I played three games last shabbat:
Anagrams: I was invited to the house of a family that I didn't know (we were put together by a mutual friend). While walking there, it came up that I played games, and that the wife played Scrabble and Anagrams. I mentioned that I tend to not find people who can play at my level, which was interpreted as a challenge. It was, I suppose. A few weeks ago I mentioned the same thing to a different couple whom I entertained at lunch for the first time; we played Anagrams and we all did about equally. I was pleased, since Anagrams is a game you really want to play with people who are about the same skill level as you.
So I played Anagrams with the wife after dinner, and she cleaned my clock. First off, I tend to draw tiles from the bag slowly; if I don't see an immediate match or letter for which I'm waiting, I scan the words trying to think of ways to rearrange them with one or multiple letters. This takes me some time. So I draw a tile and then hesitate for up to 30 seconds before drawing the next tile.
This was terribly frustrating for her. She fired me as tile drawer and started drawing tiles every five seconds. I think this speed tends to favor shorter words comprised of the tiles in the center. But she was still able to store in her brain the specific letters she was waiting for and the words to which to apply them; I wasn't able to do it that fast. I think I ended with three words to her fifteen or so.
Glen More: After playing this at Eitan and Emily, I asked Ken to pick me up a copy which I received this week. It's a nifty game engine. After playing twice, I still don't understand the implications of skipping tiles, but I kind of started to get an idea about it that I can flesh out during my next play. There are only a certain number of tiles, and you don't get to go until everyone else has passed your tile; skipping not only makes that take longer, but it gives other people free turns. I'll get it eventually. And, because of the rest of the tile laying mechanics and random tile order, there will still be a lot of game to play.
I played with Abraham and Sarah after lunch. I thought I had very bad sente during the game, but I only lost 52 to Abraham's 58. Sarah had 51.
Homesteaders: After playing with Abraham and Sarah's baby for a while, we wanted to play another game. This time I thought I was doing well, but I still lost out to Abraham in a close game. I took a third round Gold Mine, but it couldn't compete with Abraham's second round Steel Mill (even though Sarah took the other Gold Mine). Abraham had 68, I had 58, Sarah had 52 (or something like that).
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Sunday, June 10, 2012
10 recent things about me, movies
"The sale of MP3 Downloads is currently available only to US customers located in the United States." -Amazon.com, on my attempt to "purchase" a free MP3 download.
When I did nothing else, I wrote a lot of good content on this blog. When I devoted my time to Purple Pawn, this blog suffered. Now that I'm devoting my time to writing a book, I can't seem to blog at all. Priorities, priorities.
10 recent things about me:
- I am no longer writing for Purple Pawn, although I may still contribute something now and then. David Miller is now head honcho of the site.
- I had a harder time than I would have anticipated meeting my ex-wife and her boyfriend, here from the US together for the first time. I was snarky to her and I also took it out on someone else at shabbat lunch the next day (this someone adamantly insisted that Obama was a Muslim, so she deserved it, but still). I've apologized to both of them.
- I have backed two projects on Kickstarter, one on 09/05/2010 and one on 08/22/2011. I haven't received any of my backer rewards yet, though I get occasional updates from the project owners.
- You should read The Hunger Games trilogy. Seriously.
- I've been posting session reports on the Raanana game group blog.
- I'm actively looking for dates on Frumster.com and SawYouAtSinai.com. I thought my profile was pretty boring, so I changed it, and I changed my criteria for a match to be: "Able to intelligently discuss Joni Mitchell, George Elliot, and James Kugel." My first date question is generally: "What books have transformed your life?"
- My first cousin visited Israel for the first time in her life. Actually, she left America for the first time in her life. Her trip has had ups (in Israel and Italy so far) and downs (in Ukraine), but she has had her eyes opened and her mind blown a number of times over. Which is good. And she now loves felafel.
- I played Reef Encounter with Abraham and Sara on a shabbat. It may be that I'm just too unfamiliar with the game, but it seems so chaotic and random until two thirds of the way through the game; it's probably even worse with more than three players.
- I'm officially staying in Raanana for at least another year.
