even though I got one before, I had it in my car. I think these are meant to not give you like after you get a blow dry, like a bend, you know? And then they also hide in the hair. So that's really cool. I think it's really cool that people are using these.  I'm not lying. Like whatever they put in that was good. Ooh, okay. Rose gold brightening facial treatment mask. Told you guys before, I'm not exactly the person on like go putting on a mask by day, but in a panic when I feel like my face like needs something and I feel like I have to be active just to be active, then this is the kind of stuff you want in your drawer. But it's also the coolest stuff to give as a present. I mean, rose gold. Oh, there's a lot of them in here. This is fantastic. You know what? I'm kind of feeling like I would try something like this recently because my sister, she loves this stuff. She's always down and I see it on Instagram and I just want to be like that person. Sometimes you just want to be like that other person. And you think you're not invited to be that person. Do you know what I mean?  You can invite yourself. So I'm inviting myself to do this rose gold brightening facial mask by 111 Skin. By the way, love the number. Cause I'm into 1111. This is missing one, but still, I love it. That's fantastic. Jennifer Zunar jewelry. Oh, little stars. Is this a necklace? This is so cute. This is a necklace guys, because it's pretty long. I'm more of a silver girl. I don't really wear jewelry, but I saw this girl and she was wearing like this silver with like, you know, like a small like diamonds. I'm like, hey, maybe I could be that delicate sometimes. But the reason I don't wear jewelry is cause these guys, you know, they're just gonna like rip it, right? I think this is actually very beautiful. And what I love about the jewelry that they put in the box, it's always so nice and delicate. Like people would look at it and compliment you on it. Like it's just nice and dainty. That's what I love about it. Something like this I would give away honestly, because, or if I'm like acting in a movie and they say, I need to be like different. And then I'll be like, look, I have this different thing. Oh my God. I think I got to the end of the box. That's fantastic. Recap, let's do my favorite products, okay? Let's do my favorite product and my unsuspecting favorite product. Favorite product is definitely the eyeliner cause it's like, I can never get enough eyeliner.  What I love about the box, the value of that in itself. Second of all, I love knowing what's hot on the market being sent to me. It's kinda like I have this personal shopper saying, hey, these are all the new products that are out. Try them and let us know what you think. Getting a box like this, you are your own influencer. It's fantastic, you know? So that's what's really cool. My unsuspecting favorite item is this Brazilian bum bum cream. Cause the name is funny and it smells fantastic. And I feel like I'm gonna be actively doing something about such the issue that gave me anxiety in the dressing room. So that I love. I'm a sucker for rose. So the Grayson Stella spray all day is definitely gonna be one of my favorites. Especially in the summer, like it gets hot out. And things like this that you can always use, you know stuff that like, I don't know who doesn't use shower gel, right? Or at least so. So for me, it's like, oh, great. Like if I run out, I have it. Whatever I'm using now, this will be what I'm using next, easy. I obviously love yellow. So those are my favorites, guys. I really enjoyed partnering with FabFitFun on this video. Do not forget to check out my coupon code Marlene10.  I hope you guys enjoyed this video as much as I did. Who doesn't love opening things in boxes? Yay! Don't forget to subscribe. Let me know how you liked this video. I love you guys so much. Bye!


