Monthly Archives: September 2006

Disc Golf 09/30/2006

group

The group went down to Pease Park today. I can see why they want to close Pease down for disc golfers. There is no grass anywhere! The millions of people that have walked around here have destroyed all of the ground cover. And with all of the trees, the slow growing grass does not have a chance get grow back.

This is the first time that our group has played singles. Curt suggested it and noone disagreed. Oh, and Curt brought his dog, Mingus, with him as well.

adam with stick

Rehana lost her disc up in the tree in hole 2. We called out for our super-hero to save us. Unfortunately, no one responded! I wonder where the masked man went to? “Stick Man” Adam was forced to rip off a branch from a poor unsuspecting tree and knock the disc down.

And on this hole, we had our first animal hit and run. John threw his disc, the disc hit the ground, skipped up, and hit a dog. Who then whimpered very loudly and ran to its owner. It was inevitable I guess. Too many people walking their dogs around here.

Hole 3

My best shot was within range of hole 3. A birdieable putt for sure… but, sadly, I missed….

Hula Hut

We went to Hula Hut for lunch afterwards. Good food, but still lacking in spinach. John brought out a deck of cards while we were waiting and we played one hand of mini-bridge. I had the most points (in AKQJ cards) so I was the declarer. Rehana put her cards down and showed me KJ09 and some other diamond cards. I had the Ace and Queen so of course diamonds were trump. Mini-Bridge is interesting and all, but I don’t think it will replace Tichu in its greatness.

Disc Golf 09/29/2006

Hole 6

John didn’t play with me today. He said that he had to work today. Work?!? What’s that? “Work at home”, I say…

On hole 6, I had some pretty far throws. My second throw landed within sight of the goal. Too bad I missed…

baby Lorax

There is this tree at hole 14 that is birthing a baby Lorax. I wonder how long the gestation period is?

flowers

Unfortunately, plants only seem to think about giving birth to more plants. And my body is getting more sensitive to pollen. Welcome to the allergy capitol of the world.

Game Day 09/28/2006

Game #1

Tahj Mahal

It has been a while since I have played this classic game from Knizia. Marty likes it as well, so it was easy to bring it to the table. For this game, I decided to concentrate on elephants. I picked and chose my battles, concentrating on gems. I also skipped a lot of battles and, as a result, had a large hand. There were enough cards for my final two battles and for a large bonus at the end. This was enough to give me the win.

Game #2

Tichu

Marty had to leave soon, but he had enough time for a quick game of Tichu. Unfotunately, our team had the luck-of-the-Ed. The one time I had a halfway decent hand, I was set. I had the Dog, two Aces, and the Mahjong with other good cards. I called Tichu before the pass and passed my partner the Dog. I wished for an Ace which hit my partner. He dogged me back but I could not go out first. Sigh…


09/28/2006 The scorecard for a game of Tichu

GT or T bet made or lost

This team scored more points than the other or one twoed
GT/T Team #1 GT/T GT/T Team #2 GT/T
MarkH & JohnG Marty & Jon
  20   T+
180
 
 
80
  T+ 320  
  80     520  
  120    
680
T+
T- 65    
735
 

Other games played:

Game #3

Neuland

Lunch Time Tichuers 09/26/2006

Today was the last game of Tichu for the lunch-time group for a while. Our group is on critical life support now. So sad…

This was a slow game of Tichu. Very see-saw like. First the opponents score most of the points. And then the heroes scored most of the points. After 8 hands, the score was tied at 350 to 350. On one hand, I had an Ace bomb, no Dragon or Phoenix, and a number of single cards — such a waste of Aces. And then I had a Tichu hand. But I made a mistake. I was left with QQ2Phoenix and I lead the pair of Queens instead of trip-Queens. For the next hand, I was slightly on tilt. I called Tichu again. Fortunately, Adam had a Phoenix and an Ace to help me out. Next up to the plate, was Ed. He called Tichu and led an eight card straight. Adam over Tichued and played a higher length eight straight. He then played the Dragon and Jacks-full over Kings. Ed took that full house with Aces-full over Kings just to show that he really did have a Tichu hand.


09/26/2006 The scorecard for a game of Tichu

GT or T bet made or lost

This team scored more points than the other or one twoed
GT/T Team #1 GT/T GT/T Team #2 GT/T
Ed & Jon MarkH & Adam
 
90
    10  
 
155
    45  
 
265
    35  
 
340
    60  
 
320
T-   80  
  335    
165
 
  335    
265
 
  350    
350
 
 
450
  T- 250  
  450   T+ 550  
T- 390    
710
T+
  290 T-   910  

Golden Wok

Golden Wok

Went to the Golden Wok today for Dim Sum. Their Dim Sum is satisfying enough. Nothing spectacular and certinally not as good as Marco Polo. But the problem with Marco Polo is the distance. Golden Wok is 12 miles away from me whereas Marco Polo is 24 miles away. Twice as far, 12 minutes longer, and 1 more gallon of fuel spent. And then you have to spend it again to get back home. The difference between the food is not that much better.

links

Male restroom etiquette link via

Tank recovered from the bottom of a lake after fighting on both sides link via

Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo. link via

Penn and Teller: Bullshit link via

How to talk like a pirate link via

A gambler with the equipment can gain an edge of between 20% and 100% over the casino on roulette link via

