Excited for Exploded Shakespeare

In just a few days, I get to travel to New York City and see Leah perform in the Exploded Shakespeare version of As You Like It.  I'm pretty darn excited about it!

The photo is not mine, obviously, but I hope to take a few shots while I'm there!

A Little James on Monday

Sometimes, what I need on a Monday, especially a Monday when I'm traveling, is a little James.  So here he is, sporting the outfit we bought him back in January when we visited Leah in New York.

He's standing on "the Big Rock" which has served as the location for many a photo over the years.

And, as a bonus, here's a shot of him with Sherry, just after he had played with the lawn sprinkler at our house for the first time.  Happy James!

Favorite Foto Friday - Sherry and James

I tried to get a little artistic with this shot.  Those are two very cute people!

Favorite Foto Friday - Above Flowing Lava - Repost

My Blogger statistics tell me that no one has ever seen this post from 2010.  I find that hard to believe, but you really don't need to go there because I am reposting the photo today.

For our 25th anniversary, Sherry and I took a trip to Hawaii.  We happened to be there on my birthday, and as a birthday present, Sherry took me on a helicopter ride (our first ever) above Kilauea, an active volcano on the "Big Island" of Hawaii.

While up there, we were directly above the flowing lava, and I got this photo, which is definitely still one of my Favorite Fotos!

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.

Favorite Foto Friday - Fantastic Fun with Superworld

Happy New Year, everyone.  I know my "Favorite Foto Friday" photos are not usually "snapshots," but today I simply have to post this one.  We have such a fantastic time playing Superworld, a Role Playing Game in which we each have a character with superpowers.  This year's group photo was not posed, but I did manage to get everyone into it, other than myself, and they are all looking rather good, I must say.





Special things to note about this year's photo:

1. New art on the walls
2. New draperies, created by Sherry from material "reclaimed" from a set which was less-well-designed she purchased (from Target, I believe)
3. New carpet, which is typically spotless, except when covered with toys brought out for our
4. New non-playing participant.

Games and James - Games of Christmas 2013

Each year, the vacation I take for Christmas is an extended period of time, always lasting through New Year's Eve.  During this festive time, we celebrate the holidays (in particular Christmas -- "the most wonderful time of the year") and we gather with family and friends.  We've also developed a long tradition of filling many of our hours with gaming, and the three days of December 29, 30 and 31 in particular are almost completely devoted to games.

I heard this year that Adam thinks of these days as the very best days of the year.  It's not hard to understand why this is:  Adam loves games, and he has grown up, his whole life, with this period of gaming surrounding him.  As a young child he could only watch, but as he grew, he got more involved, and now he anticipates "New Year's Gaming."  By the way my other children react and participate, I think the feeling is similar for each of them.

To commemorate the gaming which is such a big part of our holidays, I have written an annual summary of the "Christmas-time games" in this blog for four years now.  (See 2009,  2010,  2011, and 2012.)  Continuing the tradition, here is the annual "Snippets and Wisps" recap of the games which were played over the long holiday vacation.


This year, we had many new games join the roster.  I think I will start with those, and then move on to the older games.

Games New to Us This Year

Alhambra - I wrote about this game back in January of last year, after seeing it on the web series TableTop. I never did buy it, though, so I put it on my Christmas list and received it from Adam and Marisa.  I won the first game we played, and Sherry won the second game we played (and the first she played.) Still, it was pretty clear that everyone who played it enjoyed it.

Elder Sign - Here's another game I saw first on TableTop.  Convinced I would like it, and so would my friends, I bought it.  Still, it sat unopened until this Christmas.  The game is actually pretty fast to play -- Once You Know the Rules!  Well, the rules took a long time to read and explain, which was strange because I watched people actually play it on TableTop (video of the game is here) and I thought it was very well explained.  The game is a trimmed-down version of Arkham Horror, played without a board, and so it is another cooperative game, with all the players trying to defeat the game together.  We didn't actually finish (probably because it was time to eat one of Sherry's fantastic meals) but it was pretty clear we were going to win.  I must play this soon with my Rochester Game Dudes.

Ticket to Ride: Africa and Ticket to Ride: India are new maps, with some rules variations, for the popular Ticket to Ride railroad games.  I greatly enjoy this style of game, but I must admit that I did not play either of these during this Christmas vacation.  Why?  Well, as you can see, there were many games to be played.  And this type of game appeals to several of my guests who did not like playing other games (such as Dominion or Magic: the Gathering.)  So, sometimes there were two different games going on, and I had to make a choice.  Troy and Sarah own almost all of these games, and I see them more frequently, so I figure I will get a chance to play these at some point.  I certainly hope so!  The reviews I got from those who played them sounded quite positive.

