Grading the Alhambra Expansions (1)

 For the first time since I first bought this, I got to replay all the expansions again. I have to admit, the first time I did this was for review purposes and it felt rushed. This time, it was WAY more fun. 

So for the next few weeks, I'll be breaking down all 43 expansions into 3 categories. 1) MUST 2) Meh 3) Pass

Let's start with a few today!

Vizor's Favor

When a tile comes up you want to buy but its not your turn, flip this over and buy it out of turn. Later on your turn flip it back over as an action to "ready" it for another turn.

This is a MUST. 

There always seems to be the right tile you need pop up when its not your turn, so this module was used constantly in the game. In fact, my group asked if we could continue to keep it for future games while exploring the modules. Its just that good!

  Currency Exchange Cards

You can select these cards when they become available from the deck and use them to change the color of your money when paying for a tile. 

This is a MUST. 

A lot of the time you want something but don't have the right currency to pay for it. These cards come in handy. Although I do love how it's only for 2 of the 4 colors and not just all of them. This makes for more strategic decisions on when you want to play them. Very enjoyable. 

Bonus Cards

You start the game with one of these and if you happen to buy that exact tile during the game it counts for 2 buildings when scoring. 

This is a PASS. 

Only one of us were able to get the bonus and in the end, it didn't make that much of a difference. I can't believe they thought this was something "fun" to add to the game. Completely pointless. 

See you tomorrow folks!

Games ready for the Metal Coin upgrade

 

I love this game. The last time I played I decided this would be the next coin upgrade I give to a board game. From the look and theme this one deserves only the best!

Just played this game last weekend and will now be on the lookup for a suitable coin upgrade for the game. This has always been one of my favorite games. And since I love my "klinkity-klink" an upgrade is in the near future I'm sure. 

The Watchers (review)

 Have you ever wondered "What if someone made a movie, that looks great but was written by a highschool kid obsessed with horror movies but has no idea how to write one?"

Well THIS is the movie for you!

The story is all over the place, makes ZERO sense at all, and even the scenes that are supposed to be "the moment" in a film make you say "What the ____?!"

Terrible movie. I almost stopped it but decided I could double task and get other things done with this playing in the background without missing anything......and I was write. 

Complete waste of time. 

Ice cream from around the world

 Was training a team out of Manila this month and asked them what their favorite flavor ice cream was. 

Here were there answers:

Yes. Cheese Ice Cream is a thing and a lot of familiar names make it. I have NO IDEA who came up with this concept but I can't imagine it being any good. All in all however....I'd give it a try if I had the chance. 

Avocado Ice Cream. I thought this was a joke when they said it, but turns out its real too. I love avocados but even I would be weary checking this flavor out. 

Also they thought it was weird that I put salt on my avocados at times when eating them.....yeah, isn't it crazy how far apart we were on that?

Have a good weekend folks!

Marvel United Chubi's I wish I had

 I have several people with 3D printers who promise they'll make me these someday but so far, no one has delivered. 

Now that CMON is done with Marvel United and moving on to DC, here's the 3 figures I wish I could have:

Senator Kelly is used for a scenario in the X-Men United series. He's just a token in the game but I'd love to have my own figure of him to move around the board. 

There's a promo deck available to play as the Gray Hulk but no figure to go along with it, so I would use this one instead when playing as that character. 

The one character I'm SHOCKED Marvel United never included in their game. I thought for sure he'd be in this one but he wasn't. A shame that so many D list villains made it into the game but this high C Lister didn't. So I'd design my own game around him and play with this figure instead. 

Nerf Bow and Arrow

 Lots of good memories with this thing around my house growing up. 

It worked smoothly and provided hors of fun for me when I was a kid. I forgot to mention these in a podcast my brother and I did on toys recently and could've kicked myself!

Only after it was over did I recall this one. Wonderful stuff. In my opinion, the BEST nerf "weapon" they ever created!

Electronic Football

 Used to play a newer version of this all the time when I was a kid. LOVED IT. 

I remember saving up my money to be my own when my Dad's version died out. So many good memories losing that little rubber football. Passing, kicking, running it was all incredible back in the day!