Minature food link via

Finish college in one year and earn a profit link via

I like tacos link via

What you can learn from spaghetti sauce link via

Working 1:3 scale model Ferrari 312PB link via

Pantone matching link via

The Supersonic Future link via

Moonwalking bird link via

Using a gun to protect camera equipment on airlines link via

Game Day 09/23/2006

Game #1

Viking Fury

Tim had a game day to both celebrate his birthday and to sell of some of his large collection of games. So the group went to eat lunch at Extreme Pizza after disc golf. Afterwards, we stopped here for some gaming. I brought out Viking Fury to the table. The Ragnar Brothers started out by producing games on tea towels. And this is one of them. On the plus side, the game is about Vikings, so there is possibilities for some role playing. But the negatives of this game really dampen my enthusium of it. There are quests that you perform that provide a sense of history of the Viking people. But it is hard to complete them yourself in one turn. If you do not finish a scenario, it is really easy for other people to just swoop in and steal that card from your grasp. It kind of unmotivates you to try and perform one of the requirements for those cards. Since it makes it easier for someone else to finish.

Still, I am glad I played it. I would place this game into the once-a-year category of games.

Disc Golf 09/23/2006

group

The group went out to Cat Hollow to play disc golf today. Nick brought out his brother-in-law, Eric. John and myself were on one team. And we were playing pretty good today.

hole 12

My best throw of the day was at hole 12. I was also the farthest that I have thrown it here. Within site of the basket. But my partner was able to throw even better and land it on that ring of rocks that define the putting “green”. Way to go pardner…

Disc Golf 09/22/2006

lost disc

At Old Settlers, I was waiting for John to show up, so I practiced by throwing some discs. Unfortunately, I almost lost one. I must have spent twenty minutes looking for it. I mean, how hard can that be? You would think that it would be easy to spot a bright yellow disc in the middle of a green field while standing on top of the hill. But it was not where I thought it would likely be. Finally, out of desperation, I walked along the river and found it. If you squint hard enough, you can spot hole one off in the distance…

birdie beads

John finally catches up to me on hole three. And he shows me his birdie beads that he bought to help him keep track of the score. Unfortunately for him, I was beating him by a stoke a hole. He eventually ran out of beads after hole 6 and gave up keeping score…

windy day

A front was moving through and it was really windy out. It was hard controlling our discs. The wind would rotate the discs during their flight so that they hit the ground at an angle. They would then start rolling in a curving direction. The last time we were in high winds that were blowing against us, the discs would turn around and roll back past us. This time, the wind forced one of John’s discs to perform a U-turn on the road. Very amusing…

Hole 9

I had a good first throw on hole 9. Close enough to be within birdie range. But with this wind, it was really hard to putt. We stopped on hole 15 due to time running out. On that hole, I putted three times trying to get the disc in the hole. Tough putting indeed…

Game Day 09/21/2006

Game #1

El Grande

We continued the old game theme by bringing out El Grande to the table. Another game that has sadly been ignored by the Cult of the Newists. It seems like that was one of the first area control games that I have been introduced to way back when. But, perhaps my nostalgia is affecting my memories. And it hasn’t lost anything from its old age, either. There is still a lot of tough choices that you are forced to make in the battle for royal favor.

Game #2a

Tichu

But we cannot forget Tichu either. Mike was willing to play once again so Jon and myself took advantage of the opportunity. The heroic team jumped out to an early lead. But we learned to not count the opposing team out. They were able to claw their way back into the lead and race to the finish for the win. The luck just left us and we were unable to score any points to get us the win. Above is one of my two Tichu hands.

Game #2b

And here is what happened: I was able to play my 5, King, and Ace. I then lead my loosing full house. Jon plays over it with Jacks-full. I bomb with my 9s. Jon responds with an over-bomb of 10s. Mike over-bombs again to wrest control away from Jon. Mike had passed me the Phoenix and I was left with two cards (the other being the Dragon). Mike had two choices to lead next and he correctly chose the single card. John then wakes up and over Tichus me! I play the Dragon and then Phoenix to go out first.


09/21/2006 The scorecard for a game of Tichu

GT or T bet made or lost

This team scored more points than the other or one twoed
GT/T Team #1 GT/T GT/T Team #2 GT/T
MarkH & MikeCh Jon & John
  45    
55
 
 
240
T+   60  
 
320
  T+ 180  
T+
505
    95 T-
 
560
  T+ 240  
T+
760
    240  
  800   T+
400
 
  840    
460
 
  825    
575
 
 
905
  T+ 695  
  930   GT+
970
 
  905    
1195
T+

Mike likes to sing songs in a stream of conscienceness. Because of this, people call him Mike-Pod. So, in an effort to quiet him, I challenged him to sing a song that contains the word “chocolate”. Mike could not think of a song. But John could:

Laughing gas these hazmats, fast cats,
Lining them up like ass cracks,
Ladies, homies, at the track
It’s my chocolate attack
Shit, I’m stepping in the heart of this here
Care bear bumping in the heart of this here
Watch me as I gravitate,
Yo, we gonna go ghost town,
This motown,
With yo sound
You’re in the place
You gonna bite the dust
Can’t fight with us
With yo sound
You kill the Inc.
So dont stop, get it, get it
Until you’re cheddar header
Yo, watch the way I navigate,

The Gorillas, Feel Good Inc.

Mike still claims that there is no song that contains the word chocolate…