Smallworld: Underground - Another Days of Wonder game, and another I did not get to play!  What makes this even more surprising is that I bought this game earlier this year, forgot I had done so, didn't open it until December 29, and had never played it before!  But still, I was busy with some other game, so Lucas, Troy and someone else played it.  They said it was good, and I believe them!  I certainly like Smallworld (it will come up in the list below.)  And while I did not see this version of the game on TableTop, I did see the original there, so this makes the third game on the "New Games" list tied to that web series.

Rayman: Legends (for the Wii U) - Sherry surprised me with this gift for Christmas.  We enjoy playing video games together (she usually watches while I play and gives me ideas of what to try next) so it's not surprising she would buy a game.  What was surprising is that I had not asked for this game.  I guess she saw a short review of it on TV somewhere and thought it sounded fun.  We started it after the crowds had left, and we are having fun with it.  It's a single-player side-scrolling game, with many options.  I will probably write more of a review when we have played more of the game.



Games We Had Played Before

Superworld  is the traditional game of the holiday season at the Will house.  We've been playing this Superhero Role Playing Game for over 20 years on or around New Year's Eve. This year, our group of heroes was sent on a search and rescue mission.  The team included Anastasia, Foil, Solo, Toymaker, Phoebe, Phoenix (no, not that one) and Icebird.  This year's scenario took some real determination and focus on the task at hand.  We captured a flunkie working for our arch-enemy, General Isotope, who has been a thorn in our side since we started playing.  This flunkie could have led us straight to the General's compound!  But, we are heroes, and there were people missing and probably in danger.  We had to put off our assault on General Isotope so we could explore an abandoned mine and attempt to rescue some ordinary folks from the clutches of unknown super-villains, while also attempting to avoid waking what we dubbed "Water Cthulhu" which was living in the underground Lake of Evil. Exciting!

Magic: the Gathering.  Though this is one of the favorites for many of us, we do not typically get to play many games of it over the break, because it does not involve enough of us.  That was true again this year for the times when a large group of us was around, but there were several times when fewer people were available, and then we Magic players played.  There were three 2-Headed-Giant games played, and a couple of Three-For-Alls.  I did not participate in the Three-For-Alls this year, because there were other games to be played.  Including ...





 Dominion. This is the game I have been most interested in for the past year. It might be my new favorite game (perhaps excluding M:tG.)
I wrote about it  before in this blog, and I've played it quite a bit since last Christmas.  Both games which were played this year included the Dark Ages expansion I received last Christmas.  And I even won a game, despite the fact that Adam and Lucas were playing, too (they are very, very good at Dominion.  Very Good.)



The Great Dalmuti - Again, a New Year's Eve tradition. It's not fair, but then again, life is not fair. And we all play for fun.  We called Mike as we started to play, to wish him a Happy New Year and a big Huzzah! This year the ones who earned their way to being crowned Great Dalmuti were Sherry and Paul, so I was always part of the crowd wishing the new Dalmuti Huzzah!





Skip-Bo is an old stand-by and must be played every New Year's Eve. We had a 6-player game one day, and then an 8-player game the next.  The game says it's designed for up to 6, but we figured out how to have two teams of four, and it was quite exciting.  I believe it moved much faster, and that's not a bad thing.

Small World is a really fun game I encountered because of the new web series "Tabletop" on the Geek and Sundry YouTube channel.  I bought it immediately and played it soon after.  I mentioned the Underground expansion above, which I did not play.  But I played this original game again.  I didn't win, but I really don't care much about that.  Honestly.  And I know this is one of the games which Tyler was around to enjoy, so that was a bonus.

 

Star Trek Catan - I am surprised to find that I have not blogged about this game yet.  It's a version of Settlers of Catan, but done in space, and with new rules which incorporate the characters from Star Trek (the Original Series.)  Personally, while I greatly enjoy the original Settlers game, I find this version to be much more fun.  I was glad to introduce it to Paul.  When it first came out, it was only available at Target.  I'm not sure if it's more widely available now, but I was very happy to receive it (for my birthday, I think.)

Lord of the Rings: the Card Game - I have played this game a few times with Troy and Sarah.  We were the only ones who played it over Christmas.  It's another cooperative game (I am quite happy these games are being designed!)  Before playing this game, I had never been involved in a cooperative game where the players lost.  This time?  The game kicked us to the curb, ran over us with its back tires, and splashed mud on us as it left us for dead.  Later in the vacation, Troy and Sarah redesigned their decks to have a better chance of beating the scenario, and they won!  What a cool idea!  Learning by losing, and then cooperatively redesigning to win.



Whoonu - Making its return for the first time since 2009, this party game is a game you play to get to know your friends and family. Paul and Sherry demonstrated their knowledge of the others by sharing victory, though if Adam had not mistakenly put another card in the sleeve when it came time to learn about Sherry, his "Scrapbooking" answer would have put Sherry over the top, we are sure!



Funglish was played in 2010 and 2011, but somehow did not get played in 2012.  I'm glad it made a comeback. It is really funny, as long as you're not too terribly interested in who wins.