- Movies I watched:
- The Avengers: Basically Iron Man III with support from the other super hero guys. It's great fun and destruction, as I'm sure you've heard. It's still kind of odd that Thor and Loki, supposedly gods, are so piddling compared to humans; last I heard, Thor's hammer would break the heck out of anything it hit. Apparently not.
- John Carter: Actually pretty fun, too. But the existence of a breathable atmosphere, as well as life on Mars in more than one sentient race, and that one of these races is able to cross-breed with humans, is hard to hold in one's head. Still, I think this one will have a long underground life, not unlike Tron and (to a lesser extent) Dune.
- Girl with a Pearl Earring: A beautiful movie that I watched right after reading the book. The book lingers on some rich scenes in a way that the movie doesn't, but the movie hits all the right parts. About a poor woman who works for a painter and ends up helping with the paintings to her (and the painter's) surprise (and not in any salacious way).
- A Dangerous Method: The story of Freud, Jung, and their patient/protege Sabrina who must first acknowledge her penchant for masochism and then her attraction (eventually returned) for Jung. It was interesting here and there, but the proper and dull reserve of the two male leads made for a boring movie that I abandoned about two thirds of the way through.
- My Dinner with Andre: Always thought I would be interested in seeing this. It's not really a great movie, but it's nice enough if you like listening to a decent storyteller for two hours. The other guy - Wally - gets to say "Really?" and "So what happened next?" a lot, except for a little bit in the middle. Other than its audacity for a setting, I can't see why it's so famous; other heavy talking movies, like Before Sunrise and After the Rehearsal, are better.
- 12 Angry Men: Still an absolute classic and a powerful movie. I think its only misstep is in showing us the accused at the beginning; it works better when you don't know his race or looks, except from the descriptions in the dialog.
(Bassie, you should stop reading here.)
- The Reader: Half a torrid sexual affair between a 15/16 year old boy and a 30 year old woman (who thinks he's 18), and half a trial of several Nazi guards.
You get to see as much as you want of both Kate Winslet and newcomer David Kross, from every angle. (They waited to shoot the heavy stuff until his 18th birthday; Kate supposedly had to help talk David through the scenes and put his mind at ease. I find that difficult to believe; I would think that shooting explicit sex and nude scenes with Kate Winslet would be an 18th birthday present dream for most boys.) It was way more explicit than it had to be. A little flesh and some tasteful shots of them lying in bed together would have conveyed what was required.
More powerful and striking was the trial and the seeming lack of comprehension on the part of the guards as to what they did wrong and then how they try to find someone else on which to pin the blame. And then the odd friendship that follows the sentencing. It was interesting.
- Hysteria: The story of the invention of the vibrator, as well as the genesis of the idea that women could, in fact, have orgasms - and not simply hysterical paroxysm as a temporary cure for the fictitious female hysteria. It's a comedy, which was unnecessary, since the actual history is comedic enough. Maggie Gyllenhaal provides anachronistic spunk as a woman who already knows that women have orgasms and that the doctors are too stupid to recognize it (and has no inhibitions in discussing it with these doctors).
It's light predictable fluff. It's funnier if you think watching women (with only their faces exposed) have sitcom-style orgasms next to a working bored and tired doctor is funny, which I didn't really.
When I did nothing else, I wrote a lot of good content on this blog. When I devoted my time to Purple Pawn, this blog suffered. Now that I'm devoting my time to writing a book, I can't seem to blog at all. Priorities, priorities.
10 recent things about me:
- I am no longer writing for Purple Pawn, although I may still contribute something now and then. David Miller is now head honcho of the site.
- I had a harder time than I would have anticipated meeting my ex-wife and her boyfriend, here from the US together for the first time. I was snarky to her and I also took it out on someone else at shabbat lunch the next day (this someone adamantly insisted that Obama was a Muslim, so she deserved it, but still). I've apologized to both of them.
- I have backed two projects on Kickstarter, one on 09/05/2010 and one on 08/22/2011. I haven't received any of my backer rewards yet, though I get occasional updates from the project owners.
