My Life

Recent and upcoming goings-on

2009-11-06T17:59:00.002-07:00

It's been a long time since my last post... So what have I been doing for the last month?

Not a whole lot, actually. I have spent a lot of time playing and thinking about a game Tasty Minstrel is considering for publication, as well as another we're already committed to publishing next year.

Since Regionals I have not been playing much Frisbee - just league once a week and some pickup once a week (not even that much). It's a lot less exercise, and I fully expect the normal holiday season laziness and weight gain to begin. In fact, it's already begun - I was down to 164 at one point, and now I'm back to 175. I am going to try not to snack too much though, I do NOT want to weigh more than 180 ever again!

It's getting to be time to revisit my New Year's Resolutions - I have been seriously slacking on those! Time to assess how I did this year and make new resolutions for next year. The key is attainable, quantifiable goals!

In a week and a half I'm off to Dallas again for my favorite game convention of the year. Last month there was one in Tucson, and it was much bigger than last year when it first started... but Rincon was nothing compared to BGG.con! There's nothing but gathering with 800 of your closest friends for 4 days of fun and games! Ok, so maybe not ALL 800 of them are my closest friends, but I HAVE met a lot of great people at this convention, and this year several of my closest friends WILL be there. As usual, my oldest friend Brian, who lives in Dallas, will be there - I'm looking forward to spending some time with him. Also, this year Mikey is coming with me, and so is a college friend Steve who is living in my house for the time being. He's got a job waiting for him back in Hawaii, but it doesn't start until mid January, so he'll be around through the holidays.

This year the convention will be a little different for me, as Tasty Minstrel will have a booth and I'm going to have to spend a lot of time manning it. I'll be demoing Terra Prime and homesteaders as well as next year's releases... lucky for me those are great games and I really like them! I hope that doesn't mean I have to miss too much of the rest of the convention... I'm sure it'll be OK.

I do love the holiday season, and I'm looking forward to all the games I'll play and fun I'll have. I'll be bummed when the new year rolls around, Steve heads back to Hawaii, and the world gets over the holiday spirit.

Frisbee regionals follow up post

2009-11-06T17:56:00.002-07:00

I mentioned last month that Barrio won the Region and qualified for Nationals. It turns out they finished 6th at Nationals - which I believe is their 3rd top-8 finish - each time 5th or 6th if I remember correctly.

Congrats to all my Barrio friends!

SW Regionals - not so good :(

2009-10-05T16:10:00.004-07:00

Last weekend was SW frisbee Regionals, and the Tucson Men's team Monsoon didn't fare as well as I'd hoped. We had 4 games on Saturday, 2 of which we were sure to lose (against Johnny Bravo from Colorado and against Street Gang from San Diego). However, the other 2 games (vs Monster from L.A. and Sunburn from the U of A) were certainly winable.

We played Monster first, and in true Tucson Ultimate form, we had a shakey start. I don't think I've ever been on a team that could get their shit together in the first half of the first game. We cleaned it up second half, but unfortunately time ran out on us - they won 11-8.

In the second game against Johnny Bravo we played pretty well - scoring 7 points total. I got a hand block against them which was fun, even if it was probably one of their second or third string players.

Our third game was against Sunburn, who we scrimmaged recently at practice. We beat them by 1 point in the scrimmage, despite truly terrible play. We were hopeful to play better this time and beat them definitively this time. The game started out OK, and we were up 8-5 at one point... but it was all downhill from there. We completely fell apart, and ended up losing 11-9. I pulled a muscle in this game, and didn't play as much as I would have liked - and I had 1 really embarrassing turnover as well... immediately after having a conversation with Anthony about cutting deep, I hucked to his deep cut - and though he had started going deep (as per the play), he inexplicably stopped. The disc sailed deep to nobody.

Dejected, we played our final game against San Diego without much heart. Not only were we outmatched, but I don't feel like we were trying very hard at that point, and they beat us 11-3.

Since we lost all of our games, there were no games scheduled for us on Sunday so I decided to come home that night rather than stay through the weekend. I did find out that Barrio - the Tucson co-ed team - won the Region and will be returning to Nationals again this year. Good job Barrio, and good luck in Florida!

Tasty Minstrel Games - Super Duper Pre-order Special!

2009-09-16T12:25:00.000-07:00

Tasty Minstrel Games has posted demo videos of the launch titles, Terra Prime and Homesteaders, as well as details of a terrific, limited time pre-order special:

1000 packages for US residents: $44.95 for BOTH games, shipping included!
100 packages for non-US orders: $59.95 for BOTH games, shipping included!

In addition, the 1st 100 people to order and also post some special html to their blog referencing Free Game Friday, get a plush Tasty Minstrel dragon!

All the details and all the links needed to order can be found on the same page as the demo videos.

There's also a give-away contest running right now at boardgamegeek.com where you could win a copy of each game! The contest and the super Duper sale end at about the same time, so anyone who pre-orders and then wins the contest can have their pre-order refunded with no hassle.

Good luck to all who enter the contest, and for anyone interested in these two games - I have to advise you jump on this special pre-order before they're all gone... It's an insane deal!

Hispanican?

2009-09-15T16:08:00.004-07:00

This conversation really happened today:

Lady I Know: "Seth, do you know if this last name is Jewish or not?"

Seth: "I've never heard that name before. It kinda sounds Hispanic to me, maybe Spanish."

LIK: "Her name is Deborah. She looks Jewish to me."

S: "Deborah is a Jewish sounding name. The last name would be her husband's though..."

LIK: "Yeah, maybe she married someone Hispanican."

