&games

A boardgame documentary

2010-03-27T01:02:00.002-08:00

Here's the link to the trailer.

Just over two minutes long.

I've actually met a few of the people featured. I do believe I'll have to check that movie out.

BTW, I'm in the 500 club.

It's been awhile. How about some game content?

2010-03-24T03:05:00.003-08:00

Haven't been playing much lately, but I have played a few games. Here are some thoughts:

Castle Panic: Cooperative game to a point, but there is an ultimate winner. Monsters are attacking the castle, the players need to keep them from destroying the castle, but if the monsters are kept at bay the player to kill the most monsters is the winner.

Interesting game. Simple, fast, fun romp best played with children, or non-gamers.

Every turn the active player is allowed to trade one card with other players. At the beginning of the game you want to give good cards to players who can use them in order to keep the monsters from ransacking the castle. By the end of the game, you will need to decide if you want to give away cards that don't help you, but do help other players kill monsters and rack up points. You will also need to decide if you want to weaken a monster you cannot kill, so that another player can kill it and earn the victory points.

Interesting decisions for such a simple game, especially if the players are more interested in an individual win over a team win.

Thunderstone: Crap in a box.

The first knock-off of the Dominion system. Seems to me that the game was rushed to market without proper playtesting in order to ride the coattails of the award winning game of Dominion.

Here's the problem as I see it. The suggested learning game is fair. I didn't care for it, but it works.

When you start playing with random sets of cards, the game fails miserably.

The concept is interesting, get a hand of cards, each card has a dollar value that can be used to buy equipment in the village, and each card also has a fighting value. Get your cards, see if you are strong enough to beat any of the available monsters, if not, go to the village and buy better equipment. Players can also "level up" members of their party to get stronger heroes to fight bigger and better monsters.

The few games I played did not work with random cards. Not at all. After playing Thunderstone, I appreciate the time and effort that went into designing Dominion all the more. Dominion is by far the superior game.

The Kingsburg Expansion: I did not care for Kingsburg. The expansion improves the game greatly without changing it dramatically. The expansion consists of numerous changes, of which players can pick and choose which to play with.

There are now yearly event cards, more buildings to build, character powers, chips that can be added to your fighting strength but count as victory points if not used by the end of the game, and some other changes.

I have only played once. It is still a light Euro, a little too light for my taste, but not a children's game. I probably won't be buying the expansion, but if you like or dislike Kingsburg the expansion might be worth your time to check out.

Endeavor: I've played this one a lot lately. Solid, medium-weight euro. I've seen many comparisons to Puerto Rico and Goa, but I find those comparisons to be very loose. I think the game stands on its own with any resemblance being purely superficial.

Endeavor is a worker placement game. You have four different aspects which you have to manage, all four of which affect the other three. You need to pump up your ability to build better buildings. You need to pump up your worker pool so you can utilize the buildings and place tokens on the board, you need to pump up your maximum hand size so you can hold more cards to pump up the other areas, and you need to pump up your ability to remove placed workers so you can free up the building to place new workers and utilize the building again.

Got it? Gee. When I explain it like that I gotta admit, it's kinda like Puerto Rico and Goa. Yet it is not. Trust me.

The game is seven rounds. Placing a worker on a building lets you place another worker on the map, or draw a card. Before another worker can be placed on a building the existing worker needs to be removed. Each round you get to remove a number of workers depending upon how high you have increased your ability to remove workers.

Highly recommended. Good medium-weight euro for serious gamers.

2010-02-01T01:45:00.003-09:00

From XKCD

To my two readers: Sorry for the lack of posts.

My life is in a bit of flux right now.

Back to the old part-time job, now working there full-time. Been busy. Haven't driven a taxi in a month or more, although I plan on driving again, and soon.

The comedy that happens at my other job is over the top. Wish I could share. I can't because I'm bound by confidentiality laws. This town is too small to even try to disguise the identity of the people I'm dealing with on a day to day basis. A big city nurse could get away with it, I dare not even try.

Happy Nude Year

2010-01-01T13:52:00.003-09:00

We say goodbye to the decade of Knizia and welcome 2010, the first year of the decade of Wallace.

Do you care if we smoke?

2009-12-28T04:02:00.002-09:00

Two young girls get in the cab in the middle of the night

Passenger: Do you care if we smoke in here?

Me: Are you old enough to smoke?

Passenger: Of course we are old enough to smoke.

They get into the cab and shut the door.

Passenger: So can we smoke in here?

Me: (Gagging) Please do. It will cover up the smell of crack.

Passenger: What!?!?

Me: I said to go ahead and smoke. It will cover up the smell of the crack you've been smoking.

Passenger #1: We haven't been smoking crack.

Passenger #2: You can smell it?

That one never gets old...

2009-12-26T07:58:00.001-09:00

Hey, come here.

What is it, dad?

I have a question for you.

What is it?

Are my hands cold?

Aaaaaaargh. NOT FUNNY.

Tweaking my theory on drunks.

2009-12-13T03:58:00.002-09:00

Frequently passengers will ask me if it is difficult dealing with drunks all the time. I have developed a standard response:

"Have you ever been in a bar and seen a complete asshole? The guy who wants to fight, or who is too loud and obnoxious, or who is just generally an asshole?"

The passenger responds with, "Yes, of course."

To which I respond, "You can bet that that guy is drinking and driving. It would never occur to him to take a cab. Generally, taxi passengers are the more responsible drunks. They rarely cause any trouble at all."

While I stand by that general statement, I have found it needs tweaking.

This time of year, that being the company-Christmas-party season, I find it to be less true.

Over the years I have noticed that more bad drunks are taking cabs this time of year and the incidence of bad drunks seems to revolve around company Christmas parties. I hypothesize that the bad drunks are taking cabs when they leave the company Christmas party instead of driving themselves in order to keep appearances with their co-workers and bosses. Every other time during the year when they get drunk they drive themselves home. When the boss is watching they are responsible.

I should clarify that by "bad drunk" I don't mean someone who is merely falling-down-drunk, a puker, passed out, or even too drunk to remember his address. By "bad drunk" I mean the drunk people who want to fight, are unbearable assholes (or bitches), don't want to pay, or who are otherwise very obnoxious.

Taxi shorts, nothing too funny.... But it was funny at the time

2009-12-04T04:05:00.003-09:00

Sitting outside a bar reading a book, a person walks up to the cab:

"You busy?"

"No. Need a ride?"

Chick gets in.

"Where to?"

"(such and such an address)"

My radar is going off.

"Do you have money?"

"Of course I have money. You think just because I'm black I don't have money? I ought to get out right now."

"So you have money?"

"I said I do."

"Enough to get there? It'll be ten bucks?"

(Long winded tirade about how I am profiling her because she is black, she is so insulted, I ought to be ashamed of myself, and on and on.)

When she started on her tirade I knew for a fact that she didn't have any money, but I thought I'd just go along instead of demanding to see her cash. I figured I might get a good blog story out of it.

We got to her house, and of course she didn't have any money. But she would go see if there was any money in the house.

I accompanied her into the house, because she'd probably just disappear out the back if I didn't. She woke up her old man. He was sympathetic to me, had no money, was mad at her, and out of the goodness of his heart tried to pay me in dope. I refused. She started yelling at him for ripping off the poor cab driver.

Just when it was starting to get good, another cab pulled up to the house. It was a friend of theirs. He was probably there to score dope. He paid me.

As I left she was still calling me a racist. profiling SOB.

----------------------------------------------

(You might have to be a Fairbanks cab driver to appreciate this one)

Dispatcher: 88, are you still in the city?

88: I'm deep city. So deep you might even call it "south".

--------------------------------------------------

Passenger: Can I bring my dog? It's a certified aid dog you have to let me bring it the state of California paid for this dog for my medical disability yes, you have to let him in the cab come on Poochie, into the car good dog he's a good dog he's a certified aid dog I'm going to WalMart they let me bring the dog in there I have all his papers I've been going to WalMart for months and they always let me bring the dog into the store.... Of course they never ask for his papers he's a certified aid dog he helps me a lot. Don't you Poochie? Yes, you help mother a lot (kiss kiss) the state of California paid for him I have notes from my doctors I got him at the pound every other dog in the pound was a pit bull mix California won't pay for pit bulls but this dog they would pay for he's really helped me a lot you see, I'm bi-polar, when ever I feel manic-y I pet the dog and it really calms me down it helps a lot it's really miraculous they always let me bring him into WalMart.

Me: Lady! Shut up and pet the dog.

--------------------------------------------

Picked up an out-of-towner at a hotel

Guy: Take me to a gay bar.

Me: Uhhhhhhh, what's your second choice?

Guy: A gay bar. Where's the nearest gay bar?

Me: Anchorage.

Guy: You're kidding me.

Me: No.

Guy: Well, where's the nearest bar without rednecks?

Me: Seattle.

Guy: .................How much to Anchorage?
--------------------------------------------------

Picked up some hunters going to the airport. I was driving a mini van.

When I got to the hotel there were two of them standing outside with their gear. I got their gear loaded and prepared to leave.

"Wait," they said, "there's two more coming."

I'm thinking, "I hope they don't have too many more bags, or we'll need a second cab."

The other two guys came out with several more bags.

I looked at the bags. I looked at the cab. With some rearranging I could get all the bags in the cab and have room for all four passengers. As I was rearranging they came out with more bags.

"We might need a second cab," I said.

"No, no. I can hold this bag, he can hold that bag in his lap and we'll have plenty of room."

"I don't know."

"We'll be fine."

As I was re-rearranging, one of the guys came back with an army duffel bag.

"We need two cabs."

"No, I can hold this bag, we can cram this one here, we can cram that one there, and we'll be fine."

"There ain't gonna be room to fart."

"We'll be fine."

When I was done you could not have packed another pair of socks into that cab. It was full.

Then they brought out the caribou antlers.

"No, no, no. We need a second cab."

"Oh no. We can put them here, he and I can sit like this... sure it'll be cramped, but we can make it.....

Then another guy brought out the second set of caribou antlers.

"...I forgot about those....
.
.
.
Better call for a second cab."

------------------------------------

Then there's the story that I just got subpeoned for. More on that later.

Boardgames: Dominion

2009-11-13T01:59:00.004-09:00

Been playing Dominion and the expansions recently. Must say that I've been enjoying myself.

The original game is solid in its own right. The first expansion, Intrigue, which is also a stand-alone game, is kinda weak as a stand alone game but good as a supplement to the original. The second expansion, Seaside, is a very good expansion.

Dominion is a card game along the lines of CCGs like Magic: The Gathering except it is not collectible. Every card comes in the base game or expansions. It is not a money pit like M:tG.

Dominion was recently named as the Spiel des Jahre or the German game of the year. For the uninitiated that is the most significant award in the realm of boardgames.

As I try to elaborate on my feelings toward the game I find I am stumped. Suffice it to say that gameplay is simple yet dramatically varied from game to game. My 10-year-old daughter was able to trounce three grown men in one game, yet the game is not simplistic. The game is easy to learn yet subtle. There is no perfect strategy, yet know-it-alls will proclaim it so.

Forget trying to elaborate, I'm going to go play again. Have a good day.

What a good night. A Halloween without stories.

2009-11-01T16:30:00.002-09:00

I generally try to avoid driving a taxi on amateur nights, specifically: New Years, St. Patrick's Day, and Halloween, but of the three Halloween is usually the best night to work.