- You should read The Hunger Games trilogy. Seriously.
- I've been posting session reports on the Raanana game group blog.
- I'm actively looking for dates on Frumster.com and SawYouAtSinai.com. I thought my profile was pretty boring, so I changed it, and I changed my criteria for a match to be: "Able to intelligently discuss Joni Mitchell, George Elliot, and James Kugel." My first date question is generally: "What books have transformed your life?"
- My first cousin visited Israel for the first time in her life. Actually, she left America for the first time in her life. Her trip has had ups (in Israel and Italy so far) and downs (in Ukraine), but she has had her eyes opened and her mind blown a number of times over. Which is good. And she now loves felafel.
- I played Reef Encounter with Abraham and Sara on a shabbat. It may be that I'm just too unfamiliar with the game, but it seems so chaotic and random until two thirds of the way through the game; it's probably even worse with more than three players.
- I'm officially staying in Raanana for at least another year.
- Movies I watched:
- The Avengers: Basically Iron Man III with support from the other super hero guys. It's great fun and destruction, as I'm sure you've heard. It's still kind of odd that Thor and Loki, supposedly gods, are so piddling compared to humans; last I heard, Thor's hammer would break the heck out of anything it hit. Apparently not.
- John Carter: Actually pretty fun, too. But the existence of a breathable atmosphere, as well as life on Mars in more than one sentient race, and that one of these races is able to cross-breed with humans, is hard to hold in one's head. Still, I think this one will have a long underground life, not unlike Tron and (to a lesser extent) Dune.
- Girl with a Pearl Earring: A beautiful movie that I watched right after reading the book. The book lingers on some rich scenes in a way that the movie doesn't, but the movie hits all the right parts. About a poor woman who works for a painter and ends up helping with the paintings to her (and the painter's) surprise (and not in any salacious way).
- A Dangerous Method: The story of Freud, Jung, and their patient/protege Sabrina who must first acknowledge her penchant for masochism and then her attraction (eventually returned) for Jung. It was interesting here and there, but the proper and dull reserve of the two male leads made for a boring movie that I abandoned about two thirds of the way through.
- My Dinner with Andre: Always thought I would be interested in seeing this. It's not really a great movie, but it's nice enough if you like listening to a decent storyteller for two hours. The other guy - Wally - gets to say "Really?" and "So what happened next?" a lot, except for a little bit in the middle. Other than its audacity for a setting, I can't see why it's so famous; other heavy talking movies, like Before Sunrise and After the Rehearsal, are better.
- 12 Angry Men: Still an absolute classic and a powerful movie. I think its only misstep is in showing us the accused at the beginning; it works better when you don't know his race or looks, except from the descriptions in the dialog.
(Bassie, you should stop reading here.)
- The Reader: Half a torrid sexual affair between a 15/16 year old boy and a 30 year old woman (who thinks he's 18), and half a trial of several Nazi guards.
You get to see as much as you want of both Kate Winslet and newcomer David Kross, from every angle. (They waited to shoot the heavy stuff until his 18th birthday; Kate supposedly had to help talk David through the scenes and put his mind at ease. I find that difficult to believe; I would think that shooting explicit sex and nude scenes with Kate Winslet would be an 18th birthday present dream for most boys.) It was way more explicit than it had to be. A little flesh and some tasteful shots of them lying in bed together would have conveyed what was required.
More powerful and striking was the trial and the seeming lack of comprehension on the part of the guards as to what they did wrong and then how they try to find someone else on which to pin the blame. And then the odd friendship that follows the sentencing. It was interesting.
- Hysteria: The story of the invention of the vibrator, as well as the genesis of the idea that women could, in fact, have orgasms - and not simply hysterical paroxysm as a temporary cure for the fictitious female hysteria. It's a comedy, which was unnecessary, since the actual history is comedic enough. Maggie Gyllenhaal provides anachronistic spunk as a woman who already knows that women have orgasms and that the doctors are too stupid to recognize it (and has no inhibitions in discussing it with these doctors).
