Jackpot!

 

I'm reminded of another game from Tomy someone had, that I played with all the time when I went over to his house. It was a simple stupid game of flipping the lever and seeing if you got matching symbols or not. The sticker on the toy told you what would count as a jackpot. Though you never won anything, it was fun to see when all three symbols popper up. 

I loved this little thing, but because it was similar to slot machines, which was gambling, which was a sign of Satan, we were never allowed to have one of our own I'm sure. 

Tomy Games

 

I remember one year for Xmas, My 2 brothers and I got these mini-games from Tomy toys. 

The wind up figures all fit in the carry case that you could take anywhere and play a mini game with. I got the football one which was really the lamest of the three. Essentially, you used the footballs (that neither figure could carry across the board until they were pushed down or off the board. You have 4 downs to do so. 

My brother's had much better games. Like this bowling one you wound up to see how many pins he could knock down on the edge of the board. We played this one a lot. 

Another winner was the boxing one. Uber fun as you'd see if you could knock down or shove your opponent off the board to win. 

Simple games for a simpler time. 

Have a good weekend folks!

 

Jackass: Best and Last (review)

 I've seen them all. But this was the only one I didn't see in theaters. 

Just was over it by now. The gangs have a lot of "been there-done that" to them and the franchise should've bowed out after the 4th movie, but the money was just too good I guess. 

This movie bombed in theaters and I think the main reason is they admit showing old footage we'd seen before. Like a highlight reel to pad time for half a movie they made. The new people are completely forgettable and some of them who received opening credits do NOTHING in the entire film. Like, what was the point??

I will admit, the movie shows a few "never-before-seen" stunts and even one or 2 newer ones that made me chuckle but the magic is certainly done with this series. 

Johnny Knoxville said this was the last one. And even if he was lying the box office numbers aren't. This one was truly the last. 

RIP

The Last House (review)

 I don't know how many times I've seen a movie with this plot. 

A family comes in from the rain, which ends up trapping them inside the house. (the rain) Now they must survive with limited food supply and no way out, while also dealing with a mysterious alien threat that can kill them all. 

Is this movie interesting in the first act? You bet it is. The "why" and "how" they plan to survive is fleshed out pretty well, as they witness other neighbors stuck in their houses as well, struggle with survival. 

Does the 2nd act involve a dilemma where they must find a way out of the house to save someone's life? 

Of course! I called that from the very beginning of the movie. For a while I'll admit, I wasn't sure they were going to do it, but thankfully they follow the classic formula hollywood has been using for the past 30 years.

Does the ending explain itself and wrap up with a clear understanding of what went on?

Oh ho ho... no. Remember "Signs"? The movie that dealt with an alien invasion only to find out in the end that these people can be hurt by water....which is what our planet is mostly made out of. Which leads you to wonder how "smart" these aliens were to invade in the first place???

Think that ending, but 11 times lamer. I was confused on the ending and though the movie tries to explain to you what went on, the whole plot makes zero sense. 

Avoid this movie. It isn't worth your time.  

PASS!

 No I didn't read the book in one day. I cracked open the first chapter, flipped through the next 100 pages and put it up. 

It's entirely in 1st person. The most hated writing style for me. I can't stand it. 

Sure I endure it for the classics. Frankenstein, Dracula, Last of the Mohicans, Sherlock Holmes, Jekyll and Hyde, etc. But in modern day writing? It feels SO MUCH like bad fan fiction. 

I can't explain it, but it's true. It grates on my last nerve to find a book written like that today. 80% of Star Wars fan fiction I read back in the day was in first person and I believe because it's the laziest way to write a novel these days. Like you're reading someone's journal. BOR-RING. 

Too bad. I really wanted to know what was in this. Maybe I'll look up a review online and get the cliff notes that way. but one thing's for sure, this book is NOT for me. 

I got better things to do with my time.  

Crisis on Infinite Earths

It's been a while since I've read this series. But since someone let me borrow a copy of the book Marv Wolfman wrote decades later, I wanted to re-read this classic before seeing what the novel held in store. 