Last night, Halloween night, was a great night to drive a cab. I had contemplated staying home and playing games, but decided to go join the rat race and earn a buck.

I only had one group of dumb asses all night, and I didn't even leave the parking lot with them. No one wanted to run on the fare. No one argued that the meter was running too fast. The dispatcher was surprisingly calm for such a busy night. No one accused me of going the long way. People were mostly still there when their cab pulled up i.e. didn't catch a ride with a friend or other taxi and not call to cancel. All of that is simply what you should expect on a busy night, especially busy nights that traditionally have many people who don't normally take taxis.

Everyone was friendly. Passengers offered intelligent conversation. Tips were good. Stayed busy all night. Traffic was smooth. Didn't have to go on Ft. Wainwright a single time.

What a great night to be a cab driver in Fairbanks.

Rethinking the strategy -or- Groupthink and Pushing Hack

2009-10-27T03:17:00.005-08:00

I've been pushing hack for entirely too long, almost ten years. As a full time job, I've only driven a cab... on and off.... full time... for say... three years. For several of those years I just drove on the weekends. For many other years driving was one of two part-time jobs that I combined for full-time work.

Over those ten years I've observed and even joked about one constant in the business. On one hand the constant is irritating, on the other hand I've always recognized it as something that could be exploited. Two months ago I finally pulled the trigger and put my theory to the test. So far I'm happy with the results.

I've been pushing hack full time for the last few months. I decided to approach cab driving as a three week on/one week off proposition. Work everyday for the first three weeks of the month and take the last week off.

Here's my rationale in a nutshell: Most people get paid at the beginning of the month. Welfare checks and social security checks are all deposited at the beginning of the month. People are flush the first week of the month and are broke the last week of the month. At the end of the month cabdrivers are left to fight over scraps.

Not only are people flush at the beginning of the month, but most cabdrivers are earning pretty good money and taking excessive time off for the first couple weeks of the month. Not only do people have money, but there are fewer cabdrivers to compete with to get that money.

Conversely, at the end of the month not only are passengers broke, but cabdrivers are broke. Every cabdriver in town knows his rent is coming due in a few days and is on the road trying to make some money. Not only is there less money to be earned, but you are competing with more drivers to earn those scarce dollars.

So far I'm happy with my new system. Hopefully, with family obligations I'll be able to maintain this schedule. For the record: I have taken a day off here and there because of illness, or to play boardgames, or to be with my family, but I've also gone into work on my week off just for an excuse to get out of the house.

No, no. Please... (gag) Stop it, please. -or- Sibling rivalry

2009-10-16T03:44:00.004-08:00

Picked up a chick. She was going to the bar but needed to stop and pick up a friend on the way. We got to his apartment building and she telephoned him to come down.

And we waited.

And waited. She called again. He said he'd be right down.

And we waited.

And we waited. She called again. He said he was coming down right now.

And we waited.

"So who is this guy we are waiting for."

"He's my brother-in-law, and if he doesn't hurry I'm going without him."

And we waited.

She called again and told him we were leaving in two seconds.

"Must be a pretty good brother-in-law to wait this long for him."

"No, I really don't like the guy, but if I leave him I'll just piss off my sister."

"Should we just go?"

"No, I'll wait for him."

When the dude finally got into the cab and we left the apartment building the two shared a passionate kiss and started mashing out in the back seat. I mean like teenagers in the backseat of a Chevy. They were going at it hot and heavy. Buttons were coming undone.

I caught bits of conversation. Apparently the wife thought he was going to the store to pick up more beer.

So much for not wanting to piss off her sister.

Line of the night

2009-10-04T05:47:00.002-08:00

(That's a double entendre, nudge nudge)

Passenger: Hey, give me a twenty.

Other Passenger: What?

Passenger: Come on, just spot me a twenty.

Other Passenger: Dude, you're drunk, we're going home, what do you need money for?

Passenger: Come on, man. I'll pay you back tomorrow.

Other Passenger: Okay. Just tell me what you need it for.

Passenger: All I got are ones. I can't be seen snorting coke with ones.

Duck Dealer/Tales of the Arabian Nights

2009-09-28T01:02:00.002-08:00

One fascinates me and has the potential to be a great game, the other is on a par with Monopoly and rhymes with Tales of the Arabian Fights.

A final Pasco Fiasco-RIP

2009-09-23T02:15:00.008-08:00

About a year ago I stopped posting notices of people whom I know who have died. Late last year and early this year there were a string of deaths and I just couldn't find the gumption to make notice of them any longer on this blog. It was a sad time and before I knew it I was so far behind in posting the notices that I just quit. However, this passing cannot go unnoticed in this blog.

Ken was a character. He was a character first and a cabdriver second.

Ken was a likable guy. Most con men are. Even after he dicked you most people would come around when he turned on the charm.

One of my claims to fame is that I taught Ken how to drive a taxi. I've been called a "bastard" numerous times when that information has leaked out, usually followed by a laugh.

I can remember at least two occasions when the owner of the company had had enough. That was it, Ken was getting fired. No doubt about it, Ken would not be back. He was hard on cars, he was behind on leases, a car disappeared for a couple days and he was the main suspect, etc. On each of those occasions when the owner of the company was so pissed off and ready to take a chunk out of Ken's ass..... what do you suppose happened? On each occasion Ken came back to work the next day with a better car than he had been assigned the day before.

On one occasion I, myself, wrote a note to the boss that I was going to start paying my leases in the form of IOUs as long as he kept that SOB as a driver. The next day Ken turned on the charm and my anger faded to mere piss-off-ed-ness.

Even though he was a con man I did kind of like him. He was usually good for a laugh. If you weren't laughing with Ken, which was usually the case, you were laughing at him.

Can't say I'll miss him. Can say I will never forget him. Never. And I will probably chuckle and smile whenever I think of him.

You died far too young. All in all, I wish you had just moved to Anchorage.

R.I.P. Ken Pasco

More drunk math*

2009-09-15T00:37:00.003-08:00

* You won't even believe this story, even if I swear it is true. I swear it's true.

Drunk: How much to the Super 8?

Me: Oh... Like 9 bucks, give or take.

Drunk: It only cost me 6 bucks to get here. I got 6 bucks. You can get me back for six.

Me: Don't bullshit me. It'll cost what it costs, but I ain't doing it for six. You can wait for the next cab.

Drunk: OK. Just get me back to the Super 8.

Me: I need to see your money. It's too busy to do it for six. If that's all you got you can wait for the next cab.

Drunk: I got money. (He showed me a wad of bills.)

Time passes. We arrive at the Super 8.

Me: That'll be $8.50.

Drunk: It only cost me 9 to get there.

Me: Yeah. And it's only eight fifty to get back.

Drunk: Don't fuck around with me, man.

Me: What?

Drunk: I ain't paying more than nine. That's all it cost to get there.

Me: And I got you back for less than 9.
.
.
silence
.
.
Me: Come on man. Eight and a half.

Drunk: F. U.
.
.
Me with absolutely no idea what is going on: Look man. I'll do it for nine if that's all you got.

Drunk: F'in' right you'll do it for nine.

Me: It's only eight and a half.

Drunk: Here's ten, but I ain't never calling your company again.

Me: And what company would that be?

Drunk: He rattled off the phone number for the other big company in town.

I thought about correcting him... but he was out of the cab and off in a huff.

Cash Cab

2009-09-14T05:39:00.002-08:00

A couple got into the cab:

Dude: Oh man! This isn't the cash cab. I was feeling lucky.

Me: Oh what the hell. Let's play cash cab.

Dude: Bring in on!

Me: What's the longest tributary of the Yukon River?

Chick: The Yukon!

Dude: What's a tributary?

Me: Uhhhh. No.

Dude: Give us another one. Don't make it so hard.

Me: What's the capital of Canada?

Chick: Calgary!

Dude: No! It's Saskatchewan!

Chick: Saskatchewan is a state, dumbass.

Me: Well.... No. It's not Calgary.

Dude: It is Saskatchewan, isn't it!

Me: You realize if this was cash cab I'd have to kick you out?

Dude: Ah man. Give us one more.
.
.
.
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Me: Pfffff. What's Mickey Mouse's first name?
.
.
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Dude: Who?

And that was the end of cash cab.

Drunk Math

2009-08-29T06:38:00.004-08:00

The fare came to $8. The lady had a ten, a five and a one.

For some reason she did not want to part with the ten spot.

She looked through her purse searching for more ones. She found none. She went through her purse again. She got out of the cab and went through her pockets. Nothing. All she had was a ten dollar bill, a five dollar bill and a one dollar bill.

She gave up and handed me the ten. I handed her two dollars change.

She looked at her money. She looked at me. She looked back at her money and said, "Hold on." She looked at me. She looked at her money and counted it through squinted eyes.

"Wait! I've got eight dollars here. Give me back that ten."

In which I ponder the female mind and have a brilliant idea

2009-08-27T16:31:00.002-08:00

Middle of the night I got a call to pick up at a certain address. It was raining. About a half block from the address some drunk chicks flagged me down. They said they had called, they needed to get away from the house because some scary guy was harassing them.

Sounded reasonable so I picked them up.

They got in and started talking about this "creep" who was "stalking" them. They were obviously quite shaken up.

"Let's get out of here! That dude is just scary!"

"Yeah! Let's go!"

A half block later the dispatcher called. He said the party I was supposed to pick up watched me pick up someone else and drive away. This left me in a bit of a predicament because I was the only cab anywhere close to the area and people who call are supposed to have priority.

I quizzed the girls and it became clear that they had called a different company. They (understandably so) refused to get out and wait for their cab. I spun around to see if I could get the other party to share a cab with the girls.

Turns out the guy I'm supposed to pick up is the "creep".

After all the previous drama the girls didn't mind if he shared a cab. In fact, they were begging him to share a cab. The guy adamantly refused. He said something along the lines of, "I don't want anything to do with you dumb bitches."

Anyway... I arranged for the other company to pick up the other guy, and everyone left happy... except me.

These girls were stupid, AND obnoxious, AND loud.

After all the drama about getting away from the scary guy they were actually insulted that he refused to share a cab with them. And that wasn't the half of it. When they weren't talking about him they spent the whole ride bitching about their other friends.

I was tempted to drive off a bridge to put us all out of our misery.

When we got home they had me turn off the lights before we drove through the woods to the house so they could sneak in without their parents noticing.

That's when I had my brilliant idea.... I think I'll call it "blackmail". I didn't use it, although I was sorely tempted. I was happy to be rid of them, but I filed it away for future use. The next time I get kids sneaking home late at night I am going to charge them an extra $10 or else I'm going to lay on the horn before I leave.

2009-08-24T02:52:00.004-08:00

Two drunk chicks drop their car off at a friend's house and call for a cab. They were barely 21 if they were 21.

Long story short they thought they were pretty cute. In fact they were just obnoxious. They spent the whole trip annoying me with little cutsy-isms and foul language that would shame a sailor.

They did not know the address to which they were going, so instead of calling their friend to confirm an address they had me drive up and down the street until they saw a car that looked familiar. The fare came to something like $15, it would have been 10 or 12 if they knew where they were going.

You're going to give us a discount, right?

Not tonight, ladies.

But we're cute enough for a discount, don'chya think?

No comment. I just let that one go. One of them handed me a ten.

Come on. It's 15, girls.

You don't think we're cute?

