Traffic I Have Seen

Okay, so this is going to be Unabashed, Blatant, Self Promotion.

I signed up with Google Analytics some time ago—I was curious as to the level of Lurking that was going on.
I don't get a lot of comments on my blogs—which I completely understand. I am a Lurker myself.
Admittedly I only started keeping up with people's blogs when I joined Plaxo, by my brother's invitation.
I liked it so much that I tried to evangelize the site, and I did get a fair number of people to join, what I liked about it, was the fact that once I got everyone to join, I'd never have to visit the site again, as it sends me a weekly update—which is great for Grandma, by the way.

Anyway, my Plaxo evangelism hit a brick wall when it came to my sister—she flat out refused—I even tried a little bartering when it came to her invitation to join Twitter (the offer still stands unanswered). She stated that she liked using her RSS feeds and didn't need another service.

My biggest beef with RSS, was that I had to use some program and it was only setup properly on one computer. Then I discovered Google Reader—I could access all my RSS feeds from any computer. I was still a little annoyed that I had to access the site to get updates and that prompted me to dive into iGoogle—which I'm still annoyed about, it loads slightly slower than standard Google, but I've resigned to it now.

So the following is a list of people whose sites I've lurked on (in no particular order): Emily, Annj, Gary, Ryan, Brad & Anisha, Michael, Niki, Andria, Natalie, Heidi, Katie, Brandon & Tiffany, Brian, P & S, Bonnie, Megan, and Nicole——You Know Who You Are.


I read 99% of the Blog Posts all the way through. I don't comment much though.


So, back to the matter at hand—I was curious as to how many of you out there were Lurking, So I set up Google Analytic.

Thus far (about two months worth of statistics) the Most Hits I've seen in a single day is 15 on this site—which I currently consider my main site.
Also I have one hit from Canada.

On my Web Comic Blog (Which I secretly agonize that no one reads) the most hits recorded in a single day is four—and I've received one hit from Russia.

On my Sketchbook blog (Again, I secretly agonize that no one looks) the most hits recorded in a single day is three—and I've received one hit from Iran.

(I'm starting to think I have a reader masking their true IP address)



I have one more site that I am monitoring. It is a better version of my Web Comic, using Wordpress and the Comic Press Plugin. The most hits registered in a single day is two—and I'm reasonably sure that both of those are me. The site is not quite ready for prime time—and I'm no web page designer, so progress is slow. But if you want to visit it, it's located here. Eventually I'd like to make that my main blog. Funny thing about that blog—there's a Christmas post that kept getting Spammed until I added a little 1337 speak to the Title.


So there you have it: Unabashed, Blatant, Self Promotion—mostly because the hits from Canada, Russia, and Iran were interesting to me.

An Ode to a Commode

As I walked down a street this morn' to work.

My mind engrossed in gaming podcast themes.

A sight before my eyes caused me to smirk.

Before me an unusual sight it Seems.

For in a place reserved for parking cars.

There sat a throne of porcelain, glazed white.

Beneath historic buildings time forgot.

So peaceful under fading morning Stars.

As sun chased dark, replacing her with light.

A prank intends to tempt someone to squat.

Though most would walk on by with naught a thought.

I had to pause and think about the scene.

Without one in our homes we'd not be caught.

Though we don't think of them as very clean.

Without these humble seats how would life be?

Now You may think I joke, but it's no jest.

In winter we don't have to make a trek.

John Harrington I tip my hat to thee.

For re-inventing flushers for The West.

A most under appreciated tech.

My Musings over, I was on my way.

Resumed my walk to work, mind back to games.

The Darkness of the Night it turned to Day.

If you dismiss this tale no one shall blame.

Just don't forget your useful household drain.

It's always there to help in your relief.

No honor has it ever had bestowed.

But life without would be a major pain.

And that's the very theme of my motif.

Behold this is my ode to a commode.

Muppet Theory That Everyone Must Read

Generally this is a place where I showcase my thoughts, but this stream of thinking I came across is something everyone should have bouncing around the back of their skull.

First, Read this comic.

Then Read this Blog entry, which I shall Quote here:

From PVP, by Scott R. Kurtz

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Yoda is a Muppet

 

— February 25th, 2009

Back in December of last year, I wrote a comic strip based on a theory my friend Rob has always held that all Muppets fail at doing what they want to do most. Rob has emailed me with additional data to support his thesis:

“Wait, I was just thinking that Yoda is a Muppet. As with all Muppets, everything he does fails. He talks about how Anakin is troubled, but still lets him become a padawan and a Jedi. He works closely with Palpatine AKA Darth Sideous without ever so much as thinking twice. He’s the general of the so-called Clone Army, which kills all of his Jedi but Obi-Wan. He [messes] up the fight against Sideous.
He doesn’t want to train Luke. Then, when he does want to train Luke, he doesn’t want Luke to leave. If Luke hadn’t left, the whole rebellion could have fallen.
Not until Yoda dies do things go right for the rebellion against the Empire. Yoda’s rise is the rise of the Empire.
Dude is a Muppet through and through.”

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Hilarious!

For Those Who Keep Telling Me to Stop Drawing in Meetings.

I've been telling you for years that it helps me pay attention. Now I have Proof. 

From Wired:

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A Sketchy Brain Booster: Doodling

By Brandon Keim February 26, 2009 | 8:46:24 PM

Good news, doodlers: What your colleagues consider a distracting, time-wasting habit may actually give you a leg up on them by helping you pay attention. 

Asked to remember names they'd heard on a recording, people who doodled while listening had better recall than those who didn't. This suggests that a slightly distracting secondary task may actually improve concentration during the performance of dull tasks that would otherwise cause a mind to wander. 

"People may doodle as a strategy to help themselves concentrate," said study co-author Jackie Andrade, a University of Plymouth psychologist. "We might not be aware that we're doing it, but it could be a trick that people develop because it helps them from wandering off into a daydream."

Andrade's findings, published Thursday in Applied Cognitive Psychology, are an interesting wrinkle on cognitive load theory: The mind has a limited amount of attention to give and, once occupied, stops processing other stimuli. 

Cognitive load is exploited by magicians, whose verbal and physical flourishes distract from sleight-of-hand. It also explains why driving while talking on a hands-free headset is no safer than driving while holding a phone. And it could be the reason why doodling is so much better than daydreaming. 