Lazy Chef 1 - "Beef" Broccoli

2009-09-01T23:08:00.003-07:00

I've mentioned a couple times that I've been making more food at home than I used to, and I've even mentioned what I've been making. Now I've decided to start posting more specifically what I make - for example, I just got home and made myself a meal that was really tasty. Here's the "recipe" for it (this is largely for my own records - I guess that's true of all of my blog posts - but if you're lazy like me you might like to try it.

I'm calling these posts "Lazy Chef" because when it comes to cooking, I'm about as lazy as they come. I'm not interested in spending a lot of time cooking - when I get hungry I just want to eat! So the things I make aren't groundbreaking culinary adventures - But I think they're tasty. Then again, I can't smell, so that probably makes a difference.

"Beef" Broccoli
Tonight's dish is actually a variation on the Stir Fry I usually make. I started by boiling some water to make some instant rice. Minute Rice is the best, but Safeway's generic brand was way cheaper and isn't bad. I don't measure anything, so I just started with enough water to saturate the rice I was going to use, then I just eyeballed the rice. I like to use more than enough water, then just let it boil away. I don't have any the stir fry veggies that I usually use, instead I had a bag of frozen broccoli. So I simply defrosted some in the microwave, then dumped it in the pot with the rice. A meal isn't a meal without some meat, so I had to put something in there. Sometimes I use chicken, but what I had this time was Kielbasa. This is why I put the word beef in quotes in the title - because I never actually have beef on hand. I just cut the kielbasa up and tossed it in the pot as well.

To this Rice/Broccoli/Kielbasa mix I added butter, salt, garlic powder, teriyaki and soy sauces, and a little sugar. It only takes a couple of minutes to make, dirties just 1 pot, a slotted spoon, a knife for the meat, and the plate and fork I eat it with. Easy!

2009-08-08T11:47:00.002-07:00

I was relieved to hear that the final season of Monk started last night... not because I was looking forward to watching new episodes so much as I am looking forward to the show being over. Monk is a pretty boring show, and I got pretty sick of it a while ago. Having watched most of the episodes though I let my DVR continue to record them. At this point I only watch Monk out of some misplaced desire for completeness - maybe I have OCD or something.

Right now I'm watching the season premier, and the last line I heard was maybe the best line I've ever heard in an episode of Monk...

Monk and Natalie are standing outside the apartment of a murder victim.
Natalie: "Are you going in?"
Monk: "It would be a crime not to."
Natalie: "It would be a crime if we do!"
Monk: "Then it doesn't matter either way..."

Heh.

Finally (?) - the cleat debacle is over!

2009-07-23T12:35:00.002-07:00

So I ended up with these Adidas cleats, the cheap ones, and in the end if I don't use orthopedic insoles they actually fit. Of course, without the insoles I need 2 pair of socks to keep from getting a blister, and the other day at practice when I yanked out the insoles I didn't have another pair of socks... bottom line is, I have a blister that got ripped open and is very annoying and kinda painful :/

Fortunately, that kind of thing is temporary, and in the end I'll at least be able to run without my feet being in agony.

New stuff - redeaux - redeaux!

2009-07-21T13:35:00.002-07:00

When I got back from Seattle, I needed new cleats something fierce - one was splitting on the side, and both soles were actually starting to break! So I went back to Sports Authority and tried getting the same cleats I got last time, only in size 11. This was a disaster... they didn't have them that size, so I got the next model up (which cost an additional $40) - "Nike Total 90 Strike II". I'm not sure what was so good about these, but I know I don't need features designed for kicking a soccer ball! Anyway, I got them and hoped they'd fit better with the insoles and all that.

Well, they did fit better in the front - the toebox was no longer crushing my toes! However, as expected, size 11 shoes are simply too big! My feet were literally swimming around in them. I tried a 2nd pair of socks, and that helped a little, but the problem persisted. The insoles would literally move and one time one of them started creeping out of the shoe!

So, dejected, I went BACK to the store. Of course they won't take back shoes I've worn already, so I had to bu more new cleats. I tried the size 10.5 Total 90 Shoot II again, with smaller (3/4 length) insoles, but the toebox seems to be narrower than it used to be and it just didn't fit. So I looked at some Adidas cleats. I liked one of them, but it was REALLY narrow in the middle. In the end I bought a much cheaper pair of Adidas cleats. funny that the cheap ones fit better than the fancy, expensive models!

So now I have an extra pair of brand new, size 11, Total 90 Strike cleats (WITH a protection package!) that I don't know what to do with. Maybe I'll try to sell them on Craig's List or something.

:/

Upcoming travel

2009-07-20T16:34:00.002-07:00

I just got back from Seattle about two weeks ago, and Eugene 2 weeks before that, and I'm already thinking of my next trip!

There was some talk about the Tucson Men's Ultimate team going to a tournament in Colorado, but not enough people could make it, so that won't happen. Similarly, there was going to be a scrimmage in Flagstaff among a few local teams (Flagstaff, Phoenix, Tucson), but again due to short notice and scheduling issues, that was a no-go either. There's going to be a tournament in Flagstaff in mid-August, and I plan to go to that.

The first weekend in September there is a game convention in Los Angeles, Gateway, and I just got plane tickets and registered for that. I like this particular convention (and it's sister OrcCon in February) because they have a lot of little tournaments and I can actually win prizes. It gives me an opportunity to do some more competitive gaming than I get to do at some of my other conventions.

In September there's also Club Sectionals for frisbee, which I believe will be right here in Tucson, and assuming Monsoon doesn't do too poorly there I'll be going to Phoenix for Regionals in October. I think it's safe to say that Monsoon is in no danger of qualifying for Nationals.

And of course, I'm already registered and have a room reserved for BGG.con in November in Dallas. Tasty Minstrel Games will have a presence at that convention, and we're having a sort of launch party for the 2 games we're publishing... it's going to be really great!

