Games and more games

One of the hobbies that I love to spend time doing is playing games. I love most types of games, from video games on a computer or console, to tabletop gaming, role-playing, and card-type games. Because my wife and friends are also into games, this has led to a large uptick in time spent playing recently. So I thought I'd take a few moments and jot down some thoughts on some of my favorite games right now.

Role playing games

These are, of course, the big dogs in the field, with a long history going back to Dungeons and Dragons. As a kid, I only briefly played D&D, and ended up giving into the hype about occultism and gave the game up. I did however play a lot of other RPGs such as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Robotech. Both games based off of the Palladium system.

Recently a good friend of mine and I started playing the Star Wars RPG, Edge of the Empire. It's a Fantasy Flight game, set in the Star Wars world, specifically focusing on the outer rim territories and life outside of the plush existence of imperial citizens.  It's a fun system, however the need for unique dice is both a hindrance and a detriment. There is a great deal of interpretation as to what the dice rolls mean, which can be great for a creative GM, however it also means that there is often a small bit of ambiguity after every roll. Yes, you may have hit your target, but did you drop your gun in the process because you also rolled some other consequences? Overall though, we've had a good time with it, and I've even written a small adventure that we played through with a moderate degree of success.

Coming full circle however, the newest release of D&D, 5e just got released, and there's a part of me that wants to pick it back up again and see if it's reclaimed its glory days. I'm over my childhood fears of being overrun by evil, so I think this might have to be a purchase sometime soon. At least now they've put the basic rules online for all to see, and the starter set has everything you need to get going for only $20. That's cheap enough to try it out and get deep enough into it to know if it'll be worth keeping around and investing in the larger books.

Tabletop games

No discussion of games can go far without talking about the amazing number of tabletop games that are out there. My wife and I have spent a lot of time down at Fantasy Flight Game Center trying out various games, and I've come up with a few favorites. We both love some of the simplistic farm/city type games like Alhambra, and we're starting to really enjoy SmallWorld. Agricola is another one that we've tried once, and after figuring it out, we really started to enjoy ourselves. We've also experimented with some big-box games like Arkham Horror, but these games often that take a long time to play, so we have to be careful when we decide to grab those off the shelf. 

One of our personal favorites to play with family and friends is Lords of Las Vegas. This is an amazing game that combines aspects of Monopoly with Settlers of Catan, all with Las Vegas style. One of the most intense gaming sessions I've had in recent memory was at a gathering of my wife's family. The epic-ness of the casino's that were being fought over, brought on literal shouts of joy, as well as genuine pangs of anguish when that one, wrong, card turned over and changed the entire landscape. Leaving a clear winner a mystery until the end is the mark of a great game.

I can't forget to leave out miniature games from tabletop games, though perhaps they even deserve their own category. Two of my favorite ones right now are Zombicide, which creates a real sense of dread as you duck in and out of decaying buildings, trying desperately to take out that walker-style zombie without making too much noise. But the one miniature game that has been getting a majority of my attention is X-Wing miniatures. My buddy got me into this, and I'm totally hooked. The collector inside me wants to keep building my armada of ships, but even with a limited squad you can have a great deal of fun. The game play is highly tactile and visual, and by the end of a session your brain can be quite tired. We've had some epic battles and can't wait to see some of the new models coming out later this year.

Card games

I was a fan of Magic: The Gathering, back shortly after it debuted. I even owned some of the original printings of the first expansion set. As I decided I was a family man, and a grown up, I stupidly sold most of my cards many years ago, but I still love a good competitive card game. Thankfully, I've found a couple to play with my youngest son, such as the (now defunct) Warcraft Card Game, as well as the typical Pokemon. I haven't yet delved back into M:tG, but that's mainly because I don't have any friends to play against. 

However, when my wife and I visit the game center, we've started playing some of Fantasy Flight's Living Card Games. These are different from the typical CCG (Collectible Card Games) for a couple different reasons. First, they do not come out with random booster packs the way that CCGs do. They publish decks of cards that are a fixed number, and variety, of cards that are all identical from pack to pack. So you can continue to build your decks with new cards, but there is no more of the random treasure hunting, hoping for that one special card, buying dozens of booster packs to try and get it.