I think smart chicks are the cutest.

WE'RE SMART!

What's the capital of Canada?

End of conversation. Got paid. No tip, though.

BTW. The check in the previous story was good.

The rulez of cabdriving

2009-08-08T17:22:00.003-08:00

Rule #1: Never take a check.

Rule #2: Never ever take a check from someone going to the airport.

Rule #3: Never take checks from hippies.

Took a check from a guy with a hard luck story. Something about being in the Bush, being in a hurry to make his flight and his kid being in the hospital. Claimed to be a state employee in the Bush studying bear scat... or something. I clearly broke rules 1 and 2, but I did so with my eyes wide open.

When I got home and took a closer look at the check I noted it had "Earth Day", "Plant Trees for America" logos and something about Yellowstone Park.

Anyone want to take bets on how high the check bounces?

Only in Fairbanks

2009-08-07T02:01:00.002-08:00

Got a call to pick up at a low budget apartment complex. As I pulled up I noted a cop putting a man in handcuffs into the back of his patrol car. I had a feeling....

Me: That wouldn't happen to be the guy who called for a cab from 206, would it?

Officer: Why yes it is. You want him?
.
.
.
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Officer, noting my skepticism: He's got money.

Me: You got somewhere to go, Lincoln?

Lincoln: I would go get something to eat.

Me: Sure. I'll take him off your hands.

The cop un-cuffed him, he got in the cab and we left.

It ain't the Jewish Synagogue

2009-08-06T07:23:00.004-08:00

Dispatcher: I've got one at the Immaculate Conception Church.

New driver: Is that the Catholic Church?

I'm sorry. That's not much of a story, but I'm still chuckling about it.

This is seriously pissing me off

2009-07-28T11:05:00.002-08:00

The local media (at least the media to which I listen) are saturated with advertisements about the Lipizzaner Stallions. The advertisement contains the following line:

Watch as world famous Lipizzaner Stallions astound you with their amazing leaps in the air above the ground!

Try this on for size:

Watch as world famous Lipizzaner Stallions astound you with their amazing leaps ~~in the air above the ground~~!

Obama acted stupidly

2009-07-27T15:19:00.002-08:00

Everyone was eager to believe the cop was a racist. Now that the facts are known, why will no one call the racist professor with a chip on his shoulder the racist that he certainly appears to be?

Turning in my cabdriver license.

2009-07-20T22:34:00.003-08:00

I was parked outside the Mecca Bar waiting for a drunk to stumble out. Instead, this tourist approached me and asked in broken English:

Ahhhh, red light district?

Not really.

Are you ahhhhhh, local?

Yes.

No red light district?

I came up blank. Since the one shady massage parlor burned down and the cops cracked down on the walking girls Fairbanks has not been whoremonger friendly.

I tried to explain that to the tourist. Don't know how successful I was.

The best I could do was explain that a couple iffy-looking massage places had sprung up in the last couple weeks but I hadn't heard any scuttlebutt about them.

I consider all the times over the years that tourists have asked directions to the strip clubs, hookers and massage parlors...... and I feel useless... as a cabdriver I should know how to squeeze money from a horny drunk... but I was forced to face the fact that I just didn't know where he could get laid. It was a humbling experience.

Must say (from a purely cabdriving point of view, dear) that I miss Lee's Massage Parlor. It was out of town, nearly a $30 fare to get there from downtown. In the last few years Lee always called my cab company when she had a customer who needed to get back into town. Made quite a bit of money shuttling her customers around over the years.

I wish her the best of luck.

Just ran into this chick the other day.... reminded me of a story

2009-07-19T03:36:00.003-08:00

Picked up this chick at an apartment complex many moons ago. I knew her and I knew that she always expected the people at her destination to pay for her cab ride... even if she had her own money.

She was packing bags of booze out of this apartment. She had me open the trunk so she could put the booze in, which I dutifully did. I learned many years ago that it is always best to put bags or anything that might be needed to be held as collateral in the trunk... and booze is good collateral.

Anyway, we get to where we were going and she didn't have any money. She needed to go into the house and ask for money. Fine with me. I'm running the meter. After all, I have collateral secured in the trunk. She and this other guy came out of the house and apologized for not having any money to pay for the cab ride.

"That's all right. Don't worry about it."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Pay me when you can."

"Thank you thank you thank you. Wait! Where are you going!? I have stuff in the trunk."

"What?"

"My bags are still in your trunk!"

"Oh those. I'll hold on to them until you get some money."

"You can't do that!"

"Watch me."

"That's a couple hundred dollars worth of booze!"

"Just call me when you get the $10 for the cab fare. Better make it $20 because I can't keep it in the cab. I'll need to drop it off at the shop, and I'll need to charge you for the trip to deliver it."

"I'm going to call the police. You can't do that."

"And tell them what? You stole a couple hundred dollars worth of booze from some guy and I won't give it to you?" (That was a guess on my part. I suspect she was taking some booze that didn't belong to her.)

Needless to say they came up with $10 for the cab ride.

Needless to say I had the meter running and the fare was up to $15 by the time they scraped the money together.

Needless to say I got the extra $5 with no argument whatsoever.

2009-07-16T01:57:00.002-08:00

I think numerous Fairbanks cabdrivers share a similar story.

Drunk Passenger: Take me to Denny's.

No problem. I take them to Denny's.

Drunk Passenger: Where the hell are we?

Me: We're at Denny's.

DP: This isn't Denny's. This is a restaurant.
.
.
.
.
Me: You want to go to Denny the Cabdriver's house?

DP: Where do you think I meant, dumbass?

On the wall at the cab company

2009-07-15T07:06:00.001-08:00

2009-07-14T06:47:00.003-08:00

Two gay guys in the taxi:

Look at him! Is he with a girl?

Looks like it. Is he going home with a chick?

It looks like it.

Me: That pervert.

(Prolonged unnatural silence)

Me: I'm kidding.

(Sound of crickets chirping)

I guess it wasn't that funny.

Ĉu vi parolas Esperanton?

2009-06-19T21:19:00.002-08:00

Mi kaj miaj filinoj lernas Esperanton.

Ĉu vi loĝas proksima Fairbanks kaj parolas Esperanton? Alaska?

Through the Ages

2009-06-16T17:20:00.004-08:00

I've had the opportunity to play several games of Through the Ages and I must say I am disappointed. TtA looked like a promising game and I was eager to get a copy. It is not a bad game, but it is not nearly good enough to meet my expectations. I find it to be an average game that I will probably never play again. Not only is it disappointing, it is a long game. Too long to justify the effort of playing.

TtA is a civilization building game in which there is no map. Players have a mat in front of them on which they build their respective civilizations. Players develop technology and build their civilizations keeping in mind that their citizens must be happy, fed, prepared for aggression from other players, and prone to corruption. Sounds like it should be right up my alley. I love empire building games where you start with little and build into a large empire. Win or lose I always feel a sense of accomplishment at the end. Not so with Through the Ages.

Without giving a review of the game I find it to be overly luck dependant, especially in a four player game. In a four player game it is possible that the good farming and technology cards never get around to you or get around to you much too late. This makes it quite difficult to keep your civilization advancing at the same rate as your opponents.

I find the final scoring to be overly luck dependant and entirely out of proportion to the scoring that occurs during the game. Each player has opportunities to secretly add cards to the deck that will determine what bonuses each player will earn on final scoring, but the possibilities are numerous. Because the final scoring is very much an issue of luck, I would say that final scoring should add no more than 10% to one's final score. It may add 70% or more to your score.

The rulebook is a mess, a horrible mess. The rules were written for a simple game, rules were added for an advanced game, and more rules were added for the full game. Sounds simple enough, but finding a particular rule in the book is not easy. On top of that the rules are wrong in several spots, do not clarify certain basic questions, and are confusing.

I give it a six. Through the Ages is the first of its kind. There is the kernel of a great game here. Someday, someone will take that kernel and make a great game with that system.

Off the beaten path

2009-05-15T03:46:00.002-08:00

Regional World Cities. I find this stuff to be very interesting.

For starters, if you aren't familiar with the Strange Maps blog, you should bookmark it. It is certainly one of my favorite reads.

This map and a brief discussion of major world cities were posted on the Strange Maps blog. Basically it is a map of the most economically important cities and the regions with which they interact. The think-tank that came up with this map subdivides the world in to three major economic regions: The Americas, Europe/Africa/Middle East, and Asia/Oceania

The source site is The Globalization and World Cities Research Network.

The GaWC defines 5 broad categories of regional cities: Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and two minor categories High Sufficiency and Sufficiency cities based upon how they link their region into the world markets. New York and London are the only two Alpha++ cities. In the 2008 list Miami isn't even listed, while on earlier maps it was considered to be the focal point of South American economic activity.

You might surf their site if stuff like this interests you.

The big four oh.

2009-04-26T01:56:00.004-08:00

Well, the wife took me out for dinner on my birthday. We had a great meal at Bobby's. Had calamari (the good kind, deep fried with tentacles still dangling) and the stuffed grape leaves for appetizers then some (unremembered) pasta dish for the main course. The wife had shrimp. They were kind of rubbery, I'm glad I went with the pasta. Good stuff. The kids hated it. To be fair they hate all restaurants that don't serve smiley face pancakes.

I ate so much that I was ready to go home and take a nap. I was uncomfortably full.

But my wife had a surprise up her sleeve. She had arranged for an evening of gaming at the local game store with some of my gamer buddies. Something like 10 adults showed up, plus a few kids. That was fun. Played some Puerto Rico and Dominion. We had to be out by 10, but that wasn't much of an issue as I had to be at work by 11.

Good times. Thanks to my wife and everyone who showed up.

What's been going on with me...

2009-04-19T12:04:00.002-08:00

Well let's see.

Met local blogger Michael "Sudsy" Sutherland at the gun store the other day. I was wearing a Boardgamegeek T-shirt which he noted and was the spark for our conversation. Talked about getting together for a game. Sounds like we will have to work to find a mutually acceptable time, but I hate knowing that a potential gamer lives just down the road from me and we haven't been able to meet for a boardgame.

Haven't been driving a cab much lately. I got drafted to go full time at my second job. Been full time there in the past, and part time suits me much better. I like the hours and the eight hour shifts, but I'm getting burned out. I'd much rather have two part time jobs than one full time job.

Played Through the Ages..... finally. Don't know about it. It wasn't what I was expecting, and more fiddly although not excessively so. It is currently the #5 ranked game on BGG. It is a pretty good game, but I'm not ready to get on the bandwagon. Seems like more of an exercise in card drawing along the lines of Ticket to Ride, but with a ton of chrome. I am itching for another game, though. It did leave me intrigued enough to play more. :fingers crossed:

Chicago Express is now the game I'm itching to learn.

Dropped Phoenicia down to an average rating with more play. Confusing rules played a role, too few options played a role.

Bumped Indonesia up to a 9 with more play. Great game. Serious component flaws. With better components a few rules could be changed to make a great game. For example a way to distinguish plantations of different companies would be oooooh so helpful.

With my renewed interest in Roads and Boats

2009-03-27T02:18:00.009-08:00

I am dying to get Antiquity and Indonesia to the table again.

Took Antiquity for a test drive some time ago and just haven't been able to get it played again. Haven't played Indonesia for some time although it has the potential to be as good as Puerto Rico considering the way it plays so well and so differently with different numbers of people.

And for what it's worth.

