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Mr. B, I'm posting this one for you! =)
Feeling:  amused |
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Via ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) alobar...
Video from Russian actor's group "Big Difference" (Bolshaya Raznitsa). They specialize mostly on Russian TV show parodies.
Feeling: amused |
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Feeling: amused |
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DaVinci's Challenge - 2 or 4 players ages 8 and up
The first of three related games (the other two being a modified mancala and a card game), this is an abstract game that requires quick pattern recognition skills as well as strategic thinking.
The board has some of DaVinci's images on them, but they are all in the background. The playing field of the board itself - on top of Vitruvian Man ~ has a series of geometric patterns made up of two shapes. Those two shapes match that of your playing pieces, in both your color and that of your opponent. The four player game ~ which I've never played ~ subdivides the colors into teams, with one player per shape.
The pieces ~ ovals and triangles, they're often called, although it's a slight simplification ~ are made from plastic, and from all reports there is a lot of variation in the quality of molding. I know our set has one mongrel piece that looks like enough material didn't make it into the mold, however, I'm not complaining ~ it seems to bring me a spot of luck!
The game is played by taking turns, placing a piece of your choosing in a location of your choosing that matches the selected piece. After each piece is played, you must see if that added piece became part of one or more patterns, as indicated on the scoring sheet. You make a tally mark next to all of the patterns you completed ~ wholly in your color ~ and it moves on to the next player.
When placing a piece, you have two core strategies: complete a pattern or block your opponent from completing a pattern.
When we've played, we make efforts to stay on one half or the other and complete and recognize as many patterns as possible, so the game doesn't really move into the blocking mechanics until we start running out of space. I'm sure that, under more competitive circumstances, you can just chase each other around, but I'd think that type of game would be rather low scoring, certainly more frustrating, and possibly less fun.
As a fan of pattern recognition, I prefer that aspect of the game, and that is where ~ even with pre-defined sides, and thus an equal chance of coming up with identical scores ~ one's ability to see those patterns quickly makes all the difference.Feeling: good |
| » Enter the Fold |
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I've brought in 8 WUs for 11,981 points, and I've moved up to 113th place in Team Geekdō.
The team itself has moved up to 563rd place, which means it has just overpowered the team from Slashdot (569th place, at the moment).
If anyone has any questions about the proteins being folded, ask ![[info]](http://s.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png) aequitaslevitas. Apparently he is interested in biology. He could look at the molecule the older client on the system downstairs was displaying and identify it and what it was made of. And he was right.
If you have a system to spare, join in the fun by Folding@Home. You can find out more info about Team Geekdō here, and if you play RPGs and/or board games, you already have a Geekdō login, right? =)
Oct. 21st, 2009 @ 01:20 pm
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| » Irma Thomas and BB King - You Can Have My Husband |
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When I started pulling aside the Dani Wilde videos (which went by without comments), I came across a few where Dani performed with Deborah Coleman (who also had stuff go by without comment) and one by Candy Kane (yesterday, again no comments), I had thought I pulled one with all three of them performing the Irma Thomas tune You Can Have My Husband , which can be found on the MP3 album Legendary Lady's of Soul & R&B (along with Etta James, Ella Washington, Ruth Brown, Big Maybelle, and Della Reese), but since I just thought I grabbed the link, and since each of the three performers went by without comment, I'm not going to go hunt it down... it is out there if anyone cares to go give it a listen.
However, I will make you suffer with the blues for one more day, and we'll wrap up the set of blues tunes as a whole with a performance of the Irma Thomas tune by Irma Thomas herself, accompanied by a guitarist you just may have heard of before: Mr. B.B. King.
Oct. 21st, 2009 @ 10:25 am
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| » Candy Kane featuring Laura Chavez - Bad Girl |
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We're moving from an evil gal to a bad girl, with Candy Kane on vocals and Laura Chavez on guitar:
Oct. 20th, 2009 @ 08:01 am
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| » Recently Played: Vineta |
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Vineta (domestic edition) - 2 to 6 players ages 10 and up (German edition)
Unless you're a nut like me, the domestic edition of this game will suit you just fine.
Maybe.
If, however, you are a nut, you're going to want to learn to read German and get the international edition, which is to say, the original German edition of the game.
While I can only speak to one of the differences authoritatively, others have reported thiner cardboard used to build the region pieces and some other bits, and a smaller size (which might be an advantage for traveling). What I can say, without question, is this:
The German edition has a board, the newer edition does not.
Region pieces and what difference the absence or presence of a board might make won't make any sense if you aren't already familiar with the game, and if you are familiar with the game, you're probably not reading this, so I expect that, by now, you need some more information about the game so you can figure out which end is up.
The heart of the game is in the 9 regions of the island city of Vineta, the Atlantis of the north. The pieces form a simplistic puzzle ~ three inner regions, three middle regions, and three outer regions. There are a number of little wooden houses that are set out amongst the 9 regions, all in different colors, with one more color (up to seven) than there are players (up to six, of course).
Eight of these 9 regions, and all houses on them, will sink, one by one, below the waves.
Why?
Well, it's simple: some fool in the city has royally ticked off the gods, and they're sending in wave after wave of, well, waves... and eight of the regions are destined to be washed away. By the gods.
