Ol' Timey Western Actor (And Then Some!)

I like to have a TV show or something similar playing while I paint, and I have been getting enough painting in of late that I have finished the final 3-4 seasons of Brooklyn 99 (uneven, but stuck the landing I'd say) and ended up throwing on some old westerns.

Because my back is to the television, I elevate my iPad and watch them on there - well, maybe watch is too strong a word. My visual focus is typically the model I am painting, and to make matters worse, I need to wear a magnifying visor in order to be comfortable painting just about anything these days. But I can look up and get the sense of scene easily enough before returning to my work, and catch longer bits when I am switching my colours, cleaning my brush or just stretching a bit.

I believe I have mentioned my affection for John Ford's Fort Apache (1948) before, particularly its excellent sergeants, and enjoyed it greatly again before rolling almost immediately to the second movie in Ford's "Cavalry Trilogy", She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949). It is an even more solid film in some ways than its predecessor, and certainly in its early use of vibrant Technicolor for depicting the landscapes the director was so fond of.

John Wayne, usually content to be a movie star, impressed Ford with his acting ability as Capt. Nathan Cutting Brittles, a character 20 years older than the Duke himself, and was quoted as saying "nobody told me the big son of a bitch could act!" Victor McLaglen steals most of the scenes he is in (as usual), but it is Ben Johnson as Sgt. Tyree who stood out the most for me.

Playing an NCO who was once a Confederate officer, several of Tyree's lines jumped out at me, amplified by Johnson's laconic drawl, whether informing a superior officer that a topic was ""not my department, sir," or:

Captain Nathan Brittles: I don't know where you got your brains, Sergeant - God must have given you that pair of eyes. They're Arapahos, alright. Headin' the same way we are. Now why would they be movin' on Sudrow's Wells, Sergeant? Answer me that.

Sgt. Tyree: My mother didn't raise any sons to be makin' guesses in front of Yankee captains.

Looking up Ben Johnson on IMDb and Wikipedia explained the horsemanship displayed in several of his scenes; in addition to having been a stuntman and rider prior to taking speaking parts, he took a break from acting four years after this film and won a world rodeo championship in team roping! 

Johnson went on to start in his own Ford western a year after his cavalry turn in Wagon Master (1950).  A typical oater in most respects, but typically well done by one of the giants of the genre, Johnson (and another actor from Yellow Ribbon, Harry Carey Jr.) play a pair of nomadic horse-sellers who take the job guiding a wagon train of Mormons led by Ward Bond, across the desert to where they plan to establish a new settlement. Of course there are outlaws, challenging terrain and even Navajos to be dealt with along the way. 

Now, the late 1940s was hardly a time of rampant enlightenment in America, particularly regarding indigenous peoples' depiction, and especially in Hollywood, but for my two cents, Ford and his writers do a pretty decent job treating the various tribes his characters encounter with a modicum of respect. In Fort Apache, Henry Fonda's disparaging Col. Thursby is told by John Wayne, "Sir, if you saw them, they weren't Apache," and in Wagon Master, there is this exchange:

Travis Blue: [of the indians] Near as I can figure out, he don't seem to like white men.
Sandy: Yeah, he say's we're all thieves.
Elder Wiggs: Smarter then he looks!
[Sandy speaks Navajo, evidently translating what Elder Wiggs had just said]
Elder Wiggs: Don't tell him that, you fool! Tell him we're Mormans!
[the Navajos speak in their native touge, mutterring "Mormany" repeatedly]
Elder Wiggs: What'd he say?
Sandy: Say's the Mormans are his brothers. Say's they ain't big thieves like most white men. Just little thieves.
Elder Wiggs: Right complimentery, ain't he?

At any rate, Johnson is given sufficient room in the feature to show off his charm, good looks, dry humor, and tremendous horsemanship, and worked again with Ford on Rio Grande to cap off the Cavalry Trilogy. But after standing up to the browbeating director, Ford didn't pick him for another role for over a decade. 

