&games

I don't think that I mentioned that I met John the other day. John is a blogger who lives just down the road from me. He writes Life in Alaska, which I link to in the left-hand column. It is quite funny. He writes from the perspective of someone who moved to Alaska recently. I highly recommend you at least glance at it. I'll wait. Click on it.

The Lick it or Sticket picture from June 15 alone is worth your time, not to mention the Paris Hilton photo and the Alaskan-duct-tape-car-repair-job. It doesn't take much to amuse Alaskans, and the duct-tape-cars with the trash-bag-windows are a pretty common sight.

He is interested in playing some games if our schedules ever match up, Axis and Allies in particular. Now that I won't be driving a cab on the weekend it should be easier to get together.
-----------------------------------------------------
Valette, the blogger at squeegie.org, ( I link to it in the left-hand column under Fairbanksan with a camera) got a write up in our local rag. They concentrated on her other site, a pretty standard one that I don't link to, where she blogs about her life.

I think squeegie.org is a good photoblog, and she updates it nearly everyday.
------------------------------------------------------
The Anchorage Miniature Gaming Club is revamping their website. Looks like they are emphasizing board games a little more. Although it is a miniature club they do play a few board games. I have played several with them.

If I lived in Anchorage, I think I could get into playing some miniatures (if I didn't kill myself first). Probably not Warhammer, but real battle reenactment stuff. I have enjoyed watching their games on a few occasions. I was one of the youngest people there and I'm getting grey hair.
-------------------------------------------------------
A couple months ago I made the switch from cheap paper money that comes with games to poker chips. It is the best move I have made in a while, if I do say so myself.

I found some poker chips at the game store that have the denominations written on them. This helps address the problem of different games using bills of different denominations, and remembering which colored chips have what value from game to game.

I'm not going to buy any myself, but I know at least one of you was contemplating making the switch but was concerned about remembering which chip was which denomination from game to game. Get a few with denominations printed on them, and some spare colors to fill in the gaps. That should make things easier.
-----------------------------------------------------
We've had a lot of rain this year. Blueberries and raspberries are plentiful. I've been picking quite a few with the girls. Dame Koldfoot's job is to turn them into jam.

Even found a sizable patch of strawberries, alas, wild strawberries are tiny and even a large patch produces few berries.

Looks like the cranberry crop will be good, too. Can't pick them until we've had a hard frost.

I remember picking cranberries last year. They grow very low to the ground, it is back breaking work. Wild, low-bush cranberries are much smaller than the ones you have with Thanksgiving dinner. Picked for several hours (by myself), came home, presented the berries to Dame Koldfoot, and she made up a batch of cranberry muffins. A batch of cranberry muffins. All that time spent picking and there was only enough for one batch of muffins.
------------------------------------------------------
Good gaming, or berry picking, as the case may be,
CF