I suppose, other than my mother, there are close to zero people who read this blog who hail from the Montana High Line.

At any rate, I heard this guy's music on the local college radio station for some time now. I was prompted to see if his music was on YouTube, and indeed it was. I can say that zero (0) other artists I have heard on college radio have prompted me to do any research at all. Unbeknownst to me he is from right across the border in southern Alberta. Close enough, I'll claim him as a homeboy. He has some references in his music that take me back to my childhood. For non-locals his music can stand on its own.

I present to you, Corb Lund.

And perhaps his weakest song, certainly the one with the most unfortunate title, but one that brings me back to the good old days:

2009-03-23T16:27:00.000-08:00

odds and ends

2009-03-19T16:57:00.004-08:00

Played Roads and Boats for a second time in the last couple weeks....... I'm really kicking myself for not having played it for a couple years. This one goes to 11.

Eleven, Baby!

Speaking of pick up and delivery games:

Played the Avalon Hill classic Merchant of Venus for the first time ever at the convention in Anchorage. I was pleasantly surprised. I was expecting something different. What it is, is a pick up and delivery game with a good theme and just enough luck to suit the theme and keep the game interesting. The components and a couple mechanics show their age, but the game as a whole aged well. Didn't play with the rules that allowed stealing and killing opponents. I'd hesitate to play with those rules, they seem rather "tacked on" as an afterthought. Did Avalon Hill refuse to release game that didn't have combat?

And just for the halibut, I'll leave you with this short film. 1 minute 28 seconds of my kind of humor.

Buenos Aires Independent Film Festival: Tom Sellecks

Oh yeah. I scored a copy of the original Avalon Hill Dune.

Brimfrost '09

2009-03-16T16:35:00.003-08:00

Alaska's only game convention concluded this weekend in Anchorage. Between Friday afternoon and Sunday afternoon I played close to 40 hours of games. After the convention closed on Friday and Saturday evenings we went to a buddy's home and played until 3 a.m. That's what I call a successful weekend.

My perception is that the convention as a whole is getting smaller but the boardgame contingent is getting larger. There wasn't much overlap between the Advanced Squad Leader contingent and the rest of the boardgame contingent, but if you add the ASL contingent there were quite a few boardgamers present. Even without the ASL guys, the boardgame contingent was bigger.

There was some concern that the convention would not be held this year, I suspect numerous people didn't show because they thought it was cancelled.

'Round here we have a word for weather like this.....

2009-03-16T16:32:00.002-08:00

....we call it "March".

After several weeks of seasonal weather it suddenly got cold and windy.

It's weather like this that caused me to leave eastern Montana for the more moderate weather of the Alaskan interior.

My boardgame snob moment (I have a great game you don't have neener neener neener)

2009-03-12T00:51:00.012-08:00

Played Roads and Boats again for the first time in a couple years.

What a great game. I bumped my rating from a 9 to a 10. It was even better than I remembered.

A methodical, empire building, pick up and delivery game that can be played either viciously or as multi-player solitaire (little to no interaction between players) or any degree in between. The game was designed by a couple of Dutch college students who have designed some other classic games, and have since gone on to work real jobs.

The game takes many hours to play. We played a two player game for 5 hours, but I will swear on a stack of Bibles that it felt like less than 2 hours. It is a very engaging game.

The game is on its third printing and there are literally only several hundred (maybe 2000) copies in existence. It may be available for fairly big bucks on a couple on line game stores, and is occasionally available on E-Bay for a couple hundred dollars. On the BGG Marketplace there are currently copies available ranging in price from $90 (beware, too good to be true) to 550 Euro (outrageous). I got my copy way-back-when for 80 some odd dollars. The game has nearly 1500 pieces and at the time I bought it games with not nearly so many components were going for that price. Roads and Boats has since nearly reached "legendary" status and commands a premium amongst boardgamers.

If I were to lose all my games in a fire, R&B would be at the top of my priority list for replacement, and I would pay through the nose.

A niche game to be sure, but I am squarely in that niche. Win or lose, I love building an empire from nothing and looking for ways to eek out an advantage here and there.

R.I.P.

2009-03-01T00:18:00.001-09:00

Paul Harvey

1918-2009

One of my favorite people. Words cannot do him justice.

A question for which there is no good answer

2009-02-27T15:53:00.001-09:00

My wife is demanding to know how I got stuck in my own driveway.

More games I'll have trouble getting to the table

2009-02-27T14:50:00.002-09:00

I'm generally a guy who supports his local stores instead of buying off the internet. When it comes to boardgames in particular, you don't save much buying off the internet after you pay for shipping to Alaska. Those companies that advertise free shipping within the United States for orders over a certain amount... they are lying.

Anyway, there are some games my local store can't get into stock, so I made a big buy from a couple internet stores:

Byzantium
Through the Ages
Steel Driver (the only game on the list I have played)
Die Macher (English version)
Chicago Express
After the Flood

Might not get them played anytime soon, but they sure are fun to fondle.

2009-02-25T00:56:00.003-09:00

My wife actually threatened me if I don't update the blog.

There. That should make her happy.

R.I.P.

2009-02-02T16:28:00.000-09:00

Terry Fields

?-2009

Global Warming Consensus (again)

2009-01-30T23:26:00.002-09:00

Made a comment on another forum. I thought it was good enough to re-post here.

Thread title: Global Warming Consensus (again)

My Comment:

Breaking news

There is strong consensus amongst Christians that Christ is the Son of God.

Since they are the experts on the subject...

It must be true.

You are on a desert island with Rosie O'Donnell and Sean Hannity...

2009-01-23T00:12:00.002-09:00

...and you only have one bullet.

What's your next move?

Did something happen today?

2009-01-20T12:55:00.003-09:00

I woke up, the Dow Jones is down 4%, there are cheering crowds on my TV, and a Muslim guy is declaring victory.

What the heck. It's my blog. "Redneck Radio" is what's on my mind.

2009-01-16T03:47:00.004-09:00

Commercial music radio has sucked for decades.

Talk radio was a bright spot, but creativity has given way to the same ol' tirades.

College radio/public radio is - as it always has been - uneven. The bad stuff is so bad it is painful to wait around for the good stuff.... opera and classical excepted, that's just not my cup o' tea.

Recently, I've been listening to the new country channel in town. Not bad. No DJs, just music and commercials. The music spans the spectrum. That spectrum is so large that I hesitated to call it country radio. I was considering "Redneck Radio."

You've heard CCR and the Eagles on country radio for years, but Bruce Springsteen? Good stuff. Haggard, Jones, Hank Sr., Hank Jr., Cash, Horton, Roger Miller, Charlie Pride... real country music Webb frickin' Pierce and Jerry Jeff Walker... and blue grass... along with obscure stuff... when was the last time you heard the songs Little Ramona or Uneasy Rider (kicked ol' green teeth in the knee) on the radio? Springsteen, ZZ Top, assorted other non-country bands with redneck appeal and yes, they play some of the current crop of crap, but less crap that the other country station.

All in all this is a refreshing change to the local radio scene. 93.5 FM if you are in the Fairbanks area and care.

2009-01-12T02:12:00.002-09:00

Saw an advertisement for a comedy show on TV.

The comedian said you know you are drunk when you get into a cab and ask if the fare on the meter is the time.

If that ain't the truth.

Eight seventy? Is that the time? What time do the bars close in this town?

Bars close at one ninety on Tuesday night.

Is it Tuesday?

It will be in another six eighty.

How much time does that give me?

It happens so often I forgot to blog about it.

To the woman... well... if you read this, you know who you are

2009-01-12T01:55:00.004-09:00

Lady, before you drive a big honkin' SUV to the Fred Meyers store again, you should practice diagonal parking in your driveway.... and find a phone book to sit on.

Cold Snap: Day 14

2009-01-09T16:02:00.003-09:00

Seventh day in a row that the official temperature at the airport has not risen above -35. I have heard the last time that happened was 1989.

Changes I have had to make:

1) Dug out the bunny boots. Haven't worn them for 4 or 5 years.

2) Wore long johns for the first time in 8 or 9 years.

3) Had to blow dry my hair a couple times. Can't go from the shower to the car without the windows ~~fogging~~ icing up due to wet hair.

4) Nudged the thermostat up to 69 once or twice. I'm usually the one nudging it down to 65, the wife is the one nudging it up to 67.

Predictions of -20 by Monday. Woo hooo.

Games at my place tonight. Woo hooo.

Something has got to give -or- Despite my whining, this is why I love this town and will probably never leave. -or- Good gaming weather

2009-01-04T11:13:00.008-09:00

Obligatory FBX blogger post on the weather: Day 9 with no relief in sight.

The picture was taken minutes ago.

The official temperature at the airport has dipped below -40 F. for the last 9 days, except Dec. 27, when it reached -39 F. and Jan. 1 when it reached a balmy -38 F.

Looks like today will be the coldest, with the official temperature standing at -45 and it may dip lower.

Of course, it is always a few degrees cooler in North Pole, and a few degrees cooler yet at Coldfoot Manor. Here at the homestead it's been close to -50 every night during this cold snap.

Holiday gaming in a nutshell.

2009-01-02T03:13:00.004-09:00

Dominion has been a huge hit. I am giving it a solid 10 after more than a dozen plays. Yeah, there is a lot of variation built into the game, but I'm content to play with the same cards again and again just to explore the possibilities of a particular combination. An interesting, yet quick game that gets deeper and intrigues me more with each play.

I've owned Citadels for years and finally played for the first time. Pretty darn good game. The kids love it. Not a lot of subtleties that can be explored, but a fun game. I initially gave it a 7, but after numerous plays it does not seem as if it will get old anytime soon. Bumped it to an 8. Played with some alternate characters and will consider bumping it to a 9 in the near future.

Behind the scenes

2008-12-31T10:54:00.004-09:00

Dispatcher: I have a request for a non-smoking cab... eh... Twenty, can you have that cab aired out by the time you get to (such and such address).

20: Probably not.

Dispatcher: Thirty, how about you?

30: I doubt it.

Dispatcher: Anyone?
.
.
.
40: I'm on the other end of town, but I'm wearing a nicotine patch today.

Dispatcher: It's all yours.

Wouldn't have been the shortest trip ever... but close.

2008-12-31T06:20:00.003-09:00

Some drunk people called for a cab at the Klondike hotel.

They wanted to go from one room in the motel to another room in the motel, and back.

Sounded like this could turn into a story for the blog, so I went along with it.

Turns out they were too lazy to pack the beer from one room to the other. The plan was to load up the cab with beer from one room and return to the first room.

Two seconds later, when we arrived at the destination, it was determined that all the beer was gone. They decided to get more beer from the store, so I at least got a trip to Safeway and back for my trouble.

R.I.P.

2008-12-22T23:52:00.004-09:00

Daniel Frederick (Known to Fairbanksans as Blondie)

1946-2008

Didn't really know him personally, like most Fairbanksans I just saw him puttering about his property downtown. I miss him already. Won't be breakup until I see him watering his yard.

The boardgame Mt. Rushmore

2008-12-20T05:00:00.003-09:00

Noted some discussion on Boardgamegeek about who would be on the Mount Rushmore of boardgames. Good question. One that has kept me thinking throughout the day.

Keep in mind that the faces on Mt. Rushmore are those of Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt. The first three are solid picks in any one's book. But Roosevelt? Roosevelt is kind of an iffy pick. In my book that gives us a little leeway for our boardgame Rushmore.