Thankfully other directors like Sam Peckinpah liked what they saw, and ended up casting Johnson in films like Shane, The Wild Bunch, One-Eyed Jacks, and Oklahoma. And not all westerns either - he won an Oscar for his part in The Last Picture Show which I have yet to see. But a World Champion Rodeo buckle, star on the Walk of Fame, and an Oscar make for a pretty impressive c.v. if you ask me!

I also have yet to see Rio Grande, the only one not streaming on Prime Video, and am looking forward to rounding out that trilogy, as well as seeing what other old gems I can unearth from there, and what other fascinating performers I might yet turn up.

"You find yourselves in a tavern...again..." - D&D&D Night

A couple weeks back, Totty posted a seemingly innocuous announcement from Facebook into our Discord chat. It was from Polyrhythm Brewing, a microbrewery close to the habitats of one of our number that many of us have become quite fond of:  

🎶How years ago in days of old When magic filled the air🎶 ⚔️Calling all adventurers⚔️The best quests start in a tavern, so come on down to the taproom October 5 @6pm for some DnD action. We'll be offering free popcorn for all groups playing DnD, and we'll of course have our Thursday $5 Wit special as well. DMs get bonus drink discount as well! We'll have one session for anyone interested in a one shot, but seating is limited so first come, first served! So bring your best pals and favourite dice out to the taproom. Cheers! It took surprisingly little convincing to get a half-dozen of us to actually commit to this, and knowing I had some short adventures, I volunteered to be Dungeon Master (DM) as well.

And then I thought, heck, I might as well roll up the characters on Roll20 since they support printed character sheets now.

And when trying to choose races and classes, I thought, hey, this is a great opportunity to paint some of my many, many unpainted adventurer models!

And among the grey multitudes, in my long-delayed but often appreciated selection from Blacklist Miniatures were many, many adventurers representing the less stature-oriented peoples of the Players Handbook, including a fairly tough-looking halfling monk and a dwarf wizard in a pose highly reminiscent of the Street Fighter video games...

And thus all my friends' character options were under five feet tall.

Jebbedo Glintcassel, Wenryn Flintshadow, Beryl Hawthorne, Balthazar Smeltriver and Daxil Boldhammer

I offered an Inspiration point (free re-roll) to anyone who could come up with a relevant name by consensus with the rest of the group, and with a little prodding from Totty and an accompanying poll, The Half Pints arose as the name of choice (although Five By Five was also in the running, and I myself enjoyed Vertically Challengers quite a bit).

We sent Pete in early to grab a spot, thinking there could be a crowd, but we needn't have worried; there was only one other person there with books, and only one person came to sit with them over the evening, and they either chatted or perhaps rolled up characters, I am unsure. 

This sat well with me, not just because it made it a little quieter and easier to hear my own players, but in all honesty, I was a little apprehensive about playing D&D in a public place for the first time in my life.

That probably sounds a little weird from someone who is not only a proudly self-labeled nerd but also experienced in public speaking and who used to host Mega Battles at the Games Workshops stores he managed on a regular basis. But role-playing games have always felt more... personal. They are a bit theatrical and are at their best when the participants feel comfortable enough to let a few of their inhibitions go.

And not too deep inside this hefty middle-aged bloke is an insecure adolescent hoping that no one notices the comic books and Monster Manual inside his bookbag. I was fully aware of his presence, but still, a bit surprised at his proximity.

Anyhow, I was set up for success to be sure: I had recently purchased a very cool DM's bag so I could easily carry all my books, dice, miniatures, and other accouterments. I was well prepared with a very fun-looking adventure called "Wild Sheep Chase" that had come very highly recommended, and most importantly of all, I had a wonderful group of stout-hearted fellows with me, fully committed to having a good time with some make-believe and some dice.

(And the half-priced drinks for DMs didn't hurt either, I will have you know.)

We ordered some sandwiches and some drinks and got underway about 6:30, learning only later that the taproom closed at 9 pm and last call was at 8:15! Thankfully the lovely staff were very accommodating and let us stay until half-past wrapping up our adventure.