In the meantime, here I am twiddling my thumbs, waiting for all of this fun stuff to happen!

1...6...5..!

2009-07-17T03:27:00.002-07:00

Yesterday, 3 different people told me I looked like I lost weight. One of them is someone who hates me ant normally avoids talking to me at all, but she went out of her way to say that I looked thinner.

When I got home from frisbee practice I stepped on the scale before getting in the shower, and it read 165! Sure, I hadn't eaten dinner yet so I wouldn't really call that an accurate assessment of my average weight, but still - that's THE LOWEST any scale has registered (when I was on it) since... since... since High School probably. Is that possible?

Sweet.

Burrwitch? Sandito? ... I guess it's just a wrap :/

2009-07-17T01:55:00.003-07:00

The other day I thought I was being creative when I made a burrito, only instead of rice, beans, chicken, sour creme and hot sauce I used ham, turkey, mayo, and catsup. It worked out really well, and I was trying to decide whether to call it a Sandito or a Burrwitch. It turns out that already exists and is called a Wrap (how boring!)

Excitement brewing

2009-07-16T15:36:00.001-07:00

Things are still underway regarding my game getting published, and there's not much left to do but wait.

I'm not going to lie, I'm a little excited and getting a little antsy!

Seattle trip - part 2

2009-07-09T13:15:00.003-07:00

As mentioned, I did play some pickup Ultimate on Sunday at Marymoor park. It was fun, and a good 2 hours of running. Unfortunately this would be the last exercise I got before Potlatch.

I went to the Cheesecake Factory with Renee, Matt, and Jonah for dinner. I've never been to Cheesecake Factory before, maybe because I don't care for cheesecake. I didn't realize that it's not only a restaurant, but that they have an absurdly large menu including many different types of food! It was pretty good too.

After dinner I stopped at a game store and picked up 2 games. I got Lost Cities: the Board Game for Jeremy and Amelia as a thank-you for putting me up (and putting up with me). They like the card game, and Jeremy was asking about the board game version. I also got a game that looked pretty interesting, but that I'd barely heard of called Masters of Venice. In that game you bu and sell stock in companies, and you also buy, sell and trade resources (which the companies deal in). the stock value and prices go up and down as you buy and sell things and as the companies "do business." It's a little confusing at first, but everything really works the way you'd expect based on supply and demand. Jeremy, Aaron and I played Masters of Venice twice. Aaron and Jeremy both did far better in the 2nd game, while I actually might have done worse!

Tuesday morning I drove to Vancouver, and it was just 2.5 hours from Jeremy's apartment to Jay's. The border crossing was interesting. I've been to London and through Mexico City, but both of those were by plane and I just filled out the paperwork on the plane and nobody grilled me about what I was doing in the country. I have crossed the boarder on foot in Nogales before, but that was many, many years ago and at the time they didn't care where you were going or what you were doing. I didn't really know what to expect at the Canadian border, but the experience turned out to be kind of amusing...

First I drove up to a booth at which a lady asked me some typical questions... what are you doing in Canada? Visiting a friend. What is your friend's name? Jay Cormier. Where did you meet Jay? In Las Vegas at a trade show. How long ago was that? Last April. How long will you be staying? Until Thursday. Nothing too exciting. Then she told me to pull under the canopy and go inside this building, so I did. Inside the building there was a waiting area, and counters behind which boarder agents stood. One of them called me over, and began by asking some of the same questions as the lady in the booth. However, he was getting much more detailed with his inquiries... What are you going to do with your friend Jay? Play board games. He gave me a quizzical look so I elaborated, like Monopoly, only different ones. What board games are you going to play?

Really? I thought, is he really interested in which board games we plan to play? I was torn as to how to answer this. Part of me wanted to be accurate and honest, but of course we hadn't planned ahead as to which board games to play. Part of me wanted to list off several Euro-strategy games, like Masters of Venice or Glory to Rome (which I had in my car), but knew he wouldn't have any idea what I was talking about. Part of me figured he just wanted to make sure i had some answer, and that part of me realized I was hesitating to answer while I ran through all these thoughts... so I finally said ... there are a thousand different board games, I don't know which we'll play. He went on with his questioning... Where are you from? Tucson, Arizona. You came all the way up here from Tucson to play board games?!?

Um... yes? He obviously doesn't know me. I didn't say that though, instead I said I'm on vacation in Seattle. Finally he was done with his inquisition and he asked me to wait. I sat down while he did whatever it is they do, and then he came back, called me back up, and sent me on my way. The whole process didn't really take very long, but it was surprising to me how interested they were in what I would be doing while visiting my friend. Also, I'll note that everyone I interacted with at the border was very, very grumpy.

Vancouver was nice. Jay actually lives in New Westminster, which is like a suburb or something. Like Tempe to Phoenix maybe. We hung out, talked about games, played some of his designs as well as a prototype being published by Tasty Minstrel. We went to a game night on Tuesday, and on Wednesday jay had a meeting with this comedy group which I tagged along for. It was pretty fun, I've always wanted to be involved with comedy in one way or another. Wednesday was also Canada Day - there were a million people out at the beach, and there were fireworks that night. Thursday morning Jay had to get back to work, so I headed back to Seattle.

There's a girl who works at Google in downtown Seattle that I knew in college but haven't seen in 10 years. It's too bad, too, because I really liked her 10 years ago! I found out she worked at Google, and tried to find a way to contact her, but to no avail. More recently I was able to contact her through Facebook (go go gadget social networking) and it turned out that while she was leaving for India on Friday, she was able to meet me for lunch on Thursday. We caught up a little bit and I saw some of the Google offices - looks like a cool place to work. While I was in the area, I stopped in at my friend's law office and surprised him. He didn't have much time to talk, but he invited me to play games the following Tuesday starting at 10am (planning to go all day).