"It takes a large cognitive load to daydream. That has a big impact on the task you're meant to be doing," said Andrade. "Doodling takes only a small cognitive load, but it's just enough to keep your mental resources focused on the main task."

Andrade's team asked 40 people to listen to a recording containing the names of people and places. Afterwards the people wrote down the names they could remember. 

While listening, half of the test subjects were also required to shade in shapes on a piece of paper. Afterwards, they remembered one-third more names than test subjects who didn't doodle while listening. 

"The exciting thing is that people actually got better while doing two things at once," said Andrade. "Doodling is not as bad a thing as we might think."

Citation: "What does doodling do?" By Jackie Andrade. Applied Cognitive Psychology, Vol. 23, No. 3, Feb. 26, 2009.

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See, I'm gonna Doodle in Meetings for life.

Coraline

If you can't stand spoilers, you really shouldn't read this at all. I make no promises to not spoil something. There is a chance that I might not spoil anything at all, I don't really know what I'm going to write other than I am going to write about Coraline. (So I've read over the Blog and there are no Spoilers—feel free to read)

Some background information first.

Coraline is a Novella.

Apparently a Novella is Longer than a Novelette and Shorter than a Novel. I find it amusing that there are such distinctions. I find it equally amusing that there is disagreement among different literary grand-high-mucky-muckies about the defined length and differences. I find it immensely amusing that mostly this boils down to word count.

Coraline was written by Neil Gaiman.

I became familiar with Mr Gaiman when he was working on The Sandman at D.C. Comics. The Sandman was part of what D.C. Comics called Vertigo, a group of comics that were a little more Mature in their themes—marketed to late-teens to early adults. The Sandman was primarily a story about Morpheus, the anthropomorphic personification of Dream. I used to think of Gaiman as a Comic Book Author that went on to write Novels and Film Scripts. Now I see him as I see Walt Disney—a Storyteller that works in any Medium he can.

Coraline the Movie, is Directed By Henry Selik.

What do you need to know about Henry Selik? Directed The Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach and now Coraline. In a world that increasingly turns to the Flash Bang and Pizazz of computer generated 3D animation. Henry Selik keeps pushing the envelope and technology of an old-school style of animation that most consider past its time. I'm drawn to his work in the Same way I'm drawn to Tim Burton's work. It speaks to me in a way that I can't quite put into words.

So, now that I've moved far enough down that any Spoilers will be below the bottom of the browser for most visitors. I can start actually talking about Coraline.

I loved it. I laughed a lot—but I wasn't hearing laughter from those around me. I guess they just didn't get it.

The best way I can think to describe this story, is a Creepy Alice in Wonderland. It had a "rabbit" hole, a Cheshire Cat, "tea" parties, an alternate world, and a Mad Queen.

Part of what these Stop Motion Masterpieces have, that their Computer generated siblings don't is a certain sense of stylization—not only in their visual representation, but in their movement as well. The lack of motion blur in stop motion turns every frame into a work of art.

Another thing Coraline has going for it is the fact that it was shot in 3D. The new 3D technology is leaps and bounds ahead of the 3D of yesteryear. It uses a Digital Projector that is equipped with a special modulating lens called a ZScreen [that I couldn't find much information about] which circularly polarizes alternating right eye and left eye frames at 72 frames per second, per eye (that's 144 frames per second folks). This creates a 3D effect when combind with circularly polarized glasses worn by audience members. You can even turn your head and it won't break the illusion.

What that means is you won't get a headache caused by other 3D systems. Nightmare Before Christmas 3D is still the Best 3D experience I've ever had, but I suspect (since both films used the same 3D technology (Real D Cinema)) that if I had sat further back, the Coraline Experience could have been a little better.

It's Nice that the 3D experience is finaly less of a gimmick. I can only think of one shot in the whole movie that seemed like it was pandering to the 3D experience. The thing with 3D is that they generally purposefully include shots where something comes out into your face, it's forced and un-natural and always feels out of place and unnecessary. I think that's why Nightmare Before Christmas 3D stands out so much, It was a great film long before it was 3D.

What I want to know is, where's my Lord of the Rings and Star Wars in 3D? I read that they were being converted and were supposed to be released starting 2007.

So this Dark and Creepy Alice in Wonderland style story is filmed in 3D, directed by Henry Selik, who directed Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas. Interestingly enough—Tim Burton is currently working on Alice in Wonderland—also to be released in 3D. Burton is Making the Film for Disney, says he never liked the Disney version (Walt wasn't terribly fond of it either). It will feature Live action, Stop Motion Animation, and Computer Generated Animation. It is being shot with traditional cameras and will be converted to 3D. Richard Zanuck (Producer) explained 3D cameras were too expensive and "clumsy" to use, and decided there was no difference between converted footage and those shot in the format, which was one of the big draws of Real D Cinema in the first place.

Okay, so I haven't really said much about Coraline. I liked it. I liked it a lot. I've Rambled a lot.

Evil—Now for Girls

Ouija—what's the first thing that comes to mind?

Séances? Contacting the Dead? Contacting Spirits, evil or otherwise? A ridiculous concept? Completely Bunk?

Let's first look at the Facts, Ouija is a Registered Trademark, held by Parker Brothers since 1966. Parker Brothers is a Board Game Company. The Ouija name was invented in 1901 as a result of the Spiritualist Movement of the late 1800's through the roaring 20's. The Spiritualist movement is marked by a belief in God, and an ability to speak to the dead, through various and sundry ways. One way of contacting the dead is through the use of a Talking Board or Spirit Board—the most famous of which is the Ouija, though there are many others and imitators.

Scientists claim that the perceived effect of the board is caused by the sub-conscious of the participants.

Spiritualists claim that it is the Spirits (Good, Bad, Dead, or Otherwise) communicating and making contact with the living.

Penn & Teller—the bad boys of Magic—enjoy giving away the secrets of magic in hopes of encouraging Magicians to come up with new techniques and technologies. They have a television show in which they "aim to debunk what the hosts see as pseudoscientific ideas, supernatural beliefs, popular fads and misconceptions."

In an episode they took a look at the Ouija; they blindfolded the participants and after a couple questions, unbeknownst to the participants, rotated the Ouija 180°. The participants continued to move the planchette to empty parts of the board where they thought the Yes and the No were still located.

Spiritualists claim that the spirits use the eyes of those seeking contact, and that that is the reason such a thing would happen.