My first three picks are solid. Sid Sackson, Charles Roberts and Gary Gygax. (The father of German games, the father of modern wargames, and the father of role playing games). Don't dig RPGs myself, but the impact of RPGs on modern boardgames and gamers is undeniable and will be confirmed when boardgame history books are written.

The fourth person is less obvious. I like Reiner Knizia a lot. A whole lot. I also like Francis Tresham. I also have a notion that other people would expect to see Richard Garfield on my list. Knizia is the most prolific of the three designers, and has designed my two favorite games. Tresham has designed few games but two of his games define genres and have spurred numerous copies, 1829 and Civilization. Garfield created collectible card games and, as such, gave a boost to the entire game market. I am not convinced that CCGs will have as lasting an effect on games and gamers as RPGs undeniably did. If anything CCGs will be on the Mount Rushmore of marketing.

That leaves me with Knizia and Tresham.

18xx and Civilization will both have their own chapters in the history book of boardgames.

Knizia will have his own chapter, but so far has not designed a game that is deserving of its own chapter.

Gotta go with Tresham by a nose as the Teddy Roosevelt of the Boardgame Mount Rushmore. He is a true godfather of gaming. Knizia suffers the misfortune of being first among a slew of active, talented designers. Tresham distinguished himself in the second wave of pioneers.

Sackson, Roberts, Gygax, and Tresham. Four greats of boardgaming.

R.I.P.

2008-12-19T04:34:00.001-09:00

Mandi Israel
?-2008

This must be how paranoid crackheads must feel.

2008-12-19T03:50:00.005-09:00

Pushing hack one night I noted that the police were out in force on the southside of town. Good, I thought. This part of town could use some patrolling.

Later, I noted that the police seemed to be out in force on the west end of town. Hmmmm, I thought, something must be up. They are canvassing the usually uneventful west end.

Still later, I noted that cops seemed to be everywhere.

Wait a minute..... all these cops seem to be following me.

Yeah. They're following me.

There's another cop. He's waiting at that intersection.... he waited too long... he waited for me to pass and fell in behind me.... what is going on?

What the hell is that car following me? No lights, but it has an unusual number of antennas.

What? I now have two cops following me... a trooper and a city cop?

And again, cops in my rear view mirror.

And again.

This is too weird.

Fifteen years ago I owned a late 70s model, grey Cadillac. One night I had the distinct feeling that cops were following me. Turns out they were. The lead item in the news the next day was that the police were looking for a late 70s model, grey Lincoln involved in a hit and run that resulted in a death.

I was kinda getting freaked out. I hadn't done a damn thing, but I know from experience that doesn't stop someone from making outrageous claims. A couple frustrating trips from passengers at a couple different crack houses (which is normally just to be expected) coupled with the feeling I was being followed was enough to push me over the edge. I decided to go home early that night. Very early. I still had five hours left in a twelve hour shift.

On my way home I noted a bunch of cops swarming a car. A half dozen cop cars had this guy surrounded. The car was a civilian owned, police interceptor, with the same color scheme as our taxis. For the record many of our cabs are second hand police interceptors with the driver side spotlight and specialty-push-bumper still attached.

Sumanabitch. I bet they were following me. Swarming a car that fit the description of my taxi except for the company logo right down to the police-push bumper and a spotlight? Nothing in the following day's newspaper, though.

R.I.P.

2008-12-10T03:36:00.001-09:00

Heinz Wiechen

1958-2008

Dude, I gotta ask....

2008-12-08T07:34:00.001-09:00

There are three hookers standing in front of that liquor store.

Why are you negotiating with the one who keeps scratching her crotch?

For you football fans. I got a chuckle out of this.

2008-12-05T17:19:00.002-09:00

http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=188&f=1650&t=3535238

After determining the Big-12 championship game participants the BCS computers were put to work on other major contests and today the BCS declared Germany to be the winner of World War II.

"Germany put together an incredible number of victories beginning with the annexation of Austria and the Sudetenland and continuing on into conference play with defeats of Poland, France, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Belgium and the Netherlands. Their only losses came against the US and Russia; however considering their entire body of work--including an incredibly tough Strength of Schedule--our computers deemed them worthy of the #1 ranking."

Questioned about the #4 ranking of the United States the BCS commissioner stated "The US only had two major victories--Japan and Germany. The computer models, unlike humans, aren't influenced by head-to-head contests--they consider each contest to be only a single, equally-weighted event."

German Chancellor Adolph Hitler said "Yes, we lost to the US; but we defeated #2 ranked France in only 6 weeks." Herr Hitler has been criticized for seeking dramatic victories to earn 'style points' to enhance Germany's rankings. Hitler protested "Our contest with Poland was in doubt until the final day and the conditions in Norway were incredibly challenging and demanded the application of additional forces."

The French ranking has also come under scrutiny. The BCS commented " France had a single loss against Germany and following a preseason #1 ranking they only fell to #2."

Japan was ranked #3 with victories including Manchuria, Borneo and the Philippines.

Some comments that followed:

We beat Italy. I know they're in a lower division, but they're the toughest team in that division. I mean, we can't all play Poland, ffs.
-----------------------------
I think Russia got screwed by the BCS!
Yeah they had it rough vs Germany in the beginning, but they came out undefeated in conference!

Sure they lost a non-conference game against Finland, but Finland is tough, and that was on the road and really early in the season.
-----------------------------
I don't think that being pushed around for 4 quarters (years) and only being allowed a FG here and there should matter when it was two late bombs that helped us win.

They should have dropped further down in the polls to #5 or #6.

I think their own admission on deck the Missouri is proof of that.
------------------------------
I think it is BS. Sure all of Germany's wins were road wins, but hell, they barely had to travel to get there. We went all over the world, kicking peoples' asses at their house.
------------------------------
I agree with your assessment on Russia. I had forgot about the Iron Curtain Defense. Pretty tough to penetrate.

Some game content!!: A dozen+ brief commentaries on a dozen+ games that I played for the first time recently

2008-11-27T02:10:00.018-09:00

Die Macher, Dominion, Jamaica, Le Havre, Phoenicia, Race for the Galaxy, Rice Wars, Space Alert, Steel Driver, Tier auf Tier (Animal Upon Animal), Toledo, Viktory II, Wasabi, Werewolf

Die Macher: A game I have wanted to learn for many years. Die Macher is a deep game about German elections. It was released in 1986 and was one of the major German games to sweep into America in the wake of Settlers of Catan in 1995.

Die Macher has a reputation of being one of the longest and meatiest of the German games. Plan on playing for four hours, although it is a quick four hours with virtually no down time. I have owned the game for many years and never played. I have slogged through the rulebook many times only to get halfway through and say, "I need someone to teach me this game, it is not making sense."

For those of you familiar with the game let me just say, I liked it. I can see why it is such a highly regarded game. I would also like to play again before forming my opinion. The first couple rounds of this six round game were strictly feeling my way through the process. The next couple rounds I began to see how present decisions effected one's future score. I needed to see how the final scoring worked in order to get a feel of what I should have done differently.

I am sure anyone who has played will agree that Die Macher is definitely a game that needs a couple plays.

For those of you unfamiliar with the game, it is a game about regional elections in Germany. You control a major party and are trying to win a majority of seats in Parliament. There is a lot of cynicism built into the game, for example different issues are important in different states, as the election progresses you can change your party platform if you hold the right cards. Parties vie to influence the media, which can be helpful to change the issues important to the voters in each regional election. You need to spend money to get election workers in each state which then act as support multipliers.

It is truly a well developed game, which despite the theme should appeal to American boardgamers who like meaty, 4 hour games.

Dominion: Played this game with 3 experienced players. I was definitely the bottleneck in this game. Their turns went bam, bam, bam, and I had to think about my next move, although I never had to think for too long. Dominion is a card game that is getting a lot of buzz recently and has a reputation of lasting 10 - 20 minutes per game.

I really liked it. I'm already dropping hints to my wife that it would be a good Christmas present.

Each player has 5 cards in his hand. Cards may be victory point cards, money cards, or action cards. Each round you get to play one card and buy one card from the supply. Some cards that you buy, then play, will give you additional plays or buys or allow you to draw more cards. At the end of each round you discard your remaining cards and randomly grab 5 new cards. You may draw 5 money cards in which case you couldn't play a card for an action, only buy another card. You may draw 5 victory point cards, which would be unlikely, but would not allow you to do anything. You need to buy victory point cards to win the game, but they go into the same stack of cards as the action and money cards. When drawn VPs are just clutter in your hand (unless there is an action card with which I am unfamiliar that gives them some power).

Interesting game. It comes with 2 dozen different action cards (fixed after a reader comment, thank you Mikko) only a few of which are used in a given game, which leads to a many possibilities for game development. In that respect it is a lot like Magic: The Gathering, but all players are adding cards to their deck from the same draw pool and flushing their hand to their own discard pile at the end of every turn...... Get it? Good game. Easy to learn and quick to play, while having some real strategy. It should have appeal beyond those who like M:tG or other CCGs.

Jamaica: Jamaica sucks like a Hoover with a Hemi. Typical pirate game in that respect. I have hated every pirate game I have ever tried. Kids loooooove pirate games. You might try it with kids. You can't borrow my copy, though. I won't be buying it.

Le Havre: Loooooooong and repetitive. Too much of a good concept?

Kinda like Agricola (same designer), kinda like Caylus, more like Caylus than Agricola.

On a turn you either collect goods that slowly accumulate in the supply, or take an action at a building. Certain actions allow you to build more buildings, which add more choices to the game as it progresses. Likewise, taking an action at many buildings may only allow you to accumulate a different assortment of goods than are available in the general supply.

The game was promising for the first couple hours. Le Harvre has lots of what I like, namely, development and choices, but limited choices. Like Agricola and other great games there is a limiting factor, food, that needs to be addressed by players, but is not important for victory points. Players have to consider these two competing goals (victory points and feeding your workers) when allocating their game actions. Over development will lead to starvation and hurt you in victory points at the end.

Le Havre was promising enough that I gave it a second chance. My opinion was solidified. Tooooooooo looooooooong. Too repet-et-et-et-et-itive.

Phoenicia: I have looked at Phoenicia in the past and discounted it as a game for me for reasons I forget. Bad move. Good game.

Phoenicia is another development game and I do love development games, but this one has a couple limiting factors. First is workers. Workers are hard to come by and you need to pay to train them. Second, you need to buy tools for your workers. Tools can be prohibitively expensive. Once you get your workers trained and equipped they start counting for victory points and earning you money. The third limiting factor is money. Most of the money is in the form of cards. You need to get "houses" in the auction to store your cards. Single coins are given out for change and you even need to upgrade your buildings to store more than a couple coins.

Each round certain buildings are up for auction. These may give you workers, "houses", victory points, money, some other benefit, or some combination thereof.

Good game. Would be an acceptable second choice as a Christmas present... nudge.

Race for the Galaxy: Another card game and one of the most popular games in the last year, RftG did not rub me the right way. I had good teachers, in fact one of the guys teaching me the game also taught me Phoenicia so that was not the issue.

Too many symbols. Too many confusing symbols. Too many relations between various symbols. Too many phases too keep track of, even though only the phases played by the different players each round affected each round. I never did wrap my head around the notion of "consuming".

I was not intrigued enough to play a second game. I cannot say that I see the elegance in the game nor can I understand how others would like it.