This is a wild ride. About half the heroes I'd never heard of before. I'm sure the made up a few but also went through their entire lineup of heroes in the process too. 

Peacemaker (who is now famous) has a small role in this. I didn't know who he was last time I read it and now (since all the movies and tv shows) it's crazy to think how popular he's grown in the past 40 years. 

The story is a convoluted mess though. I couldn't understand why exactly Anti-Monitor was such a threat or where he got his powers from. Or the whole business with how the dimensions worked, but entertaining enough. 

This is the series where they killed off the original Supergirl (then replaced her with an alien clone in the comic) and most notably, Barry Allen the original Flash. Which is one of the rare permanent choices they ever made, as Wally West is still known as the Flash today. 

Overall, not bad. I'm hoping the book can connect the dots a little better and flesh out the story more. 

We shall see....
 

Monsters (comic)

Ok, I've only read the first issue but I'm hooked. 

It's about a monster hunter, who comes out of retirement in the 80s to defeat all the classic monsters of the time. (and even some newer ones from 80s movies)

It's pretty good. My buddy collects them for the covers but never read them. He had doubles of a few issues which is how I got to read the first one. Now I'm going to ask if I can borrow the rest and read what's come out so far. 

Honestly, these covers are beautiful. But the story is interesting too. The artwork is fantastic and the art certainly gets room to breathe on the page as the dialogue for each panel isn't that long. 

I like the format, but will the series hold up as a whole? We shall see...
 

TI4 (game #2)

 

Just like every twilight imperium game before it you never think how much better it can get until you play again.

This had to be the most amazing game I've played in quite some time. For the second time only I was able to open the fractured void and get in it. It took me two rounds to finally capture a planet and that's when I realized the entire void is just a giant red herring.

Sure the planets are very powerful granting you a relic along with other super abilities (in my case a victory point) but by the time everything was said and done the leader had 6 victory points to my 2. Since all my energy was focused on taking over a planet in the void I was losing out on points.

Sure this is only my personal opinion but I wouldn't put it past this game to keep putting up shiny trinkets in front of the player's eyes that make them lose focus on scoring victory points.

It was at this time I realized the game was really out of my hands.

Yet as any experienced player knows….never give up hope, you just don't know what might happen.

Well during one of the agenda phases an opportunity presented itself as I was the speaker about to break up a tied vote on which planet would be demilitarized. One of them was Mecatol Rex Which would essentially give that player the planet indefinitely throughout the rest of the game.

A very powerful vote. And as we know with very powerful votes come very powerful deals.

My plan was simple give him my deciding vote and have him keep Rex for the rest of the game thereby almost assuring him the win. In exchange he would give me support for the throne. Afterwards my goal would be to paint him as the front runner and try to make it close enough to convince the other players to give me support for the throne in the end thereby beating him the last moment.

And that's exactly what happened. But it wasn't as easy as you would think.

First off my nephew was (rightfully) against the deal in the first place and argued against it vehemently.  He almost convinced the guy until I finally one out with a better argument showing him how he could easily win the game.

Once the deal was made I slowly gathered enough points to get within striking distance and when the final round happened he was sitting on Rex with strategy card 8 in his hand ready to end the game on his turn.

Then I struck my plan.

Gathering the other players I asked one of them to remove all his fleet from his home planet so that I could take it thereby completing a secret mission and then the other players giving me support for the throne right after that so I would be crowned the winner and literally steal victory from the other guy.

And because that guy was so arrogant as to ask if we wanted it to go another round or not since he was “obviously going to win” it cheesed the other players off enough that I knew I could convince them to give me the victory. And hand me that victory they did.

It was a master stroke in negotiations. Definitely a game for the ages. As each one of the players were pointing fingers at each other at whose fault this all was while I sat back with a smile on my face and the crown of champion upon my head.

What a great game…  

Happy Labor Day

 If I'm not playing board games today, it's been a waste of day. 

That's all I'm saying. 