It was still too early for anyone to be at Potlatch, and I had agreed to pick up some teammates, but not until 7pm, so I went to Renee's house and hung out with her for a while. Then I went to the airport and picked up some teammates and settled in for a weekend of frisbee! I made another airport run later to get 1 more guy, and I saw a bunch of people I know from various places... that's one of the things I love about a big tournament like Potlatch - running into people like Jeff Hartline, Giles Peng, Jen Shannon, Lauren from Flagstaff (now from Boulder), Lori Starr, Deb Weis, Dave Keifer, people from Phoenix, and of course my teammates from Victoria, Portland, Washington DC, Boulder, and Sacramento. Of course this time there were a handful of Tucsonans there as well, and I spent some time hanging out with them.

This year we didn't do near as well as we did last year, though much of the team was the same (guys anyway), and I think our women were probably stronger than last year's... we weren't gelling very well, there were clashes of attitude, and people just weren't on the same page much of the time. We had a lot of simple drops and throwaways. It was pretty frustrating, and while last year we went 6-2... this year we were only 2-6. Frustrating as it was though, it was still a fun weekend of frisbee in great weather.

Sunday night I went to dinner with Jeremy and company at Red Robin again. They put about 50% more chicken on my salad than normal, so that was good :) Monday I hung out with Renee, we did some errands (buy cat food, go to library) and had lunch at a grocery type place which was pretty good. Jonah was very well behaved the whole time. Later I played some Boom Blox on the Wii while Renee tried to get some sleep, and finally Renee and I met Matt for dinner at a place called Z Tejas.

After dinner i decided I wanted some ice cream, so I went to Cold Stone before returning to Jeremy's, where he Emily and I played Lost Cities again, and then Jeremy, Aaron and I played another round of Dominion. We played several games of Dominion while I was there, and they have a stuffed sheep which they use like a trophy - I managed to win the sheep before leaving, thus taking the title with me... just in time for intrigue (an expansion) to come out next week! Haha!

The next morning, everyone went to work, and I packed my stuff to get ready to leave. My flight wasn't until 3:15, so I decided to go to that game day thing for a while - it was in a Microsoft building which happened to be only a couple blocks from Jeremy's apartment! Good thing too, because when I was almost to the building, I actually ran out of gas! It was pretty embarrassing - and the car gave no physical warning. It had a low fuel light, but didn't act at all funny before simply cutting out in the middle of the road. I drifted into a parking lot and about 30% of the way into a parking spot before the car stopped going. I felt pretty stupid for letting this happen, but luckily I was right next to where I was going, and my lawyer friend was able to give me a ride to a gas station real quick. I ate lunch at the Microsoft building (it's a cafeteria they meet in to play games), and then finally had to get on my way.

I got to the airport just in time to return my car and check in for my 3:15 flight. I got to the counter just after 2:00, but the check-in computer told me it was too late to check in! A man working for the airline said he didn't know why, but he got me checked in. I had to check a bag, which I hate doing (even moreso now that it costs $20), but he took care of that too. When I got to my gate I thought something was fishy... nobody was boarding, or waiting to board, and the sign said the flight to San Francisco (where I had a connecting flight) was at 5-something, not 3:15. It turns out the plane had mechanical problems, so to make sure I didn't miss my connection they put me on another airline through Phoenix to Tucson, arriving 1 hour later than I would have. 2 different people called the baggage people and let them know to put my checked bag on the right plane.

When I arrived in Tucson, my bag did not come out in the baggage claim. I figured it must have gotten on the plane to San Fran after all, and maybe missed the connection and was still up there. After talking to the US Air people about it and arranging for them to deliver the bag when it did arrive, I decided to just check the United baggage office, as United was my original carrier... and sure enough, somehow my bag was right there. I now suspect that the bag was put on the 5-something flight and DID make the connection, and had been sitting in Tucson for an hour. I'm glad I checked!

Finally, I got home, and my little kitty cat was very happy to see me! She curled up within reach and I was able to pet her all evening, and she even slept in my bed with me (which she hasn't done since she was really little)! Evie is so cute! I was sorry to leave Seattle, but it was also good to be home. Except for the weather - when we stopped over in Phoenix the pilot said local temperature was 104 degrees... at 7:30pm!

Where do you buy good, inexpensive furniture?

2009-07-09T10:55:00.003-07:00

I need to buy some bookshelves to hold my board games - ideally I'd like 2 of them, 33" wide x 12" deep or so, the taller the better (i.e. not just 4 shelves).

I seem to remember someone telling me about a great furniture store, I think it was on Broadway, which had good furniture at a discount price. I don't recall if it was used or something, and I don't recall where exactly it was or what it was called.

Anybody know what I'm talking about? Or know where I can find some nice bookshelves at a decent price? Please leave a comment if you do... thanks!

Edit: This is what I'm talking about! Is $183 a good price? I think I might go ahead and order 2 of these... Still looking for comments though, if you have any!

Seattle trip - and how Car Rental is the biggest scam ever!

2009-06-28T03:46:00.006-07:00

Once again I have ventured up to Seattle for my annual summer vacation, and once again I'm staying 11 days to visit friends and family. This time there's more family to visit, as My sister had her little baby, and I finally got to meet Jonah!

I arrived in Seattle on Friday, after Diana was nice enough to drop me off at the airport. She also gave me something she'd made to give to Jonah - a stuffed Octopus and a matching baby blanket. Diana has become very crafty. When I got to the airport, I rented a car and then headed to Redmond to meet friends at Red Robin.