Then there are those that claim that they have had close encounters with evil when "playing" with this "game." George Noory of Coast to Coast AM has had numerous callers on Open Lines Friday call in to share their stories of close encounters with terror that involved the Ouija—and frankly, I think he's terrified of the things.

In fact, I'm recalling a time when I was looking at the games in the Toy department of the store where my mother worked (remember my long time obsession with games?). I asked her what Ouija was. She told me that she had never played, but that she had a friend that had played and had a scary, bad, experience (I'll forgo the details).

The object, a board with letters, numbers, yes, and no, is not inherently evil—nor is the heart shaped pointer. But there is no denying that the Ouija has a reputation of being a implementation of calling upon the dead and demons. The thing about evil is that it really doesn't matter how you invite it in, it's the fact that you are inviting it in the first place.

Well apparently Parker Brothers/Hasbro isn't selling enough generic possible experiences with "The Dark Side" so they are targeting their wicked little product to a more niche market—giddy girls. Along side Mystery Date, a "Boutique" Edition Monopoly (Decked out all in pink, in a small Caboodle style travel box), Disney Princess Dominoes, and a "Boutique" Edition of Life, and other equally girly things, on an endcap that screamed "Girls Look at Me, We're so pink you can hardly stand it," I saw a Evil "dressed in Pink Chiffon"—Ouija for girly girls. With suggested girly questions like: Who will call/text me next? Will I be a famous actor someday? Who wishes they could trade places with me? What is my best physical feature? and What movie actor/actress am I most like? (and 67 other suggested questions).

"Includes a cool carrying case! Take it to parties, Sleepovers, and More!"

Behold it—in all its pink "Glory!"

Scary isn't it?—Read the Back too.

Now just picture it, you're getting together with your occultist friends and you are supposed to bring the Ouija Board to the big ritual, but you've forgotten it. You run to the local Toys R Us and the only Ouija that they have is the Pink Girly Edition. How Embarrassing... How Embarrassing—not even the Demons, Daemons or Devils respect you enough to show up.

This whole concept is just wrong on so many levels.

Evil, available for so many years in a non-sexist form—now available in a Sexist Version, just for preteen girls! (I could go on all night like this folks)

One more observation. On the Box it states that this product is for those 8 and above. At least they want you to wait until the age of accountability before you delve into the the dark arts...

Bringing Husbands and Wives Together.

I don't know about you, but when I got married I was introduced to a bunch of Classic Literature that I was never interested in: Jane Austen mostly, but all that Period Comedy of Manners stuff. My wife loves the Novels and the Movies. Admittedly the first few times she wanted me to watch these movies with her, I fell asleep. I just couldn't wrap my head around all the characters that politely refer to each other as Mr., Miss, and Mrs. and that old timey speech takes some getting used to. But now I've seen most of them enough, and I'm familiar enough with the stories that I've come to appreciate them. 

My Wife's Favorite of the bunch is Pride and Prejudice, She owns Four Versions and it is the de facto what to watch when she is sick movie. 

I've seen enough Pride and Prejudice at this point, to be very familiar with the story. I even have a favorite part.

But now there are some versions of Pride and Prejudice in Pre-production stages that will help other couples come together and watch these timeless classics in record time. It took Several years before I really understood what these Stories were all about, and someone has apparently seen fit to try and shorten the amount of time it takes for guys to appreciate these classic pieces of literature. 

This is from Movie Make Out.

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Jane Austen and Zombies and Aliens and Vampires, Oh My!

Posted by Trisha Lynn on February 17th, 2009 at 11:36 pm CST | Category: News

 

At first, I thought it was a joke when it was announced in January that Huffington Post columnist and producer/screenwriter Seth Grahame-Smith was going to release a book based on British author Jane Austen’s often-filmed Pride and Prejudice to be called Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Word is that the Hollywood studios are already in a bidding war over the movie rights.

But today, it was revealed that they are too late if they want to make the first P&P parody film of the Aughts.

For as Variety reported Monday evening, it is 1970s balladeer/rock star Elton John and his production studio Rocket Pictures who will start filming on Pride and Predator later this year. This one is a take on the book where an alien spaceship drops into the middle of the action and starts murdering all of the characters, with Will Clark directing; Clark, Andrew Kemble and John Pape with screenwriter credits, and Elton John providing music for the film… oh [No], is it going to be a musical, too?

Now, it has become even more ludicrous because in digging for the facts of this story, I’ve discovered that eight months prior, young adult author Michael Thomas Ford got a three-book deal with Ballantine, starting with Jane Bites Back, a novel about the author who is now a vampire dealing with a 200-year old writers’ block and frustration over the fact that people who aren’t named Jane Austen are making more money off of her work than she ever did.

If we hear next that either Grahame-Smith or Elton John has died of ex-sanguination via puncture wounds on the neck, I think we know who to blame, don’t we?

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I Can't Wait.

Savage Worlds

I Really Really want to play a campaign in the Savage Worlds.

Those not in the know, Savage Worlds is a Role-playing game.

Not a video game Role Playing Game. I'm not really into Video RPG's.

No, it's a Pen and Paper RPG. Most people that have not played a Pen and Paper RPG are only familiar with one: Dungeons and Dragons. D&D has had a controversial past, and I won't get into it—except to say that it's pretty much exaggeration mixed with right out lies.

I was introduced to a podcast called Fear the Boot by a friend of mine. There were about 100 episodes at the time and I was so enthralled by the content that I eventually caught up. Now I'm completely behind—well only 20 or so episodes, but they were on hiatus for a while and that's the only reason I'm only 20 behind.

One of the individuals on the show LOVES a game called Savage Worlds. Part of the reason is the Motto of the Game: Fast Furious Fun. The Staple Pen and Paper RPG is D&D, it's the one almost everybody starts with, it's the Generic RPG if there is to be one. It's a high fantasy setting and the stereotypical RPG.—My understanding of Savage Worlds is that it is loosely based on the D20 system (the system that D&D was based on in it's previous iteration), but that they modified it to remove some of the "boring" parts of playing D&D. This is a very appealing Idea to me, D&D is great, a very fun game, but sometimes you are just beating your head against a wall, because you're waiting for other players to do their thing, and the Mechanics of the game are slowing it down.

