The 10 Album Challenge - Anchor Post

10 Album Challenge - Foreword 

[To be read in a noir style, because that's how I'm hearing it in my head.]

March, 2020. Covid-19 Spring. I'm checking facebook even more often than usual.  On March 27, Shawn tags me on Day 1 of a new social "challenge."

"Day 1 of 10

I was given the task of choosing 10 albums that have strongly influenced my musical taste. One album per day for 10 days. No particular order, or reviewing. Only the album covers. Every day I will ask somebody else to do the same.

I nominate Steve Will to accept this 10 album challenge."

I decide to take him up on it, and so I start thinking about what the challenge means -- at least what it means to me -- and then I start selecting my ten.

As I start posting them -- no, that's not accurate -- as I start selecting them, I realiz I have to say something about my selections when I post them.  Not a "review" per se, but an exposition on why each was chosen.

As I wrote (way back in 2008) my musical taste is eclectic.  As I start the process of choosing 10 albums, it's clear I am going to have to find a way to express that eclectic nature through my selections.  In fact, I realize that this gives me a perfect opportunity to do some self-investigation. I can delve into my memory and into the thoughts and feelings which music conjures in me.  I can attempt to solve the mystery of why I like what I like. 

I am not selecting my 10 favorite albums (and thank goodness for that; I'm not up to the task!). I am selecting 10 which "strongly influenced my musical taste."

So, today, 16 months after my most recent post on this blog (and 58 months after My Last Entry [and by "Last" I had thought I meant "Final"] to this blog was posted), I'm writing again.  

If I survive the journey, this post will be updated as I post my 10 albums.  I intend to do a separate entry about each album I selected, with this post having links to each of them.

Let's see where this leads.  I don't know where it ends.  But I know it begins with "A Night at the Opera."

10 Albums that Strongly Influenced my Musical Taste

1. Queen - A Night at the Opera
2. ELO (Electric Light Orchestra) - Out of the Blue
3. The Music Man - Film Soundtrack
4. Mannheim Steamroller - Christmas
5. Star Wars - Movie Soundtrack
6. Amy Grant - My Father's Eyes
7. Simon and Garfunkel's Greatest Hits
8. Michael Jackson - Thiller
9. Pachelbel - Canon in 'D'
10. Monty Python - Matching Tie and Handkerchief

Afterword 

As I wrap up this 10 Album Challenge, I'll thank Shawn for inviting me to play.

I'll also mention that there are some worthy albums which did not make the list, in part because they sort of overlapped with others that did.


Some people who know me would be surprised, for example, that I did not include these two on the list.  I, too, was surprised.

In the end, selecting only ten was difficult, but it was a fun exercise in self-examination and reminiscing.  I'm glad I did it!

New Year's in July 2015 - Games

A rare event this year: in late July, Paul and Mike visited for several days, and during that time, we were able to play games, much as we do over the New Year's holidays.  Here's what we played:

Kingdom Builder - I've played this a few times since I received it for Christmas, and its replay value is quite high.  Adam and I taught it to Paul and Mike. Adam won again, which is not surprising, but it was actually a pretty close game, and Mike secured second place.  We played it again, and Leah won a game with Paul and me.

Elder Sign - We won!  We won!  Leah, Sarah, Troy and Paul played this cooperative game with me.  I'm not sure whether we have ever won this game before -- perhaps we have -- but it's always tough, and it was again.  By the time we finished, Sarah and Leah both said they really liked the game and would want to play it again the next day, so they could solidify the rules in their minds.  It didn't happen, but it was fun to have a new game for them.  I think it was Paul's first time playing it, too.  He had played Arkham Horror before, and this is a simplified version of that game.

 Forbidden Desert -Another cooperative game, but we lost this one.  It was the first time we had ever played it (I bought it just that day) and we didn't start at the lowest level of difficulty.  This was a mistake, because we took some early actions which were quite inefficient, which we understood once we had played a while.  But by that time, it was too late, and the desert storm overwhelmed us.  Lucas, Adam, Troy and Paul played this one with me.  (This was another TableTop game, by the way.)

Dungeons and Dragons - though the group had not played in a few months because of my travel schedule, we had a session scheduled for late July.  Then, happily, Mike's plans changed and he needed to arrive a day early -- the day we'd be playing.  So, I made the two nastiest antagonists of the evening into playable characters.  Mike played a lich; Paul played a dracolich.  We all had great fun!

