You're __________!

We (re-)invented a terrible game here at work. It's straight out of third grade:

Whenever somebody says something, evaluate whether it would be amusing to take the last word or several words of their sentence and say them back in an accusatory way.

Example:
Josh:"The humidity makes the air feel thick."
Me: "You're THICK!"
Josh:"Seriously, that's getting kind of annoying."
Me: "You're ANNOYING!"

Yes, it's infantile (you're infantile!) and stupid (you're stupid!), but it's also totally fun. Try it today!

Self-Analysis from my Three-Year-Old

From the drive down to our timeshare this last weekend (in the middle of her favorite sea shanty):

"But... I'm a good singer!"

Me: "Yes, baby, you are. Who told you that?"

"I just learned it by myself!"

What 'R' You?

xkcd Rules

So, there's a few good webcomics out there. Actually, there's probably tons and tons and tons. Turns out the internet is B-I-G. But one of my favorites is xkcd, because its all nerd-point-of-view in the best ways.
Examples:





And one that seems right at home here:

Pass the Parsley

This got brought up in comments about the "What's on my Plate" tree, and Maren didn't know what it was. It's time you all knew. Brace yourselves.

First: a little history. In 11th grade Gabe Soll and I were partners on a civil-war era novella for our AmHist class. He did most of the work, I mostly proofread. One of the other groups got a failing grade when it was discovered that they had essentially rewritten the film "The Posse". I digress. Anyway, I borrowed Gabe's copy of Penn & Teller's How to Play with Your Food, and I never gave it back. Gabe, if you're reading, I'm sorry. Also, why are you reading, we haven't spoken in years - I heard from Chuck Moscato that you were a balding lawyer. Call me.

What the rest of you need to know is that the book in question is chock full of fun things to do with comestibles. That's right. Everything from "How to transport David Letterman's Watch into the Belly of a Fish" to "Stabbing a Fork in your Eye" (ask Kari about that one sometime - I did it at the Potomac Mills Food Court and she totally freaked). One of the tamer entries is "The Parsley Game." I quote:

"The parsley game is very simple: when Parsley, that useless biennial bastard nephew of the carrot family, is served on your plate as a garnish, you sneak it onto the plate of one of your dinner partners without being seen by the recipient. It's as easy as that, but, like chess, the possibilities are endless... The first few times you play the game, you'll win, but then your pals will catch on that you're playing and it will get harder... After a while, no one will turn around for anything."

So there you have it. Palm your parsley early, when nobody's thinking about it yet, and be ready at a moment's notice to get it onto the plate of anyone who looks away or goes for a drink refill.

On Notice

Bloggers of the following Blogs, you are ON NOTICE:


You are all at risk of being PURGED from my Google Reader!

27B - you're prolific, but seriously: I don't care who the voting official is in San Diego.

Matt - Do more, post more. Step it up.

Joe McDonald - Do you even remember you have a blog?

Ben Lehman - Same problem. I want to hear about your games, but there's nothing to read!

Defense Tech - you haven't been the same since Noah left. I'm sorry.

Dancho - You tease us with exciting ideas, and there's no substance. You can do better.

Wil - I know, I know, "you're just this guy, right?", well, I don't want to hear about poker. Or your blogging software.

101 Cookbooks - "Baked Peas with Tarragon, Yogurt, and Pistachios"? Barf me a river. Find something that sounds YUMMY in those books.

You all have one week before you get THE PURGE.

Where do Wendy's dehydrated chives fit in?

Today's lunch topic.

The Neverwas Haul

Can I just say that the Neverwas Haul looks like the coolest thing on wheels in a long, long time.

All this 'Maker Faire' and DIY craziness going on out there in CA is exciting, and a little sad for those of us not on the left coast.

by Request: Violent Civil Disobedience Decision Tree

Tricky.

Edit Added geographic qualifiers on juntas (see comments).

Horse-Drawn Wheeled Vehicle Decision Tree

Just so we're clear, carts & wagons are for moving mainly goods (yes, even Conestoga wagons and gypsy wagons). Carts have 2 wheels, wagons have 4.

Updated: Now with Surreys! (Thanks, Maren)

Vehicle Venn

Part 1 of a series:

Urban Lewis & Clark

So, here's a (pdf) link to a game you can play with 2 people travelling in any urban/downtown space at any time. enjoy.