I know I wouldn't enjoy this game now but was looking at it with my brother a few weeks ago, thinking back on the good ole days and remembering how much I enjoyed it as a kid. 

Major Morgan

 I can't tell you all the fun memories I had playing with this device. You'd slip a card over the front of him which would instruct you which buttons to press (and in which order) to play a song. Super fun! they should bring this toy back into the market with new music. I think it would be a hit!

Not sure if mom still has our copy stashed away in some closet. I remember playing on it in the mid-2000's so there's a chance it's still in one of her cabinets. 

Do you remember this vintage toy? Let me know in the comments!

Furiosa (review)

 How sad. Fury Road was EXCELLENT and this movie was....ok?

There was some good action and the villain held your attention....but the worst thing about this movie was Furiosa herself. You just didn't care about here....at all!

And there were times I was surfing the internet instead of watching the movie. I think this was overall was a miss. It didn't give us anything new and pales in comparison to Fury Road. Too bad too, because this was one of the few movies I was looking forward to in 2024.

Have a good weekend folks!

Classic Oreo Song

 

Shoresy (Season 3 review)

 This is possibly the best comedy I've ever seen. The spinoff to Letterkenny has already surpassed its predecessor. 

Don't watch with your kids, but this is one of the funniest/best shows I've seen in quite a while! Excellent stuff!!

If you're interested in watching, "Part 1" concluded at the end of this season. I assume "Part 2" runs 3 more seasons and I can't wait for each of them to come out. 

Last Night in Soho (review)

 This was an interesting film. It started strong and though it didn't stick the landing for an ending, Megan loved it and called it one of the best films she's seen this year. 

I love the director. Edgar Wright really can't go wrong. Overall the film captures your interest but may not be for everyone. 

It IS worth checking out. Don't watch the trailer. Though it doesn't give that much away I think you'll enjoy watching it knowing nothing about the movie rather than knowing the "just" of it. 

Vacation Bible School

 

Oddly enough I never got to attend as a student as a kid. I was too old the very first time I went to one, so they made me a helper instead and I was one for 4 years until graduating highschool and never looking back. 

I always enjoyed the themes. The first one I ever got to be a part of was the space themed one, which I enjoyed a lot. I remember playing the evil aliens who ran away whenever the kids started quoting scripture. (yep, that happened)

Then they went with the sea theme, which was my least favorite. And the 3rd year was the Olympics which I almost enjoyed as much as the one set in space. 

The final one (it was a 4 year rotation in themes) was an outdoor theme, which I didn't like at first but it grew on me throughout the week. 

Though they don't do this anymore at our church, its still holds fun memories for myself when I was a kid. I'm sure they are several going on right now that kids are enjoying even today. 

What about you? Any of you go to VBS as a kid? Which theme did you enjoy or are there new ones now that I don't know about? 

Santa Bowl Update IV

 Got a special post for you today fans! 

Pictures from the very FIRST Santa Bowl! 

I found them a few months ago while digging through my photos. I'm not sure who took these but I'm SO glad they did! A little piece of history I now have forever!

I know this is the first one because we were playing in an outfield the first few years until the high school bought it and ran us off. 

Also, some of the other players were only around for the first one which is another way I was able to identify it. 

Incredible!

See you on the next update folks!

Life's little blessings

 Having your kids cheer for you through the window while you mow the grass. 

I know it sounds silly, but I cherish each time it happens because I know (before too long) they won't even care. But at least for now, they appreciate the little things Dad does around the house. And if that's the only thing I get recognized for....I'm ok with it. 

Dr Pepper Coconut Creme (review)

 Bought this for Megan because she loves Dr Pepper and she loves coconut....but after 2 weeks of it just sitting in the fridge, I got the feeling she didn't want it. So I tried it instead. 

Yuck. 

I'm not the biggest Dr Pepper fan. It's fine, I'd rather drink other cokes if they're available and I don't like coconut, which this soda reeks of. 

So if you love the two flavors, this may be for you. But as for me? Hard pass. 

Have a good weekend folks!