Legendary - This cooperative game was one which Adam had suggested to me numerous times.  This time, with Mike and Paul visiting, and Troy at the house to join in, we finally did it.  It's a deck-building game, a la Dominion (which we never played, strangely) but the players all team up to simulate a team of superheroes who are fighting against a major Marvel supervillain and his supporting villains and henchmen.  We were quite beaten down, but ultimately we did win, with Mike delivering the final blow.  What fun!  Now, do I try to own this game, or do I just ask Adam to play it with me more often?

Sushi Go! - It was a quick game, and we had fun.  Sarah, Troy, Leah, Paul and I played.  I ran away with it, though I don't really know how.  I guess I must have added some unrealized skill to some luck.  Anyway it didn't take long, and it was a good, simple time.




Splendor - Again, a highlight of the game play.  Everyone likes this game with its simple rules, but clever design.

Small World - I didn't play this, but Lucas, Leah, Paul, Mike and Troy did.  It was a very close game, and Leah pulled it out at the end.

Ticket to Ride: Asia - This was, I think, the second time I had played this version of the Ticket to Ride series.  Its unique aspect is that it can be played by teams of two, but those team members are not allowed to talk.  Strange, but fun.  I teamed with Troy, and we won.  It was quite a close game, though.  And no one knew who had won until we counted at the end, which was great.

Magic: the Gathering - thankfully, Mike and Paul and I were able to fit in some games of Magic.  I rarely play, except when Paul is here, and we've been so busy playing larger games the last few times that he has visited that we really haven't played much.

Whoonu -On the final night of their visit, a bunch of us played this game, in reverse.  Normally, players try to figure out which of many items or activities the other players like most.  This time we tried guessing which they'd like least.  It was a fun twist, and we learned that Marisa does not like cotton candy.


All in all, this was a fun-filled visit, and we all enjoyed ourselves quite a bit.  Among the best things about the visit: Sherry's meals! The kids getting to spend time with their "uncles," Paul and Mike.  Talking about TV, movies, games and the future with great friends. And the games - they were plenty good, too!

Social Media and the Solitary Traveler

So, lately I've been doing something I don't get to do very much: taking a bit of time "off" when I am traveling for work.  Now, I don't blog about work (here) but every once in a while, I have to stretch that rule a little bit so I can talk about my life.  This is one of those times.

When I travel for work, I almost never get a "weekend" away.  I am using the term "weekend" loosely here.

You see, when I travel for work, I often have to leave on a Sunday, and sometimes a Saturday, in order to be able to participate in whatever event I'm attending.  For example, if I have to give a presentation on Monday morning in Europe, I have to leave on a Saturday, which puts me in Europe on Sunday.  This current trip, I needed to attend the start of the conference on Sunday, which meant I had to leave on Friday.  And, I had been at a conference in the US all week before I went to Sweden, so I had flown to that conference on the previous Sunday.

If you don't follow all that, the point is this: a standard "weekend" where the Saturday and Sunday make up two continuous non-work days -- this just doesn't happen much when I am traveling.

If you saw a few Stockholm photos from me, they were taken during a few hours when I did not have to attend the conference, but I was definitely working most of those days.  And mostly, I was taking the photos while walking around with a colleague.  (Hi, Tim!)

Anyway, as it happens, I left the conference in Sweden in order to fly to London for another work event in the middle of the week.  And, as schedules would have it, while I was due in Budapest the following Sunday, I didn't have to rush immediately from the hotel in London to the airport.  I had a couple of days in which I was not required to be working.

So, I could have made other choices:

1. Spend the time in my hotel room, doing work.  There's plenty to do.  But there is always plenty to do.  I could work through pretty much every weekend at home, too -- you know, those Saturday/Sunday combinations.  But generally speaking, I don't.  It's part of how I balance my work and my life.
2. Fly back to the US for however much time I'd have, and then fly back to Budapest.  I think, had I done this, I might have had something like 16 hours at home.  But I would have spent another 48 hours in aiports and airplanes.  And it would have cost more than staying in a hotel.  Sure, someone else is picking up the monetary cost, but I'm the one on the plane.  And I can tell you, after all that time in the air and airports, those 16 hours would have seen me one brain-dead individual.
   