... A word about rental cars...
Car Rental agencies have quickly ascended toward the top of my list of institutions I find unreasonable and ridiculous. I realized that I should have booked a car in advance, and I was already kicking myself for not having done so. However, they're still car rental agencies, and they still rent cars to people, right? Well, that's not as clear cut as you might think:

Avis, Budget, and Alamo all have deals with Southwest, and offer discounts and double credit for Southwest Rewards members, so I first stopped at the Avis counter and said "Hi, I don't have a reservation, but I'd like to rent a car." Despite a sign that said "Cars Available," their response was "Sorry, all I have left is exotic stuff, like Hummers and Cameros, they're upwards of $150/day." OK... I'll try the next counter...

Alamo had a big line, but Budget's counter was bare - I said the same thing there, and the lady behind the counter answered very curtly "I've got no cars whatsoever, I'm completely sold out." Ok - I guess I'll wait in the Alamo line then. Maybe the reason there's a line at Alamo's counter is because they have cars..?

No. They told me all they have is some convertibles for $78+ a day, nothing compact or cheap. I was beginning to worry a little bit at this point, and was starting to make preparations for a somewhat desperate plan. Back at the Avis counter I inquired about making a reservation for Saturday or Sunday, and was planning to perhaps rent a more expensive car until then, and come back and swap them out in a day or two. It would have been a pain in the ass, but at least it would have worked. I was in luck! The guy was able to reserve me a car for the next day! He said I could pick it up anytime, even like 8am. I asked when I should come in order to ensure there would be a car for me - how could I be sure if they don't have anything now, you know? His reply... "oh, we'll always have a car for you. If we're out of this one, we'll give you a bigger size."

I started to think something was a little fishy at this point, and I formulated a better plan. Unfortunately, SeaTac airport doesn't have free WiFi, so I couldn't just get online and make a reservation. Instead, I called a friend and got him to look up some phone numbers for me, and then I called Avis, Alamo, and budget and made reservations for 3pm Friday (which was 10 minutes away). I was able to get a reservation for all three, and I was quoted prices which, of course, were different fromt he ones the guy at the counter had given me (you never seem to get the same quote twice from rental agencies).

Armed with my reservation number, I walked up to the Budget counter as they were the cheapest price (by only a couple dollars over Avis). The person in front of me in line was on the phone with someone, obviously distraught, and said "they don't have any cars-" and was promptly interrupted by the clerk "I didn't say we didn't have any cars, I said that all reservations are waiting..." I'd heard enough. This was the same lady who told me they were completely sold out, and obviously these people had a reservation and were having a problem. I decided to go to Avis.

Again armed with a reservation number, I talked to the Avis clerk )not the same one as before) and not only did they have a car for me, but while I reserved a sub-compact, they gave me a Toyota Corrolla (which I believe is "full size") for the same price!

So after over an hour of consternation, a little panic, and frustration, I finally was driving away in a car which - after $560 rental fee and then over 50% taxes and stuff - is mine through next Tuesday when I go home. My god renting cars is expensive! I'm going to drive the shot out of this thing while I've got it!

...and now back to your regularly scheduled vacation report...
On the way into Redmond I picked up my friend Sean, then Jeremy and his sister Emily met us at Red Robin. I started last year's vacation with dinner at Red Robin and then Game Night at Uncle's Games, and I really liked how that went. I think my typical vacation will start that way from now on.

Renee, Matt, and Jonah were able to join us as well, on their Anniversary no less, and I finally got to see the little guy in the flesh! Jonah is about 1 month old, and man, is he tiny! Babies - they're just like real people, only smaller...

After dinner we went to Uncles and Alex met us there. Renee and Matt went home, and the rest of us played Battlestar Galactica. Alex and Sean had some variant rules they use, and they'd tweaked most of the character powers a little and also added some new made-up characters. I think I may have played out BSG, but it was kinda fun. The character I picked was one of the new ones - Sharon "Athena" Agathon - and she started in the Brig. that was boring, I spent the whole first half of the game in the Brig, doing nearly nothing. I ended up being a Human, and the Humans won fairly handily except for being a little low on fuel.

After BSG, Jeremy and Emily tried Cow Tipping, a prototype card game that Michael has decided Tasty Minstrel Games will publish - while I taught Glory to Rome to Alex and Sean. They liked it, and Alex said he'd want to play it some more, however the store was closing so we headed home. I was hoping Mohan and Runjith would make it to Uncles like last year, and I kinda thought I was going to stay in their apartment, but I haven't heard from Mohan lately and they weren't there. Fortunately, Jeremy and Amelia (and now Emily and her husband Aaron who live with them) always seem happy to have me, so I am staying with them this weekend.

When we got to Jeremy's house, he, Aaron and I played 4 hands of Dominion, each of us winning one, and then Jeremy being the first to win 2 (which is what we decided to play to). One of those games Jeremy beat me by just 1vp!

Today, Jeremy, Amelia and I played Cow Tipping. Then they two, Emily, Aaron and I all went to get Teriyaki at a really good place - I liked it a lot. After that Aaron, Jeremy and I played a couple hands of Race for the Galaxy - one in which Jeremy beat me by 1vp AGAIN, and Aaron was only maybe 2vp behind me. The second game I had started really well, but we had to abort because Aaron and Emily had to go to some Red Hook Brewery tour thing.

Ameila went to study (she's taking the Bar soon), and I talked Jeremy into playing glory to Rome. We played 2 games, and in one he beat me by 1vp yet again! Then we played a couple of songs worth of Rock Band - oh my god am I bad at drums! After that we left to pick up Sean and attend a game night in Seattle with Julie, Peter, Alex, his GF Julie, and some other people. Jeremy and I played a few games of something called Twitch, which is a speed game sort of thing (fun, but not the best game - some rules ambiguity). Then we played Smallworld with Julie and Peter, then a 2 player game of Smallworld, then we went to dinner with Alex and Julie, and finally played another game of Smallworld with those two.. all in all, we played a lot of Smallworld. Alex played several games of Glory to Rome with other people, so he got a chance to play it some more.