The Last Battle

At last I've finished the series!

What did I think of The Last Battle?

Very depressing. 

Seriously, why have I never noticed what a downer this book is??

The narrator let's you know by the second chapter that these are the final days of Narnia. (um, spoilers??)

But why say that? How about we find that out towards the end?? What's the point in telling us that now? So when every chapter shows things in Narnia getting worse (talking animals slaughter, the land overrun with the enemy, a Centaur saying doom and destruction is coming to Narnia) the reader has ZERO hope things will get better because the book told you the end days were coming at the beginning of the book. 

SPOILERS!!!!

And I still don't know how I missed the fact that the kids were dead at the end of the book, which is why they are all gathered in Narnia. Wild. So they never got "called" into the land as in previous novels, but died and were sent there after death. (GRIM)

Yes, in the end, everyone goes to NEW Narnia and lives happily ever after, yet it's really too late at that moment because you've been reading the entire novel, knowing everything is coming to a crummy ending. But yet the last 2 chapters everything is happy again, so we're supposed to be happy too?? I don't get it. 

So here's my final ranking:

1) Voyage of the Dawn Treader

2) Silver Chair

3) The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

4) The Magician's Newphew

5) A Horse and His Boy

6) The Last Battle

7) Prince Caspian - (only because of it's slow start in the first half of the book)

And there you go! 

Overall, I'd say it's worth reading. I'll be reading it again in the next 7-8 years I'm sure. Maybe sooner if my kids are old enough to LISTEN while I read. 

I first tried reading these to them and it was a disaster. No one can sit still in bed. So after 2 chapters, I gave up and starting reading them on my own. And I'm glad I did. It was worth it. 

Have a good weekend folks!
 

Hwy Traffic jam

 This isn't a picture of Monroe. But it could be. I don't know what the heck is going on, but since last year it's taking me almost twice the original time to get home these days. 

Not sure if that's because Meta now has a site (an hour away) or what, but traffic is the WORST these days. And at least twice a week there's a wreck at the SAME EXACT SPOT. It's like everyone forgot how to drive. 

I know it's some moron looking at their phone instead of the road and slamming into the car in front of them. Every time I pass the wreck, I see it. Someone hit someone else's car from behind, causes a jam on the highway. 

I know, I know, this is nothing compared to bigger cities but still... it irks me. 

And I'm getting old. 

And I like to complain about these things. 

And whenever I go to the bathroom in the middle of the night I always pass gas when I get back in bed. 

I have no idea why, but it's true. 

Anyway....traffic sucks. 

The Silver Chair (review)

 

As I've said, it's been a while since I've read these. I'm finding I like them even more than I expected I would. 

In fact, this may be 2nd on my "favorite" list of them. I love Puddleglum. He's the perfect character for such an adventure. Always negative and such a downer on the group, yet serves up some humorous moments during the adventure. 

I remember watching the BBC version of this years later when I moved to Monroe. I never even knew it existed until visiting our local ibrary here and seeing the series on VHS. When I was a kid, we must've watched the first 3 series hundreds of times but they didn't have the Silver Chair. And in the days before the internet, how could I have known this even existed??

But wow, what a great book. Can't wait to get to the final book in the series now!

Traffic Light Removal

Driving down a street I haven't been on in a while and noticed something amazing. They got rid of a traffic light that has been there for 36 years. 

I was shocked. 

It was in a terrible location where there's hardly ever any traffic, yet you have to sit there and wait for....no one until the light turns green. I always found it to be a waste of time, I have no idea who put it up or how long it's been up there (it was there when I arrived in 1989) But I'm SOOO happy somebody finally had the brains to say "Hey, this light is useless"

Great choice. 

There's a few more in town that make no sense either that I hope they take down soon. I'm also a fan of round-abouts, yet a bunch of idiot drivers here have no idea how to maneuver around them, so I doubt those will ever be popular here. 

Either way, kudos to the city of Monroe for taking a step in the right directions (though it probably took over 40 years to do)