   So, I chose option 3.

3. Spend a "weekend" in London.  Put away my computer (except to write personal blogs in the evening [and answer critical work e-mails; and try to make reservations for my next trip {See?  There is always work to do.}]) and push myself to enjoy the time here.

Now, while option 3 seems reasonable, there is a problem.

I don't go out alone.

It's not a phobia or anything.  It's just a personality trait.  When I am alone, I just tend to prefer to stay alone.  I huddle up with books, games, music, a comfortable place to sit, movies, TV shows, snacks -- and I just sit relax, and enjoy myself.

This works out fine in Rochester.  In fact, let's be honest, it works most anywhere I normally travel in the US, given that I typically only have a couple of "free" hours anywhere.

But here I was in London!  I mean, wow, there are a lot of things to see within an hour of the Hilton Metropole in London.

If I had been here with Sherry, we'd have been out all day, every day, every hour I was not required to be working.  Because she's like that.  And when I'm with her, it rubs off on me.  So, when I took the work trip to Australia and New Zealand, and she joined me, we saw things!

But here I was, alone in London.  What would I do?

First of all, I got a great start because on the first uncommitted day, I didn't have to be alone.  A work colleague who lives near Winchester offered to show me around, and specifically to take me to Stonehenge, which is within an hour of the Winchester train station.  So I rode a train to Winchester, she picked me up, and we saw Stonehenge!  We also saw Winchester cathedral, walked around the lovely old town, had a drink in a pub, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.  Now, we did end up talking about work for a while, and it was a good conversation to have.  But really, the day was basically a "weekend day."  (Thanks, Therese!)

However, I still had some time on my own.  I had part of one day without work, and one more full day of non-work, if I wanted it -- and I wanted it.

So, how to push myself to see as much as I could, when my normal state of mind would draw me back to a quiet room in the hotel?

I decided I needed to get social.

Despite the fact that it would use data from the cell phone plan, I figured if I posted photos and comments as I went along, it wouldn't feel so much like I was alone.  See, one of the best things about traveling around (for me, anyway) is often the experience of sharing what you see, hear and learn with others.  Most often, for me, that's Sherry.  But I've also had a good time sightseeing with people I know from work.  It's a great way to form friendships, and it's how I saw most of what I saw the other two times I was in London.  (I saw "Wicked" in London, taking the chance to introduce two of my co-workers to what is probably my favorite musical theater experience.)

But this time, I didn't have any traveling companions.  So I used facebook (and blogger, but I only did the latter in the evening, so it was not the same.)

When I'd see something, I would post a good photo, or a status message (usually both) to facebook.  And I could hope some of my friends would see it and react, so I could feel like I was sharing the experience with someone.

Did it work?

Did it ever!

When I started looking at fb, after posting the photo Therese took of me at Stonehenge, I saw that lots of people were paying attention, and sharing things with me.  Mostly, it was "likes" -- and that's what I was hoping for - a few people noticing and being glad for me.  But there wer more than a few, and then there were several people who left comments!

It was all beyond my expectations.

And it made me feel like my travels would not be so much "alone" as I had thought.  So, after my day with Therese, it was much easier to go out into London with a plan to share other stops along the way.



The Tower of London, with the Poppies exhibit.  The Tower Bridge (which is so striking in sunlight,) the walk along the Thames to the Parliament building and Big Ben, the visit to the Victoria and Albert Museum (you can take pictures in there!  Almost everywhere!) and then the performance of "Billy Elliott."  I made all of these "social" events by putting them on facebook and interacting with family and friends back home. 

It was a full day, and it was made more full by sharing it.

I want to thank every single one of you who participated by responding in some way to the facebook posts, or to this blog.  It means something to me -- something real.

So, as a reward for sticking around for this long post, here are a few more photos, and some information about Stonehenge.

Royal Albert Hall

Kensington Garden - and another Panoramic photo. 

St. Paul's Cathedral

And I walked as high as they would let me - the views!

Oh, and Stonehenge?

It was not built by druids.  That theory was proposed by one of the famous people who studied it -- John Aubrey -- who had no true concept of how long the structures had been around, so his attribution of a druidic origin, while widespread in "common knowledge," has been shown to be false.  Stonehenge predates druids by thousands of years, as far as science knows.