It was a great time wrapped around a silly tale about an arrogant wizard turned into a sheep by his thieving apprentice, and kicked off with a fight in a pub (natch!) as a half-orc thug and the apprentice's guards (polymorphed into wolves and an enormous bear) tried to bring back the escaped wizard.

Despite the close confines of the tavern and the collateral damage spells like fireball would have caused, the Half Pints did manage to best the half-orc and the bear, and prevent the wolves from dragging the sheep out the door - if only just.

The wizard/sheep then led the party to his own absconded tower, where they quickly made short work of the guards polymorphed into apes, but while fighting another bear, the apprentice Noke burst out of the tower riding a fearsome polymorphed creation -  a dragon he had created out of the nearest thing available - his bed! (Tragically we were not able to obtain a miniature for this in time for play, but rest assured, there is one!)

The fight was a pretty decent one, but in retrospect, five 5th-level characters might have been a bit strong for this opposition, even if not played by a smart team that loves tactical thinking, but the real crescendo came when Sean, playing not one, but two unfamiliar roles (rogue and spellcaster as an Arcane Trickster), asked if he could use Mage Hand to snatch away the polymorph wand that had transfigured the wizard (and which I was going to turn on the players next turn).

"Sure," I said, "it will be an opposed sleight-of-hand roll..." as Sean rolled one of his ice-cream-looking dice:

And that roll produced a mighty and fearless cheer if ever you'd heard one.

It did not take long after that to dispatch both the traitorous apprentice and the ersatz dragon he rode, and afterward they were able to successfully use the wand to transform the wizard back to his original form. And he was grateful to be sure but explained he might have overstated his ability to enchant items for the party in exchange for their services. If they could perhaps leave the items in question while he conducted more research...

We cleaned up pretty quickly after and thanked Jason, our server for giving us the extra time to finish up. After the others had left and I waited for my ride (again, half-price drinks for the DM!), we chatted about gaming, and how he hoped a bit more promotion might get more people out when they do D&D&D again.

He asked how often we played, and how we knew each other. I talked about some of the campaigns we'd played in, and about how many of us get together once a year for Gaming & Guinness, and showed him my challenge coin and explained how it works and how everyone there was expected to have theirs on their person. 

I talked about how all of us have made fellowship and gaming a big part of our lives for over a decade and a half, and how grateful I was for this strange opportunity to get together in a public space with these fellows.

Jason nodded, and said, "a friend group like that, it doesn't just happen - you have to make time and space for it, right?"

Abso-friggin'-lutely.

And thanks again to Jason and the folks at Polyrhythm for making it happen -  hope to see more of you there next time around!

Return to the Cold Hot Place

Camping is a strange kind of vacation: more work, more cooking, less comfort than a hotel and you can return home more tired than when you left, but it has been a treat for our household for years, especially when the weather turns cool.

Miette Hot Springs near Jasper has always been one of our favourite mountain spots, but who wants to bathe in a 39° C pool when it is already 27° outside?

Roche Miette, on the way to Jasper

Six years ago in 2017, Glory and I made our first trek to Miette after snowfall. Audrey joined us in 2018, but Frankentrailer gave up the ghost during set-up, so camping was off that year. 

Fenya and Glory and I returned to Miette in Bride of Frankentrailer in 2019, but Covid closed the pool for two years after that (although Glory and I still camped in 2021 because she missed the mountains) and a mudslide destroyed the road earlier this year, so we thought that was that.

But an interview overheard by chance on the CBC revealed that Miette would indeed open in 2023 for its shortest season ever: Labour Day weekend to Thanksgiving Monday. Unable to wait until 2024, we resolved to go, and let Audrey have her first cool-weather camping experience.

Did I say cool? Cold might be more appropriate. It dropped to freezing our first night and went to -3° the next, but we sustained ourselves in numerous ways. A hot breakfast, for one.

A hot spring for another. They are working reduced hours and a reduced capacity as well as a shortened season, so even though we arrived right at opening time (2 pm) it was still more than half an hour before we got in. But this wonderful place has always been worth the drive so what is a 30-minute wait? After a four-year hiatus, the 60 min soak was completely justified.

