Email Quotes

Below you will find a list of quotes that have come across my Outlook over the past 4 years. Some are funny, some are serious, all are the ever important email quotes. My comments are in italicized font, as you can tell, because you are reading this and I keep saying I.

Safety isn't expensive; It's priceless.

So is Mastercard.

Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace and gratitude.

I’m not sure about this one. I’d go ahead and say though that I think this quote should be referring to joy rather than happiness.

"My life is my message."  Gandhi

This is a good quote and one that is completely true. How we live our lives is what we are telling the people around us.

“It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.”  Harry S. Truman

I think President Truman had to be talking about working in a group. Because I’ve found, if individuals know they will get the credit they work harder.

Patriotism is not a short outburst of emotion, but is the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime.   Adlai E. Stevenson Jr.

The only thing I know about Stevenson is that he has a card named after him in one of my top 25 games 1960 Making of the President. I should learn more about him.

~The future doesn't exist yet; The past is gone. Right now is the only moment we have to live our lives.~

Sounds like a rock ballad lyric. Not catching me.

"Be sure the Truth is Spoken so that the Chains are Broken."

I’m imagining a preacher saying this to a huge crowd of people in a street with statues.

"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." - Edmund Burke

I like this one. I don’t know who Edmund Burke is, so I’ll do some research on him. I’ve always said, it doesn’t take two to start a war.

"People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."   Maya Angelou

I disagree. I remember all these things. I also like to include smell in there. So don’t be smelly around me or I’ll remember.

“Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers.” –Voltaire

Too bad you didn’t ask a question here Voltaire. What up?

"No trees were killed in the sending of this message.  However a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced"

I’m an electron hugger. Not a tree hugger. So this saddens me. (I’m joking here folks, I’m joking.)

"Unsafe acts will keep you in stitches."

I see what they did here.

"A Spill, a slip, a hospital trip"

I don’t get it.

"At the end of the day, the goals are simple: safety and security."

I would add: supper.

"To return good for good is human, to return good for evil is divine."

I’d say no to the first part and yes to the second. Good for good isn’t even the human nature. That’s too good for our nature. Just my quick thoughts.

…It is difficult to say what is impossible, for the dream of yesterday is the hope of today and the reality of tomorrow...

It’s impossible to understand this quote. There, I said what is impossible.

A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.

-- Maya Angelou

This reminds me of the story about the lion that asks the hippo to swim him across the river. The lion promises not to eat the hippo at the other side, but when they get there. He attacks the hippo. The hippo is surprised and asks “Why would you attack me?!” The lion simply says, “because I’m a lion and that is what I do.”

"My Heroes Have Always Been Soldiers."

Soldiers are amazing people. Even though I’d like to think I’m willing to die for my God or my country I haven’t ever been put in that situation. They do it every day.

"A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in."

So what about when they take loans they know they’ll never have to pay?

"Shohna ba Shohna"  (Dari)

"Ooga-pa-Ooga"  (Pashtu)

"Shoulder to Shoulder"

I think I’m going to walk around saying, “Ooga-pa-Ooga”.

"The  hardest lesson you'll ever learn, is what bridge to cross and what bridge to burn"

 I think this is very interesting. I take it as a strategic career idea. Like what bridge should I cross and what bridge should I burn in order to move through my career. Interesting.

In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable. ~Dwight D. Eisenhower~

I’d like to know what context this was said in. I’m thinking it makes sense to me.

"Open your eyes and the whole world is full of God."

This, in a blog that includes theology, seems appropriate. I would call this Natural Revelation – in Romans Paul mentions that nobody is without excuse. God reveals himself to all. That doesn’t mean that God is in all things, like perhaps a Hindu might say, but it does mean He reveals himself to us throughout the world around us.

“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.”  ~Theodore Roosevelt

I completely agree with this one. Way to go, Teddy! This sorta reminds me of a saying I enjoy: Suck it up, buttercup. You got dealt a specific hand, use it to your best ability. Don’t say if I had this or that I could do this or that.

Watch your thoughts, they become words.

Watch your words, they become actions.

Watch your actions, they become habits.

Watch your habits, they become character.

Watch your character, it becomes your destiny.

A progressive warning about what you think will become what you do and eventually who you are. I agree with this as well. Just because you have a thought, doesn’t mean it turns into your character, but at the same time leave them unguarded and before you know it you aren’t who you were before having those thoughts.