That doesn't make the references from "This is Spinal Tap" any less funny.  More, perhaps.

And while some of the stones were, in fact, transported for miles overground (the sarcens, which are taller stones -- the vertical ones we typically see -- came from about 19 miles away from the site) the bluestones are the ones from Wales, and they almost certainly were taken to the site primarily over water.  Again, this does not make Eddie Izzard's bit any less funny; just not quite as accurate.

I think it's important not to get our science from non-scientists.  It's kinda a thing with me.

So, there it is.  I have spent a few more hours, now, making this "weekend" a "social" event by composing this blog entry.  Again, thanks to everyone who has participated in my travels.

Because tomorrow is Sunday, and while it might be a weekend for you, I am traveling to Budapest, and working.

Weekend Over.  G'Night!

TableTop Day 2014 - Success

For more than 12 hours on Saturday, April 5, my group of gaming friends gathered in an undisclosed location and did pretty much what you'd expect we would do -- if you read my previous post about the approach of International TableTop Day.

Dominion, more Dominion, and a little more Dominion were the first activities. 

We're kinda hooked on that game.  And, after more than a year of owning it, Eric finally brought out the Seaside expansion.  We loved it!  We might not have stopped playing it if "Hold 'Em" time had not arrived.

We know that we probably interpreted "TableTop" a bit more loosely than many people, but we have a friend who doesn't play traditional "table top" strategy games, but who really likes Texas Hold 'Em.  We haven't had a chance to play that game for a while, so we included a game in our event.  It was fun, and (notable because it was the first time) I won. 

After dinner, we played Carcassonne.  This was the first time playing it for most of the players, and only the third or fourth time for the rest of us, so the game went slowly, but I think we all enjoyed it.  I certainly did.

We were amazed at how fast time seemed to fly while we were having our fun.  We blew right through lunchtime without noticing it.  (OK, the table full of snacks helped that, too.)  We didn't have nearly enough time to try all the game people brought.  We agreed we need to do this again next year.  And sooner than that, if possible!

Thanks, Eric, for finding the undisclosed location.  It worked great.  Thanks also to all the rest of the Gaming Dudes who worked their schedules to play.  I had a blast!

Dude Gaming - Elder Sign and Alhambra

Once upon a time, The Dudes gathered together on a monthly basis to play games.  Sometimes, when we were truly motivated, it happened more frequently than that. But alas, this is no longer a monthly activity, much as I would like to make it so.

Nevertheless, last night we were able to gather the five of us to play two games.  I was the only one who had played them before, so the rest of the Dudes learned Elder Sign and Alhambra.

I sent the link to the TableTop episode featuring Elder Sign to the Dudes, since that is how I learned about the game.  Two of them watched it ahead of the game, and that helped me get the group up to speed pretty quickly.  As in the video, our goal was to prevent "He Who Must Not Be Named" from emerging to destroy us (and the world.)  We started well, accumulating 4 of the 13 necessary Elder Signs in the first five turns.  But then things got real.  Or un-real.  We had a lot of fun, and we forgot a couple of rules along the way, but I don't think it mattered.  We allowed ourselves to open three Other World locations and did not solve them.  So, when a card was revealed which added a Doom Counter for each Other World location, the Ancient One was released.  Game over.  We died.  We had fun.  But we died.


That left us time to play Alhambra.  As I mentioned in my Games of Christmas recap, this was another game I wanted because of TableTop. Without a blow-by-blow description, I will note that Pie won, by just a point or two over Shawn.  Most of us were bunched up on the board with our final scores, but it was clear that those two were buying and building better than the rest of us (OK, well maybe it wasn't obvious they were doing better than Eric, but they were clearly doing better than I was.)  Pie ended up building a completely-walled Alhambra, which I just think is cool.  And he used a clever set of "Rearranging" turns to do it.  Well done, Pie!

If I can remain in Rochester this year more than I did last year, I really want to try to resume the monthly habit.  We enjoyed ourselves too much to not make a habit of this.

...

Speaking of "completely-walled Alhambra, the very first game I played, I accomplished it, so I took a photo.  It's gotta appear in this blog at some point, so now is as good a time as any.

Etiquette for Hoax-Awareness

It has happened again.