Rice Wars: A soulless euro game that may appeal to some players. Pretty bland. Usually, the term "soulless euro" indicates there is some clever mechanism in use.... not in this instance.

Players buy and place rice paddies which earn them money. Money is spent on warriors to take over other players' rice paddies. Players can take a stab at attacking another player if they want to shell out big bucks for expensive warriors. A successful attack on another player will gain you 4 rice paddies.

Players get various cards which can be played for an advantage here or there, or played for their numerical power to influence battle.

The game lasts.... I think... seven rounds. A game probably lasts an hour, but it feels like a couple hours..... and change.

Space Alert: I did not play Space Alert. It is the one game on this list that I did not play. I sat through the rules explanation, gave up my seat to an experienced player and watched. I later watched parts of several other games of Space Alert.

Clever concept. Cooperative, real-time game with its own soundtrack.

A piece of space junk is in your sector and your team is transported to check it out. You get there and all hell breaks loose. You then need to survive for several minutes until you are transported back to base at the appointed time.

You react to the threats dictated by the soundtrack (which vary), record your actions, then at the end of the game go back to reveal every one's actions to see if you and your fellow players responded in the order you intended. It plays much like Roborally.

Each player's actions are limited and you need to coordinate with each other to explore, fire cannons, energize cannons, etc. It is possible the soundtrack will tell you that your communication devices are down and you can no longer communicate with your team.

Interesting game. I have sworn off all cooperative games, except to humor my wife. I am certain I would not like this game, there is just something about cooperative games that does not appeal to me.

I do recommend Space Alert if you like cooperative games and/or Roborally. Everyone seemed to love it.

Steel Driver: This is a relatively new game with many people playing for the first time at BGG.con.

My thoughts are the opposite of most other first time players.

I liked it. I did not find it chaotic. I do see the resemblance to 18xx and how Steel Driver could be called 18xx lite.

I can see how it would seem chaotic on the first play or with a full compliment of six players. Nevertheless, Steel Driver is a perfect information game. There are auctions in the game, but with experience values should become apparent.

Basically, railroads networks are formed during the game. The first player to control a RR at the beginning of the game will determine where that RR starts on the map. Each round thereafter the highest bidder gets to operate each railroad and is awarded one share in that company. Each RR is auctioned separately. The winning bid is given to the company to pay for track. Bids are not made with cash, but cubes. Each player gets 10 bidding cubes each round with unspent cubes carried into the next round. Each RR spends cubes to expand their rail network.

Railroads earn cash each round if they can connect track to a new city. The controlling player pockets that cash. Remember cash has no use in the game except to determine the winner. The currency in the next round of auctions will be cubes and every player gets 10 cubes each round.

At the end of the game the value of each RR is calculated and the cash value divvied up between shareholders. The person with the most cash wins.

An understanding of how the final value of each RR is calculated is essential to understanding the game. It is not complicated, but more complex than I want to get into here. If you only have a vague notion of how the endgame is scored you too will probably feel like the game is chaotic.

Tier auf Tier: Animal upon Animal is a stacking game for children and drunks.... and me.

Animal-shaped pieces are stacked until one player runs out of pieces. Cute game. Good game for children.

I like it more than my kids..... 'nuff said.

Toledo: Another soulless euro.

Players need to forge swords and deliver them to some important guy. Each sword you are able to forge has a value, for example swords with jewels are worth more than plain swords, the person who delivers the greatest total value in swords wins. On the way to deliver the swords you stop at shops to get materials, possibly challenge players to duels, or place businesses tile along the path.

Yaaaaaaaaaaaawn... Moving along

Viktory II A guy playing this game with me called it a "perfect economy" game. I've never heard that term before, perhaps it means something to you. I will try to explain.

Decent game. Different kind of wargame. Has an exploration theme, so every game will be layed out differently and exposed piece by piece as units move to unrevealed hexes. There is a development aspect as players can create one town or upgrade one town to a city every round. The terrain each city is built on determines what military unit is produced there: ie infantry, cavalry, artillery or ships.

Attackers generally have an advantage over defenders, so conflict is encouraged.

Here is what is meant by "perfect economy": Players get one unit of infantry for each town they control. Players get an additional unit for each city depending upon the terrain. You do not get any more units than that. One unit per town, two units per city. Destroyed units come back into play at the end of your turn unless you lost a city or town and can no longer support a particular unit. The only way to expand your army is to conquer other player's cities and towns, or establish your own.

There is no "turtling" in Viktory II. If you choose to sit tight every round your army will not grow, nor will you be able to sit waiting for your opponents to weaken themselves in battle while you slowly build your military every round. Given that two opponents go into a battle with 6 units each (for a total of 12 units), one opponent loses a town or a city in the battle and all his units in battle, the number of units lost from the game will be zero. The winning player will gain a unit or two, his defeated units come back into the game at the end of his turn, the defeated player will lose a unit or two, and his defeated units will come back into the game at the end of his turn. All 12 units involved in the battle will be back on the board, the difference being one player will now have a 7 or 8 units to the defeated player's 4 or 5 units.

Decent game. I thought it was merely average, although there are some concepts here that you may want to explore.

Wasabi: Words can't do justice to this game. It's kind of a puzzle game. Players place ingredients on the board trying to get a line of ingredients that correspond to one of the "dishes" on his menu. When the player places an ingredient that finishes a dish he scores a couple points for it depending upon it being a 2, 3, 4, or 5 ingredient dish. If the ingredients are in the order depicted on the menu he scores a couple "style" points.

I got drug into a game of Wasabi kicking and screaming, by the end of the game I would have bought it on the spot. I enjoyed it. Played several times. Can't really explain the appeal, but I like it.

Werewolf: To be fair I have played Werewolf before, but I played it for the first time with a group of Werewolf fanatics.

Werewolf is a party game that can be played with any number of players, the more the better. Players are dealt a secret card indicating if they are a villager or a werewolf. As a rule of thumb a game should have 1 werewolf for every 5 or 6 villagers. Rounds are divided into a day phase and a night phase. In the night phase the moderator has all players close their eyes. He then tells the werewolves to open their eyes. Without speaking the werewolves pick a villager to kill that night. The moderator then has the werewolves close their eyes, has all players open their eyes, and tells the players who the werewolves killed that night. Once killed a player can no longer speak, point, or offer any information. The villagers (and werewolves who are unknown to the villagers and pretending to be harmless villagers) then talk amongst themselves and nominate a person to lynch for the previous night's killing. The person chosen to be lynched gets an opportunity to speak in his own defense. Players then vote to lynch or choose another player.

The villagers win if they kill all the werewolves, the werewolves win if there are as many villagers as there are werewolves.

Different roles can be added to make the game more interesting. The Seer is a common role. The Seer is a villager who gets to secretly pick one player each night and the moderator indicates to the Seer if the chosen person is a werewolf or villager. The other players do not know who the Seer is.

Werewolf is a party game, as such it is very group dependant. In my estimation it should not be played with fewer than a half dozen players.

I have no recommendation on this game. If it sounds like it would appeal to your group, check it out and check out some of the optional roles. The game can be played with a standard deck of cards with red cards indicating werewolves and black cards indicating villagers, or there are numerous specialty decks available. The game was popular in the '80s but done with a "mafia" theme.

Back from the big boardgame convention.

2008-11-27T00:56:00.002-09:00

Had a blast. More to follow.

Operating System Fail.

2008-11-16T22:40:00.001-09:00

Windows Vista. It's every bit as bad as you have heard.

One lady. Two cab stories.

2008-11-10T04:54:00.004-09:00

Second story first, because it is easier to tell.

She left a bag in the trunk.

She called the dispatcher numerous times in a short period of time to inquire if I had found a bag in the trunk. I said I would look as soon as I dropped off my passenger. She kept calling. I finally dropped off my passenger and looked in the trunk. I found a small, black bag that was easily missed in the dark and told the dispatcher.

She kept calling. The dispatcher told her yes, we had found the bag. He also told her that unless she wanted to pay cabfare she would have to wait until I was much closer to her part of town. She got pissy, refused to pay any fare and threatened to call the police. Apparently, it was a huge crisis that this particular bag got left in the cab. He hung up on her. She kept calling.

My next trip took me to her part of town. The dispatcher was fed up with her. He told me that I would call her directly to tell I was on the way to drop off her bag.

I called.

No answer. My call went to voice mail. I hung up.

I called again.

Same thing. No answer. Numerous rings then straight to voice mail.

Now, I am not inclined to A) beg a person to answer the phone who has threatened to call the police if I don't call and B) leave a voice mail for someone who won't answer the phone when they should be expecting a call.

This woman lived in a secure-access apartment building and if I couldn't get her to meet me downstairs I would have to set the bag outside. I was not about to just set this important bag that probably contained jewelry on the steps of a crazy woman's apartment and leave, not with her threatening to call the police.

I called again.

No answer.

One last try. I called and left a message, "Hey, ummm are you the lady who left a bag in a taxi? If so... I'm outside. If you aren't home I could probably drop it off on Wednesday..... Well..... Yeah. Probably on Wednesday at the earliest. If I can't make it on Wednesday I might be able to stop by on Friday.... Well, I don't know if I'll be in town on Friday. If I can't stop by on Wednesday I'll call and let you know. Don't call me, 'cause my batteries are about dead and I'm turning off my phone."

Ten seconds later she called me back, "I'll be right down!"

What kind of a woman threatens to call the police if you don't call, her whole world revolves around that call, and then won't answer the phone? I'll tell you...

...First part of the story.

Picked up this woman and her toddler at the mall. She had numerous bags and I was able to glean through later conversation that she had been shopping for the last eight hours.

Her one-sided conversation with her toddler and me went something like this:

You love your mommy, don't you? Yes, you do. You just want your mommy to be happy, don't you? Thank you for buying me that jewelry.

Can you believe my son told me to go ahead and buy my favorite perfume with his money? He is such a good kid.

You love your mommy, don't you?

He said he wanted me to be happy and gave me permission to buy jewelry with his money. The clerk at the jewelry store fell in love with him. She thought he was so cute. She said he was a good boy for wanting his mother to be happy.

She's right. You are such a good boy.

Blah blah blah.

I kept my mouth shut. At first I didn't know what to think, perhaps she was delusional after eight straight hours of shopping. But as the one-sided conversation progressed it seemed as though her child received a rather large sum of money, perhaps some sort of inheritance. For some reason the mother thought she needed permission to spend the money. Furthermore, in her mind the toddler was competent to grant that permission. I'm guessing the money was stipulated for the child's education, or some such good intention.

Poor kid. At least she didn't spend it on booze, although I am prepared to bet the jewelry ends up in a pawn shop within the next six months.

My Boardgaming Triad

2008-11-07T23:57:00.003-09:00

Just two short years ago some of us local boardgamers had a regular Friday night game. We frequently had a Saturday game, and occasionally a Monday night game. Alas, the guy with the centrally-located, prime-gaming, bachelor-pad moved. Lately, he has also been spending every free hour working on his Masters degree. Another frequent player has developed some health problems and is not able to play as much as in the past. Another moved to Seattle (although he just moved back YAY). Even though this boardgaming downturn has caused me to find more prospective boardgamers, I am down to the occasional, monthly game.