The other really unique aspect of FF's LCGs are that they depart from the typical death match style of play. In M:tG you and your opponent each have a deck, and the object is to kill the other player first. In LCG's the objectives are totally different, and it makes for some really unique play. In the Call of Cthulu Card Game you're each playing a deck that is trying to capture a set number of story-cards to be the winner. In the Android: Netrunner game the hacker player is on offense while the corporation being hacked into is on defense, making for completely different play style on both sides of the table. The Lord of the Rings game focuses on cooperative play to achieve and objective, and can even be modified for more than two players. This unique type of game play makes the catalog of LCGs (there are more than the 3 I've mentioned here) a lot more compelling and fun to play casually than the traditional CCG.

Before ending the card game section though, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention deck-building games like Dominion and the favorite of my wife and I, the DC Comics card game. These games provide a unique way to play, that can be incredibly fast paced and can leave your opponent in the dark as to who is really winning, until the very end.

So that's a quick overview of a few of the games I've been playing lately. It's been great to have this hobby in my life again, and I love being able to share it with the people in my life that I love.

Open Letter to Minnesota Liquor Store Owners

This is an open letter to all liquor store owners who stand in opposition of a full repeal of Sunday sales of alcohol in Minnesota. I’m writing this letter to set various facts straight, and to hopefully change some minds. I would ask that liquor store owners who are reading this keep an open-mind and understand that no one wants to see them fail. Change is never easy, but if we’re open to considering the facts, and imagining a different future, then we need to talk about upending the status quo. Success benefits us all - consumers and business owners alike.

First, there is the argument that if the Sunday sales ban is repealed, liquor stores will “need” to open on Sundays. Obviously this is false, as no one would ever mandate what hours a store owner must keep for their own business. The response given, is that a liquor store would need to open on Sunday in order to remain competitive, and not lose out on business. Yet, at the same time, owners have stated that there would not be enough business on Sunday to justify the operational expenses. So which one is it? If there isn't enough business to cover operational expenses on a Sunday, then there’s no “need” to open.

Every retail and hospitality business has had to deal with the question, “What hours do I keep?” They do analysis of the market and determine the most profitable times to open their doors. If opening early, or staying open late doesn't pay for itself, then a business does not keep those hours. Tens of thousands of businesses in Minnesota, across every industry, have made decisions about the best hours to open their doors, with a 7 day schedule in mind. Businesses should have the freedom to make that decision on its own merit, based on consumer demand, not on an antiquated law.

Second, the argument is made that opening on Sundays simply spreads out 6 days worth of sales into a 7th day. Studies have shown that this is not accurate. When other states, such as Colorado, have repealed their Sundays sales law, they found an increase of up to 5-7% in liquor taxes collected. This means that there is actually an untapped market on Sundays. Unlike some products, liquor can often be a spur-of-the-moment purchase. People often make leisure plans within the same day, and if they have an option, and desire, to make liquor a part of those plans, they will often exercise that option. I know for a fact that, personally, I have been invited to a same-day BBQ, or other gathering, on a Sunday evening and realized I don’t have a bottle of wine to bring, and have no way to acquire one. From a business perspective, this is lost sales. I’m probably not going to purchase that bottle of wine on Monday.

Additionally, there is no reason that a liquor store owner cannot adjust their entire weekly schedule to accommodate a 7-day business. There is nothing stopping a store owner from adjusting their weekly hours to maintain the same number of total ‘open hours’ in a given week, spread over one extra day. Or limiting Sunday hours to a few peak afternoon hours to accommodate the bulk of the impulse purchasing that may occur.

Finally, there is the fact that Minnesota is now one of only 12 states that does not allow Sunday sales, meaning that in the U.S., 38 states allow for sales on Sunday. Minnesota is surrounded by states that allow Sunday sales, a fact that directly impacts any liquor store owner within 45 minutes of a border. It also affects our hospitality industry, as brewpubs and taprooms can only sell on-premises on Sundays, meaning that visitors from in and out of town cannot purchase growlers to bring home; and that translates to more lost sales.