Every couple of weeks or so, facebook brings me a warning -- sent by a friend or family member -- and I am told to share this with everyone I know, as soon as I can.

Inevitably, the message is a hoax.  Whether it's a dire warning about some facebook privacy setting, or the decades-old rumor that flashing your headlights might get you killed by gang members, it's always passed along by well-intentioned people who truly are worried (maybe even scared) that someone out there is going to do bad things to them.  And, because they have seen the warning, they feel more worried and more scared and they want to help others by spreading the warning.

The thing is, these scare stories are false.  So, what to do?  What's the etiquette when you see one of these things and you are pretty darn sure they are false? Here's what I've taken to doing.

First, confirm that the story is a hoax.  The best way to start on this task is to go to snopes.com, urbanlegends.about.com, hoax-slayer.com or any one of a set of well-researched sites and use their search engine with some key words.  In fact, it's typically a faster task if you use a key phrase in the warning.  For example, the most recent "flashing headlights" warning was an image, with a letterhead from Chubb Security.  This hoax almost always involves a story about a gang initiation, so including "Chubb" and "gang initiation" along with "flashing headlights" quickly finds the refuting articles.

http://www.snopes.com/crime/gangs/lightsout.asp
http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/crime/a/headlights.htm
http://www.hoax-slayer.com/flash-lights-hoax.shtml

urbanlegends and hoax-slayer even have the exact image being forwarded around facebook.

Second, search a couple of legitimate news sites with key words, to be sure something new has not popped up in the news that you might have missed.  I checked with msnbc.com, foxnews.com and standard.co.uk and found only one article related to the search "flash headlights gang" and that was about a scheme where people are trying to get insurance money.  In any case, three news sources have nothing on the topic, so it's not likely happening.

Third, break the news nicely.  I honestly believe that the people who are sending these items via facebook or e-mail are genuinely trying to do the right thing.  They are trying to help.  So, I try to let them know that, happily, they don't have anything to worry about.  I typically respond with something like "I'm glad to report that, while I have heard this, too, it is false.  It's a hoax.  This is not something to worry about."

Finally, provide supporting evidence.  I post or send one or two links to articles which clearly refute the hoax, and in particular I like to send links which have a large number of references.

It is my hope that people who react so quickly with fear will condition themselves to check before they post.  Instead of immediately reacting with fear, they would be well served to go to the debunking sites themselves.  This will ease their concerns, help them avoid perpetuating the hoax, and hopefully give them tools for making their world a less scary place.

Anyway, that's what I try to do.  Thoughts?  Opinions?  Other ideas?  Let me know.

Dominion Fever

Ahh, gentle readers.  You will have noticed a pattern in my behavior over the years.  That pattern is this: I will find a game, I will like it, something will allow me to spend more than a passing few moments on it, and I will be hooked.

It's happened with video games (like the Link/Zelda games,) with board games (Ticket to Ride, anyone?) with computer games (Get behind me, Civilization!) and of course with card games (Magic, I have strayed from you for too long!)

Well, over the recent past, the game which is consuming me is Dominion.

I wrote about this game once before, so please go read that entry if you want to get a feel for the game.

The point of this post is to lay a third thing down as a distraction from writing blogs.  Dominion has become a once-a-week (or more) game I play over the lunch hour with two of the Dudes.  It has become a game I invite the Dudes over to play, just because I am itching for another game.  And, oh my oh my, it's a game which is now available to play on-line!  For absolutely no money at all, you can play the base set of cards with your friends, or you can choose a solo game which allows you to play against one, two or three AI bots.

Like the computer version of the "Ticket to Ride" game before it, having access to an on-line version of Dominion has been wonderful, and awful.  I can play a game in 5-10 minutes.  And I do.  Over and over.  While I cannot write a blog while watching The West Wing or Battlestar Galactica, I most certainly can play a few seconds of Dominion while the action on the TV show switches from one scene to another.

So far, I have refused to pay money for any of the add-on sets on-line.  I'm holding off because I really don't want to spoil the anticipation I feel when I consider how much fun it will be to play the game IRL (In Real Life) with the Dudes.  I have already experienced a lessening of a desire to play "Ticket to Ride: Europe" IRL, now that I have (over-)played the computer version.  I do not want that to happen to Dominion.