Another thing appealing to the game is its price. To play D&D requires you to have a Player's Hand Book. I bought a used one for $15. I also purchased the 3.0 edition right when 3.5 was released. Helping to get the lower price. Normally the book is $35 (MSRP). Now someone in the Group has to act as the Dungeon Master (The Guy Telling the Story, Throwing Monsters at the Group, etc) He needs in addition to the Player's Handbook, a Game Master's Handbook and The Monster Manual. You can buy all three for just over $100 (MSRP).—The Savage Worlds only requires the Core Rulebook. It has all you need to play a game including the equivalent of the Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide and Monster Manual all in one convenient package, and all for $10.

One more thing that makes this game appealing is that it is a Generic Rule set, you can use the game to play any genre. High Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Horror, etc. It's all done with a sort of Pulp Fiction Flavor, but you can use it any way you please. D&D is High Fantasy and is based on the D20 Game Mechanism (well... 3.0/3.5 was) which was supposed to be applicable to any setting, but the conversion really didn't seem to be an easy one, with out a $20-40 rulebook designed with the setting you had in mind. (I tried writing up a Mr. Squishy Campaign and it didn't go far using just the Generic D20 Idea).

 I was so excited to read the Savage Worlds rules and play a game that I purchased the Core Rulebook some time ago, but it was about the same time that our gaming group stopped getting together regularly. So here I am, about a year later and I still haven't played a game.

I was reading some Savage Worlds Literature recently and was getting excited about it again, and I decided that I wanted to play a game, or sit in on a session before I tried introducing it to my own gaming group. Maybe start having an RPG game night on a regular basis again, and that's how I learned about the Metagame of the Savage Worlds.

I did a search for Savage Worlds Salt Lake City and I kept getting the same thing. A description of Salt Lake City in the Deadlands. The way I understand it, Savage Worlds is the Newly Developed, Generic, use-it-in-any-Genre version of  Deadlands: the Great Rail wars (A Deadlands game with a simplified rule system). 

So essentially the game was developed so you can use it for any and all settings. But if you want to, there is this whole Alternate History of the World setting that you can play in that starts with the Deadlands Game in what is known as the Weird West. The Weird West History is Identical to actual history up  July 3, 1863. When a group of Native Americans led by a Shaman performed a ritual in effort to rid the land of European settlers. This released into the world entities known as the "Reckoners." This is what makes the West Weird. It introduces Zombies and Ghosts and other Horror Elements into the Wild West. Where Deadlands is the Western meets Horror version of History; Hell on Earth is the, Reckoners succeeded in turning Earth into a Haunted Wasteland result. It's the Post Apocalyptic Future of the Deadlands. And then there is Lost Colony, placed even further in the Future. Just before the Apocalyptic Event colonists were able to travel to another planet, but then the apocalypse came and they were trapped. So Lost Colony is the Sci-Fi History of the Deadlands.

Here's what I kept coming across when I searched Salt Lake City Savage Worlds. 

"Life in the Weird West's never really easy, but some places are worse than others.

If you're fond of things like clean water, fresh air, and wide-open spaces, then the City o' Gloom's just about the worst place around. Sure, Salt Lake City's the only place in the west with electric lights and indoor plumbing, and it's the center of the most incredible scientific advances anywhere in the world, but progress always has its price." 

Which makes me want to play in this universe even more. They've even published Deadlands: Reloaded, which is the Original Deadlands setting written specifically for the current Savage Worlds rule set. But I still haven't found any games taking place in Salt Lake that I could Observe/Participate. If one of the GM's that I know would like to venture a stab at using the Savage Worlds for a campaign, I'm Game. 

One more thing I wanted to add. Previous to Savage Worlds the other Generic Roll Playing System that I was interested in was G.U.R.P.S.. G.U.R.P.S. has resources for any genre you could think of, but a) its rules make my head spin and b) it only uses d6's. One of the coolest things I found for Savage worlds is a conversion matrix from other roll playing systems (Chaosium, D20, AD&D, G.U.R.P.S., and Shadowrun specifically in this one document—but I have found documents for a Wide Range of other systems) G.U.R.P.S. alone has hundreds of resources in a multitude of genres. The fact that so many people are converting to this system is a testament to its usability and Fun Factor, in my opinion.

Interestingly Enough, Deadlands Has Been Published with it's original Classic Rules (1996–1999), Licensed to the G.U.R.P.S. system (2001), Supported under the D20 System (2001), and now Savage Worlds (2006–). 

You all know how much I like Dice, so a system that only uses the lowly d6 is just lacking in a bit of Flavor. 

Also, I still haven't played a D&D 4th Edition Campaign.

Also, I still want to finish our D&D "3.25" edition Campaign—I have a great character who's believed certain things his whole life, and all of that is unraveling, his world is in chaos, and he'd like to have some closure.

A Gamer Almost as Far Back as I can Remember.

My Earliest Memory on File in my head is of Disneyland, I think. I distinctly Remember the 360° Theater (Circle Vision). I was standing next to a Stroller, my Stroller. There was a forest of legs and some Bars that people could hold onto. All I remember of the Film was countryside and sheep. I also remember a portion of the Main Street Electrical Parade: Specifically Elliot. I think this was the same vacation that I famously, or infamously, rode Berry Tales over and over and over and over and over and over ... again. That Dark Ride was AWESOME!!! I could go for a spin or two right now, seriously—too bad it's gone. Last time I was at Knott's it brought back memories just going on the lame ride that is in the same space (it uses the same track) and I rode that one a second time, just so I could think about Berry Tales the whole time...

That's not the memories I came to discuss however. 

The Girls got Candyland for Christmas and we finally got around to playing it. The first shock was the Pawns. They're not Flat anymore. And the Board is different, I couldn't remember the board I played with though—not until I did some Research at Board Game Geek. I had read somewhere recently that there had been a rule change in Candyland in 1994; but again, for the life of me I couldn't recall the difference.

So this got me to thinking about childhood games. I am unable to remember anything from when we lived in Ogden (I do remember living in Ogden, but that's for another time—I've digressed a lot already). I recall from living in Rexburg (4-8 years of age [possibly earlier depending on the travel itinerary]), Grandma's Playroom floor; so Checkers, Tic-Tac-Toe, Chinese Checkers and Hopscotch (a training excercise for Roman soldiers if Wikipedia is to be believed). It had Parcheesi as well, but no one knew how to play, or even what it was—it was just the part of the floor that had no purpose. I remember that she had a Chutes and Ladders game board, but we didn't play it for a long time because it was just a board, so "we" didn't know the rules and we didn't have Pawns or Dice, then one day we cannibalized Sorry and finally played Chutes and Ladders.

