back again

However briefly...

So I started Rowling's new book, Casual Vacancy. So far, I am not that enamored by it. She seems to have decided that writing an adult novel means she needs to use lots of swearing and sex (or at least discussion of it). Also, I almost think the book is a little too specific to England for us folks across the pond. At least the political parts. People are pretty much people everywhere. So those parts remain universal.

Finished off the third season of Community. It was fun. It'll be interesting to see how this last season goes.

Gave the letter 'r' the new X Wing miniatures game by Fantasy Flight. Got in a game of that over the weekend. It's an interesting little tactical minis game. The figures are absolutely gorgeous. The game itself plays pretty well, but it's definitely a minis game where they want you to buy the boosters and build your army so that there's more "Game" there. The base set comes with 2 Tie Fighters and 1 X Wing and three scenarios you can play through to see how things all work together. At that point you'll want to buy more figs (or another base set for your friend/family) so you can make Star Wars noises while you blow each other off the table.

Finally finished Game of Thrones. I am interested in reading the next one, but will give myself a little break before starting it.

Whedon and Waterdeep

First let me say that Cabin in the Woods is brilliant. I really won't say much more than that in case you've not seen it yet. (Shame on you!) Rectify that as soon as possible, because this is a great movie. Also, the people responsible for marketing this movie should be shot. The less you know (or think you know) going in the better. I caught the trailer and honestly that gave away too much. So yes. Go see!

Lords of Waterdeep is our new gaming obsession. It showed up late last week and over the course of the weekend I think we played it 3-4 times. You are one of the titular Lords tasked with hiring various types of people in order to complete quests. The board consists of several spaces that allow you to hire said characters or gain money or new quests, etc. You can also add spaces by building new buildings. The game is played over 8 rounds and each round consists of a number of turns. As long as you have an agent (represented by a wooden counter) you can take a turn and then complete a quest (if you have the right assortment of characters/money). It's a constant challenge to decide where you'll place your agents as you'll always want a little of everything. It plays pretty quickly and even when you're behind, it's possible to eke out a victory towards the end. Highly recommended.

I believe just about all of us have been sick at Casa del 'd' over this past week. Lovely wife is about the only one that's avoided the plague. And for her sake I hope she manages to continue to avoid it. It wasn't pleasant.

G has finally managed a tie game in soccer. 0-0. They obviously need some more work. But he's no longer all losses...

I read the volume one graphic novel for Game of Thrones. It was Game of Thrones in graphic novel style. I suppose I should really get around to reading more of that series. I liked that first book well enough but wasn't quite ready to tackle a second (and more) once I was done. I needed some breathing room. Which has led to the inevitable problem of only sort of remembering what happened in that first book. Not the best place to start the second one from.

And that pretty much makes up all the coherent thoughts I can string together at the moment. Look forward to some thoughts on the book of ice cream recipes I've checked out. Mmm home made ice cream. Must get Dad's hand crank ice cream maker...