It's light predictable fluff. It's funnier if you think watching women (with only their faces exposed) have sitcom-style orgasms next to a working bored and tired doctor is funny, which I didn't really.
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Shabbat Gaming
A new guy Ken and his son Oren came over after lunch to play with me, Abraham, Sara, and Nadine. They were cool. Ken and co live in Raanana and have a large Eurogame collection and have played for a while, but this was his first attempt to contact other gamers in the area. Weird. There are little pockets of gamers everywhere it seems.
Abraham taught them Container, which they liked. Meanwhile, Nadine, Sara, and I played Troyes. Nadine scored heavy scoring yellow and white cards and a strong cathedral presence which I realized was victory already by round 3. I came closer than I expected: 44 to 38 or so. I had strong red and utility cards and so was short in money. I fought a few events - which no one else did, so we had piles of events by the end of the game.
After Ken and Oren left, Sara and I teamed up against Nadine and Abraham for Tichu. They took the lead and won every hand until the last one. There were a few multi-Tichu calls: by me and Abraham and by me and Nadine. In the last round I won my Tichu against their Tichu loss; they were still winning but we had to end.
Abraham taught them Container, which they liked. Meanwhile, Nadine, Sara, and I played Troyes. Nadine scored heavy scoring yellow and white cards and a strong cathedral presence which I realized was victory already by round 3. I came closer than I expected: 44 to 38 or so. I had strong red and utility cards and so was short in money. I fought a few events - which no one else did, so we had piles of events by the end of the game.
After Ken and Oren left, Sara and I teamed up against Nadine and Abraham for Tichu. They took the lead and won every hand until the last one. There were a few multi-Tichu calls: by me and Abraham and by me and Nadine. In the last round I won my Tichu against their Tichu loss; they were still winning but we had to end.
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Ignorance Sucks
Not knowing things irritates me. I may be in the minority on this.
Exhibit A: Snaps
Last sukkot I was introduced to the bar puzzle/game Snaps, one of those hilarious "in-the-know" games enjoyed by the people who know the rules and supposedly challenging and frustrating for those who don't. The game is allegedly about trying to guess a word given clues by one player, but it's actually about figuring out how the clue system works. Something to do with snapping fingers.
To some people, this is entertaining; if you're one of those people, don't clink on the above link. I was simply irritated. You would think that a game-player like me would be interested in trying to figure the game out, and I was for about four minutes. After that I got bored and wanted the answer.
The person leading the game was not tuned into this; he thought it was unsporting to give away the answer, so he just kept playing new words. After unsuccessfull trying to persuade him that I was no longer interested in guessing, I used my smart phone and looked up the answer. This might be construed as cheating, except that I never agreed to participate in the game in the first place.
Exhibit B: Books (and films, and other media)
I enjoy books, movies, etc a lot more when they've been "spoiled" for me. To me, the enjoyment from art isn't the anticipation and suspense of not knowing what is going to happen. It's from the artful way it is done. I've downloaded movies just to watch them at home before going to the cinema to see them. I read plot summaries online before reading a book, watching a movie, or even a television episode. If it's good art, I like to watch or read it more than once.
The term itself - "spoil" - implies that I'm out of touch with the common folk on this one. It's not spoiling to me; it's getting the plot out of the way so I can concentrate on the enjoyment of the media.
Exhibit C: Dice
For some, the anticipation of the unknown and uncontrollable is a thrill, for me it's a pain. I feel that the game is over right before the die is tossed: in the planning and the strategy that brought us to that point that matters. Once it's tossed, it doesn't even feel like playing to me anymore; it's like punishment. The win isn't exciting; the loss is irritating. It's a no win scenario for me.
Oddly, I don't mind at all when an opponent does something unexpected. In fact I love it; that's playing. I love talking to people who say unexpected things. In fact, I love the unexpected all over the place: random encounters in the real world, serendipitous discoveries in stores or on the radio.
In other words, I'm happy to continuously discover the interesting and good. Withholding knowledge just for the sake of withholding it is not my idea of fun.
