July Fly By

Game One: T.L.I.F.A.U redux.

OK. So first off we try "They Live In Fear Among Us" version c. Better but still no bell ringin' cigar winnin' wonder. Changes must be made!And soon! The game moved slightly better and as for the outcome ...well ...I won so how could that be bad? I guess because I had to be murdered by the angry mob to win. A cheezy deal but victory is victory and with my record for defeat I'll take a win just about any way I kin! Here we see the disapointed mulling their next move. Oh! Our special guest for the evening was a Chester legged "Evil" E. He was eliminated from the game. A comfort to see the bad get theirs!

Second Game: Redneck Life: Now here is a game that the entire gang could really relate to.Player with the most teeth at the end wins! A total and complete laugh riot. Universally acclaimed as the best game we've ever had at game night so far! More har-har than is usually legal. Players roll to see what their highest level of ejikashun will be and then are assigned a job. Yew also gits a wife or too latur on. I had the bad luck of getting the lowest level of learnin' possible (2nd grade!), came in dead last to the'day of reckonin . Managed to beat all the other rubes by a pretty good margin! Yeah I couldn't believe it myself.

Here (at the right) we see an image of one of the fine houses thatwere for sale in the game. This one has an eery similarity to a pal of Dr Ubi and mine from many years ago when we both did time on the Soo in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Brr! How's it possible?!

And finally a click of 'Evil' giving his best grimace over the board of his defeat.
Fun was had and if the past is any gauge of the future then I surely see "Redneck Life" being hauled out and played in the future. Highly recommended! Four Stars Two!thumbs way Up! Etc.!!!

Fortuna, nimium quem fovet, stultum facit

"Fortune, when she caresses a man too much, makes him a fool" Publilius Syrus

"We must believe in luck. For how else can we explain the success of those we don't like?" Jean Cocteau

Many of our interweb friends ask me... OK. It's not unusual, in my work-a-day life, for it to be inquired of me... Alright, cards on the table. It is a puzzlement inside my own head as to how it is that month upon month I am winning at Game Night (the voices, oh, the voices, yes, but don't think that I don't know what some of you are thinking. I'm looking at you Dr. R.)
...

OK. Much easier to write now that the meds have kicked in. What I mean to say, boys and girls, is that we live in a material universe. Therefore, there is no such thing as luck. And, let me tell you, hard work is overrated as well. Not that I take any chances along those lines. And that is why, month in and month out, I stick to these lucky 7 simple rules,

board.n.room's Tips for Inexplicable Game Night Success:

1) Arrive first
2) Order the grilled cheese sandwich
3) Drink the bourbon and only the bourbon
4) Load the dice
5) Deal from the bottom
6) Keep your eye on the dialectic
7) Never cross a redhead

There you be. Don't say I never show my cards.

"The deepest thing in any one is the conviction of the bad luck that follows boasting." Gertrude Stein

In June the Timuz is sweet

Putzing about with the camera as I waited for gamers to arrive for the traditional pregame repast I took this hint of our undisclosed location which is actually the POV for the photo and not its subject either reflected or direct. But who's the dude? And what are his intentions? And what's TIMUZ?

Killing time. The oh so pleasent early June evening was also not without the occasional distraction in passing of the female persuasion. After I had holstered my camera, alas. Yes, you wish. If necessary refer to "Frank can run but he can't hide" from this March.


Finally fed, we proceed to the gaming. What have we here? Col. Blame unveils a Game Night first, an original confection called They Live in Fear Among Us.





Communal paranoia! Red, green and blue aliens! I was first to reveal my alienosity but, unlike the Doctor, had no difficulty "passing" amongst the Angry Mob. I was apprehended by the feckless Sheriff but was released before you could say "habeus corpus" and slithered victorious to the nearby Swamp. Up yours earth people!


Here I whisper sweet alien nothings in the Widow Smith's ear. T.L.I.F.A.U. has adjustments to be made but shows real promise for earth gamers and those of extra-terrestial origin alike.
Second round, Showdown Yahtze. The dice did everything I asked of them. I exhausted my supply of point tokens and still rolled on. There's madness in them dice, I tell you.

As always, full color, suitable for framing, Game Night photos (those seen here and bonus pics as well) can be found at the Game Night flickr set: http://www.flickr.com/photos/23129636@N02/sets/72157603820898882/

Look at Me, I'm a SPACEMAN!

That is to say...a DEAD spaceman.

Manomonkey, we out-cheapassed Cheap Ass this time, what with my handy Found Objekt Jah-Tse board game (found in an alley--the board game version of "direct-to-video"--which suggests its previous owner(s) weren't hip to the Game Kings Two Big Secrets of Big Time Game Night Fun: Alcohol and Apathy) and Mr. Blame Game's soopah doopah home-made aliens-n-angry mobs opus. I was mighty proud to be the first surreptitious Bug-Eyed Alien Type to be revealed, handed over to the Angry Mob and sent to meet my Green-Skinned Maker in a game that's sure to sweep the nation in mere weeks--if the nation knows what's good for it And if I'm any judge of national self-awareness, I'm sure it does (know what's good for it, that is). Of course, I also find clowns HILARIOUS--but not for the reason clowns find themselves hilarious.

