Monthly Archives: September 2007

links

99% Cocoa chocolate bar link via

Amazon’s mechanical Turk + Google’s Earth = find Steve Fossett link via

B-Boy cupcakes link via

The bacon tomb, one year later link via

The future of genetic modifications link via

The Spark™ Talking Bug Identifier is an innovative, parent participation-based system of science products designed to inspire kids to discover for themselves link via

Firefighters Lift a Car Using their Hoses link via

Burningman settlers link via

Couple divorce after online affair with each other link via

Casio’s 300 fps camera link via

Climbing Fargo street 92 times is the equivalent of 14,000 feet in only 15 miles or so link via

Free skull font link via

Frozen images link via

8848 – 1.86 link via

12 essential facts, formulas, and photographic rules link via

Tracking the life of a vending machine link via

Ship abanoned in a desert link via

robots.txt Adventure link via

Plants chat over their own network link via

The public has spoken link via

Slither link1 link2 via

Disc Golf 09/29/2007

New guy Dan

Today, we had a new guy, Dan, join us who I know from work. He did pretty good for a beginner. His side arm throw is better than mine. And he actually sank a long putt on hole seven.

Loco

Afterwards, we ate at Mangia Pizza because they have an outdoor seating area which allows dogs. John grabbed Loco! out of his car. Too bad it was a little too breezy for this card game.

Disc Golf 09/28/2007

Good throw #1 on hole three
Good throw #3 on hole three

Gravitt was abnormally missing today at Wilco. Which may explain why I was throwing good today. Hole number 3 has a tough first throw. And I made it into the green around the corner. My third throw landed next to the basket making this an easy par.

Birdie on hole 5
Birdie on hole 8

Holes 5 and 8 were easy birdies as well.

Allergy bloom

Ugh! My allergies have started to act up and it sucks. I wish plants would stop having sex all over me. I wonder if this is one of the culprits…

Game Day 09/27/2007

Game #1

Age of Steam Italy

Just me and the Grimms tonight. The group seems to be on its last gasp. But at least it is still breathing meaty air. I don’t usually listen to podcasts. But I sat through the The MetaGamer’s podcast which was on Age of Steam. And that put me in the mood…

Supposedly, this map is balanced for three players. But I think we played the game wrong. Doug and I were competing while Jon was left alone. Another clue was that we never used any of the supplementary track tiles which came with the game. So I think the goal was to get as convoluted as possible. And we didn’t deliver as much black goods (giving negative points) either… Perhaps another replay is in order.

Disc Golf 09/15/2007

John looking for a disc

The start for today was rather brutal for John. He whacked his hand on a metal pole and caused the disc to fly off course. Where we lost it in the trees. And that was not the only disc that we lost. I lost two. And John lost three. But we came back after the first round was over and were able to spot the disc high in the trees!

tournament

The tournament took forever. The biggest problem was that it was played over two courses that were miles apart. We were forced to wait for everyone to comeback from Kyle. Finally, at 3:30 we headed out for the second round.

I kept remarking how it had not rained yet. And the fact that this was the first tournament that I have ever played where it has not rained. But fate would continue along in its footsteps and sprinkle a little bit on us. We were lucky. It rained much harder in San Marcos where we had just left.

Ugh. The tournament took forever to finish. We finally left for home at 8pm…

Disc Golf 09/14/2007

birdie at hole 9

John and I drove down to San Marcos to check out one of the two courses where the Bobcat Open was being held. There was a map, but it was for an old layout. John and I kind of wandered around and made some holes up. But we eventually found some disc golfers and followed them to figure out the course.

Hole 9 was interesting. It was a short hole on top of a small hill where you had to throw over cars parked for some construction work towards the basket. You cannot overthrow it because some buildings line the surrounding area. I landed close enough for a birdie.

home made basket

Most of the baskets were older models that were not too visible. However, one seemed rather home made but functional.

Game Day 09/13/2007

Game #1

Fjords

The mourning for Franz-Benno Delonge continued tonight with this two player game. I like it. It is a combination of Carcassonne and Go. Probably not so much like Go. But after the board has been created, you do need to carefully consider how to expand your territory such that you get more than your opponent. Mike didn’t have a chance.

Game #2

Manilla

Next up was a betting game some what like craps. Well, like craps in the sense that you are placing pieces that are bets of probabilities. For example, the bet that all three ships make it into port is less likely than the bet that at least one will make it. So the payouts are higher for the riskier bets. And how can you not like the pirate bet where if the ship lands on the 13th spot, then you get a big reward. Which Jon took advantage of twice (and pretty much gave him the game).

Game #3

Phoenicia

Next up was another three player game of Phoenicia. I tried to go after cloth-making. And once again I hurt myself on a fort purchase during the first turn. Another thing that hurt me was the poor distribution of cards. Besides my first 6, I kept drawing 4s and 5s for money. And the cloth house came out late.

When it did, I did not expect Chapel to overbid on it. It was completely useless to him as he went for advanced mining. That move decided the game right then and there. I was in last place and Jon was in first. Jon was clearly making more money than Mike. But Mike wanted to play it out to the end. Not that it made a difference.

Sushi at Maru

Sushi group at Maru

The sushi group went to Maru. A new sushi restaurant near Central Market. It was not bad. The decor was lacking. But the food was decent. Sadly, it is a little too far for lunch and Ichiban is still number one for lunch-time sushi.

I notice my camera freaks people out. At least slightly. And I don’t blame them. It is rather large and intimidating…. like Dan Becker’s head…

Finessing in 42

A couple of the 42 players talk about finessing. And I wonder just how often you are able to finesse in 42. After all, there are only seven tricks in the round. And the “cards” in your hand are members of two suits. Usually, the focus in this game is to take the point bones (3:2, 4:1, 5:0, 5:5, and 6:4). However, there are times where you are “booked” and points do not matter. You must take all of the remaining tricks.

It seems to me that the finesse in 42 is an all or nothing proposition. Definitely when you are “booked.” But also when the opposing team is looking for opportunities to dump points onto a loosing trick. You do not normally want to loose control of what is led since you often have losers that you might be forced to play.

Whereas, it might not be that case in bridge. With so many more cards, I think all might not be lost if your finesse fails. You can try some other strategy. Or am I wrong?