Exhibit A: Snaps
Last sukkot I was introduced to the bar puzzle/game Snaps, one of those hilarious "in-the-know" games enjoyed by the people who know the rules and supposedly challenging and frustrating for those who don't. The game is allegedly about trying to guess a word given clues by one player, but it's actually about figuring out how the clue system works. Something to do with snapping fingers.
To some people, this is entertaining; if you're one of those people, don't clink on the above link. I was simply irritated. You would think that a game-player like me would be interested in trying to figure the game out, and I was for about four minutes. After that I got bored and wanted the answer.
The person leading the game was not tuned into this; he thought it was unsporting to give away the answer, so he just kept playing new words. After unsuccessfull trying to persuade him that I was no longer interested in guessing, I used my smart phone and looked up the answer. This might be construed as cheating, except that I never agreed to participate in the game in the first place.
Exhibit B: Books (and films, and other media)
I enjoy books, movies, etc a lot more when they've been "spoiled" for me. To me, the enjoyment from art isn't the anticipation and suspense of not knowing what is going to happen. It's from the artful way it is done. I've downloaded movies just to watch them at home before going to the cinema to see them. I read plot summaries online before reading a book, watching a movie, or even a television episode. If it's good art, I like to watch or read it more than once.
The term itself - "spoil" - implies that I'm out of touch with the common folk on this one. It's not spoiling to me; it's getting the plot out of the way so I can concentrate on the enjoyment of the media.
Exhibit C: Dice
For some, the anticipation of the unknown and uncontrollable is a thrill, for me it's a pain. I feel that the game is over right before the die is tossed: in the planning and the strategy that brought us to that point that matters. Once it's tossed, it doesn't even feel like playing to me anymore; it's like punishment. The win isn't exciting; the loss is irritating. It's a no win scenario for me.
Oddly, I don't mind at all when an opponent does something unexpected. In fact I love it; that's playing. I love talking to people who say unexpected things. In fact, I love the unexpected all over the place: random encounters in the real world, serendipitous discoveries in stores or on the radio.
In other words, I'm happy to continuously discover the interesting and good. Withholding knowledge just for the sake of withholding it is not my idea of fun.
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Movie Reviews: Battleship, The Hunger Games, The Iron Lady
Battleship:So far, this is the only Hasbro property originally licensed to Universal that has seen the light of day. It cost $250 million to make. Was it worth it?
Battleship is like a bowl full of vanilla ice cream when you're wanting dinner. I can only imagine the director giving his instructions: "Walk here!" "Swim here" "Jump here!" "Say this line!" It doesn't much matter who the actors are or what they do, so long as they do it passably, which they do. Not one of them has a personality of any consequence.
All that seems to matter is the Armageddon love setup and the mcguffin plot around which to hang lots of CGI transformer space ships, cybermen, guns, missiles, explosions, hokey technical jargon shouting, and beams of light. It's all put together ok, I suppose. In fact, the movie depicts the aliens as never firing until they are fired upon; they are always assessing threats and not instigating violence unless a threat is detected and immanent. Despite the opportunity to give the movie a moral edge based on this (like in District 9 or Super8), no such edge is given. Instead we get to blow up the aliens, yay us.
The little elements of the board game - the grid firing and the peg shaped artillery - are kind of funny, but not as funny as the constant and forumlaic deux ex machina.
So it's not a colossal disaster, but neither is it a shining success. It is what it is. E5.
The Hunger Games:In contrast, this is a shining success of a movie, undoubtedly the best adaptation of the books that could have been hoped for. It's the story of a girl who volunteers in place of her sister to fight in a game to the death with other children as spectator sport for the ruling Capitol oppressors.
The book series is an odd one: the first book The Hunger Games is an oddly set up thrilling adventure: the games are depicted as horrible enslavement, yet the great majority of the book revels in the adventure of the games. True, it also covers senselessness, starvation, hopelessness, sacrifice, and so on. But it doesn't give any sense of rebellion or real world change until the very end. Only in the second and third book does the rebellion start, and even a lot of the second book spends an awful lot of time in the thrall of a game. By the third book, the rebellion, casualties, cruelty, and loss pile up so high I was in shock. I couldn't believe anyone would write a story like it for entertainment; I think that's part of its brilliance.