The test of leadership is not to put greatness into humanity, but to elicit it, for the greatness is already there. -James Buchanan

This is my quote that I sometimes use, if I'm not using a Louis L'Amour quote. I mean, he was a President and I was born on his birthday.

Candy Land: The Game of Candy and Torture

It's been quite awhile since I've wrote anything that I put any effort into. So this week will have two blogs. This one about Candy Land and the next one about the long awaited and highly anticipated Email Quotes!

My 2,800^th game played since I began logging games back in March 2006 was Candyland. This is only the 2^nd time I’ve played it in that span, but I’m sure it won’t be the last, though I personally wouldn’t mind if it was. So here is what I think about it.

Components

First off, the components in Candyland aren’t that great. The board is just fine, with lots of bright colors, crazy looking characters, and a really curvy road. I found though that my 2.5 year old, had some difficulty knowing which way the road was going, because of its curviness. The player’s pieces are big plastic gingerbread men, which I think serve their purpose very well. The cards are basically business cards, with colored squares. Nothing on the back of them, no art, nothing. But for $5.88 I’m not complaining.

Game Play (aka the Torture)

The game play for Candyland is about as boring as it gets. You flip a card, go to that next colored square or the special icon on a pink square. That is it. So for a gamer like myself, who likes meaningful decisions, this game is torture. However, there is a reason I bought it and there is a place in the life of daddy gamers for Candy Land.

What It Does Do

Candyland does a couple things very well, which will help your young kids grow into the gamers you hope them to be. First, it teaches them turns in a formatted way, unlike playing with toys, where each kids “turn” is undefined. This is going to be important later on in games, as most games do have individual player turns. Second, it teaches them how to win and to lose. Eventually, we all pray and implore, Candyland will end and there will be a winner. Teaching them to win and lose graciously will go a long way in future gaming. Of course, Candyland can teach other non-gaming related things about life like colors, being nice in general, and that the goal in life is to get into a big candy castle.

My Final Thoughts

So if I’m rating Candyland, it’ll likely be a 1 or 2 out of 10, that doesn’t mean it isn’t useful for what it is. A stepping stone for my daughter to play bigger and better games later on and also a good tool for me to spend time with her.

Guild of Thieves Update #3

Well, the first thing you'll notice is the name has changed for the game I'm designing. Den of Thieves is already taken and though I don't think I'd have any court order after me if I used it, I want my game to be unique and so I held a contest on boardgamegeek.com for people to name the game. After all the entries I chose Guild of Thieves, as it fits the theme, is similar to Den of Thieves, and I like it!

Here is where we're at on the game. In addition to the dozens of play tests that I've done myself and participated in, I've had 3 different groups of people "blind" play test it. Which means I've given them the prototype, the rules, and let them read them and play without me there. The first group played the game basically right, the second group didn't play it quite the way it should be, and the third group (with the help of the edits from the first two groups) played correctly. I really appreciate these people for playing the game! It has helped tremendously with clarifying the rules and learning what they like and don't like.

As for the rules, I'm still on the edge of whether I'll include the Jewels in the base game or not. I've also been tempted to mess around with a card called Mirror and another one called Sceptor, but I think I could do that endlessly, so I'm going to stick with what I have. I have decided that I'll sell two versions of the game. The regular game, with simple pawns and no box art for somewhere between $12-15 (at least that is the goal right now). Then there will be a deluxe addition, which will have box art, wooden meeples, and maybe a bonus card. I'm guessing it'll be around $20.

I'll leave you with a couple sketches from the artist Jeremy Montz. The first one is potentially part of the box art and the second one is for the Camel card (I know, I'm being obvious, but sometimes Camels sneak in all places). Finally, my BIL (that's Brother In Law for those not in the speak) texted me this picture as "the Guild Master". I thought it was hilarious, so I'm sharing it too.

Top 11 from '11

2011 has seen 72 new-to-me games cross my table. Everything from the 4000 year old game Go, including grandaddy of miniatures Warhammer: 40,000, and finishing out with the newest of new games Dungeon Petz. Here is how I break down these games as my top 11 in 2011:

11. Twilight Struggle -  Currently the #1 game on boardgamegeek.com, this game is a very good game. I only got to play it one time, so I don't know how good, but from that single play it deserves a top 11. This isn't a sunny afternoon, let's play a quick game with the kids game. This is a two player, drag out fight, that takes plenty of time and brain power. Time will tell if it makes it to my top 25 like two other Matthews' titles (1960: the Making of the President and Founding Fathers).

