Gaming

Settlers ... intense gaming

If there were a vote taken among the adults as to which is the best board game in the world, Settlers would be the winner.

What is a day without the hope that somewhere on the property, a Settlers game will be in progress!

The thrill of playing is so deep that some even continue the game of buying and selling commodities, well into their sleep patterns.

 ... chocolate covered blueberries as well as bridge mix ...

On the other hand, in other homes, ... like ours, ... if Bonnie puts out a few dishes like this, it is easy to entice the non-Settler players into a game of bridge.

I got my first small slam hand this way.

I forgot all about the Bridge Mix when I saw all of those points in my hand.

Now I know how golfers feel when they get a hole-in-one.

At our house we are trying to teach Joaquim to play to that we will always have a fourth ready -- at least ready enough to be the dummy.

He says he has no problem with that.

Most of the other PhD's he knows are also dummies.

... filled and waiting ...

I was on Glen's porch when I saw this rainbow of colours.

"That bucket of water balloons took us 1/2 hour to fill this afternoon and we are just waiting for the event when we will have to fire them," said Laynie of the job Patrick and Morgan had helped her with.

Bonnie and I played another kind of game on the porch with Audra while her mom was busy with Settlers.

 ... I am having a problem with you wearing my sweater ...

"Are you cold?", Bonnie questioned. 

"Do you want your sweater on?"

Getting no response, Bonnie then said, "I am cold and here is a nice sweater for me to wear."

Audra could see that Bonnie was having trouble putting the sweater on, and she went around to give her some help, pulling the side of the sweater around for her, and then helping Bonnie to put her hand in the tiny sweater sleeve that had become the object of our game.

She even tried to straighten it out and make it fit.

... figuring out the next move ...

Bonnie brought a new problem to Audra's mind by try extricate herself from the size 3 straight jacket.

Some sniffles and sobs from Bonnie made the task seem important and Audera came to Bonnie's rescue.

This might have been the first time in her day that she could see there was no one else around smarter than she.

She wasn't showing any confidence in the two adults on the porch with her who didn't seem to be that smart and needed help at every turn.

 ... I'm taking my tea set and sweater ... and going home ...

In the end,and after a lot of struggle, she got that sweater back in her own hands, the one she hadn't been interested in wearing herself.

She folded it up, gathered up her tea set that Grandmother Wyona had given her, and she headed back through the kitchen door to find some sanity.

"Goodbye, you dummies," the look on her face said.

And thus ended the best game of the day.

A Space Reserved for Zoe



A formidable Cribbage opponent

Zoe and I play cribbage at least once a week, ... which means I get soundly trounced once a week.  She can find runs that I have missed, looks for the Jack that matches the card turned up on the top of the pile, and takes great delight when she gets the two points for hitting thirty one with her cards.

If her eyes are cast down, as they are in this picture, beware.  She is looking down and holding a set of cards in her hands that will make you tremble when she starts counting the points. 

You may be just about to be left in the stink hole, something else that delights her more than it delights me.

When Zoe and I read this blog next, I will get her to fill in other games she likes to play. 

Charise was telling me that Zoe killed her in 3 chess moves last week.  Apparently Greg has been teaching the girls to play Chess.  Lasting three moves is two moves more than I would survive when playing chess with anyone.

Arta

Playing Dungeons And Dragons At The Shuswap

Some of you are already aware that I have a little blog where I post odd bits of trivia and thoughts about Dungeons and Dragons.

I'm intending to play some D&D while i'm out at the lake. If the mercenary characters pictured here, opening a chest full of gold and magic, inspires you to want to do a little treasure hunting of your own, then you are a good candidate to join our little adventure!

I will be bringing several copies of the old D&D rules from the 1970's, so we will be able to play it "old-school" ... that means very little in the way of rules, and lots in the way of imagination and shared story-telling.

If you already have miniatures or other Dungeons & Dragons accessories, bring them along with you, when you come out to the lake.

The games will be in the evenings, so bring your imaginations and your flashlights (you'll never know when you'll need them .... mwha ha ha ha ha!)

Alex demonstrates Assassins II

The CBC Arts and Entertainment website said that Assassin’s Creed II is among the top 3 video games for 2009. I was showing the CBC website to Alex and he said he has the game so I sat down beside him to see what it is that makes this game one of the top selections of games to have this year.

I watched Alex virtually gallivant around Renaissance Italy, controlling the protagonist of the game, Ezio Auditore.

The assassin is bent on avenging the death of his family. There are stunning graphics of Florence, Tuscany and Venice with thousands of people who seem to be individually alive: a mason is repairing the wall of his shop, a peasant curses at you as you shove past him, there is a villa to run, new buildings to erect in town, and real Renaissance-era paintings to buy.

I may ask to borrow this game and take it with me when I move into an old folks home.

Looks like it would provide some interesting evenings of entertainment.

Arta