See Tango Locked Up in Daylight

07.23.2013

It's been a slow new release DVD month. Traditionally this is when I go back and pick up movies I passed on when they first came out, or I find some weird theme of oldies that I used to have on VHS that I realize I suddenly can't live without. Thankfully, Amazon Streaming video and Netflix have taken care of most of that. Still, I do manage to get on my kicks.

The other day I was watching Kurt Russell in Soldier via Amazon (although I've got a DVD not 4 feet from where I was streaming the video). I like Kurt Russell as an action star, especially in Big Trouble in Little China, but that's not relevant. Thanks to my browsing habits, the internet thinks I like Sylvester Stallone. That's ok, I do like him. The internet is always trying to get me to watch Stallone movies. I've been seeing more ads for Expendables 2 since it's now available via streaming. I remembered reading how Kurt Russell was offered a part (in either Expendables 1 or 2) but he turned it down as he "was not looking for ensemble roles". I guess old Kurt doesn't realize his demographic anymore?

The above line of thought took me to Kurt Russell and Sylvester Stallone in Tango & Cash. I remember the first half of the movie was pretty good, but that's about it. Hmmm, after looking it seems I didn't have that in my DVD collection, and for the price to rent a streaming version I would do just as well to buy the silly thing. So I went ot Amazon and bought it, which gave Amazon the opportunity to suggest other Stallone movies that I may have enjoyed in the past but would currently rather buy than rent. Damn you for knowing me so well, Amazon!

When it was over, I had 4 Stallone DVDs from the late 80's to early 2000's on the way. One of them, Eye See You, I have no idea about. It was one I long ago put on my "skip it now, look at it later" list. 11 years later, I'm finally taking care of that.

Permalink movies/tv/dvd rambling random

WWII Knife

07.22.2013

Above is my grandfather's world war 2 era US Navy issued knife. I first saw it a couple of years ago - I can't remember why but he brought it out to show me. He told me how he got it in the navy (hence the "USN" at the hilt) and had actually forgotten about it for a long time until he found it one day in a tool box. The knife has seen a lot of use, and according to my grandmother it saw a lot of action against apples and peaches. Especially peaches.

I'm not sure why we were fighting the apples and peaches in WW2, but my grandfather enjoys eating that enemy :)

Permalink random

The Big Move

07.16.2013

This weekend my grandparents wrapped up moving to their new apartment after selling the house they've been living in since 1965. That's 48 years in the same house. The apartment, according to Google, is 0.8 miles from the house. That averages out to moving 0.1 miles every 6 years. That part tickles me.

The move went without too much incident. They don't have phone service yet as AT&T is claiming there's a problem with the physical line. It's on AT&T's end, so they're (supposedly) working on it and it will hopefully be up and running sometime Wednesday. I needed a little more excitement, so I broke a jar of pickles on the apartment kitchen floor. There's a story that could go along with what happened, but leaving it to your imagination makes for a better story.

I wonder if next time I go to visit I'll forget and go to the old house?

Permalink road trip

Golden Age of Board Games(?)

07.14.2013

The other day I was talking to Brenda and explaining part of how board games have changed over the years. The video below does a good job explaining (and I think I stole at least half of what was said when explaining to Brenda)

Later in Brenda's trip I showed her the test copy I had made for Zombie Mall with the Amazon-printed copy of the rules & walkthru, the DriveThruCards printed map tiles, Hong Kong printed Loot & Objective cards, and the die-cut counters & tokens from Andrew in Oregon (or is it Washington)? Myu grandparents listened in and looked, and Peggy and her 2 youngest sons (fine, in their 30's) listened in and looked on. To be honest, non-gamers ranging from barely 30 to 93 are not more intended audience, but everyone seemed really interested and managed to follow the rules that I was explaining. Brenda even admitted that although she's not a current board gamer and isn't really interested in zombies, my explanation made the game seem exciting and intriguing enough that she wouldn't mind giving it a try.

Maybe that's an accolade I should spread around? "I wouldn't mind giving it a try. - mid-60's retired non-gamer related to the developer".

Mainly I'm hoping everyone didn't feel the need to feign interest for my ego. I know how nerdy these games can be and they're not everyone's cup of tea. But I'll admit that like watching people play the game and enjoy it, it was neat to see people's expression of understanding who don't normally play this type of game.

Permalink boardgames

Un-Widgey Nights

07.09.2013

Over the past couple of alternating Friday nights, I've found myself at Dealnews having a game night with Keith as his boys have a LAN party. The details of that aren't all that important past "hey, we've got an excuse to play some boardgames!" The first Friday night I joined Keith along with Phil, Daniel, and Richard for a double header of Ticket to Ride and Roborally. Somehow, even though Keith and I were the experienced ones in both games, we won neither. Both were fun, though. It was the first time I had ever been in a 5-player game for either Ticket to Ride or Roborally, and that many players changes your strategy a lot more than I thought it would have.

2 weeks later we again got together, but Daniel and Richard were replaced by Joe. We brought out 2 different games: Frag (one of my perennial favorites) and King of Tokyo (which I had just gotten the previous week, and as a bonus it was written by the same guy that made Roborally). Phil nor Joe had played Frag before, so it was fun to watch them learn. Joe was pulling great cards and pretty much taking it out on Phil. Joe declared "this game is awesome" while Phil decided "this game sucks". The next round Phil was getting good cards while Joe was getting crap. Phil changed his tune and decided "this game is awesome" while Joe joined the "this game sucks" crowd. After those 2 rounds, Joe had to leave so Keith, Phil, and I played a couple of rounds of King of Tokyo. As is our way we played the first round wrong (we left Tokyo when we shouldn't have). Once we had that figured out, the game became more challenging and felt right.

These little game nights have been fun. Somehow, Phil gets ganged up on (with everything we've played, Phil has yet to win a game or a round of a game). Technically these have not been part of the sanctioned Widgey season because everyone hasn't been vetted in. Maybe Keith needs to bring out the trophy and then everybody will be begging for some sanctioning.

Just for fun I ran the Widgey season stats as if the above 2 nights were sanctioned. With the current stats Jerry and I are tied for 1st place. With the above games added I move into 1st place by 1 point, due mainly to Daniel and Richard and Joe having good win-loss records.

Current Standings

	Wins & Losses					Win %			Points Rank + Win % Rank - # of Wins
	Wins	Losses	Points	Ranking		Win %	Ranking		Combined Points	Combined Ranking
Russ	6	6	36	1		50.0%	6		1	1
Jer	5	1	22	2		83.3%	4		1	1
Keith	4	2	20	3		66.7%	5		4	4
Joe	3	0	12	4		100.0%	1		2	3
Steve	1	0	4	6		100.0%	1		6	5
Alex	2	2	12	4		50.0%	6		8	7
Richard	1	0	4	6		100.0%	1		6	5

If the extra games were counted:

	Wins & Losses					Win %			Points Rank + Win % Rank - # of Wins
	Wins	Losses	Points	Ranking		Win %	Ranking		Combined Points	Combined Ranking
Russ	8	11	54	1		42.1%	8		1	1
Jer	5	1	22	3		83.3%	4		2	2
Keith	5	8	36	2		38.5%	9		6	4
Joe	3	0	12	5		100.0%	1		3	3
Steve	1	0	4	9		100.0%	1		9	5
Alex	2	2	12	5		50.0%	6		9	5
Richard	2	1	10	7		66.7%	5		10	8
Phil	0	8	16	4		0.0%	10		14	10
Daniel	1	0	4	9		100.0%	1		9	5
Joe H	1	1	6	8		50.0%	6		13	9

Permalink boardgames