So, folks, chalk this up as the third thing which helped me go silent for a while here.  What a fun game!

OK.  That's four blog posts written now.  I think I owe myself another episode of The West Wing.  Or two.  And some Dominion.

Aerie or Toys

If this just looks like a set of toys to you, then you probably don't play Dungeons and Dragons.

If you see this and picture a grand battle about to take place, then I might be spending some of my Monday nights with you.

I still haven't adapted the Heroscape pieces to the DnD game as well as I would like, but we still have had an excellent time with it.

DnD Dudes -- you guys need to get caught up!  We have some battles to fight!

The Meaning of Goodbye

On Sunday I said goodbye to my daughter, Leah, and my wife Sherry, as they headed back to school.  For five weeks, I had been able to share our home with them while they were between semesters.  As I said goodbye, I fully realized it was over.

Soon, Leah will be graduating and heading into the "real world" of life as an actress.  This was one of the few, last, precious times I would see her living "at home."

Sherry still lives here, of course, but she spends her weeks living in the apartment by the University, and she was beginning a two-week absence from our home. I knew I would miss her.  I always do.  It's just harder to get accustomed to when we've spent some significant time together, as we had over the Christmas break.

This moment -- the goodbye -- reminded me again that the most important things in my life are not "things" at all.  They are people.  The relationships I have are so important.  And, because I would be having a chance to see some friends this week, I let myself be melancholy for a little while, but then I started the anticipation of the fun I could have with my friends.

Missing someone who is important to you can coexist with enjoying other people.  Being able to experience both longing and enjoyment at the same is part of a healthy life, for it allows us to live in the present, while simultaneously appreciating the past and looking forward to the future.

Games of Christmas 2011

It has become a tradition here at "Snippets and Wisps" to recap the games which were played over the long holiday vacation. (See 2009 and 2010)  [If this looks like a duplicate entry -- I apologize.  My scheduled post went earlier than I intended, so I had not completed it.  This is the real thing.]


This year, I will divide the list into games which were new to me, ones I have played before, and console games.


New to Me

 World of Warcraft: the Board Game - by Fantasy Flight Games.  This game is on long-term loan to Adam, and he had wanted me to try it for quite some time.  The games is based on the World of Warcraft MMO world, but it does not require a knowledge of, or experience with, the online game to play.  It is a game for teams -- one team takes the role of the Horde, and the other team takes the Alliance -- and the rules have some interesting concepts, with a few similar concepts to the computer game (leveling, respawning after death, the kinds of monsters fought, a "boss" at the end.) It is a very long game - it took us about 4.5 hours to play, and it requires a large space.  We used two long tables, pushed together to make about a 6-ft x 5-ft play area.  The photo on the right, above, gives you an idea. The board is larger than a Risk board, and there are far more pieces.   It is complex, and if you did not trust the opposing team to play by the rules, it would get immeasurably longer, because in order to have some efficiency, each team needs to be planning its next turn while the active team is rolling dice.  I had a good time.  I could not play this every week, but it's always nice to learn a new strategy/dice game in the fantasy milieu.

Imaginiff - This is another of those party games which is fun when you know the rest of the group pretty well.  "Imagine if were a doughnut - which kind would you be?"  That sort of thing.  We especially enjoyed the final question of the evening, pictured on the right, and asked about Sarah.  Realize that we were playing this game, with family and Paul, on New Year's Eve!


Played Before

Magic: the Gathering.  One of my joys this vacation was helping Leah learn to play Magic better.  I spent part of an afternoon explaining some of the key basic concepts about playing the game, and we played a "teaching game" so she could get the feel of making plans and decisions.  She won that game, with advice from her Dad.  It was great.  Then, of course, there were games with groups of us.


 Dominion. This is new since last year, but I have mentioned it before in this blog.  One of my goals during this holiday gaming season was to introduce this game to Paul.  He is always looking for new strategy games, especially games which can be played with two players.  I have never played a two-player game of Dominion, but it is designed for two-to-four.

I didn't technically get to play Dominion over the vacation, but Paul did, and that was good enough for me.

Settlers of Catan - It's been a long time since I played this with real live people (as opposed to the AI in the Yahoo version).  Though I started with a very good position, I did not win.  Adam did.  What a fun time!