Good morning. Welcome to morning prayer from downtown Kalamazoo from the radiant city center, the heart of our city, the heart of our area where we are crying out to the heart of God for him to move, for him to heal, for him to restore, for him to do the incredible miraculous things that he does among his people, among all people, to reveal himself so that people may know him, so that people may experience him and so that people may be changed and transformed by him. We as a church, we are coming out of this season, if you will, this seven day season of seeking and sending as a church going into the school year together. And I just want to, I just, I really want to emphasize this morning as even though the initiative on the calendar has ended, seeking and sending has not, this was not a finish line, this was a launching pad into our pursuit of the Lord, into us leading our families daily to cry out to God, to leading our children, to go into their schools and to be the witnesses that God for has them to be, for them to be prayer warriors in their schools. So this isn't just a season, this is a lifestyle for us as the people of God. And on my way in this morning, I couldn't shake God's heart in all of this. I could not get it off of my mind, I could not get it out of my head how he wants this and he desires this from us every day. For us to passionately wake up and come to him. For us to with excitement and expectation cry out to him. Not in vain repetition, but in holy expectation that he is the God who answers our prayers and comes through a miraculous and mighty ways. And he does the things that we read about him doing. And as I couldn't shake that, I was reminded of one of the ways, one of the central cheap ways that the Lord tells us to come into his presence. And it's very clear woven into the fabric of the entire canon of scripture. We see this happening over and over again. We see this invitation from the Lord about how to come to him, how to enter into his presence. And so I want to begin by looking at Psalm 100 together. In verse one it says, Make a joyful noise to the Lord all the earth. Serve the Lord with gladness, come into his presence with singing. Know that the Lord, he is God. It is he who made us and we are his, we are his people and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him, bless his name, for the Lord is good. It's not just that he does good, but that he is good. It is out of whom he is that he does that, which he does. His steadfast love endures forever in his faithfulness to all generations. I want to pray through two parts of that as we open up. I want to begin by praying verse one. Make a joyful noise to the Lord all the earth. Serve the Lord with gladness, come into his presence with singing. One of the cheap ways that we come into his presence is by ministering to him with a glad heart. And so right now I want us to take 30 seconds and with a very joyful, gladful, expected heart minister to the Lord. With hope on the forefront of your mind, with joy cascading out of the crevices of your heart, begin to minister to the Lord. Joyful noise, Lord. We minister to you, God. We bless your holy name, Lord. It is with smiles on our faces that are really reflections of our hearts, God, that we come to you this morning with joy and with praise, God. Verse four says, enter his gates with thanksgiving in his courts with praise. Give thanks to him. Bless his name, Jesus. We enter. We enter into your gates today, God, with thanksgiving. We are so thankful that in this room and in our cars and everywhere we were where we intentionally sought after you, God. And right now we enter in again. We are so thankful. We are so thankful for you. We are thankful for your salvation. We are thankful for your love. We are thankful for your hearts. We are thankful for your compassion. We are thankful for your kindness. We are thankful for your goodness. We are thankful for your holiness.  We are thankful. we are thankful and so we enter in and we we enter into your courts with praise God Lord I pray that praise would come pouring forth from our lips this morning God praise of worship praise of thanksgiving praise of joy praise of wonder praise God we praise you this morning we minister to you we come into your presence now in Jesus name allow us to enter the courts for us to enter the gates to allow us to do it for you but I feel this sweet invitation from the Lord today where he is saying to us I want to hear from your mouth with your lips what you are thankful for oftentimes we think that it has to be this life-changing transforming thing that we have to bring to him to be grateful for and to express our thanksgiving for and sometimes this is just something is Lord I'm thankful for the shoes on my feet thank you Lord I thank you for the clothes on my back thank you I thank you for the roof over my head or I thank you Lord even though my marriage is not steady I thank you for my spouse and begin to thank the Lord for your spouse and Lord I thank you for my kids and I thank you just begin to allow your heart to open up to the Lord with vulnerability of the things that you are grateful for that you often overlook that you often forget is the genuine thankfulness that we bring to God that ushers us most closely into his presence so just begin to thank him thank you for the breath in your lungs thank him thank him for the sunrise of this morning thank him though you're overlooked at your place of work thank him that you have a place to call work thank him thank him thank him we join that chorus around your throne that picture that glimpse that we have in revelation for that is happening day and night and has been happening for all of eternity and will never cease we are in agreement that you are holy holy holy Jesus we are in agreement that you are worthy worthy worthy in agreement and so Lord I pray right now that it would be your holiness that would overwhelm us that it would be your holiness that consumes us Lord I pray that it would be your holiness that that takes over our minds that it would not be a flippant word that we throw out left and right here and there but Lord God that truly your holiness motivate us and move us and stir us to seek after you to desire you at greater levels and greater depths like never before Jesus Lord I pray that it would be your uniqueness your holiness your one of a kindness your other than this Lord that would drive us to your throne God that we would not just say you are holy and not understand what it truly