Meanwhile, the movie stays fairly close to the book, but also includes very briefly a little bit of the world reactions, politics, and rebellion that is beginning outside of the game that forms the center story (these elements are taken from the second book). Interestingly, Roger Ebert complained about the lack of rebellion and politics in the movie, which is ironic since the movie actually has slightly more than the book does.
The movie is fantastically acted and directed, beautifully sequenced and shot, and thrilling entertainment. The little bits of rebellion and politics are very important additions and expand the scope of the movie just enough to bait you for the sequels.
The Iron Lady: This is a Meryl Streep set piece, and she is brilliant, as usual. The movie, however, is rather odd. It focuses on Margaret Thatcher looking back at parts of her life, which is all well and good, but it spends nearly half of the screen time in the present for no apparent reason other than to watch Meryl act old. The historical parts are much more worth the screen time and they suffer for being the lack of focus. Instead we get only bits and pieces of the historical story, which feels like only part of a movie.
Battleship is like a bowl full of vanilla ice cream when you're wanting dinner. I can only imagine the director giving his instructions: "Walk here!" "Swim here" "Jump here!" "Say this line!" It doesn't much matter who the actors are or what they do, so long as they do it passably, which they do. Not one of them has a personality of any consequence.
All that seems to matter is the Armageddon love setup and the mcguffin plot around which to hang lots of CGI transformer space ships, cybermen, guns, missiles, explosions, hokey technical jargon shouting, and beams of light. It's all put together ok, I suppose. In fact, the movie depicts the aliens as never firing until they are fired upon; they are always assessing threats and not instigating violence unless a threat is detected and immanent. Despite the opportunity to give the movie a moral edge based on this (like in District 9 or Super8), no such edge is given. Instead we get to blow up the aliens, yay us.
The little elements of the board game - the grid firing and the peg shaped artillery - are kind of funny, but not as funny as the constant and forumlaic deux ex machina.
So it's not a colossal disaster, but neither is it a shining success. It is what it is. E5.
The Hunger Games:In contrast, this is a shining success of a movie, undoubtedly the best adaptation of the books that could have been hoped for. It's the story of a girl who volunteers in place of her sister to fight in a game to the death with other children as spectator sport for the ruling Capitol oppressors.
The book series is an odd one: the first book The Hunger Games is an oddly set up thrilling adventure: the games are depicted as horrible enslavement, yet the great majority of the book revels in the adventure of the games. True, it also covers senselessness, starvation, hopelessness, sacrifice, and so on. But it doesn't give any sense of rebellion or real world change until the very end. Only in the second and third book does the rebellion start, and even a lot of the second book spends an awful lot of time in the thrall of a game. By the third book, the rebellion, casualties, cruelty, and loss pile up so high I was in shock. I couldn't believe anyone would write a story like it for entertainment; I think that's part of its brilliance.
Meanwhile, the movie stays fairly close to the book, but also includes very briefly a little bit of the world reactions, politics, and rebellion that is beginning outside of the game that forms the center story (these elements are taken from the second book). Interestingly, Roger Ebert complained about the lack of rebellion and politics in the movie, which is ironic since the movie actually has slightly more than the book does.
The movie is fantastically acted and directed, beautifully sequenced and shot, and thrilling entertainment. The little bits of rebellion and politics are very important additions and expand the scope of the movie just enough to bait you for the sequels.
The Iron Lady: This is a Meryl Streep set piece, and she is brilliant, as usual. The movie, however, is rather odd. It focuses on Margaret Thatcher looking back at parts of her life, which is all well and good, but it spends nearly half of the screen time in the present for no apparent reason other than to watch Meryl act old. The historical parts are much more worth the screen time and they suffer for being the lack of focus. Instead we get only bits and pieces of the historical story, which feels like only part of a movie.
Friday, April 27, 2012
Homies
It's tempting to leave the "lesbian" post up as the last post a little while longer, but I have to keep my hand in, after all.