Anybody's Guess.  At the Will Family Gathering, we decided to play a "party game."  This was it.   Trivia with a twist.  And a reason to laugh together.

Munchkin! Paul had never played this, so we played it.  It was fun.  Adam won.



Ticket to Ride Europe - We played one 5-player game, and later split up to play a four-player partner game while the new Ticket to Ride: Asia was being played (I didn't participate in that one, so I will wait to review it until I do.)  I still love this game, and it is definitely different playing against people than playing against the AI in the computer game.  It's also different playing with four opponents as opposed to one, which is my typical setup in the computer game.  I got lucky, and knew the card possibilities, so I got a very good score.  And Matt learned to play.  And so did Sherry.  Fun.


The Great Dalmuti - One of the games that is a tradition. New Year's Eve. It has to be played. It's not fair, but then again, life is not fair. And we all play for fun.  There were several people crowned Great Dalmuti, but I was not one of them, so I was always part of the crowd wishing the new leader: Huzzah!


Superworld - This is the traditional game of the holiday season, because we've been playing this Superhero Role Playing Game for over 20 years on or around New Year's Eve. Paul creates a scenario, putting someone or something in danger, or creating a mystery to be solved, and our heroes must take on the mission. This year, the group included Icebird, Foil, Solo, Toymaker, Phoebe, Phoenix (no, not that one) and Anastasia. Our heroes assisted in breaking a friend out of the lair of their nemesis. It was fun! Thanks to Paul for creating the adventure, and to my fellow Heroes for the bravery and awesome displays of superpowers.


Mad Gab - This one did not get played "for real" -- there were no winners or losers -- it was simply fun to pull it out and listen to people reading the clues.





Funglish was such a hit last year, we had to play it again this year.  Twice!  Really funny, as long as you're not too terribly interested in who wins.





Skip-Bo is an old stand-by and must be played every New Year's Eve. Mike was not here to partner with Sherry, so Leah did once,and Paul did once. We always have a great time with this game.

Yahtzee - Yes, we played Yahtzee.  Some of the crowd preferred trying it to playing Farkle again, so we did.  There were three (or four?) Yahtzees among seven players - a good night.  Sherry was the big winner.


Console Games

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword.  Though I bought it weeks before Christmas, it was only once Sherry and Leah were home that we sat down to play.  I am having an excellent time in this strange new version of Hyrule.  Some aspects are reminiscent of The Wind Waker, since there are "islands" to visit - albeit in the sky rather than in the sea - but it's unfair to make that comparison.

Skyward Sword has learned from other computer/console role-playing games.  Like Zelda's Twilight Princess, there are many, many things to collect, but now in Skyward Sword, there are game reasons to collect them.  There are recipes for improving equipment, very similar to other RPGs.  And the combat takes advantage of the Wii Motion Plus controller, so sword fighting is more like what we all hoped for when we first saw the Wii interface.  I like it a lot!  [By the time the vacation finished, I had gathered all of the "weapons" and all but one of the melodies.]

 MarioKart Wii.  Leah and I had one afternoon before Sherry was done with school.  We decided to play MarioKart, since Leah had almost never played it before.  We had fun.  Except that the computer "cheats" and since we, as the human players, are not very good, we never won a four-race grand prix. 





Uncharted 2: Among Thieves - I really enjoyed the first Uncharted game, despite my being horrible at video game gunplay.  I got a start on this latest installment one morning after Christmas when Leah wasn't awake yet to watch us play the new Zelda.  Sherry will watch this game, too, and suggested it (thanks, Sherry!)

I enjoy the fact that Claudia Black is the voice for Chloe, the woman involved in the caper.  This makes two PS3 games in a row, for me (she was also in Dragon Age: Origins.)

So, unless I've forgotten a game (or forgotten how to count) that makes 16 different games I played over the Christmas / New Year's vacation.   I can't count Dominion, since I only watched, or Ticket to Ride: Asia, since I didn't participate in that one.  But adding those two, 18 different games were played at our house.

But then again, I am confident Lucas was playing Angry Birds at various points.  And Leah played Sims 3.  Oh, and what about D&D: Heroes of Neverwinter?  Let's face it, there are too many to be absolutely sure I have a complete list.  The 16 or 18 above are the games played/enjoyed by multiple people -- and really, that is the goal of gaming over the holidays!