means but that your holiness that you would give us a revelation of your holiness and that it would drive us to seek after you more and more and more every single day all throughout the day with our words with our minds with our actions with our songs with our lifestyles with our choices in our homes in our places of work even in the car God I pray that it would be your holiness that drives us you are so holy God Lord you are so worthy you are so worthy God overwhelm us this morning earn us today this morning here is the wood God would you light us a place you are holy holy holy you are worthy worthy worthy 27 and 28 just yesterday you know it's something stuck out to my wife that she brought up to me and then it's been it's the first two verses of Acts 28 it says after we were brought safely because they had just been through a storm and shipwrecked so after they've been brought safely through that we then learned that the island was called Malta showed us unusual kindness welcomed us all because it had begun to rain and it was cold now verse three when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and put them on the fire I want to stop there I don't want to read the rest because what stands out is that someone started a fire for Paul and these people but Paul and these people had to keep the fire burning themselves and we just spent a week building altars building fires building places of worship in our homes and in our lives and I feel like the Lord is saying to us today yes a fire was kindled for you last week but are you going to gather stick and are you going to gather wood and are you going to bring it to the altar today are you going to do it and so Lord we come to you today and we bring fresh wood to this altar to the altars of our lives to the altars of our homes Lord we want this fire to keep burning this fire that was started Lord I pray for homes where altars were built God would you like them ablaze this morning would you light them ablaze when the fire not go out may it burn continually as your word says the fire must not go out and so Lord I want to start by praying for men and I want to start by praying for husbands and fathers Lord I pray that they would be Paul's in their homes and that every single day that they would be men who go outside when it's cold and when it's rainy and they would gather wood for the altar in their home to burn for their wives for their spouses and for their kids God I pray that they would be excited about it I pray that their passion and their zeal for you would consume them God and they would wake up early in the morning not just before they had to go to work but early in the morning and they would gather wood and they would bring it to the altar so the fire would not go out in their homes God would you stir up the men to build and to continue to build altars of worship and praise unto you in their homes in Jesus name fathers would leave their children to the altar Lord I pray that the altar in the home Lord God would be fortified and strengthened by the men in the home and the husbands in the home and the fathers in the home Lord Lord I pray that you would agitate men Father I just ask right now for for the women leading their household Lord that you would just I just pray anxiety gone depression the things that may plague a woman where she's tending for her home caring for home I pray encouragement for her Lord just encourage her I speak joy and life encouragement for her to be a strength to her husband and to her family for women Lord that are the single moms out there Father I just pray that you are are everything to her you're her comfort her peace her love Lord her husband her father I just pray Father for the children Lord in these homes I ask Father that you become vibrant in the home Lord that you become so tangible to children at such even young ages Father and so I just thank you for what you're doing in homes with wives with mom Lord and Lord I pray for the single women out there Father that are or the barren women out there Father that you would just encourage them speak to them Father prepare their hearts that they can be spiritual mothers to those around them Lord the spirit of comparison would be broken on men to Lord but I pray that the Pinterest comparative mindset will be broken off of us Lord God and that we would be led to your altar every single day with fresh wood in Jesus name Lord I pray that the altar's times that they begin to build this week that they would take those into their schools Lord God whatever age they are at Lord I pray that their altars they would carry their altars with them God Lord I pray for a Josiah generation to raise up in this hour and in this day a Josiah generation that burns for you and your righteousness and your word and your truth God Lord I pray that they would stand firm Lord at the age of eight at the age of nine at the age of ten Lord they would stand firm upon your precepts and they would bring revival renewal and and and a reconstruction of their generation according to your word Lord Lord I pray for safety over our kids I pray for protection over our kids I banish the spirit of bullying away from our kids now you have no place in their lives to intimidate them or to make them cower into the corner their altars into their school I see them putting a a spiritual altar into their backpack every single day throughout their day Lord would you ignite our kids would you comfort our kids Lord would you break the spirit of anxiety off of our kids Lord would you break the spirit of fear off of our kids that they may burn for you zealous passion in their schools Lord burning the altars that we have built over the last week would be altars that stand for generations to come Lord I pray that husbands would keep building upon the altar which they started building this week I pray that men would be would continue to keep building the altars Lord I pray that fathers would keep altars Lord God not just for them but for generations to come Lord I pray that we as men as husbands and fathers would leave a true legacy for generations to come altars of praise altars of worship altars of thanksgiving unto you God not altars and shrines under ourselves and our accomplishments and our salaries and our purchases and our jokes and our humor altars of worship Lord for generations yet to be born Lord God that this would not just be a season that comes and goes but this would be an operation for the rest of our lives that this would be our lifestyle of us coming to the altar