Hilariously enough I always wanted to play Sorry but the rules intimidated me (Reading them on my own at least—and I couldn't talk anyone into teaching me though I'm not sure I asked; I do remember just looking at the box longing to try it])

Then there was Monopoly, I wanted to play Monopoly for the longest time. It was one of those Adult games that I just knew I could handle. It didn't help that my parents had three copies (a wedding present fallout by my understanding) I don't remember the first time I finally talked someone into teaching me Monopoly, but for a long time It was a favorite—theoreticly. 

There were all kinds of "treasures" at Grandma's house. Stuff that belonged to Aunts and Uncles of which I wanted to be a part. There was the Atari of course: Pacman, Asteroids, Basketball, Combat, Breakout, Chopper Command (my favorite), Skiing, Spiderman, and That Space Game that Made no Sense to me whose name I cannot recall.

There was the Bumper Pool which, to this day, I still don't really understand. There was a Handheld electronic space game, and a football one as well.

And the whole reason I started writing this blog was this game that was in the Closet located in the Front Room. The really Cool closet, that housed an entrance to the Attic—not the only super cool hidden place at Grandma's House mind you. When we got Othello out (a classic and a favorite mind you) I saw that another game there Time and Time again, and I was dying to play it. And one day I finally asked if I could get it out and play it. I read the rules and tried to play it, I conned my cousins into joining in the fun and we had an afternoon of land development and litigation. 

I have been trying to remember the name of this game for a couple weeks now and it just wasn't coming to me. I could remember the Board, and the Parcels of developed land, and the excellent quality Cardboard buildings.

I have tracked down the name. None of my keyword searched were working, so I had to do a search on Board Game Geek 1970-1980 and page through until I saw the Box Art. I'd almost given up when I saw it, Prize Property. I had forgotten about the Gavel with the marbles in it. I think I recall liking the game, but not being able to convince anyone to ever play it with me again. All this "remembering" made me think that I really have been a Gamer for a long time.

I played Chess Over and Over and Over with my Dad until he was probably sick of it. We played Waterworks, Quicksand, Connect Four, Score Four, Tri-Ominoes, Super Mastermind, Go to the Head of the Class, Zaxxon the board Game (A thrift store find), Cloak & Dagger another thrift store find. See what I mean. I know people that haven't even heard of this many games, and I haven't even mentioned anything I've played post 80's.

More Zombies!!! a Comin'

I know, I know.

I'm obsessed, but I just found out that Twilight Creations is  releasing two new products that I must have.

First: Zombies!!! 8—Jailbreak

• 15 new map tiles
• 30 new event cards
• Rules
• New, universal "Dodge" rules for use with any Zombies!!! set 

Second: Bag of 100 GLOWING ZOMBIE DOGS—I don't think anymore needs to be said about that—it pretty much speaks for itself.

I still don't have the MidEvil series of games—there is a serious lack of plastic skeletons in my life.

Mamma Mia! Indeed

I'm not a huge movie snob. I'll watch just about any kind of movie. (Even those "romantical" ones that I give my wife such a hard time about liking—some aren't too bad.) There are some movies that look like a stinker from a mile away. There are some real stinkers that I honestly don't hate, though the general consensus is that it is supposed to be a bad movie. (i.e. Ultraviolet, Battlefield Earth, Star Wars: Episodes I - III, Odd Numbered Star Trek Films) There are movies that I really wanted to see, that turned out to be awful. (i.e. The X-Files: I Want to Believe, Cat in the Hat) Then there are some honestly well done movies that everyone is supposed to like, that I hate. (i.e. Fargo, Million Dollar Baby)

The category that Mamma Mia! fell into was: There is no way in a Million years I would ever want to see that stinker of a movie for any reason (though secretly curious because I grew up in a house where the songs of ABBA flowed freely).

It was on sale at Christmas, and though we had not seen it, I got it and gave it to my wife. Having not seen it, we wisely chose to get it at Red Box first. 

Since I was only secretly curious about it I ended up only seeing part of the movie. We started watching it and then went to bed because it was late (see? already it was not good enough to pull us in and force completion upon us—which has been known to happen) and she finished it and took it back without me the next day. I was not heartbroken in the least, because there were problems in this movie from the beginning. 

First of all the time period. I don't know when this is supposed to be taking place. Lets look to the movie for clues. The Daughter, reading from Mom's journal indicates that she was conceived during the "Summer of Love" which was 1967, but let's be generous and give them until 70. The daughter is 20 at the most, making this 1987-90. The fashion sense of the film just doesn't fit, it's too modern. Now the Mom was supposedly young when she conceived this daughter of hers; Mom should be at most 40, but probably younger. Meryl Streep could Barely Pass for 40 when she was 40. To me Meryl Streep seemed old when she was young—and here she's trying to play a "40" year old woman tired from being a single Mom for the last 20 years. She turns 50 this year and looks 60 in this move.
 

She get's with her old "Band Mates" from back in the day. who both look older than her, and the three of them act ridiculous, which I know happens with women when they get together, regardless of age, and I buy it coming from her "band mates"—but from Meryl Streep, not at all—this just feels like bad casting to me. In fact, I can honestly say I liked every pat of the movie (that I saw) which did not have Meryl Streep in it. I have never had a movie ruined for me because of an actor/actress. I think this could have been a good movie with someone else cast in that part, but as is, it's not enjoyable—it's down right uncomfortable.

The stinker of a movie went back to the store, and was enthusiastically replaced with three cheap bin movies:

An Ideal Husband—Brilliant, Funny, Theatrical....Romantical, Comedy.

Bride & Prejudice—Bollywood in Spirit, Funny, (especially if you are familiar with Pride & Prejudice, which I am, thanks to my wife)...Romantical, Comedy.

and Chocolat, to replace the one that was borrowed and never came back—Funny, Intelligent...Romantical, Comedic, Dramatic.

See, I'm no film snob, but Mamma Mia!?....Mamma Mia Indeed!

I Like Power Grid—But I'm Still Frustrated

Justin brought over Power Grid and we've played it a couple times.