For the last couple years my boardgaming has revolved around three events. In November I attend a big boardgame convention in Dallas. BoardgamegeekCon is 4 days of boardgaming bliss and is the highlight of my year. I generally play for 21+ hours every day of the con, often forgetting to eat. Attendees are the friendliest group of people you would ever want to meet. No smelly gamers, no poor losers... nothing that you might expect from a national boardgame convention. I am to the point that I go, not so much to play games, but to renew acquaintances and make new acquaintances.

In March I drive down to Anchorage for the three days of the Brimfrost game convention. It is primarily a miniatures convention, but the boardgame contingent has been steadily growing over the years. None of the boardgamers have funk issues, but... funk can be an issue in an enclosed space with some of the other attendees. I try to make it down to Anchorage one or two other times every year and to play games with the same guys. Again, a great group of guys who I enjoy being around.

Fourth of July weekend is the third event on my boardgame calendar. Some of us Fairbanks gamers and some Anchorage gamers meet in the middle for a family friendly weekend of camping and gaming. Again, 20+ hours of gaming everyday under the midnight sun is the norm. I am especially stoked for this next Fourth of July as we have rented an entire lodge for the event, and I am eager to see how that goes.

The best part is that these three events are evenly spaced throughout the year. Every 4 months I have something to look forward to. I do still wish we had a centrally located place for a weekly local game. We tried to have a weekly game at the local game store, but we are old farts. I appreciate the Comic Shop for hosting our little group, but the Comic Shop environment was just not as conducive to the social gaming experience that you can have at a bachelor pad, plus we had to have the games put away and be out by 10:00.

And that's all I have to say about that.

The Young Socialist or the Old Liberal and what it means to Alaska

2008-11-05T01:58:00.005-09:00

Looks like the young socialist won the election, not that the other choice was dramatically different.

Congratulations to him, at any rate.

Many weeks ago I was tired of hearing "It's win-win for Alaska" either Palin goes to Washington or she stays in Alaska.

I never bought that line.

Sarah Palin distinguished herself as a politician of national prominence and a real conservative. In short, she is a threat to the re-election of Mr. Obama. With the Democrats now holding the Presidency and the Congress we can expect to see some retribution in an effort to bring our governor down a few notches. It is not just that the Democrats are anti-oil, could cripple domestic oil exploration, and control 70+% this state with an iron fist, we are very dependant on military and other government spending in this state.

If one base in Anchorage and one base in Fairbanks were closed our state could go into a deep recession. Add to that a couple ill-advised, environmentally-driven regulations on the fishing industry and the hurt to our state would be very dramatic. A minor regulatory change in mine permits could kill that segment of the economy. If the promised gas pipeline is blocked our governor would get a black eye. I doubt the price of oil will be back to $150 a barrel in the next 2 years, which was a windfall for Alaska coffers. Given that most people vote with their pocketbooks, Palin might not get re-elected. At a minimum her high approval ratings would take a big hit and she would be presiding over a floundering economy.

...That is just a start. I foresee bad things for Alaska in the next two years.

Decided

2008-11-03T16:28:00.001-09:00

Got a robocall from Ted Stevens.

I will be voting for Bob Bird of the AIP.

How cold is -20?

2008-10-28T11:15:00.003-08:00

It's not cold enough to set a two liter bottle of Coke on the porch and have it chilled in 20 minutes, but it is cold enough that you can set a six pack of Coke inside, next to the door and it will be nicely chilled in 20 minutes.

Real conversations

2008-10-27T18:36:00.007-08:00

Typical Friday night conversations

Two dudes standing outside my cab: I ain't got any money. You got any money? I ain't got any money. You got any money? I ain't got any money. Shh. Shh. Just get in.

Dude: Take us to (such and such hotel).

Me: You got any money?

Dude: Of course we got money.

Other dude: We wouldn't get in a cab without money.

Me: Well. You'd better show it to me.

Dude: Are you kidding? We got money.

Me: No. Let me see it.

Dude: Let's just go.

Me: You in a hurry?

Dude: Yeah. We're in a hurry.

Me: Better hurry and show me your money so we can leave.

Dude: You are a money grubbing piece of shit, man.

Me: Thank you.

Dude: Just go.................... OK. OK. I'll show you my money. Just go.

Other dude: Fuck, you're a greedy bastard.

Dude: (Fishing out his wallet) There. Money. See it? Now can we go?

Me: I saw two dollars in there.

Dude: Those were twenties.

Me: What, like... Rhodesian twenties?

Dude: I showed you my money, now just go.

Me: Why don't you guys just catch the next cab?

Dude: (Getting out) What's your number? I'm reporting you.

Other dude: Fuck, you are a money grubber.

Me: Great. Have a good night, guys.

An hour later they were still standing there.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Picked up a guy who walked out of a bar and got into my cab as I was dropping off some passengers. The ride was uneventful and quiet for the first several minutes.

Dude: I can't believe I got kicked out.

Me: Oh. What happened?

Dude: Nothing.

Me: (Skeptically) You were just sitting there minding your own and got kicked out?

Dude: Yeah. Can you believe it? My friends, the bartender, the bouncers, the people sitting around me just got into my face for nothing. No reason whatsoever.

Period of silence

Dude: I can't believe they just ganged up on me like that. Some friends they are.

Period of silence

Dude: I should have just hit that faggot.

Me: (Laughing) So there was an incident before you got kicked out?

Dude: No. I didn't lay a hand on that faggot. I should have fucking punched his fucking face.

Me: (Laughing.) Sounds like the whole world is out to get you.

Dude: What are you talking about?

Me: (Laughing.) You started to tell me you had absolutely no idea why you got kicked out. You know exactly why you got kicked out.

Period of silence while the dude stewed in the back seat

Dude: I should have hit that faggot..... Are you native?

Me: What's that got to do with anything?

Dude: I'm just asking.

Period of silence

Dude: Well, are you?

Me: What do you care?

By this time, it's pretty clear from his tone and manner that he is thinking about starting a fight with me.

Dude: You're a dense son of a bitch. Let me put this so you can understand. If I were to throw eggs at a Indian as we drove by, would you care?

Me: (Laughing) I'm a dense son of a bitch? You just got kicked out of a bar and have no idea why. Now you are getting kicked out of a taxi and will probably tell your mommy you have no idea why.

Dude: You're kicking me out?

Me: Yeah. Get out.

Dude: Why are you kicking me out?

Me: Just tell your momma it's a big, unjust world and everyone is out to get you just because you're an asshole.

Secondhand cab story- No good deed goes unpunished

2008-10-19T13:30:00.003-08:00

In Fairbanks in addition to the fare and drop it is customary to charge an extra dollar for each extra passenger. Some drivers are extra-passenger-nazis charging for infants and dogs. Others, such as myself, would never charge for infants and may or may not charge for children, depending upon the situation.

A driver picked up a lady with a couple kids. When she got into the cab she said, "Please, please don't charge me for my kids. I only have enough money to get me home." It was a fairly long trip, and the driver let the extra passengers slide.

A week later the lady called for a cab and requested that particular driver.

He recognized the address. Ah ha, he thought, I'm being rewarded with more business for my kindness.

Turns out, the kids had missed their school bus. Since he said he wouldn't charge for the children the mother was expecting him to give the kids a free ride to school.

R.I.P.

2008-10-19T13:17:00.002-08:00

Christina Christian

1982-2008

R.I.P.

2008-10-13T20:07:00.001-08:00

Isaac Sam
1944-2008

Opportunity lost

2008-10-11T07:06:00.003-08:00

Very busy pushing hack last night.

At one particularly busy point a new cab driver came on the radio and asked, "Where is 'E' street?"

Now, this dispatcher does not appreciate drivers tying up the radio with smart alek comments when it is busy... so I held my tongue. I will never again in 100 years of driving taxi have the opportunity to use this line, so I thought I'd share it with you, my readers.

What I wanted to say: Over in Hamilton Acres the streets are named A, B, C, D, Double D, and F. There is no E street.

That explains a lot

2008-10-10T02:28:00.003-08:00

I suppose this is Common Sense 101, but I was kind of shocked by this revelation.

A thread on the BGG political forum asked readers their IQ.

Over 90% of respondents said their IQ was over 120. Over 80% said their IQ was over 130, nearly 1/3 said their IQ was in the 140 range, and over 20% said they were above 150.

For reference: 5% of the population is above 120-125 depending on the source. One point some odd percent of the population has an IQ above 130. One in 1000 has an IQ above 150. Twenty percent of respondents claimed their IQ was above 150.

SHAZAM! That's why intelligent conversations are so rare over there. Everyone thinks he is special. Everyone thinks he is the smartest person in the room.

I wonder what the IQ results really are? It would be very interesting to give respondents a real IQ test. I suspect the curve would be much closer to the theoretical curve.

I wonder what the self-reported results would be on other internet sites?

Does anyone consider themselves to be less smart than average?

Things I would have never learned if I wasn't a boardgamer

2008-10-03T20:11:00.002-08:00

Stumbled upon this game Army of Ireland.

Apparently, some Irish-American Civil War vets hatched a plan to invade Canada. They did so, made a good showing for themselves, but were thwarted by the US stopping their reinforcements at the border.

The Armchair General has a pretty good review of the game, along with a brief overview of the invasion. Gameplay is described as follows:

The Canadians are at a heavy disadvantage; they begin the game heavily outnumbered and outgunned by the better-equipped Feinians, and short ammo supplies will force them into even closer range as the game progresses. To their advantage, both sides start the game well out of long range for their weapons, so the Canadians have a little time to prepare.

Interesting.

BOARDGAME CONTENT!!!!!

2008-10-01T02:07:00.002-08:00

Been playing a lot of Agricola, lately.

I should write a review.

Haven't had a day off in weeks or I would write a real review.

Tentative review:

Good game. I like it more each time I play.

Deeper review, albeit very lame:

I like it with 1 player. I like it with 2 players. I like it with 3 players. I like it with 4 players. I like it with 5 players. Unique in that respect. Works fine with 1-5 players.

Best with 5.

For a $70 game it is a good value.

I am still fuming...

2008-09-29T06:40:00.002-08:00

It is tough to tell a funny story when one is as angry as I am. Let me just leave you with this one snippet of conversation:

Dude: You only called the police because I'm black.

Me: I called the police because you flat-out refuse to pay.

Dude: I'm not refusing to pay.

Me: Okay, pay.

Dude: No.

sigh

2008-09-28T00:53:00.001-08:00

Snow Advisory in effect until 8 am akdt Sunday... Heavy snow showers are now falling over Fairbanks but will taper off about midnight. After midnight the snow showers will continue off and on through the night. One half inch of snow has already fallen at uaf as of 1130 PM. By early Sunday up to one inch of snow is expected in town with up to 2 inches in the hills. The snow is partially melting on the warm ground and causing very slippery roadways and sidewalks.

-Copied and pasted directly from Wunderground.

You've heard of dumb criminals... but dumb cops?

2008-09-27T06:02:00.002-08:00

To quote from theeee most absurd news story in recent memory:

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - A West Virginia man accused of passing gas and fanning it toward a police officer no longer faces a battery charge...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080925/ap_on_fe_st/odd_flatulence_charge

Sorry, I looked, but I couldn't locate the related story about a cop with a 10 lb. badge and a small penis.

Spam test 1, 2. Spam test 1, 2.

2008-09-25T05:28:00.003-08:00

The following comment appeared on a previous post.