10. Tikal II - I really like the original Tikal and so thought I'd like this one too, which I did. In this game you are archaeologists exploring one of the temples of Tikal. You have to set yourself up to have paths around the temple so you can get to the places you want to go. The best part of the game though is the action track around the edge of the map. If you want to take a specific action, you can jump way ahead, but you can never go back which makes for some great tension.

9. Quo Vadis? - I like negotiation games, even though more often than not I lose, because I'm always the first to talk up. I only got to play this once, but the one play was great fun. Basically, the game is the opposite of Lifeboats if you've ever played that. You are voting people into the Senate and thus giving them victory points. Once the Senate is full, the player with the most victory points is the winner. I liked that this one doesn't make everyone hate each other the way that Lifeboats does, but it still gives that feeling of pure negotiation and broken promises!

8. Dominant Species - Other than Eclipse later on the list, this is probably the deepest game here. It is a game about the evolution of species and is very good. You do have to go into it, knowing that the cards are very powerful, and will cause huge amounts of player made chaos. I've played it 3 times over the course of the year and would happily play it again. Also, for some strange reason, I really like the minimalist production design of the game.

7. Nexus Ops - I've always heard about how great this game is and now that I've played it a couple times, I agree. This is the game I'd use as a gateway game for those Risk players in your life. It's got plenty of dice rolling, a modular board, great figures (especially in the old Avalon Hill edition). The best part though, it plays in about 45-90 minutes. So it plays quickly. Fantasy Flight Games is coming out with a new edition soon, so be on the look out.

6. Ninjato - How can a game about Ninjas not be in the Top 11 from '11? This is basically a quick worker placement game where players only get 21 actions throughout the 7 rounds of the game. With these actions you are stealing treasures from various houses, then using these treasures to learn about rumors or buy the loyalty of family members. The reason I enjoy the game is the 'tweener mechanic, that is sometimes used in gambling, that is used for fighting with the ninjas. Also, I might be a bit bias, because I own the first copy that was ever in existence.

5. Haggis - I really enjoy Tichu, a ladder style card game, where the goal is to be the first to go out. Haggis does what Tichu does, but it does it for 2 or 3 players, which is a real treat since Tichu is exclusively a 4-player game in my opinion. I'm very disappointed that this one is out of print, because I'd like to pick it up if it ever does come back into print. If you are a traditional card game player, I suggest you buy this one if you happen to see it available.

4. Eclipse - This is really high on the list for only being played once. I don't own the game and probably won't, due to the price and having Civilization, which scratches a similar itch. However, I really liked this game. It gives the feel of an epic space game, but in 2 or 3 hours. A few years ago I played Twilight Imperium 3 and Eclipse gives me everything that game gave, but Eclipse does it in 3 hours instead of 8 hours.

3. Jaipur - This is another gem of a game. We picked it up at GenCon this year and have been playing it ever since. Two players, cat and mouse type play, that makes you want to play another round. Also, I love winning and claiming "my bearded friend!" I think we've sold 2 or 3 copies to people of this one after playing it or telling them about the game.

2. The Castles of Burgundy - This is the #14 game in the Alea Big Box series and while theme is lacking, innovative dice mechanics and cool combos make it a great game. I'm liking it best with 2 or 3 players, as 4 players makes it take quite awhile, but it is still good. Krista and I have played two different Best of 5 series of this game, so you know it's got to be good.

1. Warhammer: Invasion - This game is just great. I haven't been into a collectible card game like this since 2005 when I was still playing the LotR: TCG. The living card game, as this version of games is called, basically allows you to know exactly what cards you are getting when you buy a new battle pack and also gives you the full amount of a single copy of  a card that you can have in your deck. The game play is great, especially how cards can be placed in three different zones or played face down as developments. This makes for some really tough decisions. I've played it over 90 times since March, two tournaments, and I'm looking forward to more!

Finally, I wanted to mention the Dust Award. I give this out to the WORST game of each year, in honor of the game Dust that I played a few years ago and was just horrible. Out of the 72 New-to-Me games this year, this not-so-much honor goes to Fossil. I played it once and really didn't like it at all. The thing was, I wasn't the only one, everyone else at the table also didn't like it. This one will be going on my trade list, perhaps it is an acquired taste, since Game Magazine did name it Game of the Year in 1999.

