Looking back

The question of the week on the Dice Tower podcast last week was all about what game got you into gaming. I decided I'd jot some thoughts here about that question. In my youth it was probably Monopoly that held my interest. The old Red Box Dungeons and Dragons wasn't too far behind though and occupied a good chunk of my school years. Axis and Allies was probably the closest thing to a hobby game that really had me hooked back then. In college it was things like Canasta and Boggle. And then I didn't play many board games for a while. As far as my current interest in board games, that's probably down to Settlers of Catan. I'm pretty sure that's the one that really got the ball rolling and made us realize that there were lots of interesting games out there. It's kind of interesting to look back and see what sorts of things held my attention and how I've evolved as a gamer.

Speaking of games, due to a nice little trade at our local game store, I managed a new copy of Agricola: All Creatures Big and Small for the princely sum of 0$. (They wanted Balloon Cup and I really didn't) I'd say we got the better end of the deal as lovely wife and I will actually play Agricola. This is a 2 player version of a much more complex game. It's worker placement (similar to Lords of Waterdeep) with a farming theme - you're trying to raise animals on your farm. You have to divide the land up into various pastures before you can place the animals and then each pasture can only hold so many before you need to add a feeding trough. There are a few resources to handle and you have three workers to place each turn and there are 8 turns. I believe. It's a nice little game with lots of decisions to make and you will mock each other's farm and then yell as you score the game and realize you didn't have enough pigs and have to lose points, but you did have horses, but wait - your significant other actually had enough of every animal - and what do you mean I lost?! And then you'll play again. I really do recommend this one if you're in the market for a nice two player game.

Watched Zen over the course of the last week. It's a BBC detective show similar to Sherlock in that it's only three episodes and they're in the hour and a half range. I rather liked it. The last episode was surprisingly funny. Might have to track down one of the books.

We managed to get out house refinanced so I guess that's one thing the recession has done for us. I can't believe we have an interest rate in the 3% range. Plus we managed to shave a couple years off the loan. So yay for that as well.

G and I have been building forts lately out of the couch. It's been good fun. We've taken to building a fort and then watching Gravity Falls on the ipad (since we no longer have the Disney Channel). If you've not seen that show, you really should as it's awesome.

afternoons and coffee spoons

I've always liked Eliot. So I borrowed some of his best for the title. If you've not read The Lovesong of J Alfred Prufrock you should. It will certainly be more entertaining than the couple little paragraphs you're going to get here.

Finished off Riordan's recent collection of  Percy Jackson inspired short stories. They were fine. One of them was apparently by his son. Slightly different writing style (his Dad tends to be funnier and not quite as ... formal I guess is the best word) but not bad. If you like the Percy Jackson stuff and have followed up with the new series you'll like it well enough.

We watched The Woman in Black the other night. Well, lovely wife watched it. I dozed through the beginning and then watched the last half or so. Which is a shame, as it looked like it was pretty good. It is a little slow (period horror piece after all) but don't blame the movie for my inattention. That's all sleep deprivation. It differs a touch from the book, but it's fine. Mostly the ending. And the beginning, but you need to see the ending for that to make sense.

I want to see the new Bourne movie...

The kids are all back in school. That's nice. They are no longer quite as bored as they once were. Although McK is longing for the days when she could sleep in. Early morning seminary is apparently quite early. She's even up before I leave.

Not today

Too much stress, too little sleep.

Swim the Fly was fun crude boy humor. The Cabin in the Woods Visual Companion was a fun inside look at the movie.

And yeah, that's all I've got.

Other than happy birthday M! Don't shoot the dog with your bow and arrows.

Sounds like that tomato-y stuff on burgers

Was pretty under the weather last week. Kids started off with it and were kind enough to share. I'm mostly past it at this point, but other forces are conspiring to keep me not at my best. So, well, don't expect too much. (Of course if you've read anything here before, your hopes should be sufficiently low already)

Avatar was indeed brilliant. Really enjoyed all three seasons. The kids managed to make it through the live action movie, but mostly on the power of mocking. So yay for mocking I guess.

Lovely wife and I have been making our way through The Dresden Files again because it's still amusing. We're also watching Dollhouse. That's a pretty trippy show.

I watched the Samurai trilogy courtesy of the Criterion folks. I rather enjoyed them. I also enjoyed the brief commentary that was on each disc talking about the real Musashi Miyamoto and how his life differed (or mirrored) the movies.

I finished reading The Apocalypse Codex by Charles Stross. More brilliant Laundry Files fun. At this point you either know what the series is and are reading it as well, or me telling you the fourth book is also fun won't matter.

I'm giving the Song of Ice and Fire series another go. I've read Game of Thrones before, but I've decided to read it again just to remind myself of all the little details before jumping into the next one.

So yeah, lots of reading, lots of watching stuff. We did finally manage our game weekend and fun was had. Shadows Over Camelot is a pretty brilliant little cooperative game. We played it twice and I'd have given it a third go, this time throwing in the traitor mechanic. Lots of hard little decisions to make and not enough time to do all the things you need to do. We eked out a victory in Elder Sign (ok I eked out a victory as I was the last one standing). Managed a game of Lords of Waterdeep and I forget what else. Some Hearts I think.

Kids are ready to go back to school and Summer is indeed drawing to a close. I am glad. I'm ready for some cooler temperatures. Although apparently the US has been the hottest it's ever been this year, so who knows what we have heading our way. I will pretend it's Winter though. With cold and some snow.