Processing

I just finished watching "Garden State" and I enjoyed pretty much every minute of it. It was very well done, the music, script, camera work, and especially the acting. It will take a little while longer to process it.

More Hydrofoil Goodness

This looks like quite the workout. It also looks like a lot of fun.

The Sheriff's Office

Tonight I rode my bike up to the entrance of my building and there were two men standing at the door considering the resident list. This is not unusual. "Perhaps he doesn't live here anymore," one says. As they hear me behind them they turn around and ask if I am going in. After answering in the affirmative, one of them flashes a badge, "We are with the sheriff's office, perhaps we can enter with you." So I let them in and cart my bike upstairs as they take the elevator.

24 Hours of Games

Between my two trips up to KublaCon I believe that I managed a little over 24 at the convention. Today I had a game arranged to play right when I arrived, but after that none of the planned events really caught my interest. After wandering around looking for something I was almost ready to leave, and was doing one last walk through of the open game area when I found two people looking to play Power Grid. We rounded up one other person and had a good session. As I walked away from that table I found a few people setting up Pirate's Cove. So we had a fun time adventuring on the high seas. I pulled out Bang! after that and we played games until after 2:00 AM. I even got to play the expansion Dodge City for the first time.

I call the weekend a success.

KublaCon

Today I spent a little over 12 hours at KublaCon up by SFO. This is my first game convention and I am having a blast. St. Louis doesn't have any game conventions to my knowledge. I mostly played a variety of board games and then a game of Exalted from 5 to 10.

I think I will head back tomorrow after church for some more. I hope everyone is having a great weekend.

Hydrofoil

It doesn't even look real.

Honor Killing

Du'a Khalil Aswad, 17, killed by her family and neighbors. Killed for being seen with a Sunni Muslim man. Suspected and therefore guilty. So called "Honor Killing". I see only dishonor in this. I cannot fathom how dark is the heart of man. Now with technology those involved can use their cell phone camera to record these actions and share it with the world. Because stoning a young woman in your community is something that needs to be boasted about and shared. A culture so warped that a fundamental change is needed to possibly make any progress.

CNN reports, "The killing is said to have spurred the killings of about two dozen Yazidi men by Sunni Muslims in the Mosul area two weeks later."

Hate cannot be conquered by more hate. Romans 12:21 "Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good."

Pressing toward the mark

Ben has a blog, titled "Pressing toward the mark", about his trip to New Zealand. I added a link to it over on the right, but thought I would mention it here. He has some great pictures of mostly plants and has some nice long posts. Check it out.

From Vegas

Right now I am in McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas. I was pleased to find that they offer free internet. So flying through Vegas or Phoenix is a fairly pleasant experience. I have never been to Vegas before, and my current trip here consists of this one hour layover. Looking out the plane window the city seems to consist of massive sprawl, the Strip, and not much else.

You are now leaving Las Vegas.

Mango Run

After windsurfing this afternoon I went on a dried mango run to Costco. My parents had requested some, so I got a few bags for them and one for me. If you haven't tried dried mango then you are missing out. I believe that they are better then any sugary candy out there. Delicious.

Bike to Work Day

Today was Bike to Work Day here in the Bay Area. So I joined in and did just that, which is not an unusual activity as I have blogged before. I really like the exercise it gives me, and the fresh air. At work I have a window open looking over the back yard garden of Nathan and Kathy. The weather here is great, and I try to make the most of it.

This weekend I will be traveling to St. Louis while Nathan, Kathy, and Arthur head down to San Diego.

Family Game Night

After Arthur has gone to bed Nathan, Kathy, and I will play a board game one to two nights a week. It is quiet enough to not wake up Arthur and is very engaging. The table seems very well balanced, with each of us winning about the same percentage of games.

Some of our long time favorites are St. Petersburg and Carcassonne. We have just started playing some Puerto Rico, and just finished tonight with a win for Kathy. I thought I had it sewn up, but she was just ahead. Last week we invited over two other players and tried out Modern Art, which is really fun and I might buy it, but unfortunately needs 4 to 5 players. Nathan just purchased Funkenschlag (or for us Americans "Power Grid"). Some of my other all time favorite games are Bang!, The Settlers of Catan, and Illuminati.

I think the family game night is great fun that can be had on the cheap. It can take anywhere from 20 minutes to 2 hours+ and increases discussion and interaction.

Donuts for the Class

I stumbled across this story and thought it was pretty good.

Sunny, Windy LA

I spent the weekend down in LA staying with the Mosers near the beach. On Saturday we had 5 people for a few games of beach volleyball on the unusually windy beach. That night was a church singing up at the Grafs, with a pretty strong showing. The root beer floats afterward were delicious. Often when inviting a group to Brown House I would server floats. They work well for an unknown size group because it is easy to make the appropriate number when the guests are there. They are also just so tasty.

Nothing super exciting going on otherwise.

Sandy Eggo

Last weekend in San Diego was fun. Dad was at an ophthalmological conference at the big convention center there. Flying into town is very nice, with the airport right new downtown. They have a good number of hotels near the convention center, with restaurants to boot. We stayed in the Westin right next to the Gaslamp quarter.

Balboa park is beautiful and impressive. I would really like to spend some more time there, and it would be a great place to bike around. There was a lot of activity there on Saturday, and the architecture of the buildings and museums is worth getting across town to see it.

Sunday morning we drove up to Escondido where the AC church is. I had met a few of the young members who visited up to Altadena on a few occasions. I will have to get down to the far south to revisit.

On Sunday afternoon we took the short tour of the U.S.S. Midway which has been converted into a carrier museum. I wish we could have spent more time there, but we got in 1 hour and 15 minutes before they closed. I had not realized just how much of a navy town San Diego is. There were many navy ships docked all around the bay. Mom and I spent some time in Marina Park watching all the sailboats, jet skies and Motorboats cruising around.

I forgot my camera, so perhaps I will be able to steal some from Mom. It was not enough time to absorb more then a taste of the city, and I shall return.