On a nation-wide level it also affects our reputation. I've heard from one colleague in particular, who at one point lived in Minnesota, say that he would never move back to our state, partly because of the Sunday sales law. He reasoned, that if our laws are so antiquated for a commodity like liquor sales, how much more would this be found true in other areas, further reducing the incentive to starting a business or a new life here in Minnesota.

Therefore, I ask liquor store owners around Minnesota to reconsider their opposition to Sunday sales - realizing that running a 7-day business is not alien territory, that there are many options for how to handle these additional hours. I also ask the store owners to think of the consumer demand, understanding the potential for lost revenue to both themselves, and the state tax coffers. Finally I ask that you consider the reputation of our state, long known as a progressive, forward-thinking beacon of the Midwest.  

River Bank Run trip 2014

As someone who loves running, something that is fun to do is travel to a race. When Lisa and I were deciding on our race calendar for the year we decided to do to the River Bank Run 25k in Grand Rapids, MI. We chose this race for a couple of reasons. Primarily though it was because our good friends John and Jackie live near Grand Rapids, and I've traveled out there to run this race in the past. It's was also a solid challenge of a race, as it's a couple miles longer than a half marathon.

We headed out on Thursday afternoon, after lunch, with a goal to make it just outside Chicago. We made reservations in Carol Stream so that we could meet a couple of friends on Friday morning for breakfast. The drive was mostly uneventful, except for the massive road construction on I-90. It was a major headache and by Thursday night I was suggesting that maybe we could spring for the ferry from Muskegon to Milwaukee for our trip back to avoid all of that mess.

Friday morning we met Rich and Beth for breakfast and had a great time chatting. We then headed out for a few more hours of driving to Grand Rapids. Because of the time change it was mid-afternoon before we arrived at our hotel. We walked over the packet pickup and I showed Lisa around the start and finish area, and where we would all meet up after the race. Then we headed out to John and Jackie's house for a great chicken and rice dinner and to hang out for an evening. It was a great time to sit and relax and chat (no beer though because of the race ;-) ). We had an awesome time catching up and before we knew it, it was getting much too late.

As usually happens the night before a race we don't sleep tremendously well, so we were up and about rather early. Since I was going into this race with a specific set of goals I was pretty anxious to get moving. We were only a couple blocks from the start line so we headed downstairs close to the gun time and met up with John and Jackie to get to the staging area. The race kicked off and for almost the entire time it went amazingly smooth for me. Around mile 12 things started to fall apart on my pace. I had been managing mostly 9:00-9:30 min/miles, but towards the end I was pushing hard to manage 9:50s. However, I managed to finish the race with a time of 2:28:59. I made my goal of beating two and a half hours, and I blew away my 2011 time by over 8 minutes. Lisa crossed the finish with a time of 3:10:48, which met one of her goals, and was an amazing accomplishment for the longest run she's ever attempted.

However, my celebration was mostly short-lived. After making it back to the hotel and showering off, things started not feeling right. I tried to walk it off a bit, but the nausea started to overcome me and I had to back out of lunch. At some point in the afternoon the diarrhea and vomiting started, and the day became a complete wash-out for me. I spent all of Saturday curled up in bed trying to recover from whatever it was that hit me. At this point I'm thinking it was a combination of overexertion, heat exhaustion and perhaps a small stomach virus that was able to take hold because of overexerting myself. Lisa managed to get out for parts of the day and enjoy herself, which I was happy about. But for the most part my day consisted of lots of sleep and cable TV.

Sunday I woke up feeling a bit better, but still had no appetite. At this point we were very happy that we had opted for the ferry to get us part of the way home. It cost a bit more than we had planned on spending on the trip, but the idea of making it to Milwaukee after relaxing on 2.5 hour boat ride was very appealing. The ferry ride was actually quite amazing. The boat speeds across the lake at 34mph, which is fast enough to blast you with wind if you try to stay on the upper deck at full speed. We spent most of the trip relaxing in the cabin reading and enjoying the smooth ride. I could see us budgeting for this luxury in future trips.

Because I wasn't in a beer mood we skipped our planned stop at Capital Brewing and just headed straight home. The only real stop we made was to pick up some New Glarus beer to bring home, since we can't get that in Minnesota. Oh... and I bought it on a Sunday, at a gas station. Thanks for doing it right Wisconsin.