Ghost: Electric Limeade

 Didn't even know you could get a hold of this drink in Monroe. I thought it was only in larger locations. But I found a gas station in town which had a few so I decided to give it a try. 

Pretty good! Though it's only the Cherry-Limeade minus the cherry flavor of course. 

Again, it's fine but not really what I would describe as a "new" flavor than just a remix of previous flavors. 

Major coinage

 Not often I buy MORE coins for a game I already have coins for but in the case of Merchants of the Dark Road, I've decided to do just that!

The last few times we've played we've been very close on running out and I don't want that to happen so I decided to buy more just in case. 

I even backed an expansion on Kickstarter last month, so I'm taking a risk with Elk Creek Games which has one of the worst reputations in the business but we'll see what they're like. I think they're trying to clean up their bad image. We'll see how they deliver on this one. 

In the meantime, I'm happy playing the base game....with more coinage!

Kath and Kim (review)

 An Australian turned me on to this show when we were discussing humor and said it was for me. 

It was ok. Some hilarious moments to be sure but I'm not sure the humor translates well for english viewers and some of the jokes were obviously Aussie based but overall, this comedy about a mother and her spoiled daughter had its moments. 

Spoilers- My favorite surprises were to see the Wiggles guest appearance in their first tv movie back in 2005. Worst moment was there theatric release in 2012, 5 years after the show had ended. I'd heard the Aussie fans weren't very fond of it and watching it I see why. 

It takes all the characters out of the element which made them who they were. And into a non-sensicle adventure that (at times) made the character dumber than they were in the show. Yes, the characters IQ is stretched due to it being a comedy but them doing really stupid things was never what this comedy was about. I agree with most everyone else that the movie somehow missed the mark that gave the show its love in the first place. 

Overall, the show is skippable, just wanted to give me thoughts on it as a whole, since I finished it last month. 

Civil Bore (War) Review

 I was excited for this movie to come out on streaming and when it did I put it at the top of my list.....then I tried watching it. 

Extremely slow, even more boring than slow. The characters are all one dimensional and provide nothing to the overall plot which is so thin I stopped caring about it 20 minutes in. 40 minutes in I questioned if I wanted to watch anymore and 45 minutes in a turned it off. 

Awful. Don't know why there was hype surrounding this film in the first place. Complete and utter waste of time. 

Kim's Video (review)

 I saw the trailer and was instantly drawn to this documentary of a wild video rental store in New York which carried one of the largest selection of hard to find (illegally ripped) copies of every odd and obscure movie out there. 

When videos went the way of the dinosaur, the store closed and donated their collection to a small city in Italy to be used as a museum. 

This documents someone finding out what ever happened to that collection and where it is today. 

From the trailer, it looks interesting but when you watch the whole thing, it falls flat. The director doesn't really know what he wants to do or what point to make about it all. He tries to make you believe he has this interesting story to tell when it reality....it's much ado about nothing. 

Too bad. The concept was there but the intrigue was not. 

Have a good weekend everyone!

Happy 4th everyone!

 Odd to have this fall on a Thursday. Don't really have plans today. Board games would be nice, but I doubt it'll happen. 

Either way, I can at least hope for the best! Have a good one folks!

Boy Kills World (review)

 Excellent. 

Humor is great, so is the action. There's even a twist at the end I didn't see coming and I loved it even more. 

It's about a boy seeking revenge for the death of his mother and sister. He trains his entire childhood until the time is right and he's ready to strike. But things don't go according to plan. 

Excellent movie. Worth your time. Wish there were more like it out there....but there aren't. 

Ghost cereal

 I don't know what's more incredibke. That they actually make Ghost cereal....or that it cost $9 a box!!

Good luck selling it! I plan to see you in the clearance section later this summer....and even then, I don't think I could afford it. 

Happy birthday Jeremy!

A very happy birthday to my brother who has accomplished a lot in his lifetime already. From writing books to raising great kids. He's been a success in his professional life as well as personal. 

Hope he has a great day today. There's a lot in his life to celebrate but he's not even finished with how far he can go. 

Happy birthday brother!