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Day 249: Fanboy/Girl Moment

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I’ve written about my love of the Fung Bros. and their unique brand of hilarious and informative food vlogs, so it was a treat meeting them last night after my wife and I were done representing Yelp at the 626 Night Market.

The brothers were doing their man-on-the-street interviews and were soon surrounded by fans and curious onlookers. After a few minutes wait, we were able to get a selfie with them. David had some kind words for Yelp, saying that they use the site often while researching their videos.

I’m proud to represent Yelp at events like these and praise like that was a nice bonus. It made our fanboy/fangirl moment of the night.

Day 247: Force Friday

Force Friday

#ForceFriday!

I’m enjoying the cold weather this morning on #ForceFriday, the hashtag day created by Disney to shove new Star Wars merchandise down the public’s throats.

I shouldn’t be so cynical. I’ve been trying not to get too excited about Episode VII. Thanks to social media, though, the hype has been even more insane than when the first prequel was released in 1999.

Maybe that’s why I’ve been trying to temper my expectations; the let-down of the prequels punched a hole in the franchise’s invulnerability. Fans learned that George Lucas was not infallible and neither was everything associated with the Star Wars universe. While we could laugh about Mark Hamill’s whining in the original, we couldn’t forgive Hayden Christensen for his portrayal of Anakin (and we were shocked to see Natalie Portman be so flat-out bad).

For the record, I did enjoy Episode III, despite the horrendous acting and dumb moments like this (although it did inspire this piece of Internet brilliance).

So, I’ll pass on the Star Wars merch for now. I’ll continue to ignore every Star Wars-related news online. I’ll keep my wallet closed until December 18th, 2015.

And I expect my bank account to be empty on December 19th, 2015.

Day 245: Swashbuckler

 

 

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Swashbuckler

I stopped by the open game night at my FLGS (Friendly Local Game Store) and played two new games. First was Dragon Run, a nifty little press-your-luck card game in which you’re trying to grab treasure before the dragon turns you into toast. You and your opponents play characters with different abilities (thief, psychic, warrior, etc.) and there are spells and talismans to help or hinder your quest. It played fairly quickly and was a good way to start the night.

The second game was a real treat: Swashbuckler. This was a game from 1980 that one of the game night regulars put a lot of time and effort tracking down then upgrading its components (check out the gorgeous miniatures in the photo above). I love the pirate theme: it’s like a classic Errol Flynn movie, with everybody throwing chairs, swinging from chandeliers, and lunging and parrying.

Three of us played two characters each. Every player plots six moves per turn then reveals simultaneously; there are a few detailed charts for combat and movement and two six-sided dice determine your fate. It was easy to get into the spirit of things: after every successful (and even unsuccessful) move, we would lunge or parry in the air or make jokes in good swashbuckler form.

The Dread Pirate Roberts and Inigo Montoya would be proud.

Day 244: Plants vs. Zombies

Plants vs. Zombies

Plants vs. Zombies

My nieces and nephew introduced me to Plants vs. Zombies years ago, but I never understood the hype … until last week.

After downloading the Android app, I quickly got sucked into protecting my home from all sorts of zombies. I learned how to plant sunflowers to generate sunlight that I needed for more powerful plants. I learned the ecstasy of a last-second save at my doorstep. And I learned the agony of having my brains eaten by my undead friends.

While it’ll never satisfy my board game cravings, Plants vs. Zombies is a fine way to fill up some free time … or stay up past one’s bedtime, as yours truly did last night.

Day 240: Gaming Goal

 

Sushi Go!, one of the 10 new games I've played in 2015.

Sushi Go!, one of the 10 new games I’ve played in 2015.

I just realized I hit one of my yearly goals. It was my fifth goal, added on Day 100 of My Quest to Blog Every Day in 2015: Play 10 new board games.

As a reborn gamer, I’ve had a lot of fun becoming reacquainted with the board game hobby. The best part is that my wife and stepdaughter enjoy a few of the games and my nieces and nephew always ask to play Sushi Go or Love Letter whenever they visit.

Gaming is so much better when it’s with family.

For years, game night meant an hours-long session of poker with my buddies. Typically no-limit hold ’em, but if there were enough hardcore players in our group we would have a long mixed-game session. I loved playing Omaha Hi/Lo, Badugi, and other variations of poker.

Today, though, I find myself opting for hours of board gaming over gambling. One of the best decisions I made this year was buying Pandemic. It was my gateway game and I couldn’t get enough of it. It was nice that it was solo-friendly since I could log in a few solitaire games after my wife had gone to bed.

My stepdaughter immediately took a liking to it as well, so that was a terrific surprise. I treasure the time we spend together and what better way than trying to save the world from being laid to waste by a super virus?

Here’s my list of 10 games I played for the first time this year. I’ve listed them in order of preference, so my #1 game is Pandemic, etc. I’d recommend any of these games for anyone’s collection.

  1. Pandemic
  2.  7 Wonders
  3. Ticket to Ride
  4. Love Letter
  5. Sushi Go!
  6. Zombie Dice
  7. Tsuro
  8. Castle Panic
  9. Mille Bornes
  10. Moose on the Loose

Day 238: Metro Manila

Metro Manila

Metro Manila

Currently streaming on Netflix is Metro Manila, an excellent film about a family trying to escape poverty in the Philippines.

Driven by economic despair, a rice farmer moves his wife and two children to metro Manila, where he hopes to take advantage of the opportunities the city will provide. He and his wife quickly discover that predators of all types lurk in every corner of the slums they live in.

Lead actor Jake Macapagal is outstanding as Oscar Ramirez. He’s the moral center of the film and has a quiet dignity about him that stands above the chaos of the big city. John Arcilla is solid as Oscar’s co-worker/mentor Ong, a grizzled veteran with a secret that will change Oscar’s life. The character Ong reminded me of someone who could easily be found in a John Woo heroic bloodshed movie.

I’ve written about a few of the movies on the AFI 100 list this year and Metro Manila reminded me of The French Connection in a few ways: it captured the grittiness of Manila, just as The French Connection did with New York. Both movies were smack dab in the middle of a world full of moral ambiguity.