We made it home around 5:30pm and got settled back in. I'm still not 100% today, but being home in my own bed certainly felt nice last night. Despite the fact that the post-race illness stunk, this was still an awesome trip. I love hanging out with these groups of friends, and wish that distance wasn't such a burden to getting together more often. I also made my race goal, and hopefully whatever knocked me out after this race was a one time affair, and I can get back to training for the summer. On the upside I don't have a race this long until the Marathon in October, so the summer should go pretty good.

Las Vegas trip Wrap-up

Couple days late on this, but seems like I haven't stopped moving since we touched down at the airport. Needless to say our flight back landed safely, and I managed to finish reading my book on the plane. Our final day in Vegas was a travel day, almost entirely. Lisa managed a short run before her parents drove us to the airport. However, with a 3 hour flight, and losing two hours to time zone changes, it ended up being a long day. To top it off we went right form the airport to dinner with a good friend who is in town for the week, so we didn't settle in at home till after dark.

So now that I've had a couple days to decompress, I can start to think about some of the various things that I saw in Vegas. One of the first things that struck me was how much the gambling culture is so pervasive. There are gambling machines everywhere, and I mean everywhere. From the moment we landed I saw slot machines in the airport terminal and signs for gambling in just about every establishment around the city. Gaming was pretty much the main form of entertainment around the city, which didn't do much for someone who's not a big gambler. Having grown-up in a State that only legalized some forms of gambling in my lifetime it was wild to see it being so engrained. One can't help but wonder what the addiction rate is like around Vegas, and how large the treatment industry is in comparison.

Many people who talk about Vegas also comment heavily on it's 'Sin City' reputation, and specifically the availability of legal sex workers along with scantily clad women dancing on bars. To be honest I didn't really find myself very shocked by any of this while I was there. On The Strip there are constantly people handing out pamphlets for what I assume are brothels, and there are billboards around town advertising escort services, but I really never saw much in the way of scandalous behavior out in the open. I occasionally saw a woman dancing on a bar in a skimpy outfit, but frankly they were wearing far more clothing than the teenagers at the local gym swimming pool. I think the most provocative thing I saw was a brief glimpse of a woman walking around with her top body painted (therefore wearing no top).

As for other forms of entertainment, I managed to get to both The Strip and to Freemont Street. By far I found Freemont Street to be the more fun and engaging place. The Strip felt very manufactured, and everything of interest was tucked away inside the massive buildings that lined the street. It felt like a busy Manhattan street at rush hour with everyone trying to simply get around the city. The Strip didn't feel like an 'experience', just a main street where you could find everything. However, on Freemont Street everything was out in the open, and the entire street felt like a festival or a fair. It didn't feel fake or contrived either, it was genuine, authentic partying and decadence. There were people selling food, casinos that opened right on to the street, neon signs everywhere and music stages all along the street, playing different types of music. Within a few short blocks we got to experience beer, food, gaming, music, dancing and a light show on the roof that covers most of the avenue. If I only had a single day in Vegas, and really wanted to feel like I had visited 'authentic Vegas' I would hit Freemont Street again.

There was certainly more to Vegas though than the bright lights of the city. Perhaps my favorite part of the trip was getting to experience the desert environment, which is different from anything else I've been to in my life. I managed a decently long run, surrounded by nothing but rocks and sand and little scrubby plants. On one day of the trip we headed through Lake Mead Recreational Area and got to see amazing landscapes of mountains and hills, as well as the large Lake Mead itself. We also got to visit Hoover Dam, which as amazing and huge as it is, pales in comparison to the landscape in which it is embedded. The colors of the terrain were very distinct from what I see around home, and it gave me a sense of being in a movie where everything is generated by computers and camera trickery.

Perhaps one of the largest differences that I noticed is in how the city looks from a distance. The place in which we were staying was outside of town a bit, and so we had a breath-taking view of the city in the distance. Amazingly you could see everything. The Strip was clearly visible from 20 miles away, as was everything in-between.