Even the refreshing cold plunge was invigorating (after a fashion). Mostly just grateful I didn't seize a piston and need to get airlifted out or something.

We saw numerous elk close to town (keep your distance y'all, the rut is on!) and a sole bighorn on our way to Miette from Wapiti campground, but on our way back we got a close look at a black bear munching on foliage in the ditch on Miette Road:

Even more amazing, it turned out the traffic slowing down where Connaught Drive intersects with the Yellowhead was due to an enormous grizzly lounging by the roadside, the closest I have ever been to one.

And even though the second night was cold, our time outside eating hot Tuna Helper (it's true, everything tastes better when you are cold and hungry!) was aided by the roaring campfire Audrey and Glory had set up while I cooked. 

And the little space heater in the Bride managed to keep the chill off long enough for the sleeping bags to warm up and keep us cozy til morning - barring the occasional late-night visit to the washroom, of course.

A Rusticated Perspective

There are a plethora of musical genres encompassed by the expression "folk music" and why not; it is all music by folk, right? But at the Edmonton Folk Music Festival this year, it was country(ish) music that caught my ear the most. Which was a little surprising to me, but maybe it shouldn't have been.

Saturday was a long day for Glory and I, but we were intent on staying for at least part of the closing act, Old Crow Medicine Show. They didn't take the stage until nearly 11 pm, but opening up with two high-energy renditions of songs about cocaine, of all things, really enervated the crowd, us included. They were "Cocaine Habit":

Well, that cocaine habit is awful bad
The worst doggone habit that I ever had
Hey, hey, honey take a whiff on me

And "Tell It To Me":

Tell it to me, tell it to me
Drink your corn liquor, let the cocaine be
Cocaine's gonna kill my honey dead 

Glory was convinced that live-wire frontman Ketch Secor had to be speaking from experience due to a dynamic 110% effort that would put most pro athletes to shame, but that is neither here nor there...

In the weeks afterwards I would often prompt music from the Google Home speaker by requesting "Cocaine Habit" or Tell It To Me and then seeing what sort of selections might follow them up, a technique we call "seed music." Sometimes it would be old-timey country from my "Rusticated" playlist, at others more modern but non-mainstream artists like Corb Lund that I have listened to previously, but on occasion it would pull something delightful from way out in left or right field, or possibly underneath the bench in the dugout.

And I was surprised and delighted to find these slices of Americana incorporate all sorts of themes beyond the truck-driving and freedom-cheering that dominates C&W radio. Consider the environmental apocalypism outlined by The Devil Makes Three in "Allelu":

What will it take to have this place on bended knee 
You run to the forest, you can bet I'll burn the trees 
I will poison the water 'cause it's only getting hotter 
And we came for sons and daughters 

Hallelu

(chorus)
Hallelu, Hallelu, praise the lord and pass the ammunition too 

They say Jesus is coming, he must be walking, he sure ain't running 

Who can blame him, look how we done him, Hallelu 

Or the lament of poor choices by Billy Strings in "Dust In a Baggie", performed here at the Grand Ole Opry (wait, for real?):

I ain't slept in seven days, haven't ate in three
Methamphetamine has got a damn good hold of me
My tweaker friends have got me to the point of no return
I just took the lighter to the bulb and watched it burn

(chorus)
This life of sin has got me in
Well it's got me back in prison once again
I used my only phone call to contact my daddy
I got twenty long years for some dust in a baggie

I mean, the Opry has a long tradition of musical exceptionalism, but I was not expecting something so - I dunno, sordid? - from a genre so strongly associated with conservatism, y'know?

Before Old Crow Medicine Show took the stage at folk fest, we had our first chance to hear Nick Shoulders, probably my fave artist of the whole weekend. In addition to being a tremendous vocalist, whistler and yodeler, he also took pains to share his educate his audience about just what "country" music is, and it might not be what most of us think.

The cartoons permeating this post are from his comic-style essay "Country Music History" which I highly recommend. His position that what was once called "hillbilly music" has more of its roots in geography and poverty than it does with rurality is real food for thought.