Hello Dear and Respected,
I hope you are fine and carrying on the great work you have been doing for the Internet surfers. I am Ghazala Khan from (deleted) , We at (deleted) throw a candid look on everything happening in and for Pakistan in the world. We are trying to contribute our humble share in the web sphere. Our aim is to foster peace, progress and harmony with passion.

We at (deleted) are carrying out a new series of interviews with the notable passionate bloggers, writers, and webmasters. In that regard, we would like to interview you, if you don't mind. Please send us your approval for your interview at my email address (deleted), so that I could send you the Interview questions. We would be extremely grateful.

Regards,

Ghazala Khan
(Deleted)

Instead of e-mailing you, why don't I just accept here and see if you bother to look at my blog again? Post the questions directly in a comment. I'll hold my breath.

2008-09-23T16:20:00.003-08:00

The four-year-old boy who was struck by a drunk driver in August unexpectedly died in his Seattle hospital room today.

This story struck the community hard before he passed away, and even more so now.

The scuttlebutt is that the teenage driver and her passengers were completely indifferent to the boy and exhibited a ton of attitude to the officers who arrived on the scene at the time of the ~~accident~~ assault.

So much more to say. I doubt the entire story will ever make the news. Truly, truly a sad commentary on the human condition.

Say a prayer for the family.

Cab story/warning for dumpster divers

2008-09-14T01:55:00.003-08:00

Picked up this nice, young, hippie woman at the airport the other day.

She related this story to me.

She spotted a brand-spankin'-new, three-piece set of luggage in a dumpster about a week before her trip. She fished the luggage out of the dumpster and used it for her trip.

When she got to Chicago the drug dogs were all over it. And by "all over it" I mean "all over it".

Apparently, someone used the luggage to transport dope and then got rid of the evidence.

Politically incorrect line of the night.

2008-09-13T02:59:00.003-08:00

Heard two, crazy, feminist women talking about the Sarah Palin nomination on the Doug Stephan radio show the other night. The first said if she is elected it will set the women's rights movement back thirty years. The second said it would set women back 100 years. They proceeded to have a discussion and came to the conclusion 100 years was about right.

Told my wife that story. She said, "Yeah. The liberal women are crapping their hemp panties that a conservative woman might get elected."

As we approach the middle of the Hurricane Season...

2008-09-11T16:32:00.005-08:00

...let's bow our heads and give a quick prayer to those poor bastards trying to recover from Hurricane Sarah.

DenaliCon '09.

2008-09-10T02:19:00.003-08:00

Several years ago I put together a big, summertime, boardgaming weekend hoping it would become an annual event. Some Anchorage boardgamers and some Fairbanks boardgamers all showed interest in such an event, so we split the difference and met in Denali Park for a weekend of camping and boardgaming. The event was a great success and we have been getting together over the Fourth-of-July weekend each of the last four years.

I've been mulling over some ideas to keep the event fresh and keep people coming. Several years ago I floated the idea of renting an entire B&B for the weekend. It went over like a rubber crutch. This year people were more receptive to the idea, so I did some scouting and found a B&B that would rent us the whole building for the entire weekend and give us a great rate.

I floated the idea again and the people with whom I consulted were excited about it. So I pulled the trigger. DenaliCon '09 is booked. It won't be in Denali next year, but you can see it from there.

2 quick observations

2008-09-09T16:03:00.003-08:00

1) You think the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac bailout is expensive?

Just wait until Social Security collapses.

2) Surprise, surprise! I listen to a lot of talk radio. I usually have the radio on from the time I get out of bed in the early afternoon until I go to bed in the early morning.

Over the years I (along with everyone else) have noted that callers to talk radio are usually men.

In the last two weeks more women have been calling the talk hosts than ever before. I mean they are calling in droves, and they all want to talk about Palin.

The Sarah Palin nomination has struck a chord with women far beyond anything that is reflected in the polls. Her nomination has solidified the Hillary voters behind Obama, and has excited conservative women far beyond McCain's wildest expectations.

Reality check

2008-09-05T02:05:00.003-08:00

Been reading some ignorant blog posts about the Palin speech on Wednesday night at the Republican Convention.

To those too partisan to realize it: She hit it out of the God damned park.

Palin is not a spur of the moment pick on the part of McCain. In Alaska we have known that she was a potential VP pick for many months.

She wasn't picked because she is cute, she is the real deal.

She wasn't picked in some lame attempt to draw the female vote. She was picked as VP to shore up the conservative vote, and it was a damned fine choice.

Obama was not skewered in the Palin speech. His lack of accomplishments was merely noted with humor.

She is not a light weight who read a speech some nameless writer wrote for her. She was herself.

Sarah Palin was the best pick McCain could have made.

Her experience as Mayor and Governor merely highlights the shortcomings of the Democrat pick for President.

If you don't like Palin, don't read my blog, and definitely, don't post a comment.

If you are relying upon what I am reading in the mainstream media you are misinformed. Sarah Palin is the right choice for America.

Finally met a BGGer/recent Geek of the Week; Note to self

2008-09-05T01:46:00.000-08:00

Met BGGer Aramis and his family this past weekend. The two of us have tried to meet a couple times in the past, but without success. William was a recent geek of the week, and the first GotW from Alaska, but only because I have declined the nomination several times in the past. (Imagine a tongue sticking out smiley and wink smiley inserted)

Had a good time playing Rheinlander and Shadows over Camelot with our respective spouses over Labor Day Weekend. I should note that my wife won SoC as the traitor. No one, and I mean NO ONE suspected she was the traitor. She barely won after we flipped the white swords to black when she finished the game undetected.

His two children are the nearly the same age as mine, so the whole family had fun.

Second item, and purely for myself: The California Turkey sandwich at Village Inn Restaurant in Anchorage is the best damn sandwich I have ever tasted. Avocados, turkey, pepper jack and whatever else.... damn good. Highly recommended. Should note that I am not an avocado guy, nor even a turkey sandwich guy. This is one goooood sandwich.

I don't expect to be back in Anchorage before the Brimfrost game convention in March, but this and the Days Inn reminder are foremost in my note-to-self lists.

2008-09-04T16:08:00.003-08:00

Sooooo, there is this one grumpy old lady who has already provided some humorous fodder for taxi stories. She just has nothing but complaints, she would never say a nice word about anyone.... ever. She's just an unhappy, miserly, big-city gal, stuck in the boonies. In short, she is obviously a liberal democrat.

Anyhoooooo, she was in my taxi with another lady the other day. They were talking about the Presidential race and the topic of Sarah Palin came up. The second lady was a huge Palin fan, despite being a democrat.

Both ladies have strong ties to the east coast, and both commented that their friends and family were calling to get their take on Sarah.

My jaw hit the floor and I was momentarily stunned when grumpy old democrat lady said, "I tell them I didn't vote for her........... but I wish I did."

The Presidential Race in a nutshell

2008-09-03T16:22:00.002-08:00

The media wants to make an issue about spouse Todd Palin's DUI from 22 years ago when he was 22 years of age.

The media does not want to talk about Obama's admitted cocaine use (and rumored drug dealing) when he was the same age.

Thanks to Michael Dukes for pointing this out.

Crap. I really want her to remain Governor.

2008-08-29T08:54:00.001-08:00

She's the best. I don't blame McCain for picking her.

The indicted Ted Stevens wins handily, the soon-to-be-indicted Don Young in a race too close to call

2008-08-28T22:46:00.003-08:00

There was undoubtedly a sympathy vote for Uncle Ted. I'm wondering if Don Young is now wishing he hadn't spent millions to keep from getting indicted.

Coldfoot is not happy

2008-08-26T05:08:00.003-08:00

To all the politicians and activists who called me yesterday while I was trying to sleep,

Ahem... I work nights! I sleep days! If someone in your dumbass campaign calls me with a recorded message reminding me to vote I will make it a point to not vote for you!

Got something like seven pre-recorded calls reminding me to vote yesterday. Fuck every one of you. I was trying to sleep.

When I cast a ballot I try to make an informed decision. Calling me with a pre-recorded message informs me that you are an inconsiderate dumbass and not worthy of my vote.

Since today is actually the day we vote I'll keep the phone off the hook. But next time I'm taking names, posting them and campaigning against your dumb ass.

You lose! Good day Sir.

Words of Wisdom

2008-08-25T06:51:00.002-08:00

There's this old guy who is a regular customer. From the moment he gets into the cab until he gets out of the cab he is talking. Usually, he is talking about people who are ripping him off, or who are otherwise unjustly taking his money, but sometimes his conversations are engaging.

The other night I was giving him a ride as the sun was setting.

"Boy," he said, "that sure is beautiful. Sunsets like that make a guy wish he could paint. Those painters, though, they're all about half crazy... (rant) (rant)... My ex-wife could paint. She used to take me to art exhibitions, and you know me, I don't know shit from Shinola, but she used to take me. I always enjoyed myself. Mostly I just wandered around and looked at paintings of naked women."

But his all-time classic line came when we were driving by WalMart.

"I almost bought this land. Back then there was nothing here but pussy-willows and garbage... years of garbage. Yep, me and my brother were looking at this land back in the 50s. We could have bought it all for a couple hundred dollars. It's worth millions now. Should have bought it. You'll never get rich setting on your money. You need to invest a dollar to make a dollar. You can't just hang on to what you've got. A guy needs to invest. The only thing that will grow in your hand is your dick."

After giving it some thought, I realized that was actually some good advice.

I felt honor bound to share it with you.

How to speak Cabdriver in Square-banks, Alaska

2008-08-19T04:33:00.005-08:00

Places in Fairbanks, in no particular order

The large optical organ - The Big I (bar)

Dead Fox - Red Fox (bar)

Infections - Rejections - (and my personal favorite) Erections - Reflections (strip club)

Ho Boat - Show Butt - Showboat (strip club)

Port-a-Potty - Airport

Scare View Manor - Fairview Manor (low income apartment complex)

Taco Hell - Taco Bell

Blows - Lowes

Home Despot - Home Depot

Wally World - Mall Wart - WalMart

Bentley Small - Bentley Mall

North Weird Building - Northward Building

Golden Showers - Golden Towers (state subsidized housing)

Diddle Lipper - Little Diaper - Little Tripper - Little Dipper apartments

Pary's Java Hut - formerly known as Pary's Crackhouse until he met me on the street with a gun for saying "Pary's Crackhouse" on the radio

Prozak Pawn - Rozak Pawn

Crapper's Cavern - Trapper's Tavern

Wildlife Refuge - (I seem to be the only one who says, and my personal favorite:) Arctic Barf - Arctic Bar

Tama-crack - Tamarac Inn (as opposed to Tamarack St.) (Neither of which is mis-spelled)

Munster - Munson Hotel (a long-term hotel comprised primarily of Atco units)

Crack-o-vitch - Jackovitch apts

More BS - MBS complex on campus, (Moore-Bartlett-Skarland Hall)

The Stick - North Pole (town)

I know I am forgetting something. Additions? Greg? Chris? Dave? Anyone?

Summer and Fall arrived at the same time

2008-08-16T08:08:00.002-08:00

We've had a fairly cool summer in Fairbanks and in most of the rest of Alaska. Word is that Anchorage is on track to have its coolest summer ever. Fairbanks is having something like its sixth coolest summer ever.

Yesterday I was sitting on my porch enjoying the sun. For once the weather was warm, there wasn't a cloud in the sky....... and the leaves were falling from the trees in the gentle breeze.