My country is 64. I went to a bar mitzvah at the hall in Mitzpeh Yericho, a yishuv on the edge of a cliff overlooking the steep rolling hills and valleys that lead down to the Dead Sea. The view is bare but beautiful. With friends around, good food, health, a beautiful land, and the freedom to be Jewish, I felt lucky with the time I live in. It's not always perfect, but it's better more often than it's worse when I think about it.
I did a lot of dancing at the bar mitzvah, which reminded me how much I love to dance and how much I miss it. I need to crank up my music at home and dance more.
I am spending shabbat with my old community in Talpiot (Jerusalem), after spending Independence Day (yesterday) with them hiking, bbqing, and at the bat mitzvah. I do love them, and I feel so much at home with them; I don't have that feeling in Raanana yet.
Obgames: I played 1.5 games of Scrabble on the hike/BBQ. I played both Troyes and El Capitain last shabbat when Nadine was around. I've also learned to play Vikings, Hanging Garden, Thunderstone, and Luca online at yucata.de . Vikings is a good mid-weight filler when played with the basic tiles. The expansion tiles might make it better. Hanging Gardens is pretty flat for me without much in the way of strategy. Luna is fiercely difficult to understand from the rulebook; we're in round 5 out of 6 and I'm starting to understand some of it. Thunderstone took me a few games but I feel like I have the hang of it now. It's a fun game, as good as Dominion. The monster queue is problematic in some respects; otherwise no complaints.
Maybe I'll give them longer reviews in the future.
My country is 64. I went to a bar mitzvah at the hall in Mitzpeh Yericho, a yishuv on the edge of a cliff overlooking the steep rolling hills and valleys that lead down to the Dead Sea. The view is bare but beautiful. With friends around, good food, health, a beautiful land, and the freedom to be Jewish, I felt lucky with the time I live in. It's not always perfect, but it's better more often than it's worse when I think about it.
I did a lot of dancing at the bar mitzvah, which reminded me how much I love to dance and how much I miss it. I need to crank up my music at home and dance more.
I am spending shabbat with my old community in Talpiot (Jerusalem), after spending Independence Day (yesterday) with them hiking, bbqing, and at the bat mitzvah. I do love them, and I feel so much at home with them; I don't have that feeling in Raanana yet.
Obgames: I played 1.5 games of Scrabble on the hike/BBQ. I played both Troyes and El Capitain last shabbat when Nadine was around. I've also learned to play Vikings, Hanging Garden, Thunderstone, and Luca online at yucata.de . Vikings is a good mid-weight filler when played with the basic tiles. The expansion tiles might make it better. Hanging Gardens is pretty flat for me without much in the way of strategy. Luna is fiercely difficult to understand from the rulebook; we're in round 5 out of 6 and I'm starting to understand some of it. Thunderstone took me a few games but I feel like I have the hang of it now. It's a fun game, as good as Dominion. The monster queue is problematic in some respects; otherwise no complaints.
Maybe I'll give them longer reviews in the future.
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Call Me a Hippie Lesbian Collegiate
I can't recall the series of events that led me to rediscover Cris Williamson's seminal [1] The Changer and the Changed yesterday. I rediscovered my great love for it: strong, feminine, inspiring, sentimental. Like I like my women.
College music, hippie music, middle-aged lesbian music. I discovered her and artists like her (I had an awesome Woody Simmons album) in my early twenties in the early 90s, and even then I was a generation removed from when they were made in the 70s. I haven't listened to them for fifteen years. Now I'm a generation removed from who I was in my early twenties. Something in me thinks there's something wrong with liking it; shut up, something. I'm blissfully ignoring you.
[1] I'm aware that this word has ironic overtones here.
College music, hippie music, middle-aged lesbian music. I discovered her and artists like her (I had an awesome Woody Simmons album) in my early twenties in the early 90s, and even then I was a generation removed from when they were made in the 70s. I haven't listened to them for fifteen years. Now I'm a generation removed from who I was in my early twenties. Something in me thinks there's something wrong with liking it; shut up, something. I'm blissfully ignoring you.
[1] I'm aware that this word has ironic overtones here.
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