Hearing these other "hellbilly" artists talking about the squalid underbelly in rustic settings makes me think of Albertan Corb Lund who has described his style of music as "agricultural tragic" as opposed to country, despite his upbeat and generally humourous takes on that lifestyle.

And some of the darkest musical corners appear to be in Saskatchewan, courtesy of artists like The Dead South:

My life's a bit more colder 

Dead wife is what I told her 

Brass knife sinks into my shoulder 

Oh babe don't know what I'm gonna do 

I see my red head, messed bed, tear shed, queen bee 

My squeeze 

The stage it smells, tells, hell's bells, miss-spells 

Knocks me on my knees 

It didn't hurt, flirt, blood squirt, stuffed shirt 

Hang me on a tree 

After I count down, three rounds, in hell I'll be in good company

...or Colter Wall, who sounds maybe 30-40 years older than he actually is:

Well the raven is a wicked bird
His wings are black as sin
And he floats outside my prison window
Mocking those within

And he sings to me real low
It's hell to where you go
For you did murder Kate McCannon

Of course, every genre of music has its sub-genres (and sub-sub-genres, ad infinitum) and his kind of boundary-crossing is hardly unprecedented, even within country & western music; it is amusing now to recall how Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash were once the standard bearers for "outlaw country."

But hearing twangy music that discomforts more than it typifies, and that sometimes brings an honest outsider's perspective is a great reminder that honest, heartfelt expressions don't need to be pigeonholed or boxed up - just listened to and appreciated.

Like Nick Shoulders said on stage when we saw him, "If you ever wonder why so many punks and goths and metal heads and weirdos seem to be getting into country, don't forget that the fiddle was once referred to as the Devil's instrument. This genre has its roots in rebellion and we are never going away." Or as he sings in "All Bad":

I grew a little into deafening rage 

Every hometown is a well built cage 

Be it high iron, highway or stage 

Don’t let it be all bad 

I’ve been indebted to a surgeon’s blade 

Probation officers and nerves that frayed 

Only the choiceless every gladly stayed 

Refuse to be all bad

Two Great Films, But An Even Better Dinner Party - Autumnal Geekquinox 2023

Yesterday afternoon at Pete's, we geeks graciously gathered to go over a gastronomic agglomeration of gourmet goodies themed around this summer's two most popular films, Barbie and Oppenheimer. 

Yes, this was the Barbenheimer Geekquinox.

A pop culture icon undermining the patriarchy and the surprisingly saucy life of the architect of the first atomic weapons might seem like both a strange combination and unlikely theme for a dinner party. Thankfully, in addition to being an excellent cook and wonderful host (ably aided and abetted by his lovely wife Ellen (gosh it feels good to type that)), he is also an uncannily clever and creative fellow. 

With only a moderate amount of stretching, he was able to create a menu that linked effectively to the theme (if a bit tenuously in places!):

With both of the kids now at university, Pete & Ellen's festivities start much earlier in the day - noon, to be precise. A late departure meant Audrey and Totty and I got there closer to 1 pm, but still in time for the "Pink just looks so good on toast"; tasty smoked salmon and sliced avocado on toasted baguette rounds. A fantastic amalgam of tastes and textures, as well as a light and refreshing staft to 10+ hours of focused ingestion.

Washing these tasty bites down with sips of a Luscious Barbie(TM), a re-labeling of the Luscious Lizzie cocktail developed by Ellen's daughter, got a wonderful day off to an immense start.

This was followed by the moistest chicken breasts I have ever had. Like, ever. They came hot off Pete's Big Green Egg but I presume they had also been pre-cooked a bit in his sous-vide rig. Notwithstanding the overcoming of chicken breast's greatest weakness (dryness), the crispy skin with rosemary and a bit of salt made them completely scrumptious as well.

Better still, having failed a coin check at XCOM the previous weekend, Scott was only too willing to build me an exemplary and photogenic Crown Float.