Oh yeah, and I just gotta add:
Man, I like me some wasabi peas--especially them mean-ass hot ones D-Man picked up over to the co-op. Whooo-eeee!

Finally, to paraphrase Bobby Sherman, ca 1970: "Remember, when you're flashing that peace sign to your alien brother--you better mean it!"

Klaatu Barada Game Kings!

Junes Alien Tune

Game One: T.L.I.F.A.U (They Live In Fear Among Us)!!! :

Oh Yeah! We're livin' big large now! A home made game that I dreamed up to flog at this years HUGE Sci-Fi extravaganza Convergence! Aliens! Saucers! A Cop! A Widow and a vicious Angry Mob! What more could ya' want in a game? The crew gave this one thumbs up although minor adjustments were required and recommended. Changes will be implemented. Dr. Kirby was unfortunately ...uh ..."removed" by the Angry Mob. Here we see the winner, drunk with more than victory ...obviously!

Game Two: Yatze Dice:

Rollin' bones was the modus operandi for our next entry. Dice are rolled to make matches for combos on the board. Dr. Kirby glommed this one from a free box at a garage sale. The thrifty devil! And here we see our maraca man, Jerome Green, doing his thing to bring home the win!. Wait ...didn't he win the first game too?! Why that #$%^* son of a .....!!! From now on I'm going to spend less time with Mr. Beam and more watching exactly what the sam hill is going on down on the playing field! Clean sweep indeed! Still I think everyone had a swell time. See you next month!

Let Evil Reign!

There are five immutable laws of nature:
1. Clowns are not funny.
2. Ventriloquist dummies always become sentient and turn on their masters.
3. Zeus is a very good doggie. Yes you are! Yes you are!!!
4. Dr. Raymond Kirby always chooses the red token, because red is the color of evil as well as the color of my true love's hair.
5. Dr. Raymond Kirby has to win once in a while...
What more can I say? With Drac Vader (as opposed to his uninteresting noodge of a brother, Dennis Vader, chief proctologist to the emperor) as my avatar, how could I lose? It was pre-ordained (post-ordination being entirely useless in the rough and tumble world of board gaming) that Dr. K must be victorious, not to mention overwhelmingly haughty about said victory. Bwa-hahahahahahahaha! Let evil reign!! And to all of you green token and yellow token and blue token people out there I say: FEEZIL!
We now return control of your blog to you.

Good day. I said GOOD DAY!

Good dog, Zeus....

May Bee May Bee Knot

First of Two: "Lie, Cheat, Steal":Oh yeah! This is for me! I do all these fairly well! A game of crooked politics (is there any other kind?) in which up to six players meander around the board vying for and buying votes to win. Fun? Hotcha ja! And who won? Li'l ol' me! So proud I'm not pictured. Our bud "G" and Zeus were no shows except by phone and our quad member wasted his time live blogging the results of the evening. Will he make that mistake agin'? Unlikely! Not a total write off as we had two other discorporate fans viewing from points north and west across this great nation! Thanks to Dr. S and Lord Bjyron for tuning in!This game is so highly recommended that I promptly gave it away. Go figure!

Left:

D watches in amazement as Dr Kirby tries to diguise his politcal naivete. Nothing to be ashamed of there Dr K!

Game the Twoth:"Star Wars Action Figure Game":Hmmm. This one is kinda self explanatory. Players pick their fave Star Wars character (Darth Vader, Princess Leia, Chewbacca, Han Solo or Luke Skywalker) and battle (roll dice) to defeat the Lite or Dark Side and get to or prevent getting to the fabled Millenium Falcon. Dr. Kirby wanted to play the simplified rules until we explained to him that that meant we would be playing a game of basically die rolling intended for those ages eight years and under. Well! We played the advanced version with Mr D and I taking the Lite Side of the force as a team vs Dr. Kirby as the Dark. Now ...a word of explanation ...the action figures of Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker were missing from our copy of this game so we were forced to improvise. Thus we played with "Drac Vader" and "FrankenLuke" (see picture). D was "FrankenLuke" and I Chewbacca. Things looked pink and rosy for the good guys until "Drac Vader" bared his hideous fangs and sent the Lite side team to heck in flames. Evil triumphed and we were forced to slink away to Dagobah to be chastised by Yodah. Gah! One question about this game ...if the "Good Guys" are the Lite Side of the force then why do they make their moves in secret, skulking around on hidden mini boards? Hmmm indeed!

Left:

The heavy hand of fate reaches out to crush the unwary!!!

Right: Evil triumphs! Dr. K as Drac Vader revels in his victory. Brrr! Sends chills down the spine!

All in all a most entertaining night with the first game a plus positive and the second well ...the kids will dig it fer sure!