I have a method for learning games. It goes a lot like this:

1) Ignore all the rules that are explained before starting to play (some people insist on explaining all the rules first—I have been guilty of this as well) but I find that my brain turns off until this process is done. I have even explained to people that we should just skip this step because every word they say is literally a foreign language because I haven't been eased into the milieu of the game.

2) Pick up the rules as I go. By the end of the game I generally have gotten the gist. At this point I generally know how to play, but I do not know how the game ends or the winning conditions.

3) Discuss the winning conditions.

4) Play again all the while discussing the minutae of the Rules, Strategy, and Hopefully grasping the Winning conditions.

We've played Power Grid Twice now, so I should know how to play (the strategy part doesn't always kick in for me, and even if it does, Justin is so good at analyzing raw data on the fly, that his strategy is usually better than mine) but my understanding of the winning condition is a little sketchy.

We played again, and I was playing just to be playing, I wasn't trying to win per se, I was just trying to grasp better the strategy and completely overlooked that I was somehow winning. In My head I'm not supposed to win, Justin is, He had more cities than I the entire game. The game ends when someone gets 17 cities (in a 3 player game—which is all we've played). But the winner is apparently whoever can power the most cities, and if that is a tie then it all comes down to money.

Early on in the game, I payed extra to get better power stations. 
I thought that this was foolish because it was preventing me from being able to afford to buy more cities—four times I was short by a mere dollar. Also at the beginning of the game you decide what section of the map is "yours," and I had chosen the North West—this threw a wrench into the machine in two ways. The West side of the Map is more expensive, because the cities are further apart, so the power conduits are longer. This was eating my funds faster than my opponents who were in the South East and Mid West. It also served to create a bottle neck when moving into opposing territory, which served to prevent me from buying cities when we got to stage two and three.

However—by sheer luck of the Shuffle—larger power stations were not being made available later in the game. We stopped buying (no sense buying a plant that can supply 2 cities, when you already have one that supplies 4 [you can have 3 stations total]) which caused the availability of new plants to slow to a crawl. There are other ways for the available plants to cycle, but it is not nearly as efficient as replacing the empty space created by someone buying from the pool with a new one from the draw pile.

So here's where the game got frustrating. My inability to buy more cities had left me further in the dust in the quest to 17 cities. The power station drought had led to a run on resources; Coal and Oil were getting as Expensive as Uranium. But I was able to power more cities than anyone, so they were not buying more cities, avoiding the end of the game. All I had to do to win, was buy enough cities to end the game, but because I didn't realize this on my own someone was upset that I was winning with someone else's strategy, so I chose not to win the game, and to come up with my own plan. But two turns later I won by being forced into winning by another player under the same winning conditions—I should mention that it was about 1:00 am and I think we had all hit the wall of sleep deprivation toleration. What frustrated me was not understanding the winning conditions.

Within 3 moves it changed from: (a) if J buys his 17th city E Wins because she has the most money; to (b) if I buy Coal it will prevent J and E from powering enough cities to win but I can't buy enough cities to win because of a bottleneck but J will buy that last city just to end the game; to (c) E can power enough cities to win now theoretically but has to wait for the next turn for stage 3 to kick in so J's going to buy enough cities to end the game this turn because J's tired. —The details may be a little off there, but the sentiment is correct.

I won the game, but it was completely unsatisfactory because it had nothing to do with my own scheming, and a lot to do with my not seeing the endgame as it approached.

I think I understand the winning conditions enough now, that if I play one more time, I'll like this game sans frustration.

Agricola—The Game You Love, or Maybe You Don't, But You Just Keep Playing It Again and Again. . .

If you haven't played Agricola, I'll give you a quick review. 

It's a game about managing your Resources and your Family on a farm. The Board is somewhat modular and there are multiple decks you choose from to play with (which gives it a lot of variety—and probably expansion potential). The decks are designed so that the play experience never quite goes the same way twice. After playing your first game, you think to yourself:

"Well, I didn't do great, but I didn't do too bad, I learned some things and next time I play, I'll have to pay more attention to X"

Then you play again, and the game is completely different, the strategies you thought you had worked out aren't working. Item X doesn't even come up. Item Y seems like it could have won the game for you, if you had thought about it earlier in the game. The Game finishes, and you think:

"Well, I didn't do great, but I didn't do too bad, I learned some things and next time I play, I'll have to pay more attention to X or Y"

Then you play again, and X and Y literally don't even come into play. Z ends up being what could have helped anyone playing completely crush the competition and declare themselves the clear winner, but no one even thinks about it until far too late in the game. So you finish, and think to yourself.

"Well, I didn't do great, but I didn't do too bad, I learned some things and next time I play, I'll have to pay more attention to X or Y or Z . . . 
or MAYBE W"

So you play again and again, and no matter how many times you play this game, there's no way to figure it out, or to beat the system. We keep playing it trying to beat the game itself, not necessarily each other. It's fun, but a little frustrating, and then you say—"Let's play again."—it's weird.

We got this game for Christmas from a friend. I put it in my trunk as we were going to be at family gatherings and there was some potential that we may have a chance to play at said gatherings. We never did end up playing it with family (Guitar Hero was too much of a draw) and as a result of it being in the trunk, the box got Gouged pretty severely—which is weird, no other game has gotten harmed in the trunk before, and Emily made sure to move it to the back of the trunk when she was loading things.

It got pierced by one of the tension bars that spring the trunk open, which is nearer the front of the trunk. Thankfully the game components are completely intact.and undamaged.

A Person's a Person, No Matter How Small.

So I got Horton Hears a Who for Christmas. The New One. (Some may be unaware that there is an older one, after the success of the Dr. Seuss and Chuck Jones team-up for the Television Classic How the Grinch Stole Christmas, they went on to create a handful of other animated Seuss Tales.) I actually have the old one come to think of it—I'll have to give it a watch.

It's funny how when you are exposed to a certain slice of something, there is a tendancy for your mind to think of that as the whole. For instance, I had never heard of Horton Hears a Who when I was younger. To me Horton was only in Horton Hatches the Egg. I became aware of Horton Hears a Who when my Aunt showed it to me at her home on VHS. I think I was Jr. High age (it appears that is was not released on VHS until 1992, so unless she had it recorded from T.V. that puts us squarely in the Jr. High/High School range). A similar thing happened in my mind with How the Grinch Stole Christmas. I really hate to admit how old I was when I discovered that How the Grinch Stole Christmas was a book before it was a T.V. Special.