And then we came home at 3 in the morning, and I spent an hour writing this blog post! If I were less tired I probably would have simply summarized stuff, for example the entire last paragraph could have just been "We played some games".

Tomorrow I plan to play some pickup ultimate at Marymoor park, which happens to be right by Jeremy's place, then go to dinner with Renee and Matt while Jeremy Raids - he plays World of Warcraft... but everybody's got their faults ;)

Monday afternoon there is pickup frisbee at Microsoft campus, and it turns out that Jeremy's place is super close to that as well! I'm so glad Jeremy (and co.) considered my convenience when choosing an apartment - it really couldn't be more convenient.

New stuff - redeaux

2009-06-28T03:37:00.002-07:00

Last week I picked up some new stuff at Sports Authority, including a pair of cleats. Well, let me tell you about these cleats...

First off, they're the exact same make and size as my current pair, but the new version of the model (Nike "Total 90 Shoot II" rather than just "Total 90 Shoot"). The new version of the same shoe. When I got home and put the brand new insoles in them, my foot would no longer fit in the shoe. This was disappointing in general, but doubly so since I should have realized it would happen. In my current cleats I wear a 3/4 length insole, and maybe that's why it seems to fit better (also possibly because my cleats are broken in and stretched out a bit). So, annoyed, I removed the insoles and tried putting the cleats on without them... and they didn't fit right!

I swear they seemed to fit alright in the store, but putting them on at home it was pretty clear that they were just a little too tight in the front. It was like 10.5 was too small, but I'm sure size 11 would be too big. I even checked with the foot-sizer thingy at the store!

So why is it that the same make, same size, basically same model shoe no longer fits while my old shoes do? Just to annoy me? In the end I returned the cleats, the insoles, and the $10 protection package. I didn't really have time to be shopping for new cleats, I'll have to do that when I get back from Seattle. Fortunately my current cleats are in good enough shape that I don't need new ones yet...

New stuff

2009-06-22T15:18:00.004-07:00

I went to Sports Authority during lunch and picked up some new stuff - mainly I needed new insoles for my cleats because I tore through the ones I had during the tournament last weekend. I got better ones this time which will hopefully hold up better.

While I was there I got a new pair of cleats, some compression shorts, and a hat! Once in a while it's good to get new things. My hat is falling apart, and I only have 2 pair of compression shorts that I like, and I need them 5 days a week. Not sure I really needed new cleats, but I decided to try a pair with a different cleat pattern. I also got a $10 'protection plan' because it sounds like they're really liberal in what they'll replace. Within 13 months if, say, the spikes wear down (likely with the ground here being so hard) or the insides tear up (I tear through heels and toes of cleats pretty fast), they'll send me a check for the full purchase price plus tax... Hopefully I'll remember to keep the receipt and claim the new shoes next year!

Another movie quote

2009-06-14T02:29:00.003-07:00

A really good movie was on tonight, Sleepers. I actually have the DVD, and have seen it 2 or 3 times, but it's such a good movie that I couldn't resist watching again, even if only the 2nd half.

There are some good lines int he movie, but this one struck me as blog worthy. Unfortunately I won't be able to replicate the guy's accent...

"Justice is blind where the judge sits... but not out here. Out here, the bitch got eyes."

"Vacation - all I ever wanted... Vacation - got to get away!"

2009-06-13T16:48:00.005-07:00

It's almost time for my annual summer vacation, and I've been really procrastinating on making plans! I've finally started to map out my trip to the Pacific NW, and here's how it's looking so far:

First off, as I mentioned I'm going to Eugene next weekend for frisbee. I was considering going directly to Seattle from Oregon, and just hanging out there for 2 weeks through Potlatch, but I've decided not to do that. Instead I'll be flying back and forth a little bit, but in the end it'll work out better this way.

Friday the 26th I hope to find good plane tickets (I'd better get on that!) which will put me in Seattle in time to rent a car and get to Red Robin at Redmond Town Center around dinnertime (5ish). Ideally some or all of my friends in Seattle (Sean, Mohan, Runjith, Alex, Jeremy, Amelia, Julie, Peter, Renee, Matt...) will be able to meet me for dinner there, then we could go to Uncle's Games for their Friday night game night. Last year that worked out really well and was a great start to my vacation.

I hope to spend the weekend with my friends, hanging out, playing games, doing whatever. I believe there's a game night on Saturday night that I might go to, and I will play pickup ultimate at Marymoor park on Sunday.

Monday there's a frisbee pickup game on Microsoft campus, I went to a couple of those last year and they were fun. I met a guy who played at Nationals against the Barrio team from Tucson, who just happens to work in the office next to my friend Peter!

After frisbee (and a shower) I would like to drive up to Vancouver. I've never been there but have been meaning to go. I hear it's real nice, and that there's good frisbee to be had, though I'm not sure I'll get to play any frisbee in Vancouver this time. Instead, I will meet up with Jay, who I met at the GAMA trade show. I really enjoyed hanging out with him in Las Vegas, and Tasty Minstrel Games will be publishing a game of his, so I'll be working on it with him - I'm looking forward to that. I liked the game when I played it at GAMA.

I'll stay with Jay for 2 days, then I'll head back down to Seattle on Thursday, when my Potlatch teammates should start to arrive. I'll be all about frisbee through the weekend, camping on the fields, playing 3 days of Ultimate, and hanging out with a ton of cool people. Potlatch is by far my favorite tournament of the year, and the team I have been playing with has been a lot of fun. It's about 40% people from the Sacramento area, 40% people from Canada, and 10% people like me from here or there around the country. I met most of these guys when I went to Acapulco for frisbee, which I did 4 or 5 times - though not in several years now. The Acapulco trip was also a fun one, but Potlatch is a better trip overall for me because I get to spend the week in Seattle vacationing.