and glorifying you Jesus crying holy holy holy crying worthy awesome is the Lord Lord would you fill our homes with your presence said the train of your robe built the temple god I pray that right now presence would fill the space that we are occupying that will continue to fill the space that we are occupying throughout the rest of the day as we continue to seek you that we are not just seeking you for this hour but we are seeking you for the entirety of our lives with every breath with every action Lord I pray that it would be worship directed to you directed to you for we love you and we need you and we trust you I just can't shake that song right now that listening to and shaking Lord there's nothing there's nothing there is nothing there is no one there is nothing that compares to you nothing there's nothing there's nothing and so Lord I pray that you would turn our graves into gardens the graves of our city the graves of our places of work the graves of our families the graves of our past Lord I pray that you would turn them into gardens today God Lord I pray for resurrection to come into our lives that we would become fascinated with resurrection with you turning graves into gardens Lord would you fascinate us with resurrection power today would you overwhelm us with with resurrection power the same way that Paul was consumed with resurrection God would you consume us Lord may not be an idea of our minds but may it be a reality in a longing that we have every single day fascinate us God with resurrection power fascinate us Lord with resurrection power fascinate us continue to come to the altar fire must go must not go out it must burn continually would not be memorial stones of yesterday but they would be altars for today your presence where we encounter you where we cry out to you where we sacrifice our desires our ambitions our wants all to you Lord we love you we thank you for this day in Jesus name joining us this morning we will be back at noon and at 6 30 here in the prayer center otherwise we'll see you tomorrow on the live stream at 8 a.m. have a blessed day keep


While eating at a local burger joint, a customer noticed a racist sign over the counter. However, soon after the angry patron insisted that the owner remove the controversial message, they noticed who was outside waiting for them. While eating at gross burgers in Danville, Illinois, repeat customer Sam Schnell couldn't help but notice a small yellow sign hanging above a window inside the diner. When she took a closer look and read the message, she simply couldn't believe her eyes. In bold red lettering, the sign read, if you can't read this, thank a marine, pointing to some Arabic script that reportedly translates to al-Ahu Akbar, Fox News reports. Shocked by the politically incorrect message, which had apparently been on display at the restaurant for a decade, Schnell wasted no time in taking to social media in an effort to shame the establishment and possibly generate a boycott. In a post that was quickly deleted, Schnell captioned a photo of the sign with, f asterisk ck gross burgers. Absolutely disgusting, the Washington Examiner reports. She then called the restaurant to make her demand. Just called gross burgers. I asked them to take the sign down and asked to speak to the owner, Sam Schnell said. They then handed the phone to the manager who said, we are most certainly not taking it down.  And then proceeded to argue with whatever recommendations slash points I made and then hung up on me. Nice. Expectedly, Schnell's post garnered support from like-minded individuals connected to her profile. It was then that she likely believed her cause would end in misery for the business owner. What she soon encountered was quite the opposite. Once her post and the accusation of racism against gross burgers gained steam, people across the country defended not only the owner's right to display his personal belief, but the true meaning behind the signs message, which refers to Islamic conquests and Sharia law and not merely the Arabic language. Soon, there were customers flocking to the diner, boosting business better than ever. Gross burgers owner Brad Gross, who is a Marine himself, was overwhelmed by the support he received. He told W CIA business is doing wonderful and he couldn't be more grateful for the positive feedback he is getting. The bumper sticker has been in my restaurant for more than a decade from a Marine that served in Iraq. He brought it in and asked me to put it up and I said sure go ahead and put it up and it's been there for all these years, he said. Gross told Fox News that he holds a special reverence for military members and employs several Marines at his restaurant. He claims that he even received the sign from a Marine who had served in Iraq. Those opposing the sign took the message to be disparaging toward Arabs and those who speak a language other than English. Many of them expressed their disapproval on social media, immediately calling the restaurant owner racist. Come for the burgers, stay for the blatant racism, one person commented on the post. Another wrote, if you can read it, thank yourself for being a multicultural human and not a xenophobic garbage human. On Schnell's original Facebook post, one user asked, why are all these Americans cheering for ignorance? The ability to speak more than one language should be applauded. Pathetic. However, others quickly pointed out that there was more to the message than a reference to the Arabic language. The sign, they said, points out that our constitutional republic would likely be a tyrannical regime if not for our military. It's not about speaking another language. Be fluent in as many ways as you want. That's great. But the sign is about being under a Muslim law or Sharia law and government that would make us write Arabic and abide by their laws, one person wrote. We need to thank our military, we are not forced to be under the type of law. Owner and Marine Brad Gross promised to keep the sign on display. Gross has doubled down on his decision to keep the sign in its place, arguing that he won't cater to the demands of a tiny minority of his customers. Thanks to the support from his community and others across the country, he certainly isn't feeling the pressure to do so. Like many others, the incident has sparked debate on whether businesses should inject politics into their establishments, even if they aren't affecting the products and services. For now, gross decision to do just that has paid off nicely.