Rubik's Cube Relaxation

Photo By Tech. Sgt. Samuel Burns | Senior Airman Marcus Taylor, a broadcast producer for American Forces Network-Tokyo, completes a Rubik’s Cube during a music break while hosting “The Sunset Drive” from Yokota Air Base, Japan, Oct. 5, 2021. The Sunset Drive broadcasts to the Kanto Plain region every weekday on American Forces Network radio. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Samuel Burns)  

JAPAN

10.05.2021

Story by Staff Sgt. Samuel Burns 

AFN Tokyo

YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan – Staying in the same room for four hours every day might sound simple, but there is a lot going on inside the radio studio of AFN Tokyo. Finding ways to relax and focus your mind vary from radio host to radio host.
Senior Airman Marcus Taylor, the host of the Sunset Drive on Eagle 810, has his own unique method of passing time while the music is playing. Taylor challenges himself with various Rubik’s Cubes, putting his mind to work and keeping him active in the studio.
“I need to stay focused while the music is playing in the studio,” said Taylor. “There’s a lot of down time where I’m by myself, and having a puzzle to solve makes the breaks go by faster.”
Taylor first picked up a Rubik’s Cube while on Charge of Quarters duty at technical school. During that time, he spent hours sitting in a room waiting for other airmen to enter or leave the building. This was when he realized how something as simple as a Rubik’s Cube could make time fly by.
His radio career started at AFN Incirlik, and his love of Rubik’s Cubes started to prove its usefulness.
Now, that strategy has found its way into the studio at AFN Tokyo, where he spends four hours every weekday playing music and providing both information and entertainment to the Kanto Plain region.
“It’s relaxing for me. I’ve bought some different cubes for the studio, that way I always have a new puzzle ahead of me,” said Taylor.
“When I first started on radio in 2019, I really got the three-by-three cube down. Even though I can already solve it, I keep practicing it every day to try and get faster.”
At any given time, he can have up to five different cubes in the studio, all different styles.
“My goal is to continue to grow as a radio show host, but also to keep getting better and faster at solving these cubes. Hopefully the rest of my time on radio will give me a good opportunity to do both,” said Taylor.

• Date Taken: 10.05.2021
• Date Posted: 10.21.2021 19:18
• Story ID: 407663
• Location: JP