After Potlatch on Sunday I hope to visit with my sister, brother in law, and brand new Nephew! Jonah Reuben Titelbaum is gong to be about 2 months old by then, and I would like to meet him already!

I'm not sure how long after Potlatch I'll stay in Seattle. I keep thinking that if I stay through Wednesday or Thursday, I might as well stay through the next weekend - but then I have to find things to do all week. There's Microsoft pickup Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and Sean said there's a group that meets at Google offices to play games on Wednesday nights (I wouldn't mind seeing Google), and last year I remember going to a game night at a Microsoft building as well with Christopher Rao (someone who's into game design). I could probably visit with my sister a lot as well, maybe help her out with whatever I can - I understand it's hard to do stuff with a baby!

The down side is that I'd miss an extra week of frisbee league, and 2 weeks is a really long time to leave my kitty alone, even if Mandy will happily watch my DVR the entire time I'm gone.

So I'm set through Potlatch weekend, I just have to bu some tickets, which means I have to figure out when to come home. It's looking like a great vacation so far though!

Shape it up - and other life updates

2009-06-08T01:33:00.003-07:00

Ever since I went to Ogden to play Frisbee at a tournament called Daweena (which it appears I never blogged about), I decided it is high time I got back into shape! I am much too slow and weak to be playing frisbee tournaments as it is. In an effort to do so I not only have been going to Conditioning, and now *2* frisbee practices a week as well as league and pickup (5 days a week of exercise!), but I also cut sodas down to 1 per week (another 1 or 2 on weekends) and quit eating brownies and candy and stuff like that. I figured if I lost weight it would help the fitness thing... I am between 172 and 175 now, which is pretty good. I've been slipping a little on the food part, but as yet I haven't appreciably gained any weight. Maybe it's time to target 165-170...

In two weeks I'll be going to another tournament, this one in Eugene, and I'd like to perform well there. Two weeks after that is Potlatch, and that's probably going to be even more fun (and the better I play, the more fun it'll be!)

While I'm in Seattle for Potlatch, I'll also meet my brand new baby nephew! Renee had a baby boy about 2 weeks ago, Jonah Reuben Titelbaum. By the time I get out there he'll be about 6 weeks old... not old enough to hold a frisbee yet, but before too long I'll teach him how to throw.

Today I spent all day in a house full of 3 year olds (or younger). My friend Marc's daughter had her 2nd birthday party, and there were about 6 kids (age range 2-3), 3 babies (non-ambulatory), and maybe 20 adults. It showed how nice and big Marc's house is to comfortably host so many people! And it was a zoo of little 2-3 foot tall people running around making messes left and right, and shouting. I still want a kid, but maybe just one. And I don't look forward to birthday parties like that!

And finally, another amusing thing I saw on the internet. Actually, I saw this on Comedy Central, and then looked it up on the internet... There's a gu who wrote some amusing songs (raps, actually) and put them on YouTube in order to show his brother. I guess they got really popular, and this guy has a CD out and a Comedy Central Presents segment on TV. His name is Bo Burnham, and really he's more clever than he is funny - a lot of his jokes are sexual in nature, or crude... but it's the cleverness for which I give him props. Some of his songs are puns on top of puns on top of puns. If you think you might be into that kind of thing then check him out.

Clothes that fit

2009-05-13T11:47:00.004-07:00

For a long time I've been wearing clothes that are too big for me. In particular, I always wear Large T-shirts as opposed to Medium ones. I also have some sweatshirts that are way too big for me, and they just don't look right.

Recently, when thinking about losing weight, I decided to start wearing clothes that fit. I think it's better that way. Maybe it will also help me keep from getting fatter, because the clothes will start to feel tight rather than just be baggy all the time.

Overdue update

2009-05-11T01:09:00.004-07:00

I haven't posted in almost a month... so what have I been up to?

Frisbee
As usual, I've been playing Ultimate. Practice has begun for the Tucson Men's team, Monsoon. My current frisbee schedule is Conditioning on Monday, League on Wednesday, Practice on Thursday, and Pickup on Sunday. Last year with this schedule I actually got into pretty good shape by Potlatch (4th of July), but I feel like right now I'm in terrible shape, and I feel like I've been moving really slow... so I don't know if that schedule will be enough.

I will note that my league team is leading the league after the regular season! Wednesday is Quarterfinals, and if we win that game then we will have semifinals and finals next week :)

Diet
In an effort to get into better shape, I've decided to lose some weight. I've been watching it for a while and hovering around 175-178 pounds. I'd said before that I'd rather weigh 165-170, but I haven't been actively trying to lose weight. Well, now I am. I've cut soda down to 1 during the week and maybe another on the weekend (down from 1 per day), and I've stopped eating the brownies Mandy has been bringing to game nights. I think I've already lost a couple of pounds this week!

Travel
Despite being out of work for the last 6 months, I have gone on a number of trips. Most recently I flew to Utah for a frisbee tournament. My flight would have had a layover in Los Angeles, so I talked to Stephanie and arranged to go to L.A. on Thursday and hang out with her*, then continue on to Utah on Friday. Steph had a game night at her house that Thursday night and I played a couple of games I'd not played before - one was called Big Boss, the other Corsairs. Unfortunately, neither one was terribly good. Big Boss wasn't terrible, but was largely dependent on what cards you draw (and it's not a card game, and some cards are way better than others). Corsairs was, as one guy put it, 8 minutes of fun in a 45 minute package.

