Monthly Archives: April 2007

Game Day 04/19/2007

Game #1

Taluva

John brought out Taluva. This a game with really thick tiles. And which should be a fast playing and lightly meaty game. Depending upon how your group plays, of course. Your turn is simple, draw a tile and then place it on the board (following a few, light restrictions). Then, you can place your pieces somewhere. Either place a hut on a level 1 spot, a temple next to a settlement of three or more huts and no other temple, a tower on a level 3 spot next to your hut, or huts on all adjacent, unoccupied, locations that are the same terrain type. The game ends when someone places all of two types of their pieces or when the last tile is placed.

This is a game where everyone needs to be aware of opportunities that another player can take in order to get ahead. If everyone picks on each other equally, then no one can get ahead. However, in our game, Mike jumped out in the lead and John was in second. I continued playing the game trying to win, of course. But when John (the 2nd place person) picks on me (the third), then I have no motivation to stop Mike from winning. I am not going to stop Mike from winning only to let John win instead.

Game #2

Alhambra

It has been a long time since I have played this game. Too long. But there are so many games out there that you really have to start picking and choosing which ones you will spend time with. I started out this game behind the pack at the first scoring round with a score of zero. I didn’t build anything because the things that I could build were of colors that people were already fighting over. So I bided my time and collected currency. The game was also weird in that red and green did not show up until late in the game. In the second scoring round, I caught up and in the third, I pulled ahead. It helped that I secured majorities in the two most expensive colors (purple and green).

Keeping up with Gravitt/Grimm

DISCatcher PRO Disc Golf Target portable

I think I started this escalation a while back when I was wondering if I should buy a bunch of putters and a basket. Then John Gravitt turned it into reality by buying two metal baskets and like 20 putters. Next, Jon Grimm bought a basket as well.

Well, I can’t let that stand, now can I? I decided to spring for a professional model. One that they actually use on the courses. And I ordered 20 Birdie DXs. The only stipulation was they they would all be 168 grams +/- 1 gram. I am still waiting for Disc Nation to fill that order.

The only problem was that the pole would not fit! The shipment came in three pieces. One box containing the stand, the basket and the mounting hardware. Another box contained the yellow ring and metal chains. The third was the metal pole. Everything fit except for the top. Initially, I thought that the power coating decreased the inner diameter where the pole would fit. I got out a rubber mallet, some padding, and whacked the hell out of it. But I finally realized that the top quarter inch of the tube was the right size but the rest was not. The outer diameter of the pole was greater than the inner diameter of the top.

Sesh! That was some nice quality control. I called Innova and they helped me out. They investigated the problem and called me back to tell me that I had the first of a new batch run. What a lucky coincidence! They sent out a new pole to me. And I was happy that, not only did it fit, but they threw in a couple of Aviar discs for my troubles.

Now, the next step is to convince Ed to buy a couple. He needs them for the back acres. And to provide more of an incentive for disc golf gamers to make the northerly trek.

Tax time

Ahh, tax time. I actually like this time of the year. It is my last major payment of the year. In January, I have to pay the city taxes, the county taxes, and the home owners’ association fees. In March, I have to pay my automobile insurance and my house insurance. When I have payed off the government (or gotten a refund), I am home free! I only have to pay monthly utilities, food, and gas until the end of the year.

And toys. Can’t forget about the toy budget! Hopefully, I will be able to buy a 1D Mark III soon. And I need a new computer…

A competitor’s pizza

Papa Murphy's Pizza

I was kind of curious as to how a competitor’s pizza would cook up on my oven grill. So I stopped by the new pizza restaurant called Papa Murphy’s. I bought a medium two-topping pizza with Canadian bacon and artichoke hearts and cooked it on the pizza stone. Turned out pretty nice, actually. So it seems that I have a ways to go.

