We went to the Rivery for disc golf today. While I was out practicing, I noticed a broken bird house sitting next to a path. I hope that they replace it so that the cute little birdies have someplace to live this spring!
Man, hole 3 is getting harder to throw over the trees! I wish those things would stop growing!
I was messing around with images displayed while looking through lenses and came up with this one showing my security badge. It turned out to be Interesting enough to make for a new user icon on the geek.
First up was an interesting dice game based on one of my favorite games, Through The Ages. This is a heavy game. The dice are wooden. There are four wooden peg boards. And there is a rather thick score pad. I like the game! It has the feel of a lightweight version of TtA and the feel of a push your luck dice game.
Next up was an older game. Sadly, it seems that I only play this game once every year or so. Too many games and not enough game days. I did quite well in the game. And ended up in first place.
The weather forecast was scary. There was a chance of ice/sleet. And it is never a good thing to be out on the roads when there is ice out there. These people cannot cope with the altered driving conditions. But, as usual here, it turned into a non-event. Almost no accumulation to speak of.
I was helping a friend move when I noticed these warning signs inside of the moving vehicle. One was on the rear-view mirror. Which was unexpected. But I guess that the rear view mirror was unnecessary since behind the cab was the storage area.
We went to Wilco to play disc golf this morning. And boy, was it cold and windy out there. We were hoping that the somewhat sheltered area would help somewhat. But when Jon states: "My tears are frozen," it is not looking good. So we played quickly. I had a good first throw on the tough hole five.
Hrm, I wonder what a-hole is tearing the bark off of the tree on hole seven? That tree is likely to die a slow death...
As the sun was setting, I noticed this play of reflections on the kitchen counter top. My rear door has not been cleaned in a while and that was reflecting off of the water stained stainless steel bowl onto the formica counter top.
Race For The Galaxy: The Gathering Storm
We played Race For The Galaxy with the expansion pack. It comes with a number of modules. One module is more cards to add (to allow another player to play). Another module is bonus points to compete for (like first with a 6 development, or first with powers for all phases, or most developments, or most producing planets, etc). We played with these two parts. I like the fact that this game also comes with blank cards where you can define your own powers. And some other time I will have to try the solo game (at least once).
Next up was the latest Friedemann Friese game. A four F title. This is a lighter game about trying to get your pieces from one end of the board to the other. Some parts of the board have current on them which automatically moves the pieces. Some areas have logs floating on them which you have to push past. But you can only push up to two things in front of yourself. So, ideally, you want to have your three pieces in a row and have the third piece do the moving/pushing.
So I am watching Lost. And it is getting towards the end of the show. All of a sudden, the screen turns bright yellow. And shortly after that, I get this dialog box. WTF?!
Man I really hate big corporations sometimes. Their anti-theft/anti-piracy tactics get in the way of paying customers. Another thing that I hate about this DVR box is that it is unusable if the cable goes out. It doesn't matter if I have recorded shows on them. The box won't work if it can't get an authorization signal.
Ben Kenobi, Private Jedeye link via
First vertebrate eye to use mirror instead of lens link via
Panoramic of Hong Kong at night link via
Susan Savage-Rumbaugh: Apes that write, start fires and play Pac-Man link via
Why you don't want to be a woman's close male friend link via
Starbust background lighting link via
100 Remotely-Controlled Cameras All Gunning to Capture the Same Moment link via
The new Fog Creek office link via
Archimedes and the 2000-year-old computer link via
Gun from an A-10 next to a VW Beetle link via
Shanghai recreated in dice and poker chips link1 link2 via
Star Wars alphabet set link via
Abandoned Wire soundstage link via
Slow moving drill bit link via
Top 50 movie special effects shots link via
A fifteen year old foodie eats at Per Se link via
Creative billboard advertising link via
10th Foundational Falsehood of Creationism link via
8 minutes, 6 minutes if you run a little! link via
Six month exposure using a pinhole camera link via
20 Examples of light graffiti link via
The recently deflowered girl link via
Mounting an SB800 to a AB22R Beauty Dish link via
Crime Scene Photography link via
Imposing staircase up a rock link via
Double decker smart car link via
Mini-minimalist chef cooks chocolate ganache link via
Japanese live-action recreation of Super Mario Bros. link via
How Porsche hacked the financial system and made a killing link via
'Marilyn Monroe' hormone discovered link via
Chart suggestions - a thought starter link via
Bike lane that travels with you link via
The Princess Bride ambigram link via
Is it better to buy or to rent? link via
DWTFYWIPL (NSFW) [ sadly, lawyers *still* had a problem with it ] link
I went to our local cooking supply store for equipment to make a modification for a photographic flash. It was not as esoteric as you were probably thinking. Just a couple hundred black straws.
You see a flash creates a lot of spread out light. Even when you manually zoom the flash as narrow as it will go (to 105mm).
However, if you put a lot of long straws in between the flash an your subject, those straws act as a limiting element. You switch from a wide rectangle to a small circle. Neat, huh?
I'm in your bread killing your baby yeast!
Tonight, we had six people. Usually, we split off into two separate groups of three (ignoring the amusing one and five suggestion). However we decided to play six player games. First up was Medici. It proved rather hard to find goods that other people were not fighting over. Usually it is something that three people want. I didn't do to well in this game. And, to top it off, my last bid was a mistake that cost me a rank in the final score.
Ah, my favorite rondel game. We played both without the investor card and with initial purchasing of shares (rather than the pre-determined setup). This game was quite different than every other game that I have played of this. I initially had control of one country: Russia. I later took over control of another neighboring country: Germany. However, and this is what turned it into a different game, I lost control of both of those countries before I had the chance to take them to taxation (and get a bonus for my effort). Now that I am without controlling interest, I am in a good position. I sit back and watch which countries are likely to get the best multipliers. I then invest in them but only enough to avoid taking control of the countries. This allows me buy shares in countries before everyone else. Which is really powerful.
Thankfully, everyone was running their countries correctly. They were concentrating on making the countries pay out and not wasting their time on other useless options. Both Chapel and Mike were in the end-game stage of paying extra for the taxation/invest loop. This helps both make sure that your country ends up in the times five multiplier and gives more money for you to purchase other shares. Naturally, I also took advantage of their efforts.
In the end, I ended up winning the game while spending the vast majority of it not running a country. Which is a tough and satisfying accomplishment.