* I had asked Steph before buying the ticket if stopping off in L.A. was a good idea or not, and she said she thought it would be fun... but I really got the impression she didn't want me there. I knew she would have work to do, so I brought my computer and planned to be as flexible as possible. When not doing work though, Steph spent almost all her time on the phone with another friend or else grilling me for being cheap. She kept asking if there was anything I wanted to do, and I kept saying that the only thing I wanted to do in particular while I was there was to play 1 game of Fermat with her, and she blew that off. She also swapped me off of her team for Times Up immediately after I mentioned that for once we'd be the same team. I don't know if I've ever felt less welcome.

Other recent trips include:
* Las Vegas for the GAMA trade show - a trade show for the Game industry. Mike, Erin and I learned a lot and made a lot of contacts there, and for me in particular I'm referring to a game designer we met who has a game we (Tasty Minstrel Games) might want to publish. Also, the designer guy was really cool, I liked him a lot.

* Portland for Gamestorm and to visit Jeremy. Jeremy and Amelia will be moving back to Seattle, just in time for me to visit them again on my annual 4th of July trip for Potlatch.

Upcoming trips:
* San Fransisco for KublaCon game convention in about 2 weeks
* Eugene Oregon for Solstice frisbee tournament in June
* Seattle for Potlatch frisbee tournament in July
* L.A. for Strategicon game convention in September
* Dallas for BGG.con game convention in November

Work
I still haven't found an engineering job, but things are looking up for Bobbie's new company Mooradian and Associates, so I'm hopeful for some full time employment there. I may be getting a phone call to do some temporary "consulting" for them in the meantime. So I guess that's good.

Movies
I went to see Star Trek the other day. I've never been a big fan of Star Trek, but I can say that they did a good job with the new movie. The casting was great, and I really liked the movie. If I had to complain, I'd say they drew out some of the early scenes with Kirk as a kid, and then they really rushed to get all the characters aboard the Enterprise.

I don't want to spoil anything for anyone, so I'll be a little cryptic - I was really surprised to see that guy on the icy planet (not Scotty and his little buddy). I'm SO glad that wasn't in the previews! I noticed that the story made it possible for them to really re-start the franchise from the beginning, like James Bond got a reboot with Casino Royale and Batman Begins started that franchise from scratch again. They did it in such a way that the original series can remain intact and not cause contradictions for big fans. The only old Star Trek movie I remember is Star Trek IV - the one where they go back in time to save the whales. I remember Scotty talking to an old Macintosh, and someone says "no, no... you have to use the mouse!" After which he picks up the mouse and tries talking into it.

I also recently saw Monsters Vs Aliens, The Watchmen, and Push (all pretty good), as well as Taken (awful). On my satellite I watched Journey to the Center of the Earth (terrible), Forgetting Sarah Marshall (not bad), and I've recorded but not watched Traitor, Pan's Labrynth, Intacto (seen before - neat movie), and Ghost in the Shell II (I heard something bad about it since I recorded it).

Television
As for TV I've been watching a lot of Crossing Jordan. Some channel plays it every weekday morning at 5am. I watched all of season 6, and then they started over with season 1 so I'm watching that. I like that they play them in order. I have watched maybe the first half of season 7 of 24... it's not terribly good. I still think the only interesting thing they can do with that franchise is to have Jack Bauer turn into a terrorist - maybe in a feature film as opposed to another season of the show. Other shows I've been watching are Chuck, Heroes (thank god it's over - it's finally starting to get a little better), In Plain Sight, Scrubs, Burn Notice (starting again soon!), The Unusuals (pretty dumb), and something called Deadliest Warrior where they pit 2 of history's deadliest warriors against each other by studying their weapons via modern technology and then simulating a fight to see who would win. They reveal the outcome by acting it out, and it's all very cool. They've done Pirate vs Knight, Ninja vs Spartan, Apache vs Gladiator, Viking vs Samurai, and Mafia vs Yakuza so far.

How does one write a TV show?

2009-04-21T01:11:00.003-07:00

I recently had an idea which I thought would make a quality television program, but it occurs to me that I have no idea how to go about writing a TV show.

My best guess is to make a sort of outline for the season-long story, then break it down into salient pieces. In theory, each 'piece' would be 1 episode.

In the case of Jury Duty, the season long story would be the case on trial - which I could model after one of the interesting complicated cases I've seen on Law & Order. Each episode then would have to either reveal a new and interesting part of the case, or would focus on one of the characters... maybe some history which will give some insight into how they see the case. In fact, in parallel with the outline of the case, maybe a character sketch of each juror (as well as the Judge, Prosecutor, and Defense attorney) would be worth making, to ensure they can be overlapped in interesting ways. I wouldn't want the show to peter out halfway through the year like the first two seasons of 24...

Also, I think it would be good to simply take 1 season at a time, keeping one season more or less separate from the next. 24 did that, of course continuing characters from one season to the next (and along with them all their new history from previous seasons). This would be better than the Battlestar Galactica fiasco, where it was clear they had no idea where they were going with the story after about season 2 and started just making things up as they went.

Perhaps I'll put some thought into this, and see if I can't come up with an outline for a seasons worth of Jury Duty, the TV show :)

Funny quotes in bad movies

2009-04-20T23:07:00.003-07:00

Bad movies are great places to find funny quotes, like the classic Dazed and Confused line I've posted before.

Today I heard a terrible line from a terrible movie:

"I think I've become the next evolution of man. I just gave birth to a piece of dark matter."

I don't even know the name of the movie - I only saw the end of it. But I assure you, it was terrible.

The other night I was watching part of Bring it On, which is not a terrible movie, and there was a pretty good quote in that:

"This isn't about cheating... This is about winning. Everyone in favor of winning..?"

I'll watch for more good quotes and I'll try to remember to post them here.