Anyway, after The Disaster that was The Cat in the Hat (Movie) I was really apprehensive as to whether this movie would actually be any good. I didn't have much to base that on. First there was the fact that they were pushing the Jim Carrey as Horton so heavily. That's usually a bad sign, that should be a secondary reason for seeing a film. Story is first. Second, they were showing a scene in the trailers that depicted a young who girl wanting a cell phone; and as much as I like the Jim Carrey version of The Grinch, there are certain "Modernizations" in it that still rub me the wrong way every time I watch it. Third, one of the Radio Personalities I listen to was complaining about "Modernizations" that destroy the Timelessness of Seuss' Worlds (He was referring to the cell phone joke as well, but in reflection I don't think he had seen it either).

Now that I've seen it I can say that Pushing Jim Carrey heavily was a great disservice to Steve Carrell, whose voice, acting, and comedic talent lent greatly to this adaptation (I'm sure that had everything to do with the marketing department and contracts).

The Cell Phone Joke was the only modernization in this version, and it did not detract from the story at all; and Yes, It was a good joke.

The Radio Personality is even more of an old codger than I am, so I don't take everything he says to heart, and this is just another one of those instances.

This movie had an underlying message, and unlike most, I really liked it.

The Kangaroo plays the stereotypical head of the (PTA/HOA/Neighborhood Watch/Etc). I think we've all met someone like this. She is constantly trying to take Horton's freedoms from him—"FOR THE GOOD OF THE CHILDREN"—I HATE how many laws get passed because they are for the good of the children (at the expense of freedoms). I tell you, "for the good of the children" is the stinkin' Golden Calf of our local politics. Tax increases especially—that "will go to the schooling of our children," most of which never actually gets into the classrooms, or teacher's salaries. Seriously, this seems to happen every time we vote.

Then there's this whole Consumer Product Safety Act 2008 "Improvement" mandating that retailers test for lead, in products that have NEVER been a problem, instead of punishing China, where we have a track record of problems. Oh, and if you didn't know, the Consumer Product Safety Commission is made up of two people...TWO UNELECTED people given supreme power over what can and cannot be sold in America..."for the good of the children."

This is threatening to put small businesses out of business—which in this state of the economy seems like just a stellar idea, since, you know—unemployment levels aren't high enough. Libraries are worried that they might need to post no children allowed signs—remember this is for the good of the children and libraries are just horrible horrible places for children, because, you know—children have been getting lead poisoning from licking library books for years now. It's about time someone did something. Some people can only afford to buy their kids clothes at thrift stores and until recently, this was threatening to make thrift stores a thing of the past. (Yes, more jobs gone the way of the Dodo) They're not completely off the hook though.

Something tells me that this just wasn't really thought through well before being signed. If this law, "was aimed at Chinese manufacturers who have produced toys tainted with lead." (Congressman Peter DeFazio [D-Oregon]), who co-sponsored the bill) Maybe they should have put something in the law that stipulated that this applies to imported goods.

This law is seriously poised to affect children, because it takes a lot of rights away from adults, it makes manufacturing too expensive (as if the manufacturing industry in America wasn't in enough trouble as is), adults have to support children. children become adults. So, you know, it takes rights away from children too.

A Person's a Person, No Matter How Small after all.

RYKKÄRD

So IKEA is doing Free Breakfast this morning and tomorrow. Emily was planning on going, but it is raining and she hates driving in the rain. I can't blame her, people are insane; I can't tell you how many people I witnessed driving with their lights off, invisible to the world this morning. So I was going to ask her on Google-talk if she was going to go, but I had one of those moments—I couldn't remember the name of IKEA.

So I searched for Swedish Furniture and not only remembered that IKEA is named IKEA, but I also found the Sweedish Furniture Name Generator. (Click the Image to try it out yourself) 

I usually hate these things, because Everybody blogs about it and It gets passed around like the Flu, but this was too funny to pass up.

Smells Like.........Memories.

Okay so I left a comment on That's Life about the smell of Slime, and It had potential to be much longer. 

Bonnie has posted a 1977 Comic about toy stores that carried "Slime"

I turned 1 in '77. But I remembered playing with Slime in Grandma's Kitchen with Bonnie.

The thing about Slime is that I really remember the Smell of it. The Stuff you occasionally see now, the stuff that was abundant in the mid 80's-90's is a different mix than that stuff they sold in the late 70's-early 80's. It has to be,  because I swear it smelled different and had a different viscosity.

Every once in a while I smell something that smells like the original Mattel Slime did, and I can never find the source of the smell—but it always takes me back to Grandma's Kitchen. 

In Grandma's Kitchen we played with Slime. We played with Smurfs. 

—Lots and Lots and Lots of Smurfs—

I remember Kim Eating Toilet Paper (or appearing to do so, as I get older I realize that my 4-8 year old self didn't always understand what was going on—I fear I was a somewhat clueless kid, but happy).

I distinctly remember being told about evaporation, and wanting to understand how that worked; I was allowed to leave a small puddle of Orange Juice on the Counter Over Night.

I remember this thing that they showed on Sesame Street where "Kermit the Frog Here, of Sesame Street News" was taking calls. I distinctly recall the number being 555-5555, and I remember calling said number from the phone in Grandma's Kitchen—that old Green Rotary phone—I spoke to Big Bird, Kermit, Mr. Snufalupagus, The Count, and Oscar. (I won't even mention how old I was when it donned on me that it was probably Bonnie on the other phone downstairs)

There of Course is the Infamous Exploding Bottle Incident. Short Version:

Grandma asked me to heat a bottle up in the Microwave.

She asked me to do this through the Bathroom door. 

What she said was 7 Seconds. 

What I heard was 70 Minutes.

Shortly thereafter There was a melted plastic bottle erupting like Old Faithful.

I remember this Frozen Trout that Grandpa would buy by the Box, and I remember how tasty it was fried up in Grandma's kitchen.

I remember Friday Night Sleepovers with cousins at Grandma's 

Generally they started with a carefully executed Flooding of the Sandbox for which we planned all day—building towns, or canyons, or mountains that would all be systematically wiped out that evening. 

Living in Rexburg at that time, everyone remembered the Flood—and we re-enacted it as often as our parents would allow.