Update: Flickr group pics of UrbanCrawlers in action.

Hobos & their Ilk

Tree Tree reloaded

Now correct for Texans! and incorporating Stands!

What do you call one or more trees?

Original draft:



Next time: Tick, Chigger, or Mite?

Camp Nerdly 01

Camp Nerdly was amazing. All fun, all the time.

My Nauvoo Legion game went very well, very well indeed.

Hilde got sick while I was away and poor Michelle had to deal with her throwing up in the car (multiple times) on the way down to Culpeper for a baby blessing we were determined not to miss (I drove up from camp, then back to camp after to help clean up).

I played Agon with with Remi, Frank Manna, Fred Hicks, Don Corcoran, and Joanna Corcoran on Friday. I was rolling SO BADLY and not getting any glory. Poor Antiphus, the gloryless brother. Good fun, though. Nice to see this become a Nerdly tradition (I played with Frank & Remi on Friday night at Camp Nerdly 0, too).

On Saturday morning, amidst the trading of regional sodas and books and games at the Nerdly Bazaar, I ended up playing City of Brass with Clinton (the author), Kevin Allen Jr, Jeff Wills, and Travis Casey. This is sort of the bastard stepchild among Clinton's games, but I love the 'Dark Continent' explorers feel to it. Fun characters and amazing setting, plus great players made this SO MUCH FUN. Made Clinton wear my pith helmet, so bonus points for me. The challenges are named, but perfectly vague in what they tell you: The Devil's Teeth, The Hunting Lodge, the Reptile Queen, Cobras!, etc. We had a lot of fun leaving eachother behind and facing the terrors of the Dark Continent.

Then Michelle and the kids came, because we were going to have a hike, but it started raining and the kids were starting to lose it, so we canceled the hike and they drove back home. Then I took a nap.

I woke up and prepped for my Dogs in the Vineyard game. The setting is based on Deseret-era Utah, with the supernatural dial set higher - demons attacking the Faithful because of Sin, the players as wandering priest/gunmen whose job it is to set things right. I was drifting it back into the source material, using real people like Porter Rockwell and Wild Bill Hickman (shout-out to my Hickmans). See the link above - it went REALLY well.

Before we played Dogs, though, I played Ganakagok, which was like taking Inuits, Crouching Tiger-type movies, and a sad romance and mixing them into a beautiful story of tradition vs. love on the endless ice. So fun. Don C. ran this for me, Jeff Collyer, Patty K., and Joshua Seigler. The imagery from that game (which ended when my tradition-bound character was eaten by an enormous ancestral orca) will stick with me for a long time.

Sunday I woke up early and went to church in Culpeper for the aforementioned baby blessing, then back at camp I helped clean up and just chilled with some of my new friends. I know a lot of these people from the internet, and it was a real joy to have faces to put with names and be able to have a whole new circle of people I enjoy.

I'm headed off to Camp Nerdly this weekend, so that's my excuse for the slack PoKs this week. Here's another easy one, because I started watching Shogun last night:




1) What's the big sword called?

2) What's the small sword called?

3) What's the dagger called and what's it used for?

4) Who is the greatest swordsman that ever lived? (No, not Madmartigan from Willow)

Answers to PoK: Boy Scouts

Clearly this one was too easy.

1) Davey's right - Robert Baden-Powell

2-4 go to Eagle Scout Eddie, except for the addition of Tiger Cub from J-Wo.

PoK: Boy Scouts

Who was the founder of the Boy Scouts?

What are the ranks of a cub scout? a boy scout?

Name four of the merit badges required for Eagle

State the Scout Law and Scout Oath, IF YE CAN!



Answers to PoK: Demonyms

1) Omaha - Omahans (wtg Maren)
2) Utah - Utahns is correct, Utards also accepted here
3) UAE - Emiratis, which is what I think both Kari & Maren were saying
4) Azerbijan - Azeris
5) Burkina Faso - Burkinabes
6) Gibraltar - Gibraltarians is correct (Maren, Shells)
7) Glasgow - Glaswegians
8) Phoenix - Phoenicians (yup, just like the civilization). Also Phoenixers, but that's totally lame.

I also discovered 'Syndneysiders' is the name for people from Sydney. Maren, Lady Fannie is a character in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. Kari and I quote that movie to eachother because it rules. Put it at the top of your queue.