And guess who get to play the gods? That's right: Odin, Thor, and the rest of the crew... that's who you're playing as.
Each god secretly favors one of the regions of the city and your followers are housed in one color of those wooden houses. Your goal is to keep as many of your followers safe from the deluge as possible, and, if you can manage it, to make sure your region is the last bit of dry land.
The game plays in eight rounds, and each round results in every player having three (more or less) turns to influence where the waves are, and, through some further intervention, which houses are on the region that will sink at the end of the round.
You play wave cards ~ either targeting a region that is not threatened, or adding to the waves already threatening a region. The region with the most waves at the end of the round sinks. Additional cards give you chances to add huge modifiers for or against a row of waves, or to manipulate houses in a variety of ways ~ moving them from threatened areas, to threatened areas, swapping them, or locking them down. There are also cards that can be played to reduce the number of turns in the round or increase it.
Two complaints that I've heard against this game are 1) that the theme of Norse gods is paper thin; and 2) that there's too much chaos. Obviously, those folks never played D&D where Norse gods were involved. If they had, they'd know the Norse gods are (mostly) chaotic, Chaotic Good, to be specific, for Odin and Thor and (most) friends.
Seriously, if you've ever looked at Norse mythology the gods were larger than life: great power, great might, and, quite often, great oops.
Now, maybe the theme would be more supported if the village was perched on the edge of fjord, and the gods sent avalanches of snow down on the city, but, really, it works quite well with the theme as is...
Overall, I really enjoyed this game. It was wild and chaotic, but it was fun. None of us got to save our own little slice of the city, and I don't think we managed to save any houses, either.
One last word on the German edition vs. the domestic edition: I did notice that the kids really seemed to enjoy looking at the sea monsters that get revealed as each piece of the city goes under the waves, so the extra art is certainly appreciated, and, to my mind, helps make the whole experience more enjoyable.
And, finally, as an added bonus, here's a demo for the game:
Oct. 19th, 2009 @ 11:45 pm
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| » Aretha Franklin - Soulville/Evil Gal Blues |
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If you haven't watched yesterday's video yet, head over there now and check out Gina Sicilia's performance of the Dinah Washington tune Evil Gal Blues .
My bad for scheduling both of Gina's pieces on the weekend when less people are watching.
Of course, the segue from that to this is really all in the second half of today's tune, so if you want, you can go ahead and listen to Soulville (Single Version) first... whatever it's merits, it's the flipside we're looking at here, and that would be Aretha Franklin's performance of Evil Gal Blues , which you can find on more than one of her albums, including 1990's Aretha Sings the Blues .
The performance here, as recorded on a 45rpm slice o' vinyl, predates that album just a wee bit... =)
Oct. 19th, 2009 @ 08:53 am
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| » Gina Sicilia - Evil Gal Blues |
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Here's Gina Sicilia, performing the Dinah Washington tune Evil Gal Blues:
Oct. 18th, 2009 @ 11:32 am
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| » Gina Sicilia - Kissing in the Dark |
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Today's tune is by blues singer Gina Sicilia.. here is Kissin' in the Dark , from her 2008 album Hey Sugar (there's a short intro with some other music before it segues into the tune):
Oct. 17th, 2009 @ 12:24 pm
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| » Robin Rogers - Mr. Mojo |
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Here's another tune performed by Robin Rogers and guitarist, a bit more of a blues roots number:
Oct. 16th, 2009 @ 08:31 am
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| » Robin Rogers - Treat Me Right |
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We're leaving behind the blues guitarists, and moving on to some vocalists ~ which is to say the person named in the title is not playing the guitar...
Today's tune is Treat Me Right , from 2008's Treat Me Right .
Oct. 15th, 2009 @ 08:14 am
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| » Ana Popovic - My Man |
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Today we have Ana Popovic, with My Man , which can be found on 2005's Ana! Live in Amsterdam ... and considering this video was filmed live in Amsterdam, it could well be the same performance:
Oct. 14th, 2009 @ 11:51 am
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| » Sue Foley - Fool Me Good |
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Continuing the Sue Foley set, and still within the overall blues set, here's the country blues tune Fool Me Good:
Oct. 12th, 2009 @ 09:05 am
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| » Sue Foley - Hooked on Love |
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Here's a clip of Sue Foley performing Hooked on Love:
Oct. 11th, 2009 @ 01:28 pm
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| » Sue Foley - The Snake |
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Here's a tune from Sue Foley ~ if this is released on an album, I couldn't find it! =)
Oct. 10th, 2009 @ 03:13 pm
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| » Brandonisms |
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To be or not to be, that is *the* question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows in outrageous fortune...
-- quoted, out of nowhere, while finishing off his lunch (he picked it up while Rachel was trying to memorize it last year)
Oct. 10th, 2009 @ 01:15 pm
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| » Brandonisms |
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"I flopped on your belly. Heh. I like that sentence." - how I woke up this morning...
Oct. 10th, 2009 @ 09:16 am
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, from the computer animation DVD 
was also released on the Kerry Livgren album 
. There are some great liquid guitar leads throughout this tune. 
okay