This was a tough list to make, specifically because other than Warhammer: Invasion, all the other games I rate an 8/10, so deciding which should be 4th instead of 6th was tough. There are several other games from 2011 that I rate 8/10 that didn't end up making the list, but probably easily could when I get a chance to play them more.

The Hobbit Trailer - My Reaction

If you didn't already know, I love all things Middle-earth! I've read The Lord of the Rings (all three books) about 10 times. I've read The Hobbit probably 5 or 6 times. I went to watch the Fellowship of the Ring in theatres 8 times. I have several video and board games based in Middle-earth. I'm currently painting LotR miniatures. I have a complete basement decorated in Lord of the Rings memorabilia, including swords and axes. I say all this so you know where I'm coming from when I discuss the first Hobbit trailer:

I'll start with a couple things that I'm a bit unsure about.

 First, which I might have mentioned in a blog a long time ago, what is up with Thorin's wimpy beard? I mean, this is the King of the Dwarves! Give him a beard worth a dwarf. Weta did a great job on Gimli, I was hoping for similar greatness in looks from Thorin. No Salsa Dancing Dwarf beard. Okay, I'm done ranting on that, I'll still like him I'm sure. 

Second, what was Galadriel doing with Gandalf's hair exactly? There doesn't need to be romance in these movies, but if Jackson wants to take some real "creative liberties" than he should do so with maybe Bard. Gandalf is a Maia (basically an angel) and wouldn't be worried about romantic love affairs. 

Okay, now on to the awesome parts of the trailer. 

First, other than a few of the dwarves beards, I love them! Their armor is awesome and I'm excited to see some dwarves get some love this time around, rather than all the elf love that was going on in Lord of the Rings. Dwarves have always been my favorite fantasy creatures, mostly because they build awesome underground kingdoms and the beards.

Second, the song is great! Tolkien uses songs in his writings quite often, which I know is difficult to translate into a more adult, non-musical, blockbuster. However, if the trailer is any preview, Jackson will incorporate whenever he can. There is nothing silly about the song and it makes the 2 minute trailer feel epic.

Third, we briefly see the lower parts of the Trolls in Trollshaw forest, but that brief image makes me really wonder how this will be handled. The trolls didn't do any talking in LotR, but they do a lot of talking in the Hobbit. I'm curious whether Jackson will just make it a small battle or be more appropriate to the book and have the dwarves all be captured by the Trolls.

Fourth, it is so great that many of the previous actors are back! Specifically Ian McKellan and Cate Blanchett! Nothing like seeing the continuation of the story, well pre-continuation by having the same actors. Cate Blanchett, specifically in the Fellowship of the Ring, is powerful!

Fifth, I just got done watching Sherlock Holmes BBC Series with Martin Freeman in it. He is the perfect casting for Bilbo. Better than Elijah Woods for Frodo in LotR, because he is actually closer to Bilbo's real age. 

So to finish up, if you can't tell, I'm looking forward to the Hobbit. Sure it is just 2:30 seconds of footage, that may or may not even be in the movie, but yahoo!  I'll be there at 12:01am on December 14, 2012 to start the journey! In the mean time, go out, read a good book (I'm talking about the Hobbit and LotR here) and have a Merry Christmas!

The Love of a Father

Music is a powerful thing. The lyrics with that music are also powerful. So I just thought I'd share some song lyrics that I've been thinking on since Sunday. Occasionally, I'll write about theological things on this blog, after all its in the name, but to me How Deep A Father's Love by Stuart Townend is better than any article or discussion I could ever have. So here are the words:

How deep the Father's love for us,
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure

How great the pain of searing loss,
The Father turns His face away
As wounds which mar the chosen One,
Bring many sons to glory

Behold the Man upon a cross,
My sin upon His shoulders
Ashamed I hear my mocking voice,
Call out among the scoffers

It was my sin that left Him there
Until it was accomplished
His dying breath has brought me life
I know that it is finished

I will not boast in anything
No gifts, no power, no wisdom
But I will boast in Jesus Christ
His death and resurrection

Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom

Painting Some Trolls

I was going to write about email quotes I've received over the past few years, but I'll write about that later. My buddy Juan showed me how to paint miniatures a bit last month and so I painted some trolls last night to add to the orcs that he and I had painted. My Sauron army is done and now I got 6 other armies to go before I'm finished with my War of the Ring game.