Atomic Buffalo Turds are a perennial favourite, and I believe this might be the 4th appearance of these bacon-wrapped, sausage-topped, cheese-stuffed jalapenos at Geekquinox. It is important to note here that absolutely no one appears to be tired of these, and they disappeared off the tray with astonishing swiftness, which is always the case.

Trying to follow the menu as best I could I washed down the spicy ABTs with swallows of Ichorous Stout from Blindman Brewing in Lacombe. This may be the best non-barrel-aged imperial stout brewed in Alberta, actually, and while the wisdom of washing down spicy food with a rich, dark ale that clocks in at 11% may be debatable, my enjoyment was indisputable.

Next up were delicious mushroom caps stuffed with garlic cheese; so tasty, in fact,  that our resident fungi skeptic Earl found them reasonably delectable as well. 

Pete and Ellen called an audible on their next play, opting to serve the stuffed potatoes as an appetizer instead of saving them as a side for the main dish. This was great for a few reasons, not the least of which was pacing the rate at which we were adding delicious food to our bodies, but even more importantly, keeping the evening on schedule. Getting even a precursor to the main before 8:00 was unprecedented! And the potatoes themselves, stuffed with brie, goat cheese and cream cheese were absolutely delicious, and a perfect balance of starch and creamy stuffing.

The main itself was a pork belly chicharron burnt ends that was unbelievably tender and flavourful, with a tasty, crackling-like topping. I asked Pete if he had sous-vided this as well, and his grinning reply was, "36 hours, baby!" My only complaint was that the richness of the earlier dishes forced me to exercise more restraint with this succulent pork than I really liked, but the servings I did have were absolutely luscious, and could have been eaten by a man with no teeth and sore gums without a problem.

For dessert: a scratch-made angel food cake with raspberry buttercream icing. Yes, it was tremendously tasty, but all the more so in light of the fact that a) angel food is notoriously finicky to make and b) Pete himself has almost no discernible sweet tooth. Scrumptious and a perfect capper to the evening - and it was not even ten o'clock yet! Truly unprecedented.

Sadly, the early start had also impacted our energy reserves, and our ability to carouse into the wee hours is greatly diminished compared to when Pete began hosting these biannual bacchanalias a dozen years ago.

But hearts were still light as we finished our nightcaps and said goodnight and thank you to our friends and immensely talented host and hostess for a wonderful time of fellowship yet again!

XCOM - A Boardgame with More X and Less Calm

So, if I told you I had played XCOM this weekend, you might have asked, "what the heck is that?"

But if you were somehow familiar with that tortured acronym (which supposedly stands for Extraterrestrial Combat), you might think I was playing the XCOM Legends game from 2021 on a mobile device.

Or maybe I was playing the XCOM: Enemy Unknown game on my Playstation, even though it came out -wow, in 2012? -  or the PC game that inspired it from 1994.

But in fact, I was playing a board game based on all those things (but mostly Enemy Unknown) that came out in 2015. And not just me - I had help from Scott and Jeff...and my iPad.

One of the reasons I had purchased the game (besides really liking Enemy Unknown and being a fan of the publisher Fantasy Flight Games and knowing their production values are rock solid) was because it was one of the first app-assisted games I had ever heard of. A decade later, I am actually surprised there aren't more of them.

Plenty of games have applications (usually third-party) that can help with record or scorekeeping or providing a rules reference, but XCOM uses its companion app to randomize events and limit player turns with a timer. It also makes great use of music and some sound effects to add a bit of drama.

In every iteration of XCOM, you are responsible for a defense agency trying to repel an invasion by aliens in flying saucers. The video game alternates between strategic planning including research and development and budgeting, and tactical missions where you equip a small team against an initially unseen enemy. Soldiers that survive get increased skills and improved equipment from R&D as you try to gain ground against the invaders.

The cooperative board game takes the same tack, with 1-4 players dividing four roles among them: Commander, Central Officer, Chief Scientist and Squad Leader. 

During the timed phase, the app directs each role, in a random order, to go about their various tasks - assigning scientists to projects, soldiers to base defense and other missions, satellites and interceptors to combat the saucers themselves, all while maintaining a limited budget. 

