Why would anyone do that?

And this is why they call it the interwebs - see the Game Night photos on Flickr, for crying out loud, courtesy of Link.n.Logs. Say what?

Nothing warms the soul like victory!

OK. Look, I'm gonna fess up and admit that the game I FINALLY won at Game Night was one I brought myself and that I honed my skills on said game ("Sharp Shooters"--really just dice--lots of dice--scary, mutant, nightmarish scads of dice--hundreds of little white dots embossed into the faces of those smug little red cubes. God may not play dice with the universe, but, by Dog and praise Jeebus, Dr. Kirby does! Hooowah!!) losing endless times to Mrs. Dr. Kirby who is, I hasten to add, something of a prodigy with dice games, particularly those not involving money (the Great Vegas Craps System has yet to emerge, but hope springs infernal). But I digress. Cold, cold, cold day and yet I left the GameDen feeling warm and snuggly, having actually bested the lads at...something.

Naturally, I was unsuccessful with either of the other games, but, by Gad, they were a gas! Would that travel around the real world ("Real World"--feh!--what a specious bit of myth THAT is!) was as easy as in the World Traveller game--a roll of the dice, the draw of a card, and the advancement of one's tiny li'l rocketship toward one's intended destination--I'd happily trade my aging jetpack and faulty Area 51 surplus teleportation tube for such easy travel!

And--"Apples to Apples"--this has to have been design by Dali. Brilliant, surreal comedramedy to be had from these brightly-hued pasteboards. Yes, "Chicken" was the universal answer--though I suspect "bacon" (the victual, not the actor) would have served as well. I feel I played my "Bruce Willis" card far to early in the game, and bowed, once again, to the Master of Games. "Hooowah," indeed.

Sure missed my buddy Zeus....

January Photoplay

It's all been said, or has it? I love the world travel almost as much as the Dr. misses the Cold War. And by rocket ship! Wrong airport! Bumped! Import-export is no game for amateurs. Is this legitimate smuggling or just a cover for espionage? Here Col. Spymaster lays out his plans of conquest.

And this happy traveller remembered to put all his liquids im 7 oz. containers:











Then we shot craps. $1000 against our immortal souls. The dice loved the Doctor:





Finally the game where surrealism scores big. Yes, "Chicken" is always a correct answer but it was "The Big Bang Theory" that took the cake:

Triple Play! January's frozen fun fest!

Game one: "Wide World". Each player uses a metal jet (rocket) to whizz to exotic destinations on a coloful map of terra firma. Once there they collect product cards ( ex: 'England is Wood' ) and then rush off to the next destination and finally the South Pole for the win. Each players Product Cards are kept face down and they must remember what country they are from and what the product is or risk losing them to other players. Red dots mean take a 'Travel Agent' card that can throw a wrench in the works or clear the airways. I played this often as a kid and it's still enjoyable. All smiles all around and all recommend this early 1960's classic. Greg won in a gripping climactic chase to the land of the penguins!

Game two: "Shooters" Yellow cards are laid out and players take turns rolling up to six of their own eight dice and making matches with the cards pictured dice. Win chips! Lose chips! Eat chips! Dr Kirby won this one. His hot hand fair melted the tumblin' bones! Easy and pleasy! We all recommend!

Game three: "Apples to Apples!" A card is laid out with a word on it and the players draw from their hands to try and match the chosen words meaning with humor, irony, idiocy or whatever may appeal to the rotating judge. The winner takes the laid card. Most judged matches wins. And the winnah was ...well... you can almost see for yourself. Even though I lost I made a grand showing with the words 'Cher', 'Chicken' and last but surely not least 'Britney Spears'. She is a Slave 4 Me! Really, for all of us though. Good rollickin' fun!