The only problem was that I had to transfer the raw pizza to the screen. Fortunately, they had wrapped the pizza in saran wrap. So I flipped it over, cut out the bottom, removed the cardboard tray, placed the screen on the bottom, re-wrapped it, flipped it back over, and removed the wrap.

Why are receipts so long?

Home Depot receipt

I buy one item at Home Depot and walk out with a receipt that is longer than what I purchased! What is up with that?? The receipt turns out to be 13 3/4″ long while the pertinent information is only 1 5/8″. Such a waste.

Morning bike ride

Ugh. I got to a late start this morning when I woke up at 9am. Initially, I thought it would be too cold for me since I haven’t bothered to buy arm or leg warmers. The TV said the temperature was in the upper 50s. But when I walked outdoors to get the paper, I thought it was quite nice out.

So I hopped on the bike and set out. And promptly realized that when I am moving I get a light breeze. Which lowers my perceived temperature with the added wind chill. But I warmed up after ten minutes.

The only problem was that the cold air exacerbated my asthma. So I couldn’t do a longer haul like I wanted. I need to get working on my average speed as well. It took an hour to ride 16 miles. I’d like to get that down to 48 minutes. There are two lights and one big left turn that I have to wait for, so I need to subtract that time…

Spring weather

Trees in the wind #1

Spring time around here has some of the most severe weather: tornadoes, hail, and high winds. Daytime heating against cold fronts really churns up the atmosphere. Today was pretty windy. The maximum wind gusts were 30+ miles per hour.

So I tried out a photographic experiment. Get a long exposure time and try and capture some trees in motion. I set the f/stop as small as possible at f/22. And set the ISO low as possible at 100. If I framed the shot as mostly tree filled, then I could meter the scene at anywhere from 1/2 a second to 2 seconds.

Trees in the wind #2

Do these trees seem in motion? Or, are they acting more like they are possessed by an evil spirit?

Trees in the wind #3

It turned out to be a fun experiment. Since the last picture contained sky, I had to use an EV +2.0 to get the tree metered correctly. It also makes me realize the need for even lower ISO values. My next camera will have an ISO of 50.

Disc Golf 04/14/2007

high water

Today, the group went to the Rivery. Because, after disc golf, we wanted to watch the new movie Pathfinder. I thought it would be a good movie to watch. After all, its about Vikings! But that decision was not based on any movie review. A 12 on the tomato is not a good score at all. And I agree. This movie was horrible!

The new theater is pretty hidden from both 29 and IH-35. And only one other person was watching this show at noon. The real attraction of this theater is its convenience: it is close to a disc golf course and it has a restaurant inside. I looked at the menu and it doesn’t seem that bad. They have salmon and some salads…

Disc Golf 04/13/2007

approach shot

I was practicing on hole 1 while waiting for Adam and Rehana to show up. My first shot goes off to the right and down into the large depression. Which is not that bad, actually. Its better than throwing through the large trees on the left side of the hole. My next throw was blind. But I have played this course enough to know exactly where the basket was. I threw my Star TL because you want to throw your shortest-traveling disc hard rather than throw a longer-range disc soft. So I was pleasantly surprised when, after climbing up the slope, I saw that the disc landed right under the basket!

wildflowers

The wildflowers are definitely in bloom. They are pretty, sure. But the growth and the coloring makes finding your disc harder. Its great to play with other people who help search for lost discs.

help wanted
new tee box

It looks like the disc golfers around here are installing tee boxes! Too bad it seems that they are not going to install them on the extra holes for the winter course or the extra holes on the normal course.

hole 7 mando

Hole 7 has two mandatory signs on either side of a small gap in the trees. These signs consist of red spray paint on the two trees. So our question is: is the entire tree part of the sign? That is, if your disc bounces off of the rightmost branch and back into the gap, is that okay?

birdie!

On hole 15, my disc usually curves off to the left and lands close to the road, if not occasionally skipping on the road and landing on the field on the other side. This is nothing new and I am used to that. However, my second shot landed right in the basket for a birdie! Woo woo!