Sure, a deck of cards or a dice-table might accomplish the same thing, but having the app do it is not only faster, it is more dramatic. You must finish your task within the time allotted, or the next task will have its time reduced.

Some cooperative games lend themselves too well to "quarterbacking", where one player asserts themselves over the others, and their suggestions eventually become proxied orders, making hapless players wonder why they were needed at all. The timer pretty much precludes that as a possibility, and leaves each role-holder responsible for their portfolio, with just enough time left over for kibbutzing and groupthink.

"Ugh, both of these two crises are bad, which one should we take?"

"Doesn't matter; I am tasking two soldiers to Skyranger with this card and you can discard whichever one you do take!"

"Awesome, thanks!"

If the game has a flaw, I think it is in the tutorial, which quickly overloads the board with saucers, increasing global panic and eventually costing you the game. But when we played an actual game, we were able to manage the saucers much more effectively (especially once we developed Stealth Satellites that could kill one each turn without even rolling a dice). Honestly though, the tutorial should not discourage you from playing the actual game, right? Or is it perhaps meant to mirror the video game, where the first mission (with conventional military) goes so poorly (through no fault of the player) that XCOM itself is formed in the aftermath? Hmm...

Research, saucer destruction and tactical actions are completed using a simple but terrifyingly random push-your-luck mechanic and some custom dice. Each dice you roll has a 1 in 3 chance of generating a success, but if you roll a low number on the red Alien dice, you not only lose all the soldiers or Interceptors on that task, but the unlucky number gets larger as well - insidious!

At any rate, for a game that has so much resource management at the heart of it (hello again, Starfleet Battles!), XCOM is a surprisingly tense and fun game. With five different invasion plans that impact the types of attacks as well as the order in which they are presented to players, there is a ton of replay value even without increasing the difficulty level.

We had a great time earning our victory (even on the Easy level!) and look forward to defending our homeworld again in the future!

Summer's End 2023

Autumn doesn't truly begin until the equinox later this month (Sep 23 here in Edmonton), but the real emotional transition seems to begin when you flip the calendar after August 31 and get the first of those 'months with R'. 

Back-to-school time still has an inordinate impact on our family; Audrey meets her new 4th-grade class tomorrow but has already been busy with teachers at Education Station, while Glory starts her third-year of nursing classes on Wednesday. In Toronto, Fenya is settling into her new role with the Community Care Centre for the Student's Association at George Brown College, while Bobby will start his first lab rotation for his doctorate at the U of T Molecular Genetics faculty. 

I am the only one in our immediate family not headed back to class or campus in some fashion, but that is okay with me. The Labour Day long weekend is no less appreciated.

Smoke has made a lot of activity unfeasible for us asthmatic types, so I have been getting in a little painting, and we had a lovely visit with our friends from Red Deer and their daughter, who is now in an apartment here in town while attending U of A.

After they left, Audrey, Glory and I took advantage of a rare opportunity to lie-in on the next morning, drank a few shooters and played some games. The enormous Sequence board Audrey got me for Christmas last year is great for such an occasion, requiring attention but very little in the way of actual cognitive processing power. We also got in a game of Trivial Pursuit X, a more adult version of the classic game featuring slightly ruder questions and punishing incorrect answers with an X stamped on one's forehead.

Through a combination of deductive reasoning and absurd levels of luck, my forehead somehow remained unscathed...

This morning presented a rare opportunity to cook a nice big breakfast (albeit for a slightly smaller crowd than I have been used to) which presented more nicely than usual (despite basically being a hash with chorizo and bacon).

And this afternoon I varnished a few projects that got painted in the last week or so after Glory innocuously asked if I had any crafts we could do.

Hopefully she and I will get some time to paint together this week so she can finish the purple worms she started on...

Our new temporary minister started at church yesterday to a warm reception, Geekquinox is right around the corner, and I am hoping to get our Call of Cthulhu back under steam this coming Saturday. The gutters have been cleaned and patches of lawn clover killed in anticipation of the cooler weather and the status quo of shorter days begins to reassert itself.

Which is probably as it should be!