Once I returned home to Minnesota, it struck me what the difference was. There were no trees. The reason that I could see the entire layout of the city so clearly, and from such distance, was that there were no trees to block my view. In Minnesota if you climb a tall hill and try to look out over the expanse of the two downtowns, you will see the skyscrapers reaching upwards, but they're rising out of a canopy. Even if you could find a hill as high as the ones that we were driving up in Vegas, you'd never be able to see any real detail of the Twin Cities, because of our dense urban forest.

Realizing this as we returned home made me understand just how different these ecosystems really are. Then, recalling all of the water reclamation issues that Vegas has to deal with, in order to keep functioning, while I'm driving next to multitudes of lakes and rivers in Minnesota, shows an incredible aspect to the human spirit. In the span of a few hours I traveled between two completely distinct ecosystems. Both of these ecosystems support human life, and in fact human beings thrive in either environment. In Minnesota we've had to build our cities to withstand the power of water when it overwhelms and floods. In Vegas they've had to build their cities to conserve and protect the preciousness of every drop. In Minnesota we must survive harsh winters that force us to construct shelters from cold that would kill us. In Vegas a cool morning is a welcome relief from the heat of the day.

Two very distinct places, only a few thousand miles apart. But humanity adapts. Even over the course of a few days I learned to adapt to the surroundings, not even noticing that groups of trees were no where to be found. Then returning home I adapted again to the reality of a cooler, more northerly sun. Somehow, we find a way to survive, and even strive to travel, so that we can see other places, and other environments. We seek to see how humanity has learned to adapt and persevere all around the world.

I guess that's one of the lessons I learned by taking a gamble and visiting Las Vegas.

Las Vegas trip Day 2

Today was a day of relaxation away from the strip. It started out with a small run up a 300 foot incline and back down, followed by a nice quiet breakfast with just Lisa and I. Once her parents got back from church we headed out to our big adventure for the day, Lake Mead and Hoover Dam.

One of the things that is amazing about this area of America is that you can often find yourself in the middle of nowhere within just a couple of minutes of leaving the suburbs. We turned the opposite direction from Vegas and within 30 seconds we were over a hill and in a vast expanse of mountainous desert. We headed down the road into the Lake Mead recreational area and towards the marina where we had a paddleboat cruise scheduled for us. 

The cruise was a VERY relaxing time on a beautiful afternoon, despite a slight bit of pink-skin from the sun. The narration on the boat explained the history of the lake, and history of Hoover Dam. The cruise went around a portion of the lake and then headed toward the top of Hoover Dam. Seeing the dam from the top was cool, since after the cruise we were planning to walk the top of the dam. After returning to shore we headed down some winding roads to the historic site of Hoover Dam.

Hoover Dam is a project that has fascinated me for a long time. I've seen a couple documentaries on how it was built, including the construction of the diversion channels that allowed them to build the structure. Seeing it in person was amazing, as it is much higher than it seems from pictures. It was truly vertigo inducing and I couldn't even stand to look over the side for very long. We walked along the top of the dam to the Arizona side and back. It was truly one of the highlights of the trip for me. 

After the dam we hit a small casino on the way back, before heading to Freemont Street for the evening. Freemont Street is an interesting experience. It's as busy and crazy as the strip, but it's much more akin to a festival or fair than the strip is. On the strip you need to go into the various places to get most of the entertainment. On Freemont Street, there are stages and street performers everywhere, and even the bartenders get into the act with juggling routines during the light and music show that plays every hour. Most of the casinos are focused on being 'on the street' more than drawing people into a fascade.

After getting some dinner we split up and Lisa and I headed down to a beer garden so I could sample some more brews that I can't get at home. Then we met up with her parents again and sampled some of the shows at the various stages. One in particular has a woman doing the acrobatic act with two sashes hanging from the rafters as they twisted and turned themselves up and down. It was quite impressive to watch.

Now we're settling in for our final night here in Vegas. Tomorrow is a day of travel, especially since we lose two hours going back to central time. Hopefully I'll have some time tomorrow night to digest a bit about the whole Vegas culture and reflect a bit here on the blog. 

Las Vegas trip Day 1.5

Meant to put together this entry last night, but was frankly just a bit too tired. That's because yesterday afternoon and evening was our 'day on the strip'. We headed down to Las Vegas blvd a bit after noon and parked our car at the end of the strip where the show we were seeing was. We then walked down to where we had plans to meet up with some other family that live around here and have a nice lunch at a steak frites place.