Legend of Zelda - The Wind Waker. Apparently, this is a Christmastime game.  Leah looked back through my blog to see when we had played this last, and it was around Christmas several years ago.  In any case, it's been a long time, and as far as I can tell, I never owned the game.  I think it belonged to Lucas.  So, when the game came out for the Wii U, I decided to pick it up again.  The changes for the Wii U are not all that significant.  It is prettier -- it takes advantage of the High Definition capabilities of the system.  We finished beating Ganondorf the evening of December 28th, just before company arrived on December 29th.  For the record, we only had 12 Hearts of health, and we completed the final battle with a fairy left in a bottle.  I am glad to have it in my library of games, and I bet I will go back to it again in a few years.

Forge of Empires - I must include this as an Honorable Mention, since I have played this online multiplayer game over the break.  I've completed all of the ages which have been released to this point (Progressive Age is the last one so far.)  I mentioned this game in late January, 2013, so I guess I have been a part of the game now for about a year.  It's something I would probably have given up (Mike and Adam have) if I didn't have a couple of friends and a couple of family still playing.

Dave and Buster's - I haven't mentioned this before, but during many of our recent Christmas seasons, the Will family has gathered at this restaurant which features a large number of arcade and video games.  I can't possibly enumerate each of the games which were played, but we certainly had fun playing them!

I think I have listed every game, though I reserve the right to revise this post (I almost forgot three games as I was preparing this!)  As you can see, the Will House is a very game-filled house over the long Christmas-to-New-Year's-Eve break, and we enjoy those games quite a bit!  In the coming year, I will be looking for even more new games to add to next year's gathering.

But I would be remiss if I did not list the most entertaining part of Christmas and New Year's:  James!  Having a grandson around for all of the eating and talking and gaming was extremely special.  In fact, when we were playing Great Dalmuti, we assigned the Least Merchant the job of sitting out and watching this nearly-9-month old.  That position -- Least Merchant -- was the most coveted position in the game!


              HUZZAH!

            

Merry Christmas to All - 2013

From our family to yours, our sincere hopes that you have a Christmas season full of love and joy.




This photo was designed by Sherry, to represent many of the key events which took place in our lives in 2013.  There are stories associated with many of the items in the picture.  Our thanks to Matt, who brought his photography equipment to our sunroom and helped us capture Sherry's vision.

If you click on the photo, you will be taken to Flickr, where the photo is stored.   From there, you can see a much larger version, if you are inclined to see the details more closely.

Happy Birthday, Lucas!

Labor Day, 28 years ago, we welcomed Lucas into the world.  He's been impressing us ever since.


Lucas rocking some sunglasses at 404 Pearl.



Lucas making the case for being Neo in the reboot.



And, because we have another little Will looking so much like this these days, Lucas with some really skinny, young guy.  Lucas and his nephew certainly have some resemblance.

Indulging Myself While Missing My Girl

I am thinking about my New York City girl today, so I'll post a few photos from a couple weeks back.








Oh, hey, Leah, when you read this. Someone saw the following photo I took of you on my Flickr feed and "favorited" it. The person goes by the handle "Running With Scissors 67" and seems to "favorite" photos of people with great hair.

Happy Anniversary, Sherry!

How did I manage to get this amazing woman to marry me all those years ago?




I think it helped that I got to her early.



How can she look exactly the same, when I have gotten --- ummm -- more substantial?



I love you, Sherry! Happy Anniversary!

How NYU's Tisch Does Graduation

Our daughter, Leah, graduated from New York University (NYU) having attended the Atlantic Acting Studio in the Tisch School of the Arts.  While she was technically done with her degree at the end of the summer of 2012, she celebrated the graduation with her class at the end of May, 2013.

Tisch is a School of the Arts, so naturally their celebration was steeped in arts of many sorts.  First, the venue was Radio City Music Hall.  Here are Leah and Sherry outside getting ready to get in line for the ceremony.




During the ceremony, there were opportunities for some of the Tisch students to strut their artistic stuff.  I captured a photo as the cast of "Spring Awakenings" was performing a medley from that show.  I think I need to see the full production sometime.





One of the speakers at the ceremony was Glen Mazzara, a Tisch graduate who had just finished a stint as showrunner for the amazingly popular (and extremely well done) TV show "The Walking Dead."  He was engaging, funny, and had messages that I think were perfect for young graduating artists to hear.




With so many students graduating (it was well over 1000) there was no opportunity to see each student walk across the stage to get his or her diploma, but they did run the names across the screen. So, here is Leah's "graduation picture."




The whole experience was impressive and fun.  It was markedly different from the experiences we had at Luther, but that was fitting, because NYU and Tisch were very different as well.  Ultimately, the chance to celebrate Leah's accomplishments was the important part of the event, and we did that.  Congratulations, Leah!  We are so proud of you!

Break a leg!