After the Flood there was the evening's T.V. Shows: Duke's of Hazzard, Dallas, Falcon Crest, and Knight Rider. I didn't understand Dallas or Falcon Crest until I was older, So I was happy that I could Watch Knight Rider on the Playroom T.V. and for a Short time Automan was on after Knight Rider. (I provide the Link, because nobody I've ever talked to about 80's nostalgia remembers Automan).

Kim introduced me to Friday Night Videos and that became part of the Ritual. 

I believe the First Music Video I ever saw was Weird Al Yankovic in Eat It.

And here's where the Memories Return to the Kitchen.

I remember that Ice Cream and Popcorn were Generally Part of the Friday Night T.V. Rituals.

Grandpa always insisted that he did not like Ice Cream, but that for the Sake of everyone else he would eat it, so that they would not have to. I remember Gallon Tubs of Vanilla and Cake Cones, and I remember one time when Andria and I, in the middle of the night—after everyone in the house was asleep—helped ourselves to some more Ice Cream Cones. It took some team work and some dragging of Stools and climbing on stools and counter tops, but we did it. I don't remember if we got caught, but it was a glorious thing for someone just over 3 feet tall to have accomplished.

No, I don't forget the river of Ice Cream I created. This is how I remember it: There was a Sale at Safeway, so there was a Large Paper Sack in Grandma's Freezer in the Garage full to the top with Half Gallon Bricks. I was sent to the garage to get some. Those of you in the know, know I was not a big kid. The Sack was too big for me to handle, I easily got it to the Garage floor and got out the flavor wanted, but I found that it was too heavy to lift back into the Freezer. Easy enough to solve, just take the Ice Cream inside and ask someone bigger for help. But when I got back in I got distracted somehow by the family (I recall there being a lot of people over) I don't remember what we did at that point. I sure do remember the discovery of Ice Cream River in the morning. It ran all the way down the Driveway and into the Gutter. 

Now the Popcorn. I remember a Friday Night that was just me and Grandma and Grandpa. We were NOT eating popcorn this particular evening. We were watching Dukes of Hazzard, and Boss Hog and 
Roscoe P. Coltrane were trying out a Fancy new Air Popper. Well, we started to smell popcorn. We thought we were the only ones in the house, the only light in the whole house that was on, was the T.V. itself. So we searched the house Top to Bottom to see if perhaps someone else had come home, and if perchance they had popped some popcorn, to no avail. The smell remained, the source was never found—that's right: PHANTOM POPCORN MUAHHAHAHAHAHA!!!

One other Smell related memory that I have had as of late.

When I walk from work to the Bus Stop to go home. There is an old Docking Bay that hasn't seen use in some time, that I walk past. The smell of it however reminds me of the "Happyest Place on Earth"—Disneyland. It smells like a Disneyland ride. I don't know why, but it does. And those who know me, know that I could go on and on about Disneyland and Disney related Memories (and Trivia); so I will end this now.

Sparky's Halloween "Costume"

Yesterday, 10:13 am

I got a call from Emily that she had again rescued Sparky from an attack by the Neighbor's dog. Apparently the dogs had torn another slat out of their fence and were once again trying to claim jump our back-yard. She had let him out not knowing this and he got attacked by the neighbor's dog. A similar scenario played out several weeks ago, however I was the one that let him out and rescued him.

Emily called and was a little rattled. I asked if he was OK and she said he was acting like he did last time—hiding in his kennel, ignoring commands to move to the other side of the couch when he was sitting where you wanted to sit—the usual cranky dog syndrome we see from time to time. I told her that I would go and talk to the neighbors when I got home.

After work I grabbed the DVD that needed to be returned to the rental store. (Seriously I'm getting to the Costume thing) And then went to talk to the Neighbor. Since the last time I had spoken with this neighbor, she has gotten married. Their Son answered the Door, I asked if his parents were home and he said, "Just my step-dad." —Oh great, was my thought; not only have I just become the really annoying neighbor that comes over to complain, I get to meet a new person to which I live—literally next door—and have never spoken.

I let him know that the Fence was down, and that his Dog had attacked mine.
He asked, "Which dog, the black one?"
Yes
Is your dog hurt?
No, just his feelings.

He explained that he was at his wits end because the Dog(s) keep attacking the Fence. He said he would go and repair it.

I then Drove to the Rental Store and returned the Movie.
I came home, we had dinner and got Moira to bed.
We sat down for some television and I noticed the Gash in Sparky's side.
He'd been hurt. It was at least an inch deep, but not straight in.

I took Sparky with me over to the neighbors and let them know what I had just discovered under all his Fluffy Hair.
They felt bad and explained that the Dog wasn't really theirs to begin with, she has rented a room to several different people in the time that they have lived there and the Dog belonged to one of them, and that he had just abandoned her when he moved out.

She stated that they would pay the Vet Bill.

They explained that they had been wondering what to do with the dog and that they conversed about what to do with it. She had apparently been abused—did I mention this dog only has 3 legs?—and that they thought she would die soon; but in light of the days occurrence they would be getting rid of it.

I explained my concern about my Daughter playing in our back yard, and he stated that there was no way that the dog would get through the Bricks, Wheelbarrow, and Propane tank that now covered the hole in the fence until he could get it repaired properly. I thanked them and then headed home to figure out the Vet situation; it was getting late and we don't have a regular vet [Emily informed me, after reading this, that we do—in fact—have a regular Vet that Sparky has been going to since he was a pup; eh—what do I know, I've taken him in for shots twice since we've been married].

I ended up walking over to the Neighbor's one more time, because I wanted to know if the Dog had had its shots—I didn't know if it was important, but wanted to know in case the Vet asked. She said, "I think so, it would have been last year between July and September. I remember because he had been borrowing that car." She then assured me that the Dog would be gone tomorrow.

I remembered that there is a PetsMart just down the road and called them. It was now past hours but the message gave the numbers of two clinics that are open for late night emergencies. I called and scheduled an appointment.

I learned that Dog skin is more sensitive to Hydrogen Peroxide than our own and that it should be watered down before use on a dog. I learned that Dog Skin does not heal like ours and if not taken care of will turn Necrotic (click cautiously, there are graphic images).

I spent roughly two hours at the Veterinary Clinic, and took a somewhat woozy, doped-up, dog home.

Now, the costume part. —I know you've all been waiting.

Lots o' Me

Okay, I'll Bite—but only because I found this to be interesting.

• There are 2,606,219 people in the U.S. with the first name Richard.
• Statistically the 8th most popular first name.

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 469 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?