Of course we had to toss a few bucks in a couple slot machines, which we promptly lost. I'm not a huge gambler, but if I know I'll be at a casino I'll save out a few bucks to putz around with. Between Lisa and I we often can make it last a bit, but not yesterday. I think we finished off our allotment in about 15-20 minutes. Oh well.

The lunch was very good, a beautiful blue cheese steak with crispy frites. By this point though, Lisa had pretty much lost her voice from our illness, so it turned into this funny moment where her relatives are asking her how life is going and she's looking at me to answer. At certain points complicated hand gestures were involved, but I think I managed to convey all the right information!

Afer lunch we headed back down the strip with the goal of hitting a place called M&M World. It's a 4 story store dedicated to... M&Ms (duh). We caught the cheesy 3-D movie that they show to the kids, and did some shopping for some souviners. Personally I was astonished by the WALL of M&Ms. Absolutely huge and included flavors I've never had before. 

On the beer front I did manage to find some craft brew around this town. On our way down to the M&M store I saw a little storefront for Sin City Brewing Company, so I stopped in real quick and got a glass of beer to go (no open container law here...). Then while waiting for our show that evening I found a place in the Monte Carlo that had 100 taps. They also did flights, so I did a flight of local brews that included a really tasty American Brown ale by Tanaya Creek. The cool part is that none of these are beers I can get locally so it's a nice treat out here.

We ended our evening with a Blue Man Group show. I had only seen them in YouTube videos so this was a fun treat. The show was bright and loud and fun. They had some of their traditional music played on percussion pieces made out of pipes. There was a fair amount of comedy, and some really cool light effects. Perhaps the funnest part, was a song at the end where they got everyone in the audience to stand up and shake their butt while the song listed off dozens of euphamisms for your 'butt', such as "The place where all burritos go" and "The reporter at large". Ended up being a good time, and oh, Lisa got hit with Jello. 

We considered hitting one more pub before bed, but decided we were done for the night so we came back to the room and relaxed with some HGTV before calling it a night. The plan today is to hit some other sites, such as Hoover Dam and Lake Mead. Then it's back to a Minnesota spring tomorrow.

Las Vegas trip Day 1

Our flight was un-eventful, but it did remind me that I'm not a fan of flying. I love traveling, hanging out at airports, and getting places quickly, but I hate actually being in the air. Strangly, I love landing, with the slow, quiet glide into the airport. Funnily enough, Lisa hates landing.

After landing we proceeded to meet up with Lisa's parents and head out for some food. One thing that I've noticed is how much a two hour time difference feels weird. It's not like when I went to China and everything was just totally reversed, but it's enough of a difference that it feels odd. 

Our first stop was a small casino on the way back to Henderson, NV. We got some food and played a few games before realizing we were getting quite exhausted, and that on MN time we were looking at midnight. So we headed back to our room and collapsed into bed. 

This morning we started out the day getting up slowly. This was good because the first thing on our agenda was a run. Because we were sick this week we're low on miles so there's no way we could skip running this weekend, with a race coming up next Saturday. We headed out and quickly realized that all the hills we drove down last night were not in our imagination. It's a solid climb up to get out of here. I managed 7 miles back and forth, however the first half was incredibly slow and included a total of almost 600 feet of climb. Many of the hills are super steep as well, so even on the run back I couldn't just go all-out, I had to control my run and slow it down so I didn't just fall into a barrel roll down the hill.

On the upside, this is my first visit to the desert, and the chance to run in scenery that was completely foreign to me is amazing. I was surrounded by a type of environment that I've never run in before and it was fascinating. I was a bit disappointed that I didn't see more wildlife, but considering that many of the creatures I could have encountered might have been slightly danerous I guess I'll be happy. Overall, the run was slow and a bit of a slog once the hot sun started to push the temps up, but given that I just left 8 inches of snow behind I won't complain.

In fact, as I'm writing this I'm relaxing on our balcony, enjoying a beautiful day. It's a bit of a break in what will be a somewhat busy evening visitng The Strip. I'll post about that experience later tonight, or tomorrow.